A portion of the top feature request list was recently leaked concerning Windows 7 and I checked it out. Some of it was good while the rest was not-so-good.

If I had a wish list for Windows 7 in 2009 or 2010 (whenever it’s released), this is what I would ask for:

Death to 32-bit

I don’t think there’s any argument that we’ve gone as far as we can go with a 32-bit desktop operating system. The new Windows should be 64-bit out the gate and not have any 32-bit offerings whatsoever, save for a legacy (i.e. "compatibility") mode of running 32-bit apps.

If Windows 7 required a 64-bit processor, manufacturers would be forced to supply boxes with them to run the OS – and I don’t think this would be a bad thing. 32-bit is way past its prime and it’s time to send up the white flag. It was nice knowin’ ya, 32-bit. Buh-bye.

To those that would say "There are 64-bit versions of XP and Vista!", bear in mind there are also 32-bit versions. Windows 7 should have no 32-bit version whatsoever. I say force the 64-bit. It needs to happen.

Three versions and three versions only

Currently Windows is offered in way too many versions. Microsoft needs to cut out the marketing b.s. with the "cool names" such as premium and ultimate and shim it down to three:

1. Home
2. Enterprise/Pro
3. Server

..and that’s it. No fuss, no muss. To make it even easier, "Home" would be green-boxed, "Enterprise" would be blue-boxed and "Server" would be red-boxed. Simple. Easy.

Resizeable Taskbar (Width)

KDE and GNOME have had this for years (such as setting a panel to "80% width of the screen" instead of 100%). Windows needs it too. Not a difficult feature to implement.

Multiple Taskbars

KDE and GNOME once again have had this for years. You can add/remove "panels" at whim. Would be nice to have this in Windows 7.

To those who would ask "Why? What’s the point?" Well, for example you could have different "Start" menus for multiple monitors, each with specific items particular to that monitor. Makes for better productivity instead of having everything mashed into one menu. Another example is having "Start" menus at the top and the bottom, once again each with specific stuff to put things literally within easy reach.

A taskbar clock that also displays the date and day in "one tier" mode

(Note: If this is in Vista already please let me know – I’m running XP)

One thing in Windows XP that absolutely drives me up a wall is that when the taskbar is set "one tier" high, the clock only displays the time and not the date. If you want the date, you have to hover over the clock with your mouse.

You can set the taskbar "two tiers" high and then it will display the time, date and day but I can’t stand having my taskbar that "fat".

It would be unbelievably nice if the taskbar in "one tier" mode displayed like this:

HH:MM A/P dd MM/DD/YY

Translated: Hour:Minute AM/PM Day-of-Week Month/Day/Year

I know this is a very small request, but darn it I really want that there.

It is true there are third-party apps that will allow date/day to be displayed in one-tier mode, but none of them have ever really worked correctly. This feature needs to be native and not hacked up by some other app.

And yes I know GNOME has the ability to do this already. Don’t remind me.

The ability to see the icon spacing grid

It would be super-cool if while customizing your desktop (such as from "Display" in the Control Panel) there was a little button that said "See Icon Spacing Grid" which would draw a temporary grid on the desktop to physically show you how far apart the icons would be once placed (and where they would snap to).

Custom colorized context menu choices

A simple but effective way to utilize context menus better. For example, when you right-click any folder in Windows, it would be nice if "Search" was in blue, "Properties" was in red and "Open" was in green. The colors would have customize options via the Control Panel.

Separation of Native vs. Third-Party icons in the Control Panel

Native = Things that come with Windows

Third Party = Added icons to the Control Panel by other apps

Example of third-party icons: Nero, Apple Quicktime, Logitech, etc.

Third-party apps that put icons into the Control Panel should be purposely separated by a horizontal line. The first tier is all "only-to-Windows" icons. Under that is any/all icons put there by non-native Windows apps.

Doing this would make things in the CP easier to find and manage.

. . .

I have a ton of more things I could list, but what I’ve written is a good start.

What would you want to see added/changed/removed in Windows 7?

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