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Windows 10: the 10 most wanted features

Windows 10: the 10 most wanted features
Jonathan Riggall

Jonathan Riggall

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Microsoft launched a Windows Features Suggestion box to collect the feedback of Windows users and find out what they wanted from the next version of the operating system. You can visit the suggestion box and vote for your 20 favorites.

Voting is not over, so this isn’t the definitive list. It’s also worth noting that while Microsoft listens more to its users now (see the return of the Start Menu as evidence), just because an idea has lots of votes, doesn’t mean it will be implemented in Windows 10.

Here are the top ten most wanted features for Windows 10:

1) Add tabs to Windows Explorer/File Explorer
This is a simple one – make Explorer more like a web browser, with tabs. This already exists in other operating systems like OS X.

2) Make Windows 10 a free upgrade
Unsurprisingly popular, user DaKoder asks that Windows 10 is a free upgrade from version 8/8.1. However, this should only apply to the home version – the Enterprise version should still be paid, and users running Windows 7 or older should also have to pay.

3) Make Windows Update the one stop for all drivers
This would make life easier. Drivers for Windows should be available from Microsoft, so users don’t have to visit other companies sites to find the drivers they want.

4) Merge PC settings and Control Panel
This idea is about efficiency. Many settings are available from both the Control Panel and PC Settings, but not all of them. Would it be better to have a single home for your settings?

5) Add support for .rar, .7z abd .bz2 files in File Explorer
A pretty simple suggestion – you currently need third party apps like WinZip to open some compressed file formats. This compatibility could be added to Windows, again making life easier for people.

6) Redesign & replace ALL Aero-themed objects in Windows 10
This idea highlights a common theme for some Windows users – the desire for customization. With over 4000 votes, it’s clear plenty of users would like to be able to change icons and objects in Windows 10.

7) Provide a better Notepad application
Windows 8’s Notepad is a very simple text app, and some users would like it to get more features, like the popular Notepad++. However, in the ideas comments, other users point out that more features would make a very simple app more complicated than necessary.

8) Give us the ability to customize the Login Screen
In Windows 7, you could add a wallpaper to the user login screen. This was missing in Windows 8, and some users obviously miss having a more personalized login screen.

9) Bring back Aero Glass from Windows 8 Developer Preview
Aero Glass was a set of translucent interfaces/designs for Windows Vista and 7. While it looked flashy, it was often criticized for using too much of your system resources. However, user Eta Carinae says that the millions of PC gamers around the world have machines powerful enough to cope, and should have the choice of using Aero Glass. This is not very likely, as Microsoft’s ‘Modern User Interface’ designs are based on flat colors, not translucent ones.

10) Improve Install/Uninstall to keep Clean/Junk Registry Free OS
This is another area of Windows where users have to get third party applications like CCleaner. This idea suggests that Microsoft should ensure temporary folders and that the registry is cleaned during the installation/uninstallation processes.

For the purpose of making this list as general as possible, I’ve omitted some top results: Iranian users want Microsoft to give them more support, from access to the Microsoft store to support for the Persian language. For this list, we’re removed those topics, as they may be due to the poor political relations/sanctions regime between the USA and Iran. However, it’s clear that many Iranians really want a Windows that works comfortably for them.

Source: Windows Feature Suggestions

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Jonathan Riggall

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