Formfiller

I think the explanation is that he prefers the Desktop, and his turns to the metro side happen when yet another bribe arrives in the mail box (computers and tablets, software, phones, invitation to conferences.. And maybe even plain money).

Dot Matrix is flailing: http://www.neowin.net/news/microsofts-customer-relationship-status-its-complicated#comment-2252515 Quite telling, huh. What "boss"? 1. He assumes everyone who doesn't praise Windows 8 is a counter-shill (since he is one himself), and has a "boss", too. 2. He means the boss of Neowin - so he expects that critical articles towards Microsoft get pulled on Neowin. Well, he isn't so far off here. His mojo isn't strong like it was before. I guess Windows 8.1 diminished his motivation somewhat. He argued against many features which are now included in 8.1 (start button, boot-to-desktop). Sure, those appeasements are ridiculous compared to Windows 7, but it must be still a kick in the balls when the mothership betrays your hard earned shilling. Dot Matrix is finding out that being a shill is not as glamorous as he thought.

I won't spoil it. He's good and he's ticking off the MetroTards and MicroZealots. Read it for yourself! Speaking of good stuff from Neowin: http://www.neowin.net/news/microsofts-don-mattrick-officially-zyngas-new-ceo#comment-2254891

Of course it was. I had an argument about this on Channel9: http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Dick-move The fanboys didn't like it one bit and flailed around with ad hominems. It's one of my "how to handle the boyz"-threads.

There was a bit of an eBay trade, but that's mostly dried up now. And if they are sold, those keys don't cost 100$, more like 10$. Facts annoy when one is shilling.

Ha ha, the shills are p***ing off EVERYONE now: http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-to-shut-down-technet-subscription-service-7000017541/ Comment: Obviously we have a Windows 8 fanboy here. And that usually comes with being a fanboy of the "NuMicrosoft" direction as well. Here's the reply he got: ROFLCOPTER! The replier is active throughout the whole thread, shilling hard. There is no stop to the p***-off train. Even Windows 8 fanboys get their grilling, when they move from the official Microsoft-line one single step.

What did you think it was used for? I know this happened but I don't think it was widespread enough to be that big of a concern. It's far easier to use "Loaders" and other activation bypass methods than to gamble on TechNet keys. Even then, most people get computers through OEMs, which have their own VLKs. Second-hand licenses are for the realm of people who know it can be done but aren't quite knowledgeable to do it themselves, a pretty small audience. The answer is obvious: It makes no sense whatsoever to kill off TechNet. No sane sense at least. Microsoft collectively is so far off the deep end, I wouldn't be surprised now if it was done out of spite. Like some sort of punishment against IT pros, because they haven't widely adopted Windows 8.

Mind-bogglingly stupid move! Even for "NuMicrosoft" that's truly amazing dumbness. Comment from ZDNet: The few pirates are well worth the benefits of having a program like TechNet. It's so unbelievably retarded for a company to kill off its own crown jewels like that. Oh my God. But oh well, it's the era of NuMicrosoft, Windows 8, metro, bleached-out Office, Xbone ..

Anyone else preferring the Windows 8 look to the Windows 8.1 one? The start button without the menu makes zero sense. If there is no menu, and only the full screen abomination exists, then the buttonless look fits the style more. The start button makes no sense now, because clicking on it draws nothing atop of it. It feels odd that a button switches the GUI completely on its head when you click on it. The hidden button from Windows 8.0 fits the insane paradigm more, because it's hidden in the corner just like the other Windows 8 monster, the charms bar, - you click on the hidden charms bar and you get metro. You click on the hidden start button, and you get metro, too. The now visible button is even more foreign, because it promises something (a menu in the desktop GUI, instead of invoking metro) that isn't there anymore. Of course, I prefer the Windows 7 look and feel over metro OS, but Windows 8.1 is even worse than 8.0.

It wasn't. Dictatorship and cultic worship of vendors is very en vogue nowadays in IT circles. Just look at the metrotards and their "my way or the highway" attitude. Think the Firefox thread is bad? Here's a really retarded example: Some months ago I bought for cheap the game "Dawn of War: Soulstorm". It's a few years old, but I can remember that the predecessor had a function which kept the bases on the metamap in the regions alive, which you had already conquered. This functionality was missing in Soulstorm. I went to their forums and found this old thread where people noticed the same thing and wished the function would return, at least as an option. The drama and abuse towards the "complainers" is something to behold. "How dare you to want an option! I like it now as it is, my way or the highway! Be grateful the company even made the game!". The attitude is quite metrotastic in that thread. All this emotion, abuse and whoring over a frigging game! This industry is getting seriously deranged.

We live in such greedy times, that employers are too cheap to buy work equipment for their employees.

On Techbroil: How to talk with a shill This guy would have been banned on Neowin for sure. Sign of times that such opinion would cause meltdowns on Arstechnica, Neowin and TheVerge.

This isn't 8.1, this is the metro-theme of Start8. It's still far better than what Windows 8.1 brings though.

Microsoft's shills are very easy to catch (even the cloaked ones): They use phrases that no one else does, like "Modern UI" and "fast and fluid". Almost every time someone uses these terms on the internet regarding Windows 8 and other MS products, it's a shill. You will notice suspicious patterns in his/her post history if you care to look up (first time poster on Amazon; writing a glowing five-star W8 review. Thousands of posts in forums, almost all of them are about praising MS etc.) I always wonder why they don't avoid terms like "fast & fluid" to appear more legit. Any ideas? It's like they WANT to be outed as shills. Maybe the corporate RDF is so strong, that not even shills can escape it.

NuMicrosoft did it again, huge backlash over the new forums layout: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/2462915e-f7df-42e6-92f3-2ee60c90fe28/do-you-like-the-new-design-functionality-2 http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/51f9d2d1-d0ed-424e-b3a6-b7a88d938534/forums-redesign It's very Windows8ish: Complaints about fake telemetry, complaints about "change for change's sake". And on this thread many MVPs are complaining that they haven't received any beta test invitations for the new forums: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/7a6a65ca-3a3c-4561-b627-ecea28f6f92a/beta

I understand the mixed emotions, but think of the big picture: the Internet is a huge and effective weapon for consumers. This is exactly what is supposed to happen. I still expect Microsoft to be "punished" in that it's far more difficult to gain a customer than it is to lose him, and they have certainly lost many customers as a result of this fiasco. Even the more neutral parties will be pushed into a "wait and see" mode rather than an automatic buy. Put another way, how much closer to 1984 would we be without the Internet? Well, the inernet spurred alternate media and made sh*tstorms possible. On the other hand, it made surveillance and DRMization far more effective. And brought the cloud. So on the issue of 1984, it's a very mixed bag.

This must be a move to further censor the criticism over Windows 8 and Xbox and other fiascos. Reputation management.I bet. Can't wait for first hand reports from Formfiller who already mentioned disappearing threads and other tricks in the "Answers" forum. There was already a function to flag "abusive content". That's not new. The new layout totally sucks though. The old layout had the looks of a normal forum, like this one. Their new layout on the other hand is more like Stackoverflow.com - it might be purposed to stifle discussion, because it looks now like a strict technical-answers forum. It's quite off-putting as a discussion forum.

Hahahahaha, see with that kind of insane arguments they argue now AGAINST the Xbone: http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/E3-Smackdown?page=12 Just because their "my way or the highway" and lockdown-fetishes were averted for once, they are p***ed and mad. It's really scary how these fanwhores think. I see some of them even lying about the XBone now, to make it appear worse - claiming that they are forced to deal with discs again. An utter lie, they can go all download if they want. Truly deranged, as I've said here multiple times: They are clinical masochists. Disappointed if no pain is coming.

Microsoft caved in! http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update They are able to listen after all! http://o.canada.com/2013/06/19/microsoft-will-remove-all-its-drm-policies-from-the-xbox-one/ While a good move, it also makes me a bit sad - this could only have happened because of the internet outrage. If the darn Windows 8 fanboys didn't try to squelch criticism, maybe Windows 8 wouldn't have been destroyed by Microsoft. On the other hand, the XBone has a true competitor, Windows 8 doesn't.

From the Channel9 Xbone thread, a fanboy weighs in: http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/E3-Smackdown/81e03c5f4ecb4df083e7a1e20107ed4e The vast majority of games suck because they can't extract more money? Games before the DRM lockdown were on average better than today's extravaganza, so that reason is nilly. These shills and fanboys are very tiring, they stop at no lie and have to qualms to make "arguments" out of thin air.

I've wrote about this on Techbroil already, but in case you haven't noticed, there is currently a huge trend within the fanwhore community to justify the Xbone with a lie. Here's the lie: http://www.neowin.net/news/microsofts-first-party-xbox-one-games-will-have-5999-prices#comment-2238969 They are claiming that PC games are now cheaper than in the past, because Steam has "destroyed" the second-hand market. And that's utter bul*****. Stores discounted games before Steam was even invented. Bargain bin deals at retailers for PC games were (often still are) usually cheaper than the Steam deals. And the discounts usually started faster than they do at Steam. And even today, boxed games are often cheaper on Amazon than their download-only equivalents on Steam, especially older titles, and I am not even talking about the second-hand resellers there. And those Steam-deals where you get multiple games.. anyone remember game compilation packages? They were less costly. They are lying through their teeth. If anything, Steam has made PC games more pricey on average.

Irony explosion: http://www.neowin.net/news/analyst-the-entire-future-of-the-xbox-business-is-in-question#comment-2239229

Oh my God, the failtrain doesn't stop: http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/06/16/why-oddworld-is-coming-to-every-platform-except-xbox/ And: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-13-right-now-oddworld-new-n-tasty-isnt-coming-to-xbox-one-or-xbox-360 And: http://www.neowin.net/news/xbox-one-to-ditch-xbox-live-arcade-and-xbox-live-indie-games-branding Wow, from XNA and Xbox Arcade to this?! Well, it's NuMicrosoft after all, so yea. What Microsoft surely needs are more mass p***-off decisions like these. You can't make this stuff up even if you tried to. It's as if the Xbone is just a cover up for an insurance fraud.

"NuMicrosoft" should produce self-destruct buttons. Instant monopoly.

True. And as we can see, Microsoft lied about reducing costs: http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/14/4431720/microsoft-selling-xbox-one-first-party-games-for-59-99 But it was no surprise. Steam hasn't reduced costs as well. No DRM scheme has, despite all the lies that the various shills used to steamroll the market. The only thing these schemes did was raise prices, all the time. I can remember when games used to have tons of goodies in the package: Those goodies vanished, along with the big boxes. The excuse back then was "cheaper prices", well, there were no cheaper prices for sure when the barebones DVD cases appeared. Of course, the production costs exploded, but so has the audience and the market. So that's a weak excuse. And about the "better games" excuses: You know, I play games like Master of orion 2 regularly even today, while many of today's products can barely hold the attention. I won't sell my Master of Orion 2 copy (and many other older games for that matter). I can't speak the same about lots of the newer games. And it's not just nostalgia. If a game from 1996 is still able to bind you on the computer for hours, it's certainly not because of my rose-tinted glasses. If Gamestop is really a problem today, it's surely not because the DRM is too weak.