Jon Honeyball's wishlist

Posted on 19 Sep 2007 at 16:54

So what must Windows 7 have in order for it to be a success? It's hard to gaze into the crystal ball, but I've got a list of features that we really need to see if the new OS is going to hit home. In no particular order, here's my list:

1 True 3D rendered desktop

The current Vista desktop is a compromise between new-world 3D rendering and compatibility with the old 2D world. This has to stop with Windows 7 - we need to see a fully 3D rendered space that's just beautiful to use. It must ooze class, and really make use of the processor power available.

2 Make security work properly

No, it isn't good enough to have a weak username and password that never changes. Make Business users go for a third-party authentication system - smart card, fingerprint reader and so on. Make business laptops tighter in their default configuration. And make the home experience much more robust, with proper separation of data between parent and child on a shared device.

3 Only three versions, and no more 32-bit

All this versionitis gives everyone a headache. Let's have Home, Business and Ultimate. And that's it. No mucking around with neutered N versions, Home Better, Business Lovely and Corporate Got-Most-Bits. The marketplace hasn't been fooled by this obfuscation, so perform a gentlemanly climbdown, please. And while you're at it, cut the 32-bit version. Some will be upset with this - tough. All today's machines are 64-bit compatible, and keeping Windows 7 in 32-bit land is just pandering to the old school.

4 Remove the DRM; mandate signing for drivers & apps

Vista is riddled with DRM, and it does it no good at all. The world is moving away from DRM, and Microsoft should get out of bed with the monopolists who want to mandate how, where and when content is viewed. Microsoft should stop viewing DRM as a profit centre. Meanwhile, it should come down hard on drivers and app vendors - driver and app signing should be mandatory for Windows 7. Mutton dressed as lamb has been foisted on the users for too long now, and it's time for vendors to put up or shut up.

5 Make Speech and video recognition first-class

Speech is one of those jam-tomorrow things - like Star Trek, we're promised a future that never quite arrives. Meanwhile, millions are poured into Microsoft Research, and it's time for it to deliver. Automatic face recognition from a webcam, for example: see what I'm doing, see whether I'm busy, listen to find out if I'm talking to someone.

6 Fix the storage mess and support all formats

It will be 2010 and we'll still be stuck on an old-fashioned, if reliable and trusty, file system in NTFS. Do we want drive letters? No. Do we even want to see drive volumes? No. Give us properly self-managing, reliable storage that can auto-grow. Something that can make sure our information is on more than one spindle. But make it completely transparent. And don't force Windows-centric file formats down our throat every five minutes.

7 Give us the powerful and long-promised Assistants

Remember all those promises about software that would notice what you were doing, learn from it, and make good suggestions? I don't mean the laughable Clippy or Dog, I mean tools that are constantly scanning what you're doing, your diary and email, and can automate your repetitive work processes. It's about time these things delivered to the mainstream.

8 Offer a family pack

Charging full price, or almost full price, for multiple installs in the same household is daylight robbery. Microsoft offered a family discount on Vista for US families with multiple PCs, so why not over here? Learn from the Home Student editions, and look at the success of Apple's licensing model. Let people pay a fair price for a home-wide licence without feeling that they've been flayed alive.