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How many windows does the Enterprise-D have?

I seem to recall something said about much of the ship being available for expansion at later dates, back at the beginning. And of course the Whitefire plans show the original idea of a vast communal "mall" area in the saucer. (Not a shopping mall, just a big social area).

One idea I actually like from NuTrek was the vault. It would help rationalize all that space if the Enterprise was carrying a ton of artifacts and specimens from various exploratory adventures on a long mission outside Federation space. Unfortunately after the Borg threat appeared, we didn't see the ship venture very far from home or for very long.
 
I think that most of the interior of the E-D consists of the enormous automated machinery that makes the everyday luxuries of 24th century life possible. The majority of habitable spaces are probably right on the outer skin of the ship, hence all the windows.
 
I never got to love the Enterprise D the way I did the TOS/TMP ships. Now that I'm rewatching TNG for the first time, I realize that it's all the damned windows that make it look, as someone else described it, more like a cruise ship than a vessel for exploration.

Looking at the concept drawings without all the windows, it's actually a good design that seems like a reasonable possible evolution from the TOS/TMP era.
Fa4PiQ4.png

The only thing that bugs me about this version is the giant Starfleet insignia on top of the nacelles, which I always thought looked silly and toy-like.

This version, maybe with a more metallic-looking hull, would look great, IMO, and could've made for a reasonable "refit" for the TNG movies.
 
I never got to love the Enterprise D the way I did the TOS/TMP ships. Now that I'm rewatching TNG for the first time, I realize that it's all the damned windows that make it look, as someone else described it, more like a cruise ship than a vessel for exploration.

I look at it from the following perspective: In TOS times they were obviously already an advanced space faring civilization, but space was still an alien concept for them. By the time of TNG, they embraced space. They feel as home on a starship as they do on a planet.


One thing I found odd, is that even with so many windows even the majority of the senior officers did not have quarters with windows.
 
I agree with that last part - there is enough windows on board ship for virtually every member of the crew to have a room with a view. Just another thing that sucks to be Laforge, I guess...
 
Anyone know how many windows the Enterprise-D has?.

Too many for a Starship ;-). Unless they're as solid as the material around them and molecularly bonded to it, they present a problem as potential weakpoints (targets/areas of failure), why not just have view screens (especially since mostly what you see is space) connected to cameras or whatever to show what a window would show? Some windows, sure... but it's not like they needed a window on the bridge to see where they were going (or a back one for reverse HAHAHA I am picturing that now). In fact, why is the bridge so damn vulnerable? Why not more in the center of the saucer?
 
I never got to love the Enterprise D the way I did the TOS/TMP ships. Now that I'm rewatching TNG for the first time, I realize that it's all the damned windows that make it look, as someone else described it, more like a cruise ship than a vessel for exploration.

Looking at the concept drawings without all the windows, it's actually a good design that seems like a reasonable possible evolution from the TOS/TMP era.
Fa4PiQ4.png

The only thing that bugs me about this version is the giant Starfleet insignia on top of the nacelles, which I always thought looked silly and toy-like.

This version, maybe with a more metallic-looking hull, would look great, IMO, and could've made for a reasonable "refit" for the TNG movies.
Just realized it's the windows that make the D look like a cruise ship.
 
Too many. They make it look like a pleasure liner instead of an exploration ship.

I have this vague recollection of the sensors going down in a novel, and whoever was in command ordering everyone to a window to look out and basically perform the same function as the (short range) sensors... But I don't remember which book it was, or if I've dreamed it up...
 
One or two observation ports for such occasions make sense.
To completely perforate the hull with windows on the other hand...
 
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