Over at the Gadget Zone Blog, which I like reading quite a bit, there is a listed run down of features that they want in Windows 7. The problem with this is I already have most of these with my current version of Windows Vista..  Let's go through their top 20 and see exactly what is missing and how I answer ALL OF THIS..

"20. Modularised OS"

You are asking for X-Windows and a Windows Manager on top of Windows OS to me it wouldn't be Windows then it would be something like this.. Oh wait I can load this up now, all I need is a *NIX box..

If you are talking about adding and removing windows features however this works just fine for me..

"19. XP Virtual Machine"

Microsoft already thought of this, but okay not everyone needs this, but  why not just download Virtual PC 2007 with Virtual Machine Additions for free or Virtual Server 2007  both are I repeat *FREE DOWNLOADS* on Microsoft's website and just run it inside of Vista at full speed and go full screen when you need to, it shares network resources the mouse cut and paste and everything it's like the BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.. There are no compatibility issues even with 16-bit Windows applications..

"18. New UAC"

Just a question? How is UAC which has been dialed down a lot since service pack 1 any more intrusive than this authentication prompt on Apple's MacOS X. I don't really see many places where UAC is that Apple doesn't have this prompt either..

And if you have an answer for that one... What stops you from going here and turning it off (back to XP's level of security) if you don't like it..

I'd also remind those on a Windows Server network that UAC will never show up if you have a Windows Security Policy on your server as well..

"17. Gaming Mode"

I will concede you have a good idea here, and I think Microsoft actually already has some of this built right in.. If you look in Vista's Games Folder you will notice ESRB ratings which work with parental controls and a saved games folder, plus a performance evaluation of how well the game will run on your CPU.. Your complaint is you can't run Crysis. Well I couldn't either till I spent an extra $300 on a new GPU that had the shader technology built in to run the game at it's full speed etc.. All computers run at different speeds and you can't count on specific graphics hardware being present, so the game adapts to your hardware. It may not look the best, but you do have options. I was really pissed off that I just bought a GeForce 9600 (similar to the old 8800 in terms of power) to only have NVIDIA and ATI bring out new GPUs two weeks later..  To me this should be a marketing thing with the graphics card companies, to let you buy a subscription for hardware updates.. Which includes a green fee for recycling and disposal.. Gamers are rarely dabblers and are committed to the upgrades and the bucks required for the latest Virtual Realism.

If you want safe mode that you suggest, buy a CONSOLE, it's hardware doesn't change as often and all the games are rewritten for it's base-level graphics.

"16. Modular OS"

I think we covered this with a previous entry..

"15. Productive GUI"

Microsoft didn't really "CHANGE THE GUI" they just added on a couple of new ones and set AERO as the default.. Windows Classic Mode is still there..

As for virtual desktops that's usually reserved for graphics card hardware as a utility..

As for Virtual Desktops like Mac.. TRY VDM 

• An infinite number of desktops only limited by the amount of memory in your computer
• A full screen desktop/window manager/switcher
• Live Vista thumbnails of all of your windows
• An alpha-blended indicator window to provide a visual indicator when you switch between desktops
• Hotkeys for up to 9 desktops using your numpad keys along with "send window to desktop" hotkeys
• A system tray icon to access a menu containing items for every desktop, no matter how many
• Multiple-monitor support
• Arrow key hotkeys
• One system tray icon per desktop (optional)
• Window-specific menus
• Sticky windows to exclude windows from the virtual desktop manager
• Per-desktop backgrounds
• XP support
• Thumbnail window tool
• Show all windows hotkey
• Show mini-preview at cursor hotkey
• Program rules for locking programs onto desktops
• Command line arguments for launching programs onto desktops, switching desktops, and showing the switcher

OR the YODM for Vista which does all those neat openGL things people were saying were better on Linux.. Here's a LINK to download ..

Oh let's not forget DPI scaling and text fonts.. That's been around since XP..

"14. All for One and One for All"

Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate OH MY! It doesn't bewilder me, It's easy to remember (you buy based on features you need):

Windows Vista Basic came out for machines that had limited memory foot prints, didn't run AERO etc.. So this version are older slower machines without GPUs and 512MB to 1GB of RAM. This version is most like XP HOME

Home Premium- Umm okay you couldn't have forgotten about Windows Media Center Edition based on XP HOME. Needs 1-2 GB of RAM or HIGHER

Business: XP PRO (minus the DVD codec) runs AERO 1-2 gigabytes of RAM or HIGHER GPUs welcome but not required

Ultimate: Media Center, DVD Codec, Networking like XP Pro.. DreamScene (what's DreamScene? Do that on a Mac, wait haven't seen it done there yet, but they'll invent it when it does work they always do..)

There is also Enterprise versions, but you'll not see that on store shelves, it's licensed and supported for big organizations. Features "Subsytem for ("Unix") Applications", virtualization is built in, and more (yes virginia you too can run XP or Linux as a guest OS here too at the same time).

"13. WinFS"

Microsoft has always said they could add this back in, but I don't miss it with Windows SEARCH built in, it runs a lot but there is a sidebar gadget to turn it off now, if you want to stop your hard drive from indexing in the back ground. Search works much better from the start menu now..

"12. Home User Licensing"

Remember the half year special they ran already, who knows how popular and how many sales it generated:

"To make it easier for households with multiple PCs to make the move to Windows Vista, Microsoft is launching a limited-time offer for customers who buy retail copies of Windows Vista Ultimate. From Jan. 30 through June 30, the Windows Vista Family Discount will allow North American customers to license two additional copies of Windows Vista Home Premium for use on other PCs in the home at the reduced price of $49.99 each. Before completing the order online, customers will need to enter one valid full or upgrade Windows Vista Ultimate key from their retail boxed product. After eligibility is verified online, the customer can purchase licenses to install Windows Vista Home Premium on one or two additional Windows-based computers. The Windows Vista Family Discount is available only in the U.S. and Canada. Note: this limited time offer has now expired."

"11. Driver Availability"

Microsoft moved to distribution on a DVD to accommodate drivers with the initial ship of Vista. That's way more than XP ever thought of shipping with. Microsoft did promote driver production for over two years during development that I personally can count.. Still companies like big name sound card makers and business printer/copier combos didn't release drivers for almost a year. It wasn't because it was hard to do, it was a choice by the third parties in investment in supporting their customers. I believe if you were missing a driver for a long time you should let people know and not buy their products. Microsoft has to just about support everything out there (unlike Apple), so if someone doesn't come through it's not their job to invest in updating. They have a very nice driver verification program to get drivers certified. That should have cut down on the number of faulty drivers. Was your driver certified by Microsoft that was giving you problems, my guess is probably not?

"10. Standards Compliant Browser"

IE8 will ship in the release version with standards mode "enabled" for stricter site support.. See... http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/03/03/microsoft-s-interoperability-principles-and-ie8.aspx

9. Program Caching

There are several solutions to this dilemma. Most of the time this problem just goes away after a few days of using the machine after it has profiled all the applications you are starting up... A simple solution that greatly improves this situation is adding service pack 1. Another solution if you can't up your system RAM is to buy a Windows ReadyBoost compatible USB memory drive. I recommend the 4 GB models that are around $50 retail.. When you plug in the USB memory drive (stick) and right click on the drive's icon and select properties you'll see a dialog that looks like this..

"8.  Microsoft Toolbox"

This already happens on both windows update and device manager. Windows update is now a client application, not ran from a web page and can tell you about installed updates and drivers. I am going to avoid the screen snapshot on this one here, if people need proof just ask..

"7. OS Restoration via imaging"

I would like to see this included in EVERY version of Windows Vista myself. It only makes sense. Right now it's there on Windows Vista Ultimate and other SKUs where image backup counts with IT folks. I'd like to see this at HOME too.. It's called CompletePC Backup. It's a reason to upgrade to Vista Ultimate. It seems very on par with Norton style utilities that do the same types of operations.

"6. Barebones Kernel"

Let's get real here for a moment. Vista is the OS that BRIDGES 32-bit and 64-bit hardware. There are two versions already. One for 64-bit CPUs and one for 32-bit machines each support a different memory footprint, and if you know the architectural differences, the 64-bit hardware has a "32-bit" mode as well. Windows can run and mix 32-bit and 64-bit software and does it well if you have that hardware.

The fact is most CORE DUO systems can run the 64-bit version and very little 32-bit hardware is still sold.  A barebones stripped down kernel for older machines which are getting removed from service every day sounds like a waste of time, considering everything is very modular and it only uses what's needed anyway.  The new kernel is very nice that also runs Server 2008 as well as Vista SP1.. 

If you think they need a "barebones" kernel you should be prepared to explain what they'd remove from the 32-bit version.. Love to get some takers on this challenge..

"5. 64bit only"

it's all about the available memory and the 32-bit 4 gig ceiling?  Not quite, check out the architectural features here. In Most IT Organizations are phasing out 32-bit hardware from supported platforms because the hardware availability has already shrunk significantly.

A PC with 4 GB or more of RAM is now under $1000 too and it has 4 cpu cores.

"4. Better out-of-box burning capabilities"

I can't believe you are asking for this one. Do you want to put Roxio and Nero out of business? Apple doesn't even give you advanced burning in their OS because they too want to support Roxio who was originally part of another business that did SCSI controllers among other things. This would certainly bring out the "anti-trust" folks for incorporating another application into the OS..

"3. Diagnostic Tools"

MemTest is free and most of the time you can just download it, and it doesn't require any OS just a bootable CD..  So why include it.. What I think is great about Vista is the reliability monitor.. It can tell you a lot.. Not there in XP..

"2. Faster Boot and Shutdown"

How about turning on "HIBERNATE" or the new HYBRID "SLEEP MODE". I don't boot everytime, i just let these new modes do there thing and they are fast and close to instant.

"1. Simplify and manage startup items"

This is already simplified and DONE for you. It's called Windows Defender.. You can manage startup there, including disabling items. This is available for XP as well..