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Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

theregister.com

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Re: Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

#71

Post by tailspin2019 »

AlexandrB wrote: post #57
neverywhere wrote: post #44

Microsoft is trapped by its own success. It is used all over the place and these old uses are hamstringing its ability to innovate because the new OS may not meet the needs of all of its previous use cases. This has been Microsoft's predicament since probably 2000.

I'm not sure there's any need to "innovate" on the UI in this case. It's a stable, mature product refined for >30 years to suit the desktop use case and billions of people are familiar with it and its metaphors. There's plenty of room for innovation on new features, but why mess with what works UI wise? Seems like change for change's sake.

I agree, especially if you compare it to Apple's approach of small, steady, iterative tweaks to the UI.

You can still keep the OS looking fresh and up-to-date without completely reengineering the UI with every OS generation.

Especially as this "complete reengineering" was so so so much worse each time, with additional "new" layers of (incomplete) UI being added on top of legacy UI that would inexplicably still be there. Simply the worst of all worlds.

I'm a big fan of the old Windows 2000 era UI (which partly, amazingly, still exists today), but I have no desire for it to stay around if they can just come up with something fully cohesive and all-encompassing to *fully* replace it with.

Re: Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

#72

Post by thrower123 »

tailspin2019 wrote: post #61
after_care wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somewhere around .Net Core 2.1 C# became better without windows (although still best with MSSQL at that time.) The donkey still is important for legacy runtimes, which probably have many decades of lifespan left.

> The donkey still is important for legacy runtimes, which probably have many decades of lifespan left. Yep you're quite right, and actually the fast-moving, high-churn transition to .NET Core has been tough on devs still working with (now) "legacy" .NET Framework apps - which as you say, will have many years of lifespan remaining if they still fit the purpose for which they were built. I don't envy those devs (and I…

It is a little frustrating seeing how quickly so many libraries, even first-party Microsoft ones, have ditched support for dotnet 4.8.

There's an entire universe of enterprise stuff that hasn't caught up, or relies on features that have been dropped from future dotnet Core/5/6+ support.

Re: Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

#73

Post by ectopod »

51Cards wrote: post #18
criddell wrote: post #8

All the simplifications that they mentioned seem reasonable to me. Wouldn't Power Users be regular users of things like keyboard shortcuts, AutoHotKey scripts, etc...? For example, 99% of my time is spent in seven or eight applications and use the Win-# key to jump between them. Win-1 is file explorer, Win-2 is web browser, Win-3 is email, etc... For lesser used things I hit the Win key and start typing the name of t…

The loss of the small task bar icons will be annoying to me. I always fight to minimize UI real estate in my workspace, typically selecting the most compact / small offering that is still workable. I strongly prefer my task bar to remain visible but take up minimal space. I've become "used" to this problem though as UIs have all gone more and more finger friendly (read: big) over time. Definitely a good thing for the…

And worse, the apparent inability to move the taskbar to the right hand side of the screen. This takes up less of the valuable vertical space, but shortens the taskbar so small icons are even more important.

Re: Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

#74

Post by criddell »

macspoofing wrote: post #53
criddell wrote: post #8

All the simplifications that they mentioned seem reasonable to me. Wouldn't Power Users be regular users of things like keyboard shortcuts, AutoHotKey scripts, etc...? For example, 99% of my time is spent in seven or eight applications and use the Win-# key to jump between them. Win-1 is file explorer, Win-2 is web browser, Win-3 is email, etc... For lesser used things I hit the Win key and start typing the name of t…

I'm glad it works for you and how you use Windows.

I guess my point is that most users spend very little time actively using Windows. When my computer is on, close to 100% of my time is spent in the browser or Visual Studio or email or some other program that requires Windows. I spend very little time in Settings, the Start menu, the device manager, etc.. I would guess File Explorer is my most used part of Windows.

Re: Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

#75

Post by datavirtue »

Much Ado about nothing. Hit windows key, type a few characters, smash the ENTER key. I never even look at the start menu.

Don't encourage them by starting debates over "features." The start menu should damn near read my mind and get out of the way after serving my needs without requiring that I squint at the screen.

Windows 7 was absolute perfection and then it went downhill after that (lightening fast, typing a character or two presented exactly what I needed every time). They have even broken this core feature several times in Windows 10 by cramming in complexity.

Re: Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

#77

Post by uomopertica »

criddell wrote: post #8

All the simplifications that they mentioned seem reasonable to me. Wouldn't Power Users be regular users of things like keyboard shortcuts, AutoHotKey scripts, etc...? For example, 99% of my time is spent in seven or eight applications and use the Win-# key to jump between them. Win-1 is file explorer, Win-2 is web browser, Win-3 is email, etc... For lesser used things I hit the Win key and start typing the name of t…

> these changes will affect more casual users

Given the long list of stuff they are changing, there’s a high probability that everyone will come out with at least one annoyance. For me it is the impossibility of showing all the icons in the notification area: it’s a small thing, but I can’t stand having them collapsed.

Re: Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

#78

Post by datavirtue »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #38

Honestly Microsoft really needs to stop listening to this vocal minority. - This group is why Windows had a trash terminal that didn't even have a right click menu until recently. - This group is why Windows Explorer is identical to how it was almost 2 decades ago, with the same terrible search and still things like choking when it encounters a folder of MP3s and still unable to handle folders with 1000+ items withou…

I agree...explorer absolutely sucks for what it is. Then I swing over to my other desk and encounter Finder...no wonder Microsoft hasn't bothered to fix explorer...no competition.

Re: Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

#79

Post by yodon »

FridayoLeary wrote: post #36

Windows vista had cute options to make the UI look more like older versions of windows. I thought it looked hideous, but i still wonder why MS don't consider it for Windows 11, to let you "change" it to Windows 7 or Xp.

The cost to test, support, internationalize, and document those variants would dwarf whatever "value" they might provide.
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