Classic Shell for Windows 7

[DesDownunder]

While it doesn't address all the problems of Windows 7 by any stretch of the imagination, the add-on program Classic Shell For Windows 7 does offer some familiarity in the Start menu. I suggest you use the Classic windows skin and also tick the 'Solid Color' box.

Read all about it here.

Disabling the Libraries feature and other such features is possible with the reg scripts shown here

I advise caution before trying any of these 'solutions', but I have had success for my purposes. Now if I could just solve Microsoft's.

There are many people complaining that Windows 7's so called features limit their productivity. It seems that Microsoft are ignoring what people want for reasons known only to them. However I suggest that the limited features they are enabling, represents paths of fashion for the sake of change to entice us to buy each new version of Windows. Why they do not just build and extend on the thorough ground work of the past is beyond rational explanation other than misguided attempts to justify profits at best, or an abandonment of logical evolution of the OS.

Just my opinion, of course.

[Trab]

I would suggest that maybe we, as in the general public, tend to forget, or not recognize, the reason for being of many things in the marketplace.

TV shows are there to keep you hooked between commercials. Pure and simple, but largely ignored by the public. Commercials are there to get you to remember a product in any way possible, and favorable or not makes no difference. They are there to get you to buy those products.

Products are there, not to provide a service, but to get your money when you buy it. Whether it works or not makes no real difference, as long as it gets your money without costing more than what is received from you. Promises, like guarantees, are there to make you think the product is more beneficial to you and that you should invest your money in buying it.

There are basically two approaches to selling: sell lots of cheap stuff cheaply, or sell a small amount of stuff dearly priced. Of course the ideal is to sell lots of stuff dearly priced, but that's a skill not easily mastered and requires a lot of convincing. What MS seems to do is thrive on the earlier concept of selling lots of things cheaply and often. This is done at a cost too though, and that is in eventual distrust of the products. This is particularly important when money becomes 'scarce' and people cannot buy everything over and over again. People will gravitate towards that which is not replaced all the time. A trust is built up in certain products and services which are consistently good and of value, and this makes it even harder to tolerate when that trust is betrayed. eg. Toyota

I guess my point is that after all the devolution by MS, are you really surprised that it is continuing today? As long as you keep buying into that, they can continue to milk you and the rest.

[DesDownunder]

I don't disagree with your analysis, cynical though it may appear. However, the problem is that the newest OS from Microsilt is needed to accommodate the latest hardware which is needed to operate the new OS and so it goes round and round. If I replace my printer, or some other peripheral the chances of it having a driver for the OS I want to use, declines with the age of the OS, thereby necessitating giving away more money to the Micro$ corp. Then there is the matter of security leaks that need to be fixed with an update.

There is little doubt in my mind that we the people, are being played for suckers.

[The Pecman]

...However, the problem is that the newest OS from Microsilt is needed to accommodate the latest hardware...

One of the I.T. guys I work with refers to them as "Microshaft." As in "giving customers the shaft," an old American expression for cheating.

[DesDownunder]

One of the I.T. guys I work with refers to them as "Microshaft." As in "giving customers the shaft," an old American expression for cheating.

Yeah, shafting is a well understood term in Oz. We are very familiar with American slang via the movies and TV.

I accidentally typed Microsilt and after I saw it I looked up the meaning of silt:

Noun: Mud or clay or small rocks deposited by a river or lake. Verb: Become chocked with silt.

Sounds about right I thought, so I left it.

The problem that worries most about Windows 7 is the freezing effect. The mouse and keyboard are locked out dead. Nothing seems to work except the reset button on the computer. When it reboots all is fine, though you can never tell if it will be minutes or days before it does it again.

I thought it might be the ReadyBoost but I haven't been using that for some time. From web searching it seems others have a freeze problem, too.

It is likely I will maintain my separate XP system on its own hard drive. My computer has external loading docks that allow me to swap drives and thus operating systems without using a boot manager.

[Cole Parker]

I thought the freezing problem you mention was specific to Vista. I'd even considered Windows 7 as a replacement to solve that problem.

I think perhaps this Chrome dealy is the ticket. No OS at all, farm it all out. Is that now a reality?

C

[colinian]

Again, I'd like to defend Win7 by saying when we installed it at the client where I was interning last semester no one, let me repeat, no one had any problems with Win7. I've been using Win7 on one of my PC's and it has been flawless. I haven't used Libraries; I continue to use Win7 the same way I've used Vista and there are several new features in Windows Explorer that make it significantly better. Like the new Recent Places that presents a list in alphabetic order that I'm able to select from; it also bases what's on the list by the most often used as well as most recently used.

I'm posting this because most of the posters in this topic are anti-Win7 and give the impression that it's an unadulterated POC and I wanted to present an alternate POV.

Colin

[Cole Parker]

If we were to concede that perhaps you, Colin, are more adept and finding your way around computer problems than, say--just to pick someone at ramdom--me, then is yoiur advice the same? And if it is, how do I know whom to trust, with such opposing viewpoints and no ability to discern the truth myself?

C

[TalonRider]

I've been using Win 7 now for a few months after purchasing a new desktop and then later a laptop, both HP's. I've had no problems with the OS. The main problem I have had is downloading and optional upgrade from Intel. It tends to change things after a few days causing me to have to go back to the save point before the install.