With the release candidate now out and Windows 7 launching before the end of the year, I thought I’d summarise why I think it’s worth upgrading your PC, give details on some features that should not have been pulled and talk about where there are still problems.  This is by no means a definitive list of features, just the ones that stand out to me the most.

The good

There’s an awful lot to like about Windows 7, most of which is in the speed of it.  I’ve had a system that installs in twenty minutes to a working desktop with all the drivers in place.  It can shut down in as little as three seconds, and that’s not standby, it’s a full shut down.  Installing additional drivers takes a fraction of the time it used to and the overall feel is significantly faster than Vista.  It even gives Windows XP a run for its money!

Windows 7 is more user customisable than ever, which can only be a good thing.  Most users never customised XP, but there was very little you could do other than change the theme to silver or an awfully yukky green.  Vista was even worse in this respect, who wants pink thansleucent windows?  Finally there are some good customisation options, let’s see what use people make of them.

Libraries are a fantastic way to organise your files and folders.  I have created one for my photographs in which I’m able to view stacked thumbnails of photos sorted and arranged by their subject, regardless of what folder they’re in (see below).

Unfortunately this  feature still won’t allow you to select, for instance, only certain types of files (PDF etc.) to be visible in libraries.  Also, the time required to tag all of your photos with metadata can be considerable.  Microsoft need to release, and still can seperately from Windows 7, a tool that makes this easy.  This could be done because Microsoft is famous for making complex jobs simple through using wizards.

There’s far better integration with devices, MP3 players and phones etc., now and with device stage, a good opportunity for manufacturers to deliver better product support simply, seamlessly and right to your desktop.  There’s also improved connectivity with other devices around your home including media streamers and players and the Xbox 360 and I’m sure more will be added.  Homegroup, a useful feature that allows you to share files and folders between PCs will come in very handy for a lot of households.

Aero snap, the new feature that allows you to quickly and easily see two windows side-by-side, is enormously useful, especially for moving files between folders and drives.  It’s one of those features that makes you wonder why nobody thought about it before.

The accessibility options for Windows have also been vastly improved, which is good news for everyone who will need them.  There’s still some work to be done to overcome some technical problems which will make them even better, but I’ve been told directly by a Microsoft vice-president that it’s something they’re working on.

Security is also much better and, now the bugs have been sorted out form the beta, user account control (UAC) is considerably less annoying than it was in Vista.  You’ll really like it this time.  I believe that Windows 7 is as safe and protected now as you need an operating system to be.

The bad

I’ve talked about the new taskbar at some length in the past, and it’s still not good enough.  Opening multiple instances of programs is fiddly, and most users will have no idea how to do it.  Also it still lacks a “never combine, hide labels” option, to give you multiple icons without the excessive text that would normally go alongside them.

The fact that it’s been slimmed down, with more programs now downloable rather than being part of the OS is also a blessing.  However there’s still much more to be done.  We don’t need DVD maker and the average user will never need features such as powershell.  While I understand the in-place upgrade options that allow you to change to a better edition of Windows 7 simply by entering a new product key, most people will never do this.  Do we really need these unused, and in some cases, uninstalled features taking up space on our hard drives?

There are some niggles about windows explorer still.  Why do we still need to be looking at drive letters, and Microsoft need to change the default view of files as lots of files of mixed types sorted alphabetically is simply messy.

The missing

When Vista was in beta there was one feature that everybody was talking about, WinFS, a new relational database-backed file system that would make indexing and searching of files and folders significantly faster.  Unfortunately, it was pulled from the final product.  Windows 7 is no different with having potentially invaluable features pulled.

One such feature, PC Safeguard, would have been a blessing for every parent, library and internet cafe everywhere, it was that good.  This feature enabled you to set up a user account that would wipe all changed settings and files from any protected drive or partition, for instance the one on which Windows was installed, when the user logged off or shut the machine down.  This essentially reset Windows to an earlier time, minimising any damage that could be done and  greatly reducing the need to fix any problems with the operating system.

Virtualisation options are coming along but there’s still need for more work.  The boot from VHD (Virtual Hard Drive) option still needs support for legacy versions of Windows like XP.  The new XP mode, essentially a bolt-on Virtual machine, is a good step towards this, but it’s still got somewhere to go to become truly a killer-app.

Also where are the improvements to Windows Media Centre we were expecting two years ago?  It’s still a half-way house between the Vista and XP versions and the new start-up sound is awful.  It’s like Microsoft commissioned three different themes and decided to use them all.

The verdict

I’ve been resisting giving an actual verdict for Windows 7 until I saw the release candidate.  I can safely now give this OS a score of 95%.  Sure there are things that I don’t like, things that I absolutely hate and things that should never have been removed.  Generally though it is a mammoth leap over Vista and makes XP look like the software you’d use to drive a pocket calculator.

Windows 7 is the first version of Windows that I would ever recommend people go out and buy even if they’re NOT getting it with a new PC.

One of the biggest criticisms of Windows 7, especially from myself, has been the inability to pin icons like the control panel, computer and recycle bin to the new taskbar.  This meant that Windows 7 was a nasty half-way house between what Microsoft want Windows to become long-term and the old Windows XP way of doing things.

Last week HappyAndyK came to the rescue on the WinVistaClub forum with instructions on how to add the quick launch toolbar back into Windows 7.  Onto this you can drag and drop all the remaining icons from the desktop and Start Menu (recycle bin, games, control panel, devices and printers, computer) and I also added search and libraries links.

It all looked a bit messy though with system icons mixed in the same dock with search and organise icons.  I was wondering if it was possible to split the quick launch area.  I was delighted to discover this is actually quite simple to do.  The results can be seen on the screen-grab below (click to view it full-size).

Open an explorer window and navigate to…

 %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer

You’ll probably need to change the view options so if you do, in the same explorer window press the Alt button on your keyboard and in the View menu temporarily change the settings for Show hidden files… and Hide Protected Operating System files.

In this folder create yourself a new folder that I’ve called System Launch.  You’ll need to change the security priveliges on this folder so right click on it and select Properties.  Then navigate to the Security tab on the window that appears and you’ll see the Everyone user group selected.  Press the Edit button and give this user group full-control.  Press Apply then OK.

Now click anywhere in a blank space on the taskbar and select Toolbars and New Toolbar.  In the window that appears navigate to…

%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer

…if it doesn’t automatically go there.  Select your System Launch folder and press the Select Folder button.

Once this new toolbar appears you can unlock the taskbar and drag it to where you want and drag and drop any icons you want in it.  You can also right click in it and untick the options Show Text and Show Title and change the icon size from small to large.  Note these options won’t appear if the taskbar is locked.

With these options now available on the taskbar there really is no further need for the Start Menu other than to find rarely used programs and to switch the computer off.  This is the type of feature that Microsoft should make much easier and simpler to implement.  This system only really works on bigger screens but is certainly the way I’ll be using Windows 7 from now on.

I’ve written quite a lot about Windows 7 and I’ve tried to resist falling into either of the two popular review camps at the moment.  Either [gushing] “It’s incredibly stable, much better than Vista and usable day to day already” or [humbug] “It’s only Vista release 2 and there’s no reason to go out and buy it”, for the simple reason that too many people are already writing these.

I’ve always prided myself on taking the middle-ground.  I’ve tried to review Windows 7 in as impartial way as possible.  As such I can reasonably predict Microsoft coming in for something of a kicking when Windows 7 is finally released.  What’s more I think they’ll be kicked from every side.

I’ve previously talked about how Windows 7 is a half-way-house between the old and the new, especially where the task bar is concerned.  The problem is that this isn’t localised to the bottom of your screen, it can be seen everywhere!

The control panel and device manager are excellent examples.  There are still two control panels, one for consumers and one for everyone else, though this isn’t in itself a bad thing.  The number of control panel items has ballooned in recent Windows versions however, and Windows 7 adds even more to the mix.  But why are some of these shown?

Microsoft proudly told us that Windows 7 would, by default, not install things you don’t need.  For instance you would only get the tablet PC functionality if you actually had a touch screen, excellent.  But why in the control panel does the average Windows user need to have control for such things as “Remote Applications”, “iSCSI drives”, “Biometric devices”, “Tablet PC Settings” and “Bitlocker Drive Encryption”?  By default the new control panel has 60 items in it!

I’m not saying these things aren’t useful or necessary, but the fact that they appear despite not having the appropriate hardware installed, or when they would only be needed in a corporate environment, can only make the control panel more complicated and bloated to use.  Even then most of these should only be available to system admins.

Similarly with the device manager, we now have two of them with the introduction of the new “Devices and Printers” panel, which in my mind only makes things even more complicated.

I won’t go on about the Start Menu, I’ve written about this too much already but this old meeting new way of doing things extends into too many aspects of the operating system.

UAC is a cop out, no longer powerful enough to offer full protection because Microsoft haven’t built in the full functionality it needs.  For the record Microsoft have told me that a tick box in UAC windows for “remember my settings for this program”, is under consideration for Windows 8.

Then there’s the interface.  Why are we still looking at Windows 98 grey eleven years on?  The whole interface is mash of old stuff mixed in randomly with new ideas with usability a poor third place.

When I wrote about Windows 7 usability recently I spoke about this.  I believe the reason for this lack of focus is simple.  A desire to get a product shipped early, after the financial failure that was Vista in the business market.

This means that the technical beta has been an extremely frustrating experience for a great many people, especially myself.  I’ve been in regular contact with senior managers, even a vice-president at Microsoft about usability and the half-way-house issue.  All the feedback I’ve received though tells me that there simply isn’t time to change anything at this stage.

Microsoft need to learn from this and place usability at the very top of their priorities list to avoid also getting a kicking for Windows 8.  I’m not saying Windows 7 isn’t good, anyone who can spot the deliberate joke in the title for this article will know how good it is.  I’m just saying it’s not good enough… yet!

I’ve written a lot about the Windows 7 taskbar and start menu in recent days, not because they’re brilliant or horrible, but rather because they’re trapped half way between the Windows interface we’ve had for the last decade and the one we’ll be heading for in the decade ahead.  The downside of this is that for the next few years we’ll be essentially stuck with two different interfaces that we’re expected to use concurrently.

I’ve fed a lot of this back to Microsoft but they seem determined to stick with the taskbar and start menu as seen in the current beta build and not budge.  This is a crying shame, they could easily build in the ‘future’ system while leaving the old one intact for a Windows version or two, just as they did with the Windows 95 style start menu.

Anyway, it got me thinking about what this ‘future’ system could be like and how it would operate based on what we’ve already seen, and I thought I’d be as bold as to make some predictions for what will possibly be called Windows 8, with a few wishes thrown in.

The Start Menu

The start menu would be gone, resigned to the annals of history.  Instead everything would be pinned to the taskbar.  All your programs are all already pinnable but what about the system icons and all the additional icons that come with your programs?

All Programs Folder

My prediction is that we’ll see the return of the All Programs folder as reported by Raphael Rivera when he got to grips with an early build of Windows 7.  This folder will contain all the current contents of All Programs in the start menu.

WISHLIST : I’d like to see tags extended to programs in the All Programs folder.  This would enable you to tag a program as internet, games or media for example.  The different tags would then be sortable into collapsible groups, just as you can currently do with tagged photos and files in Vista.  This also helps make up for the fact that, with the old Windows 95 style start menu finally gone, also gone is the ability to add custom folders to All Programs.

System Icons

System icons would be pinnable to the taskbar but, with the sole exception of the Recycle Bin would by default appear in a special jumplist, much like the bucket in the current Apple OS X dock (see below for more on this).

Document Folders

With the introduction of libraries in Windows 7 and aggregated storage first seen in Windows Home Server, the Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos etc. folders would be consigned to the scrap heap.  With windows 7 all of your files and folders are easily accessible in Explorer through the hugely innovative Libraries view.  In my opinion, this makes your documents just as quick and easy to access.  It might currently include a secondary mouse click but if these folders manage to survive at all, it will only be with individual libraries being made pinnable to the taskbar.

System Tray

If this doesn’t already happen by the time Windows 7 ships, anti-virus vendors, who already have access to APIs that enable them to plug their software directly into the Windows Security Centre, will get the additional option to exclude their icon from the auto-hide option in the system tray.  In addition, and again if this isn’t rectified soon, the Windows alerts that still appear in the system tray will also be hidden by default.

Taskbar

Launching and managing applications will be further refined for Windows 8 with problems like managing multi-window programs sorted out.  The new taskbar will be much more configurable than the one we see in Windows 7 today.

WISHLIST : We need a “never combine, hide labels” option for the taskbar, to get around the problem I just mentioned of Windows 7′s awful handling of multiple instances of programs.

Taskbar animations will also be enhanced, if it doesn’t happen before Windows 7 launches, to allow more live feedback from and control of programs, much like the old “Windows Media Player Toolbar”.  This will be integrated into, above or to the right of the taskbar icon for the program and will further expand the animations and effects introduced with Windows 7.

The Start Button

So if we’re making all these changes and getting rid of the start menu completely, what use will the start button be?  This is one thing that won’t be disappearing any time soon, if ever.  This will still be the place you go to switch the computer off and will also probably act as an animated jumplist for the system icons and All Programs folder.  Needless to say, with Windows 8, any menu that pops up from the start button will be unrecognisable from what we’re used to today.

So bring on 2012 and we’ll see if any of my predictions come true.  In the mean time I’d like to hear your comments on these ideas.

This morning I published an article entitled Windows 7, the case for dumping the Start Menu, that respected IT and Microsoft journalist Paul Thurrott picked up on and quoted on his site.  He commented on what I had written saying…

“Mike Halsey writes that Microsoft is very likely starting the process of removing the Start Menu from Windows in Windows 7.  I think he’s right.  But here’s the thing: Why make Windows 7 a half-way house between the past and the future? If this is a just a vestigial UI construct from the 1990′s, why not just remove it completely?” 

I was initially planning to write a follow up today but after reading Paul’s article decided he was already saying everything I planned to so changed my mind.  Unfortunately our articles seemed to start quite a row about what Microsoft was planning, who was involved and was there some sort of conspiracy about press leaks from Microsoft.  So I thought I’d better reply anyway.

Here’s what I see the situation as being…

Windows Vista was a commercial flop.  No matter how many copies Microsoft boasted about shipping, their main client, business, didn’t bother with it.  It wouldn’t run on their computers without huge additional expenditure in new hardware, and it had hardware and software incompatabilities left-right-and-centre.

The old addage of “wait for service pack 1″ held true but by the time that came Microsoft had already announced Windows 7 and by all counts they’d listened to the criticisms.  By service pack 1, Windows Vista was already considerably more compatbile with old software and hardware and I can happily report that Windows 7 is even better.

The long and the short of this is that Microsoft cannot afford for Windows 7 to be a commercial failure with businesses.  That would be a disaster for the company, especially during the current economic climate.

They also said shortly after releasing Vista that they were looking at a whole new interface structure, and we could expect a completely new way to interact with Windows by the time codename Blackcomb launched in 2010.

They’ve done this but it’s exactly as Paul has said, it’s a half way house.  They’re pushing ahead with an exciting and dynamic way of launching and managing applications and services but they’re afraid to go too far, in case big business doesn’t like the steep learning curve for all it’s staff.  With Windows 7 what we’re getting is something that will look and work exactly like Vista if you want it to, but that won’t look and work like Windows 8 because they’re too afraid to build all the functionality in at this time.

This is a shame as what Windows 7 is giving us is essentially two different ways of interacting with the OS that we’re expected to use concurrently.  I can see this causing enormous problems so I completely agree with Paul in asking for Microsoft to get on with it and build in the functionality now for those of us who are ready.  This can be done while leaving the existing structure intact to keep their business customers happy.

I had an email from Microsoft today about my suggestions on this matter saying that they thought my ideas were “interesting” but not what they wanted from Windows 7 at this moment in time.  I’m still hoping that if there’s a big enough groundswell of support for them getting on with it, they’ll indeed get on with it.

Alas, I fear I’ll be owing Paul a drink for the bet I made with him.    The reason being that no matter what contacts Paul Thurrott and I have with Microsoft, he and I are merely commentators on this, the proof being all the things Paul has asked for Microsoft to do over the years that they’ve ignored.  And while my beta tester position affords me the opportunity to feed back to Microsoft, they’re only just going to do it their own way anyhow.

Some people might say I wasn’t very kind about the new Windows 7 taskbar in my recent article on it.  The truth is that while it’s a work in progress (he says hopefully) I can genuinely see how useful it can be and what Microsoft want it to become.  With this in mind I’ve been wondering if there’s a case for dumping the start menu.

I’ve been petitioning Microsoft to allow the pinning of icons such as Recycle Bin, Computer and Control Panel to the taskbar.  If they do this, what’s left in the Start Menu to click on?  All the user folders, Documents, Pictures, Music etc are available from icons or jumplists on the taskbar by default.  This only leaves All Programs and Games.

I believe that if a way can be found to incorporate these into another jumplist or two, ala Apple OS X, then the Start Menu as we know it will be well and truly obsolete, resigned to pretty much just turning the computer off and not much else.

Why am I saying this?  I’m looking at the Start Button in Windows 7 now and wondering when I’m ever going to press it.  I will rarely have to go into all programs as I’ll run most of them straight from the taskbar.  I’ll only use it to switch off my computer (and I tend to usually do that by just quickly tapping the power button on the case instead as it’s faster).

Microsoft have an opt-in service to report back on how people use Windows.  This will perhaps now report that people only use the Start Menu to shut it down.  If this does happen, Windows 8 could be a very different beast to the one we’re used to.

With Windows 7, Microsoft have introduced a new taskbar.  It’s a bold move from Microsoft requiring a  learning curve for everyone who uses Windows.  In many ways it’s a sensible move in that it brings Windows more in line with the ways Apple OS X and Linux have been managing applications for years, but have they done it right?

It’s early days and many people including myself are still giving feedback on this, but my reaction in to the beta is no, it’s not been done right.

In essence the new taskbar is a mixture of the old quick launch panel with the traditional taskbar.  By default you only see icons representing your programs.  They’re all mixed in together and running programs are highlighted by a window, or windows around the icon.  It’s a good system but not without its faults.

Let’s start with what’s good, and it’s very good.  With Vista Microsoft introduced pop up thumbnails of running programs on the taskbar.  This has been further enhanced allowing you to not only shut down programs from those thumbnails but also to see the programs full size too.  As before when you place your cursor over the taskbar icon the thumbnail window will pop up.  If you then roll your mouse over the thumbnail Windows will make all other windows transparent and show you the program full-size, even if it’s currently minimised.  This is a genuinely useful feature.

One especially nice feature is that if you have a copy or similiar dialog box open, the status of that will also be shown on the taskbar icon as a glowing green background sweeping from left to right.

There are also the jumplists.  These are available on a right click of the taskbar icons and give you quick access to commonly used fetaures within a program or recently opened files.

Finally the system tray, the area on the right of the taskbar has had a complete revamp with annoying notifications hidden by default.  This will really help remove clutter as there’s been a trend in recent years for software to want to put itself in the system tray and let you know what it’s doing all the time.  It’s not without it’s problems though.  Hiding the notifications will also hide any telling you, for instance, that there’s a problem with your anti-virus software.  Microsoft allow anti-virus vendors to plug their software into the security centre, so hopefully the same freedoms will be given to them to allow them round the hiding notifications issue as well.

I’ve written before about the fact that most people cannot identify every application on their computer from the icon alone.  If you want the text labels for programs you have to know how to switch it on.  Even then it’ll only show you text labels for running programs.

This isn’s a problem because you don’t have to pin your programs to the taskbar, you can leave them in the Start Menu.  But the new way of launching and managing programs on the taskbar is very good, and I’d like to think that everyone would use it.  Microsoft just have to make it easier to manage.

There are other criticisms.  The taskbar default actions don’t handle multiple copies of an application well.  If you have two copies of Internet Explorer running for instance, with multiple tabs open in each, it’s not easy to switch between them from the single icon you get on the taskbar.  Fortunately Microsoft have now told me they’re looking at this.  It’s also annoying that certain icons, like Computer and Recycle Bin, can’t be pinned to the taskbar at all.  Hopefully this will change.

My initial impressions of the taskbar are mixed and probably more negative than positive.  This is only a beta though so there’s still everything to play for and nothing is set in stone at this stage.  When I fed back to Microsoft for instance that the plain white wi-fi notification icon in the system tray made it look like your wi-fi isn’t connected, they wrote back saying they’ll look at the issue.

Finally it’s a shame I think that the new taskbar is completely flat when Vista added a lovely 3D curved effect.  If any of you have downloaded the public beta after its rather bungled launch this weekend I would be interested to hear your comments too.