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PowerToys – open-source Windows utilities

fourth-wall.co.uk

21–30 of 336 posts

Re: PowerToys – open-source Windows utilities

#21

> It was first introduced for Windows 95, I had no idea it was there for that long! Honestly, from their perspective it probably makes sense to keep it separate from the main OS if they like keeping it open source.

That wouldn't stop them from shipping it by default.

Re: PowerToys – open-source Windows utilities

#23
post #12

Isn't it ironic that the operating system called "Windows" offers one of the worst window management user experiences?

Can you explain your claim?

For me, Windows 11 has one of the best window management experiences out of the box, far ahead of MacOS and in line Linux.

The ease of resizing, snapping and tiling windows out of the box is really well implemented in Windows 11 so I really don't get your claim.

Re: PowerToys – open-source Windows utilities

#25

Many, if not most of these tools contain functionality that is built into other major OSes, and had been for a long time. I don't really understand why Microsoft doesn't include them by default.

I actually think it's bad for an OS to include too many features out of the box. Basically every modern platform has already gone too far in this direction, making computers more difficult for casual users to understand.

Vendors should include only the bare essentials, then let users who want more add their own extras.

Imagine an OS similar to the original Macintosh, or maybe early versions of iOS, but with add-ons that can add features to the global UI. New users have a basic system with easily-understood behaviors, and experienced users can enable the features they need.

In an alternate universe where I believed it was possible to compete with the major vendors, this is the platform I would build...

Re: PowerToys – open-source Windows utilities

#27

Many, if not most of these tools contain functionality that is built into other major OSes, and had been for a long time. I don't really understand why Microsoft doesn't include them by default.

Considering the 2nd most used desktop OS is MacOS and you can’t even maximise a window properly out of the box…

Double clicking any unused portion of the title bar will maximize a window within it's current space without going full-screen (the green button). It's not the most intuitive way to do it, but that's a far cry from being impossible out of the box.

Re: PowerToys – open-source Windows utilities

#29

Also no built in screen recording software, wtf? 2022 at least gifs pls

Have you tried looking it up? There literally is a built-in screen record functionality.[1]

I swear, half of negative comments here about Windows are FUD from users who either never used it longer than 5 minutes and don't bother looking stuff up.

[1] https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/how-to-video-screen-captu...

Re: PowerToys – open-source Windows utilities

#30

> It was first introduced for Windows 95, I had no idea it was there for that long! Honestly, from their perspective it probably makes sense to keep it separate from the main OS if they like keeping it open source.

Its a little more complicated. While its true that there was a Powertoys apllication for win95 the current one is not related to that. It's more like a spiritual successor with not direct heritage.

The first release of the current applicaiton was 2019. The wiki article is quite detailed: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_PowerToys

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