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18 Features Windows Should Have (but Doesn't)
PCWorld Magazine ^
| Monday, April 28, 2008 10:00 PM PDT
| Robert Strohmeyer, PC World
Posted on 05/01/2008 5:11:26 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Some of the coolest OS features are nowhere to be found in Windows XP or Vista. Here are 18 brilliant features that Microsoft should beg for, borrow, or stealplus tips on how you can add many of them to your PC now.
Love it or hate it, Microsoft Windows is the world's most dominant operating system. But when you look at some of the hot features found in competitors such as Linux and Mac OS X, both XP and Vista can seem a little incomplete.
From intuitive interface features like Apple's application dock and Cover Flow to basic media capabilities such as ISO burning, Windows often falls short on built-in goodies. And some features that other operating systems offer by defaultsuch as 64-bit processing and business-networking toolsequire a premium-version license in Windows.
(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: msn
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PC World's list of 18 features Windows should have but doesn't (and which platform(s) on which they are already available):
- Exposé (Mac)
- Virtual Workspaces (Mac, Linux, PC-BSD)
- Back to My Mac (Mac)
- Screen Sharing (Mac)
- Time Machine (Mac)
- ISO Burning (Mac, Linux, PC-BSD)
- Stickies Notes(Mac, Linux)
- Podcast Capture (Mac)
- Software Repositories (Linux, PC-BSD)
- Desktop Cube (Linux, PC-BSD)
- Application Dock (Mac)
- Automated Screen Shots (Mac)
- Multitouch Trackpad Gestures (Mac)
- Cover Flow (Mac)
- Pre-Installed Web Server (Mac, Linux, PC-BSD)
- POSIX Compliance (Mac, Linux, PC-BSD, BeOS)
- Standardized Menu Ribbon (Mac)
- Single-File Applications (Mac)
Hmmmm. Mac OSX has 16 of the 18 features on the burglar's wish list...
To: Swordmaker
You could add it all easily to the successor to Windows Vista, but the hard disk space used could balloon around 20 GB. (eek!)
To: 1234; 50mm; 6SJ7; Abundy; Action-America; acoulterfan; aristotleman; af_vet_rr; Aggie Mama; ...
16 of 18 features PCWorld lusts for on Windows XP and Vista are Apple Mac OS X features... PING!

Apple: the research lab for Microsoft
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
3
posted on
05/01/2008 5:15:59 PM PDT
by
Swordmaker
(Remember, the proper pronunciation of IE is "AAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!)
To: Swordmaker
For you Windows users, the cool thing about this article is it tells you how to implement a version of these wishes on your PC. Good read.
4
posted on
05/01/2008 5:22:52 PM PDT
by
Swordmaker
(Remember, the proper pronunciation of IE is "AAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!)
To: Swordmaker
The one most important feature that Microsoft has and all of the others are missing is:
*** MARKET SHARE ***
But, that's OK. Those other companies would rather play around with their widgets.
To: Swordmaker
I had to get a Windows machine cause my daughter was taking an online class that required ActiveX. Anyway, ended up with a sub $400 Compaq laptop. Not a bad machine for the bucks, but has Vista Basic and the crap HP and Compaq slather on the machines. Between the Vista security and the Norton, HP, Compaq and other garbage installed on the system, it's like playing "Duck Hunt" to try and get anything done with all the annoying pop ups.
I don't have the time or energy, but I seriously considered just wiping it and doing a clean install to get rid of all the adware.
6
posted on
05/01/2008 5:24:25 PM PDT
by
Richard Kimball
(We're all criminals. They just haven't figured out what some of us have done yet.)
To: Swordmaker
With a little work you can bring that up to 17.
I use macports all the time on my mac (#9 - software repositories).
macports.org
-paridel
7
posted on
05/01/2008 5:24:41 PM PDT
by
Paridel
To: politicket
That call is starting to ring a little hollow. There's a significant backlash against Vista, and Dell is going to offer XP after June 30th, the official death date for XP.
Microsoft said this week that Windows revenues during the first three months of 2008 were down nearly 24% from the same period last year. One analyst argued that the decline is more evidence that the company is having trouble convincing users of Windows Vista's value.
"More than a year has passed since the rollout of Vista to both the business and consumer markets, and experiencing revenue declines so early in the product lifecycle is not a positive sign," said Allan Krans, an analyst with Technology Business Research.
MS is having problems, and they're getting close to being the IBM of the new millenium (acting like a monopoly in a free market.)
8
posted on
05/01/2008 5:31:00 PM PDT
by
Richard Kimball
(We're all criminals. They just haven't figured out what some of us have done yet.)
To: Swordmaker
Windoze already has too many features that don’t work.
To: Richard Kimball
I use best of breed for my clients and Apple is the only one that comes close to being a Microsoft alternative for business users. Linux is a piece of trash in the client arena, while being very usable on the server side. Apple is pathetic on the server side, while being usable on the client side.
Apple will keep gaining market share for the foreseeable future, but they have a LONG way to go to overtake Microsoft. Office environments will be perfectly happy running XP for the next five years if they need to. XP is an extremely stable platform and serves all of the business needs of a high percentage of clients. Plus the development tools for the Microsoft product dwarf the tools used by other OS's.
To: Swordmaker
I would add built-in support for .pdfs to that list.
To: Swordmaker
The should first fix the features they have, so they work.
Especially the basic features.
For example, why do my XP and 2K machines often forget how I grouped the icons on my desktop, scrambling them all up on me?
That’s basic stuff, for Pete’s sake.
To: Richard Kimball
To: Age of Reason
For example, why do my XP and 2K machines often forget how I grouped the icons on my desktop, scrambling them all up on me? Do you play any games by chance? Some games will select a lower resolution screen than your preference. The desktop may exist under the game... and the icons attempt to rearrange themselves to fit the new size. When you quit the game, the icons are left in disarray.
14
posted on
05/01/2008 6:06:01 PM PDT
by
Swordmaker
(Remember, the proper pronunciation of IE is "AAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!)
To: Swordmaker
Apple owns the patents for several of those technologies, so I would not expect to see them in Windows anytime soon.
15
posted on
05/01/2008 6:10:30 PM PDT
by
HAL9000
("No one made you run for president, girl."- Bill Clinton)
To: CFC__VRWC
I would add built-in support for .pdfs to that list. That is a much better suggestion that #10 - Desktop Cube (Linux, PC-BSD) - which is strictly a novelty.
16
posted on
05/01/2008 6:13:54 PM PDT
by
HAL9000
("No one made you run for president, girl."- Bill Clinton)
To: Swordmaker
Pre-Installed Web Server (Mac, Linux, PC-BSD)A Windows web server on the home desktop. -- That will end well.
To: Swordmaker
But how many does a user even want? I count at least 10 I could care less about.
18
posted on
05/01/2008 6:32:03 PM PDT
by
JSteff
To: CFC__VRWC
I would add built-in support for .pdfs to that list.I don't think that needs to be part of the operating system, as it can easily be supplied by aplications, many of which are free. You can easily add freeware viewers, and if I remember correctly, OpenOffice is thinking of adding the ability to create pdfs as well.
On another note, I think Vista is coming along. I recently bought a laptop with Vista, and it seems to work just fine. Of course, it helps that this laptop has 4G of RAM -- Vista uses well over 1G just loading up and sitting there. But, given the resources, it does perform. Its still early, but I'm beginning to believe that MS botched the introduction of Vista more than the system itself by trying to convince people it would run on the last generation of hardware. Remember the "Vista Ready" and "Vista Compatible" stickers which have led to some class action lawsuits?
To: RayChuang88
20GB? Remember when Windows came on 6 floppy disks? No matter how fast your computer runs, Windows will slow it down to a crawl.
20
posted on
05/01/2008 6:34:38 PM PDT
by
Blood of Tyrants
(G-d is not a Republican. But Satan is definitely a Democrat.)
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