Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions

[JorgeA]

JorgeA ... interesting reading "You May Think You Have Nothing To Hide" ... the part "why it is never a good idea to talk to the police" makes me think of the old show "Hogan's Heroes" and Sgt Schultz and him always saying:

"I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!"

Sgt Schultz.jpg

Yeah, he had the right idea!

BTW, this is weird, but -- I don't remember at all attaching the map of silly state laws to my post.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thorium/thorium-core-cloud-desktop

ReactOS (the Windows clone project) wants to go big and they started a kickstart project for that (which is cool). Problem is, they market is as a "cloud OS" solution (which is dumb).

Genius move, d*******s. Instead coming up with a true Windows alternative (given NuMicrosoft and W8, a noble goal), you're converting it into yet another cloud thing?!

That sure is disappointing. If I'd heard that they launched a Kickstarter project for a Windows replacement that works exclusively from my PC, I'd be very tempted to send them money. (I always did hesitate to send it directly to them, not knowing if they'd ever do anything with it, but being on Kickstarter leaves them open to public exposure if they fail to deliver.)

--JorgeA

[jaclaz]

Though there are very good (and competent ) guys involved in the ReactOS project I historically (and personally) criticized their approach and "scope" (which BTW has been shifted several times in the long years of life of the project) .

It seems like now they have completely lost their minds .

Over the years they completely failed (for Free, BTW) to deliver anything more mature than PoC's, with very few exceptions, like the bootvid.dll:

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=19706

and a few mis-documented, often half-@§§ed, spinoffs.

I don't see how with 120,000 bucks (which may seem a lot but are actually very little) they can expect to deliver a working OS, let alone the convolutions/complications needed to completely transform the (scarce) ReactOS base into a Cloud or Cloud-like OS AND setup the "Thorium Core Cloud Services" AND do so within a timeline so short (delivery July 2014).

Their view, though IMHO completely wrong both in the goal (the senseless "Cloud-based same environment anywhere") and - much more than that - in the premise that ReactOS is currently a working OS with some "rough edge needs polishing" ) can be read in detail here:

http://www.reactos.org/node/757

There are only two possibilities (as I see it, and of course pure speculations):

1. the ReactOS "core" has already made dramatic progresses (that weren't released in the several months since 0.3.15) and thus the "Thorium" is an already tested OS (actually created through the - possible scarce - donations to the "Free" base), the needed improvements (and changes for "Cloud use") are already implemented and working in a restricted circles of developers and then the kickstarter project funding is only towards the creation of the "cloud services"
2. the good guys are - as they regularly were in the last several years - too much optimistic about the results they can achieve and about the time needed for development

I personally don't like any of those two hypothesis.

I will repeat how I hold most of the people taking part to and supporting the ReactOS project in the greatest esteem, but this new approach is IMHO appalling.

Apart from this, the only adjective that comes to my mind about what the various level backers will get in exchange for the funding is "ridiculous", it's really sad .

jaclaz

[JorgeA]

From reading around the ReactOS forum, I get the impression that their idea is to use this Thorium Core cloud OS to support (finance) development of the desktop ReactOS. With regard to future plans for ReactOS relative to Thorium, this is the most relevant thread I've found on their forum. Well worth reading for anybody who has the slightest interest in a compatible alternative to Windows.

Here's one thread participant whose thinking jibes with mine:

But I think group with the biggest enthusiasm potential for ReactOS was not activated up to now: the limited tech-savvy PC users who are unhappy with the direction where MS leads the PC/windows platform. And here I think a Kickstarter campaign could gain the attention of these PC folks. I predict, if one offers the PC people (PC users) an alternative to MS Windows, which preserves the qualities and adding more, like free like beer and freedom of the MS mis-lead (many are unhappy with Win8, the XP support end etc), many would say "yes!" in no time.

I'd be one of those people. I may end up sending a little $$$ their way after all.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

FWIW, H-P stock went up a little today (there was no trading yesterday as it was a holiday) in the wake of their return to selling Windows 7 PCs.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

This news item sent chills up my spine:

Ukraine’s Opposition Accuses Government of Provoking Violence

The government’s opponents pointed to three recent actions by the government that they said were intended to incite the more radical protesters and sow doubt in the minds of the moderates: new laws passed last week circumscribing the right for public assembly; the blocking of a protest march on a side street; and on Tuesday, sending cellphone messages to people standing in the vicinity of the fighting saying, “Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance.”

[emphasis added!!}

Some details:

The phrasing of the message, about “participating in a mass disturbance," echoed that in the new law making it a crime to participate in a protest deemed violent. The law took effect on Tuesday. And protesters were concerned that the government seemed to be using cutting edge technology from the advertising industry for pinpointing potential customers for political profiling.

Three cellphone companies in Ukraine — Kievstar, MTS and Life, — denied they had provided the location data to the government or sent the text messages, the Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper reported. Kievstar suggested it was instead the work of a “pirate” cellphone tower set up in the area.

So, what we've been predicting is already starting to happen. The obvious implication is that somehow the government can determine who's participating in the protest. Fortunately, in this case at least --

The messages appeared to have little effect. Three hours after they were sent, riot police officers pushed past barricades of burned buses at that location and were met by a crowd of protesters in ski masks and bike helmets, carrying sticks and ready to fight.

To those who would dismiss this with talk of tinfoil hats, there's a more appropriate image applicable to them:

(source)

--JorgeA

Edited January 21, 2014 by JorgeA

[jaclaz]

And that's not all, remember that this was the 1960's:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_Kitty

What could they have, NOW?

jaclaz

[bpalone]

On the Microsoft Front:

Just got a flyer in my inbox from a well known etailer, offering OEM 64bit Home Premium Windows 7 for $79.99 (U.S.).

With this and HP's move, plus the low level of reaction on the FAN sites, could this be an indication that Microsoft has admitted defeat quietly?

Just speculation on my part, but the timing seems a bit odd.

bpalone

Edited January 22, 2014 by bpalone

[Tripredacus]

This was supposed to be humorous, but I feel maybe for some people it isn't.

[jaclaz]

And the Lumia/Windows Phone has lost one user

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/6/5075188/so-glad-i-finally-ditched-windows-phone-for-the-iphone

My problem is that I've spent far too much money waiting for Windows Phone to improve. But why should I? Why should any of us live with gripes and complaints? I will consider returning to Windows Phone when it suits me, not continually wait for new features, apps or updates.

I now understand why everyone promotes the iPhone so much, and I feel like an id*** for having countless Windows Phones over the past three years (over 7 different models in fact), waiting for MS to get their act together.

Besides the starting post, the whole thread is worth reading IMHO.

jaclaz

[JorgeA]

This was supposed to be humorous, but I feel maybe for some people it isn't.

Well, I for one found it pretty funny...

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

A trio of reports/rumors/speculation about Windows 9:

From the rumor mill: Windows 9 RTM may be ready in October 2014

That would have the newest OS coming out just two years after the previous version -- quite a speedup over the usual 3-year cycle. For a possible reason, check out the next piece:

Windows 9 to not fundamentally change OS, be more like Windows 8.1 instead?

...Windows 8 as a brand has failed, so Microsoft has no other option but to label their next update Windows 9, regardless of what it features. It'll still be marketed as their next 'major' OS.

Still, if the rest of this report is accurate, we may be in for a disappointment. It'll depend largely on what that "Mini Start Menu" actually turns out to be.

Meanwhile, one of the improvements said to be coming in Win9 seems to have been moved up:

Modern apps can be pinned to taskbar in latest Windows 8.1 Update 1 builds

--JorgeA

EDIT: Mary Jo Foley reports doubts over that October 2014 date for Windows 9:

(By the way, for what it's worth, I'm hearing from my sources that WZor's claims this week that Threshold will be released to manufacturing in October 2014 are inaccurate. Maybe he's hearing about something like another Windows 8.1 Update.)

Edited January 22, 2014 by JorgeA

[JorgeA]

In privacy news:

Some Tor exit nodes attempt to spy on encrypted traffic, researchers find

Even though connections between Tor relays are encrypted, traffic is returned to its original state when it leaves the network. This means that if it's not using SSL or another secure transport protocol, Tor exit relays can inspect it. That's why the Tor Project recommends the use of HTTPS -- HTTP with SSL encryption -- with all websites that support it, even if using Tor.

However, their man-in-the-middle (MitM) position allows Tor exit relays to even tamper with HTTPS connections, using techniques like SSL stripping or impersonating the destination website using a rogue certificate.

The researchers built a scanning tool called exitmap that can identify exit relays behaving maliciously or abnormally and ran it on the Tor network. Over a four-month period they identified 25 bad relays that were subsequently reported to the Tor Project and blacklisted.

Fourteen relays engaged in man-in-the-middle HTTPS traffic sniffing using fake certificates, four relays did both HTTPS and SSH sniffing and one attempted only SSH sniffing. Two other relays used the sslstrip tool to force HTTPS connections over plain HTTP, one relay injected HTML code in HTTP traffic and three relays engaged in Internet censorship by blocking access to certain websites at the DNS level, intentionally or because of misconfiguration.

The relays engaged in HTTPS sniffing used self-signed certificates which lowered the attack's success rate because this triggered browser certificate errors that users would have had to manually dismiss. The Tor Project maintains and distributes a software package called the Tor Browser Bundle that contains a browser based on Mozilla Firefox and other components needed to access the Web over Tor.

Why Germany Feels Strongly About NSA Surveillance

You see, spying is kind of a sensitive topic in the reunified Germany. Before the reunification in 1990, citizens of Communist East Germany grappled with spying on one’s own friends, family and colleagues, under orders by the Stasi secret police.

Anke Domscheit-Berg, a German political activist and politician, aimed to make sure this week’s gathering of technology, arts and intellectual cognoscenti reflected on the darker, earlier era in pre-unified Germany. She recalled what it was like living under the Stasi. Now 46, she was a 21-year old art student when the Berlin Wall fell. Interviewed on stage at DLD by Jeff Jarvis, the American professor and commentator, she described how she was blackmailed by the Stasi into spying on fellow students — they implied that if she did not comply, her father, a government employee, would lose his job. She had come to their attention after writing a letter complaining about the reliability of deliveries from the East German post office.

It’s an example of how benign information can, in the wrong circumstances, be turned against you by a government. And as much as that government — indeed any government — might defend its actions as being for the benefit and protection of the people now, it’s not hard to imagine a moment in the future when the circumstances might change.

“Every information can be used against you, about your passions, about your fears, about relationships you have. This is something we must remember,” Domscheit-Berg said.

--JorgeA

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

HP Cites "Popular Demand" for Bringing Windows 7 Back ( Maximum PC 2014-01-20 )

HP brings Windows 7 back 'by popular demand' ( TechSpot 2014-01-21 )

HP Bringing Back Windows 7 'By Popular Demand' ( Tom's Hardware 2014-01-21 )

Coverage of the HP and Windows 7 news from three more sites. Interesting that a couple of fanboy shills with similar arguments drop by each and every thread where this story appears.

I saw this one mentioned over at TechBroil ...

Dear HP: Running From the Future Doesn't Help Anyone ( Gizmodo 2014-01-19 )

Except when they don't. It's one thing to let tech-savvy consumers have the option for a software downgrade if they see fit, but HP's choice to push Windows 7 on consumers by default is another entirely: it's bad, for everyone involved. No one ever came out ahead by fighting against the future.

[...]

Clinging to the old guard is just delaying the inevitable. It also ensures that everyone who's trying to run from the future is only going to be even more hopelessly behind when stalling isn't an option anymore.

[...]

So please HP, don't be an enabler. Or if you're going to retreat, at least pick a route that's not a total dead end.

Seeing how he hits all the common memes, this author should apply for a job at NeoWin ( if his self-photo is accurate he is about the right age for the NeoKids ). The replies are great as he gets skewered for his accidental or intentional shilling. One of his replies back is: "The issue isn't HP giving the people what they want; it's HP setting the whole thing up in a way that nudges undecideds toward the dying OS instead of the one that's going to survive, whether they've expressed any preference or not.". I find that funny because using the term "dying" is so misplaced. Maybe Windows 7 is on death-row slated for planned execution, in that case it would be a victim of murder. Normally that is "dying" but condemned. "Dying" is usually reserved for something about to die from inevitability, perhaps natural causes like old age, perhaps a self-inflicted wound like suicide. That word seems better applied to Windows 8 if you ask me. Or maybe a better description is stillborn.

Regardless, Microsoft Tiles is now about 4 years old since conception during the introduction of the iPad, which ironically was the age of Windows 7 just last year when it finally became clear that Microsoft was obsolescing it prematurely ( no more sales, apparently no more service packs ). Therefore isn't time for change? Shouldn't MetroTards now step aside and embrace the future?

Could Windows 9 Come This Year? ( Tom's Hardware 2014-01-20 )

Windows 9 could reach RTM as early as October ( NeoWin 2014-01-21 )

WZor, a well-known source for Microsoft software leaks, has tweeted in response to earlier speculation regarding the launch of Windows 9, saying that the development of the operating system could reach the release to manufacturing (RTM) stage by 21 October 2014.

Rather than waiting another year to untangle the Windows 8 catastrophe this would be a very logical step toward redemption. Therefore I don't believe it.

Bill Gates says he will never come back to Microsoft full time ( NeoWin 2014-01-21 )

Well if Ballmer is really going to exit the board ( as that story from yesterday has stated ) then billg could hardly function as CEO without someone on the board to rubber stamp him. We'll have to see how this all plays out but the signs point to a completely new NuMicrosoft in short order. One without its major shareholder anywhere to be found and the other just showing up to "help out part time". If you believe that Ballmer was the core of all the failures and that billg rubber stamped the mistakes then this must all be good news. However, we know from Softies that there is a terrible atmosphere among employees and a obese layer of middle management fat that sows discontent and stifles real innovation. This looks more like re-arranging the deck chairs.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Games for Windows Live will soon be dead (hooray!), here's a list of devs removing it from their games ( PC Gamer 2014-01-19 )

RIP Games for Windows Live, we hardly knew ye. On second thoughts, we knew ye pretty well, and we hated your malodorous guts - good riddance. Of course, with Microsoft's hated games service going the way of the passenger pigeon (I was going to say dodo, but a load of animals have sadly been made extinct since then), there's the little matter of what's going to happen to all the games infested with GFWL. Will they be playable after July 1st, when the service is being taken out to the woodshed to be shot in the head? It's still unclear, but it doesn't seem likely - unless developers take it upon themselves to patch their games.

So far, only Fallout 3, Bioshock 2, the Arkham games, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and Toy Soldiers have extracted the service, leaving a few dozen games with the sword of DRMacles hanging over their heads. Thanks to Joystiq, we now at least know which developers and games are aiming to follow suit.

[...]

The bad news is that the Dead Rising and Lost Planet games, Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter X Tekken, Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising and Red River, Iron Brigade, Fable 3, Gears of War, Halo 2, Blacklight: Tango Down and quite a lot of other games currently have "no plans" to remove GFWL

Hardcore gamers despised GFWL even more than the console movement. It's easy to understand, PC's with fast advanced multi-core processors, ever increasing GPU graphics and capabilities, hugely expanded local storage, motherboards with more I/O bandwidth and connections than the space shuttle, and instead of exploring these new frontiers the industry turned inward with DRM, stores, lock-in, clouds, restrictions. They literally did the exact opposite given the technology, turning inward because they fancied themselves as the next Big Media conglomerates parceling out products bit by bit. Hence articles and comments such as this. Now these remaining holdouts ( Dead Rising, Resident Evil, GoW, etc ) will have to decide where to go from here. Advice: don't p*ss off the real gamers anymore. You have a chance to make things right now.

Microsoft Xbox #Fail ( John Dvorak PC Magazine 2014-01-08 )

The Dvorak family Xbox 360 had just crapped out, making it the fourth machine that has completely failed and needed to be replaced. I'm not sure if this device is poorly designed, poorly manufactured, or just made from cheap parts, but maybe the kids have been hammering on it. I have computers running 24/7 that are better made than an Xbox 360.

So it was just before Christmas and I decided to buy another one of these turkeys just so we could get through the holiday season and that would be the end of itI hoped.

Apparently not thinking clearly, I was going to upgrade to the Xbox One when the kids all stopped me in my tracks. They said not to get one and to buy a new version of the Xbox 360 instead because the Xbox One was completely incompatible with their large hoard of 360 games.

[...]

Article from well over a month ago. As you can imagine, it spawned quite a comment war with all three factions on the battlefield - Playstation, Xbox, and everyone else ( PC Gamers, other platforms, non-aligned ).