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Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions


JorgeA

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So...  Windows 9, and all the recent leaked screenshots and info...

 

Is it too soon to expect look and feel differences yet?  Microsoft tends to migrate the look and feel of their systems lately through a series of public previews.  Clearly they haven't fully developed the first one yet.  Will they add a bit of style back into the desktop?  Re-introduce Aero Glass or other gee whiz features (animations?  new buttons to enhance usability?) to the desktop?

 

They seem to have gotten the message from the public that the system ought to be better to use before people will adopt it.  I think in general that means it will have to be better certainly than Windows 8.x and probably better than Windows 7, which is still popular.

 

As one who has (reluctantly but successfully) adopted Windows 8.1 myself, I have my perspective and will likely figure out how to use Windows 9 right away and adopt it for my main operations within about a year of its release. 

 

How do those of you who might have chosen to remain on an older system feel?  What would it take to make you a Windows 9 user?

 

-Noel

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Certainly different people DO different things with their systems.

... and when someone forcibly prevents them from doing what they wish to do, or like to do, or fancy to do or simply are used to do, some people may get upset.  :whistle:

 

Mark Russinovich, at the time, had this to say on UAC:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2007/02/12/638372.aspx

...

It should be clear then, that neither UAC elevations nor Protected Mode IE define new Windows security boundaries. Microsoft has been communicating this but I want to make sure that the point is clearly heard.

...

Because elevations and ILs don’t define a security boundary, potential avenues of attack , regardless of ease or scope, are not security bugs. So if you aren’t guaranteed that your elevated processes aren’t susceptible to compromise by those running at a lower IL, why did Windows Vista go to the trouble of introducing elevations and ILs? To get us to a world where everyone runs as standard user by default and all software is written with that assumption.

...

 

 

[sarcasm]

Don't worry, it may hurt a bit, but it is for your own good. :yes:

[/sarcasm]

 

 

jaclaz

Edited by jaclaz
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How do those of you who might have chosen to remain on an older system feel?

Not at all bad, thanks for asking :).

 

What would it take to make you a Windows 9 user?

Money, what else? :unsure:

Either a considerable sum of money to buy a new computer with the newish latish fastish OS included or simple, good ol' bribing :w00t: by MS ;)  (donations from third parties accepted as well :yes:).

 

Now, seriously, the PC market (business) has been traditionally (and in some cases understandably) been slower that the "home" market to adopt new machines and OS's.

 

And the home market is largely made out of OEM installs, very few people buy a "full" license to upgrade the OS they are currently running on the "same" (oldish) PC. 

 

But typically (and with the exception of "emerging countries") the PC market has changed from "primary" to "replacement" (both for businesses and home users).

 

Until working machines won't stop working (or start giving problems) IMHO most "average Joe's" will not replace them with the new ones, this is somewhat independent from the quality of the new OS (unless of course the good MS guys find a way to really provide something much better, doing more, new, useful things).

 

 

jaclaz

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Don't worry, it may hurt a bit, but it is for your own good. :yes:

 

With all due respect, I'll be the judge of what's good for me.  And you should know better than to mess with a hangin' judge.

 

 

Sure :), you didn't notice that I am on the same side of the fence as you are :yes:.

The side where we may (or may not) agree to what "they" want us to do (and how to do that) and feel free to do (or not do) it.

 

Your dictionary may have suffered from the same accident as Aloha's:

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/163489-startisback-16/page-43#entry1083366

 

Editing previous post to clarify.

 

jaclaz

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NoelC,

 

Check out the on-off switches for sarcasm that @jaclaz put around that "for your own good" bit:

 

[sarcasm]

Don't worry, it may hurt a bit, but it is for your own good. :yes:

[/sarcasm]

 

You're both on the same side of this issue :thumbup  and I'd hate to see either one of you quit "the resistance" over something like this...  :)

 

--JorgeA

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Mary Jo Foley weighs in on those leaked Windows 9 screenshots:

 

Windows Threshold screenshot leaks: What's there, what's not

 

About the Charms:

 

The Charms bar is another example of a feature that's still in flux. While my tipsters have said the Threshold team was (and still is) leaning toward eliminating the Charms bar altogether from Threshold, the Charms are likely to still be part of the Threshold Enterprise Tech Preview that Microsoft is expected to make available late this month or in early October, my sources say. In part, that decision is due to the fact that app vendors haven't yet incorporated some of the Charms functionality, like printing and sharing, directly into their apps.

 

There is code in the updated Windows Store app in the leaked build that shows how a drop-down menu including Charms functionality (Search, Share, Play) might be designed to work, however, as the screen shot above indicates.

 

By the time Threshold debuts in final form in spring 2015, the Charms bar is still likely to be eliminated in most, if not all, SKUs, I still am hearing — depending ultimately on user feedback.

 

And there may be a separate preview running in parallel (though with a time lag) for a different audience:

 

The Enterprise Technical Preview, as its name indicates, is for enterprise users who live primarily in the Desktop. There's supposedly another preview coming, my tipsters have said: A more consumer-focused one that will show off what Microsoft has built for phone and tablet users. That test version is looking like a January or February 2015 deliverable, tipsters have said.

 

--JorgeA

 

 

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I'll throw on the table (and quickly hide my hand behind my back ;)) how a new, fantastic technology is seen before (at the time of it's introduction):

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163388.aspx

It’s a revolutionary step for Windows®-based applications. And it can help you develop applications that are more robust than they could ever have been before. It’s Transactional NTFS, also known as TxF. In this article, I explain Transactional NTFS, why it matters to developers, and how you can use this new technology in your applications.

 

and how it is seen after some time it has been put into practice on the field :whistle::

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb968806(v=vs.85).aspx

[Microsoft strongly recommends developers utilize alternative means to achieve your application’s needs. Many scenarios that TxF was developed for can be achieved through simpler and more readily available techniques. Furthermore, TxF may not be available in future versions of Microsoft Windows. For more information, and alternatives to TxF, please see Alternatives to using Transactional NTFS.]

 

Some definitions, should someone have ruined a few pages of the dictionary :w00t:, or had his/her dog eat them :ph34r:.

 

  • New means "new".
  • Old means "old".
  • Legacy means "legacy".
  • Revolutionary means "revolutionary".
  • Better means "better".

 

Something can be both new and better, or revolutionary and better but it is not automatically implied in "new" or in "revolutionary".

 

On the other hand both "old" and "legacy" imply "tested extensively" and, in the case they are attributed to something that had a world wide success also imply "working nicely".

 

 

jaclaz

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Yes, your point that Microsoft (and others) have been trying to do no less than redefine the language has been a sore one with me.

 

Another example:

 

"Search" means "search", not "pop up something interesting to relieve my boredom".

 

Oh, and speaking of UAC, remember when this was indicative of computer failure?

 

i-m-sorry-dave-e1369058177230.jpg

 

-Noel

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Yes, your point that Microsoft (and others) have been trying to do no less than redefine the language has been a sore one with me.

 

Well, they also try to redefine the way we work (which BTW it is what essentially they originally allowed us to do going from DOS to multitasking Windows):

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/optimize-windows-better-performance#optimize-windows-better-performance=windows-7

 

 

Run fewer programs at the same time

Sometimes changing your computing behavior can have a big impact on your PC's performance. If you're the type of computer user who likes to keep eight programs and a dozen browser windows open at once—all while sending instant messages to your friends—don't be surprised if your PC bogs down. Keeping a lot of e‑mail messages open can also use up memory.

If you find your PC slowing down, ask yourself if you really need to keep all your programs and windows open at once. Find a better way to remind yourself to reply to e‑mail messages rather than keeping all of them open.

 

(please note how the above was pre-8 and pre-NCI)

 

 

I wouldn' t be that much surprised, re: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/171006-know-any-windows-81-file-system-performance-tweaks/?p=1085763 , if they would come up with a tip like ;):

[sarcasm]

Use less files

In today's computing the complexity of managing a file system is ever increasing, considering how, besides the sheer data, the OS has to deal with UAC; DEP, ASLR, accounts, permissions, quotas, streams and more metadata, including records for telemetry and performance monitors, the occasional NSA snooping and what not.

 

Sometimes changing your computing behaviour can have a big impact on your Pc's performance. If you are the type of computer user that actually uses it to do some work, don't be surprised if your new Microsoft ® operating system is slower than an earlier one. Consider the idea of using it to only make selfies or re-caption lolcats images and post them on the internet .

 

Try creating less files, if you have many files searching or copying them may be slow.

 

As well, do not save the files on your local hard disk or SSD, the more these are empty the faster they will be accessed, learn to keep your files on our Cloud, where they will also be safer.

 

If you find your file manager slowing down when listing files or more generally when accessing or copying/moving files, ask yourself if you really need to list or copy those files. There is no need to copy  or move them elsewhere, they are fine where they are. As well, try to not modify them, this way you will implicitly and preventively avoid fragmentation of the file system. Find a better way to deal with your storage, use a pencil and paper to take notes on where you saved your files, always think before initiating a search for a file, chances are that you can remember where you stored it and the search would be unneeded.

 

[/sarcasm]

 

jaclaz

Edited by jaclaz
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Uh-oh, it looks like Internet Explorer might be catching Chrome Disease:

 

How the next version of IE, codenamed 'Spartan,' might support extensions

 

Neowin.net's Brad Sams noted that the next IE release — which may be known as IE 12 if Microsoft continues to follow its current naming conventions — is expected to look more like a cross between Chrome and Firefox, with an alleged new tab layout and support for browser extensions.

 

Leading to...

 

Internet Explorer 12 UI overhaul is a blend of Chrome and Firefox, adds extension support

 

Microsoft’s next browser brings a dramatic new look to the browser - but that in itself is not news, as Microsoft has promised this in the past. But what is new is that we have seen the UI and can help you understand what those changes will be.

 

For starters, it’s flat, and looks like a cross between Chrome and Firefox. The tabs for each webpage are rectangles at the top and start on the far left of the window. In IE11, the URL bar is on the same horizontal plane as the tabs, in IE12 (or whatever they call the next version) the tabs are on top of the URL bar.

 

It really looks a lot like Chrome but with Microsoft's flat lipstick applied. It’s still early in the UI phase but it does look quite a bit different from what we see now with Internet Explorer 11. There are back, forward and refresh buttons next to the URL bar below the tabs, again, very similar to how Chrome is presented.

 

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. :angry:

 

--JorgeA

 

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... How do those of you who might have chosen to remain on an older system feel?  ...

 

Like living the last years of a golden age, 'cause I'm certain by now that Se7en is the last non-retarded not-sucker-bait OS that Microshaft will ever release. It'll had to be Linux or whatever else after 2020.

 

... What would it take to make you a Windows 9 user? ...

 

No chance, thanks.

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TELVM, you're saying if they didn't pull a miracle out of their... hats and make a Windows 9 that was actually more useful than Windows 7 you wouldn't try it?

 

Or more realistically, what if within a year of release some poor slobs finally put the finishing touches on a few dozen tweakers, functionality restorers, and utilities that make WIndows 9 more like a useful Vista?

 

What happens when the poor slobs who keep saving Microsoft's butt get too old to tweak the latest Windows any more, and no one's left who remembers the golden age and how computers once could be made to do just what you want and look nice doing it?

 

 

I'm certain by now that Se7en is the last non-retarded not-sucker-bait OS that Microshaft will ever release.

 

I know the feeling.  During the early years of Windows 8 we were almost holding on to hope that something surprising and amazing was being held back, and that the bad dream would actually end.  Now...

 

-Noel

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