Emacs is a fairly good OS. But I still prefer Vim...

(i'd go with Ubuntu + dev packages + wine + vlc + gvim)

Quote: Original post by zebeste
Definitely some good ideas above.

Not everything that I would like, but some of it:
Take Win7
-Add tabs to Windows Explorer.
-A better registry setup that doesn't get allow it to get filled with garbage.
-A registry that can't be misused by DRM software.
-A file convert option in the menu that pops up when someone right clicks on a file. There should be a quick option that uses default settings, and an advanced button next to it for advanced options. This should be expandable by user contributions, and can be used for any file type (i.e. jpg->bmp, png, tga; doc->docx, odt; xls->xlsx, csv; dae->fbx, max; etc).
-Native support for .rar and other compression formats.
-The ability to create virtual drives and mount stuff.

Looks perfect although personally it's tempting to tear the registry out completely to get rid of the years and years of abuse it has suffered (from bad developers) and give it a proper burial.

Start with OS X, make the entire thing open source (so that in particular the broken mouse acceleration curve can be made reasonable), make it run on arbitrary hardware, add a well-maintained software repository a la those of various Linux distributions, vastly expand the overly simplistic Finder interface (with something more like Windows Explorer), provide the green button on every window with a consistent, useful and logical function, get rid of Apple's custom file structure and use that of Unix exclusively, include the GNU development tools by default, make TextMate ship with OS X and be the default text editor, get rid of Xcode entirely and make Visual Studio run on OS X, replace Spotlight with a built-in version of Quicksilver, make the Dock auto-hide or eliminate it altogether, and probably some other things I'm not yet thinking of.

Windows 7
- No registry
- No backwards compatibility with previous versions
- sandboxed application installs
- Seamless VM to previous versions and other OSs (their windows show up like normal applications in the taskbar)
- No default browser
- Nothing extra installed at all
- Package manager controlled by Microsoft
- real-time video remote desktop at an application level (play a game on someone's computer while they're doing their own thing). Always wanted that.

Quote: - No registry

Ive hated it from the start since it is a bad idea(TM) but have been mostly a lone voice. It's heartening to read with growing frequency thats others are coming around to realize it was a bad idea (TM)

Quote: Original post by zedz
Ive hated it from the start since it is a bad idea(TM) but have been mostly a lone voice. It's heartening to read with growing frequency thats others are coming around to realize it was a bad idea (TM)

It's not new. To paraphrase:
In the beginning, the registry was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.

Win 7, then give me the power of flight, lazer-beam eyes, and the ability to talk to fish.

I think that would basically allow me to handle any situation that could possibly come my way during an average work day.