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Paul it's hardly the end of the world if there are a few minor errors in capitalisation. Of course, to people like you who analyses such minutiae for a living, it can be irritating, but Joe Public doesn't actually care.

i dOn'T mInD rEalLy If tHeRe ArE a FeW CapItaLisAtion ErrORs thRoughOut... WelL noTicEd ThouGH.

I think it's a sign of the amount of great work that's gone into Win7, that little things like these are annoying you - that must surely mean that the great bulk of it is very high quality, right? ;)

Of course, it would be great to have all these little inconsitencies sorted out, maybe they could remove one creature-comfort from each developer or UI designer for each genuine entry that crops up on the "aero task force" website!

Seriously though, as much as I appreciate that these final bits of spit-and-polish should be there by now, I can't help admiring the sheer amount of detailed software engineering work that has gone on in this release. I am absolutely dumbfounded by it's performance.

Did I mention already that it runs on an old Celeron laptop better than Linux does?

@stimshady

Of course, your statement contains more than a few capitalisation errors. :)

Homegroup is also referenced as "homegroup" in the Start Menu tooltip, so that makes 3 variations of capitalization.

I believe the reason their is an aero affect on taskbar button jump list is because it's actually a list within a dialog box.  Whereas standard context menus are standard application menus displayed as popups.  If Microsoft were to alter the look of the standard menu I think it would impact the look of most windows other applications.  I could be wrong about all this.  In any case, I agree they should standardize the look.

Heres a good place to post inconsistencies...

www.windows7taskforce.com

Paul, it may annoy the anal types like us, but the vast majority of people will hardly notice these things and will be impressed with the overall quality of the release. I am specifically talking about the performance tweaks and the usability tweaks that make 7 a much better OS than Vista.

...apparently I can't spell let along get my capitalization correct.  I meant to write "there".

Silly Paul... they're not bugs. They're intentional spelling decisions designed to keep you on your toes.

:-P

I'm glad you pointed these out, as I definitely agree that this is something that could potentially tarnish Windows 7's image.

These same inconsistencies are what really bother me about Mac OS X.  I'm a diehard Apple user (and a Windows user too), but the UI inconsistencies in Leopard drive me crazy.  

This would be different if it still was a beta release (maybe not even a public beta release) as that's when I've always noticed UI inconsistencies in Windows, but by the time it gets to RTM, most likely these won't be changed, and it's a shame.

It doesn't matter if the majority of "joe public" won't notice these... Microsoft shouldn't (and really can't) settle for mediocrity.

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I agree with Paul. Once you get familiar enough with the new OS, these little things then to creep up and it just won't go away once you know it's there. Bugs the hell out of me, that's for sure.

Paul,

The left click on tray does not bring up "Jump List-like window with a glass border" rather the jump list brings up a window that looks like a tray left-click window with glass border as the tray windows had this appearance in VISTA, thus had it before the jump lists. Also this could be seen as consistency since it is consistent between vista and 7....

you can tell the yanks from the brits on this thread, due to our spelling of capitalisation... i'm obviously the latter ;)

Seriously you are concerned about spelling inconsistencies, when there are serious usability issues with the shell/Windows Explorer ever since VISTA debuted? Features needlessly and thoughtlessly ripped apart in Vista that haven't been put back in Windows 7:

-  Standard toolbar buttons? WTF? 2 clicks for Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Properties, Rename?

-  Shell extension support for size column for folders

-  Viewing total size of files in a folder without selecting it (Now everytime one must select all and then one more click!!)

-  Viewing free disk space without going to (My) Computer or disk properties

-  Connection activity indicators on taskbar (as if the whole world is on super-speed always on broadband)

-  Optional autosort so that 10+ files pasted in a folder don't get scatterred across a list of another 10

-  If I've set a password and set the system to Autologon, I can't press Shift any more to prevent autologon

-  Can't get to any connection's properties without 5-6+ clicks? Wired connections are given most inferior treatment.

Regarding inconsistencies, I think people get used to inconsistencies in the UI and learn to work around them. When these inconsistencies are finally resolved, it still represents a major change for most people. It may reduce the number of clicks required to do the task, but it still requires time to learn the steps.

While one user might want everything to be consistent across the OS, another user might want Microsoft to be consistent and retain inconsistencies found in previous Windows versions. Which one do you please?

Spelling mistakes are silly, but it's a small thing.

Hey, what do ya want, good grammar or good taste?

It's horribly annoying when you're writing a book, though.  :-)

I've been writing on Windows and Microsoft tech for years now and inconsistencies have always been there. Windows 7, while it definitely has some, has been better than previous versions.

Good and consistent spelling. Considering how much you paid those brains to do the jobs and the amount of profit they make out of us, they should give us a complete product.

I think this is symbolic of a major problem with MS' OSes - they make a decent foundation, and built great stuff on top of it, but they don't take the time to polish it up to the standard that it should be.

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I agree, Paul. Quality is always reflected in the details and it's the cumulative affect of hundreds of tiny, unnecessary inconsistencies that influence one's overall opinion. If they've come this far, then the extra few inches should be a matter of pride.

Windows 7 is so good why give the smug naysayers any ammunition at all?

Paul,

There's a fine line between genuine criticism that reflects some real performance or functionality impact. Then there's just plain nitpicking. I think you've crossed that line.

The fact of the matter is that Windows 7 is a truely modern, efficient, nimble, and state of the art OS. Windows 7 has fully revived my notebook to get the maximum capabilities out of its hardware. The desktop that I have responds 10 times better on the new OS.

That being said, a few minor inconsistencies are forgiveable. I remember the "Abort, Retry, and Fail" of PC magazine showing inconsistences in OS-X, Windows, various applications, etc. I think we've seen this and every OS user can have a good laugh at them. So no OS is perfect. Everyone of them has inconsistencies.

I just think that you need to walk a better line of inconsistencies that really matter versus ones that most folks would just ignore.

@kenmcnamee: I was going to point out "homegroup" as another spelling. I think it was on a screenshot on Ed Bott's blog (ZDNet) that I saw "homegroup" in the setting's window title bar.

HomeGroup/Homegroup/homegroup has been one of the most talked about features of Windows 7, specially for its easy setup, so I think people might/will notice the different spelling of it. It's something small, but it would be nice if there was a consistent spelling.

hey, it seems like the OS for paul, who in his own partisan way shows a tendency towards intelligent inconsistency.  It just scrubs all of his credibility away.  no big whoop.

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"There's a fine line between genuine criticism that reflects some real performance or functionality impact. Then there's just plain nitpicking. I think you've crossed that line."

I don't think he has. If he has noticed these inconsistencies (especially with regards to the HomeGroup one) imagine how a confused novice will react - for example, when reading multiple case variants of the same word. Whilst it's a non-issue for someone who knows what they're doing, beginners or people who are 'scared' of computers often blindly follow what is written/what they read, and may be led to the conclusions that Homegroup and HomeGroup are separate concepts. It's a stretch, but it's certainly not impossible, and I can imagine it causing problems.

"Hey, what do ya want, good grammar or good taste?"

Microsoft offers neither.

Of course, the Irony in such an example as Homegroup / homegroup / HomeGroup, is that in programming, great care is taken - or should be taken - when using capitalisation.

For example one common use is thus... HomeGroup would be a freely modifiable object, whereas homeGroup would be an object only accessible to it's parent

Whatever, I think it's clear that the Windows devs are not used to working on a case-sensitive *nix system ;-p

@Gorath

It's likely not the regular devs that are making those mistakes. Those are being pulled from resource files written by other people outside the regular devs. I don't know whether Microsoft uses a certain class of devs for that task or wholly different folks.

"Hey, what do ya want, good grammar or good taste?"

"Microsoft offers neither."

There's no such thing as good grammar. Good taste is highly subjective. For example, Rush Limbaugh probably thinks Microsoft doesn't offer good taste. Neither does robertsjoe. Just sayin'.

If you consider how many lines of code and how many words appear in the interface the % of inconsistencies  appears to be extremely small. If the same % level of errors were performed in the mortgage lending business the country would be in much better shape. Paul I think it's time for you to get a real job.

Windows elegant? Funniest thing I've heard in ages. Thanks for the laughs.

I think I see the marketing people at Apple sitting arond the table trying to figure out how to make a commercial about this.

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Quality is in the details. Whether or not the Joe Public cares or not, that sort of stuff really makes using the OS harder for him. Windows is already stuffed with features with less than self-explanatory names and the random style to write them hardly make them any less easy to understand.

Certain Mac OS X localizations also sport dozens of spelling mistakes and weird sentence structures, which makes one wonder whether some things are as wrong under the hood as they are in the surface.

Maybe the UI designers should use intellisense!

A close look at Windows XP will actually reveal poor grammar and a few spelling errors in a couple of particular areas. This follows in Vista and 7. While these kinds of things may seem small, they are part of what the difference is bewtween a professional and third rate product. In other words, Microsoft should be careful not to let poor English bring down a quality product which Windows 7 could prove to be.

@MUM

"Certain Mac OS X localizations also sport dozens of spelling mistakes and weird sentence structures, which makes one wonder whether some things are as wrong under the hood as they are in the surface."

Agreed...and this is the crux of the problems that consistently permeate Apple and Microsoft products. However, the stripped down simplicity of Windows 7 is at least a step in the right direction. Then again, whether Microsoft will stick with and focus on a productive direction is highly questionable.

@myself!

ummmmm.....that's between there tree...  ;-)

learn how to spell!

@ treeorc

"...difference is bewtween a professional and third rate product."

I beg to differ, but if Windows and OSX and such have these kinds of errors, then surely that is not the difference between a professional and not-professional.

Are you honestly suggesting that Windows and OSX are not professional products?

@ Gorath,

No...I was only suggesting that poor finishing touches such as the idea suggested could create a perspective among critics that is unprofessional...

"@ Gorath,

No...I was only suggesting that poor finishing touches such as the idea suggested could create a perspective among critics that is unprofessional..."

Dude, spotting a couple of spelling mistakes is like finding a few typos in a book written by, say, Paul Krugman. Does that make him unworthy of a Nobel prize? If a 200 page book can have typos and spelling mistakes, imagine a software as complex as an OS.

@ shark47

Correct. However my point was toward those critics that see this kind of thing as more important than you seem to...I could personally care less where a few mistakes might crop up...however, the idea is quality and that does involve marketing aspects such as proper English and consistent English...and end product applications that the user can understand without noticing some inconsist usage of verbage that could become confusing...especially if the use of upper and lower case is specific to product keys, application execution, and so on. Pretty simple actually.

I do hope Microsoft fixes the "Homegroup" thing before release, but honestly, I don't think it's that big a deal.

Regarding the inconsistencies with the enhanced taskbar, I have no idea what that is all about. Even in older versions (XP), depending on where you right click, the menu that comes up looks different.

I don't think Windows 7 is perfect. What I think is there are bigger issues there than the two Paul pointed out. If performance and the user experience are good, no one is going to blame Microsoft for a couple of capitalization errors.

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