"Microsoft today announced the global availability of its popular Windows operating system, Windows 8. Beginning Friday, Oct. 26, consumers and businesses worldwide will be able to experience all that Windows 8 has to offer, including a beautiful new user interface and a wide range of applications with the grand opening of the Windows Store." I'm still not clear on what '12:01 AM local time' means, but if it means it goes on sale in every country on 12:01 AM, I'll be buying in a bit over an hour!
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Member since:2005-11-09
Member since:2011-03-08
Not quite true, Metro is microsofts advance into the territory of touch applications so not really trying to fix what wasn't broken. what ISN'T good about metro is that it isn't at this point in time really well suited to large or multi-monitor desktop configurations. If you use it on a tablet, for which metro was intended, it's fine.
Member since:2007-08-27
I dispute the " If you use it on a tablet, for which metro was intended, it's fine." Admittedly, what I assumed after being taken aback by what a kludge it was on the desktop but after tinkering with 'Metro' I quickly found it half-baked and not ready. The few apps are really piss-poor and although I expect it to improve it really shouldn't be brought to market yet.
Luckily, it easy enough to install a classic start menu and just about ignore 'Metro' on the desktop. Still, it's really only a worthwhile service pack to 7 or if this is what a new OS is then for all the time and monies expended you wonder why they bothered. Not exactly a must have update...wouldn't even consider if it wasn't on 'offer'...suppose a cheap way to upgrade from XP but otherwise a damp squib.
Member since:2007-03-26
I have used Metro on a phone and it was horrid. I'd actually prefer Windows Mobile over anything with Metro on. However given a choice, I'd pick Android, iOS or even Palm/HP webOS over Win8.
Kudos to Redmond for investing in a unique user environment; it's just a pity it sucks.
Member since:2007-02-18
Other fixing of unbroken things throughout history:
Mr Ugg Caveman fixed the unbroken process of walking with the wheel.
I guess the lesson we're trying to teach is never to try different things we never tried before unless we know that it works because no one likes exploration and discovery.
The only people in the world that are divinely allowed to fix what isn't broken are people dressed in faggy black turtlenecks with anger issues.
Member since:2005-07-06
So, tell me. What does Modern UI fix on the desktop that needed fixing badly? What is the wow factor of merging (and oversizing of) icons with desktop widgets and displaying these full-screen in a grid? What is so much better about a view-switching, full-screen cluttered program launcher over a non-view-switching but slightly cluttered start menu?
Then we have the sudden fascination with hot corners. Unholy, undiscoverable pixels, that elevate the least exiting screen areas to god like status. Now we will be jamming our pointer into corners for all eternity. Don't give me the Superkey comeback. Typing to control your computer is CLI and CLI is bad; millions of Windows users said so.
Aesthetically we can't claim objectivity, but I don't like the simplistic flatness and the garish color schemes of Modern UI one bit. Minimalism done right can be eye pleasing. Personally, I lean more towards Baroque than Bauhaus, but I can appreciate a good, minimal, clean design, even if I'd never pursue it myself. Modern UI looks like it was whipped up by a three year old in MS Paint.
Member since:2005-11-09
Member since:2012-06-22
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
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This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
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Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.The day has finally come: Google has started shipping Google Glass to the lucky few early adopters. Now that it's shipping, Google has also unveiled a lot more about the API and the specifications of the device itself. While the company had already given out substantial details at earlier occasions, there are still a few surprises here.
Almost exactly three years ago, I wrote about why OSNews was no longer OSNews: the alternative operating system scene had died, and OSNews, too, had to go with the times and move towards reporting on a new wave of operating systems - mobile, and all the repercussions that the explosion of smartphones and tablets have caused. Still, I was wondering something today: why aren't we seeing alternative operating systems on mobile?
Member since:
2006-02-16
Microsoft decided to fix what isn't broken by introducing Metro.
Only true problem with original start menu was that explorer was too heavy because of all the legacy code hanging out in the background.