Philip, Yes, of course there is a multiple-file rename function in DOS, but does the Win10 Explorer have this functionality? Given that, as you say, many people these days aren't familiar with a CLI (e.g. Unix, Linux, Cisco, XyWrite, etc.), they won't feel comfortable with DOS either. So of what use is the multiple-file rename function in DOS to them? See my point? Let me give you some examples of a lack of basic functionality in Windows, all iterations. First: directory synchronization. I take digital photographs, literally thousands every month. They are downloaded from the camera chip to a harddisc, whence they get distributed to various systems for retouching (Photoshop) and embedding in layout programs (PageMaker/InDesign) running on four different computers. The default camera file name format IMG-xxxx.jpg is useless to me; multiple-file renaming is absolutely basic to what I do, daily. Furthermore, I frequently need to compare directories and files, and I do not always want the newest iteration of any given file; sometimes I need to roll back to a previous version of a photograph or a layout. I need to compare directories, to see two panels showing the same directory on two different (possibly networked) machines, and to see highlighted in color all differences in files/directories. I need to see dates and sizes and when last modified. _Then_ I need to have granular control over which files get moved from one directory to another, over-writes confirmed or not, not simply taking the newest iteration and over-writing the older ones. Does Windows offer this functionality out of the box? No. Why not? They've had 30 years to work on this kind of basic, grunt-work, ground-floor, _elementary_ file management functionality, and they've muffed it. Total Commander had this decades ago (see screenshot). The Win10 control panel is a disaster, certainly no improvement over previous Windows iterations. Have you counted how many clicks are required to modify the network adapter's IP address? Eleven. That's assuming one finds the path on the first try. And yes, I do have to modify it when I travel to a customer's place of business. Can I save multiple network adapter profiles with different IP address/subnet mask/dns server settings, and simply one-click a profile to apply one or another set of IP configs? No. I have to manually reconfigure the settings every time I move the computer to a different, often recurring, (e.g. customer) environment. MS has had 30 years to get this sort of basic, ground-floor functionality up and running, and they muffed it. Mac had this decades ago. What does Win10 offer me instead? _Tiles._ Annoying little animations sending me continuous updates about stocks I do not own, needlessly chatting up my network and cluttering my desktop. There is a tile called MS-Solitaire Collection (card games). Mine is a _work station_, I earn a living on my computers, I don't want or need games; this is what tells me that MS has still not graduated from the Win95 gaming-platform it started out as. So why do I use Windows? Two reasons: first, because MS's gigantic market share has a huge pull on software design and not every app that I need runs (or runs well) in non-MS environments. Second, the companies to which I sell my finished work mostly run MS systems and require MS-compatible file formats. I use it because, in some instances, I have no better alternative, not because I like it. I use Mac OSX because I _like_ it. That is a significant difference in user perspective, don't you think? My fundamental gripe about Windows is that I do not want _more_ features, I want _better_ ones. I want elementary file management control, I want elementary network adapter control, and I do not want to have click a dozen buttons in an ever more-byzantine maze of panels-within-panels to get control over these things. Feel free to relay my comments to Redmond, if you think they will listen. Yours sincerely, Flash professional writer published author XyWrite-because-I-loathe-MS-Word user
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