Holy Cow - Windows 8. OMG

[rasczak]

I find the whole Windows 8 tablet feel somewhat obstructive but still usable. The same features applied to server 2012 however, is an absolute waste.

 

[vbuggy]

I find the whole Windows 8 tablet feel somewhat obstructive but still usable. The same features applied to server 2012 however, is an absolute waste.

Totally agree re Server 2012 - though not exactly an absolute waste but rather bordering on nonsensical given the usage mode. I'm wondering how best to deal with it right now since rackmount touchscreens seem to be a) why the hell do I have to buy one and b) thin on the ground, if not nonexistent. Just as I find W8 frustrating without a touchscreen but a revelation with one, the same goes for WS2012, which is - again, given the usage mode - cracked.

 

[vbuggy]

Ok, obviously I have no experience of using Win8 even though it's installed on my primary home desktop.

Whatever dude, you are obviously going to ignore anyone else's opinions unless they agree with you so just carry on. Everyone that doesn't agree with you is wrong.

That'll be enough hostility, you two. Behave yourselves in public or go get a room.
-ViRGE

Beyond this point we'll just end up going around in circles so I won't touch on this any further, but you are absolutely aware that whether you have the OS or not is not the issue.

 

[BladeVenom]

Windows: It's over

 

[sourceninja]

Totally agree re Server 2012 - though not exactly an absolute waste but rather bordering on nonsensical given the usage mode. I'm wondering how best to deal with it right now since rackmount touchscreens seem to be a) why the hell do I have to buy one and b) thin on the ground, if not nonexistent. Just as I find W8 frustrating without a touchscreen but a revelation with one, the same goes for WS2012, which is - again, given the usage mode - cracked.

I don't understand. I don't even use a mouse for any of the new interfaces. Opening tools is a few keyboard strokes away, cmd-x, cmd-f, or just cmd and type what you are looking for. Need the ctrl panel, well cmd-i, cmd-x, or cmd and type control panel. Need system properties? cmd-pause or cmd-i. Want to restart, cmd-d and alt-F4.

Good use of the keyboard and well written powershell scripts is more then enough and work. Keyboard shortcuts are even more important with servers where most sessions are going to be via RDP or some kind of IP KVM (I know I don't want to sit in a loud datacenter if I don't have to) where lag can make using a mouse a PITA.

 

[Ketchup]

Windows: It's over

Lost me at the second sentence. People in 1492 did not, in fact, believe the world was flat.

 

[PingSpike]

I've only used windows 8 a bit at work. Aside from not liking the new UI at all and wondering what was going on with some of the decisions made for it (shut down is under system settings?) it seems pretty half baked. Some of the old stuff seems to be in the metro UI and other stuff is stuck elsewhere. Even if I wanted what this OS is selling, it doesn't look like its actually done. You'd be better off skipping this edition entirely IMO and waiting for Blue or whatever they're going to call the next one.

I'll be honest, I hope this OS proves to be an evolutionary dead end. One, I have no desire to see MS make any traction with their app store because that's the first step to closing down the system. I have no desire to see Windows turn into the Xbox marketplace and know that the end of that road means OS subscription fees. Two, MS seems to be removing features from the OS in later versions and then selling it for the same price. I'm not sure why I would want to 'upgrade' to lose Windows Media Center.

Unfortunately, MS is in a position where can dictate (not totally, but to a large extent) what the market is going to get. They can shutoff the supply of Windows 7 which is the least upsetting way for users to avoid this. That said I'm skeptical that this change is really going to survive. Vista was largely ignored by business customers and it emerged in an environment where its predecessor was extremely old and made far less controversial UI changes by comparison.

 

[Arkaign]

Microsoft is in a panic, reading the tea leaves in phone/mobile sales. So what did they do? Try to force adoption through the desktop, which was/is their bread and butter.

I'm sorry, but there is no way in hell that Microsoft will ever supplant the combo of Google/Apple in mobile. Billions and billions of iOS and Android devices have been sold, most of the heavy users of these devices are on their 7th, 8th, or even 9th device of the type, the developers are very well established, and it's just a closed market.

Microsoft's best bet would have been to work hard on a really good mobile-only OS that had the capacity to run adapted versions of popular desktop apps. It still would have been a long shot at best even aiming at 5% of mobile market share. But no, they create this cumbersome mess of a hybrid OS that alienates desktop users, and is unappealing to iOS/Android users. It's the most needless and spectacular flameout I've perhaps ever seen from a major corporation. It's almost like McDonald's deciding that mexican food would be more profitable than sticking with burgers, so deciding to replace every hamburger with a taco filled with spam and dogfood between the familiar bun, and replacing the fries with hexagonal plantain and eggplant cinnamon chips. It simply does not make sense.

I'm not the only one that can see this either. Watch their stock price and profitability take needless damage as the numbers can't be fudged enough to shield them from the ire of their stockholders. 2013 will be the end of Ballmer. And I won't be sorry to see him get his golden parachute at all. Good riddance.

 

[Gunbuster]

most of the heavy users of these devices are on their 7th, 8th, or even 9th device of the type

This is where everyone in the industry should be afraid. With the phone subsidy screen being pulled back (Thanks T-Mobile) people are going to start noticing they are setup to shell out $500+ for new mobile devices on a semi-regular cycle and that is simply not a sustainable practice IMHO

 

[arsta]

No offense, but I wish the neophilia afflictees would drop the silly 'if you don't like it its because you don't like new things' line?

Sensible people don't lap up everything indiscriminately solely because its 'new' (or by Microsoft), they make a judgement about what's right for them on a case-by-case basis. And, shock-horror, different people might come to different conclusions.

Talking about the majority, not about everyone.

Another thread lists a way to get your windows 8 license to work for 7, can't find it ATM but I saw the post last week.

A lot of people hate(d) Vista and ME (vista was slow, ME constantly crashed) so that comment has less to do with people hating new things, more to do with bad OSs.

I didn't see anything in that post about hating XP and 7.

You remind me of a comedian who did a skit on "No offense." The premise was that he could say whatever rude thing came to his head, as long as he followed it with the words "No offense."

A lot of people hated 7 when it came out too.

What am I supposed to do then, be dishonest then? :hmm:

 

[smakme7757]

This is where everyone in the industry should be afraid. With the phone subsidy screen being pulled back (Thanks T-Mobile) people are going to start noticing they are setup to shell out $500+ for new mobile devices on a semi-regular cycle and that is simply not a sustainable practice IMHO

I'm not sure how people can be forced to upgrade. But those people that feel they have to upgrade are just being steered by marketing. It's always been that way since mobile phones became popular.

Usually it's worthwhile buying new after 3 to 4 years purely because of wear and tear. I don't see any compelling reason as to why I should upgrade before that time comes?

 

[BladeVenom]

Lost me at the second sentence. People in 1492 did not, in fact, believe the world was flat.

He's comparing people who think Windows 8 can be saved to those who still believed the earth was flat in 1491. I'm sure some people back then still believed it.

 

[Ketchup]

He's comparing people who think Windows 8 can be saved to those who still believed the earth was flat in 1491. I'm sure some people back then still believed it.

I know what he was trying to say, he just had a stupid way of going about it, so I didn't bother. It has been documented that people started learning that the earth wasn't flat around 400 B.C. If he was starting his article being that far off, I didn't feel like wasting my time with the rest.

Anyway, I am getting OT, I just wanted to expound on that a bit. I hope that Windows 8 is something that makes Microsoft go "well that didn't go as planned, let's redo it" instead of "well that didn't go as planned, NEED MORE BUTTONS!"

 

[ElFenix]

Anyway, I am getting OT, I just wanted to expound on that a bit. I hope that Windows 8 is something that makes Microsoft go "well that didn't go as planned, let's redo it" instead of "well that didn't go as planned, NEED MORE BUTTONS!"

usually people double down on stupid.

 

[WelshBloke]

Windows: It's over

I'm hoping that guy is pulling his information from a dark place as this article worries me a bit.
http://www.zdnet.com/no-windows-desktop-mode-no-7000013099/

 

[Bonesdad]

Talking about the majority, not about everyone.



A lot of people hated 7 when it came out too.

What am I supposed to do then, be dishonest then? :hmm:

They did? I musta missed that....

 

[wirednuts]

win7 w/ aero is excellence. they should have just added the metro interface on top of it. they shot themselves in the foot again by alienating their base.

 

[Sephire]

Start menu is coming back . . .

 

[Mem]

They did? I musta missed that....

You always get people moaning about something(remember people moaning about prefering the old XP style Start button to Vista/Win7 etc or remember the big XP via 2K thread which was in OS forums for those old timers like me),personally Win7 only offered speed increase for me over Vista,both were very stable/solid and served me well,I think Win8 offers a lot more over Win7 then Win7 ever did over Vista.

I will say I'm not bothered by the old Start button gone and actually think its time it did go,Win8 is a start of a new direction for Microsoft IMHO just like Win95 was a major change over Win3.11 etc..personally I hope they don't go backwards and stay with the old UI,I would not mind if they decided to completely revamp UI for Win9 /10 etc as long as they don't go back to the old UI(Win95 to Win7), that was long overdue for a change IMHO.


I'll say I still think old desktop PC UI days are numbered just like DOS had to go so will the old UI sooner or later,end of the day I've seen it all from the old DOS days to modern times(not forgetting Linux etc) so time to move forward and improve on the strengths and weakness of Win8 and not go back.

 

[vbuggy]

I don't understand. I don't even use a mouse for any of the new interfaces. Opening tools is a few keyboard strokes away, cmd-x, cmd-f, or just cmd and type what you are looking for. Need the ctrl panel, well cmd-i, cmd-x, or cmd and type control panel. Need system properties? cmd-pause or cmd-i. Want to restart, cmd-d and alt-F4.

Good use of the keyboard and well written powershell scripts is more then enough and work. Keyboard shortcuts are even more important with servers where most sessions are going to be via RDP or some kind of IP KVM (I know I don't want to sit in a loud datacenter if I don't have to) where lag can make using a mouse a PITA.

The problem is that the changes feel completely spurious on a server OS, because many of the onscreen GUI interaction feels too touch-first. If I wanted a pure-keyboard + PS experience I wouldn't install the GUI.

Srsly it's great with a touch panel plugged in - Works great, I feel completely comfortable with it thereafter. But why on a server OS, is the question.

 

[Sephire]

Start button is coming back.

 

[bshole]

I don't get it. How can their revenue still go up given all the hate for Windows 8? Why in the heck don't they just kill the desktop and force the "modern" gui down our throats? It doesn't appear that we really have a choice, we will buy whatever MS puts in front of us.

I wish there was an open standard for OSes and private companies could slap their own guis on the OS. It would be so much better for the end users. I feel like the end users are the ones getting the shaft in all of this. I live in abject terror of being saddled with a "modern" gui or a rented Os at sometime in the future.

Microsoft just released its fiscal Q3 2013 statement, with overall revenue of $20.49 billion up 18 percent year-over-year.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/18/4...nancials-windows-revenue-flat-cfo-peter-klein

 

[R0H1T]

I don't get it. How can their revenue still go up given all the hate for Windows 8? Why in the heck don't they just kill the desktop and force the "modern" gui down our throats? It doesn't appear that we really have a choice, we will buy whatever MS puts in front of us.

I wish there was an open standard for OSes and private companies could slap their own guis on the OS. It would be so much better for the end users. I feel like the end users are the ones getting the shaft in all of this. I live in abject terror of being saddled with a "modern" gui or a rented Os at sometime in the future.



http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/18/4...nancials-windows-revenue-flat-cfo-peter-klein

You'll find this quite fascinating indeed :sneaky:

 

[desura]

I think Windows 8 is a worthwhile upgrade over Windows 7. I actually like it a lot. I really don't like the old start menu.

 

[blankslate]

A lot of people hated 7 when it came out too.

They did? I musta missed that....

I must've missed it too.

Everyone who seemed knowledgeable about computers that I talked to who were using the beta of Win7 were of the opinion that it was the OS that Vista should've been

I didn't switch to Vista until SP 1 came out and by that time the driver issues from people like Nvidia were fixed so I didn't really have an issue with it.

I recently switched an old xp machine to Windows 7 and it is better overall than Vista.