[jr2]

- instead of the 30+ quicklaunch icons on my work machine, at home I have all of 11, neatly sorted and easily identifiable.

Right-click Quick-Launch (not an icon in quick launch, this can be tricky) > Open Folder.  Remove and Add shortcuts as you wish. 
Or just browse for it:

XP:
<<Drive>>:\Documents and Settings\<<username>>\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
Vista:
<<Drive>>:\Users\<<username>>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

[The E]

Except that that does not give you the awesomeness of the new taskbar. Combining the task buttons with the quicklaunch functionality was the best idea in a very long time. Saves time (As it only takes a right-click to pin a program to the taskbar) and space (Since the quicklaunch area and the task button area have been merged).

[jr2]

Except that that does not give you the awesomeness of the new taskbar. Combining the task buttons with the quicklaunch functionality was the best idea in a very long time. Saves time (As it only takes a right-click to pin a program to the taskbar) and space (Since the quicklaunch area and the task button area have been merged).

  But if you don't have 7...

Well, you could always use RocketDock and enable the "minimize windows to the Dock" option, as well as (if you want) changing its location to the bottom and the Taskbar to the top.  Checkout the embedded YouTube video in the link above to see some of what I mean. 

System Requirements:
Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7
500Mhz or faster CPU
10MB RAM free

[MP-Ryan]

- instead of the 30+ quicklaunch icons on my work machine, at home I have all of 11, neatly sorted and easily identifiable.

Right-click Quick-Launch (not an icon in quick launch, this can be tricky) > Open Folder.  Remove and Add shortcuts as you wish.  

You missed the point; I use all those quicklaunch buttons on the XP machine, I just have to put up with the ridiculous spread of them (a good 15 of them are various network locations).  In 7, all of the icons of one type can be organized into a single jump-list.  I suppose I could set up a quicklaunch subfolder on the XP machine, but that's likely to be even more irritating.

I disgress; point is, I like the new UI immensely and it honestly isn't all that different from previous versions of Windows... it's just smoother.  Considering it took me a whopping 30 minutes to figure it out and organize the jumplists on my home machine, it's not really onerous.  Yeah, I saw the argument for corporations earlier, but considering I spend 10 minutes of each and every day just waiting for my damn computer to start up and load all the crap IT has on it at startup (which I cannot disable), 30 minutes of time really isn't all that important in the grand scheme of productive work life.

[jr2]

...

Yeah, I have created subfolders in quicklaunch before ... as long as they are in the expanded portion (accessible by the double arrow) they function like a mini-start menu.  And yeah, 7's way of handling it is immensely better.  

What you may find interesting is Launchy.  Basically, like the Vista / 7 start menu search except it doesn't lag and it works on XP (and 2000 with a download of gdiplus.dll).  I set the keyboard shortcut to WIN + BKSP, instead of the default WIN + Space.  Give it a whirl, I think you'll like it.  

EDIT: Sorry I meant WIN, not CTRL. 

[Mika]

I don't know how you guys have got improved speeds with Windows 7 UI. I certainly haven't while using Classic Start Menu and the new 7 menu at tandem. I didn't find much differences in times, the only thing being the run box where you can write stuff for Windows 7 to search. I found that to be the best way to change the background in Windows 7, but this is because I couldn't find the damn option anywhere else!

It is amazing how much money the Classic Start Menu program authors ask: 25 $ per program! The need is certainly there, and there seems to be similar issues with Office 2007 Ribbon interface, there are utilities bringing the old menus back for 25 $!

In other news, I downgraded Office 2007 back to Office 2003. The next office suite I'll be using at work is most likely OpenOffice. What I have read and heard about the new Office 2007, pretty much everybody in my technology center hates it. Two colleagues have had it for a year by now, and haven't been able to figure out a way to use it effectively. Rest have been avoiding it like plague after the first contact.

[The E]

I don't know how you guys have got improved speeds with Windows 7 UI. I certainly haven't while using Classic Start Menu and the new 7 menu at tandem. I didn't find much differences in times, the only thing being the run box where you can write stuff for Windows 7 to search. I found that to be the best way to change the background in Windows 7, but this is because I couldn't find the damn option anywhere else!

Right click on empty desktop -> Personalize too hard to find?

[Mika]

My mistake. But what exactly does "Personalize..." mean there was probably the main problem. It was not at all evident what I could find under it. It could mean anything from personalized power settings to personalized themes. I was sure I did find from the desktop earlier, but couldn't repeat the process. I couldn't either find it from control panel, and God Mode list was too long to bother. Entered "background" to Search and found what I was looking for.

It took me about two working days to configure the Windows 7 to be usable. But now it is a working OS that I can use with ease.

Again, I'm curious to know what kind of improvements in time have you gotten with Windows 7 and the new interface? I would prefer to see the differences in seconds.

As a comparison, I could launch all the software I need in XP in less than a second, including minimizing the screen of the current active window and returning to it. By putting stuff on the quick launch bar in XP it could be decreased still. Though I rarely need to launch program in less than a second, and might occasionally take that oh-so-massive two second time penalty.

I didn't get much improvement to that from Windows 7 quick launch buttons, though they are improved due to larger size. My experiences of typing stuff into the "run" prompt actually made things a little bit slower. However, I wouldn't need to use the mouse to do that which is a property that I can see as a plus for some people. I in any case need to use 3D modelling environments quite a lot so I tend to keep either the left or the right hand on the mouse nevertheless.

So what are your experiences and where have you gotten faster in Windows 7?

[Mika]

Ah, I need to check if that Window key + D combination works in Windows 7 also. Quite handy combo in Windows XP.

Off to bed, let's see what tomorrow brings up.

[IceFire]

So what are your experiences and where have you gotten faster in Windows 7?

Missing a document?  Search is super fast, it's right there, it takes one click and I can look for whatever it is that I want to find.  I have a application with multiple windows or tabs open and I want one specific one... I mouse over (no clicks) and select the exact window I want.  I don't have to search through because I can see what the content is in the preview.  If I hold for that brief second then that window will highlight and all other content will go away. I want to make everything go away and go back to desktop?  Move the mouse carelessly to the bottom right corner and it's done.  I want to split screen something?  I drag one window to the left and the other to the right and the snap to 50%.  All of these things were much harder and in some cases (like split screens) time consuming. EDIT: Oh here is another one.  I go to the start menu and I want to open up a document that is in my recently opened documents in say... Word.  I click on the arrow next to the name and immediately open that document.  Faster... MUCH faster.

Personalize is so you can go and personalize your system. You don't personalize power settings. Power settings are power settings.  Personalization immediately implies that you're doing something to the visual look and feel.  When you personalize your car... people add flames, or stickers, or wings, or whatever... a visual impact.  So this is what you get when you open it up. It is a bit ambiguous because it does cover a number of items yes... I will give you that.  But I don't think it's a mistake.  It's fairly logical.

[MP-Ryan]

It's fairly logical.

Surprisingly so, actually.  At first I was cursing as I went hunting for my frequently-adjusted Windows settings, but if you ignore the fact that you knew where they used to be and simply went based on what the items were named, you found them very quickly.  And godmode is useful for putting all the control options in a single place if you really can't find what you're looking for.

[jr2]

Ah, I need to check if that Window key + D combination works in Windows 7 also. Quite handy combo in since Windows XP '95.

Off to bed, let's see what tomorrow brings up.

EDIT: for those interested in increased productivity, MS has a list of keyboard shortcuts for Windows:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449