Now that Windows 8 has gone gold, Microsoft can move on to other things. With Windows 8, the most important of these is probably to make sure people know how to actually use it. Metro is filled to the brim with hard-to-discover features, but Microsoft has a plan. Will it be enough?
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Member since:2005-11-29
Member since:2006-12-05
Member since:2012-06-22
Are you going to run defense on mainstream news sites when this thing bombs? Are you going to defend Sinofsky and Ballmer when shareholders demand their heads?
Ballmer has already been named worst CEO by Forbes. But I'm sure Forbes is irrational as well. Everyone is irrational except for Ballmer, Sinofsky and Windows fanboys.
You should look in the mirror and ask if being an unpaid prostitute is really what you want in life.
Member since:2005-11-29
Also, most Windows sales are on new PCs, not existing ones. There is a regular churn as people upgrade their entire hardware and not just the OS it came with.
Of course, don't let me get in the way of armchair CEO ze_jerk face
One startling prerequisite for being a smartass know it all is actually, you know, having some insight.
Member since:2012-06-22
Oh I'm sorry, I forget about all the OEMs lining up to build Windows tablets. I'm sure they also secretly have a gamut of laptops with touchscreens. They're just keeping them hidden.
But don't worry, I'm sure their $600 surface tablet will sell like hotcakes in this economy. More expensive than the iPad with less than 5% of the game selection.
Everything Microsoft makes is totally awesome and will sell like crazy. Hang on while I take a call on my Kin while listening to my brown Zune.
Member since:2007-11-11
Actually last numbers i could find had it between 4%-6% but that included POS and kiosks so I'd guesstimate around 2.5%, still dumb as hell. I just wish i could find the link again (it might be WinSupersite) where a Win 8 apologist did a review and was "Now we'll show how great Win 8 works with older hardware! Here we have this touch enabled Athlon laptop and see how great it runs?" and i of course LOLed since even when THEY try to sell Win 8 couldn't do it without touch!
In the end though we ALL know what it is, okay? Its a Hail Mary pass. MSFT is down by 20 points, the clock is running out, so they are gonna give it one last throw to try to gain some ground before the clock runs out. They really have nothing to lose as while PCs will not being going anywhere, despite what all the "post PC" pundits blather on about, what HAS happened is they went from being replaced every other year because they would struggle to run the latest software to insanely overpowered. Hell is there anything Joe average or Bill businessman does that won't run just fine on that Phenom I triple desktop or Core Duo laptop? Nope which is why they ain't buying.
So even though I think metro is deep fried garbage I can see why MSFT is doing this, as the smartphone/tablet market is going through their own MHz wars where a year and a half old device won't run the latest apps and they ain't getting a cent of that. Don't think it'll work but I can see why.
Member since:2005-11-29
+1. I may disagree with some of what you said, but at least your response was coherent and thoughtful unlike the troll above.
It definitely is a power play, and I have my own reservations about its success, but looking at it purely from a PC point of view, a centralized app repository is a universally good thing.
I know other OSes have had it for a while, who cares, what's important is, it will help cut down malware and registry rot significantly.
Member since:2009-08-18
"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."
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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."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.
"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.
"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."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.
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!"
Member since:
2012-06-22
All in ones will be touch enabled, mice will be touch sensitive and laptop track pads will be optimized for Windows 8.
This is THE DUMBEST BUSINESS PLAN I HAVE SEEN IN YEARS.
Microsoft makes billions from selling upgrades to an established product and they have designed a UI around hardware that 99% of their install base doesn't own. Even worse is that they are pissing off their install base by artificially forcing a UI that the majority doesn't want.
I'm gonna go start a vegan restaurant in a part of Texas that is 99% meat eating. If anyone grumbles it's only because they want to eat meat. You want to buy stock in this company?
Goodbye Sinofsky, Goodbye Ballmer. Good riddance you two jackasses