Daydreaming Of A Microsoft That Listens To Its Users

A Pipe Dream Of A Redmond That Could Have Been

The Register is visiting a parallel dimension this morning, one where we don’t live in perpetual confusion about who it is that Microsoft is taking advice from when they add new Windows features.  Instead they are pretending that they have Redmond’s ear and offer suggestions which actual users would request.  The first is one that you can emulate with a variety of programs and add-ons but can’t do natively; multiple clipboards.  You can enable a clipboard history with Windows key + V, but that’s just not the same as having multiple shortcuts to allow you to have more than one picture or text ready to pop in whenever you want.

They also dream of replacing the obnoxious tabloid headlines in the taskbar with useful things such as multiple clocks, the ability to pin groups of apps on the taskbar which launch several related programs at the same time. or even just to be able to resize and move the taskbar like we once could.  They are small asks, but instead Microsoft believes that their users dream of having AI shoehorned into everything.

The Register also likes the sound of better audio control, and not just making it easy to swap audio devices around without digging up the old Change system sounds interface.  They would also like to see any and all apps be required to be granted explicit permission to play audio so we aren’t plagued by coworkers clicking on sites that start automatically blaring sounds in the office without notice.

One which isn’t mentioned but which would be wonderful is clarity about licensing.  It has been two years since you could use your Windows 7/8 key to activate Windows 10/11.  When Microsoft made that decision they tied your Windows license to your online account, about the same time they made it almost impossible to activate Windows without an active internet connection.  They didn’t make it terribly clear that the license was non-transferable, unlike if you activate Windows with a proper Windows 10/11 key.  On your Microsoft account the licenses look exactly the same, but if you attempt to transfer it to an upgraded system with a new motherboard you will get an error instead of an activation.  You can click the troubleshooter, play with the online chatbot or try calling Microsoft but you still won’t be able to activate what looks like a proper license on a new machine.

There are other dreams you can see here, and if you like you can add some in the comments and pretend Redmond will actually pay attention to them.