JorgeA

Hey, is that actually a transparent Start Menu background in the image accompanying today's WinBeta coverage of the Windows 10 announcement? Check it out: (click to expand and eliminate vertical distortion) --JorgeA

+1 xper, we greatly appreciate all that you do for MSFN. Just the fact that I can still log on in IE8 and have everything work, is amazing. --JorgeA

Microsoft's ability to implement its announced strategy of rapid-fire updates turning Windows into a "service" comes into question: Microsoft update blunders going out of control Heck, if they can't do this right on a monthly cycle, how can they expect to update Windows on a continuous basis? Here's a point that the writer brings up matter-of-factly but which IMO rates a from anybody who uses new versions of Windows going forward: Yeah, great -- everybody's software gets to break at the same time. What a juicy target for hackers from various unfriendly countries. And the disappearance of local, fully functional clients will mean that we can't fall back on adequate alternative solutions until the lords of the manor software get around to putting things back together. --JorgeA

I've seen tax accountants use dual-monitor setups, typically one screen for the electronic forms and another for the tax documents scanned into the computer. On a more-fun note, PC gamers often use multiple monitors to create giant unified displays of a single scene. Still not a majority of computers users by any means, of course, but the proportion of users having more than one monitor may surprise. --JorgeA

Real caclulators are immensely more practical than the ones included with computing devices. We keep several around the house, at least five that I can think of, for those times when we need to make quick calculations that are too complicated for our simple minds. Compare that to turning on the tablet just to use the calculator function. No comparison. Even calling it up on the always-on smartphone is more of a hassle (and you'd have to go get the phone). The calculator on a mobile device is better only when you're out of the house. There's something to be said for carrying a single device that can do a lot of different things (add up a restaurant bill, take pictures, make phone calls, etc.). OTOH if that one multi-function device breaks, then in effect every one of those various gadgets broke at the same time. --JorgeA

One of the themes running through the Windows 8 Deeper Impressions thread was that the whole idea of having one single OS for all types of devices is misconceived. A PC is not a tablet -- they work differently and they neither need nor require the same interface. It looks like people have started to realize this: Tablets: Not mobile enough or productive enough for many professionals This is beginning to show in the sales figures as tablets are losing their momentum: Slowing tablet, smartphone sales spur tech vendor turbulence The bottom line: Microsoft wrecked its star product (Windows) for the sake of a passing fad. (All right, not a momentary blip but one that will settle into some stable level of usage longterm, rather than taking over the whole computing world as so many predicted.) So, are they wise enough to undo the damage? --JorgeA

You may be right, time will tell. One thing that's for sure is that the reaction to Windows 10 so far on this forum has been lukewarm, at best. And with good reason IMO. --JorgeA

The expected release of the new Windows 10 test build next week may be important in showing the direction MSFT intends to take with it. They could so easily put an end to the biggest chunk of objections to Win10 by offering users the choice to select a Vista/Win7 type of UI (Aero Glass, full Start Menu). Has anybody determined whether UxStyle works properly in build 9879? --JorgeA

MSFN was down yesterday (Jan. 12) for a while. Tried to get in several times over about a 7-hour period, with no success. Any particular reason? I wasn't getting any informational result (like "SQL error" or something), as we sometimes get, but only a browser notice that it couldn't connect to the webpage. Tried it on a couple different computers, without success. Same router, but then I had no trouble getting to other websites via that router. --JorgeA

^^ That's pretty funny. --JorgeA

Ahhh, now I remember that Megalodon show. Sometime last year we chanced on it while surfing channels and left it on in the background. We weren't paying real close attention but I remember wondering if they ever did find that fish. It's disappointing to learn that it was all a put-on. Yeah, I totally get why people are upset about it. I can understand shows about ancient astronauts, ghost hunting, and the yeti if they're done as a serious, sincere pursuit (independently of whether one believes the theories). But what they did with this fake shark show is uncool. --JorgeA

Thanks for the scoop -- my wife will be happy to know they're showing the Puppy Bowl this year! I have to admit, they ARE kind of cute. --JorgeA

I know that you're making a serious statement... but this is such a powerful line, I had to laugh! --JorgeA

Hey monroe, My better half will be disappointed if this policy change means that Animal Planet will stop carrying the Puppy Bowl that they've been showing on Super Bowl Day the last few years... --JorgeA

Of course, I would have been happy if they'd simply left the UI alone: we'd still have Aero Glass and a complete Start Menu. But now that they've damaged it, IMO they need to spend some time fixing it, putting it back the way it was. I sit in front of a computer screen 8-12 hours a day, so for me it's important to look at something that's pleasing to the eye. Funny thing is, when I first saw Windows 98 I did love the look. But that's because it was so much superior to the Windows 3.x look; then Vista came along, and that was so much superior to Win98's opaque windows and Start Menu. Now Microsoft is regressing to these opaque Windows 98 elements, and (even worse) to the 2D world of Windows 2.x. This goes to show that not all change is improvement -- some "change" is simply the recycling of concepts that were abandoned for good reason. --JorgeA

The Windows UI seems to be set to go from bad to worse: Windows 10 to feature Windows Phone-like dark and light themes, new image reveals (click on the image to see it in proper proportions) Just what I was hoping for -- big black rectangles cutting across my screen, obscuring everything behind them. I can't think of a single use case scenario where this would be an advantage over Aero Glass transparency. Let's hope that this is truly just "a concept" by some MSFT developer gone mad, and that it doesn't make it as the default (let alone only) theme in Windows 10. --JorgeA

That's a pretty cool graphic you have there... if only the data could be considered reliable, as you said. It looks odd, for example, that it would log a lot more Vista users than XP users. Still, I think I'll fire up my Windows for Workgroups 3.11 computer and visit the site repeatedly just to bulk up the numbers for that OS. --JorgeA

Ed Bott just published an excellent survey of the OS stats mess, while Winbeta.org updated its previous reporting with pie charts showing how the numbers changed after the latest correction (assuming that that's what it is). --JorgeA

Not a problem at all. What irks me is the sarcastic, superior attitude of folks whose first (and, often, only) response to a reported issue is, "You DO know that XYZ?" Such people may be very knowledgeable in computing and highly intelligent, but severely deficient in tactfulness and diplomatic skills. --JorgeA

You must be joking. That is good ol' DOS! And of course the Norton Utilities (while nice and a very useful tool) were not your "everyday" program, what you had before you most of the time was the Norton Commander You know, my first reaction was to say the screenshot was DOS as it reminded me of WordStar , but then I saw the estimated time frame and thought that 18-20 years wasn't back far enough for DOS, as by 1994-96 Windows had largely taken over the PC universe. And then I noticed the scrollbar and thought that it looked too fancy for DOS anyway, but there you go... --JorgeA

Uh-oh -- Microsoft's Windows 8 Suffers Embarrassing Setback OS usage stats seem to have gone haywire since October, which is why I didn't report it before (over on the Windows 8 Deepter Impressions thread). At first we were told that the apparent leapfrogging of XP by Windows 8/8.1 was due to an "adjustment" involving dropping a ton of XP users in China, which suggested that 8 had been doing better all along than we'd been led to believe. Metro fanbois were ecstatic over XP's apparent sudden collpase and singing over its grave. I was dubious, and in any case the before-and-current stats were now no longer comparable. But now 8/8.1 has mysteriously dropped back to where it was back in October, firmly behind Windows XP. What gives -- did they add all those Chinese users back in? It's all very strange. --JorgeA P.S. Here are some of the relevant stat keepers. Note that not all of them show such wild swings: http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0&qptimeframe=Q# (the culprit, along with Net Applications whose data is hidden behind a paywall; click on the little left arrow next to "Timeframe" above the pie chart to see pre-December stats) http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php?year=2014&month=12 (shows XP steadily ahead of 8 and 8.1, but not ahead of both put together) http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-monthly-201410-201412 (ditto) Note, too, Windows 10's debut on the Netmarketshare pie chart for December, at 0.06%.

Nice screenshot. Is that on Windows 2 or thereabouts? IIRC even the Win3.x scrollbars were fancier. That said, the scrollbar looks like what Microsoft is using nowadays for Internet Explorer... --JorgeA

That points up a certain tension inherent in the TP program. On the one hand, we're encouraged to use the TP extensively to help iron out the kinks as fast as possible -- which means installing and using the applications that we'd actually be using on a daily basis. But on the other hand, we are (1) warned that "it's only test software," so we shouldn't keep any critical data on it or do anything crucial with the OS, as well as being (2) warned that they'll be monitoring everything we do while on the OS, which will tend to make people shy away from doing anything on it that they wouldn't want the world to know (say, mapping out your business plan for the next five years). Myself, I haven't opened or even logged into any accounts there (except as related to the Insider and Preview programs, of course), let alone installing anything where they could read my personal or professional documents, much less financial information. I know that this limits the usefulness of my participation in the TP, but then if something goes wrong I don't care to be subjected to the inevitable sarcasm by some self-important expert that "you DO know it's a test OS, right?" Yes, I know it's a test OS, which is precisely why you ain't gettin' anything useful from my use of it. And then there's the reality that I am only one of what, 1.5 million people using the TP, so the impact of my one voice is, uh, rather limited. Not worth the price in terms of security and privacy. --JorgeA

I've been using Norton products for about 14 years. The utilities (Norton System Works) were good for my Windows 98 PC back then, although the anti-virus did slow down my machine. More recently (since 2008 or '09), the AV has become a lot leaner and barely registers on the CPU tab in Task Manager on my Vista and 7 systems. However, for a couple of years now the Norton folks have been hard at work wrecking the UI (making it progressively flatter and cruder), and late last year they introduced a new "Norton Security" suite that relies on the cloud instead of downloaded definitions. The idea is to make the program even leaner but it's generated a substantial amount of controversy on the Norton forums as this "feature" makes the program practicaly useless unless you're online -- which isn't something you necessarily want if you suspect an infection. --JorgeA

Belated Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to everyone! --JorgeA