Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 13th Jul 2012 23:39 UTC
Ars Technica is running an interesting article about the Mail application on Windows 8. It's one of the first party Metro applications, and Ars' conclusion is that it's really, really not up to snuff - it can't even compare favourably to the mail application on Windows Phone. The sad thing is, however - this applies to virtually all Metro applications.
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RE: One of many "Achilles Heels" in the OS
by WereCatf on Mon 16th Jul 2012 19:00
in reply to "One of many "Achilles Heels" in the OS"
Member since:2006-02-15
poor multi-monitor support
Actually people are saying it's better than in Win7.
locked down hardware that makes it next to impossible to dual boot your system to another OS
On ARM-devices, yes. On x86-devices you can just disable SecureBoot or buy a motherboard without it at all.
a "walled garden" ecosystem that locks out "unapproved" software from even RUNNING
This applies only to Metro-applications, not regular ones.
and to top it all off you will probably have to buy new hardware.
Windows 8 will run just fine on anything that runs Windows 7.
RE: One of many "Achilles Heels" in the OS
by AnythingButVista on Mon 16th Jul 2012 19:49
in reply to "One of many "Achilles Heels" in the OS"
Member since:2008-08-27
You also have a completely redesigned UI that is NOT friendly to keyboard and mouse operation. (just try "swiping" with a mouse! It's ridiculous!)
Actually the Windows 8 UI is much friendlier to keyboard users than it is to mouse users.
Need the Charms via the keyboard? Press WindowsKey+C and they are immediately there -- you even have some hotkeys to jump to specific charms. Need to close an app via the keyboard? Press ALT+F4 and kiss it goodbye.
Need the Charms via the mouse? You have to hover on the right edge of the screen and wait for the darn things to appear. Need to close an application via the mouse? Move to the top edge of the screen and drag a non-existent border down. Seriously, Metro is like hell for a mouse user. Most of the time you'll be waiting for stuff keyboard and touchscreen users can access immediately.
The sad thing is Microsoft is proving us right. All of us who said Metro was a crappy tabletized environment that could not handle serious tasks and as meant for Twitter posters and weather checkers... Well, not even Microsoft could make their serious programs (Office, Registry Editor, Windows Explorer, etc.) as fully-featured Metro applications, which is why we are constantly jumping back and forth from Metro to Desktop and back to Metro.
Edited 2012-07-16 19:51 UTC
News
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 23:59 UTC
The Tizen Greek Community has some screenshots of a very recent build of Tizen running on a Samsung GT-i8800. It looks wholly unremarkable.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 22:33 UTC
Joint statement to The Next Web from Microsoft and Google: "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube's API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks. Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time." Good to know these children stopped acting like little pricks. Can we have full Google support in Windows 8 now, please?
Linked by Howard Fosdick on 05/24/13 21:41 UTC
Yahoo is acquiring Tumblr, the microblogging and social networking website, for $1.1 billion USD. Tumblr offers little revenue but lots of eyeballs if Yahoo can monetarize them. Now Yahoo is bidding for Hulu, the streaming video service. After years of ineffective responses while Google, Facebook, and others took large chunks of the online advertising market, Yahoo is fighting back. Can Yahoo reignite the momentum it had at the turn of the century? What do you think?
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 23:22 UTC
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:04 UTC
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:01 UTC
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 17:52 UTC
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 22:23 UTC
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2008-04-08
Poor quality "Metro" apps are just the beginning of the headaches Windows 8 users will encounter!
You also have a completely redesigned UI that is NOT friendly to keyboard and mouse operation. (just try "swiping" with a mouse! It's ridiculous!)
You also have the depreciation of the desktop environment (no start button), poor multi-monitor support, locked down hardware that makes it next to impossible to dual boot your system to another OS, a "walled garden" ecosystem that locks out "unapproved" software from even RUNNING, and to top it all off you will probably have to buy new hardware.
This is shaping up to be a failure of epic proportions! Good job Ballmer! You just ensured your own early retirement!