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30 things we love about Windows, and 30 things we don’t!

Niamh Lynch

Niamh Lynch

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On November 10, 1983, Bill Gates presented a new operating system, Windows, to the world. Although it’s hard to believe, it was the first operating system with a graphic interface. 30 years later, and it’s plain to see that Windows has racked up quite a list of successes…and failures.

Summing up 30 years in one article hasn’t been easy. That’s years in front of a PC, months of updates, and lots of good moments and bad. We decided to ask the Softonic editors what they think is the best and worst of Windows. Here’s what they had to say:

30 things we love about Windows, and 30 things we don’t!

30 things we love about Windows

1. The name – Windows!
2. Notepad
3. Task Manager
4. Windows Explorer
5. Cheesiness like this and this
6. Windows 8.1’s Snap Views
7. Minesweeper!
8. The Start Button (until Window 8!)
9. Windows 7, the best version so far
10. Solitaire
11. Right click
12. The Add and Remove Programs feature (now Programs and Features)
13. The taskbar
14. The excitement of Windows 95
15. The hidden features, like Dr. Watson
16. The immense catalog of apps and programs
17. The Windows sounds. All of them
18. Windows XP’s pinball
19. Windows 3.11’s start screen
20. The free updates (service packs and Windows 8.1)
21. The Files accessory that ended with Windows 98
22. Paint!
23. Canyon.MID
24. Windows 2000: as solid as a rock
25. The NTFS file system
26. The admin tools
27. The MOREICONS.DLL icon library
28. System restore, from Windows ME onwards
29. How easy it is to install fonts – just drag them into the folder
30. Aero Snap

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30 things we don’t love about Windows

1. Windows Vista
2. Internet Explorer, up to version 9
3. Limitations on multiple monitors
4. Windows Registry
5. Looking for solutions to your internet connectivity problems online…
6. Not being able to scroll in inactive Windows
7. How hard it is to configure a local network!
8. Having no built-in screenshot function
9. Clippy
10. Safe mode
11. The “fake landscape” wallpapers
12. Comic Sans as an included font
13. Windows 3.11’s Hot Dog Stand theme
14. The Object Packager – what the hell is it for!?
15. Windows 98’s Active Desktop, just horrible!
16. The desktop gadgets
17. The decision to completely kill off DOS
18. Window’s huge disk space footprint
19. The Ribbon interface
20. Windows RT
21. Blue Screen of Death
22. How long it takes to start up!
23. DirectX: having to have it constantly installed/updated
24. The constant need for cleaning/optimization
25. Needing a specific DLL to open an old program
26. How long you have to wait for updates to install!
27. File search in Windows Vista 7
28. The tiny Show Desktop button in Windows 7/8.1
29. Windows 8.1’s start button
30. How it doesn’t play nice with other operating systems

Now it’s your turn. What do you love and hate about Windows?

[Original article by Alberto Cifuentes of Softonic ES]

Niamh Lynch

Niamh Lynch

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