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Microsoft announces Windows 11

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Re: Microsoft announces Windows 11

#351
post #329

Every time this happens someone says fuck it and installs Linux. After two weeks some of them come back, but the Linux market share grows. I want an OS that stays current on security patches, attempts to be as unobtrusive as possible, allows for Desktop Environment customization but has sane defaults. I don't want special integrations. The OS should follow single responsibility and defer special functionality to app…

I did this when Vista came out. I said fuck it and installed Ubuntu, I had enough of Microsoft bullshit. Then Ubuntu upgraded and moved all window icons to the left side and rearranged them awkwardly. On the next update, they upgraded the sound subsystem and I was without sound until I bought my next PC. Another update came and computer went to sleep when watching movies, so I had to move the mouse every minute to fi…

My most recent attempt, last year, ended when xorg and Wayland both crashed, reliably, at least once per day, on two different distros (Fedora, Ubuntu) when just using the desktop normally—not even running games or anything like that. Nope. Not accepting that shit in the year 2021. 2000-me would have been like, OK, cool, Windows does that too. Not anymore.

... and that's just for my screwing-around desktop machine. Work goes on macOS. I wish I had other decent options, but it's the only game in town. No time or patience for messing with my OS, these days.

Re: Microsoft announces Windows 11

#352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doc is equivalent to the apps locked to your taskbar.. not the start button.

OP is arguing that the Apple menu is used to start and switch applications, not the Dock. What? How is the Apple menu equivalent to Start in modern macOS? Do you click the Apple menu to start your apps? Or even switch to them?

I wasn't talking about the apple menu, though it is more similar in function to the start menu than the doc is... However, start does a whole bunch of things, so it's not really the same. Nobody switches apps using the start menu (that's what the taskbar is for), but people will search for apps (and files) that aren't on their taskbar already. I don't think people do that with the apple menu, I don't even know if you can do either of those things there on modern MacOS (they were talking about older versions in the above comment). I believe people open the launchpad for apps not on their doc. It's been a while since I have used MacOS, so please correct me if I am wrong.

> the Dock _is_ equivalent to the Start Menu

This is what I was referencing in my previous comment. This is not accurate. They are not even similar. The doc, however, is very similar to the taskbar. The doc and taskbar are used almost exactly the same way by users. I'd say they are effectively equivalent. That's all my first comment was trying to say.

The start button is used for many of the things the apple menu can do, but also for searching for things, from apps to files. I am not sure you can easily compare it to one thing on MacOS, as it seems like those functions are put into multiple different places, many of which are discrete apps _on_ the doc... which may have been what you meant. The above user was saying the Apple menu _was_ the same as the start button is now, but acknowledged that those functions have been broken apart since that time.

edit: updated comment

Re: Microsoft announces Windows 11

#353
post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - Teams integrated into Windows Is this just asking for antitrust? I mean, Apple can get away with sherlocking their opposition but they don't have a monopoly on desktop OS.

I was going to ask, didn't they get sued in the 90's for something similar?

history repeats itself.

Re: Microsoft announces Windows 11

#354
post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- Windows have rounded corners - Teams integrated into Windows - A new widgets fly out for weather, news, etc. (appears this will require you login with a Microsoft Account) - A Microsoft account and internet connectivity is required for Windows 11 Home setup No thank you

> - Teams integrated into Windows Is this just asking for antitrust? I mean, Apple can get away with sherlocking their opposition but they don't have a monopoly on desktop OS.

Gonna wait for Windows 11N

Re: Microsoft announces Windows 11

#355
post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Why am I paying a company more money to fix a problem they caused? I think I’ll just get a Mac.

If its anything like windows 10 was you could just never activate the license and nothing practically would be different, unless you wanted desktop backgrounds I believe. I barely notice the watermark anyhow telling me to activate windows for the last few years.

Or just get a Windows keygen/updater like KMSpico.

Re: Microsoft announces Windows 11

#356

Anyone has a good guess why Microsoft needed to bump the version? All of these updates seems something that can be easily updated to Windows 10 in several or one half year update. Is this something related to it's corporate clients or licensing services? Really can't understand why a need to create a new version with so much hype, when they've announced in the past that W10 will be the last Windows version.

I am certain that they said 10 was to be the final version of Windows. On the strength of that I decided I didn't want 10 so my only option was to jump ship (to Linux). I wonder how many others did? Saying that I doubt I would want 11 either, but that's academic now.

Re: Microsoft announces Windows 11

#357
post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, which is more reason to move to vertical taskbars instead of filling far too many pixels with useless space. The specification note that 11 won't support vertical taskbars is infuriating as someone with an ultrawide. I don't need 1000s of pixels of unusable taskbar white space. Centering it is smart if I did want to waste all that space, but oof I do not want to waste that much space.

I just can't understand how there can be so much argument about the position of a task bar. Why can't Windows just allow people to do what they like with it? I know plenty of people who have their taskbar vertically, surely it can't be hard to have a taskbar that can go vertically, horizontally, to the edges out centred. I will carry on using my dual bar layout on MATE because I didn't want to change to gnome 3 or un…

Moving somewhat further off-topic, as a fan of vertical taskbars I also disliked Unity's take on it. In my own testing (going way back to Windows XP era), I found I much preferred right-hand side taskbar. As a left-to-right language user, when applications are full screened there are usually far more important application controls on the left hand side than the right. The obvious one being File menus on the immediate left edge, but that's not the only example. Unity tried to fix the File menu issue by doing the "merged global menu" thing similar to macOS, but it still didn't account for most of the rest of application stuff on the left hand edge.

But I also realizes that not everyone agrees with my "right-hand" taskbar preference. I agree that allowing customization is probably the best bet. It's odd to me that when one of the messages in the Windows 11 announcement was that they wanted it to be more personalizable that according to their notes they are removing an important personalization in taskbar placement. (Which has been supported to varying degrees of success all the way back to Windows 95 at this point.)

Re: Microsoft announces Windows 11

#358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a workaround for now: just press Alt-F4 See https://www.neowin.net/news/windows-11-home-requires-interne...

Probably intentional. They'll remove this in Windows 12.

Microsoft is continuing their long tradition of screwing up every other version of Windows.

98SE - ok, ME - bad, XP - good, Vista - bad, 7 - good, 8 - bad, 10 - good, 11 - can safely skip it and wait for 12

Re: Microsoft announces Windows 11

#359
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s yet another effort by Microsoft to make Windows relevant to touch form factors at the expense of productivity, desktop, and keyboard/mouse/touchpad. It’s astonishing how little (close to zero) human factors research is done, much less sought out or taken into consideration by PM or engineering on the software side of Microsoft.

Windows 8 had a ton (!) of smart human factors research done, but people gut reacted to all the individually beneficially changes horribly when released all at once (rather than taking some time to try adapting). I almost wonder if Microsoft learned the exact wrong answer from that and decided to ignore their own research more as they stripped out the beneficial improvements from 8 into 10.

I don't doubt they did research but I don't think they were individually beneficial changes. Nielsen Norman critiqued Windows 8 UX changes and found them fundamentally lacking [1]. If this is the outcome of their internal research, maybe they need better research.

[1] https://www.nngroup.com/articles/windows-8-disappointing-usa...

Re: Microsoft announces Windows 11

#360
post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - Teams integrated into Windows Is this just asking for antitrust? I mean, Apple can get away with sherlocking their opposition but they don't have a monopoly on desktop OS.

I was going to ask, didn't they get sued in the 90's for something similar?

They got sued but IE also became the dominant browser. I think they must be factoring this decision into their Teams' CAC.
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