JorgeA

Microsoft is closing its research lab in Silicon Valley I wonder if the layoffs include the crack research team that told Julie Larsen-Green that "telemetry" indicated that people didn't need the Start Menu... --JorgeA

LOL, can I have ketchup and mustard on my salad? --JorgeA

The takeaway from this little sub-conversation is that we differ in the way we combine UI features to reach our goals. We don't really work the "Windows" way, we have developed over time a "Jorge" way and a "Noel" way. I imagine either of us, if placed suddenly in front of the other's computer, might struggle for a while to get our bearings - as though it were a completely foreign system. We would certainly be sorely tempted to reconfigure it. Up until a few years ago, it was considered a Good Thing to be able to customize one's work environment to work the way you like. There's a certain (recurring) pleasure in having your system set up to be just so. Now the options are systematically being removed, with the clear intent to herd us all into one way, which presumably was the darling of some twisted mind at Microsoft a few years ago. THIS attempt at "herding" cuts to the heart of why Microsoft is failing! Anyone noticed that if you go to McDonald's you can actually ask them to make whatever you order your way? -Noel Yup, I agree! User choice is one of the things that's made Windows such a fabulous platform over the years, and no doubt contributed to its success. We're not restricted to doing things the one way that some cubicle dweller decided is best for everybody. I'm encouraged by some of the backtracking Microsoft seems to be doing with Windows 9. Time (and experimenting with it, and the feedback MSFT gets) will determine whether it turns out to be as good for users as Windows 7. I would settle for a Win7 relaunch with some of the new features they're talking about for Threshold. --JorgeA

Yeah, combining windows under one Taskbar button is a feature I've never cared for, I prefer to have as many as possible displayed at the same time, or under tabs for quick-and-easy organization. With the combination list, I find it harder to keep track of the order in which I opened them and it's harder to navigate to the ones toward the bottom of the list. Last night there was one particular tab that I had to keep going back to, it was like the third-to-last one, and it was annoying to have to slowly scroll down that combination list over and over again. FWIW, I don't like icons (hieroglyphics), so one of the first things I do on a new PC is to bring back the old-style Taskbar buttons with text that actually says something. Thumbnails are useful IMX, too. --JorgeA

Another casualtuy from the Win8 disaster? In Windows Weekly 375, a discussion of the future of Windows RT: --JorgeA

Paul Thurrott has issued a series of analyses of the Threshold screenshots and videos leaked last week: Windows 9 Technical Preview Screenshots Leak: An Analysis (Part 1) Windows 9 Technical Preview Screenshots Leak: An Analysis (Part 2) Windows 9 Technical Preview Video Leaks: An Analysis Windows 9 Technical Preview Virtual Desktops and Notification Center Video Leaks: An Analysis --JorgeA

Why would you want to have tabs when you could have web pages in separate windows? -Noel How many browser windows do you keep open at a given time? Just last night, at one point I had something like 50 tabs open in like 6 different IE windows. (Heavy-duty research.) I can't imagine trying to have 50 browser windows open at the same time! For me, tabs were the best new feature going from IE6 to IE7 way back when. --JorgeA

You can right-click in the empty space to the right, and check "Show tabs on a separate row." I know -- it's as*nine not to make this value the IE default. --JorgeA EDIT: clarification

Uh-oh, it looks like Internet Explorer might be catching Chrome Disease: How the next version of IE, codenamed 'Spartan,' might support extensions Leading to... Internet Explorer 12 UI overhaul is a blend of Chrome and Firefox, adds extension support Broadening supprot for extensions would definitely be a plus. But changing the UI to look more like the dingy, discolored Chrome interface would IMHO be a worsening and not an improvement. With any luck, the new UI will be extensively customizable, like Firefox Australis. I guess we'll have to wait and see what the IE developers have come up with in the attempt to justify their workload. But the report that it's "flat" doesn't suggest much hope for Microsoft's offering users the choice to recover their Aero Glass for Windows generally. The Flatlanders are still in charge. --JorgeA

Mary Jo Foley weighs in on those leaked Windows 9 screenshots: Windows Threshold screenshot leaks: What's there, what's not About the Charms: And there may be a separate preview running in parallel (though with a time lag) for a different audience: --JorgeA

NoelC, Check out the on-off switches for sarcasm that @jaclaz put around that "for your own good" bit: You're both on the same side of this issue and I'd hate to see either one of you quit "the resistance" over something like this... --JorgeA

I got an e-mail notification of your post above. Thanks a bunch! --JorgeA

^^ This is great!!! --JorgeA

No, nothing yet.

I'll look for the tutorial and read it, thanks. --JorgeA

I, too, have doubts about the utility of UAC. Here's my reasoning: If the user knows "enough" about computing, he will be able to decide for himself whether a program is or is not safe to use -- he doesn't need UAC. If the user does not know "enough" about computing, he can't determine ahead of time whether a program is safe to use. He will either decline to use a beneficial program for fear of screwing things up, in which case UAC is a hindrance; or he will click "continue" on the UAC prompt anyway, in which case UAC is no help. The only scenario where I can see UAC serving a useful purpose is if a program were to download itself automatically from a malicious webpage. In such a case, I could understand the user thinking, "Hey, I didn't tell the computer to download anything, what is this???" But AFAIK that's not the way malicious programs install themselves. I can't remember a single instance ever of getting a UAC prompt for a program that I didn't already know I was trying to install. UAC doesn't provide any security information specific to the program, only a general warning that it might be bad. But the time to research the trustworthiness of a program is BEFORE you download it, not at the point where you are about to install it. IMHO much preferable is Internet Explorer's SmartScreen filter and the download scans performed by security software. These do perform a useful function. (I also examine the downloaded file with several manual scanners. When downloading I don't click on "Run," only on "Save" unless I trust the source.) I'm still open, though, to being persuaded as to the usefulness of UAC. --JorgeA

Putting some levity back into the discussion, check out Windows Weekly #373, starting at 1:44:28, where Leo and Paul talk about Steve Ballmer's recent purchase of the NBA team the Los Angeles Clippers, leading to the following exchange: [transcript edited for clarity] --JorgeA

Erdogan passes law tightening Turkey's grip on Internet I am old enough to recall when the Internet was regarded as an unstoppable force for liberating people from the iron fist of the State. Back then I even shared in that enthusiasm. With news like the above, and China and Russia and Iran's extensive censorship, and the NSA's shenanigans, clearly the State has learned well how to extend its long arm into cyberspace and smash down that fist on unsubmissive netizens. --JorgeA

Thanks for explaining the differences in UAC between Windows 7 and 8, Noel. I wasn't aware of any of this. Hmmm... if one isn't inclined to use Metro apps anyway, then it sounds like the inability to run them aftern turning off UAC wouldn't be a handicap at all. --JorgeA

Forget Windows 9 and Windows Phone: Will it all be called just plain 'Windows'? One thing that left me scratching my head -- How does stating that there will be one OS that covers all screen sizes, translate into meaning merely that there will be a variety of OS versions with the same name? Oh, and imagine the complications and utter confusion that this would create when trying to explain how to perform specific tasks for readers and listeners: "OK, do A and then B, then..." "Wait, wait, I don't have an A. Where do you see that?" "Go to the top center and see where it says --" "Hold on -- there's nothing there. What the heck are you talking about?" "Huh?" "I'm saying, there's nothing to select there. What are YOU looking at??" "All right, which Windows are you on -- are you on your phone, your PC, or what?? If it's on the phone, you have to do A and B and C, but if you mean on the PC, then you have to do W and M and X instead." "Ohhh. OK. Now I see. Why do they have to call all of these things by the exact same name, Windows? Why don't they just call it Windows Phone so that you can tell what's what???" Unless it is in fact precisely the same experience on all devices (and ever since the introduction of Windows 8 we've known that that won't fly), Microsoft is opening itself up for new rounds of public ridicule and general derision. --JorgeA

Yeah, I'm not sure what one thing (Metro apps) has to do with the other (UAC). Why should it be any different from using regular Desktop applications, most of which do not require dealing with UAC. (Right?) --JorgeA

If you start at this image and then click on the next five, it looks like it may be possible to use the right column the way you (we) want. So far, though, there's no hint that Aero Glass or rounder corners will be an option. The shutdown button is now at the top of the Start Menu, next to the username. The coolest new feature IMHO is the Linux-like ability to have multiple desktops. Never been sure just how useful it is, but it sure is cool. B) --JorgeA

It sure seems that way sometimes... Thanks for confirming that I'm not the only one. --JorgeA

xper, Did you make any changes that could have affected e-mail notifications? Once again I did not receive any today (and there were at least three new posts in subscribed threads, which were waiting for me under that bell at the top of the MSFN page). --JorgeA

Good analogy. It fits nicely with something I'm fond of saying: that Microsoft needs to "get back on the straight and narrow". I imagined Microsoft leadership driving down, say, Route 66 in the southwest US, then suddenly, without good reason, just turning off the road and driving straight into the desert, claiming they were "reimagining" where the road goes. -Noel Apropos of that (and maybe aptly), remember the Developer Preview login screen? (source) You could say that they drove off into the mountains, mesmerized by visions of where they were heading with Win8. Took a couple of years to find their way back. --JorgeA