Windows 7 is a big step forward from XP and Vista, but there are plenty of issues that it leaves untouched. If we were in charge of producing Windows 8 then these would be the areas we'd want to address first.
NTFS has served us well, but it's time for a new filesystem. Moving to something like ZFS, for example, would give us pooled storage. No more nonsense over partitions and volumes, just add two 750GB drives and automatically get a 1.5TB pool.
Error checking is excellent, snapshots automatically create incremental backups, there's no arbitrary limits over file sizes, links or directory entries and it's very fast.
Windows Explorer needs major attention, too. At a minimum, let's fix the basics: we really shouldn't still be wondering why the program forgets our folder settings at random moments, say (or dumping the option entirely as appears to be the case with Windows 7).
Better still, I'd research dual-panel and tabbed browsing interfaces to deliver easier file management.
And another thing
The Registry has become a real annoyance. Apps that use it are often very difficult to migrate from one PC to another, and Registry corruption can have all kinds of disastrous effects.
It's time to find alternatives that will provide similar uniform access and ease of use for developers, but not tie their data to a single set of files.
And especially ones that Microsoft says are too dangerous for most users to access, just in case they make a mistake.
It's obvious by now that no-one's ever going to agree on the best way to arrange the taskbar and Start menu.
So let's have a version that doesn't change anything for the sake of it, but allows users to customise all aspects of the interface for themselves (fonts, button sizes, border widths and more), while also making the available options more consistent (if I want to pin a folder directly to the taskbar, then I should be able to do exactly that).
With that all sorted, I'd aim to produce a more configurable Control Panel where it's easy to display just the applets that you commonly use; simplify network troubleshooting; add encryption to Windows 8 Home Premium because regular users need security, too; and discover why Windows is slow at copying, and then fix the problem.
That's not too much to ask... is it?
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