On 5/22/2012 9:13 AM, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
> Macs computers are the first laptops reliable enough to be handled as
> an appliance - e.g. the sleep mode works well enough that I can casually lift
> the laptop off the couch while watching TV, open it, google for something, and
> close it, all within seconds. I _never_ got suspend to work reliably enough with
> other platforms.


Windows 7 is better at suspend/resume than any previous Windows, but it still 
loses its shares randomly doing that, and needs rebooting.

Win7 has enough problems that I'm forced to keep my old WinXP machine operating:

1. can't run 16 bit programs

2. still sometimes fails when in a tight loop creating and deleting an exe file, 
even though disabling Defender helps a lot

3. erratic issues with sharing directories. Sharing was simple with XP - one 
click to share, another to unshare. Win7 has a maze of dialog boxes and 
alternate ways of doing it, some work, some don't, and no feedback on whether it 
works or not.

On May 23, 2012, at 1:04 PM, Walter Bright <newshound2@digitalmars.com> wrote:
> 
> 3. erratic issues with sharing directories. Sharing was simple with XP - one click to share, another to unshare. Win7 has a maze of dialog boxes and alternate ways of doing it, some work, some don't, and no feedback on whether it works or not.

I have a terrible time figuring out how to do anything "advanced" on Win7 compared to XP. The missing menu bar is a problem too. In terms of overall usability, XP is still the best Windows IMO.

On Wed, 23 May 2012 16:04:30 -0400, Walter Bright  
<newshound2@digitalmars.com> wrote:

> Win7 has enough problems that I'm forced to keep my old WinXP machine  
> operating:
>
> 1. can't run 16 bit programs

Really, have no sympathy there :)

-Steve

On Tue, 22 May 2012 06:54:23 -0400, Nick Sabalausky  
<SeeWebsiteToContactMe@semitwist.com> wrote:
>
> Oh, so it's that time of the week again already? Time for MS to change  
> their
> minds once again on which is cool and uncool: straight vs curved?
>
> Egads, it's like they're spinning their wheels just for the sake of  
> spinning
> them. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The computer industry  
> has
> become the goddamn fasion industry.
>
> Win3: Rounded edges! Couldn't have those before!
>
> 95: Rounded is so old. Stright-edged (*cough* like Win1&2 *cough*) is
> classy!
>
> XP: Straight edges and flat colors are sooo old-fasioned! Roundess,  
> curves
> and gradients are in! ("Yea, whatever...Luna: Off, Classic: On")
>
> Vista: Transperency is hip and modern! More curves! More shading!
>
> Win8: Transparency, curves, gradients and shading are sooo old-fasioned!
> Stright edges and flat colors are in!
>
> FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!
>
> It's all change just for the sake of fucking change. Why most of the  
> world
> seems to be so chronically blind to it is beyond me.
>
> And then there's MS's "between-OS" styles-of-the-week, like in the late  
> 90's
> when MS decided all their non-OS releases for one year should use black  
> menu
> bars instead of system-default.
>
> Make up your fucking mind, MS.

This is one of the funniest things I've read in a while.  I know you hate  
Macs, but this would make a great Mac commercial.

Although I would replace Vista in your narrative with Win7.  Vista was a  
horrible abortion that should never have seen the light of day.

-Steve

On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 2:23 PM, Sean Kelly <sean@invisibleduck.org> wrote:

> On May 23, 2012, at 1:04 PM, Walter Bright <newshound2@digitalmars.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > 3. erratic issues with sharing directories. Sharing was simple with XP -
> one click to share, another to unshare. Win7 has a maze of dialog boxes and
> alternate ways of doing it, some work, some don't, and no feedback on
> whether it works or not.
>
> I have a terrible time figuring out how to do anything "advanced" on Win7
> compared to XP. The missing menu bar is a problem too. In terms of overall
> usability, XP is still the best Windows IMO.


You can usually get the menu bar to appear if you hit Alt.  I have no idea
why Microsoft decided hiding it and only showing it if you hit a magic key
was a good idea but they did.

On Wed, 23 May 2012 16:29:36 -0400, Steven Schveighoffer  
<schveiguy@yahoo.com> wrote:

> On Wed, 23 May 2012 16:04:30 -0400, Walter Bright  
> <newshound2@digitalmars.com> wrote:
>
>> Win7 has enough problems that I'm forced to keep my old WinXP machine  
>> operating:
>>
>> 1. can't run 16 bit programs
>
> Really, have no sympathy there :)

BTW, you should be able to do this with XP mode.

-Steve

On 5/23/2012 1:23 PM, Sean Kelly wrote:
> On May 23, 2012, at 1:04 PM, Walter Bright<newshound2@digitalmars.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> 3. erratic issues with sharing directories. Sharing was simple with XP -
>> one click to share, another to unshare. Win7 has a maze of dialog boxes and
>> alternate ways of doing it, some work, some don't, and no feedback on
>> whether it works or not.

[ WinXP would superimpose a hand image over a shared directory. In Win7, there's 
no indication. ]

>
> I have a terrible time figuring out how to do anything "advanced" on Win7
> compared to XP. The missing menu bar is a problem too. In terms of overall
> usability, XP is still the best Windows IMO.

I find the new Win7 to be much too clever. For example, if you move a window up
against the top edge of the screen, it switches to full screen. Aggh. I know why 
that was done, but it's just tailfins and taillights in the shape of jet 
engines. I prefer utilitarian interfaces.

Speaking of which, it annoys me that pdf files in a folder *still* won't use an 
icon that is the first page of the pdf. I really like that my ipod does that - 
but the kindle and windows won't.

Also bad is although you can specify a "folder.jpg" as the icon for a folder, it 
shows it as a distorted trapezoid!! Gah. Too darn clever for me.

On 5/23/2012 1:04 PM, Walter Bright wrote:
> On 5/22/2012 9:13 AM, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
>> Macs computers are the first laptops reliable enough to be handled as
>> an appliance - e.g. the sleep mode works well enough that I can casually lift
>> the laptop off the couch while watching TV, open it, google for something, and
>> close it, all within seconds. I _never_ got suspend to work reliably enough with
>> other platforms.
>
>
> Windows 7 is better at suspend/resume than any previous Windows, but it still
> loses its shares randomly doing that, and needs rebooting.

Oh, another weirdity shows up sometimes after resuming from sleep. Text windows 
revert to 24*80. You can resize them, but if you move them they snap back to 
24*80. Have to reboot to stop that.

On 5/23/2012 2:57 PM, Steven Schveighoffer wrote:
> On Wed, 23 May 2012 16:29:36 -0400, Steven Schveighoffer <schveiguy@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 23 May 2012 16:04:30 -0400, Walter Bright <newshound2@digitalmars.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Win7 has enough problems that I'm forced to keep my old WinXP machine operating:
>>>
>>> 1. can't run 16 bit programs
>>
>> Really, have no sympathy there :)
>
> BTW, you should be able to do this with XP mode.
>
> -Steve

I checked that, but there was some other issue with that that made it useless.

On 5/22/2012 2:55 PM, Nick Sabalausky wrote:
> I'm sure Google Docs is fast(-ish) on that 64-bit multi-core 8GB RAM, SSD
> storage machine, but when it takes that kind of hardware just to run a
> what's really just a basic word processor, you know something has gone
> horribly, horibly wrong.

Heh, no way I'd use a laggy text editor.

Also, given the sporadic arbitrary random delays in my internet connection, 
there's no way I'd buy into heavily using an interactive app that relies on a 
100% connection.