Jump to content

Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions


JorgeA

Recommended Posts

I have heard, from an old Digital Equipment Corporation acquaintance, that someone, somewhere is resurrecting VMS (the OS that used to run on Vax computers).

 

As you may know, the architecture for Windows NT was derived from VMS, which in turn was derived from earlier DEC operating systems.  Digital had its technical head screwed on straight.  It's a shame they fell by the wayside.

 

Re-developing VMS could actually lead to good things.  But again, they'll have to create a subsystem for running Windows applications pretty seamlessly.  The chance of that working well is greater than, say WINE, due to the underlying architectural similarities.

 

By the way, to this day I use a Digital LK250 keyboard.  The one I'm typing on right now is literally 30 years old,  and as wonderful to use as it was the day it was built.  No "Win" key and I rather like that.  :)

 

DigitalLK250Keyboard.jpg

 

I only mention this to prove that some things done in the past were actually good, and haven't been improved on yet.

 

-Noel

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I only mention this to prove that some things done in the past were actually good, and haven't been improved on yet.

Sure :yes:, guess WHY exactly the IBM M keyboard has so many fans? :unsure:

JFYI:

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/155361-good-mechanical-pc-keyboard-amigaatari-xl-feeling/

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/138238-keyboards/

...clickity, clickity click...

jaclaz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Paul Thurrott (at long last) comes around to some of the positions we've been expressing here for close to three years now:

 

(Re-)Embracing the PC

 

...[W]hen I think about the lost years of Windows 8—which I'll stretch back to 2011 to account for the pre-release cycle as well—I see the makings of a tragedy. As with most bad ideas, Windows 8 started out with good intentions, to take Microsoft's dominance in what we now think of as "desktop computing" and extend it into this mobile first, cloud first world.

 

[...]

 

...[T]he one thing that always nagged at me during the Windows 8 debacle was the central message that highly connected, highly mobile devices would replace PCs, that PCs would in effect become these simpler devices. Surely there is room in the heterogeneous personal computing world of the future for PCs and mobile devices. (Recall for a moment that Microsoft talked up something called "the PC-plus era" before it jumped into devices and services and then mobile first, cloud first.)

 

A year ago, I penned an editorial I had originally titled The Right Tool for the Job (the title was changed somewhat, dubiously, I think, for SEO reasons) in which I expressed my frustration with devices that try to do too much. A phablet, for example, can replace both a smart phone and a tablet, and it does so for some, I guess, but I find them too big for a phone and too small for a tablet. And a 2-in-1 type PC, like Microsoft Surface, can replace both a tablet and a laptop, though my experience with many of these devices suggests that they are basically only good at one thing. Surface Pro 3, for example, is a wonderful Ultrabook, and it's thin, light and powerful. But it's a lousy tablet, with a fan and a terrible app ecosystem.

 

As you will see if you read his blog post, Paul is still fascinated by the Windows Store and cloud foolishness, but he's slowly coming around on more and more points.

 

--JorgeA

 

 

P.S. A perceptive observer down in the comment section:

 

Win8 was MSFT's attempt to get the 1.5B Windows users familiar with the Windows Phone 8 interface ... thinking that familiarity would eventually drive them to get a WP8 phone. It didn't work and might end up killing Windows itself (and MSFT) unless Win10 can get users engaged again.

Edited by JorgeA
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who's "re-embracing" anything?  Most (and especially smart) people didn't "un-embrace" the PC.  I hate it when the writers imply everyone's all been swayed this way or that, "but now it's all different".

 

The frenzy of marketeers blabbering this or that in the hopes of gathering a fashion following has really got to go.

 

no-bs.jpg

 

-Noel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Computers are dead. They are just making the OS look fun for apparently "my" generation now. So we will feel as if it was something out of the 1990's ( super 80's AKA post 1970's commercial 80's ). They know everybody hates the **** thing. I feel sorry for all the programmers out their who will have to deal with this kinda stuff and say "Well the limit is XP". I hate Apple as well. Tiger was their best OS and nobody can make a simple driver for crap.

That is it. It is just greed and drivers. Computers look like and feel like garbage. I have to show you this review of a product I saw one day.The wires are ugly. the wireless is being pushed on to everybody.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Computers are dead. They are just making the OS look fun for apparently "my" generation now. So we will feel as if it was something out of the 1990's ( super 80's AKA post 1970's commercial 80's ). They know everybody hates the **** thing. I feel sorry for all the programmers out their who will have to deal with this kinda stuff and say "Well the limit is XP". I hate Apple as well. Tiger was their best OS and nobody can make a simple driver for crap.

That is it. It is just greed and drivers. Computers look like and feel like garbage. I have to show you this review of a product I saw one day.The wires are ugly. the wireless is being pushed on to everybody.

Thanks for yet another hateful pile of drivel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

A couple of months old, but I just heard about this and it fits right in with our "Microsoft follies" theme:

 

ESPN: NFL's highest-paid player describes Surface as an iPad knockoff

 

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler says, despite Microsoft's NFL sponsorship, that he has no idea who makes the Surface tablets or what they're called, ESPN reports.

[...]

The latest to offer his view of the NFL's tech sponsorship deals is Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. As reported by ESPN's Jon Greenberg, Cutler, the NFL's highest paid player in one calculation, used these words to describe his impression of the Surface Pro 2s that adorn game day: "Knockoff iPads."

 

:lol:  :lol:

 

This is what happens when you try to compete in a market whose very identity is defined by somebody else's brand name.

 

--JorgeA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

OT :w00t::ph34r:, but as often happens not that much ;), I previously posted my overall not-too-bad impression of use of a no-name, el-cheapo Android based tablet, that  a friend of mine bought for around  90 €:

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/155290-windows-8-deeper-impressions/page-235#entry1084400

 

 

I found out how similar devices:

http://www.forensicfocus.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=12579/

can now be found with Windows 8.x installed for *anything* between 70 and 100 £, i.e. something like 100 to 130 €, and possibly with much better underlying hardware...

 

Since basically the Android OS is free, the cost of hardware should be roughly comparable and there must be some margin of profit both for the seller and for the manufacturer, I wonder how much does MS get for one of these "OEM" licenses.  :unsure:

 

jaclaz

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The following piece might work well as a fitting coda to (at least psychologically) close out this thread. Just ignore the cheerleading (wishful thinking?) for Windows 10 at the end.

 

Windows 8 failed at nearly everything it set out to accomplish

 

Starting with the desktop, Microsoft tried to transform how consumers had used Windows since the days of Windows 95. The Start screen proved to be a disaster as a replacement to the Start menu for consumers, as it was jarring to jump from the desktop to the full-screen menu. The removal of the Start button left consumers asking "where is the Start button" in Windows 8 only to be met with a long explanation about how to properly use the Start screen.

 

[...]

 

The end result of Windows 8 is that two executives lost their jobs: Steven Sinofsky and Steve Ballmer. The two executives' run ended with Windows 8 and after seeing how badly the OS played out for the company, it's not too hard to understand why.

 

Many good points along the way.

 

The biggest surprise about this article may be the website where it was posted -- historicaly, Rah-Rah Central for Windows 8.

 

--JorgeA

Edited by JorgeA
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since basically the Android OS is free, the cost of hardware should be roughly comparable and there must be some margin of profit both for the seller and for the manufacturer, I wonder how much does MS get for one of these "OEM" licenses.   :unsure:

 

 

 

^^ I remember reading somewhere that Microsoft is offering these tablet licenses for free or almost free, figuring that they'll make it up on Windows Store app sales.

 

--JorgeA

 

Found answers:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/how-much-does-microsoft-make-from-pc-makers-with-windows-8-1/

 

The "small" under nine-inch tablets get this SKU for $10, minus the $10 "configuration discount," bringing the price to zero. And the 10.1 and smaller size tablets get the SKU for $25, minus the $10 "configuration discount," or $15 per copy.

 

 

http://www.windowscentral.com/windows-81-bing-costs-10-oems-10-configuration-discount

 

Microsoft technically charges OEMs $10 for each copy of Windows 8.1 with Bing for installation on new tablets under nine inches. However, newly revealed OEM pricing documents show that Microsoft is currently offering those same OEMs a $10 "configuration discount" for Windows 8.1 with Bing, effectively making it free.

 

 

And it seems like the only limitation is that the OEM has to set Bing as default search engine, though the user is free to change it to - say - let me think what would be a suitable search engine :unsure: - Google....

 

That would be IMHO interesting data, the average amount of time (which I believe could be expressed in minutes ;)) that the customer spends on Bing before switching to another search engine.

 

jaclaz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That would be IMHO interesting data, the average amount of time (which I believe could be expressed in minutes ;)) that the customer spends on Bing before switching to another search engine.

 

 

As long as you use decimals.

 

The only reason for whole numbers would be the struggle to find how to change the setting.

 

-Noel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...