Well, I seem to have found something called "Windows Classic" in the Personalisation section. I am that person, the one that needs "revert to classic" in every site/OS/software revamp. Let me not get started with bitching about the Office upgrade. I don't care if it's more intuitive for new Office users. How many new Office users are there, anyway? I can't work out how to style heading 4. This is important. Outlines are my lifeblood.

Okay, Windows Classic is really very classic. This is weird.

I hate the bottom strip situation.

That's funny because I love pinning because that way I have nothing on my desktop except the pretty picture. Yet, at the same time, I have the classic setting for everything else.

quester, I am having a similar problem with my iomega portable external hard drive. After chatting with iomega's support, they seem to think I should exchange the drive, and meanwhile I can't get to my data to move it. Not pleased.

If you can, try different cables, different USB ports, a different computer just in case something in the connection is the problem.

I have had a number of different WD drives die on me, to the point where I won't buy them any longer. In most instances it has not been the actual mechanism inside, but rather part of the electronics in the enclosure that had failed. I've been able to rip the drive out of the enclosure and hook it up to a USB to SATA dock that I have and get all of my data. I know this probably sounds like a pain in the ass, and it is, but it means that there is a good chance the data is still there.

I don't care if it's more intuitive for new Office users. How many new Office users are there, anyway?

Heh. Too true.

My theory is that Office and Windows are by far the biggest cash cows for Microsoft. Office is a pretty mature produce (as is Windows) so maybe the redesign is an attempted justification for people to upgrade to the newest version. Because I'm not sure what the benefits are for the changes to Office.

OTOH, as far as Office 2007 is concerned, I mostly just use Access--either to just look at tables, or to develop front-end database applications for users, so I'm sure there's lots of stuff I'm not using.

Yeah, I did the only OS upgrading I ever do these days, i.e., when I buy a new computer. So I have 7 now and got mostly used to it, but plenty of stuff still bugs. I do like the bit where I can bump one window up against the left side and one against the right and then they are automatically side by side comparison ready. It`s nice because it`s basically a fourth state (minimized, maximized, restored, & now side by side) so I can do the comparison work, and then get right back to the restored size I like.
 
But I hate the flickering of the transparent frame. And lots of other stuff. Oh, and I`m still using Office 2003, although I update Open Office regularly.

What I loathe about 7 is the Explorer and the stupid libraries. I managed to make the flickering go away and finally convinced it to run everything as an admin, so we've reached a truce of sorts.

I'm a bit weirded out now by how Windows 95 Classic is, and I want a middle ground. I just can't work out where those settings are. I refuse to close the Personalisation window until I work it out.

I don't know when I became a Mac, but shit. It took.

And you really don't like Windows 7 default? I find it to be by far the Macciest Windows yet. I actually find it rather a pleasure to use (though I still boot into it quite rarely)

The transparent windows thing is a no go for me. I keep getting lost between applications. And the task bar doesn't make it obvious enough what's running (though it's clear in Windows Classic).