Windows 7 was just released this week and we are already starting to look ahead to Windows 8, which Microsoft is already in the process of developing even before 7 was released earlier this week. So far the reception of Windows 7 has been mostly positive and definitely better than Windows Vista, but there are still things we wish it had. Below are our top 8 things we want to see in Windows 8.

1.) A New File System

Windows 7 continues the use of New Technology File System, or NTFS, which has been in place since Windows XP and works well, but it has a few shortcomings. With a traditional NTFS file system, the hard drive must be partitioned and is metadata based only, so it cannot verify integrity of files on the volume. There are certainly many other file formats out there, each with various pros and cons, but one popular one is ZFS (Zettabyte File System). ZFS allows for no more partitioning and similar volume managers and creates dynamic pools of storage space that can be resized on the fly to suit the user's needs. There are also other benefits, such as unlimited storage size support and integrity checking.

I certainly don't know the answer to this problem, but I'm pretty sure Microsoft is working on coming up with a new file system. They do have a concept of one called WinFS, which was originally going to be implemented in Windows 7, but was scrapped to speed up development. NTFS is still very good, but there may be a better option out there worth exploring.

2.) More Windows Explorer User Customization

Windows Explorer is the core element of the Windows operating system that allows users to browse and mange their files located on their storage devices. Microsoft has added many features to Windows Explorer to allow for customization in both functionality and usability, such as thumbnail previews and different folder views.

In Windows 7, I was hoping that I would be able to place a shortcut in the "Favorites" area in the left navigation tree area of Windows Explorer for an FTP server that I frequently access. However, when I tried to drag and drop the FTP location to the Favorites area, it doesn't let me do it. I can make a new Favorites location for a traditional folder located on my local drive, but not an Internet folder, which really peeves me because I have to type in my FTP server's address every time into the location bar at the top. Another gripe I have about this is I almost always have to re-enter my FTP server's login credentials every time despite choosing the option for Windows to remember them for next login.

I am glad Microsoft has finally moved away from using the traditional file structure, such as C:\Users\Alex\Documents, to a more user friendly "Computer -> Alex -> Documents". Windows still uses the traditional C:\ file structure "under the hood", but at least it's somewhat hidden from the user.

3.) Windows Services Overload!

I'm sure you've all noticed the services that are loaded whenever you boot your computer by going into the Task Manager under the Services tab. In Windows 7, there are 56 default services that load according to BlackViper, which is four more than Vista. Microsoft seems to believe it's better to just load every service available by default instead of having the operating system intelligently determine which are necessary based on the computer's configuration.

4.) Play Nice with Mac OS (and maybe Linux too)

Microsoft has made networking home computers really easy in Windows 7, as long as all your computers run Windows 7, through HomeGroups. However, if you have other computers running another version of Windows or Mac OS X, you're out of luck and have to network them the old-fashioned way through IP mapping and sharing drives. If you've ever had to do this before, you probably know how tough it can be sometimes. My Windows 7 desktop cannot connect to my MacBook sometimes and sometimes the MacBook cannot connect to the desktop and it all becomes frustrating. Microsoft just needs to put aside their hatred of Mac (and Linux too) and make it work as easily as possible for the sole benefit of their paying customers.

5.) Lose Some of the Anti-Piracy Protection

Microsoft has become the leader in software anti-piracy technologies since Windows XP debuted with Product Activation, which wasn't a big deal (unless you wanted to move your license from one computer to another) for most users, so I don't have much of a problem with that. However, they've continued to develop other technologies, like Windows Genuine Validation, which requires users to validate their license of Windows before they can download most files from Microsoft's Web site. This wouldn't be a big deal if it just worked right in the first place. Every since they've started using it, I always get frustrated when I try to download a file from Microsoft while using Mozilla Firefox (without remembering to use IE to forgo this issue) because I have to jump through hoops. I try to download the Firefox-compatible validator and it doesn't even load and I end up having to start all over again and do it through Internet Explorer.

Microsoft has two choices here, either make it work universally, or scrap it. I don't support pirating Windows or any other software, but all this technology seems to only hurt the law-abiding users because the ones that do pirate always have some hack that lets them bypass it completely, while the paying user (me) has to jump through hoops.

6.) Install Microsoft Security Essentials by Default

Microsoft recently released their free anti-virus and anti-spyware program called Security Essentials to coincide with the launch of Windows 7. We recently did a complete review of this free software and we love it, but unfortunately, it doesn't come installed by default so the majority of users don't know about it. I understand that doing so may violate anti-trust laws, but at least provide it as an option during installation and let the users decide.

7.) Lose All the Versions

Beginning with Windows Vista, Microsoft made several different versions, such as Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, etc., and unfortunately, they continued this with Windows 7. Microsoft's justification for this is they can "scale-back" features from certain versions to make them work on different types of computers, such as a netbook. But why can't they make one version for home and one version of business use? If it was necessary to not allow the use of some features on less-powerful machines, like the Aero interface, then just automatically disable it after a hardware test during installation. Make one version that can be scalable through itself. It would still be profitable for Microsoft if they charged say $100 for a full version of Windows 8 Home edition and $50 for an upgrade.

8.) Stop Requesting a Reboot After Installing Updates

No matter how minor the latest update installed was, I always get a dialog box that pops up every so often asking me to reboot the system. Sometimes it lets me choose to postpone the reboot and specify a time to ask me again, but if I walk away while this box reappears and don't see it, it will reboot right there and close whatever I may have had open at the time. This ridiculous behavior has been in existence since Windows XP and must stop, and it can be stopped before Windows 8 is released too.

Other Windows 8 Information

Windows 8 is currently slated to be released in either late 2011 or early 2012, which is 2-3 years after Windows 7's release. It is also speculated to contain new networking and security features and might be possible for it to run on low-end ARM smartphone processors.

It's still a long time away, but Windows 7 is without a doubt the best Windows release yet and will surely provide a stable and usable platform for years to come.