[grantcox]

I've recently started using Windows again on a gaming computer. Here are the problems I found, that felt "ugh, Windows":

- I'm now used to the "inverse mouse scrolling". To enable this for my mouse (logitech something?) I needed to edit the registry. Every time I plug it into a new USB port it's now a new device with a new registry entry to hack.

- I installed the various device drivers that came with my hardware. The Realtek on-motherboard network card had some driver, which actually stopped the hardware from working - Microsoft's own standard driver was better. But every time I rebooted, Windows would helpfully install the "updated" driver from it's local cache. I ended up fixing this by setting the permissions on some c:\windows\system32 file to such that the system itself could not update it

I'm also not yet familiar with the changes to the Start menu and Windows Explorer, so those also feel confusing. But it's a gaming computer, I turn it on, play games, then turn it off. Presumably if it was a development workstation I'd have more opinions on the rest of it.

[jeeva]

If the mouse supports Logitech Setpoint, it might be worth installing it - I believe it has the reverse scrolling setting at a device level (though I've not tested those conditions exactly).

[5_minutes]

Sounds like hell and Windows xp

[intoverflow2]

Yeah but if you actually want a powerful machine it's your only option these days. Apple don't sell anything remotely at the level of PC hardware, even if money is no object.

I got forced into going Windows for GPU powered 3D rendering because Apple isn't interested in my business.

[jmanderley]

I'd say you're Windowsing wrong if you changed system file permissions to stop a driver from installing.