Jump to content

Windows 10 - First Impressions


dencorso

Recommended Posts

Why does it seem that MS spends most of their time working with the presentation aspect of their OS? I wouldn't care if it still looked like Windows 95 if they only took care of updating the underlying components. Since when did OS design become a fashion show?

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Of course, I would have been happy if they'd simply left the UI alone: we'd still have Aero Glass and a complete Start Menu.

 

But now that they've damaged it, IMO they need to spend some time fixing it, putting it back the way it was. I sit in front of a computer screen 8-12 hours a day, so for me it's important to look at something that's pleasing to the eye.

 

Funny thing is, when I first saw Windows 98 I did love the look. But that's because it was so much superior to the Windows 3.x look; then Vista came along, and that was so much superior to Win98's opaque windows and Start Menu. Now Microsoft is regressing to these opaque Windows 98 elements, and (even worse) to the 2D world of Windows 2.x.

 

This goes to show that not all change is improvement -- some "change" is simply the recycling of concepts that were abandoned for good reason.

 

--JorgeA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thing is, it's become PAINFULLY clear they're utterly allergic to "putting it back the way that it was" (not to mention quite possibly incapable), and so we are set up for disappointment.  Brace yourself.

 

Like you I sit in front of my systems all day every day.  The value of elegance - or put another way the value of not being made to feel like putting a fist through the monitor - is astronomical.

 

-Noel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The value of elegance - or put another way the value of not being made to feel like putting a fist through the monitor - is astronomical.

 

I know that you're making a serious statement... but this is such a powerful line, I had to laugh! :thumbup

 

--JorgeA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like you I sit in front of my systems all day every day.  The value of elegance - or put another way the value of not being made to feel like putting a fist through the monitor - is astronomical.

Yep :yes:

through-your-monitor.gif

 

:lol:

 

jaclaz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Windows 10 will be too much like windows 8 and will draw NOBODY away from 7 and maybe half the people from 8/8.1.  It will be a weak success at best.  XP will likely be #3 and possibly #2 still which means MS will have failed to kill off arguably the best MS OS they ever made.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You may be right, time will tell. One thing that's for sure is that the reaction to Windows 10 so far on this forum has been lukewarm, at best. And with good reason IMO.

 

--JorgeA

Edited by JorgeA
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the themes running through the Windows 8 Deeper Impressions thread was that the whole idea of having one single OS for all types of devices is misconceived. A PC is not a tablet -- they work differently and they neither need nor require the same interface.

 

It looks like people have started to realize this:

 

Tablets: Not mobile enough or productive enough for many professionals

 

I recently sat through an overview of the HP ElitePad 1000, which is billed as a total business solution. The ElitePad has a bunch of accessories—smart jackets, battery, adapters, covers, docking stations and other goodies to turn this tablet into an enterprise IT powerhouse.

 

Derek Everett, director of worldwide product management for commercial Windows tablets at HP, was explaining to me how "not one size fits all with tablets." ElitePad is certainly flexible. But I had to interrupt him with: "At what point do you say screw all of this and just buy a laptop?"

 

 

 This is beginning to show in the sales figures as tablets are losing their momentum:

 

Slowing tablet, smartphone sales spur tech vendor turbulence

 

A slowing market for tablets and smartphones is starting to cause ripples across the tech industry as buyers may be moving money back into PCs and memory vendors are taking a few hits.

 

At a high level, tech vendors are facing turbulence as smartphone growth is expected to slow this year and tablet sales stall. The whipping boy for these mobile devices---PCs---are expected to benefit.

 

The bottom line: Microsoft wrecked its star product (Windows) for the sake of a passing fad. (All right, not a momentary blip but one that will settle into some stable level of usage longterm, rather than taking over the whole computing world as so many predicted.) So, are they wise enough to undo the damage?

 

--JorgeA

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even a top-end laptop limits what you can do.  It's no multi-monitor desktop, which is where important things get designed.

 

It's as though people became so enamored with gadgets that they forgot to work altogether.

 

-Noel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's no multi-monitor desktop, which is where important things get designed.

Well, maybe for not-so-important things a single display is enough. :unsure:

 

I am able to count people I know with a multi-monitor setup (that actually *need* it) on the fingers of my left hand, I wouldn't rate this as something "common" or "widely used" (let alone "largely needed").

 

jaclaz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All this tablet talk is really about the interface. Whether that is what is on the screen, or the physical interface. Typing on a touchscreen is a disaster and a lot of these attachable keyboards (like netbooks) are not as good or are too small and uncomfortable to use.

But the reason why tablet adoption has failed to overtake notebooks is probably the same reason why PDAs were never able to. These are separate devices and need to be used for specific purposes and not to replace the notebooks. It isn't as easy as how the industry erased the calculator by putting it into every electronic device you can own.

Heck, even that is an example I can point to. I'd much rather use a real calculator (or the one on my desktop) than the one that is on my phone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heck, even that is an example I can point to. I'd much rather use a real calculator (or the one on my desktop) than the one that is on my phone.

And - just to show how old (and old fashioned ;)) I am - you will have to pry my HP 28C calculator from my cold hands... :w00t::ph34r:

The possibility (offered by HP and Olivetti - but not (say) Panasonic - calculators and by a good ol' IBM "M" keyboard) of pressing a key and KNOW for SURE that you have pressed it without looking at the screen makes to me a lot, really a LOT of difference.

 

Clickity, clickity, click....

 

jaclaz 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am able to count people I know with a multi-monitor setup (that actually *need* it) on the fingers of my left hand

 

:crazy:  If you are talking about people who actually work in high tech, that's a rather surprising statement as you seem to know a thing or two about that realm.  I can only guess you must be insinuating those people aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.  :whistle:

 

But in all seriousness this kind of thinking is no less than one of the basic reasons for the stagnation of technology in modern times!

 

For some strange reason, few folks are willing to admit that to do good work on cutting edge technology one needs to juggle an uncommon number of variables and details, and everything that helps with keeping track of all that adds to the quality and productivity of such pursuits.  Managers, who haven't a clue what their technical people do and who don't know the difference between a PC and a workstation tend to think like that (especially the "actually *need* it" part).

 

You do software engineering, right jaclaz?  You can't tell me that EVEN WITH all the automation modern IDEs provide, putting a header file (or several) up side by side with the source code you're working on wouldn't help you get things more right more quickly (I know it does because I do it).  Now consider having some API documents and some internet searches up also, and just try to tell me that wouldn't help even more.

 

I've wanted more desktop space to work since the very first computer I ever used with a display monitor (before that, and even after that for a time, I would spread fan-fold printouts around).

 

And yes, I agree wholeheartedly with Tripredacus above, the productivity-oriented system needs top quality INPUT subsystems as well (and I'm not talking about a speech recognition program coupled with an inexact network search).  Anyone willing to do without a top notch keyboard and mouse isn't working hard enough (or is working too hard, depending how you want to look at it).  If you're a graphics pro, arguably a good tablet is a necessity too. 

 

I have a personal cache of new old stock Digital keyboards, as I personally found the DEC LK250 to be the best keyboard man ever made.  There were IBM models that were pretty good as well, but I happen to prefer these.  How many pieces of literally 30 year old technology are still best in show (or even functioning) today?

 

DigitalLK250Keyboard.jpg

 

-Noel

 

Edit:  Better wording.

Edited by NoelC
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Real caclulators are immensely more practical than the ones included with computing devices. We keep several around the house, at least five that I can think of, for those times when we need to make quick calculations that are too complicated for our simple minds.

 

Compare that to turning on the tablet just to use the calculator function. No comparison. Even calling it up on the always-on smartphone is more of a hassle (and you'd have to go get the phone).

 

The calculator on a mobile device is better only when you're out of the house. There's something to be said for carrying a single device that can do a lot of different things (add up a restaurant bill, take pictures, make phone calls, etc.). OTOH if that one multi-function device breaks, then in effect every one of those various gadgets broke at the same time.

 

--JorgeA

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...