Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions

[JorgeA]

http://www.neowin.ne...81-will-be-free 8.1 will be free and ... drum roll... it will be downloaded from the Windows Store... and not Windows Update???? (I think)... in that case... WTF? ...and where is my aero glass?!

I'm afraid that (AFAIK) the only solution for those who must use Windows 8 is @bigmuscle's Aero Glass for Win8.

If anybody else is aware of other ways to bring Aero Glass back, please let us know!

--JorgeA

EDIT: typo!

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Dear Microsoft: Windows 8 Is Great ( Dvorak PC Magazine 2013-05-13 )

Dvorak tongue-in-cheek playing off the Microsoft executive complaining about recent press coverage.

I suspect we might see some good-cop bad-cop marketing now. This guy Frank X. Shaw, and the valley girls Tammi and Julie will be the good ones. Then they'll unleash Ballmer and we'll get something like this ...

EDIT: typo

Edited May 15, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[JorgeA]

Dell cuts price of Windows RT XPS 10 tablet to $300 ( NeoWin 2013-05-15 )

The price is just about right - for 6 months ago. Actually if it was maybe $250 and that was Surface RT it would be competitive. The Dell should probably be closer to $199 to compete now. But hey, this is still the ReTard Edition, so who really wants it anyway?

Apropos of this, I had just come across this article from a month ago:

Analysts say Windows RT tablets price drop means OS has failed

And there they had the price of the XPS 10 dropping from $499 to $449 (32GB model). I see that the Neowin article mentions that, but of course they ignore the elephant in the room that TechWorld points to:

Prices of popular products usually don't fall, but Windows RT devices were not in demand, and prices fell, analysts said.

Prices usually drop if products are made in volume, or if there is poor demand, said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates.

"I think you're seeing discounting based on user demand. I never thought RT was going to be that successful," Gold said.

The analysts acknowledged that Microsoft did little to spread awareness about Windows RT. People could not understand the purpose of the OS as it was incompatible with existing Windows applications, and it wasn't a complete operating system like Windows 8.

"RT will fade away over time," Gold said. "It's not a full Windows 8 experience. That said, why wouldn't I spend more and get a full Pro version of the device?"

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Dear Microsoft: Windows 8 Is Great ( Dvorak PC Magazine 2013-05-13 )

Love it! Dvorak really skewers the vacuous logic around the new UI's being "modern" and "the future":

Just look at the old-fashioned interface. Those faux shadows and cutesy icons symbolize what exactly? This is not the interface for today's modern user. We need representation. Something that reflects the "now." A symbol of the public—today's public.

And I swear I am not the author of the following in the comments section:

If Windows 8 simply knew if i had a touchscreen or not and acted appropriately, nobody would be complaining about it.

The fact is I don't have a touchscreen and don't know why I have to ever deal with a touchscreen interface. Is it so hard for the OS to know what hardware I have?

--JorgeA

[Formfiller]

Reading some of the comments on the Dvorak article is depressing.

I've read a lot of stupid articles relating to Windows 8 but i think this one took the cake.

[...]

Oh, well John likes Windows 8 now, so I think I will go buy two copies - one as a backup just in case I lose my primary copy of this GENIUS operating system.

On the other hand I can understand why the irony detector of lots of people is malfunctioning. Metrotards write this stuff (Dvorak letter) for real.

[jaclaz]

Well, the good guys at MS should also check a bit of the background of the Author of an article, even if the article is favourable, before citing it.

The MS blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2013/05/10/staying-centered.aspx

The Gizmodo article:

http://gizmodo.com/dear-microsoft-dont-bail-on-windows-8-499085690

another thingy by the Gizmodo article Author :

http://gizmodo.com/5875345/the-one-about-the-las-vegas-per-diem

an opinion on the same Author:

http://www.lonnypaul.com/gawkers-kyle-wagner-is-an-immature-as*****/2012/01/11/

Would you buy a used new car OS from this man?

jaclaz

[JorgeA]

If Microsoft has to reach this deep to find somebody to defend them, then they really must be in trouble.

An unrelated observation:

an opinion on the same Author:

http://www.lonnypaul.com/gawkers-kyle-wagner-is-an-immature-as*****/2012/01/11/

just because you CAN spend $50 on food, per day, while on assignment doesn’t mean you HAVE to spend it.

Sounds like our Author could take up working for the government...

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Reading some of the comments on the Dvorak article is depressing.

I've read a lot of stupid articles relating to Windows 8 but i think this one took the cake.

[...]

Oh, well John likes Windows 8 now, so I think I will go buy two copies - one as a backup just in case I lose my primary copy of this GENIUS operating system.

On the other hand I can understand why the irony detector of lots of people is malfunctioning. Metrotards write this stuff (Dvorak letter) for real.

When people start piling up the irony and sarcasm, as in the comments to Dvorak's post, it can get pretty hard to figure out what their actual views are. But if I'm reading them right, then while the writer of the first line you quoted above seems to be a Metrotard, the writer of the second one (who elsewhere was suggesting improvements to Win8) seems to have outsmarted himself in the attempt to be witty. Or maybe I'm the one who's not properly following the tangled thread...

Myself, I prefer simple straight sarcasm, as in the following:

I can't disagree with John here. The idea of getting rid of the window interface and going back to the forced full screen modes of DOS in the 80s is pure genius. It must have taken a lot of thought to come up with that idea. When would you ever want to see more than one window at once, anyway?

--JorgeA

Edited May 15, 2013 by JorgeA

[JorgeA]

While looking for something else, I came across the following paragraph in the book Windows 7 Inside Out (Microsoft Press, 2010, p. 7):

• Windows 7 Home Basic Although its predecessor was available worldwide as the entry-level edition of Windows Vista, Windows 7 Home Basic is available only in emerging markets and is not authorized for sale in the United States, Western Europe, and the rest of the so-called developed world. It lacks support for the Aero interface and does not include Windows Media Center.
  

[color added for emphasis]

A fuller discussion of this edition on p. 950 says, among other things, that

...It also lacks the MPEG-2 decoder required to play DVDs in Windows Media Player (you'll need to support that component separately)...

Help me out here. Where have I heard about a version of Windows that doesn't support Aero, can't play DVDs natively, and is lacking WMC?

So one may not be far wrong to say that Win8 is little more than Win7 HB with a few behind-the-scenes functional innovations and a tablet interface tacked on.

--JorgeA

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Western European PC market sees a 20% decline in Q1, Windows 8 blamed (again) ( NeoWin 2013-05-16 )

... and this does not make the MicroZealots very happy. "It was declining before Windows 8!" ... "But Apple declined too!" ... blah, blah, blah. The truth is not difficult to understand. Strike-1 - when you have a declining market because of saturation and customers chasing the mobile fad, and Strike-2 - you are still in a 4-year old horrible worldwide economy, well, what you don't do is give these fickle and hurting customers a reason to NOT buy the product. And that is exactly what Windows 8 was! You couldn't be more stuck on stupid than to sabotage the hopes of a recovery. The fanboys only see Strike-1 or Strike-2 and then their brains shut off before realizing Microsoft's huge mistake here. Straw meet camel.

Latest SkyDrive TV ad has destructive high-fiving robot ( NeoWin 2013-05-16 )

Unfortunately, the robot then proceeds to keep high-fiving, but instead of slapping the hand of a human, it takes its gesture out on the nearby laptop. Ouch. Obviously, the lesson here is that people should store their important PC files on SkyDrive so that they are protected from "High five, bro" actions.

Some of the commenters liken this to Robocop out of mere resemblance. But what about Terminator and SkyNet? That's what I first thought about. And smashing the laptop? What! Imagine Arnold's voice: "Give me your data here!". I'm not sure this association is what they should be going for.

Microsoft UK offering free Touch or Type Cover with Surface RT purchase ( NeoWin 2013-05-16 )

Ummm, exactly what we said here 6 months ago. That little trick they played using $499 without the cover was just to grab headlines as a stunning sub-$500 price. If it was $250 or $300 with everything it might have a chance, maybe, 6 months ago. Things have changed however and there is a tidal wave of low budget tablets so they missed the window of opportunity by a mile, as usual. Their last chance now would be to firesale it for $199. But it still might not work out. Great plan Ballmer, disrupt the computer universe for this!

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

While looking for something else, I came across the following paragraph in the book Windows 7 Inside Out (Microsoft Press, 2010, p. 7):

There is one even worse called Starter Edition. See the table here. The post-XP releases really were the penultimate example of MicroMarketing! Just unbelievable.

Start Menu Reviver brings a free, touch-friendly Menu to Windows 8 ( NeoWin 2013-05-16 )

( I see this was already mentioned on the Ways to get back the Start Menu/Button in Win8 thread ). Interesting look, almost like a Nokia phone. I think it is unsuitable as a Start Menu replacement though. Perhaps as a supplement it might work. You have the proper Start Button in the normal location for classic functions and something like this next to it for Metro app related stuff. Done! Dear Microsoft, see how simple it was? Well as long as Aero and the normal Windows 7 desktop features were in place ( shadows, chrome, 3D, rounded corners, etc ) and as long as Metro apps ran in a window. Hmmm, this is exactly what we mentioned way back in this very thread.

[Formfiller]

Don't get Skyped!

[sk*ai*ped]

Word Origin: Microsoft's invasion of privacy at Skype, while being insanely hypocritical about its competitors.

http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Skype-with-care-Microsoft-is-reading-everything-you-write-1862870.html

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

The world is currently drowning in Google news and announcements.

Google: 900 million Android activations, 48 billion app installs ( NeoWin 2013-05-15 )

Google: Chrome now has 750 million active users ( NeoWin 2013-05-15 )

Microsoft gets cease and desist letter from Google over YouTube Windows Phone app ( NeoWin 2013-05-15 )

Microsoft: We will put ads in Windows Phone YouTube app if we can use Google's APIs ( NeoWin 2013-05-15 )

If you got nothing better to do, check out the comments in these four threads. You will get to experience the real hate, the hate that has been drummed up by Microsoft in their MicroZealots and MetroTards against Google, hate that was formerly reserved for Apple alone.

Here is how it began ...

... the comments will verify that hate can be taught. They now have lots of angry sheep under their spell.

[Formfiller]

From Neowin:

http://www.neowin.net/news/start-menu-reviver-brings-a-free-touch-friendly-menu-to-windows-8#comment-2199973

As a software developer running on Win8, I find myself in these situations every now and then:

I have several programs on screen at once.

Visual studio. Several neatly-arranged browser windows. TortoiseSvn logs. Notepads.

As I read a primer article on the browser, I suddenly realise I need to start a few programs.

Calc, Cmd, and Computer Management.

Simple.

Start+2 for the command prompt. I've had that pinned.

But crap! I do not have calc or computer management pinned!

But I know what to type.

start->"calc"

start->"compmgmt.msc"

Simple stuff. I can type these without looking.

I've done it a thousand times on Win7.

Besides, I am focusing all my attention and concentration on a sentence on the web page right now.

And so I hit the Start key.

...

WHAM!!!!!!! The entire screen changes!!!!

A second ago, I had a whole bunch of desktop windows open.

Most web sites have white backgrounds.

Visual Studio 2012 is white (Update 2 breaks attached properties binding, so I had to revert. Also, the black theme is horrible).

Notepad is white.

My eyes have been trained on white for the past 2 hours.

And BAM! I'm suddenly forced into a non-white, full-screen start screen.

As I hit return, so did the desktop.

And now, I'm temporarily blinded as the entire screen goes white again.

That's for Calc.

Recovering from this visual shock, I realize I still need to start Computer Management.

But I don't want to risk going into an epileptic seizure by hitting Start again.

Then I remember I can start the computer management by right clicking where the start button used to be.

So I need the mouse.

Which I've NOT been using for quite some time now because I've been on the keyboard.

So I find myself looking for the mouse on the desk with my peripheral vision.

Sometimes if I'm unlucky, I need to actually take my eyes off the screen to find the mouse.

Then I need to take my hands OFF the keyboard, grab the mouse, move it to the bottom-left corner, right click, LOOK at the context menu, and finally locate and click on the Computer Management menuitem.

And that sentence on the web page that I was concentrating on a while ago? Lost.

My train of thought? Gone. Nada. Whoosh. In Cleveland.

But I suppose it's my own fault. I should have anticipated that I would need Calc and Computer Management today, and should have pinned em on the task bar when I first installed Win8, along with the 15 other essential programs that I've already got pinned.

That's one situation.

Next time, I'll tell you the tale of a task bar with a long list of pinned programs, as my colleagues and I embark on a quest to avoid the start screen

That tards propose some arcane solutions, like running the unsearchable run window (win+r) as a replacement for the start menu.

[Formfiller]

I wonder if the Neowin staff is all too happy about the mSheep?

The metrotards lash out even at Neowin if they make a break from insanely hyping W8 and WP.