Windows 7/8/10 - Simplicity Lost

How Microsoft Killed the Idea Keep It Simple /Home /Professional /Papers /Windows 7 Contents MAC Copycat Customizations Internet Explorer 8 Internet Explorer 10 Windows 8 Windows 10 KIS, Keep It Simple, is the highest design principle. How did Microsoft get it so wrong with Windows 7 and Vista? I am so annoyed with Microsoft I just have to speak out in my own simple way. I am also going to describe solutions to some of the problems Microsoft created for my use of the computer. These may be helpful to you. I will be adding to this page from time to time to help my own memory and anyone else who may find this page and appreciate what is suggested. The initial point I want to address is why did Microsoft create so many problems with Windows 7 and especially Vista. Windows 7 is actually an improvement compared to Vista but continues the same trend. I suppose we got spoiled with using Windows XP for so long and became very comfortable with it. Windows XP was not an easy an adjustment to make when it was released. This is my biggest complaint. Everything I was familiar with doing got changed to being done differently or not available at all. I am very particular about the way I want my computer to work. I use a lot of customizations which make the computer easier for me to use. I know others have different preferences so it is nice Microsoft provides plenty of options.

MAC Copycat Microsoft is making Windows look more and more like MAC, which infuriates me. I don't want to use something that looks like a MAC. I have absolutely nothing against a MAC but I am using a PC. Knowing how to use one of them is hard enough, I am not going to learn how to use both. I don't want my PC changed to work like a MAC! Microsoft marketing thinks that if they make the PC like a MAC they will get people to use a PC instead of a MAC. Wrong! In the same way I want my PC to stay like a PC and I am going to use a PC, the MAC people are not going to change from using their MAC. I don't blame them. I firmly believe you should stick with what you know. Apple is also wasting their time trying to get PC people to use their MAC. However, if Microsoft keeps creating so many problems for their desktop users, they just might succeed in pushing people to try a MAC! It is a very insecure or incompetent person who changes from using the type of computer they know for something different. Perhaps they have changed careers and now associate with a different group. These constant unnecessary changes to attract people from the MAC are alienating the committed Microsoft customer and they are not going to get the MAC customer to change. I wish I could tell them to stop it already. They aren't listening. I suppose the battle is for those who are not committed to one or the other yet. My observation is that people end up in groups. For example, artists tend to use MAC and scientists tend to use a PC. This is not a rule but a generalization. When you hang around artists who use MAC then you should use a MAC and vice versa.

Customizations I am going to describe how to customize things in Windows 7 which I don't like about Windows. Many of these changes return Windows to its former functionality. I have used many of these custom changes for a long time but they are done differently in Windows 7. I want raw performance from my computer and I dislike artsy animations and cutesy graphics. I want square windows and simple colors. They draw faster and don't slow my computer down. If you like all the nonsense, good for you. If you don't, then here is how to get rid of it. Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Performance Information and Tools, Adjust visual effects Click Adjust for best performance Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization Click Windows Classic and keep it simple Click Desktop Background, Solid Colors, pick your pleasure. I like Royal Blue. Click Window Color (and Apperance), pick your pleasure. I dislike Tahoma, it is too pinched, I like Verdana. I dislike anything less than 10 point, it is too small. I am older now and my eyesight isn't great. I discuss Windows Display Personalization in greater depth in a separate paper.

Internet Explorer 8 I really dislike the short-lived IE 7 and the current IE 8. I had just figured out how to get maximum performance from IE 6 and they change it. In particular, I dislike icons and buttons, they just confuse me. I prefer the simple text menu. I want maximum real estate for my explorer window. I had learned how to use only three lines for the system out of my explorer window. I even learned how to combine the Address bar with the File menu. I had to give up my File menu and use their stupid icons and buttons. I now have to give up four lines from my explorer window and two of them are extra big. Grrr... I don't like tabbed browser windows either. I liked opening web sites in a new window. I suppose you think I am just an elderly person who isn't hip with the times. Grrr... Internet Explorer 10 This paper was originally written in 2010. Now it is 2013. I finally learned to get along with the changes to Windows 7 and I really started to like it. I even got used to tabbed browsing and I learned to make good use of it. I am now using Internet Explorer 10 and it is a little better. I now have only three lines used by the system again. After constant forced changes by Google, Microsoft, and others, I finally got used to some icons. NOW! They changed the way a page displays. Instead of my nice 3D boxes and lines, I get flat ugly lines! Windows 8 Now, Windows 8 has been released. It just got even worse. I am so mad I could spit. Where do I begin to lament Microsoft marketing and engineering? Maybe the engineering people are overruled by the marketing people. The obvious place to begin is with the loss of the quick and simple primary user interface, the desktop and the Start Menu. After I click through the hideous cartoon picture of the Seattle Needle I am confronted with TILES! I hate it. The primary Apps are hideous screen hogs with a brand new hideous interface paradigm designed for tablets and phones with small touch screens. I finally made it to something like the old desktop and the familiar apps. Then I discovered another travesty of eviscerating the user interface. I can't select my screen colors, my preferred font, and a readable font size. I understand why they shot their faithful desktop users in the foot. Microsoft must make big gains in mobile and tablets or they will become a niche player, just like IBM. IBM could just not grasp the PC it launched into prominence. However, we must not forget, desktop is a big niche that isn’t going away but the big future is in mobile and tablets. IBM and mainframes/minicomputers never went away and they do a thriving business. Microsoft should be happy with what they have instead of killing the established base to jump onto the new mobile bandwagon. They can chase the new golden goose but don't kill their faithful desktop base. Currently, they are in danger of killing their desktop market with Windows 8 because it is trying to transform the desktop into a tablet. Very BAD move. It is true, they do need to find a way to leverage their desktop prowess but this is a mistaken method for me as a desktop user. I am FURIOUS! Windows 10 Now we have Windows 10! What can I say. You and I knew what was coming. They partially corrected some of the problems but made a lot more. I dislike the new Edge browser for several reasons. I prefer the original IE because it has the option to select your own default font. I hate the new Edge because it doesn't! Edge forces you to use a serif font. However, EDGE does support the native display of PDF files. It doesn't support using my own home page in new tabs! Edge represents more dumbing down of the user experience for the experienced user. Very bad choice! I like Verdana because it is easier to read. I extremely dislike the default Times New Roman or whatever it is in Edge. Why is Microsoft set on forcing everyone to the same new replacement display choices. I appreciate the options that existed in earlier Windows. I don't see that Edge offers me anything I care about except a crude PDF display. I can't even edit HTML from the browser like I can with IE. I am also annoyed with Windows 10 because you can't specify your display font for general purposes. Very annoying! Shall I go on? This is only in the first ten minutes. The font of the start menu does not conform to any font size options Windows 10 provides so of course it is 9 point on a dark background you can't control. Even Windows Explorer and other programs do not always use the font size you specify for ease of viewing. Since Windows 10 limits you to a font size selection only and does not fully support your selection in all circumstances I had to fall back to using the 125% DPI selection. I went back to Media Player because there is a special enhancement I appreciate for slowing down the playback speed. Would these options be available, if I did a clean install? I checked and they are available... for now. We should be able to have a classic display/use option! It is difficult for people to make changes. This is a particular problem when you spend many hours using your computer and get familiar with a certain look and way of doing things. No wonder many people are sticking with Windows XP and I suspect many will stick with Windows 7. Marketing wants you to be sucked in by all the hype and the allure of voice communication with your computer. I don't want to talk to my computer! I don't want my computer to talk to me either! These options will never work in a crowded office. I have installed Windows 10 at home to become familiar with its use. I am generally pleased with the results but it is a big change from Windows 7 that I depended on previously and use at work exclusively. W10 is much faster in startup, shutdown, and restart. Applications also load more quickly. I am not pleased with the changes in the UI but this is what we have to live with. However, I have discovered that W10 uses a new movie player and it does not work with thousands of WMV files I use. You must open them with the old Media Player that is still available. I prefer the old Media Player because it has more features than the new movie player. I prefer IE to the new Edge browser, again because it has more features. This seems to be a common pattern with the new UI and applications. There are a lot less features and options. A website discussion asked: How do you think users will respond to Windows 10? I responded: I had a bad experience with the Technical Preview on my Dell computer but the final version worked just fine. The smooth and fast install is great. The faster startup, shutdown, and restart is great. Applications seem to start faster. However, the Start menu stinks because you can't find all installed programs without using a text search, if at all. I miss the point and click openness of the old menu for every available program option. There is a generally severe dumbing down of the UI and the new applications. There are fewer and missing options that I depend on. I prefer IE to Edge for some critical features I use. I prefer Media Player to the new movie player. I installed W10 at home to try it out and I will stay with it but I will not change at work until I go through the laborious learning curve and become accustomed to the loss of features. I won't bore you with all the details of the problems I am having. I suspect many users will continue to stay with WXP and W7 until they are dragged kicking and screaming into the brave new world as I have been. The marketing hype, the sexy allure of Cortana, and the embrace of the critics will create a juggernaut. I think it is stupid to talk to my computer and I don't want my computer to talk to me. I guess those of us who use our desktop computer for 8+ hours a day, 6+ days a week, and become highly accustomed to a certain way things work are not of interest to Microsoft. Revised 2015-09-03