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Guest post by: Michael Pilling Become an Author

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Like most windows users, I like to gripe about windows sometimes, but also like most windows users, I will probably never switch. Contrary to what a lot of apple fanatics like to preach, windows is a user friendly operating system that has weathered the technical storms of a rapidly changing IT world and generally stood the test of time. How good is windows? Well if your main competition is a free operating system (Linux) and you are still holding on to your market share, your stuff must be pretty good.

The focus of windows 3.1 to 2000 was usability, and the results were good. Not a whole lot about the windows user interface has changed since then, and for the most part it "just works". The focus of XP was security and, again contrary to some gripers, the security problems were mostly fixed, I don't think I've had a virus since 2004, despite having some pc's that ran naked on the internet (without anti-virus protection). The hype of Vista seemed to be visual design - and not usability, so a lot of users like me went "pfffff". I hope the next version of windows goes back to the basics and focuses on the daily needs of us users to help us do what we do a little faster and with fewer frustrations.

Here's my list of the top 20 things i want windows to do that it doesn't do for me now.

1. File and Folder management: Make folders work like tags so that a program/file can be tagged and indexed in multiple folders.
2. Have a filing system wizard that helps users develop a proper hierarchical filing system and that creates desktop or menu links automatically to the most used folders.
Imagine this: your files are always tagged by your own filing system and with one click on your desktop, the files and folders on it fly back to their proper resting places.
Imagine this: never having to tell windows where to save a file. - it already knows.
3. User security: make groups and permissions and program access controls more user friendly. Sure these options exist but right now only professional sys admins can make them work.
Imagine this: simply by putting something in a "parents" folder, it is only accessible to users who are in the group "parents".
Imagine this: by default your files are safe even if someone steals your computer/laptop.
4. Make it the default to place programs and user data on separate drive partitions. (keep windows on C:\ and user files on D:\
Imagine this: Never having to try to navigate a maze of folders within "documents and settings"
5. Get rid of "my documents" and make give each user a folder with that user name on D:\
Imagine this: everything you make or do goes to one place. Including the temp folder and any other folders that contain user generated data.
6. Have an automatic and easier! to use external backup system.
7. Improve the files explorer to have a thumbnail preview of folder contents on mouseover.
8. Make an excellent todo manager that works online and offline and bundle it with the next windows.
9. Make windows check for and prevent common hardware problems.
10. End hardware conflicts! Video cards, sound cards, controllers and memory devices should work right the first time and every time.
11. Prevent system slowdowns.
12. Run for 10 years without a reinstall.
13. Run continuously for 12 months without a system restart.
14. Be able to export all your programs and settings to another computer with one click.
15. Keep user files in sync across two or more computers.
16. Make home networking a 100% "plug and play" experience.
17. Allow open source developers to easily develop extensions and utilities.
18. Have a clipboard manager that will run all the time and allow a person to cut A,B and C, and then paste A,B, and C (in that order).
19. Improve Task Manager to prevent spy ware and bloatware by ensuring that users know (and understand the purpose of) ALL the programs running on their computer.
20. An online software/hardware quality management system that end users can see.
Imagine that: all those defects and bug reports that my PC sends to Microsoft HQ become visible statistics that will help you avoid buying the next dud software.
Imagine that: you know upfront that 40% of people who installed program A could not get it to work properly (out of the box).
21. Start up in less than 60 seconds.
22. Use less RAM. Lets get back to the days when you could run windows with only 256MB of RAM.

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