JorgeA

That was pretty strange. Funny, but strange. --JorgeA

I didn't think it was being developed any further, but I thought I had seen that there were people still using it, either in the SiB thread or in BigMuscle's Aero Glass for Win8 thread, I'm not sure which. I would send a PM to Tihiy and ask him and his decision should rule. Without input from him, I'd say that if the DL link still existed and was active, and I just checked and it is, then leave it listed. If Tihiy didn't want it used any more then I assume he would take the link down and post a notice to use SiB instead. Don't get me wrong, I have no idea at all why someone would want to use Win7Ex4Win8 instead of SiB, and I don't think they should, but I'm just saying ... That sounds good, I'll PM Tihiy. The most recent post on the Win7Ex4Win8 thread was back in February. I posted the question there last night and nobody (yet) has replied. I read somewhere that using Win7Ex4Win8 you can eliminate Metro completely -- as in, it will never show up and you can't call it up until you uninstall Win7Ex4Win8. Does StartIsBack have this capability too? --JorgeA

We are keeping a list of Start Button/Menu replacements here. The question came up whether we should de-list Windows 7 Explorer for Windows 8, since Tihiy is now focusing on StartIsBack. I had removed it, but it was suggested to check with him if we should remove it. Let me know -- and Tihiy, keep up the great work. --JorgeA

If you're subscribed to any threads, are you getting e-mail notifications of new posts in those threads? --JorgeA

Does anybody know if StartIsBack will play nice with WindowBlinds? --JorgeA

Removing Revel Software's BringBack from the list, as the developer has decided to focus on other projects and the program is no longer available for download. --JorgeA

Wow, that really says something! --JorgeA

Obviously I am very familiar with StartIsBack, but I think I still occasionally see someone mention that they are still using Windows 7 Explorer for Windows 8. But of course, if Tihiy no longer supports the project, and/or it is no longer available for download, and if Tihiy agrees that it should be removed from the list, then that would take priority over any other opinions. Cheers and Regards Yeah, I removed it because over in the StartIsBack forum they're telling people that Win7Ex4Win8 is no longer in development and to use SiB instead. What do you think, should I post a question in there as to whether to de-list Win7Ex4Win8 from here? --JorgeA

Translation: We're screwing the customers over, but people are sheep and don't care. What they apparently didn't enter into their spreadsheet calculations is that the people who really pay attention and are very passionate, are the ones who set the tone for that broader community. They are instrumental in shaping public perception. Despite all its built-in advantages, Microsoft is swimming upstream on this one. --JorgeA

Let's see if I understand this. So, Yusuf, you expect to p*ss off your customers and somehow expect to get away with it?? Uh, last time I checked, the files on CDs and DVDs are digital. What are these "benefits" you say there are for gamers, anyway? The only benefits I see are for vendors, who get to greatly increase their control over what customers can or can't do with the goods they paid for. Agreed. As we've seen, they're in bed with government on several levels, so the attitude is fitting. --JorgeA

I choose #3... --JorgeA

Apparently not just Opera. Chrome doesn't have them either. Might this be a IPB board software issue? Cheers and Regards No scrollbars in IE8, either. Pretty funny flow chart, anyway. --JorgeA

Another big PC vendor advertises Windows 7 computers. From a recent Hewlett-Packard e-mail circular: Desktop systems are featured next in the e-mail (not shown). Note that the point is not that they're "still" selling Win7 systems: they've been doing that all along. The significant development is that they're now highlighting the fact. There is no mention of Windows 8 or Win8 PCs anywhere in the circular. A couple of months ago, H-P sent out an ad telling customers that they still had some Windows 7 computers remaining. In the new ad there's no such hint that you'd better get yours soon before they run out. Is there a crack in the Win8 dam, and is it getting bigger? --JorgeA

That would be a very interesting experiment in market competition. Will gamers favor the greater flexibility of the less DRM-encumbered Sony platform, well enough to persuade developers to run the risk of "losing" additional sales because people can lend the games to each other? It's a give-and-take process. Both contestants have plenty of resources, and neither of them is a shrinking violet. We'll see what happens. --JorgeA

Great find there! And also the follow-up a couple of paragraphs below. I did not know that Sony had turned on the vendor who created the rootkit. Maybe they "saw the light," or maybe they realized which side their bread was buttered on, but whatever the reason I'm glad that they've come so far. --JorgeA

That would be like a car without a transmission. You can turn on the engine and play the radio, but it won't go anywhere. Or maybe like a PC with no video output connection. Thanks for the analysis, BTW. --JorgeA

That's the beauty of market competition! Sony isn't exactly guilt-free when it comes to DRM crap (remember the rootkit they put in some of their CDs about eight years ago?), but maybe they've learned their lesson, and in any case Microsoft's arrogant "my way or the highway" stance has given them a huge opening and they're driving right through it. Almost makes me want to go out and buy a PS4 (when they come out) just to fatten up their sales numbers relative to the Xbox One's. --JorgeA

ROFLCOPTER! These guys are so whacked, it's unbelievable. They compare buying games and be able to give them physically to your friend, or sell them, to Free Software? Insane. Yeah, I'll bet when he likes a book and talks about it with his friends, that guy buys new copies to give to them, instead of lending his own copy. If he even reads books. --JorgeA

They're reaching pretty far to find SOMEthing to criticize. As for that first comment above, most of Microsoft's new product line all around is a "seem less" experience -- as in, it seems like less of an experience than before... --JorgeA

In English, please? --JorgeA http://kotaku.com/ps4-games-wont-have-many-of-the-restrictions-of-xbox-o-512477859 The PS4 Doesn't Have The Xbox One's DRM PS4 will not put any restrictions on used games, Sony's PlayStation boss Jack Tretton said today. Gamers can buy PS4 games, trade them in, lend them to friends or keep them forever. Loud cheers. He was drawing several points of comparison, obviously, to the Xbox One. The PS4 will also be 100$/€ cheaper than the Xbox One! What a whooping for Microsoft. Thanks for the explanation, Formfiller. What threw me is that I didn't understand the reference to the Sega Saturn. (I'm not a gamer, not of the electronic kind anyway.) But after a little reading, now it's clear. --JorgeA

I don't know if this is related to database errors, but I'm not getting e-mail notifications of new posts in threads that I'm subscribed to. According to my settings, everything is as I had it before, nothing's changed, and yet I'm no longer getting notifications. --JorgeA

Why Metadata Matters One of the standard nonchalant responses to this kind of revelation is that "I've got nothing to hide, I'm not doing anything wrong." Not so fast, pal: the ability to know, not only people's whereabouts but also the intimate details of their lives, is a real threat to the democratic system, as it provides a strategic advantage to political factions that are fanatical enough ("the ends justifies the means") to use this information. Imagine that the executive branch, which is controlled by a given political party, can now follow the leaders of the opposition party and keep track of who's sending money where, and who's wooing whom, where, when -- possibly even with access to the contents of what they're saying. Now the president and his assistants can take steps to quickly respond to (and maybe even pre-empt) their opponents' moves. The opposition may never know what hit them. For a simple example, imagine if the British king's men had been able to know, in real time, what the American revolutionaries were telling each other in their correspondence as the independence movement was put together; or that they knew the patriots were all headed for a meeting in Philadelphia; or even that they knew what the delegates said to each other at the sessions of the Continental Congress. Add to this the increased potential to neutralize actual or possible opponents by the use of blackmail, via simple threats to reveal embarrassing private information unless they cease and desist. The potential for harm to public debate and the democratic process is enormous. The "cure" may be worse than the disease. --JorgeA

In English, please? --JorgeA

I just ran a test of that to see what you were saying. In Google it's almost impossible to tell where the ads end and the search results begin. In Ixquick, there is a faint but clear blue background stripe behind the ads. Still, I don't begrudge them that. They've got to support the service somehow, no? Here's a description from their sister website, Startpage, which offers anonymous Google search results (click on "Details" to the right of the search term box): The only other search service I've come across that offers comparable privacy protections is DuckDuckGo, but it too gives "sponsored links" at the top of the search results. If there are even better search engines, let me know! --JorgeA

Removing Windows 7 Explorer for Windows 8 from the list, as Tihiy has replaced that project with StartIsBack (already listed). --JorgeA