We all want XP Pro to continue as "the" Windows OS for years to come. We know that it is stable, we know that we can do fast adjustments to the system, we know that it is compatible with everything you throw at it. Lastly, it's easy to navigate. Let's take for example.
Let's change the following in XP then try to do the same thing in Vista.
1. Right click on My Computer choose Properties and you have immediate access to reducing the amount of space used on the hard drive for System Recovery. (Does not exist in Vista)
Or: Choose Hardware and immediately see Device Manager (Several clicks later Vista shows Device Manager - overkill page)
Or: Choose Automatic Updates. Simple and easy to adjust. (The process, another overkill page in Vista is just plain silly)
Or: Choose Advance - System Startup and Recovery - Settings - Edit and copy the "Boot Loader". (Does not exist in Vista)
The above are fast and simple to do in XP Pro and there are many other tasks that are easily accessible via the "right click" on My Computer that do not exist in Vista.
Windows Browser Tool Bar (XP) Simple: Go up a folder or back and forward, fast and simple.
Windows Browser Tool Bar (Vista) Complex, period. The once easy to see address field is totally different. Clicking names of folders in an ethereal address bar or clicking a drop down menu next to each folder is tedious. Again, "overkill". No one needs four options on how to get to the next folder.
Power Options in XP:
Right click the desktop, choose Properties, Screen Saver then Power Options. Simple dialogue box to choose when to stop all local hard drives, adjust standby and hibernate. (Does not exist in any way, shape or form in Vista - A complex effort to make advanced power adjustments in which hibernate gets deleted in Vista Business to Ultimate)
A major glitch in Vista on many systems is Disk Cleanup. We all like to run Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmentation often. Vista's Disk Cleanup can delete half your hard drive if you do not see the "error dump files logs" before completing the cleanup. Totally disregarded by M.S. and shameful that a Windows Update has not been available to everyone to correct this! Tens of thousands of people around the world have lost their data and any access to the hard drive through conventional means. Outrageous!!!
I could rant about another two dozen user interfaces in Vista that either do not exist or are down right silly or complicated to work with, especially for the average home user.
Microsoft can easily enhance the 3D appearance of XP Pro (no other XP OS compares to Pro) for those who like the Aero effect. But continue to give us the ability to disable all special effects as you have done since XP was released.
I am speaking on behalf of my clients world-wide and myself. Vista is bloated and I bet Windows 7 will also be bloated.
You want to sell 5 times the amount of operating systems then you have in the past year? Then GO BACK TO XP PRO and put a few frills into it but DO NOT change the way users navigate Windows and access tasks. It's just that simple.
Apologize to the world that "forward thinking" went "sideways" on Vista. Bite the proverbial bullet and bring us back to the path you walked us down since Windows 95. Simple, crisp fast and eventually a wonderfully stable XP Pro operating system.
You can hear the shouting around the world, "give us back XP Pro!". It's a resounding shout from all users from every corner of the earth. Make XP prettier if you must, but leave the classic interface intact. Those of us who do not care about "rich user interfaces" can simply click "classic Windows".
Keep this in mind. Most all of us came onboard with Windows 95 and you kept the interface the same from 1994 to 2007. Then someone had a psychedelic party in R&D and created Vista. Bad party, bad idea! Time to regress a bit and make "things right"! We want it, you have the means and the smarts to make a terrible blunder with Vista become a vague memory, just like ME's fast disappearance.
It's OK to make a mistake, it's "mandatory ethics" to own up to that mistake and set things right again.
Like Nike's slogan. "Just do it!"
