January 7th, 2009

Six Vista annoyances fixed in Windows 7

Posted by Ed Bott @ 6:15 pm

Categories: Microsoft, Windows 7

Tags: Microsoft Windows 7, Window, Backup Program, Backup, Microsoft Windows Vista, Option, Preview, User Account Control UAC, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Microsoft Windows

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Vista Annoyance #6: The no-options backup program

Windows XP includes a backup program that’s the very antithesis of usability. And that’s if you can even find it in the first place, because it isn’t even installed by default on XP Home Edition; you have to dig it out of the Valueadd\Msft\Ntbackup folder on the XP installation media.

The trouble with the XP backup program is that it’s strictly location-based. You have to manually select folders to be backed up, and then hope that you haven’t missed a hidden folder that contains important stuff, like your e-mail.

Windows Vista improved that situation by including a file backup program in every edition. But it inspired complaints from critics like David Pogue of the New York Times, who complained loudly about its inability to specify individual folders to be backed up:

Windows finally comes with a prominent backup program. That’s great, except that you can specify only which categories of things to back up (pictures, e-mail, and so on), not which specific files or folders.

As I noted at the time, the Vista file backup program was designed to address a specific complaint from users (including David Pogue!) who had been tripped up by folder-based backups. But offering no choice isn’t fair to those who understand what they’re doing.

The solution, as embodied in the new Windows 7 Backup program, is to offer both options.

The most telling part of that dialog box, and the one that directly speaks to Vista critics, is the simple “Let me choose” option. The default is to accept the setup that Microsoft’s designers came up with. But if you prefer to set up your own backup system, that’s your right. It’s a clean, easy-to-use compromise.

“Let me choose.” Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? More of this, please, Microsoft.

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