Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions

[Formfiller]

This is not shaping up to be a very happy day over at NeoWin ...

Well, they had an orgasm over this one:

http://www.neowin.net/news/lenovo-records-record-profits-thinks-windows-8-will-drive-pc-demand

What's your take on this?

[Formfiller]

Starting on February 1st, the Windows 8 Pro upgrade edition will be available via download and at retail stores for $199.99. The regular Windows 8 upgrade edition will be priced at $119.99, while the Windows 8 Pro Pack will cost $99.99. Finally, the optional Windows 8 Media Center Pack, which can be downloaded for at the moment, will cost $9.99 starting on Friday.

We contacted Microsoft to ask exactly what time the prices would go up for the Windows 8 upgrades and were told it would happen at 2 am Pacific Time on Friday. However, it's not clear if that's worldwide or just for the US market.

Prices will go up worldwide.

Edited January 31, 2013 by Formfiller

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

http://www.neowin.net/news/lenovo-records-record-profits-thinks-windows-8-will-drive-pc-demand

What's your take on this?

I don't see the hard facts that they are bragging about. "Lenovo said it shipped 14.1 million PCs during the fourth quarter, up 7.6 percent. This is in contrast to the overall PC market, which saw shipments go down for the same quarter". This quote includes Windows 7 which is all that was available for fully 1/3 of that fourth quarter! And it was most likely still available in the latter 2/3 of that quarter as the primary OS or downgrades. One number that needs to be reported honestly is returns. Anecdotally I know of a dozen actual returns, and to tell the truth I can not recall that ever happening before because most people don't go through that kind of hassle unless they are really p***ed off. If your operating system is being returned, it is a failure and it is not really an operating system. The theme song for this article should probably be Rock And Roll

.

Prices will go up worldwide.

Exactly right. Microsoft and Windows 8 already spiked prices on everything, halting and reversing the decades long trend of increasing value and decreasing prices over time. Just wait until this 5x increase in cost gets passed along to the customer. I've called them the Destroying Windows Team for a while, but Destroying Computers may be more appropriate.

EDIT: added 2nd thing.

Edited January 31, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[Formfiller]

Surface Pro is the last strike for this "Nu Microsoft". I wonder what happens when it flops too?

Will Ballmer crack completely and join the even more fanatical Neowin cheerleaders? ("Win32 compatibility is slowing us down!")

Monkeys are most dangerous when they are injured and cornered. I hope sanity prevails though.

Edited January 31, 2013 by Formfiller

[Formfiller]

Neowin drowning in fanboi juice:

http://www.neowin.net/news/isuppli-microsoft-surface-rt-has-sold-680000-to-750000-units

>isuppli

>totally not biased down to their name

..

I agree. They are sooooooooooooo biased in everything they put out. I am an actual real buyer of market research data and I wouldn't go anywhere near iSuppli(cant).

You can spot their employees a mile away. They're the ones with marks all over them from people touching them with ten foot poles.

.

iSupply

Well we will be sure to take their expert research on a matter that they would have no idea about. The comments by the IDC guy are just complete waffle and it really is clear that these guys studied marketing or some other non-IT area and so really don't know what they are saying...

These same w*****s dare to talk about Steve Job's reality distortion field! They are not only drinking the kool-aid, they are p***ing it already! Sorry for the strong langauge, but it's just so sad. The Microsoft platform used to be the most fanboi-free just a few years ago, now it's THE asylum. I am so angry at these fanboi idiots.

Edited January 31, 2013 by Formfiller

[ciHnoN]

...

The Microsoft platform used to be the most fanboi-free just a few years ago, now it's THE asylum. I am so angry at these fanboi idiots.

Haha indeed! You know why? Because there was no need. Microsoft was very good. Now they are losing it and it's when the fanboys come out of the closet.

Come think of it, what CharlotteTheHarlot said... they are not destroying Windows but Personal Private Computers... you might actually be right about this! Maybe THAT is exactly their plan? To kill of PCs with crap like this so people move on to locked devices on their own and they can blame it on the people not wanting PCs anymore!

Seriously... it could be their plan! There are sinister forces in the background and they might just kill off Microsoft to achieve total lock down in "Computers". By kill off Microsoft, I mean of course, making Microsoft an IBM. Just for coporations. You don't see any IBM in homes anymore and perhaps in 10 years, you won't see any Microsoft Windows in homes anymore either.

Everything will be locked down "iDevices" or "Android" or crappolia or whatever... as long as it's locked down. Computers will be marginalized to a few, perhaps 2-4% of people who actually use their PCs for more than just using it as a TV and Facebook device.

Edited January 31, 2013 by ciHnoN

[Formfiller]

I have to give some rare kudos to the Neowin fanboys this time.

They acted pretty civil here:

http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1112185-msfn-forumite-calls-neowin-fanboy-central/

[ciHnoN]

I have to give some rare kudos to the Neowin fanboys this time.

They acted pretty civil here:

http://www.neowin.ne...fanboy-central/

hahahahahhahahahahahahaha.... fun thread! *loooooooooooooooooooooool*

EDIT: It's not them acting civil but I think since they KNOW deep down that we are correct here, because we use FACTS not OPINIONS, they cannot really come up with much once you actually go head to head with them.

Edited January 31, 2013 by ciHnoN

[ciHnoN]

btw for some reason, they think CharlotteTheHarlot is a girl. ...

[Tripredacus]

they put this Metro crap in Windows Server 2012 too. I tried it a bit... try hitting that start screen ONE PIXEL in a remote desktop window or vm console... you want to kill yourself after 2 tries... imagine handling 20 servers.

Its annoying initially, but it isn't horrible. I think the size is actually larger than 1 pixel tho. My only complaint is that it would be nice if there was an easy way to add items into that context menu, such as whatever roles are installed.

[Formfiller]

I find it very odd that there's no "last special offer day, grab W8 now!" ad on Microsoft.com right now. Amazon doesn't mention it too:

http://www.amazon.com/design-download-business-education-software/b/ref=sa_menu_sw?ie=UTF8&node=229534

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

I have to give some rare kudos to the Neowin fanboys this time.

They acted pretty civil here:

http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1112185-msfn-forumite-calls-neowin-fanboy-central/

Yep, I remember that thread at the time and would have mentioned it if it had kept going. The funny thing is that my sign-in date over there is older than every single poster on that thread except one. Children indeed. There are more than a few of us NeoWin longtimers that got fed up with the place. Here is an example why: Just a few weeks prior to that thread they had yet another embarrassing incident that we talked about here, see around this post. Also this. One of my theories why this happened to NeoWin is this one. They kind of get mentioned a lot around the blogosphere, and maybe that is the very point, any publicity is good publicity.

Anyway, the point they are always missing is that the site, NeoWin itself has radically changed, attracting legions of Generation Xbox consumer-type dumb-terminal users. They are the very target demographic that Windows MetroTard Edition is designed for. The layman. The n00b. What they cannot fathom is that no-one even wants to deprive them of their MetroTard operating system ( seriously, more power to you, have fun pushing around colored blocks! ). But being children they want to impose their toys on everyone else including techs, developers, programmers, even the office and enterprise. They draw no lines in the sand anywhere. They do not want under any circumstances a separate MetroTard version of Windows for sale that they must intentionally purchase letting the market decide ( actually its their parents' money, but I digress ). No, they want it imposed on everyone else. This is why I despise them. They are worse than any alleged Apple fanboy of the past. They are a plague and are Microsoft's absolute worst enemy, and they will run it into the ground. If you want Windows and Microsoft itself to survive, the mindless fanboys must be ignored.

P.S. I should mention this also. I used to refer to it as "Fanboy Central", but I was getting maybe a little too unprofessional about it. One of the mods politely pointed it out and I agreed. Check back in this thread around #1174 to see when. It wasn't too long after the mentioned NeoWin thread. The moderator was right, we look much better than them by keeping it civil ( as hard as it may be ).

[JorgeA]

iSuppli: Microsoft Surface RT has sold 680,000 to 750,000 units ( NeoWin 2013-01-31 )

CNet.com reports that, according to iSuppli, Microsoft shipped about 1.25 million units of the Surface RT tablet in the fourth quarter of 2012. Actual sales of the tablet, however, were estimated by iSuppli to be much lower, at around 680,000 to 750,000 units. iSuppli also claims that returns of the tablet were "very high" but numbers were not revealed.

A separate report from IDC on the entire tablet industry in the last quarter doesn't even show Microsoft in the top five in the list of companies that had the most shipments of tablets. The report claims that Microsoft shipped "just shy of 900,000 units into the channel." Apple had the most tablet shipments for the quarter at 22.9 million units, followed by Samsung with 7.9 million units and Amazon with 6 million tablets.

And the figures just keep getting smaller and smaller.

By now it should be fairly clear that Surface (and, by extension, Windows RT and the whole Windows 8 concept) fills no particular market need. Customers were not clamoring for this. This is a case where a product was conceived, designed, and launched in response to the manufacturer's -- not the market's -- goals and desires. And, more specifically, the goals and desires of a couple of people at the top of a bureaucracy, possibly in a panic over the success of a rival company in a different market segment that's already amply served.

Rather than playing to their strengths with a proven cash cow, they opted for a gruesome mutilation of the cow, and may even end up killing it.

--JorgeA

Edited January 31, 2013 by JorgeA

[Formfiller]

Anyway, the point they are always missing is that the site, NeoWin itself has radically changed, attracting legions of Generation Xbox consumer-type dumb-terminal users.

Well, they are also very censorship-happy. I posted about W8 there (ok, the language was maybe a bit colorful) and got ban-hammered promptly. In fact, Microsoft's own technet forum seemed to be more free than Neowin. (Maybe because it isn't directed towards the x-boxers)

No wonder that place is over-run with fanboys.

What do you think about this?:

http://www.nsaneforums.com/topic/148785-neowin-windows-8-fanboys-users-or-ms-employees-the-truth/

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Windows XP Upgrade To Windows 8 ? ... Houston We Have A Problem

Summary: If you are using Windows XP while purchasing Windows 8, you will not be able to create the ISO or FlashDrive media options!

Against my best advice I just had someone insist on buying the $39.99 Crazy Eddie deal. So I went through the entire process and kept track of the changes and other details. What an amateur operation.

The first thing you do is download the Upgrade Assistant, a standalone program that runs compatibility tests, makes a report, accepts credit cards, and handles the download. Yes, its icky, leaves a gigantic boatload of files in Application Data, Flash, Cookies, Crypto and Temporary Internet folders, and naturally does no cleanup. Anyway, after you complete it and buy the license it begins and completes the 2GB download.

If you are using Windows XP to place the order and download, the process will deviate from the instructions. ~sigh~ For example, from the FAQ ... "Can I create my own installation media for Windows 8? You can create your own installation media on a USB or DVD. During the installation process you are presented with an option to: “Install now, Install by creating media, or Install later from your desktop”. When you select “Install by creating media”, you will be presented with the options to create USB or DVD installation media.". Yeah, No. Not on Windows XP. Others noticed this little bug, read here. If you are on Windows XP the result is ...

Wonderful. See the half-hearted solution given by the Softie at that link ("Wednesday, October 31, 2012 4:05 PM"). You have to grab the files which are thankfully under a single folder structure called C:\ESD and either burn a disc or copy them to some other media. Screenshot ...

Still after all these years they cannot figure out the reduced breakage potential of downloading one single file versus 2.06 GB consisting of 1,577 Files and 540 Folders. That is the total under C:\ESD structure. What could possibly go wrong! Well, now we have potential problems at any of 3 possible points in time: (1) downloading, (2) burning to disc, and (3) execution from burned disc later. Needless to say, they still reserve clean updated images only for those subscribing to MSDN rather than all customers, and even those terms have changed for the worse lately. What a terrible state of affairs.

If anyone is interested, not counting the C:\ESD distribution, the Upgrade Assistant left another 947 new files scattered around the above mentioned folders. It also changes some logs ( WindowsUpdate, ReportingEvents, Wbem*, and more ) and very alarmingly modifies several Windows Update cabinets ( muv4wuredir, wuredir ) the consequence I will learn about later. All this nonsense to grab a simple Windows 8 offline installer to be used later on another computer! They have learned nothing at all in all these years.

EDIT: typo. Forgot to mention, only a couple of changes to the registry under BITS and DHCP, most likely harmless and transitory.

Edited February 2, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot