Better title would be the end of the Windows Division at Microsoft. Certainly not the end of Windows - it's an enormous revenue generator for Microsoft. But I believe it shows that they believe the future lies within Azure, AI and Microsoft 365. This will probably help them focus.
The End of Windows
191–200 of 617 posts
Re: The End of Windows
#192Re: The End of Windows
#193Re: The End of Windows
#194I still can't wrap my head around everything that was wrongheaded about Windows 8, and I was working there for most of its dev cycle. One wonders what would have happened if they just sort of let Windows be Windows. I.e. if they had continued iterating on core stuff but left UI and general philosophy resembling Win7's trajectory and not tried to force people into WinRT/UWP/store. Even though Win10 attempted correctiv…
>immature and unproven technology
Wasn't old windows desktop technology the one proven to be bad? I mean I can say this because I like windows, but people have made fun of windows bugs and viruses for three decades now..
Granted, Windows Store still sucks ass years later its introduction, but building a new ecosystem with unified and modern tooling was probably a necessary step for them to make
Re: The End of Windows
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
The author didn't characterize his position accurately. He meant "Windows Server", not "Windows Desktop". Similar to how IBM sold off it's laptop business to Lenovo, the strategy is basically saying that "We're a business services company, there's no growth left in the end-user ecosystem anymore, because all of that growth is in mobile, which we suck at, so let's just double down on what we are growing at: cloud serv…
If that's true, yes, Windows Server has been irrelevant for some time. It wouldn't explain the remapping of Office, though.
Office is Office365 rebranded - which just means the lock-in is a monthly subscription instead of a license. The lock-in is further exploited because email is the cornerstone of any business productivity suite and it'll be hosted on Azure now (which is a huge lock-in to their ecosystem).
Re: The End of Windows
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep, the other day I was also pretty amazed how using VS Code alongside Rust, for writing a Gtk-rs application, managed to hang X forcing me to reboot the whole thing. With the open source AMD drivers.
One of the more amazing bits of technology in Windows is that which allows the graphics drivers to crash and restart without taking down the system. They've spent so long fighting buggy third parties that this is the solution.
One thing I love about debugging on Windows is that a program being debugged cannot grab the mouse and keyboard. On Linux, if you break a program that has a context menu open, you can say goodbye to your ability to interact with the PC.
Re: The End of Windows
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree with what you're saying and I think they need to keep Windows 10 around at least for a little while longer. Everyone hates when Microsoft changes something core and foundational about Windows and thus there has been little change in certain areas of the OS for the last two decades. That build up of cruft has become untenable and Microsoft attempted to address major pain points like the Control Panel with Wind…
> With each release of Windows 10 they introduce a bunch of new crappy apps that are completely forgettable AND they improve a core feature silently. And with every shift towards ads or trying to force a mobile-first UI on a desktop/laptop, they alienate users off of it. I switched to OS X as soon as I saw the writing on the wall with Win8 (and Wine on OS X got stable enough to play GTA San Andreas, tbh). Also, I won…
> And with every shift towards ads
You mean like Apple asking me to use iCloud every single time I unlock my Mac? Or every time I power on my test iOS devices? Or do you mean up I have to open the App Store to apply MacOS updates and click past the ads?
Windows 10 adds some shortcuts to the start menu during the bi-annual updates, they're annoying but once they're deleted they don't come back. They also have an add in Explorer for OneDrive that also goes away permanently when dismissed.
If I had to choose between MacOS/iOS Ads, and Windows 10 Ads, I'd choose Windows but ideally they'd both stop it.
> trying to force a mobile-first UI on a desktop/laptop
Windows 8.1 and 10 don't require UWP apps to be full screen. And actually the Settings App in Windows 10 is fantastic because it responsively adapts and is usable whatever size you make it.
MacOS on the other hand won't allow you to resize most settings windows and they're fixed to a size that's comparable with a 90s era Macintosh despite MacOS only working on machines with high resolution displays.
> I switched to OS X ... with Win8
So you've never used Windows 10 first hand then and you're just spouting things you've read to validate your decision?
Re: The End of Windows
#198Microsoft is squandering the decades of work humans put into drivers, an OS codebase that is unique and omnipresent, and if they can't see how useless and crap all their other services are without the conceptual core that powered their rise to sucess, then they will die. - windows domains - group policy - roaming profiles - drivers written for in-house equipment, ranging from machining to mass spectrometry, done over…
If they play their cards right, this will actually strengthen that part of the universe. Windows was led by people who wanted it to be a consumer operating system in every home. That lead them to do a bunch of stuff that was nonsensical to the business world (Win8 start screen on Windows Server? Seriously?) This move makes Windows subservient to people who actually understand those users.
Their continued dominance in business is contingent on them preparing their products for the next wave of workers. The generation that grew up typing papers out on their phones is going to have a different expectation of what productivity means. They’re going to have to scramble to meet it. Since Salesforce is not so quietly buying a modern productivity portfolio to take it from them.
Re: The End of Windows
#199I'll be interested to see how this bifurcation of the Windows team plays out. Windows 10 has been a mixed bag - some nice new features but also a lot of half baked buggy stuff. The evergreen nature of Windows 10 feels like the right move, but I'm worried they're going to let the OS stagnate. There's already a lot of low hanging fruit they could clean up with an update, but haven't. I'm not a huge fan of using my tabl…
Linux on desktop is pretty amazing. Haven't looked back in 3 years.
But it's not--I've worked with it for many years and Ubuntu and others are still ticky tack and annoying and you can't get decent apps the way you can on a Mac. It's fine for lightweight work, but for really hardcore development work it sucks.
Re: The End of Windows
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
I own a small business and I run my accounting with FreshBooks, which I can easily use via my phone, iPad, or MacBook. I haven't used windows for 18 years. I'm probably an outlier, but it can be done.
It can be done but usually going Windows is the path of least resistance for most non tech users.
I can agree that windows can be the path of least resistance because of legacy business softwares. But please don't even start to argue that windows is more easy to use than an iPad.