Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

Tom Stack — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:50:59 GMT

I would be more interested in hearing more about these WER improvemtents.

What about Windows update driver finder improvements?

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

anonymuos — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:30:52 GMT

Why were Windows Meeting Space and InkBall removed? Were they showcase applets for the P2P API/PNRP/IPv6 and tablet platform?

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

oggyb — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:14:28 GMT

The new set of WER features sound terrific. Assuming it's possible for every software developer to register for these features with the win7 platform, there will be no need to worry about losing work due to a crash ever again.

Of course, one would expect the release version to crash once in a blue moon anyway ;)

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

martinmine — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:31:40 GMT

I really like that you guys bring the Ribbon to other programs than Office! :D

Is the Ribbon coming to Notepad? I really would like an update of that program (Numbers of liner, tabbed browser, ribbon, different support for different languages like PHP/HTML etc)

The new recovery function in Windows really saved me when I had an exam, my computer crashed. I tried recovering with the recoverfunction, and it worked!

Martin

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

Eghost — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:49:07 GMT

Ribbon is fine if you like unforgivably Microsoft still feels as thought it has to be forced on people, there should be options not to have it. That won't happen, Microsoft has licensed the ribbon for free but I don't see a whole lot of companies jumping on that band wagon.

as far as the task bar goes very much improved, but one small annoying "bug" that has plagued the task bar since the inception. When the task bar is placed on the top programs get stuck underneath the task bar, with no way to move them except by unlocking the task bar and moving it out of the way. I would have hopped that Microsoft would have that worked by now.

Jim

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

spivonious — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:48:10 GMT

While I think the Ribbon works wonderfully in Word and Excel, it's just silly in Paint. There just aren't that many commands.

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

pepkaro — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:33:23 GMT

It'd be really interesting to hear from you guys why you decided to drop the application pearl that Office has from the scenic ribbon. Despite criticisms that the ribbon had, one of the things people study UIs really liked was now the upper left corner of your screen was now THE place to throw your mouse if you wanted to access the app's main functions. Open a new app? Bottom left, got that covered. Close the app? Upper right. Access the app's main settings? Now you had the upper left. Yay! More than a few new apps have been developed since then that use this pearl style of upper left menu, and things seemed likely to progress in that direction.

After trying out the beta and experiencing the new menu in paint, I was sad to discover that this great feature wasn't wrapped up into the new interface...the upper left still...closes the app, on double click. Hmm.

I doubt there's any chance that this decision could be reversed before the release...understandable given the scope of these tasks but will be really unfortunate for app developers. We will want to use the new ribbon features - there's lots of cool stuff there. But now devleopers have yet another choice they have to make, in addition to switching to the ribbon: they will have to chose between the office style ribbon and the new style ribbon. People will either implement hacky ways of laying a button over the menu item, and probably screw up aspects of it (such as the pixel-correct placement, the ability to press the button all the way edge of the window, etc) or they will, most likely, stick with the scenic ribbon style button that leaves the old upper left window behavior. This once again sets their app apart from Office, yet again making non-MS document apps immediately different and users of those apps might infer as inferior. Arrugh.

C'mon guys, please, please, please, don't do this to us. We sighed when office had a draggable and moveable menu bar that required an extra thousand lines of code to implement (even though one of the MS newsletters privided some code to simulate it a year or two later). We accepted that C# winforms needed to make the occasional Win32 api call to do some tricky work. We've accepted little compromise here and there all over. Please, please please don't make us do this again for something like the app pearl.

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

cbosdell — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:52:12 GMT

It's great to see these apps finally updated! One that that puzzles me however is .docx support has been added to Wordpad but not .doc? Seems to me the two go hand in hand.

Also notepad is way overdue for an update if only to give it line numbering, multiple undo/redos, optional tabs, etc. A document comparison feature would be most excellent also to find differences between two similar documents!

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

tom5 — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:15:13 GMT

> What about Windows update driver finder improvements?

From what I've seen - Windows Update finally seems to be working how it should be - in addition to finding updates for the Windows itself - it also updates drivers for the hardware.

I think this is critical because - in my experience - from the total population of computer users maybe 5% regularly checks for driver updates for their hardware at the manufacturer's websites.

This functionality in XP was a joke, situation changed a little with Vista, now with W7 I hope it will change dramatically and finally become what it was meant to be. I know manufacturers have a big role to play here but I think Microsoft can encourage them to add drivers to WU/MU.

What about a ribbon UI for explorer?

Asesh — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:25:25 GMT

For example, if I click on a drive then a ribbon would display all the drives related tasks (format, clean up, rename etc), the same goes for folders and files to make things much easier and their corresponding tasks just in front of our eyes w/o having to right click and then go through menus, tabs etc, just like in Office 2007 (word, excel etc) but unfortunately it's pretty much unchanged. And applications like pain and wordpad that are never used have been updated with ribbon UI.

Almost all the computers that I have seen including mine, have Photoshop and Word installed replacing both paint and wordpad.

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

yeehaamcgee — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:26:33 GMT

It is a travesty that the 'pearl' has been moved from the top-left corner. There is no need to be able to double click on the top left corner of a window to close it, the pearl was so much more useful.

Anyway...

I'd like to see the ability to use two mice, simultaneously in windows 7, something which I imagine the multi-touch feature could enable.

There are several things in audio editing applications that could potentially benefit from using two mice, such as timestretching clips. Holding the clip in place with one mouse cursor, while pulling it's start or end point with the other, for example.

Or for selecting the start and end points of regions and so on.

Sure, it would take time to get used to mousing with your left (or right) hand, but these things come with practice.

Another feature I'd have liked to have seen is ustilising panning gestures, using mouse buttons.

For example, holding both mouse buttons down and moving the mouse would pann the document in a similar manner to the multi touch experience.

Anyway, just my 2 cents.

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

d_e — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:45:44 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-8IufkbuD0

Great post as always. Thanks a lot!

The upper left area of ribbon-enabled applications (Paint, Wordpad, Office 14) looks very confusing. Too many buttons. Office 2007 is visually simpler. Are there any plans to simplify this area?

Why aren't sticky notes desktop gadgets?

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

RickyF — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 02:38:09 GMT

I know Microsoft doesn't care and won't change but I hate the Ribbon. I think it is a poor UI that offers a terrible UX as compared with the older, user-configurable menu and toolbars. The Quick Access Toolbar is pathetic, too small and a poorly designed. The Ribbon is bad juju.

re: Notepad & sticky notes

graham.lv — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:40:19 GMT

I would have said that Notepad needs bottom tabs also, but now with the taskbar pop-up previews I have changed my mind. - This will do nicely.

The sticky note design you have is the same as Vista app gadget, except it's been vastly improved.

However, you should probably still be taken out and shot for Sound recorder - this is an upgrade for MP3 - but a HUGE downgrade for the ability of the old version.

*Plus both old & new probably could have included a little 'change your voice' module for man, woman and child - physo, etc. Because otherwise your stuck with MS voices. (For animation, movie-making,etc.)

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

faramond — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:47:22 GMT

I second all the other commenters--the "pearl" or Office button should appear in these applets. If you haven't already, you should read Jensen Harris' post on Fitts' Law. Such an important button/menu *should* occupy a corner of the screen. (The application menu functionality can still be preserved, as in Office 2007, with a right-click and double-click to close.)

Also, although Wordpad and Paint are replaced by many users with more fully-featured applications, please consider that users nowadays, with the net everywhere, work on many machines. I use PCs at work, at off-site work locations, at home, in the coffee shop, at the library, etc. I simply can't--I don't have time or the authority--to install Word or Paint.NET or whatnot on every machine I encounter. Instead, often I find myself forced to use apps that ship with Windows, and their limited functionality really has impaired my ability to work. Increasing their functionality would let me work at distributed locations much more efficiently.

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

sroussey — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:14:25 GMT

The Ribbon needs a search box that will hide all tabs, buttons, menus, etc that are not a match, and with that space show you the matches across tabs (colorizing if needed). It is ridiculous to learn without being able to search for commands and seeing them without any additional user input.

Oh, can we get spell check on these applets and IE? Seriously...

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

Tihiy — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:09:42 GMT

Can you support good old .doc please?

Use the ribbon for Windows Explorer, Folder Options, and Advanced Search!

Martin Gifford — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:19:33 GMT

Windows Explorer, Folder Options, and Search are confusing messes!

I don't like the Ribbon in Office, but it would be great on Windows Explorer, Folder Options, and Advanced Search - all placed under Windows Explorer.

It would put all the customisation and options under our instant control.

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

emmanuelbuah — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:12:34 GMT

!Important

The applet are great but I fear accessibility has been overlook. Anytime I use the calculator, I have to search for it or go launch it. It's a small applet. So is the notes. I would be nice if an applet layer was provided over the desktop where you can add applet just like the gadget side bar(which was always in your face). Thus clicking the gadget/app on the taskbar will slide the applet/gadget layer over the UI with all the applet you add. It's an easy access where I can make calculation and add a note at the same time. A keyboard shortcut will even make it better sliding in the gadget layer.

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

cauleyflower — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:07:16 GMT

I agree with pepkaro, faramond, yeehaamcgee et al. about the ribbon. The 'Application Menu Anchor' should really be in the extreme top-left of a maximised window.

As faramond already mentions, the easiest 4 pixels to reach on your screen with a mouse are the 4 corners. In Windows 7 this gives us: bottom-left for start menu, bottom right to show desktop, top-right to close a maximised application, and top-left SHOULD be used therefore to access the main menu of a maximised application.

The existing menu in the top-left of every window is a relic from Windows 3, and should be removed or replaced with the 'application menu anchor' completely. I know of almost noone that uses any of the restore/move/size/minimize/maximize/close options in the standard windows application menu on the top-left, and therefore this is somewhere where windows 7 could make a useful UI change.

One way that I propose to distinguish whether the icon in the top-left has this additional menu functionality would be to firstly make the application's icon in the top-left larger (perhaps larger than the title bar with some overlap, similar to the way the vista start orb is larger than the vista taskbar). Secondly, the improved application menu that I propose could be further distinguished from a standard application by having a drop-down arrow on its right, similar to that in the existing 'Application Menu Anchor' in the current Windows 7 beta.

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

cauleyflower — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:39:59 GMT

Here are a couple of mock-up proposoals that I v. quickly grafted in 5 mins for something that I think would be a better idea for the 'Application Menu Anchor':

http://www.sensical.net/~s01042/win7/Windows_7%20application_menu_proposal_1.png

http://www.sensical.net/~s01042/win7/Windows_7%20application_menu_proposal_2.png

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

Gamer_Z. — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:39:16 GMT

Sorry, but to be honest I HATE the ribbon. Computer screens are just getting wider, so to move Paint's toolbar from the side (where I have room) to the top makes no sense. Also, I have always thought of Paint as the program you go to for a quick, simple, non-detailed drawing and that if you want to do something that takes more than a minute you should go with GIMP, Photoshop, or some other editing program. Also, the fact that the ribbon is stuck at the top seems to go against your motto of "customer in control". In the last version of Paint and in Office 2003, one could drag and menu whereever he or she wanted, and (in Office 2003) even rearrange the buttons on the toolbars. With the ribbon, you are stuck with Microsoft's layout and have no choices except the "Quick Access Toolbar" which does not even let you change the order of the icons once you put them there. Please at least give us the OPTION of going back to the old toolbars! Oh, and please give WordPad the ability to edit .doc files.

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

Coder24.com — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:37:34 GMT

Hi!

I'm woundering how you people at Microsoft are building the Windows Operating System (OS)?

Are you using any speciall tools or so?

Have a nice day...

improvement idea

cauleyflower — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:14:07 GMT

Please Microsoft take a look at my idea here and make the Ribbon even better:

http://www.windows7taskforce.com/view/2934

A bug in W7 Paint

mundiax — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:45:07 GMT

Hi,

According to the Shortcuts, Escape "Cancels a Selection" while Delete "Deletes a Selection".

If you move an object and then cancel the selection, the object will stay in it's place, I think this is the correct behavior.

Now if you make a new Shape (e.g. Rectangle), pressing Esc and Delete have the same functionality, i.e. the shape is deleted. Instead I think pressing Esc should actually place the shape instead of deleting it (i.e. the same that a single mouse-click would do). Having a key be able to 'place the shape' is especially important if you are using a Tablet PC and precise same-pixel mouse clicks take 1-2 seconds to do.

In short, could you please make the Esc button place the currently drawn/selected shape onto the canvas?

re: Showcasing Windows 7 Platform with Applets

almir_kazazic — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:42:40 GMT

Hi,

is there an api for snt files, how can I read and write to this files?

thnaks