42 Things I HATE about Windows 7

Almost every review I’ve read about Windows 7 praises it for “improvements”, so naturally, I was excited to try it out, as I am with every new version of Windows.  Up until Windows 7, I’d never been disappointed over all.  VISTA was still better than XP (but not by much as they screwed up a lot of the UI (search, in particular), but the security and reliability pushed it over the top for me to call it “good” overall).  When I downloaded the beta bits of Windows 7 through my MSDN subscriptions and installed it in a VM, I didn’t like what I saw.  After messing with it for a week, I let it go and decided I’d wait for the final release (the RTM) to see if they’d improved any of the user interface elements that I didn’t like.  Unfortunately, they didn’t.  I downloaded the RTM in Early August and went ahead and installed it on my primary machine (since I’m a developer, I’m going to have to be on top of the latest OS anyway).

Update:  In response to the hate mail:  These are lists of opinions (plus some facts to back up some of them).  If you disagree, that’s fine (though, you can’t disagree with the facts part of this).  Feel free to waste your time sending me hate mail. I will read it, laugh at it, then delete it.  I don’t care if you disagree and if you call me names you only make yourself look bad.  If you have a constructive comment to make (even if you disagree), we’ll all appreciate it and I’ll publish it in the comments section.  If you just can’t deal with someone not liking your fav OS, then read this:  13 Things I Like about Windows 7

Things I really hate about Windows 7:

(Many of these can be reconfigured manually, many cannot.  I’m not listing all of the fixes here.  And, not all of it is bad.  See this: 13 Things I Like about Windows 7)

1. Quick Launch and ALL my quick launch icons are GONE! (Get your Quick Launch bar back under Windows 7)
2. TaskBar is set to group similar programs together (did not carry over my preferences from Vista of NOT doing this).
3. Start Menu… We’re now FORCED into the FisherPrice style start menu that they introduced in XP, but we could always set it back to the better "Classic" start menu.  It’s just freaking GONE now!!!  Now, it takes many more clicks (and now slides) to get to my program icons.  Less productive. 

Windows 7 Classic Start Menu (getting it back)

4. UAC — It no longer warns of important things that could harm my computer.  Thanks a lot for all those people that complained about IMPORTANT notifications.  Now my system is LESS secure.  UAC never bothered me.  It rarely came up and when it did, it was important, with the possible exception of when I’m in task manager and click "Show Processes from all users".  It did NOT come up that often people.
   1. Manual Fix:  Open start menu, type UAC, then move the slider up to the top.  Now your Windows 7 installation is as secure as your Vista installation was.
5. Network tab of Resource monitor:  I’ve just discovered that my virtual networks for VMWare that were already installed are now NOT SHOWING!  This could be seriously bad… could break VMWare.  I’ll have to try it out, may have to reinstall and re-setup all of my NAT settings… if I can remember what they were… a MAJOR pain.
   1. Update:  I ended up upgrading VMWare, which did lose my NAT settings.
6. From "Performance" tab of task manager, clicked on "Resource Monitor" and it showed for a split second (it was immediately placed BEHIND the task manager).  Why?  (bug, not a feature)
7. Still has the same problem as in Vista… occasionally, the mouse forgets where it is and resets near the bottom of the screen.  Very annoying! (bug, not a feature)
8. TaskBar SUX royally!  Here’s an explanation:  http://csharpner.blogspot.com/2009/10/whats-wrong-with-windows-7s-task-bar-or.html  Get your quick launch bar back with these instructions:   Get your Quick Launch bar back under Windows 7
9. Left pane in Windows Explorer (not "Internet" Explorer… "Windows" Explorer).
   1. After opening "My Computer", I was horrified to find my tree view was gone!  Vista was bad enough where the tree view was kind of hidden in a toolbar and had to discover on your own to click the upper edge of the toolbar to drag it up to the top to hide the ridiculous crap they had in there by default.  There does not seem to be a way to get the tree view back.  This is REALLY REALLY REALLY BAD!  Sure, "Computer" is there, which is essentially the tree view, but it’s the 4th item down, under "Favorites", which I will never use from there and don’t want there, "Libraries", which is something new… I may or may not use or like this, but I don’t want it there right now, and "Homegroup", which I don’t want there.  The left pane is for drives and folder trees ONLY!!!  I have no use for anything else there.  So now, "Computer" is way down on the list.  Way too much white space on that left pane too.  "Network" is below "Computer".  I don’t want it there.  Too easy to accidentally click on, then have to wait forever for it to gather info.  A waste of time.
   2. "Libraries" on left pane:  I didn’t use those things in Vista from December 2006 until yesterday (8/7/2009) and I have no use for them here.  I have files.  I have folders.  I store my stuff where I need it.  These vague things like "Music", "Pictures", and "Videos" do not know where I store my stuff and I’m never sure "where" these things point.  I have multiple, physical drives.  Windows 7 can’t possibly know where I need these files stored, therefore those virtual, undefined groupings are completely useless to me.
10. Start Menu:  It now takes LONGER to get to a program icon, because not only do I still have to open each folder branch, but I have to continuously scroll in this tiny area that’s only a FRACTION of the size of the classic menu for all my program folders.  I have a LOT of software installed (I’m a developer). 
    

    Windows 7 Classic Start Menu (getting it back, sort of)

11. Explorer:  When driving down into folders, the poorly designed tree view on the left no longer expands to that folder… It’s out of sync.  I’m wondering if they were smoking crack when they trashed this once, totally useful program.  Here’s how to get the tree view working properly (mostly):  Windows 7 Explorer: Getting the tree view back
12. When selecting different themes, it keeps restoring Thunderbird from it’s minimized state… annoying.
13. Ribbon bars!  YUCK!  The horrible MS Office 2007 ribbon bars have escaped from the confines of MS Office and are now running rampant on many other programs built into Windows 7.  MSPaint for one, WordPad for another.  Windows Movie Maker is gone, but you can download Windows Live Movie Maker (with many features stripped (no more HD!!!)) and it too uses that horrendous ribbon bar interface.  Come on Microsoft!  Stick with STANDARDS!!!
    1. Update:  Microsoft has finally added HD support to the new Windows Live Movie Maker, but it’s still a separate download and it’s still missing many features.  Read the next item below.
14. Windows Movie Maker got REMOVED?!?!?!?!?!  WTH???
1. http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/video/articles/22658.aspx
2. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/movie-maker.aspx
3. http://www.microsoft.com/singapore/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/moviemaker.mspx
4. Windows Live Movie Maker: http://download.live.com/moviemaker
5. Theoretically, you can copy the Windows Movie Maker installed program off a Vista install onto a W7 install and it just works:  http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/GettingReadyforWindows7/thread/1ac049eb-9ea0-483a-8f43-24db3cb23f99
1. Update:  I’ve done this and it works, but many of the CODECS are now missing.
15. The background on the login page could only possibly be chosen by teenage girls.  If frilly, flowery nature artwork is not your taste (in other words, if you have any testosterone running through your veins), it appears you have to hack the registry to change this.   But, I’ve yet to find a set of instructions that actually works.  I’ve found plenty of instructions, but so far, none of them have worked.  Please, if you choose to post some instructions here, don’t do it until you’ve tested it yourself and confirmed it works.  When I find out how to do it (or if one of you posts a working list of steps), I’ll post it here.  Yes, there are some programs floating around in the wild that supposedly do it, but that’s generally a bad idea as you’re exposing your data’s security to that application.  I recommend living with the completely unmasculine image until there’s a manual fix available.
16. Windows Live OneCare (which I’ve paid for for a full year of protection) is NOT supported in Windows 7, and I was required to uninstall it before upgrading (but was not told that I could NOT put it back on!!!)  http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/activation/oc_eol_guidance.htm
17. Windows Mobile Sync Center:  Still Sux!  Can’t sync my Windows Mobile 6.0 cell phone.  2 sync partnerships exist on my cell phone (one for my work PC and one for my home PC).  NEITHER of which work.  After much ado, I got it working on both XP Pro at work and Vista at home, then they both stopped working within a week of each other and have never started back… not even after the W7 "up"grade.  Mobile sync still seems to be a hit or miss technology that Microsoft still hasn’t gotten right.
18. Can’t create folders on the desktop.  Right-click on desktop and choose "New" then "Folder" and nothing happens.  Oh Wait!  After opening Windows Explorer and browsing to "Desktop", 2 new folders are indeed there, but they’re NOT showing up on the desktop!  Must hit F5 to refresh the desktop before they show.  This seems to be an intermittent problem.
19. While browsing into the desktop from Windows Explorer, I deleted a folder from the desktop and it still showed.  I had to hit F5 to refresh.  This is likely related to the problem reported in the prior item above.
20. After hitting refresh to get a new folder to show on the desktop, I then renamed it, then tried to open it and got the following error:   Apparently, I have to hit refresh (F5) after renaming the folder too.  I renamed it to "Cell Phone Video", but it shows as "New folder" in the message box and also shows as "New folder" on the desktop.  Hitting refresh (F5) on the desktop updated the display of the folder name to the right name and I can now open it.  Wondering how things like this made it all the way through to RTM.  Obviously, Microsoft doesn’t have a proper check list of things to validate before releasing new software.  This seems to be an intermittent problem too.
21. Playing MP4 videos (great that it does it now!), I have no control over Windows Media player… can’t resize, can’t close… no response.   Right clicking on Task bar and choosing "close window" does nothing.  Had to force it closed with Task Manager.
    1. Update:  After a month or so of this problem, it just went away.
22. Starting Windows Media Player from the start menu and dragging and dropping an MP4 file onto it causes it to immediately stop responding.  No video… just a white window with all the controls on it.
    1. Update:  This too seems to have fixed itself after a month or so.
23. After copying 66 MP4 files from my cell phone into a folder on my hard drive, it only showed 6 of them in the folder.  I had to hit F5 (this is many minutes after it was done).
24. Although it’s certainly an improvement that Windows 7 can play MP4’s now, it does NOT play the sound in them.
    1. Update:  Again, after a month or so, this one started working.
25. Windows Media Player overlays the controls and title ON TOP OF the video!!!  Not good!
26. Monday morning, attempted to remote control via Remote Desktop… It said my password was not valid… Not true.  Hours later (11:50 am), I tried again and got in, this time to a freshly booted desktop (I had many programs open last night and did not reboot).  There was a notice informing me that the system had recovered from an unexpected reboot.
    1. As it turns out, if someone tries to remote control your computer from outside, it crashes with a Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD).  All the remote user has to do is initiate a connection… not even attempt to log in.
    2. It was further discovered that choosing "Switch User" immediately kills Windows 7 with the ancient BSOD.  I only saw this ONCE in Vista, now I see it daily.
27. Can’t remote control from LogMeIn.com.  Said password was wrong.  Also, not true.  I was eventually blocked from my work IP address.  This could be the fault of LogMeIn though.
    1. Update:  I’ve received an update or two from LogMeIn and it now works.  Let’s call this a LogMeIn problem, which makes this list “41 things I hate about Windows 7” 🙂
28. Randomly, a running app button on the taskbar will pop up its context menu (right-click menu) and won’t go away.  I have to click on a blank spot on the taskbar to make it go away.  Clicking around inside my apps doesn’t do it.
29. Screwy sizing of taskbar buttons:
    1. 
    2. Look at the lack of a gap and apparently overlap between the Calendar button and the reminders button.  Oh! and same deal between the 2 FireFox icons on the upper row.
30. Logged out and got a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death).  This seems to happen frequently when either switching user logins (My wife and I have separate Windows accounts) and about 30% of the time when I’m remoting in to my account and my wife was already logged in.  Vista and XP handle this just fine.
    1. Update:  It seems to BSOD now during Remote Desktop initiation, even when there has been NO OTHER USER using the machine.
31. VMWare 5.5 won’t start.  HD rattles a bit and cursor spins for a short while, but then…. NOTHING.
    1. Update:  VMWare 6.5.2 seems to work just fine.  Let’s call this a VMWare incompatibility, which brings this list down to “40 things I hate about Windows 7”.
32. Was asked to set up "family safety" after 5 days of using the OS:
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33. "Minimize" selection is gone from context menu (right-click menu) from running taskbar app buttons.
34. "Maximize" selection is gone from context menu (right-click menu) from running taskbar app buttons.
35. "Restore" selection is gone from context menu (right-click menu) from running taskbar app buttons.
36. "Move" selection is gone from context menu (right-click menu) from running taskbar app buttons.
37. "Size" selection is gone from context menu (right-click menu) from running taskbar app buttons.
38. Windows 95 – Vista, to launch multiple instances of an app from the quick launch bar, you’d just click the icon once for each instance you wanted running.  In Windows 7’s "super" bar, the 1st click starts the app, the 2nd click minimizes it, the 3rd restores, and back and forth like that.  You actually CAN launch multiple instances, but it’s NOT intuitive and to demonstrate, I won’t tell you how. 🙂
39. Search:  OMG!!!  This is so horribly bad!  It was really bad in Vista, now it’s even WORSE!  Look, all I want to do is right-click a folder and choose "search", then enter my criteria (file/folder name, contents, size, date) and get results in a search results pane from the search window with the paths to each item and the item name, date, type , size.  That was simple and straight forward.  Now, I have to browse INTO the folder I want to search, then use the ambiguous search bar in the upper-right corner.  This is cumbersome, confusing, and difficult.  It also replaces the contents of the folder contents pane with the search results.  Now, if you drag a shortcut out of the search results onto your desktop, it’s not a shortcut directly to the file or folder, it’s a shortcut back INTO the search results?!?!?!?  This is very aggravating!
40. Trying to open more than one instance of "My Computer" seems to be impossible.  You have use the one instance to open a drive or a folder so that you’re not on "my computer" before you can open another one.  I’m pretty sure this was working properly and has only recently started happening.
41. The main system volume keeps resetting itself to zero.
42. Can no longer push a window’s title bar’s upper edge above the screen’s top edge.  It’s forced back down.
43. Can’t drag icons into the StartUp folder anymore because the new Fisher-Price style start menu doesn’t expand folders as you’re dragging icons over them.  Now I have to first, open the start menu, then programs, then scroll (because it’s too small now), then right-click the folder and choose open or explore.  Then drag the icon into the open folder, then close it.  Again, decreased productivity… takes longer.
44. I have explicitly set Windows XP, then Windows Vista, and now my “ugpraded” Vista to W7 has lost the setting again!  That is, I have specifically told Windows NOT TO AUTOMATICALLY INSTALL UPDATES because many times it reboots my computer without asking!  Yet again, Windows 7 has turned it on without asking my permission and yet again, I have lost work.
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45. “Run As” is gone.  Well, it isn’t actually gone, but you have to do something completely unintuitive to get it.  This feature is important when a piece of software can’t run under the current user context because of security concerns.  This has cost me real time in my real job.  To demonstrate how unintuitive it is, I won’t reveal how to do it here.  But, the very fact that I’ve made available the fact that it is possible, makes it that much easier.  If the menu item isn’t even there anymore, how would anyone know that it’s even possible?  This was a VERY bad change.

Not everything about Windows 7 sux though.  See my article on:

13 Things I Like about Windows 7

And again: (In response to the hate mail:  These are lists of opinions (plus some facts to back up some of them).  If you disagree, that’s fine (though, you can’t disagree with the facts part of this).  Feel free to waste your time sending me hate mail. I will read it, laugh at it, then delete it.  I don’t care if you disagree and if you call me names you only make yourself look bad.  If you have a constructive comment to make (even if you disagree), we’ll all appreciate it and I’ll publish it in the comments section.  If you just can’t deal with someone not liking your fav OS, then read this:  13 Things I Like about Windows 7)

Read about the different versions of Windows 7 that are available:

Windows 7 Versions