Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions

[vinifera]

haha epic video !

[JorgeA]

Paul Thurrott reports a continuing "lag" in sales of Windows 8 PCs, relative to Windows 7 last year. But check out the new excuse:

NPD claims a new culprit in this shortfall: Low-cost netbooks did “incalculable” damage to the PC industry and destroyed the high-end mobile market that Windows 8 now targets.

:lol:

Gimme a break -- netbooks were way overpriced for what they were (and still more expensive than some of those alternative tablets). A likelier explanation is found deeper into the article:

Microsoft should be credited for moving Windows quickly into the world of multi-touch tablets with Windows 8. But because consumers are now trained to expect low-cost devices, they are purchasing low-cost multi-touch tablets that don’t run Windows and low-cost Windows PCs which don’t offer multi-touch capabilities.

In other words, Microsoft is completely missing the mark.

--JorgeA

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Sorry, Windows Blue won't bring back the Start button ( NeoWin 2012-12-27 )

This should not come as a surprise as Microsoft would have a massive egg on it's face if it did cave to users requests to return the iconic button.

How about that for a crystal clear glimpse into the mSheep mindset. Listening to the customer means egg on the face!

EDIT: updated image URL, and again

Edited May 6, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[bphlpt]

For those that are absolutely forced into using Win 8, watching this video should be mandatory.

Learn Windows 8 in 3 minutes (OK, it's really 4)

If you watch this Win 8 will be much less frustrating. Don't get me wrong, it still sucks, I still hate it, and I disagree with many/most of the design choices, but at least it's now almost marginally usable.

Cheers and Regards

[jaclaz]

@CharlotteTheHarlot

Re: facepalm

You are missing the point completely

jaclaz

[Kelsenellenelvian]

I have been watching these videos and am COMPLETELY astounded at the extreme learning curve it takes to figure that POS out.

I mean seriously NO video tuts from MS? NO world-wide classes?

I wonder what sh*t is in there people haven't even found yet...

I am not relearning a OS just to have to get a metric crapload of extra files\programs to do the simplest of things. (LIKE PLAY A FRIGGIN DVD!!!!)

[Tripredacus]

I mean seriously NO video tuts from MS? NO world-wide classes?

This was brought up earlier. Even Windows 95 to XP has a "how to use movie" when it booted. Well in that "welcome" screen that would appear you could find out how to use Windows.

[JorgeA]

I mean seriously NO video tuts from MS? NO world-wide classes?

This was brought up earlier. Even Windows 95 to XP has a "how to use movie" when it booted. Well in that "welcome" screen that would appear you could find out how to use Windows.

At bootup my Vista machines have the Welcome Center, too, where you can watch demos and mouse around to learn about the shiny new OS.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Thurrott's "Fixing Windows 8" series is up to Part 5. His approach to Windows 8 does seem to have taken another turn for the better:

The Windows 8 Start screen is fine on tablet devices, but is borderline useless to users of traditional PCs. Fortunately, a few simple fixes will make this crucial user interface better for all users.

With these kinds of suggestions, there’s always some well-intentioned soul who mentions that they like things just the way they are. That’s nice. But as is generally the case with these “Fixing Windows 8” suggestions, what I’m really asking for is choice.

[emphasis added!]

This is very welcome, of course, but Paul doesn't seem to have put 2+2 together yet: if the OS warrants a multipart series on how to fix it, doesn't that tell us that there is something fundamentally wrong with the OS?

Still, Paul makes a lot of cogent observations and the series is well worth reading. Here (http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/fixing-windows-8-part-4-evolve-metro-pro-apps) is a thought-provoking one:

And while it will likely never be possible (or desirable) to expose as many commands in a Metro app as is possible on desktop application, if only because of the needs of touch-screen hit target sizes, surely some middle ground can be achieved.

But Paul has said (or predicted) that "the Desktop must die." If that is so, and if complex feature sets aren't suitable for Metro apps, then does that mean that we are doomed to a future of limited program functionality? Form should follow function -- but with Metro, function (or the lack thereof) follows form.

Oh, and check out the commenter in Part 5 who's already looking to sell his Surface...

--JorgeA

Edited December 28, 2012 by JorgeA

[jaclaz]

But Paul has said (or predicted) that "the Desktop must die." If that is so, and if complex feature sets aren't suitable for Metro apps, then does that mean that we are doomed to a future of limited program functionality? Form should follow function -- but with Metro, function (or the lack thereof) follows form.

Also WHY there are so many keyboard shortcuts (undocumented officially)?

NIce list here thanks to wimb:

jaclaz

Edited December 28, 2012 by jaclaz

[JorgeA]

It sounds as though Microsoft isn't the only one infected with the compulsion to wreck a well-functoning UI, and that its own fanboys aren't the only ones afflicted by the attitude that there is one single optimal way for everyone:

And what irritates me is how the gnome3 fanboys (and more importantly, developers), seem to never acknowledge that different people have different tastes. The whole "we know best" thing is a disease.

--JorgeA

[jaclaz]

It sounds as though Microsoft isn't the only one infected with the compulsion to wreck a well-functoning UI, and that its own fanboys aren't the only ones afflicted by the attitude that there is one single optimal way for everyone:

Sure , JFYI, I personally "abandoned" quite a few distro's the exact moment they became "gnome" only, as I personally prefer (and have always preferred) KDE (though what I actually use is blackbox and/or Enlightenment, even on Windows I use bblean on quite a few machines)

Also, not really "news", in the sense that Linus' perplexities (IMHO well justified) on Gnome date to at lest more than one year ago:

http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/linus-ditches-kde-and-gnome-so-what

jaclaz

[JorgeA]

It sounds as though Microsoft isn't the only one infected with the compulsion to wreck a well-functoning UI, and that its own fanboys aren't the only ones afflicted by the attitude that there is one single optimal way for everyone:

Sure , JFYI, I personally "abandoned" quite a few distro's the exact moment they became "gnome" only, as I personally prefer (and have always preferred) KDE (though what I actually use is blackbox and/or Enlightenment, even on Windows I use bblean on quite a few machines)

Also, not really "news", in the sense that Linus' perplexities (IMHO well justified) on Gnome date to at lest more than one year ago:

http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/linus-ditches-kde-and-gnome-so-what

jaclaz

Thanks for the article link, it provided good historical background, although I admit that despite looking into the matter I remain mystified by the conceptual differences (if any?) between a "UI," a "DE," and a "shell."

A couple of days ago I tried Fedora 17 and Linux Mint 13 off the live DVD that came with the "Genius Guide" Linux & Open Source magbook, volume 3. I didn't like either one. I'd have to get back into them to provide details, but as I remember one of them provided a taskbar but no way to put anything on it. Instead, you had to mouse up to the top left corner and click, or something like that, to bring up large thumbnails of the open windows. That may have been Linux Mint 13 -- come to think of it, I believe that it was Fedora 17 that looked so alien that I didn't even bother looking around.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

An extended review of the Surface RT. The writer wants to like it, but the device's limitations simply rule that out.

I don’t enjoy being so dismissive of the Surface RT, but I guess I’m still struggling to see the value of a tablet. Yeah, touch is cool; and for doing things like surfing the web, scrolling through photos, and checking your e-mail it makes sense. But for tasks like building spread sheets, editing photos, and writing essays desktops and laptops are superior solutions. In the simplest sense the Surface RT, like all of the tablets that have come before it, is a content consumption device, not a content creation tool. And to that degree Surface RT can’t replace a traditional PC, only augment it.

--JorgeA

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

This is very welcome, of course, but Paul doesn't seem to have put 2+2 together yet: if the OS warrants a multipart series on how to fix it, doesn't that tell us that there is something fundamentally wrong with the OS?

--JorgeA

Excellent observation Jorge! I wonder how many people at those Thurrott threads can grasp it. And fanboy-in-chief Thurrott is again barely addressing the problems as usual.

I have been watching these videos and am COMPLETELY astounded at the extreme learning curve it takes to figure that POS out.

I mean seriously NO video tuts from MS? NO world-wide classes?

I know, the barebones tutorial is unbelievable as it is, but we learned it was INTENTIONAL! They dropped the mSheep into this thing like guinea pigs ...

She adds that the lack of tutorials or detailed instructions on how to adjust to Windows 8—something that has attracted complaints—is a deliberate choice. Tests have shown that although people find tutorials “comforting,” they don’t retain much information from them, she says, making them a waste of time.

BTW, pOS is one of my favorite names offered by the community to help Microsoft replace Metro.

EDIT: added something else

Edited December 29, 2012 by CharlotteTheHarlot