CharlotteTheHarlot

THE NUMBERS GAME: Part-III ... Recall from earlier: Windows 8 previews tested on over 16 million PCs ( NeoWin 2012-08-01 ) Windows 8 has five times less pre-release users than Windows 7 ( NeoWin 2012-10-02 ) Now we have a third installment in the Windows 8 alleged popularity sweepstakes ... 21 days and counting… ( WindowsDestroyersBlog 2012-10-04 ) Microsoft: Windows 8 received a billion hours of feedback ( NeoWin 2012-10-05 ) Notice the perfectly matching talking points to what Sinofsky said earlier. Considering that they have completely ignored the all feedback as is obvious from the fact that almost nothing has changed since the original demonstrations, then the early leaks, then the DP, the CP, the RP and the RTM, all these numbers demonstrate is monumental arrogance and stubborn tunnel vision. A more accurate title would be ...Microsoft ignored a billion hours of feedback. EDIT: stray tags

(Nice segue from Sysdll ). Speaking of Microsoft Advertising, a real barf-fest of a story comes out today. It can now be said that there are not one, but two goals with Windows 8 and Metro. The long term goal is the complete destruction of the wide open x86 universe, but in the shorter term is something akin to Microsoft TV where advertisers have multiple pipelines into your home of course channeled through Microsoft who will be the toll booth collector. This article really makes me want to hurl I was never surer than I am today that Microsoft should be broken up, the OS devs ripped out of there by the roots and placed far away from the rest of the company lest the Windows operating system evolves into the Windows advertising system. If this plays out without blowback from the customer base, the precedent will be set and the race for the bottom will accelerate with every other company, even Apple, Google and yes, Linux distros ... Windows 8 in-app advertising shown off by Microsoft ( NeoWin 2012-10-05 ) I am completely ashamed at this article at Popular Mechanics, a magazine I have read since the 1960's. While the product may or may not be worthy of an award when it comes out, at the moment it is the literal definition of vaporware, since no-one has even placed a finger on these things, the specs are unknown, as is the price! I have never seen such a ridiculous thing written in advance of a product launch! Utterly disgraceful. This something I expect from Popular Science, not Popular Mechanics. The Top 10 Tech Breakthroughs of 2012 :: Microsoft Surface + Windows 8 ( Popular Mechanics 2012-10-05 ) Popular Mechanics gives award to Windows 8 and Surface ( NeoWin 2012-10-05 )

Microsoft might get involved in College Textbooks ... Barnes & Noble, Microsoft May Bring Textbooks to Win 8 ( Tom's Hardware 2012-10-04 ) Frankly I am surprised that Microsoft, Apple and Amazon haven't already exploited this. Here in the States, textbook prices is one of the biggest scams going, and piggybacking on this scam will be simple. It reminds me of the mid-1990's when many companies started to make inroads into schools, getting them all wired and outfitted with computers, naturally with constant upgrades, socking it to those of us already paying insane school district taxes. Why not pile on some more. I think this is hilarious ... Microsoft, the Windows Phone 8 release is a disaster ( TechSpot 2012-10-04 ) Brad Sams is back. Yes, that would be Brad "The next person who says that Windows 8 is the next Vista deserves to be shot, twice." Sams, one of NeoWin's resident fanboys now fretting over the possible disaster-in-progress that is the Windows 8 launch. I don't know, maybe he read that other recent article at NeoWin: Microsoft's US mobile phone market share has dropped and is getting nervous. So he writes this article, described as an 'open letter' to help Microsoft, he mostly is upset at the lack of pricing information, but if he thinks announcing phones that cost $700 or more will somehow help make the forthcoming rollout smoother, he is in for more shock than awe. The funny part is that there are even more rabid fanboys than himself over there! No, for real! "Wow this article is absolutely stupid. It has not even been released yet and you're calling it a disaster? Also your points are dumb." Lol! And someone thinks that NeoWin, aka Fanboy Central is mean to Microsoft! "Welcome to Neowin. It has been like this for months, possibly years now. I don't remember so much slander towards Microsoft on this site until as of recent.". Softies in disguise no doubt. Brad, let me help you out. The problem isn't what we don't know, it's what we do know. Which brings us to ... Possible prices for a device using Windows 8 have been sighted ... Acer launching $800 Iconia W700 Windows 8 tablet on October 26 ( TechSpot 2012-10-04 ) Price of Acer Windows 8 Iconia W700 tablet starts at $799 ( NeoWin 2012-10-04 ) Hmmm ... Nice desktop or Laptop with i7 CPUs and gobs of RAM and massive HDD or a child's toy tablet, or maybe a yellow phone. Let me think ... Well, I just whipped up this little infographic to illustrate the big problem Microsoft and its partners are facing ...

Dvorak at PC Magazine ... Why the "One Experience" Strategy Fails ( PC Magazine 2012-10-02 ) Most of the commenters agree, although a few fanboys had their predictable tantrums. Waaaaaah! Microsoft better be worried ... ComScore: Microsoft's US mobile phone market share has dropped ( NeoWin 2012-10-03 ) But wait, there's more ... Recall this from way upthread at Post #858 ... I think that jury decision (the California case) is looking pretty shaky overall. It is a prime candidate for overturning because of both the Judge and the Jury. The Judge is seen as an Apple puppet, and now the Jury is coming under scrutiny. Apple v. Samsung juror: we "wanted to send a message" ( Ars Technica 2012-08-26 ) It is interesting to read through the many comments there. I think the love affair with Apple is nearing its end (Microsoft, take note). Well this dog still has some bite left in her ... Samsung: Jury foreman in the Apple case lied! ( NeoWin 2012-10-03 ) Samsung Says Jury Foreman's History Marred Apple Verdict ( Tom's Hardware 2012-10-04 ) It appears that the jury foreman had some bad history with Seagate who are directly tied to Samsung, specifically he was fired and sued by them and did not disclose this direct conflict of interest. Whoa! I've seen this jury foreman interviewed and suspected he had an axe to grind. There is no way this one can be ignored. This game is going to extra innings folks. If Samsung has a clear shot at the USA phone market, and they should because lord knows we need competition, there will be strokes up in Redmond instead of celebrating ... Microsoft employees react to Samsung vs. Apple verdict, 'Windows Phone is looking gooooood right now' ( The Verge 2012-08-24 ) Apple’s $1B patent victory vs. Samsung: A win for Microsoft? ( GeekWire 2012-08-24 ) The way I see it, measuring the success or fail of Windows 8 will come in several waves. The desktop market is the longest term, laptops a little shorter, but in the shortest timeframe are tablets and phones which will definitely be the proverbial canary in the coalmine. Any injunctions anywhere blocking Android phones are essentially clearing the playing field for iPhones and WPs ( the worst possible scenario in a world awash in horrible ideas ). Windows 8 phones need a gigantic opening with monster numbers or it is dead. And if it dies it will likely set the perception for the entire operating system. Hey Microsoft, still like putting all your eggs in one basket? That's exactly what you did here with Windows 8. Instead of placing a firewall between these new products and the existing ones, you removed all the barriers, tied them all together, ensuring a catastrophe for the company in the event that Sinofsky has miscalculated. Let's hope the board of directors is watching closely. EDIT: added a link

How does one even make sense of the following two articles ... Windows 8 previews tested on over 16 million PCs ( NeoWin 2012-08-01 ) Windows 8 has five times less pre-release users than Windows 7 ( NeoWin 2012-10-02 )

I have to quote my post from above for this update to make sense. Rapper causes an uproar at a Microsoft Store ( NeoWin 2012-10-02 ) More at link, including video.

Certainly it will depend on how Windows 8 and Metro is received. If it becomes Vistro then there may be SP2, Sp3 and Sp4 at a minimum. But if it defies all logic and and is well-received there might not be any, but I think the odds are still with a definite SP2. There are a lot of users out there ... Windows 7 Overtakes Windows XP as Leading OS ( Tom's Hardware 2012-10-01 ) Here is the image from the site ... If the numbers are true and Win7 is actually rising, well that is a whole lot of users to abandon. And while Microsoft is prone to making major mistakes lately, that one would really take the cake. If they ever come to their senses, they would do an SP4 final roll-up for WinXP and plan on SP2 through SP6 for Win7. And while they're at it, demote Metro to a windowed MCE-like add-in for any version of Windows. I'm not holding my breath though. They seem intent on jerking the wheel and steering the company right into oncoming traffic.

The adoption rate is pathetic compared to Win7 at a similar stage, and out of these poor bast early adopters, 75% prefer another OS as we've seen in the news recently (the forumswindows8 survey) Everything about Win8 screams of failure on a very large scale... Glad you mentioned that ... Windows 8 has five times less pre-release users than Windows 7 ( NeoWin 2012-10-02 ) Microsoft Windows 8 : Vistro! ( Because it has fail written all over it. )

I think you right when you said Humanity is Doomed.

Since Charlie Chaplin, Gecko lizards and common fruit were already spoken for ... Windows 8 digital graffiti artists wanted by Microsoft ( NeoWin 2012-09-28 ) Nothing sadder than Redmond bureaucrats paying a firm to portray them as Seattle hipsters. Or in this case gang bangers marking up the walls of buildings. To be sure, this may be a step or two below gang colors. I just can't see crips and bloods spray painting sesame street or playskool colored blocks! JPEG 1.9 MB ... Graffiti_bg.jpg But what I'm still wondering about after having clicked around for answers to no avail, is this text at the Microsoft Advertising site ... Yep, that first paragraph is nothing but a steaming pile of advertising pooh written by a team of overpaid underachievers. But in that last sentence are they tipping their hand? The website really says nothing at all which is pretty much par for the course from Microsoft. So we are left to infer a meaning. Could this be the start of product placement in the kindergarten color squares of Windows 8 and Metro on the desktops of hundreds of millions of unsuspecting users around the world? Any guesses?

You can post on that thread yourself, it's not locked. That's one way to maybe get some discussion going about the Intel 9xx series chipsets with Win9x! Most of the "sticky" threads are active. The one that you mention is one of galahs's threads, which get lots of good information in the comments. Usually the mods don't manage the content of the thread topics. That's for us to hammer out.

More Windows 8 fluff articles appearing daily. Bad Piggies is coming soon to Windows Phone and Windows 8 ( NeoWin 2012-09-27 ) Shocker: Bill Gates says Windows 8 is "a big deal" ( NeoWin 2012-09-27 ) Bill Gates gives Windows 8 his stamp of approval ( TechSpot 2012-09-28 ) Bill Gates Says Windows 8 is ''Very Exciting'' ( Tom's Hardware 2012-09-28 ) Angry Birds sequel and a half-hearted endorsement from billg, Well I'm sold. Not! Meanwhile, the creator of Minecraft takes some more shots at it ... Notch slams Windows 8 yet again, won't certify Minecraft ( NeoWin 2012-09-27 ) Minecraft creator 'Notch' is the latest to speak out against Windows 8 ( TechSpot 2012-09-28 ) Notch Won't Certify Minecraft for Windows 8 ( Tom's Hardware 2012-09-28 ) Hehe Now some guy at Fanboy Central posts this story about a Microsoftie that supposedly debunked his claims ... Take that: Rafael Rivera easily certifies Minecraft for Windows 8 ( NeoWin 2012-09-28 ) ... but unfortunately they entirely miss the point at what "Notch" was actually saying. Big surprise. He is describing the devoulution of Windows into a walled garden, not that they are there yet. The fanboys will have none of it though: Our beloved Microsoft would never do such a thing! And if they did it would be great! That pretty much sums it up. One commenter at that last link, Leo, does a fine job trying to penetrate the skulls of the pod people, but there is really no hope. Civil War is coming. From the You have got to be kidding me department ... Nokia Lumia 820 & 920 priced in Europe, coming in November ( NeoWin 2012-09-27 ) Nokia prices Lumia 920 higher than Samsung's Galaxy S III ( TechSpot 2012-09-27 ) Italy ... Lumia 920 :: €599 (USA $771) Lumia 820 :: €499 (USA $643) Samsung Galaxy S III :: €530 Germany ... Lumia 920 :: €649 (USA $836) Lumia 820 :: €499 (USA $643) Samsung Galaxy S III :: €530 Russia ... Lumia 920 :: 24,990 rubles (USA $801) Lumia 820 :: 19,990 rubles (USA $640) UK ... Nokia will not be releasing pricing! USA estimated prices ... Lumia 920 :: $699 Lumia 820 :: $599 Boy they are sure being optimistic. Reminder photos of the Nokia Lumia 820 and 920 and some of the competition ... EDIT: added a bunch more links

There was a post in another thread by LoneCrusader mentioning the existence of chipset drivers for i925 usable on Win9x. I downloaded the package but did not get a chance to play with it yet. I'm not saying they exist for 965, but there might be a little hope.

Thanks for the tip!

Update: like this wasn't expected ... Intel calls Windows 8 "not ready" remarks "unsubstantiated" ( NeoWin 2012-09-26 ) We really do think Windows 8 is great, Intel says ( CNet 2012-09-26 ) Intel Responds to 'Unsubstantiated' Reports of CEO's Anti-Windows 8 Remarks ( Maximum PC 2012-09-27 ) This story is even more disappointing if you ask me ... Intel Plans to Discontinue Multiple CPUs, Incl. Core i5-3450 ( Tom's Hardware 2012-09-26 ) What they are doing is eliminating two of their best chips ever, the 2500K and 2600K. The 2700K is also on the list. Now all of these Sandy Bridge chips do in fact have clear Ivy Bridge replacements, nonetheless the first two are huge sellers in the home build market. Ordinarily the move to the next generation replacements would be a no-brainer except for the problem mentioned above, the inexplicable redesign of the packaging, moving from soldered IHS to thermal paste, which has resulted in definite increased temps at higher overclocks. Intel of course said: "this is as designed and meets quality and reliability expectations for parts operating under specified conditions.". This is a confidence shaker and is really just to save a few bucks on manufacturing, and is capitalizing on recent AMD fumbles. Of course, all they had to do was use the better packaging for the "K" models, which are unlocked and destined for machines that will be exploring the envelope, but just like Microsoft with the Start Menu, they turned a deaf ear to critics. 'Hey, we got no competition at the moment!' ~sigh~ Meanwhile back in the Microverse ... Ballmer: $1,500 can buy "some" Microsoft Surface units ( NeoWin 2012-09-26 ) Funny debate going on over there as to what Ballmer meant by "some". Did he imply you can buy more than one Surface for $1500 or simply that there will be Suface models for $1500. The launch is a month away and they still aren't doing anything but tripping over their tongues! A sad, off-topic example how Microsoft's reckless arrogance is contagious ... Google Docs dumping some older Microsoft Office formats ( NeoWin 2012-09-26 ) By setting a clear example for everyone else on how to implement planned obsolescence, break things and destroy standards, thanks to Microsoft the relatively compatible computer universe will degenerate into a fractured network of walled gardens. Uggh. EDIT: typo, added another link

Oh man, like why didn't I think of that! Curse you Jaclaz! Okay, this might be evil but we gotta get that URL http://bit.ly/UY9kBO into some of the fanboy threads at the other sites. Maybe using sneaky I mean creative URL text or descriptions like these ... "Windows 8 already a success" says industry analyst. Microsoft said to be reconsidering the Start Menu removal in Windows 8! New poll says Windows 8 preferred over Windows 7 and Windows XP by a wide margin! Microsoft offering free Windows 8 coupons to the first 1000 responders!

Thanks for the link. It is now mentioned here ... Intel CEO Says Windows 8 is Not Fully Ready ( Tom's Hardware 2012-09-25 ) Intel CEO believes Microsoft is releasing Windows 8 before it's ready ( TechSpot 2012-09-25 ) Intel: Windows 8 being launched before it's ready ( NeoWin 2012-09-25 ) Otellini said something incredulous ( note: probably not a direct quote, it is the reporter paraphrasing, which I despise ) ... Even if that is only the gist of what he said it still sucks. Maybe Intel could use some change of leadership as well since they are sure on another snooze cycle while AMD takes its time regrouping, again. Also from the article ... How about the most criticized? How about the most reviled? The most despised. The most villified. All that "16 million" number means is that folks ran the thing, but they're not listening to any of the feedback. Just the fact that they would parrot that number tells me that they are completely and utterly diving headlong in, like a stubborn drunk making for his car keys before he slams into a tree. We will be better off when the Wintel leadership is completely replaced. I'm still angry about the sudden change in the heat spreader ( Ivy Bridge ) causing higher temps in many circumstances, all to save a few bucks. This is what happens where there is a lack of competition. In consumer class CPU's there is a little but AMD takes a vacation every few years and so Intel takes a breather. In consumer Operating Systems there is practically no competition, and after they have cleared the field of all competitors through their backroom OEM deals and planned obsolescence Redmond comes up with turds like Windows 8 and Metro. EDIT: added a couple more links, clarity

This is what it does. The modified date was 22-Sep-2012 10:14:50 PM, running the command gives it Wednesday, February 08, 2006, 6:46:31 PM. Or am I not understanding you? It changes the timestamp to whatever date you choose to make it. It works great in the SP because when files get patched they lose their original timestamp. So I use this tool to give patched files their original attributes. Remember that not all PE stamps are the same as the file attributes. Yes we are misunderstanding each other. But I see how it happened since it started with me! Let me explain: Touch.exe requires parameters specifying the desired date/time to set the file to, as you demonstrated here ... The misunderstanding happened when I misinterpreted what you said earlier here ... ... so what I thought you were saying was that Touch.exe could give a target file its original PE timestamp ( the one contained within the file PE header ) without specifying parameters. In other words, I thought you were describing that Touch.exe would read the target file's PE time/date ( like Dencorso's utility ) and then apply it to the file ( again, without specifying the parameters ). What Touch.exe actually does is what almost all of the TOUCH utilities do, change the modified date/time to a user specified string. The thought was to automate changing bad downloads to their original time/date without running a utility first and then needing to use a TOUCH with specified parameters.

Okay I knew that already! I simply misinterpreted this ... I thought you were saying it could give a file its original PE timestamp ( while disregarding the current MODIFIED stamp or current system datetime ) Sorry! My bad.

We were looking at Microsoft tools there, specifically a TOUCH utility for correcting timestamps. I have all those mentioned SDKs and such extracted and expanded so I was asking for filename suggestions to search for. As far as 3rd party, I use the FreeDos one often since it can duplicate the stamp from another file. I do use NirCmd all the time as well, but for a million other things. I'll have to look at its TOUCH options next. Thanks for all the other suggestions, they're now in the to-do bucket list. I guess the main criteria would be a CLI utility that can grab the PE timestamp ( as Dencorso's tool does ) and apply it to the file itself.

That certainly cannot be ruled out considering the mystery of the Fixing Windows 8 Blog. I would love to know if they got to him. No amount of googling seems to turn up anything. Doubtful that Bing'ng would be any better. EDIT: typo

Proof that the media starts with a conclusion in a headline and then proceeds to write a story full of fluff to support it. Gartner: Windows 8 is a Necessary Risk for Microsoft ( Tom's Hardware 2012-09-25 ) God save us from the business/tech writers. New era? They ain't heard of CE and MIPS and PowerPC? They haven't seen Windows on cash registers? The x86 era is fading out? And what about that "NT to RT era" thing? Truly puke worthy, IMHO, articles like this from an alleged Wall Street writer simply reinforce the new media paradigm we are in, take it all with a grain of salt. The traditional media ( and not just for any given sector but all sectors of all industries ) is pretty much clueless about the topic they write about. This includes Sports writers, tech writers, political writers, health writers, anything at all. In many if not all cases, they are merely fans with an agenda, a quasi-advertisement or just ignorant magazine employees filling up space in a periodical. The future, and the present is in forums like this in the blogosphere where there is less hidden commercial interests behind an article and the facts and history are fleshed out through crowd sourcing. Microsoft Research man: It all starts with touch ( UK Register 2012-09-24 ) Blah, blah article. Good comments over there though, informing the young n00bs that this is just old hat. Microsoft is not only NOT breaking any new ground, but they are re-visiting well trod turf fully explored for over 40 years. Their mistake is thinking that for all these many years we have been ignorant computer users using our mice and keyboards and it will take someone like Microsoft to begin a new paradigm, touching our screens for hours on end. Like many of the commenters I also used light pen terminals in the 1970's and colorful high-end GUI touch CRT workstations by the mid-1980's. They had specific uses and manual interaction was kept to a minimum by design. It seems very difficult for some to understand the ramifications of constant reaching. For example touch-screen ATM's make perfect sense, they are okay for McDonald's and other cashiers too because those people are not planted permanently at those stations. But they are entirely inappropriate for constant use. The Windows EULA will soon have a waiver prohibiting ergonomic lawsuits, I guarantee it. And now for something completely different ... Upgrading an impossibly old system to Windows 8 ( PC World 2012-09-20 ) I would argue that 10-years is not "impossibly old" but it's quite a fun read even though the person makes some beginner mistakes and should stick to using computers and not building them. Strangely enough, he is actually embarrassed by showing off his 2002'ish megabuild using a flashy case and extremely high spec'd parts for the time ( like a 3.4 GHz Northwood! ) ... Case picture at article ... He ended up swapping out the Mobo and CPU for a later one with a Pentium D, the problem was apparent lack of DEP on the Northwood, and because Microsoft seems to require this for Windows 8, there is no way they can say with a straight face: "works fine on any computer that runs Windows 7". Planned obsolescence again if you ask me and CPU and motherboard manufacturers sure won't complain. EDIT: typo

Does everyone confirm Win98se v4.10.2222 without KernelEx? That's what I used. Fresh after reboots. No other programs running. The only other task listed was the Realtek audio.

PROBLEMCHYLD, thanks for the tip. The only TOUCH I found seems to be in the [1998-04-30] Win98rk. It is TOUCH.EXE v5.0.1754.1. usage: TOUCH [/f] [/t year month day hour min sec] files where: /f - force file touch if read only /t - specifies a specific time other than the current time. /c - specifies to create the file if it does not exist. I don't see a way to use the original PE timestamp though. I thought it might be undocumented and just ran it and unfortunately it merely sets the file to the current date/time. I searched through all the following expanded SDK, utility and tool collections pretty much covering the entire Windows history, click the button ... If anyone can think of any filenames other than "touch" I can easily search for it within that gigantic set of files since I have them all expanded.

Okay, gave it a whirl and extracted the date/time just fine. >petmstp /? PETmStp v1.0 Freeware by dencorso, 2012 Usage: PETmStp <filespec> >petmstp ProcExp.exe PETmStp v1.0 Freeware by dencorso, 2012 .\Procexp.exe is a PE file, which PE Timestamp is 0x43EA3C87 or Wed Feb 08, 2006 18:46:31 GMT Is there a way to parse the output suitable for piping or plans to add it? I can't think of any TOUCH commandline apps that directly do this like your utility does. But then again I haven't searched recently. I used to keep up with the FreeDos releases ( their TOUCH could copy another file's Date/Time ) but have slacked on this for the past few years. Anyone know of an exceptional CLI TOUCH?