Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 17th Apr 2012 07:41 UTC
While I was fast asleep, Microsoft unveiled the SKUs for Windows 8 - and we're in for a surprise. Yes, after years and years of fully deserved mockery for releasing 343 versions of each Windows release, the company has seen the light and reduced everything to just four - of which only two, Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro, will be freely available in stores.
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Member since:2012-03-14
Member since:2009-05-27
I'm in much the same boat. I also quite liked Vista.
For all that has been said about Vista, imho, it's biggest problem was that the third party applications were not ready for it. Too many expected to run as an administrator, and having more access to the system that they really needed.
This was never a good thing, and it's just as well that Vista did sort it out. And it took an OS to come out and start to address the issues. Windows 7 would not have been well appreciated if Vista had not come before it to get the software makers to play ball.
Trouble with Windows 8, no-one is going to play ball and make systems that are 'optimized' for Metro. It is, frankly, a ridiculous way to interact with desktops. I don't want to reach across my desk to swipe the monitor, then return to a physical keyboard to type. Nor do I want to dance around like a lunatic in front of a Kinect camera.
RE[2]: I'm getting old
by modmans2ndcoming on Tue 17th Apr 2012 10:41
in reply to "RE: I'm getting old"
Member since:2005-11-09
RE[2]: I'm getting old
by lucas_maximus on Tue 17th Apr 2012 11:15
in reply to "RE: I'm getting old"
Member since:2009-08-18
Member since:2005-08-11
RE[2]: I'm getting old
by Ultimatebadass on Tue 17th Apr 2012 18:08
in reply to "RE: I'm getting old"
Member since:2006-01-08
Yeah, I know.
I tried both previews and that "except for the missing start menu" thing is a huge dealbreaker for me. They could've left some kind of setting to turn it on or off but they removed the thing completely which suggests they are treating the "legacy" desktop as a 2nd class citizen.
Member since:2006-02-15
You know the desktop is still there, right? and that it works pretty much the same as in Windows 7, except for the missing start menu. If you don't, please do some research, maybe try out the Consumer Preview.
The issue as I see it is that eventually more and more applications will be ported over to the Metro-interface and will scrap the regular desktop-interface. Similarly, I fully expect some companies to be stupid enough to sport a desktop-interface for legacy Windows and force Metro-interface on when being run on Windows 8. The more of the applications you need to run use Metro-interface the more jarring the constant switching between Metro and no-Metro will become, severely reducing producitivity.
As for me, personally, I *could* use Windows 8 as it isn't missing any actual feature I need. But I don't want to use it I squarely use desktop-style applications, I have absolutely no use whatsoever for the new Start-menu, and I really hate the idea of everything being fullscreen on a 24" display.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 23:22 UTC
"Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:04 UTC
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:01 UTC
"In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 17:52 UTC
"The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 22:23 UTC
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 13:38 UTC
"The Verge has learned that HTC's Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC's overall product strategy, which makes the departure especially notable on the heels of the global launch of the make-or-break One. It's not just Kodera. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession." I really hope HTC pulls it together.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 13:30 UTC, submitted by JRepin
"It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2013. This is a snapshot of Debian 'sid' at the time of the Debian 'wheezy' release (May 2013), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an official Debian GNU/Hurd port release." Important note: 75% of Debian packages are supported bu Debian GNU/Hurd. Impressive.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 22:06 UTC
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:45 UTC
"There's a disconnect between how Apple CEO Tim Cook sees his company's tax strategies and how some members of the US Senate view it. That became clearer than ever today after Cook and two other Apple executives testified before Congress, explaining why they're holding most of their international income in Irish subsidiaries like Apple Operations International, which declare no tax residency anywhere in the world. AOI hasn't filed a tax return anywhere in the world for the last five years, yet it earned $30 billion in income from 2009 to 2012, according to a Senate report released yesterday." Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's just. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many more - these companies might not be breaking any laws, but it's obvious to anyone that what they are doing is scummy.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 15:53 UTC
The new WebKit Opera for Android has been released. "Opera 14 for Android is built on top of Chromium 26, with a total overhaul of the UI in native code, making it fit well with the latest Android design guidelines. Go get the build from Google Play or point your browser to m.opera.com, and give it a spin!"More News »
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Member since:
2006-01-08
This is probably the first windows release since I started using a PC that I will not upgrade to, at least not until they give me back my destkop in SP1 or something. And this is coming from a guy who LIKED vista when it came out...