Windows 8 -- even more dumbed-down UI?

[Lazybones]

I heard the opposite, that it was going to be delayed for now. I know MS has been honking about support for a while but I don't think there's been any demo?

I could be wrong, last time I was reading about it was the end of January.

That last thing I saw on the ARM version was very recent, but all it noted was that the ARM version currently does not support domain features. IE it is more like Home / Pro not Business / Enterprise versions

[Mr. Analog]

Ahh okay.

I was reading some of the reactions this morning, people have already found a way to modify the demo version to go straight to desktop (otherwise it's an extra click after boot apparently).

[Darren Dirt]

I heard the opposite, that it was going to be delayed for now. I know MS has been honking about support for a while but I don't think there's been any demo?

I could be wrong, last time I was reading about it was the end of January.

That last thing I saw on the ARM version was very recent, but all it noted was that the ARM version currently does not support domain features. IE it is more like Home / Pro not Business / Enterprise versions

What is ARM? And is there LEG and FOOT and HAND as well? (or is that gonna be in SP1?)

[Mr. Analog]

I heard the opposite, that it was going to be delayed for now. I know MS has been honking about support for a while but I don't think there's been any demo?

I could be wrong, last time I was reading about it was the end of January.

That last thing I saw on the ARM version was very recent, but all it noted was that the ARM version currently does not support domain features. IE it is more like Home / Pro not Business / Enterprise versions

What is ARM? And is there LEG and FOOT and HAND as well? (or is that gonna be in SP1?)

it's a CPU architecture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_architecture

Used in smaller / low power devices

[Darren Dirt]

23Jan2012: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/115003-microsoft-quietly-kills-off-the-desktop-pc
"death of the desktop pc"

29Feb2012: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/120497-windows-8-wont-kill-the-desktop-but-dont-worry-were-still-screwed
"non-death of the desktop pc"



so I'm confused, somebody tell me what to think plz. thx.

[Thorin]

so I'm confused, somebody tell me what to think plz. thx.

GIVE THORIN ALL YOUR MONEY

[Darren Dirt]

^ /Ballmervoice

[Mr. Analog]

Well if all else fails: throw a chair at it

[Tom]

Well if all else fails: throw a chair at it

And scream: MONKEYS! MONKEYS! MONKEYS!

*cough*

I mean: DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPER!

[Darren Dirt]

from http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1139063--technology-writers-give-microsoft-a-thumbs-up-as-windows-8-released-for-public-testing

The New York Times' David Pogue has this to say: "I?ve been using Windows 8 for about a week on a prototype Samsung tablet. And I have got to tell you, I?m excited. For two reasons. First, because Windows 8 works fluidly and briskly on touch screens; it?s a natural fit. And second, it attains that success through a design that?s all Microsoft?s own. This business of the tiles is not at all what Apple designed for iOS, or that Google copied in Android."

Yikes! Isn't Pogue like a demi-god in the Apple fanboi world? I recall his face in a LOT of "Joy Of Tech" comics. (Or maybe he's just a big fan, himself, of JoT.)

Either way, now I'm curious what he'll say (in comparison) about Mountain Lion.





On a personal note, in all honesty, having lists like these...

http://gizmodo.com/5889122/the-five-best-new-features-in-windows-8-consumer-preview
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/03/5-ways-windows-8/

...makes it a bit harder to just blindly laugh out of pure speculation at the new surely-gonna-fail product coming soon from M$...   (Just when I was starting to get used to using that new start menu replacement ("Search programs and files") thingie!) (But I doubt I will be doing an actual download of Windows 8 beta anytime soon)

[Mr. Analog]

On the plus side you can disable Metro, on the minus side pressing the start button starts Metro

A lot of support people are going to make a lot of money in the coming years...

[Darren Dirt]

On the plus side you can disable Metro, on the minus side pressing the start button starts Metro

Can you for sure disable it? For those of us who want to, you know, actually DO STUFF on our computers?
http://www.alphaila.com/articles/failure/windows-8-concept-dariod/

[Mr. Analog]

I don't know, I guess I'll have to try it first, it seems like one of those things that would suck, but I all too easily dismiss change before trying it.

For me Windows 7 kicks the butt so, it will take a LOT of convincing for me to switch.

[Darren Dirt]

Slate: "You?ll Hate Windows 8"

For a comprehensive look at the changes and their impact, I urge you to read ?Fear and Loathing and Windows 8,? a magisterial 7,400-word blog post by the tech entrepreneur Michael Mace. But if you?re short on time, let me describe one of several Windows 8 scenarios that had me going nuts. The other day I was trying to shut down a bill-paying system that I have with one bank so I could replace it with a new system at another bank. In order to do so, I needed to copy the information about each of my bills from the old bank to the new bank?which meant that I needed to get information from two different Web pages.

On Windows 7 or the Mac, I?d have done this by opening two Web pages in two adjacent windows. But in Metro, Windows 8?s primary interface, that?s not possible, because all apps take up the full screen. I could only have one bank site on the screen at a time, and I had to constantly switch between them. (It is possible to have multiple windows in Windows 8?s ?desktop? app, which is basically a way to mimic Windows 7 on the new OS. Microsoft, though, clearly expects the new interface to become the dominant way to use Windows, so I?ve tried to spend most of my time using it.)

The constant switching was annoying enough. But the effort it took to switch was even more trouble. If you?re using a touch-enabled computer, going from one open Web page to another requires swiping from the top of the screen to bring up icons of your open tabs, then tapping on the tab you want?a swipe and a tap, which feels like too much for a simple data entry task. But it?s even worse with a trackpad. To bring up the list of open tabs in Windows 8?s browser, you?ve got to hit the trackpad with two fingers, and then you have to switch back to one finger to choose the tab you want. This sounds easy, but if you?ve got to do it a half dozen times in a minute, the choreography becomes wearying. Things were especially difficult when I tried to mix selecting and copying text into the tab-switching routine. Then, for some reason, my fingers would frequently bring up the tab-switcher instead of selecting text or vice versa. The whole thing was such a mess that I eventually gave up and decided to switch my accounts using my Windows 7 desktop.

RIP, Windows for the consumer PC market...

[Lazybones]

Let's not forget that Apple is adding iOS elements to OSX and Ubuntu now has the new "Unity" search thingy.

All of the top three desktop OS are undergoing big change