NoelC

For what it's worth, I have Windows 8.1 Pro x64 with all the latest updates and Aero Glass (with donation key) works just fine. There's no basic incompatibility there. What are your dwmcore.dll and udwm.dll versions? Have you used a theme patcher to change your system files? -Noel

Good goal. We had a functional and mature ability to do volume snapshots and to schedule VSS backups with Win 7. It was deprecated in Win 8, though still accessible through command line machinations. The recent trend is, unfortunately, in the opposite direction. I don't see a sparkling new Windows Backup interface in the pre-release software. There IS, however the appearance of the "Previous Versions" tab. I can't help but think that's something that slipped through the cracks, though... It's been there all along, just actively disabled. I'd bet that it's going to go away again. I hope they listen, and restore some of these serious computing features. Unfortunately, it's going to take a LOT of time to get back on the straight and narrow. Keep in mind what we will see many months from now already has to be designed and for the most part implemented. They can't just change the system overnight, after sending out the TP. -Noel

I have it in a VM. What do you need? -Noel

Microsoft took it seriously. Refresh and Reset capabilities in Windows 8. "We know you'll never be able to keep this system running because there's only one guy we've ever heard of who's done it, so for the rest of you here's a couple of giant Panic Buttons." -Noel

False idols... Is it time for biblical pestilence and floods? But wait, threats of that are not literal, though... Are they? -Noel

Doesn't look like that particular one is for Win 8.1, but that update sounds scary. I'm glad you research your updates - everyone should. I have long wondered whether/when Microsoft would start sending out updates that intentionally degrade users' experiences with existing operating systems. If you think I'm being paranoid, reference the replacement of software (e.g., IE) that eschews the selected theme in Win 7 and brings Win 8 flat, lifeless looks. If you think they're above manipulation, well then, I have some swamp land beautiful natural property to sell here in sunny south Florida... -Noel

The "Oh darn, those darned users don't like our newest release. Oh well, they'll just keep buying our old one then" attitude? What's stunningly amazing is that Microsoft hasn't extended the agreements that allow OEMs to sell Win 7 (caveat: I have no idea whether they have, I'm just assuming not since a lot of people talk about how most Win 7 configs are end of lifing pretty soon). -Noel

Indeed we've been on many Microsoft.com threads together. Always a learning experience over there to see what people run into. I used to feel the way you do, but when they refused to listen during the first Win 8 previews and continued down their path, then after the poor start they doubled-down with Win 8 and kept on that path, I lost all hope that Microsoft thinks users matter in the slightest. It's the worst of "we're a monopoly and you have nothing to say about that" realized. Frankly, Sinofsky lost me at "reimagined". -Noel

Thank you for that explanation, Big Muscle. Makes perfect sense. I do indeed have all 3 monitors connected to the one ATI 7850 card, and as of a couple of days ago updated to Catalyst 14.9 drivers. I've had a smooth experience with Aero Glass for Win 8.1. -Noel

Nice idea, but I expect it won't make any difference and we'll have to rely upon Big Muscle's product and possibly theming hacks again. Microsoft has some strange idea where we all need to go with computing that's disconnected from anything we want. -Noel

Perhaps he confused it with Windows 8.2. -Noel

Yeah, Microsoft would never release an update with bugs in it. Would they? -Noel

The ONLY way to get used to borderless, styleless windows is to not use an older system for a very long time. If you do go back and run an older system, such as perhaps the host system on which you're testing a new OS in a virtual machine, you get the whole perspective. Borderless windows do not an easier to use desktop make. -Noel

I guess that makes sense. I'm seeing nothing like a lag, not even a little bit. Is this because all my monitors have the same 100 ppi resolution? The pixel count on each is different (1200 x 1600 on the side monitors and 2560 x 1600 on the center one). -Noel

So where does that end? Note that it wasn't "Support Tech", the title actually has the term "Engineer" in it. That used to mean something. How many job positions can we now insert between those quotes? More than we could 5 years ago? THAT's my point. I'll also point out that this "Support Engineer" never even considered reporting the problem to anyone who might actually fix it. That probably would be frowned upon internally. And so the mediocrity mounts. Have they lost the critical mass of brain cells required to do the things they need to be doing? I'm thinking yes, and turning that culture around could be impossible... Jaclaz, all the versions of Windows Vista+ have had increasing requirements for tweaking in order to make them truly useful. It's still possible with Windows 8.1, and it's still possible with Windows 10 (which is really just 8.2) - though Microsoft seems to delight in closing off those avenues for some nefarious reasons. It's not whether there are a few gold nuggets, it's whether the whole thing hangs together. Noel

By the way, as a graphic example of my point 2 with regard to user interface design... Note the Microsoft employee's response here: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_365hp-word/word-365-scroll-bar-becomes-unresponsive-after/7275cc93-28bb-4292-bb57-63874edea1ef -Noel

Thing is, I actually *DO* like Windows. I've been a Windows aficionado since Windows began. I've built my business on the anticipation that Windows will have long and happy life and users will be running it for quite some time. It's the stuff Microsoft is doing lately that's both nearly meaningless and actually degrading the user experience that's depressing. With recent versions, how did deleting the Windows Backup UI help me? Making windows on the desktop harder to differentiate from one another by eliminating the drop shadow? The dumbing-down trend is not new, but it's reached a feverish pitch. Oversimplifying things so that we can't actually get the information we need (noting file dates such as "6 minutes ago" instead of "06:28:42", for example, which thankfully can be worked-around). And no, "window dressings" are not a necessary part of OS changes. That some marketing goon thinks they should be front and center, with all else in the background, precisely cuts to the core of the problem. If they're changed for the better they can be a welcome adjunct to the substantive features. If they're changed for the worse we have a lack of adoption. That doesn't help anyone. The hard to swallow part comes from stuff like this: Microsoft created the entire theming system and it was alive and healthy in Windows 7. How hard would it have been to give Windows 8 a fresh, new theme just based on that, while still offering (most of) the old ones as user choices. But noooo, we had to have that configurability taken away. Why? Answer that and you begin to understand my point of view. -Noel

Well, frankly what we're seeing in the current development build from MS is pretty much what I'd expect of a company run like a gambler who won't stop making bad bets. They've been marching to the wrong orders. That's why it would be appropriate to release NOTHING until they get back on the straight and narrow. Who is it that has decreed that a company needs to release new software at short intervals? There is NO WAY to make big, concerted changes that make sense and really work that way. Instead you just get continuous mediocrity. -Noel

Do YOU see anything coming out of Microsoft that implies they still have the talent to develop serious new operating system features? Things that truly advance the state of the art in computing? It's been a long time since I have. Mostly what we're seeing is deletions and changes to the draperies. Changes to window dressing do not by themselves an operating system make. It'd be better if they'd just leave the UX alone, maybe polish it even more - and concentrate on building things into the system that would make it a ) easier to develop applications and b ) provide more usability. You could say the Metro/Modern application development environment is an attempt at that, but it's oriented to portable devices. People will NEVER create on portable devices. They will only consume. Without a system on which to create, guess how much gets created... -Noel

Windows 8 was a flop for these possible reasons: 1. Bold leadership, but completely misguided. Genuine misconstrual of what people need from a computer operating system, even in the face of being told by the public. 2. Complete loss of the technical prowess to create a viable operating system. The management replacement acknowledged problem number 1. But now we have Windows 8.2 - er, excuse me, Windows 10. No new substance, just more Window dressing changes for the worse. Nothing really but "re-branding" to distance it from Windows 8. What a POS! That they have chosen to push out MORE OF THE SAME BUT ACTUALLY WORSE as something exciting and new rather than saying, "look folks, we have to regroup, it'll be another year or two" just says that the replacement management is NO smarter, and also sadly proves axiom number 2 above. It's quite depressing if you think about it. The golden age of Windows computing has come and gone. -Noel

Search is now impossible with the Feedback Tool. -Noel

Of course, we don't need to get into the fact that the XP calculator provided a better (more usable) combination of features. -Noel

Of course, the Windows Feedback app is right there. My most recent feedback is this: Why not allow infinite resizeability of windowed Metro/Modern apps? Especially in this day and age of a) tiny screens on portable devices and B) high dpi computer monitors, what's the downside to allowing people to shrink apps down? Metro/Modern seems to be all about simplifying things - reducing the amount of stuff that a person sees at one time to (presumably) reduce cognitive load. In other words, Windows for Stupid People. Trouble is, we're not all stupid. Sometimes we really need to see lots of stuff at once. Do you have multiple monitors? Why? So you can get more on the screen at one time, not so you can see the Calculator with bigger fonts and giant meat-stick accessible buttons. Microsoft now has the unique opportunity to fix their recent mistakes in gauging what people need by doing something as simple as allowing the infinite resizeability of Metro/Modern apps back on the desktop. To put it in pictures: The XP Calc.exe application is the one I go to when I'm working on software today. This is its size as compared to the smallest sized horizontally laid-out Metro/Modern calculator: Microsoft doesn't yet seem to "get" that we want full and complete control over our technology. -Noel

Thanks, but it's easier just to hold down the Control key. -Noel

I've installed and fully configured a VM with Win 10 Enterprise x64 TP today. It's a decent system. Really it's a lot like Windows 8.2 at this point. All the hype the pundits are spewing about it being an amazing thing is just paid opinion. It's just another version of Windows with almost no new substance, just some reimplemented control panel stuff and some minor window dressing changes. Can't say I prefer the direction they're taking the UI, though I imagine there'll be folks who like it. It's probably something one could get used to. And I imagine it'll get better with 3rd party software in time. Virtually every tweak I've discovered for prior versions, and in my Windows 8.1 book works for it. Even Classic Shell installs and runs almost perfectly (and is still about 500% better a Start Menu than the one Microsoft put back). Classic Shell even works around a new problem with the auto-hidden Taskbar not coming out if you try to slide your cursor to the Start button. The only tweak I've had to do a different way was the change in the date format to get it to read out file times to the second (instead of stuff like "4 minutes ago"). That required a registry mod, since the folks who reimplemented the control panel neglected to offer the ability to hand-configure the format. More dumbing down. Aero Glass doesn't yet work with it, but I hear Big Muscle's well on his way to making it work. Things I've learned so far... It responds to disabling UAC just like Windows 8.1 does. You do become a full-time admin, but lose the ability to run Metro/Modern toys - a win/win situation in my book! Windows' own control panel applets aren't bothered by the setting. Only thing is the integrated Search doesn't work with UAC disabled, so I may enable it again to play around. Disabling Indexing is still possible (and a good thing to do). Explorer seems to be confused about how to show you the stuff on drive C:. It's under This PC and also a root namespace, and neither can be hidden (or at least I haven't found out how yet). I guess they didn't want us to miss that the best place to work is on the actual hard drive, as it always has been. The system is quite responsive. I have a powerful workstation, but Windows 10 seemed right snappy. I'm thinking the base system takes a bit less resources and runs several fewer processes when nothing's running. I can't unpin Search or Task View from the Taskbar near the Start icon. It now has a new feature where mouse scroll wheel events are sent to whatever window you're hovering over. That used to require a 3rd party application to achieve (WizMouse). Old tweaking programs that worked with prior versions. For example Explorer still responds to UI changes set up with Classic Shell and Folder Options X. IE is version 11 still, though interestingly an older version (11.0.8) than is running on Windows 8.1 (11.0.12). The processes are mostly the same familiar list (supporting my impression that not much of substance has changed). SFC shows that the servicing database is corrupted right out of the box. DISM won't fix it. Major applications, such as Photoshop CC 2014, install and run on it no problem. Really old applications (e.g., XP-era) seem to work; the appropriate compatibility settings are there. -Noel