I went from XP Pro to Windows 7 a month ago <& shouldn't it be called something else? Let's see, Windows 1, Windows 2, Windows 3, Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows 2003 - shouldn't this be called Windows 11?>
Anyway, here are my main complaints:
1) can't seem to adjust the screen saver & power settings from desktop any more
2) I'm using dialup - I always set XP to show that little "monitor" looking icon in the lower right hand corner when connected. Whenever data was being transmitted or received, it showed up a blue color. This was VERY useful to me in letting me know when we had forgotten and left it online, and it also gave me feedback that let me know when a download or other file transfer had failed. That seems to be all gone, since I have found no way to get it set back up the way I like it.
3) Windows seems stupid when it comes to arranging my folders. I use a digital camera, and organize the folders by year and by month. In other words, I have 12 month folders inside 2009, for example. Instead of realizing that they are month titles, and organizing them accordingly, Windows seems to have them organized in whatever order it feels like. When I try to move the icons into the correct order, it won't allow me to - the folder/month icons simply remain where they were.
4) Too many things now seem to be purposefully "hidden". Take Device Manager, for example. It took me far too long to find it, and then I ended up having to go to help and support and do a search.
5) It is often telling me that there are important Windows Updates available. When I look, they are usually security related updates for Internet Explorer, which I don't even use. I'd like to be able to tell it "ignore all further internet explorer related Windows updates".
& of course
6) can't seem to get my Canoscan LIDE 30 scanner to work under Windows 7 64-bit. I had it working fine under XP Pro, but nothing seems to get it working under Windows 7. I've tried the generic Twain Driver, Vista Driver, 64-bit and 32 bit drivers, etc.
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posted: Nov. 18, 2009 @ 9:35a
jolma
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 18, 2009 @ 2:49p
With some research or third-party utilities you may find out how to do several of the things you mention like the dialup tray icon.
For #3, the folder arranging, I use a trick - instead of "October" "November" I label folders "2009 08" "2009 07" etc, then these can be sorted properly by doing sort by name.
Internet Explorer is pretty tightly integrated into the operating system. I would fear that even if you never use IE, that leaving it unpatched might put you at risk somehow. I would not suggest ever refusing any Windows Update. I let it install them all without asking me, and set it to install them at night so the rebooting doesn't bother me.
Some drivers simply will never exist for 64 bit or Windows 7. You may have to eBay that scanner while there is still somebody out there with XP who might buy it and get a new one.
1: You should be able to change your screen saver by right clicking the desktop and choosing Personalize then to Screen Saver in the bottom right corner.
2: Don't know since I don't use dial-up.
3: I haven't noticed yet.
4: Device Manager was just as easy to find as it was in XP for me. Right click Computer in the start menu or have the My Computer icon on the desktop and do it from there.
5: I'd do the updates just to be safe personally. If you don't want to see the update again just right click it and choose Hide Update.
6: That's auctually a problem from Canon. Try going to their Europe site and getting them there.Just make sure you choose Windows 7 and your language.
M$ chose to number it Windows 7 'cause not all versions belong to the same programming family:
Windows 1-2-3-95-98-98 Special Edition [98SE] and Millenium Edition [ME] were based on one kind of programming code... Windows NT 1-2-3-2000[NT4]-XP[NT5]-Vista[NT6]and 7[NT7] are made on another kind of code...
Until Windows 2K the NT OS was considered the HEAVY DUTY/COMMERCIAL version of Windows, but M$ consolidated the commercial and personal versions into a single OS with XP (XP or Windows NT 5.0 wasn't a direct successor of ME, ME was the "last of its' kind").
Since Windows XP some of the former uses of the NT family were passed on to the Windows Server family of OS's, which are based on its' equivalent personal version (the latest Windows Server OS is still based on Vista, the next one [2010 or 2011] will be based on 7.
Some more technologically knowgable FW'ers can correct me and/or be more specific w/o being too technical...
2000 and XP are both Version 5.0 Vista is Version 6 And 7 is well.... 7
So I guess 95 is 4.0 and 98 is 4.1 since there wasn't that much extra functionality.
Doh, wiki had more info
The very first release of Windows was Windows 1.0, the second was Windows 2.0, the third Windows 3.0. Here's where things get a little more complicated. Following Windows 3.0 was Windows NT which was code versioned as Windows 3.1. Then came Windows 95, which was code versioned as Windows 4.0. Then, Windows 98, 98 SE and Windows Millennium each shipped as 4.0.1998, 4.10.2222, and 4.90.3000, respectively. So we're counting all 9x versions as being 4.0. Windows 2000 code was 5.0 and then we shipped Windows XP as 5.1, even though it was a major release we didn't want to change code version numbers to maximize application compatibility. That brings us to Windows Vista, which is 6.0. So we see Windows 7 as our next logical significant release and 7th in the family of Windows releases...There's been some fodder about whether using 6.1 in the code is an indicator of the relevance of Windows 7. It is not. Windows 7 is a significant and evolutionary advancement of the client operating system. It is in every way a major effort in design, engineering and innovation. The only thing to read into the code versioning is that we are absolutely committed to making sure application compatibility is optimized for our customers
5) In Windows 7, you can actually remove IE. Note that it only removes program IE, the rendering engine it uses is too tightly integrated into the OS to be removed. However, it may cut down on the number of Windows Updates. http://winjade.net/2009/03/ie8-functionally-removable/
I too, miss the modem lights, even though I use cable broadband. ( I can't even imagine trying to do updates over dial up. My first update after install was over 50 mb.) The other annoyance is that I use to have a toolbar in XP that would pop out of the left side of my screen whenever I moved my mouse over there. I kept things such as calculator, notepad, and access to some often used files there. If I had a browser window open and needed the calculator, bingo it was there. Windows 7 has done away with this. Backward step in my opinion.
jayK
Senior Member - JayK
posted: Nov. 23, 2009 @ 10:55a
Regarding things that are "hidden", you can usually just type what you're looking for in the start menu and it will appear.
My biggest problem with Win7 has been stability, my USB devices often just stop working. The marginal increase in productivity over Vista due to the new navigation features is more than canceled out by the constant need to restart to get USB devices working again.
jayK said: Regarding things that are "hidden", you can usually just type what you're looking for in the start menu and it will appear.
My biggest problem with Win7 has been stability, my USB devices often just stop working. The marginal increase in productivity over Vista due to the new navigation features is more than canceled out by the constant need to restart to get USB devices working again.I haven't heard this complaint from anyone I know using Win7. Any chance there is a compatibility issue with your onboard USB chipset/driver and Win7? Have you checked for a new driver / updated BIOS? Just a thought...
Iam getting my own strange issues... on widescreen monitors windows 7 just doesnt work well... Its actually quite funny. It starts you out with a max res my screen ratio is 1.6 so it goes something like.... 1680 x 1050. If the text is too small and want to lower the res to something like 1440 x 900 or 1280 x 800 well guess what? Yes it lets you do it but... not as you expect which is the funny part. Instead of making it 1280 x 800 what it does is cut that area out of your max res of 1680 x 1050 and you end up with a 1280 x 800 box with your desktop in it and a black border around it which makes up the remaining 1680 x 1050.
Yes all my drivers are up to date, yes it is a fresh install, yes i updated all the windows stuff from windows update.
But essentially Iam left with the same res as 1680 x 1050 but in a smaller surface... instead of what I want which is a more zoomed up look of my desktop so I dont have to strain my eyes.
MsnAdmin said: Iam getting my own strange issues... on widescreen monitors windows 7 just doesnt work well... Its actually quite funny. It starts you out with a max res my screen ratio is 1.6 so it goes something like.... 1680 x 1050. If the text is too small and want to lower the res to something like 1440 x 900 or 1280 x 800 well guess what? Yes it lets you do it but... not as you expect which is the funny part. Instead of making it 1280 x 800 what it does is cut that area out of your max res of 1680 x 1050 and you end up with a 1280 x 800 box with your desktop in it and a black border around it which makes up the remaining 1680 x 1050.
Yes all my drivers are up to date, yes it is a fresh install, yes i updated all the windows stuff from windows update.
But essentially Iam left with the same res as 1680 x 1050 but in a smaller surface... instead of what I want which is a more zoomed up look of my desktop so I dont have to strain my eyes. I just ran into the same problem on one of my vista boxes. It was working great at 720p. I changed it to 1080p so that I could work on it for a day. When I changed it back to 720p, it would not size right. All the other standard resolutions seem to fit full screen.
Let me know if you find the solution. I decided to go with 1600x900 in the meantime.
minidrag said: Have you tried using the manufacturers (nvidia or ATI) controls instead of the ones built into Windows?
I gave it a stab last night. No luck. 720p is a small square in the middle of my screen. The TV even recognizes it as 720p, oddly enough. It is the only resolution that doesn't stretch full one way or another. Could be an nVidia issue as everything else I use at 720p works fine.
Don't know if you looked (or if it is there) but many of the newer drivers have advanced options, one of which is something like Stretch To Fit that should fill the screen for you. I've seen this option work on some screens and fail on others, but if it's there it's worth trying.
minidrag said: Don't know if you looked (or if it is there) but many of the newer drivers have advanced options, one of which is something like Stretch To Fit that should fill the screen for you. I've seen this option work on some screens and fail on others, but if it's there it's worth trying.
Nvidia's drivers have a lot of options, but not that.
Something strange. If I watch a 720p movie, it fills the screen. Unfortunately, I can't check the resolution feed while it is in full screen.
I can't really complain, though... My card doesn't have an HDMI out. I am using a DVI->HDMI converter. I should probably just go VGA...
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