Windows 7 Sidebar Removed

The Windows 7 Sidebar and Gadgets are broken.

Let me try to explain the situation and problem to you. I am waking up this blog and posting this mostly because the Microsoft forums don't really have a feedback feature, and many posters there don't understand English very well, so they don't fully grasp the issue. The "MVP" posters have the attitude of "you should just change your approach to working" or "forget maximize, we are all Mac people now, maximize is dead". I feel powerless, so this post will at least let me vent.

For background, I love Microsoft products, and I despise third party solutions. Third party solutions almost always add one more step to a task and rarely integrate with the operating system as well as the equivalent Microsoft solution. I also dislike manipulating windows, I'd rather have one task maximized so I can focus on that one task.

Problem:

The sidebar included in Windows 7 isn't a sidebar, they made the whole desktop a sidebar (more of a wholebar). In Vista, you could place the sidebar on the side of one of your screens and set it to always on top. If you maximized a window on that screen, it would fill all the space except the sidebar, so the gadgets would always be visible.

For instance, I have 2 monitors. My sidebar is on the left side of my second monitor and is set to always on top. I have widescreen monitors. I run World of Warcraft fullscreen on my first monitor and use my second monitor for internet browsing to look up information on the game, and to keep Ventrillo open for voice communication. My sidebar shows memory usage, processor usage, has links to Google Chrome and Ventrillo as well as World of Warcraft. I can quickly glance to see if a lag in game is due to my system or the network, because my sidebar is visible.

In Windows 7 there is no way to have my gadgets remain in a space on the side of my screen that is always visible, and keeps out maximized windows. They took out that functionality without adding any functionality.

Possible argument 1: "But it's better now, I can put my gadgets anywhere I want, they aren't stuck to some sidebar."

Answer 1: You are misinformed. In Vista you can do this also, just drag your gadget from the sidebar to where you want it. I realize this isn't obvious, so you probably just gave up and closed the sidebar. So you can see, no new functionality has been introduced.

Possible argument 2: "You can still do what you want in Windows 7, just line up the gadgets on the side you want, then set them to always on top."

Answer 2: While this will keep them always visible, it will result in my maximized applications being hidden by gadgets. Say I want to sign in to a website, login link is under my gadgets, oops, way to many steps introduced to do a simple click. Gadget opacity doesn't change this, I just lose the ability to quickly see my gadgets.

Possible argument 3: "Then just line them up on one side, set to always on top, and size your windows to keep them visible."

Answer 3: Good try. This will look the same and work nearly the same once set up, but I want to be able to use the maximize button for any new program I use. Say I'm navigating folders and doing lots of file transfers. I may want one folder on that right monitor. Your solution asks me to drag it over to the second monitor, and then resize it to fill the space. This is not a fast process. Even with windows snap functionality that is new in Windows 7, this process still takes more steps than dragging to second monitor and clicking maximize.

Possible argument 4: "Google Sidebar does this."

Answer 4: True, and this may be my solution. It saddens me to have to do this. Microsoft, you are trying really hard right now with Bing, and Desktop Search to catch up to Google. Your Sidebar was better (for me anyway). Seems silly for you to remove a feature and lose market share in one more segment when you don't need to.

Possible argument 5: "You can copy the Vista Sidebar to Windows 7 and it will work like before."

Answer 5: This will probably be my solution. Luckily I have Windows Home Server, and I can go back and grab files from my Vista installs. This won't be possible for some people, and involves registry editing, which isn't for everyone. Again, sad that I have to install an older version to keep functionality.

Go here for this solution.

If anyone has a better solution for me, please comment. I'm open to trying things and adjusting how I interact with windows if it will be more productive in the end. Solutions that solve the problem but require more mouse clicks or keyboard touches defeat the purpose.

I really hope this isn't the end of maximize as we know it. I have a mac for dev stuff, and the lack of a true maximize for windows there has kept me using a PC whenever I can. But that is for another rant some day.

I am going to be a father.

So, enough with my stupid criticisms. I am proud to announce that Katie and I are having a baby. It is pretty exciting. On Friday we will find out if it is a boy or a girl. I am leaning towards wanting a boy, but by no means will be disappointed if it is a girl. Katie has a tiny belly, but is getting bigger. She isn't that excited about the weight gain. Tonight we were sitting on the couch and I was able to feel the baby kick. That was pretty neat. It helped me to realize that this is for real.

Hopefully I can post here more often. At least it would allow for me to have some kind of journal. I had written out my idea for a great video game project on some paper, it is kind of like Sony Home that just got announced. But we'll see.

My family photos.

I have hosted a site from my home computer that has the photos from my wedding and family vacations. Check it out.
http://www.bruteostrich.com

Xbox 360 faceplates

Ok, so Xbox 360 is coming out November 22. I am excited about this. I am not excited about the decisions Microsoft made for this next generation of video game consoles.


Problem number 1: Two SKUs. They are offering the core and premium packages. The problem with this approach is this (or these). Game developers have to make their games work on the core system without a hard drive. Now, a good developer will utilize the hard drive if present, but that will require extra resources and cost. End result will be that time will be spent on this and not on making games better and optimized for the system. That is the reality.
Microsoft says they did this to appeal to different gamers and to not take a loss on harddrives that users didn't utilize. Wake up Microsoft, this is the next generation. You can't take features away. The loss thing is just stupid VPs who can't think of smarter solutions. How much does a 5 GB harddrive cost now days? You don't need more than that. They did make a mistake putting in a 10 GB on the original xbox. Tough to fill that up with game saves and cache. The solution is have an internal 5 GB or less HD with the expansion slot like they have now. So those who want ripped music or download tons of new maps will have the choice of upgrading to hold that extra content. Now you only need 1 SKU that has harddrive caching capabilities, backwards compatibility, and ability for downloadable content.
Wasn't that simple? No confusion on which to buy, no seperate facilities for packaging two different versions. They just dropped the ball.

Problem 2: No killer app. Now Microsoft claim Perfect Dark Zero can fill these shoes, among others. Once again, wake up guys. Go check your sales. You need a Halo. Shoot, hire 20 guys to retool Halo and Halo 2 to work on 360, then make Halo 1 live compatible. Great way to launch a new system. As of now, those that buy will be dissappointed. I have no desire to buy a new system until a new game is out that I must play.
Now, there is still a chance for MS to save their butts. Sony is launching ps3 next year sometime, so this killer app issue doesn't really matter until then. So, mark my words, I'm saying it now. Xbox 360 will get creamed by PS3 if Halo 3 isn't ready by then. Hope all you want MS, that is the only killer app you've got. Gears of War you say? Sorry buddy, great graphics do not a best seller make. Gameplay is where it's at. GoW does not have that. It will bomb. Again, you saw it here first.

Small Problem 3: No digital HD signal at launch. There's no adapter from MS to use dvi or hdmi. Now, I know this doesn't really matter, but a lot of people got suckered into buying a tv with this. Some bestbuy salesman convinced them they needed it. So with MS bragging about the High Def era, the should probably have these high end options. Of course these same people still have a satellite with coax output hooked up to those TVs, so this doesn't really matter, but it is a psychological thing. If they spend the extra on it, they will want something to hook up.

Anyways, when microsoft gets creamed by sony, these will be the core reasons it happens. Do you like my turtle Kirby in his Xbox 360 debut? He's awesome.

First Post

Well, this will become an area where you'll find my reviews on hardware and software as well as my opinions on random things. Hope I get to show off projects I work on as well. See you on xbox live.