Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Windows 8 and Toyota come together to build a faster race car ( NeoWin 2013-02-23 )

Okay everyone, be honest. I'm not the only one who thought of this when reading that headline ...

NYPD has a group dedicated to recovering stolen iPhones ( NeoWin 2013-02-23 )

What? No Lumia or WP8 phone recovery task force? How come? ( hey, it's the weekend, lighten up! )

Microsoft claims no involvement in raid of hacker who leaked next-gen Xbox info ( NeoWin 2013-02-23 )

"We had nothing to do with it" says Microsoft. Yeah right. It smells a lot like the RIAA and Kim DotCom fiasco ( that one with with commandos and helicopters ). Somewhat related, well, at least to the high tech police state we find ourselves in, there was another story at CNet a few days back: Facebook pic of toy mortar leads to armed cops raid where a guy looks out his window to see "five carloads of police who raided ..." his house because of a misunderstood picture he had on Facebook. I don't know about anyone else, but in my opinion the only time SWAT or commandos should be swooping in on private property is when there is a high probability of a Uranium enrichment lab on site. Anything short of this, especially including enforcement of dubious violations in the opinion of the BSA, RIAA, Microsoft or any other IP "owner" should be considered verboten, period. When governments become the SS stormtroopers for corporations, what else can this be called but fascism?

John Carmack Gives PlayStation 4 a Thumbs Up ( Tom's Hardware 2013-02-24 )

I submit this as proof that Microsoft isn't the only giant to be chopped down to size with the passage of time. It hurts to see this from a legend such as Carmack, but for the love of God, how can he not be aware of the radical privacy invasions that Sony is perpetrating, it's everywhere, including above as mentioned by Formfiller referencing this ZDNet column: PS4 socials all the gaming, says Sony; but why?. Always connected, NON-anonymous, plugged-in like the Matrix, what could possibly be wrong with that? Jeez John, come back to Earth son. You made your mark specifically by writing a killer non-networked graphical 3D output engine by thinking entirely outside-the-box, and now you cheer for mega-corporate consumer sheep-herding devices that coral them inside-the-box, and worst of all, Sony's box? So very disappointing.

EDIT: typo

Edited February 24, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[JorgeA]

BSODs r not so frequent, but in regard of w7, they r..

e.g., in W7 BSOD never occurred.

Also, there is no rule, simply it happens without any logical conclusion, i.e. clue .

btw,I expect a 'BLUE' thing or SP1 would b a solution.

I finally got a chance to spend some time looking into this issue of Windows 8 BSOD's.

Unfortunately, it didn't do much good. There seems to be no special pattern for blue screens appearing in Win8 (that's what I was hoping to find), they happen for all sorts of reasons.

But I can say that a Google search for "windows 7 bsod" gave back 5.78 million results, while a search for "windows 8 bsod" produced 4.9 million results... and Windows 8 has only been out for 17 months, if you include the preview versions. (A search for "windows vista bsod" came back with 3.46 million results. ) I thought we were told that Windows 8 would be so much more stable than any previous edition of Windows?

Sorry I wasn't more help.

--JorgeA

Edited February 24, 2013 by JorgeA

[JorgeA]

I meant to ask you: what XP theme are you using there? Looks really sharp.

--JorgeA

[ricktendo]

I meant to ask you: what XP theme are you using there? Looks really sharp.

--JorgeA

Looks like official (unreleased) Royale Noir

Edited February 24, 2013 by ricktendo

[JorgeA]

Interesting discussion I came across as I was researching something else:

Is Microsoft On The Verge Of A Sudden Collapse Or Just A Long, Slow Decline?

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Looks like official (unreleased) Royale Noir

Ah, very good, thanks! Now that you mention it, I do remember that name coming up somewhere in this thread.

--JorgeA

[ciHnoN]

Windows 8 and Toyota come together to build a faster race car ( NeoWin 2013-02-23 )

Okay everyone, be honest. I'm not the only one who thought of this when reading that headline ...

...

See, you don't understand this Metro thing. What those cars are doing is just trying to get a more flat look by flattening everything. Stop living in the past man, everything is supposed to be flat now.

[ciHnoN]

Fool's design, Windows 8 dislikes more than one instance of an application.

If you try to start several instances of any program from the start screen, be it Paint or Remote Desktop Connection, it will fail. It takes you to the instance which is currently running. After all, why would you start more than one Remote Desktop session or perhaps have more than one Paint open at the same time?

Apparently, Microsoft thinks they have a better idea how many instances you are allowed will need to have open. Which is, well, only one.

The "solution" is to go to Desktop, right click on the icon of the running application in the Taskbar and start a new instance from there. This "solution" is of course, completely invisible and illogical to the regular user.

Yet another reason that the start screen is foolishly designed.

Source: http://www.foolsdesi...ic.php?f=1&t=22

Edited February 24, 2013 by ciHnoN

[TheBigBang]

BSODs r not so frequent, but in regard of w7, they r..

e.g., in W7 BSOD never occurred.

Also, there is no rule, simply it happens without any logical conclusion, i.e. clue .

btw,I expect a 'BLUE' thing or SP1 would b a solution.

I finally got a chance to spend some time looking into this issue of Windows 8 BSOD's.

Unfortunately, it didn't do much good. There seems to be no special pattern for blue screens appearing in Win8 (that's what I was hoping to find), they happen for all sorts of reasons.

But I can say that a Google search for "windows 7 bsod" gave back 5.78 million results, while a search for "windows 8 bsod" produced 4.9 million results... and Windows 8 has only been out for 17 months, if you include the preview versions. (A search for "windows vista bsod" came back with 3.46 million results. ) I thought we were told that Windows 8 would be so much more stable than any previous edition of Windows?

Sorry I wasn't more help.

--JorgeA

it was so funny

No way..w8 is unsurpassed in regard of BSODs.

Im a living witness

[JorgeA]

Fool's design, Windows 8 dislikes more than one instance of an application.

If you try to start several instances of any program from the start screen, be it Paint or Remote Desktop Connection, it will fail. It takes you to the instance which is currently running. After all, why would you start more than one Remote Desktop session or perhaps have more than one Paint open at the same time?

Great find, definitely a Deeper Impression!

While researching @TheBigBang's issue, I came across this thread from another forum which seems to dovetail with your discovery. Note the sarcastic Win8 fanb enthusiast, who confidently declares:

Well, Metro (don't call it Metro!) is not Start. If you want desktop behavior, put an icon on your desktop, or pin it to the taskbar.

and:

It's not a START MENU on the DESKTOP. Sorry for not spelling that out for the obvious impaired.

Ohh, now they tell us. Hadn't we been led to believe that the Metro Start Screen was basically a new-look Start Menu? :angrym:

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Windows 8 and Toyota come together to build a faster race car ( NeoWin 2013-02-23 )

Okay everyone, be honest. I'm not the only one who thought of this when reading that headline ...

...

See, you don't understand this Metro thing. What those cars are doing is just trying to get a more flat look by flattening everything. Stop living in the past man, everything is supposed to be flat now.

I hate to do this because it's so tragic for the people involved, but -- ROFL!!!

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

From a few months ago, a nice roundup of UI tweaks to make the Windows 8 experience more tolerable:

How to make Windows 8 look like Windows 7

Maybe someone can update the writer with @Tihiy's and @bigmuscle's projects on MSFN to further improve Win8. (I didn't read through the comments.)

--JorgeA

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

I meant to ask you: what XP theme are you using there? Looks really sharp.

Looks like official (unreleased) Royale Noir

Bingo. Almost. It is actually one of the tweaked versions called: Royale Remixed ... the main file is Royale Remixed.msstyles, in the selector box ( top field "Windows and Buttons" ) you can see it shows up as Royale style and in the "color scheme" it has three variations and I've been using Royale Noir. I've been meaning to edit these things so that the name in the selector box ( "Windows and Buttons" ) matches the name of the *.MsStyle. It can get confusing because I have a few more "Royale" styles and it is a PITA to tell which is which in the list without selecting them.

BTW, here is the filelist of the theme in case you want to search for it ...

;;; Directory of C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Royale Remixed

; 2007-01-12 13:35 6,547 Readme_Remixed.txt

; 2007-01-12 09:02 3,698,688 Royale Remixed.msstyles

;;; Directory of C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Royale Remixed\Cursors

; 2006-12-17 21:55 4,286 Aero_Alt.cur

; 2006-12-17 21:55 4,286 Aero_Arrow.cur

; 2006-12-17 21:55 77,440 Aero_Busy.ani

; 2006-12-17 21:55 4,286 Aero_Ew.cur

; 2006-12-17 21:55 4,286 Aero_Helpsel.cur

; 2006-12-17 21:55 4,286 Aero_Link.cur

; 2006-12-17 21:55 4,286 Aero_Move.cur

; 2006-12-17 21:55 4,286 Aero_Nesw.cur

; 2006-12-17 21:55 4,286 Aero_Ns.cur

; 2006-12-17 21:55 4,286 Aero_Nwse.cur

; 2006-12-17 21:55 4,286 Aero_Pen.cur

; 2007-01-09 10:46 4,286 Aero_Unavail.cur

; 2006-12-17 21:55 4,286 Aero_Up.cur

; 2006-12-17 21:55 77,440 Aero_Working.ani

;;; Directory of C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Royale Remixed\Icons

; 2006-12-17 21:55 76,922 Binempty.ico

; 2006-12-17 21:55 94,567 Binfull.ico

; 2006-12-17 21:55 71,357 Computer.ico

; 2006-12-17 21:55 55,813 Documents.ico

; 2006-12-17 21:55 108,197 Network.ico

;;; Directory of C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Royale Remixed\Shell

;;; Directory of C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Royale Remixed\Shell\Noir

; 2007-01-09 11:47 372,736 Shellstyle.dll

;;; Directory of C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Royale Remixed\Shell\Normalcolor

; 2006-11-29 07:10 372,736 Shellstyle.dll

;;; Directory of C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Royale Remixed\Shell\Zune

; 2007-01-09 11:55 368,640 Shellstyle.dll

;;; Directory of C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Royale Remixed\Sounds

; 2006-12-17 21:56 6,382 Windows Vista Balloon.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 96,904 Windows Vista Battery Critical.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 102,894 Windows Vista Battery Low.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 119,026 Windows Vista Critical Stop.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 24,532 Windows Vista Default.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 59,310 Windows Vista Ding.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 79,278 Windows Vista Error.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 123,472 Windows Vista Exclamation.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 2,020 Windows Vista Feed Discovered.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 97,966 Windows Vista Hardware Fail.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 82,196 Windows Vista Hardware Insert.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 79,406 Windows Vista Hardware Remove.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 4,838 Windows Vista Information Bar.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 163,630 Windows Vista Logoff.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 154,396 Windows Vista Logon.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 1,406 Windows Vista Menu Command.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 22,582 Windows Vista Minimize.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 134,558 Windows Vista Notify.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 7,396 Windows Vista Pop-Up Blocked.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 43,764 Windows Vista Print Complete.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 40,750 Windows Vista Recycle.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 19,460 Windows Vista Restore.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 38,932 Windows Vista Ringin.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 22,072 Windows Vista Ringout.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 232,750 Windows Vista Shutdown.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 2,204 Windows Vista Start.wav

; 2006-12-17 21:56 446,224 Windows Vista Startup.wav

;;; Directory of C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Royale Remixed\Wallpapers

; 2006-12-17 21:55 207,916 Remixed.jpg

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Firefox OS phones to debut in 2013, no US launch until 2014 ( NeoWin 2013-02-24 )

Samsung reveals Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet for Q2 2013 launch ( NeoWin 2013-02-24 )

HP announces Android-based $169 Slate 7 tablet ( NeoWin 2013-02-24 )

HP Jumps Back Into Tablets With The $169 Slate 7 ( Maximum PC 2013-02-24 )

Lenovo Goes After The Nexus 7 With a Revamped Lineup of Tablets ( Maximum PC 2013-02-24 )

Seriously, this is now almost a daily occurrence. Boatloads of non-Windows 8 devices hitting the streets, and priced to sell. Each one of these things directly impacts Microsoft's foolproof foolish "Plan A". What was that again? Oh yeah. Destroy Windows and sacrifice it to the Gods of mobile marketshare. They destroyed their defining product solely for the purpose of gaining a piece of the action, a higher lower percentage of the expanding mobile space. But wait, how is that gonna happen when for every Nokia Lumia or Surface or other WP some competitor sells 50 copies of some other device. What math do they use up in Redmond? I'm not saying they shouldn't have tried, no. I'm saying that you should fire all the idi0ts that thought sacrificing Windows was the admission ticket to this arena. It was not. Microsoft should have protected Windows instead of destroying it. They have earned this fail.

LG says it has no plans to return to Windows Phone ( NeoWin 2013-02-24 )

Whoopsie. "LG doesn't see enough of a demand for such a product at the moment." How can this be possible? Easy, Microsoft Tiles is loved by a few, mediocre to many, insulting and annoying to the rest of us normal people. You blew it. You had this on WP a few years ago and no-one was beating the doors down to buy it. It was not a seminal event, it was just adequate. Now who was the birdbrain that thought this mediocre interface should become the face of everything going forwards? I want names!

Microsoft adds new features to Office Web Apps ( NeoWin 2013-02-24 )

The updates were revealed in a new post on the Office blog and include a way for users to quickly add images they find on the web into an document. Microsoft states, "Just copy the picture and then paste it in the web app, using the keyboard (CTRL+V or ⌘+V). This works in Word Web App, PowerPoint Web App, and OneNote Web App."

I just thought this was rather funny.

EDIT: clarity

Edited February 25, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[ciHnoN]

Fool's design.

The case of insane scrollbars in Windows 8.

( Source: http://www.foolsdesign.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25 )

Invisible scrollbar handles and disabled looking scrollbar arrows.

Not only the scrollbars in Windows 8 look disabled and grayed out (specially the arrows), in order to trick the users' eyes even more, they made the scrollbar handle almost invisible. Light gray on light gray. That's the stuff! After all, why would you ever need to know with ease what your position is inside a scrollable window. Design 101 at Microsoft.

Below picture shows how they currently look like and a quick suggestion on how it should be. Of course, we feel that the scrollbars' colors should follow the general color theme of Windows.