elvis_presley
Expert Member
Give MS a call; tell them they must stop all plans of improving their products or taking on competitors in other markets until you're damn well ready for them to. How inconsiderate of them.
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Give MS a call; tell them they must stop all plans of improving their products or taking on competitors in other markets until you're damn well ready for them to. How inconsiderate of them.
Or go to a proper University that doesn't tie your knowledge to a particular company or particular version of that company's product.
mcryan
Expert Member
I fully agree.
It comes across as uninformed and biased. MS has had tons of news coverage, and saying that they have fallen because they can't generate as much news coverage as Google or Facebook means nothing. I am backing up my statement by giving the sales figure for their most recent OS, which is selling incredible volumes, and sales is the real proof of how well a product is doing, simple as that.
+1
It's also unfair to compare social networking sites to operating systems, and even thought the media's focus lately seems to be more on the mobile side, unless you're a hipster (Mac) or a developer (Linux), most people will still run Windows on their desktop, laptop, netbook etc. PC's, and a new version is thus big news.
elvis_presley
Expert Member
I think I just worked out the point of the article. It's title is "Windows 8 – What to expect" ... it's a rhetorical question. Bad reporting is what we can expect. Lots of it, until it launches. Then we can start with the "meh I'll wait for SP1" blog entries.
Drunkard #1
Expert Member
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I thought I'd hate the new UI once I heard that it was "touch optimised" but after seeing that video, I now have no doubt that I'll hate it. I have no apps pinned to the taskbar. I've got the quick launch bar back and the taskbar looking like it did when Microsoft released the pinnacle of UI design - Windows XP. My task bar takes up two rows, nothing is set to auto-hide, and all tabs have their titles written out fully. How can I do this? It's easy, I've got it all on a second 15" monitor leaving my 24" monitor completely uncluttered. Of course, if I was forced to use an inferior device (like an ipad) I couldn't do that. But I've got a choice, and I think I'll be sticking to 7 for a long, long time.
I honestly can't understand how Microsoft can develop such a slow, restricted interface targeting tablets, when it's strength is on the desktop. They're clearly listening to the wrong people. Hopefully they catch a wake up before business decides to rather customise a linux distro to look and feel more professional.
I hate Apple interfaces, and 8 is just an attempt to please a tiny minority of idiots who can't operate a real OS, by making it "simple" like Apple. <spits> Simple is slow. I want improvements to XP, not revolutionary ideas that shouldn't be allowed out of beta.
elvis_presley
Expert Member
I think you've missed the point. The "old desktop" isn't going away. When you first install win8 and boot up you'll see the tiles interface. I guess at this point a lot of drama queens will throw their hands up in the air and say "how could MS *DO* this to us?" rather than just flicking the right switches, and going back to the way they used to have Windows. Microsoft haven't explicitly said this is possible to do, but based on the fact you can whack a tile and be immediately taken to the "old UI", 1 touch after bootup, it seems reasonable to assume you'll be able boot to the old desktop. I assume this is what you'll do. And if you get a Win8 tablet, I have no doubt you'll use the new UI. That's the whole point.
I've got 3 monitors, and use something called DisplayFusion to give a taskbar on each monitor with that monitor's apps on it. Works brilliantly, but I'm always open to trying something new. Who knows, maybe a nice little 7" touchscreen monitor just above my keyboard with live tiles/shortcuts would be awesome. There are interesting possibilities opening up. More options are always good, so long as the decisions aren't made for you, Apple style.
Basjohn
Expert Member
Making a tablet/touch interface the default strikes me as a poor decision. The way I'd use a tablet and the way I use a pc are VASTLY different and using an interface with touch in mind will be annoying on PC. Why not make a seperate version/edition for Tablets? Or AT LEAST default to Aero on Desktop and Metro on tablets.
So while I like Metro for Tablets I feel it's an absolute no no for computer users and the standard aero running underneath it strikes me as equally pointless as it means we have TWO interface systems chewing up resources simultaneously. Not to mention it looks clanky that when you suddenly run an app like Office you'll see Aero when you saw Metro a moment ago. Each needs to be fully integrated when they're active as a sudden (and frequent) swap will make even the geekiest of us uncomfortable.
So while I like Metro for Tablets I feel it's an absolute no no for computer users and the standard aero running underneath it strikes me as equally pointless as it means we have TWO interface systems chewing up resources simultaneously. Not to mention it looks clanky that when you suddenly run an app like Office you'll see Aero when you saw Metro a moment ago. Each needs to be fully integrated when they're active as a sudden (and frequent) swap will make even the geekiest of us uncomfortable.
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For this simple reason I am determined to migrate as many people as possible to Ubuntu Linux. Not only is it free and there are a wide variety of interfaces, but for the average home/small-business user, it provides a level of stability and safety sorely lacking in MS products.
Let's face it, most home users don't need much more than XP for their web, email, Skype and productivity requirements...for those users Ubuntu Linux is an excellent alternative in how well it can squeeze life out of their "old" hardware while saving them money and keeping them safe online.
The business case for upgrading to Windows 8 is hardly compelling and the costs involved are not justifiable.
If Linux could just improve its support for games and apps like Photoshop, I'd wager it will be the beginning of the end for Microsoft and even Apple in the OS market.
My humble opinion.
Let's face it, most home users don't need much more than XP for their web, email, Skype and productivity requirements...for those users Ubuntu Linux is an excellent alternative in how well it can squeeze life out of their "old" hardware while saving them money and keeping them safe online.
The business case for upgrading to Windows 8 is hardly compelling and the costs involved are not justifiable.
If Linux could just improve its support for games and apps like Photoshop, I'd wager it will be the beginning of the end for Microsoft and even Apple in the OS market.
My humble opinion.
killadoob
Honorary Master
Linux can never improve their gaming unless developers move away from directx. Unless app developers start developing for linux it won't change either. I think the free market scares companies 
TonyA
Expert Member
IE 10 on its way, new windows on the way, isn't to be expected that there is going to be a move towards integrating all platforms Tablets, Phones, PCs etc towards one common UI and OS?
elvis_presley
Expert Member
While I agree for power users, and power users will make that small switch, I think that the vast majority of "normal" users will be fine with the new UI. Now a secretary, who uses about 3 programs in their entire life, will be presented with a desktop with a few big live tiles on it - Outlook, IE, and maybe some accounting app, plus a tile for weather, etc. Their life has been made easier with some GIANT icons to click on, whereas they'd usually be greeted with a desktop of icons they never use, and have to click on a little one. This is the majority of computer users.
If there's such an uproar about the default UI, perhaps MS will make it an option during install/login. I got no such option during install with the latest Ubuntu, for example, and it started up in Unity. And guess what, you can also choose to use the old UI there, and nobody's world ended because the default UI changed!
The bottom line is, talk of abandoning an OS before anyone in the world has actually seen these things, and a beta has come out, is just stupid. Chill people, it's just an OS.
Elimentals
Honorary Master
I see Apple also made the same move, making the Desktop OS look and act more like the tablet versions.
Mtsira
Active Member
its great cause i just bought myself a new pc
Arthur
Honorary Master
I'm really surprised no-one has posted a link to the first Windows 8 demo, by Mike Angiulo, in a partner conference in Taiwan.
Really interesting stuff shown.
YouTube.
Microsoft site (better quality than YouTube version).
Really interesting stuff shown.
YouTube.
Microsoft site (better quality than YouTube version).
Gilpinreid
New Member
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Windows 8 Preview
Details have been slowly coming out over Windows 8. Microsoft released the first preview of Windows 8, sporting a new look and feel. The focus, at least in the first preview, appears to be more of a touch based interface with App integration. The look is definitely quite different from Windows 7. However, as someone who is holding out hope that a true Windows Tablet/Slate emerges, seeing Windows 8 in action does offer a lot of promise. Windows 8 is slated to be released in 2012, so hopefully that means we will see the first beta released to the public before year end.
Per Microsoft, here are a few aspects of the new interface shown:
• Fast launching of apps from a tile-based Start screen, which replaces the Windows Start menu with a customizable, scalable full-screen view of apps.
• Live tiles with notifications, showing always up-to-date information from your apps.
• Fluid, natural switching between running apps.
• Convenient ability to snap and resize an app to the side of the screen, so you can really multitask using the capabilities of Windows.
• Web-connected and Web-powered apps built using HTML5 and JavaScript that have access to the full power of the PC.
• Fully touch-optimized browsing, with all the power of hardware-accelerated Internet Explorer 10.
In a latest disclosure made by Windows 8 Engineering team, it has been confirmed that Windows 8 OS will come equipped with built-in ISO mounting and VHD (virtual hard disk) features.
According to Microsoft, both these features will come as integral components of the Windows 8 Explorer ribbon menu, and mounting of a VHD or ISO file will be as simple as opening a file with double-click. Windows 8 enables easy access to the contents of two important storage formats, ISO and VHD files. While we generally think of these formats when they appear on media, they are also very useful as files within a file system and that is where native support in Explorer comes in handy.
Details have been slowly coming out over Windows 8. Microsoft released the first preview of Windows 8, sporting a new look and feel. The focus, at least in the first preview, appears to be more of a touch based interface with App integration. The look is definitely quite different from Windows 7. However, as someone who is holding out hope that a true Windows Tablet/Slate emerges, seeing Windows 8 in action does offer a lot of promise. Windows 8 is slated to be released in 2012, so hopefully that means we will see the first beta released to the public before year end.
Per Microsoft, here are a few aspects of the new interface shown:
• Fast launching of apps from a tile-based Start screen, which replaces the Windows Start menu with a customizable, scalable full-screen view of apps.
• Live tiles with notifications, showing always up-to-date information from your apps.
• Fluid, natural switching between running apps.
• Convenient ability to snap and resize an app to the side of the screen, so you can really multitask using the capabilities of Windows.
• Web-connected and Web-powered apps built using HTML5 and JavaScript that have access to the full power of the PC.
• Fully touch-optimized browsing, with all the power of hardware-accelerated Internet Explorer 10.
In a latest disclosure made by Windows 8 Engineering team, it has been confirmed that Windows 8 OS will come equipped with built-in ISO mounting and VHD (virtual hard disk) features.
According to Microsoft, both these features will come as integral components of the Windows 8 Explorer ribbon menu, and mounting of a VHD or ISO file will be as simple as opening a file with double-click. Windows 8 enables easy access to the contents of two important storage formats, ISO and VHD files. While we generally think of these formats when they appear on media, they are also very useful as files within a file system and that is where native support in Explorer comes in handy.
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