Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions

[JorgeA]

They would surely NEVER put a Win Phone billboard at a scrap yard???

heeheehee

Like it Charlotte

+1

Notice that they're advertising a "low light" smartphone camera... maybe to better record the sorts of transactions that take place late at night in that kind of location...

Genius ad placement.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Yes, the board has been having more and more problems lately.

Cheers and Regards

I've taken to hitting CTRL-A, CTRL-C as part of the proocedure, before clicking on the "Add Reply" button. I've lost enough posts that the extra clicks have become worthwhile.

And then sometimes you get the database error message, but when you click on "here" you find out that your submission made it through anyway.

--JorgeA

[bphlpt]

Navigation errors, such as the database ones, can sometimes be recovered just with a page refresh, or hitting your browser's back button, then trying the link again. CTRL-A, CTRL-C is extremely wise these days, but as you've seen, do a page refresh before you repost to see if the first one made it through after all.

Cheers and Regards

[ciHnoN]

[ciHnoN]

[JorgeA]

--JorgeA

[Formfiller]

No Apple envy at all:

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Acer: Windows RT has "no value" ( NeoWin 2013-05-05 )

Acer Chooses To Pass on the Current Version Windows RT: Acer planned to release a Windows RT tablet in Q2, but will hold off for now. ( Maximum PC 2013-05-05 )

More peeing into the MetroTard cornflakes. Especially since just yesterday there was a different article called: Acer still believes Microsoft can compete in the mobile space. Umm, maybe this next one will cheer them up ...

Qualcomm still 'excited' about Microsoft's Windows RT strategy ( NeoWin 2013-05-05 )

Nevermind. These guys make ARM chips. You would expect him to say that.

Rumor: Blu-ray Licensing May Delay Next Xbox ( Tom's Hardware 2013-05-05 )

Rumor: Blu-Ray license issues could delay next Xbox until 2014? ( NeoWin 2013-05-06 )

A rumor from MondoXbox has surfaced claiming that Microsoft's upcoming Xbox Infinity (720, Fusion etc) may be delayed over licensing issues with Blu-ray. Originally the console was expected to arrive during the 2013 holiday season, but this latest report suggests that Microsoft may miss this lucrative window, and instead launch the highly-anticipated console in the first half of 2014.

This rumor is not good news if true. That would be one enormous delay, absolutely huge. And if true. this will be yet another case of a horrendous management screwup, not getting a license in place, which pretty much mirrors several other massive screw-ups like the Metro naming fiasco and the EU browser ballot. This should be one interesting announcement coming up, especially if they decide not to say when it will actually be available for sale, because that will in turn feed the fire that they are being held back over the Blu-Ray thing.

Instagram reveals new logo inspired by Coca-Cola ( NeoWin 2013-05-05 )

( image source )

After reading this article and checking ot their handiwork, I think that headline should maybe read: inspired by Jack and Cokes, lots of them. The article describes the breathtaking design process, a straight clone of the Microsoft logo and reimagination fiascos, hiring hipster career underachievers who are completely unequipped to cope with anything outside their little bubble. I mean, check out the huge deal they make over little changes in the typeface. They are just full of themselves. By the way, I'm sorry, but the logo sucks That letter "I" is what you should have been working on, it is ambiguous and could easily be a sloppy "J". Sorry to nitpick but I had teachers that would have wrapped my hand with a ruler, and we weren't getting paid big bucks to scribble in the classroom. Humanity is doomed.

EDIT: added article

Edited May 7, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[jaclaz]

That letter "I" is what you should have been working on, it is ambiguous and could easily be a sloppy "J". Sorry to nitpick but I had teachers that would have wrapped my hand with a ruler, and we weren't getting paid big bucks to scribble in the classroom.

Sorry, but this time I have to disagree with you.

Should you need it, I am a (self-declared ) authority on the matter of "I" vs. "J" in handwriting as I greatly suffered (and still suffer from time to time ) from this particular issue.

According to official papers (here in Italy) a capital "I" in hand-writing is considered "J" when the lower part of the letter extends below the horizontal line of all small letters no less than half the amount the descending letters (like the "g" in the posted logo).

If it descends less than that, then it has to be considered a plain "I".

I cannot provide a reference but I have seen myself the instructions given to municipality clerks when the digitalizing of birth certificates took place.

Humanity is doomed.

Indeed.

jaclaz

[Formfiller]

A rumor from MondoXbox has surfaced claiming that Microsoft's upcoming Xbox Infinity (720, Fusion etc) may be delayed over licensing issues with Blu-ray. Originally the console was expected to arrive during the 2013 holiday season, but this latest report suggests that Microsoft may miss this lucrative window, and instead launch the highly-anticipated console in the first half of 2014.

This rumor is not good news if true. That would be one enormous delay, absolutely huge. And if true. this will be yet another case of a horrendous management screwup, not getting a license in place, which pretty much mirrors several other massive screw-ups like the Metro naming fiasco and the EU browser ballot. This should be one interesting announcement coming up, especially if they decide not to say when it will actually be available for sale, because that will in turn feed the fire that they are being held back over the Blu-Ray thing.

My God, NuMicrosoft can't even hire decent lawyers anymore. Incredible ineptness. NuMicrosoft would have been crushed in the 80s by Atari, Commodore and Digital Research.

Does Ballmer have photos where Bill Gates and the board are involved in a human-sacrifice ritual? If not, why isn't he fired already?

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Microsoft confirms exploit in Internet Explorer 8 ( NeoWin 2013-05-05 )

Internet Explorer 8 exploit blamed for attacks on several websites ( NeoWin 2013-05-06 )

Internet Explorer zero day exploit may have targeted nuclear workers ( TechSpot 2013-05-07 )

( Not related to this topic but I know some people here are using MSIE )

Anyway ~yawn~ another day another MSIE exploit. This one is only version 8 so far. It's still kinda funny to me how MicroZealots in the comments use this as a reason to insist we dump Windows XP and Vista and 7 in order to be able upgrade MSIE to the latest and greatest and most secure ever. I mean, that's a reason? How about simply dumping MSIE for everyday use instead of turning your entire computer inside out to accommodate their planned obsolescence. That's a much better plan. UPDATE: apparently already exploited according to that 2nd story. Oh, and naturally there are utterings from mentally challenged NeoWhiners, this one implying that users of Windows XP deserve the exploit ...

IE8 = XP

XP = Trash

Eating Trash = Being Stupid

Punishing the Stupid = Justice

ComScore: US smartphone OS market share nearly flat in Q1 2013 ( NeoWin 2013-05-05 )

ComScore's latest survey numbers show that in the three month period that ended in March 2013, Microsoft's smartphone market share was only three percent in the US. That's a rise of just 0.1 percent compared to the three month period ending in December 2012. Google is still on top with 52 percent but saw its percentage drop by 1.4 percent in March compared to December.

Ouch. I almost feel bad posting these stories now, and WP8 isn't the real villain anyway. But news is news, and this is more proof of the fool's errand Microsoft embarked on. Now if they had simply left Windows alone ( the server and "workstation" versions ) and spent that billion dollars advertising Windows Phone, maybe with a new name, they might have a bigger chunk of that market. Read the comments there and at the other few recent stories from NeoWin posted above. It's pretty much quiet as a funeral.

For anyone that wants to examine these numbers in more depth, I have managed to save the last 15 consecutive charts for this. Maybe Jaclaz or others might want to do some statistical analysis. Click the Spoiler for the 14 previous charts prior to that most recent one above ...

( ... pheww, just made it. Apparently 15 is the picture limit in a post. I'll have to glue them together or something going forward. )

Note that their methodology is a 3-month rolling average and they compare two consecutive 3-month blocks so each chart update is covering 6 months total. So for example, that most recent chart above uses October, November, December 2012 versus January, February, March 2013.

One thing that jumps right out is that in a year and a half, Microsoft has managed to lose about 2.2 % subscriber share. Yes, that is -2.2% trend since they let the previous phone stagnate and moved to Win8. Great job guys.

EDIT: added article(s)

Edited May 7, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[ciHnoN]

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/05/06/0425258/microsofts-new-coke-moment

"Remember New Coke? Twenty-eight years ago, Coca-Cola replaced the secret formula of its flagship brand, only to announce the return of the "classic" formula just 79 days later. Had it launched in 2013, Coke's Jay Moye suspects a social media backlash would have prompted it to reverse itself even sooner. In a timely follow-up, ZDNet's Steven Vaughan-Nichols points out that Microsoft is facing its own New Coke moment with Windows 8. 'Does Ballmer have the guts to admit he made a mistake and give users what they clearly want?' Vaughan-Nichols asks. 'While it's too late for Windows 8, Blue might give us back our Start button and an Aero-like interfaceWhile it's too late for Windows 8, Blue might give us back our Start button and an Aero-like interfacean Aero-like interfacean Aero-like interface. We don't know.'"

@Ballmer: GIVE ME AERO GLASS OR GO TO HELL M.F....!

[ciHnoN]

http://www.zdnet.com...led-7000012104/

How bad are Windows 8 sales? In April 2013's Net Applications numbers, Windows 8 barely crept up to 3.82-percent. That still leaves Windows 8 behind Microsoft's last operating system flop, Vista, after seven months in the market. Windows on tablets fared even worse with touch-screen-based Windows 8 devices and Windows RT devices coming in at 0.02-percent and 0.00-percent each. The last was not a typo. The Surface RT is now in the running for worst Microsoft launch ever.

Edited May 6, 2013 by ciHnoN

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Sorry, but this time I have to disagree with you.

Yeah but what if you find yourself strolling through the Canyon of the Crescent Moon and decide to get a drink of water ( ). In that case you'll need clarity with no ambiguity on the spelling of certain words using "I" and "J" ...

I think that for the sake of archaeologists everywhere we should make our "J"s with a hook on the bottom.

P.S. if you do some searching on that famous scene, it turns out that they now consider it a movie goof. In other words the hebrew version would have had an "I" as Sean Connery and Harrison Ford explained, but the versions that the Knights would have seen would still have had "J". So the walkway would presumably have not crumbled when he stepped on "J". Who knew!

[jaclaz]

For anyone that wants to examine these numbers in more depth, I have managed to save the last 15 consecutive charts for this. Maybe Jaclaz or others might want to do some statistical analysis. Click the Spoiler for the 14 previous charts prior to that most recent one above ...

Well, there is not even a need of doing a statistical analysis, a psychological/targeting one is good enough:

1. Are you cheap, a geek (or BOTH ) or simply cannot afford an Iphone BUT want a smartphone -> Get a Google/Android smartphone
   
2. Are you trendy, have lots of money or demented enough to replace the expense for many good meals with an awful amount of money -> get an Iphone
   
3. Are you "Corporate", do you think (wrongly) that your employees actually use the smartphone you bought them for work -> get a Blackberry
   
4. Are you for any reason affectionate to MS (because they have been good to you all these years) or, more simply, are completely demented -> Get a Windows Phone
   
5. Are you BOTH cheap and geek AND have no use for a last generation smartphone (or you are jaclaz ) -> keep your good ol' Symbian (or keep using a normal cellular phone)
   

The good news are that overall the amount of completely demented people is fairly little , the bad news is that, even considering that a small part of #1 and #2 are "Corporate" the people that actually "work" are a minority (a number of "Corporate" that migrated from #3 to #2 or #1 did that only to be able to play Ruzzle during meetings ).

Humanity is doomed.

jaclaz

P.S.:

@Charlotte

Yes, hooks and more than that correct spelling are a good thing, not only in hand-writing:

jaclaz

Edited May 6, 2013 by jaclaz