Microsoft kicks off Windows 8 sales - taken aim at Apple

rpm

rpm

Admin
Staff member
Joined
Jul 22, 2003
Messages
66,806
Reaction score
5,057
Location
Johannesburg
Microsoft kicks off Windows 8 sales

Microsoft kicked off sales of its revamped Windows 8 system and Surface tablet Friday amid mixed reviews as the tech giant ramped up efforts to compete in a market shifting rapidly from PCs to mobile devices.
 
The question is, how many people really want their desktop PCs or laptops turned into faux tablets?

Big, clunky, messy and generally atrocious.

I don't want my PC to be any more like a tablet than I want a tablet becoming my PC.

I think Windows 8, as a whole, takes far too many steps backwards.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/30241624/Mess.jpg

If chaotic application lists and everything in fullscreen is the future, then we're really not moving forward, we're slipping back into what we spent the last 20-years trying to improve.

Win8 outside of normal "desktop" is definitely not conducive to multitasking, and that's exactly what I want to do with my PC--browser on the left, Skype top-right, chat window bottom right and e-mail behind that.

Win8 is the worst GUI I've seen implemented on a PC environment... ever.
 
rwenzori said:
Win 8 will drive more sales for Apple than Vista did. A doggie is a doggie woof woof.
Click to expand...

If I buy a new desktop I'll seriously consider the new iMac now. I've had it with Microsoft. They've done their utmost to prevent people from buying non-upgrade copies of Windows 8, and you still need to buy programs like Start8 so you can restore the start button and actually get some work done.
 
Apparently THIS is the year of the [-]Linux[/-] Apple desktop. :D

Then again I do not know why people are bitching.... If you do not like "Metro" just don't use it. Simple as that.

and you can do it with your choice of applications as well, be it: Vistart, Start8 or Classic Shell

What you get in return is a Windows 7 that boots faster, is more security and has a proper Explorer with cool Copy(No more need for Teracopy) to name a few.
 
Last edited:
Lycanthrope said:
The question is, how many people really want their desktop PCs or laptops turned into faux tablets?

Big, clunky, messy and generally atrocious.

I don't want my PC to be any more like a tablet than I want a tablet becoming my PC.

I think Windows 8, as a whole, takes far too many steps backwards.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/30241624/Mess.jpg

If chaotic application lists and everything in fullscreen is the future, then we're really not moving forward, we're slipping back into what we spent the last 20-years trying to improve.

Win8 outside of normal "desktop" is definitely not conducive to multitasking, and that's exactly what I want to do with my PC--browser on the left, Skype top-right, chat window bottom right and e-mail behind that.

Win8 is the worst GUI I've seen implemented on a PC environment... ever.
Click to expand...

Ctrl + Clickety Click Click, Unpin from Start, problem resolved.

The rest of the naysayers can fly a kite IMHO. Windows 8 is awesomely fast and I have been using it daily since the Release Preview release.

I am upgrading from Release Preview to Pro RTM next week, can't wait :p ;) :D Yay!
 
Bryn26 said:
If I buy a new desktop I'll seriously consider the new iMac now. I've had it with Microsoft. They've done their utmost to prevent people from buying non-upgrade copies of Windows 8, and you still need to buy programs like Start8 so you can restore the start button and actually get some work done.
Click to expand...

I might not like the tiles, but no start button is very practical once you get used to it. If you cant move your mouse pointer a couple of mm past where the start button used to be in the bottom left hand corner, then you probably should not be using a PC.
 
been using WIN 8 Pro for 24 hrs now..a bit of a learning curve but its all good now..
even though i didn't really need to update from Win 7 , the R363 price tag was too good to pass up!
 
ghoti said:
I might not like the tiles, but no start button is very practical once you get used to it. If you cant move your mouse pointer a couple of mm past where the start button used to be in the bottom left hand corner, then you probably should not be using a PC.
Click to expand...

LOL, unless you use it in a virtual environment, its a pain to get that hotspot sometimes when you in a hurry as the mouse do not exactly stop on that spot but mouse far beyond it :)
 
william riker said:
been using WIN 8 Pro for 24 hrs now..a bit of a learning curve but its all good now..
even though i didn't really need to update from Win 7 , the R363 price tag was too good to pass up!
Click to expand...
Interesting. I wonder how many "upgrades" will be sold in the next week or so. It seems MS really threw an uppercut with this move :)
 
teraside said:
Ctrl + Clickety Click Click, Unpin from Start, problem resolved.
Click to expand...

That pictures is of my "all apps" in the start ... erm.. screen. You can't unpin or organise that mess.

But that is precisely what I did with the start screen: removed as many of the "tablet features" as possible and equipped it as a decent dock.

When you get past that, they've removed everything graphically "fancy" about Win7--the shadows, transparency, etc, bringing us back to basics.

The rest of the naysayers can fly a kite IMHO. Windows 8 is awesomely fast and I have been using it daily since the Release Preview release.
Click to expand...

The naysayers are justified in their reaction.

Honestly, I'm looking forward to OpenGL taking off again and gaming moving away from being purely Windows-dependent. This may well be Linux and even *cringe* Apple's time to fly.
 
AlphaJohn said:
LOL, unless you use it in a virtual environment, its a pain to get that hotspot sometimes when you in a hurry as the mouse do not exactly stop on that spot but mouse far beyond it :)
Click to expand...

I had not thought of that. Have not run Win8 in a virtual machine yet.
 
william riker said:
been using WIN 8 Pro for 24 hrs now..a bit of a learning curve but its all good now..
even though i didn't really need to update from Win 7 , the R363 price tag was too good to pass up!
Click to expand...

teraside said:
Interesting. I wonder how many "upgrades" will be sold in the next week or so. It seems MS really threw an uppercut with this move :)
Click to expand...

read somewhere that the clean install works fine with the "upgrade" but you get problems when you register/authenticate .. thats when you need the previous version key
 
Lycanthrope said:
That pictures is of my "all apps" in the start ... erm.. screen. You can't unpin or organise that mess.
Click to expand...
You can, I just did it on my machine. Hold Ctrl and click to multiselect the apps and you get an option to unpin from start at the bottom left.
Lycanthrope said:
But that is precisely what I did with the start screen: removed as many of the "tablet features" as possible and equipped it as a decent dock.

When you get past that, they've removed everything graphically "fancy" about Win7--the shadows, transparency, etc, bringing us back to basics.
Click to expand...
I understand and agree, but MS is moving to minimalistic GUI's and devices. Less fragmentation will win. That's what all these companies are doing. That is what makes Google so successful in the past year. They consolidated their apps and services and brought it all under one roof in Google Search. It was my biggest peeve of theirs and I'm happy they changed. MS is following suit and through online syncing with Win8 and all their "apps" they will make it easier and normal to having your entire life organized on your different devices. Fragmentation sucks, I hate it.

Lycanthrope said:
The naysayers are justified in their reaction.

Honestly, I'm looking forward to OpenGL taking off again and gaming moving away from being purely Windows-dependent. This may well be Linux and even *cringe* Apple's time to fly.
Click to expand...
I agree that Linux needs a bit more exposure, but until the OEM's and Tech giants back them (which they haven't thus far) things won't change. Even if they have Steam gunning for them, they still need the hardware maker's backing.
 
Last edited:
lucifir said:
read somewhere that the clean install works fine with the "upgrade" but you get problems when you register/authenticate .. thats when you need the previous version key
Click to expand...

Yep, I'm basically upgrading RTM over my Release Preview. I haven't read that it won't work, but if I have issues, I will just reload from scratch :).
 
teraside said:
You can, I just did it on my machine. Hold Ctrl and click to multiselect the apps and you get an option to unpin from start at the bottom left.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if we understand each other correctly here. I'm taking about the "All Apps" section of the start screen; not the start screen itself. These are ordinary applications that are installed, not "apps" as such. That option doesn't exist.

And even still, it doesn't change the fact that it doesn't differentiate subfolders--making it impossible to tell for GOG.com games, for example, which of the four billion "manual" shortcuts belongs to which game.

I understand and agree, but MS is moving to minimalistic GUI's and devices. Less fragmentation will win. That's what all these companies are doing. That is what makes Google so successful in the past year. They consolidated their apps and services and brought it all under one roof in Google Search. It was my biggest peeve of theirs and I'm happy they changed. MS is following suit and through online syncing with Win8 and all their "apps" they will make it easier and normal to having your entire life organized on your different devices. Fragmentation sucks, I hate it.
Click to expand...

Perhaps. There's nothing inherently wrong with minimalism and that tends to work well for tablets, cellphones and web environments but the problem comes into play with a PC environment: an environment that has been built for multitasking, heavy-duty functionality and complexity.

I don't necessarily believe that a convergent tablet-desktop-console OS is a good thing.

But, at the same time, I do believe that multi-platform compatibility would be incredibly progressive--imagine, for example, buying software that would work on PC, console and your tablet and owning that software on your PC would mean that you own it across all your other devices under the same account.

Great.

The problem then comes with the functionality of that software, and this is where it falls apart. "Tablet" software unfortunately possesses the entire real-estate of your display. On a 20"+ monitor, this is just insanely primitive and unfathomably backward (this is taking us back to the 90's).

PCs evolved to be more and more complex. This new modern "minimalist" approach seems to be an attempt at making PCs more approachable for thumb-sucking know-nothings. And this is something I don't believe to, at all, be a good thing.

It might make more revenue, but it doesn't strike me as anything truly progressive.

I agree that Linux needs a bit more exposure, but until the OEM's and Tech giants back them (which they haven't thus far) things won't change. Even if they Steam gunning for them, they still need the hardware maker's backing.
Click to expand...

And this, I completely agree with. More of that, pl0x.
 
ghoti said:
I might not like the tiles, but no start button is very practical once you get used to it. If you cant move your mouse pointer a couple of mm past where the start button used to be in the bottom left hand corner, then you probably should not be using a PC.
Click to expand...

It's not about moving a few more mm, it's about having less practicality. There's nothing I can say about the usability and work flow of Windows 8 that hasn't been covered by the top Youtube reviews.
 
Lycanthrope said:
I'm not sure if we understand each other correctly here. I'm taking about the "All Apps" section of the start screen; not the start screen itself. These are ordinary applications that are installed, not "apps" as such. That option doesn't exist.

And even still, it doesn't change the fact that it doesn't differentiate subfolders--making it impossible to tell for GOG.com games, for example, which of the four billion "manual" shortcuts belongs to which game.
Click to expand...
Have a look at my Start screen, I think we are talking about the same thing. I have many more apps installed as well as games, but unpinned it.
8.jpg

Lycanthrope said:
Perhaps. There's nothing inherently wrong with minimalism and that tends to work well for tablets, cellphones and web environments but the problem comes into play with a PC environment: an environment that has been built for multitasking, heavy-duty functionality and complexity.

I don't necessarily believe that a convergent tablet-desktop-console OS is a good thing.

But, at the same time, I do believe that multi-platform compatibility would be incredibly progressive--imagine, for example, buying software that would work on PC, console and your tablet and owning that software on your PC would mean that you own it across all your other devices under the same account.

Great.

The problem then comes with the functionality of that software, and this is where it falls apart. "Tablet" software unfortunately possesses the entire real-estate of your display. On a 20"+ monitor, this is just insanely primitive and unfathomably backward (this is taking us back to the 90's).

PCs evolved to be more and more complex. This new modern "minimalist" approach seems to be an attempt at making PCs more approachable for thumb-sucking know-nothings. And this is something I don't believe to, at all, be a good thing.

It might make more revenue, but it doesn't strike me as anything truly progressive.
Click to expand...
I agree that it seems Windows 8 is made for the less tech savvy crowd out there, but speaking from experience, I doubt this is true. I foresee a nightmare in terms of end user support, once Windows 8 has been adopted. People hardly work as they should on Windows 7, so 8' learning curve is even worse.

I think the main reason that MS went this route is due to the fact that everything needs to be synced across all devices, tablets, pc's and the lot. Whether this will work or not I'm not sure.

Lycanthrope said:
And this, I completely agree with. More of that, pl0x.
Click to expand...
I suck at Linux though :p
 
Bryn26 said:
It's not about moving a few more mm, it's about having less practicality. There's nothing I can say about the usability and work flow of Windows 8 that hasn't been covered by the top Youtube reviews.
Click to expand...

Im just stating having no start button is sensible. Its a waste of desktop real estate. You dont need it (except for perhaps in vm`s). I dont like how the tiles are organized though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X