With the Windows 7 RTM build officially being announced on July 13th, I think it’s safe to say that they’re beginning to plan out and develop Windows 8. There’s several things that I’d like to request for Windows 8, some under the hood and some visual, and as Microsoft does keep watch on the communities and bloggers I definitely hope that they take these into consideration. Here they are, listed in no particular order:

1. Tidy up the kernel, particularly by removing code required to allow older applications to work. This code only bogs down the system and clutters the kernel, and if anyone needs to use older software on Windows 8 they may use XPM, which I imagine will work even better and be more bug-free by the time Windows 8 hits store shelves.

2. Make Windows 8 64-bit only. The death of x86 is way overdue and it’s time for more people to adopt a new architecture, and sometimes the only way for that to happen is for them to be forced to. Let’s face it, this has to happen sometime, and even though some still use PCs that cannot support x64 (sadly including many Atom-powered netbooks), perhaps if this happens companies such as Intel and AMD will be forced to ensure that all future CPUs are capable of supporting x64.

3. Expand on the ISO tools by allowing people to both mount ISOs and by allowing people to change the burn speeds when using the built-in ISO burning tool. At times, when burning discs to ensure that the burn goes smoothly people may need to use a slower burn speed, so the absence of this rather basic feature makes people have to get another ISO-burning solution if they don’t already use one.

4. Make the taskbar more developer-oriented by allowing people to develop “widgets” for it. This would definitely be cool to implement, but the only problem is that if no quality control is put in place, the gadgets made for the superbar may be on par with the ones made for Vista’s sidebar, and, well…

5. Make it cheaper. Many were hoping and praying with their fingers crossed that Windows 7 would be a lot cheaper, and it wasn’t. Perhaps the pricing could be something like: Windows 8 Home Premium Upgrade - $59.99, Windows 8 Professional Upgrade - $69.99, Windows 8 Ultimate Upgrade - $79.99; Windows 8 Home Premium Full - $79.99, Windows 8 Professional Full - $89.99, and Windows 8 Ultimate Full - $99.99. Of course, this is just sample pricing and they could definitely be better and more well thought out, but it’s just an example of what I want the Windows 8 prices to be around.

If you make it that cheap, it’s sure to be flying off the shelves more so than if they keep a similar pricing scheme to what they have now. Whenever a new version of Windows rolls around, the average Joe will question the point of upgrading as they may not be aware of the many under-the-hood changes and their significance, so they won’t be that willing to shell out money when what they have is perfectly fine, especially in this economy.

6. Have a “gaming” mode that will temporarily terminate several tasks running in the background to make room for the resources required by the game at hand. Several gamers still stick with XP to this date because it’s a fact that Vista uses more resources, and if with the click of a button you could toggle such a mode in Windows 8 that will allow it to use the bare minimum of resources, it would appeal to the gamer market. The performance in Windows 7 has been much improved and I think this in and of itself will cause gamers to make the switch, but the implementation of a mode such as this would make it even better.

7. Implement a multiple desktops feature that we have seen for ages now in Linux and OS X. I’d love to be able to organize the windows I have open that way, having one desktop with a game open and another with a web browser open so that I may switch easily from desktop to desktop. Also, make the switching process easy and quick even if a full screen window is open in one desktop.

8. Bundle in a universal spell checker with Windows. This is yet another thing that’s been around in OS X for a while now, and it certainly helps with programs that don’t come with a spell checker by default such as WLM.

9. Consider and be open to drastically changing the Windows GUI. From what I’ve seen come out of Microsoft Research and even the Longhorn concepts, you guys have some really great ideas that will create a much better experience. I understand that this is something that may have been avoided due to the fact that the majority of users are accustomed to the current UI, and this may cause a rush of calls to kids/grandkids asking in panic what happened to the start menu, but keep in mind that the current UI can’t be there forever.

10. For the Windows 8 beta program, please give us more official build drops. While Windows 7 is really the greatest version of Windows to be released yet, something that many testers were unhappy about is the lack of build drops. Testers missed the CTP builds for example that were given out during the Vista beta which allowed them to track the progress of bug reports, and while we understand why, asides from the beta and RC there weren’t any build drops, the extra time it takes to compile these build drops will be worth it, especially if Windows 8 will be a major release.

Well, there you have it. Feel free to share your Windows 8 suggestions on our forum discussion thread, as you never know, Microsoft might just be watching.

Editors Note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the GeekSmack staff or our community members.