Windows 10 - Deeper Impressions

[JorgeA]

Wow, thanks NoelC, I'm glad I asked.

 

I'll let that update sit there. Will be interesting to see if it magically graduates to "Important" status at some point. That might even tell us something about Microsoft's designs for Universal apps vs. Win32 applications.

 

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

The writer of the following post has it just about exactly right. Discussing the topic of forced Windows Updates with little or no usable information about them, he/she said:

 

This is a potential opportunity for Linux if they can get their act together. I think the market could be ripe for, say a $400 15 inch laptop with decent hardware, pre-installed with a consumer friendly distro where everything is tested and guaranteed to work, and where OS and driver support for all hardware is guaranteed for, say, 7 years. Make it so people can just buy it and it just works and they know it'll be supported and drivers won't break when the OS upgrades at a reasonable price. I think that is what more than else prevents penetration of Linux into the marketplace- that people can't just go buy an affordable machine with it already installed and running, and know that if the machine holds up for a decade, everything will still work. Sometimes I see expensive Linux laptops, but expensive Linux laptops have a limited customer base. Where's the more affordable systems? And where's an OS that'll step forward and say "You will absolutely be able to run the latest version of our OS with driver support for 7-10 years. We will buy these and test every alpha, beta, and release on them extensively."? Because you can essentially get that with Windows. I think if Linux could match it, they'd be in business... Too many times you can get a PC up and running with Linux, and then an update breaks it later, which for the technical crowd that doesn't mind doing some computer related work, may not be a deal killer, but it is for a regular average person, it'd be nice if specific models of PC had guaranteed support for all hardware and such for years to come.

 

IMO one of the greatest impediments to Linux becoming a major player in the desktop market is its developers' policy of issuing revamped new versions every six months. Even the "long" term support versions are for -- what, 3 years? Sorry, but the idea of reinstalling your OS twice a year just doesn't cut it. Life is too short. Recognize that operating systems are not the focus of most people's lives! Until Linux developers get their heads out of their geeky a$$e$ and decide to come up with something that people out there will find practical to use, Linux will remain but a guppy in the desktop lake.

 

Is the point to feel oneself superior for being an expert on an OS that few know -- let alone give a hoot -- about, or is the point to challenge the supremacy of Windows by offering a viable alternative to it? You can crow all you want about how Linux is technically better, but that's worthless until and unless you make it accessible to a wider audience.

 

The automobile was little more than the plaything of hobbyists until Henry Ford came around and made it more affordable and simpler to operate. No doubt a lot of these hobbyists sniffed at the technically inferior, standardized product Ford made, but their smug attitudes were quickly rendered irrelevant as the auto revolution took over and changed society.

 

We could use a Henry Ford of Linux.

 

--JorgeA

 

[Formfiller]

Freetards won't get their act together. I know that community very well. 

 

Its permeated with too much loon and arrogance. A deadly combination. Arrogance: They think their stuff is perfect. Loon: Too much bickering about useless crap like which license adheres more perfectly with Stallmanism and whether a stable ABI is a sin towards FOSSness.

 

Open source products start to shine when a no-nonsense business entity takes the helm, like Google did with Android. Otherwise they drown in their own loon-juice.

 

Unfortunately, Desktop Linux got Shuttleworth at the helm, and he's useless.

[Formfiller]

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-acknowledges-multiple-issues-with-windows-10-dvd-player-app-suggests-workarounds

 

NuMicrosoft can’t even make a DVD player anymore. At least not in “metro”.

-The video is stuttering or failing to play.

 

-When changing from one DVD to another, Windows DVD Player will not play the new DVD.

 

-Windows DVD Player does not detect that a disk was inserted.

 

-Inserting a DVD opens the Windows Store.

 

-Windows DVD Player will not play audio using Dolby Digital Plus 5.1.

 

-Playing a DVD to a second screen using HDMI sometimes fails.

 

 

 

The fantards are already excusing them with “who uses DVDs nowadays bla bla” as if that’s an excuse for super-buggy software below freetard-levels. And that thing isn’t even free, it costs 15$ per computer.

 

dvdplay.exe from Windows 98 far better than this crap. This speaks a lot about metro and NuMicrosoft.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Formfiller

[rn10950]

 

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-acknowledges-multiple-issues-with-windows-10-dvd-player-app-suggests-workarounds

 

NuMicrosoft can’t even make a DVD player anymore. At least not in “metro”.

-The video is stuttering or failing to play.

 

-When changing from one DVD to another, Windows DVD Player will not play the new DVD.

 

-Windows DVD Player does not detect that a disk was inserted.

 

-Inserting a DVD opens the Windows Store.

 

-Windows DVD Player will not play audio using Dolby Digital Plus 5.1.

 

-Playing a DVD to a second screen using HDMI sometimes fails.

 

 

 

The fantards are already excusing them with “who uses DVDs nowadays bla bla” as if that’s an excuse for super-buggy software below freetard-levels. And that thing isn’t even free, it costs 15$ per computer.

 

dvdplay.exe from Windows 98 far better than this crap. This speaks a lot about metro and NuMicrosoft.

 

 

If you buy (or get from a Windows 7 "upgrade") a DVD Player license, can you use WMP or another win32 DVD Player? (from MS, I know VLC works)

[NoelC]

 

dvdplay.exe from Windows 98 far better than this crap. This speaks a lot about metro and NuMicrosoft.

 

 

And that we're labeled haters for pointing out such obvious and correct things speaks a lot about society.

 

We're heading toward a future where all restaurants are Taco Bell.

 

 

-Noel

Edited September 27, 2015 by NoelC

[Formfiller]

 

 

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-acknowledges-multiple-issues-with-windows-10-dvd-player-app-suggests-workarounds

 

NuMicrosoft can’t even make a DVD player anymore. At least not in “metro”.

-The video is stuttering or failing to play.

 

-When changing from one DVD to another, Windows DVD Player will not play the new DVD.

 

-Windows DVD Player does not detect that a disk was inserted.

 

-Inserting a DVD opens the Windows Store.

 

-Windows DVD Player will not play audio using Dolby Digital Plus 5.1.

 

-Playing a DVD to a second screen using HDMI sometimes fails.

 

 

 

The fantards are already excusing them with “who uses DVDs nowadays bla bla” as if that’s an excuse for super-buggy software below freetard-levels. And that thing isn’t even free, it costs 15$ per computer.

 

dvdplay.exe from Windows 98 far better than this crap. This speaks a lot about metro and NuMicrosoft.

 

 

If you buy (or get from a Windows 7 "upgrade") a DVD Player license, can you use WMP or another win32 DVD Player? (from MS, I know VLC works)

 

 

No, all you get is this metro crapfest.

[Formfiller]

 

 

dvdplay.exe from Windows 98 far better than this crap. This speaks a lot about metro and NuMicrosoft.

 

 

And that we're labeled haters for pointing out such obvious and correct things speaks a lot about society.

 

We're heading toward a future where all restaurants are Taco Bell.

 

 

-Noel

 

 

 

Yeah. It's all about the redefinition of "troll" and "hater".

 

If you don't say anything nice, you're filed under one (or both) of these categories. And that's it.

 

Criticism distorts harmony and is double-plus-ungood. I swear, some of these *tards would rather live in a house made of cow-dung than filing a complaint about it.

 

It's funny to hear the complaints about "entitlement", because the current trend seems to be the complete opposite of it. And crap like Metro is the result.

[JorgeA]

Take a look at the OP in this thread:

 

I notice that, after switching from Windows 7 to Windows 10, the text in the Menu Bar, column headings and row headings in Planmaker has become somewhat blurry. The same goes for Textmaker. I suspect the fonts are Windows 10 System fonts but can't find any way of changing them. Anything I can do to restore the sharpness?

 

I've heard some complaints off and on about font rendering in Windows 10, but have never had a clear handle on what they're talking about. Could the above be an example of what people are complaining about?

 

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

 

Criticism distorts harmony and is double-plus-ungood. I swear, some of these *tards would rather live in a house made of cow-dung than filing a complaint about it.

 

What, are you afraid of change, eh??

 

What are you moaning and groaning about, anyway -- the cow-dung house is FREE!!!

 

--JorgeA

[NoelC]

Saw a rendition of "Cast Away" on commercial TV last night because it came on while my aged mother-in-law was watching TV and for whatever reason she wouldn't let me dig out the DVD and navigate the player up to the same spot (that would have taken me less time than even one set of commercials).

 

They cut so much of the film to make room for the 60% commercials that it had no more in it than an episode of Gilligan's Island.

 

My IQ is down 15 points today because of the experience.  Not that some of the commercials aren't entertaining in their own right.  One with dogs in a car stopped at an intersection and the "dad" dog watching while a French Poodle crosses the walkway...  The look on the "mom" dog, growling at "dad", was funny.

 

One time in the past, in movies they made all things you do on a computer make a noise, so operating system features were developed to make noises.  Now we just have an abundance of commercials with almost no substance, so...

 

-Noel

[xpclient]

I've heard some complaints off and on about font rendering in Windows 10, but have never had a clear handle on what they're talking about. Could the above be an example of what people are complaining about?

--JorgeA

As I understand, I think they're complaining loss of control in tuning how the text is rendered. In older versions of Windows components (Explorer shell, IE8, Office 2010), text is rendered by GDI and it has ClearType RGB antialiasing. Plus this is tweakable so people can completely turn off ClearType or adjust its contrast/crispness. Most people were satisfied with its rendering. Because ClearType utilizes the physical layout of the red, green and blue pigments of the LCD screen, it is sensitive to the orientation of the display. When tablets arrived, they found that for rotated displays, in which the subpixels are arranged vertically rather than horizontally, using ClearType on these display configurations will actually reduce the text quality. So they replaced it with DirectWrite grayscale antialiasing. In all Microsoft apps like IE9 onwards, Microsoft GarbEdge, Office 2013, and all of Metro, ClearType RGB antialiasing is gone. Plus, all user control over tuning the text is also removed because DirectWrite provides no end-user tunable parameters. Some people have trouble reading the text, some don't find it as easy to read, hence the complaints, while some actually prefer it. Many of them would have wanted RGB anti aliasing to remain at horizontal orientation but Microsoft as we all know doesn't believe in giving choices any more.

Edited September 28, 2015 by xpclient

[NoelC]

For what it's worth, even control over ClearType used in the basic GDI text rendering seems to be broken on my multi-monitor system.  I'm not sure that the ClearType Tuner does anything at all useful now.  The default RGB color rendering isn't bad for my central monitor but I'd prefer to turn the color off entirely for my side monitors, which are turned up sideways (IE windows, which render text without color are okay on them).

 

I think the last time I saw it work was with Windows 7 when I had only two monitors, both oriented the same way.

 

-Noel

[neville2]

Take a look at the OP in this thread:

 

I notice that, after switching from Windows 7 to Windows 10, the text in the Menu Bar, column headings and row headings in Planmaker has become somewhat blurry. The same goes for Textmaker. I suspect the fonts are Windows 10 System fonts but can't find any way of changing them. Anything I can do to restore the sharpness?

 

I've heard some complaints off and on about font rendering in Windows 10, but have never had a clear handle on what they're talking about. Could the above be an example of what people are complaining about?

 

--JorgeA

I was very disappointed with the blurry fonts in W10, a simple example being the fonts in Device Manager.

 

There is a fix, with explanation, at http://windows10_dpi_blurry_fix.xpexplorer.com/ It works very well, runs at Windows startup, does the job.

[JorgeA]

 

I've heard some complaints off and on about font rendering in Windows 10, but have never had a clear handle on what they're talking about. Could the above be an example of what people are complaining about?

--JorgeA

As I understand, I think they're complaining loss of control in tuning how the text is rendered. In older versions of Windows components (Explorer shell, IE8, Office 2010), text is rendered by GDI and it has ClearType RGB antialiasing. Plus this is tweakable so people can completely turn off ClearType or adjust its contrast/crispness. Most people were satisfied with its rendering. Because ClearType utilizes the physical layout of the red, green and blue pigments of the LCD screen, it is sensitive to the orientation of the display. When tablets arrived, they found that for rotated displays, in which the subpixels are arranged vertically rather than horizontally, using ClearType on these display configurations will actually reduce the text quality. So they replaced it with DirectWrite grayscale antialiasing. In all Microsoft apps like IE9 onwards, Microsoft GarbEdge, Office 2013, and all of Metro, ClearType RGB antialiasing is gone. Plus, all user control over tuning the text is also removed because DirectWrite provides no end-user tunable parameters. Some people have trouble reading the text, some don't find it as easy to read, hence the complaints, while some actually prefer it. Many of them would have wanted RGB anti aliasing to remain at horizontal orientation but Microsoft as we all know doesn't believe in giving choices any more.

 

 

@xpclient: Thanks a bunch for the details, that was very informative. Sounds like it was yet another degradation of the UX for the sake of mobile.

 

Microsoft GarbEdge

 

 Love the name. It fits well!

 

@NoelC: Thanks for the additional details. Evidently this has been in the works since Windows 8.

 

@neville2: I'm heading off to view the Device Manager in Win10 to see what you're saying for myself.

 

BTW, the link leads to the MSFN home page. Maybe it got changed?

 

--JorgeA