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Metro

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151–160 of 163 posts

Re: Metro

#153
post #8

Metro to me, and I hate to say it, reminds me of MS Bob, and frankly of the original Windows 3.1 except where in that case it was a layer on DOS, this seems like a gloss on Windows 7. I hope for the sake of innovation I'm wrong, but it is frankly more bizarre than Launchpad (and that's saying something). Let me show: https://skitch.com/ethank/f3drj/windows-8-x64-preview then https://skitch.com/ethank/f3drc/windows-8-…

"like a gloss on Windows 7" - From what I've read[1] so far this is not the case. The APIs that 'Metro style' apps use are built deep into Windows. In fact it seems more like the opposite - legacy Windows is treated more like another app that you can switch to, if you're on x86/x64 machine. [1] http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-devel...

Win32 and Metro are both User Mode subsystems running on the same MinWin NT Kernel and you flip flop back and forth between them based on what you're doing.

Re: Metro

#154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe it's already confirmed that Win8 ARM devices will indeed be Metro-only - no legacy Desktop whatsoever.

I don't think that's true. Can you point to a source? I've heard and seen only the opposite.

The impression I've gotten from all their presentations about MinWin and Metro is that Metro and Win32 are independent subsystems and that the Win32 subsystem is not being ported/supported on ARM thus no Win32 applications will run on the ARM based Win8 systems. I can't find where I read it but I remember seeing something about the Win32 subsystem possibly not even being installed by default on systems and only being installed if you tried to install a Win32 app.

Re: Metro

#155
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are equally as many people that run rough shod over everything because they'll just ask their techie friend/family member to fix whatever broke for them. Whether one falls into this camp, or the camp that you're talking about is probably just up to personality types.

Inappropriately applied dichotomy, my brotha. "Figure it out yourself and lead" vs. "Manipulate someone else into doing it for me" ---- a lot of people would rather do it themselves if it were easy enough.

Maybe, but I was talking about the fear of screwing up that the parent was talking about. Some people have no fear of screwing up, even when doing things that probably should make them at least cautious, because they have the view that someone else will fix it for them.

Re: Metro

#156
post #44

If I'm reading this right, Gruber's effectively saying, "Metro, and Metro alone (i.e., no desktop), is a good competitor to the iPad." That's wonderful; a real iPad competitor. But what about all the rest of the computers? You know, those big things on your desktop? We all know just how smart most users are when it comes to figuring out how to use stuff on a computer. Its taken years to get to the point where your ty…

It won't be long before most people have only one computing device: a very powerful smartphone. When used as a mobile device, the interface looks like iPhone/Metro. When you are at your desk, you dock it and the interface that pops up on your 30 inch monitor is like Windows 7 (WIMP). And you can also dock it in a range of shells (for lack of a better word) from a 7-inch tablet (touchscreen UI) to a 17-inch laptop (WI…

2 things will decide when/whether this is possible:

1) The rate at which cooling tech increases; How can you keep a miniature multicore cpu cool enough to process gigantic displays?

2) Power efficiency of the miniature multicore cpus.

Re: Metro

#157
post #8

Metro to me, and I hate to say it, reminds me of MS Bob, and frankly of the original Windows 3.1 except where in that case it was a layer on DOS, this seems like a gloss on Windows 7. I hope for the sake of innovation I'm wrong, but it is frankly more bizarre than Launchpad (and that's saying something). Let me show: https://skitch.com/ethank/f3drj/windows-8-x64-preview then https://skitch.com/ethank/f3drc/windows-8-…

Hitting the windows key brings up the start screen. It's supposed to do that, kind of like how the iPhone always takes you to the first page of apps.

Task switching is done by swiping on from the left or hitting Win+Tab. I just tried it, Windows+Tab brings you right back in the control panel where you left.

It could probably be clearer, but the Windows button takes you to the Windows front page, it's not a toggle between desktop and metro.

Re: Metro

#158
post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It won't be long before most people have only one computing device: a very powerful smartphone. When used as a mobile device, the interface looks like iPhone/Metro. When you are at your desk, you dock it and the interface that pops up on your 30 inch monitor is like Windows 7 (WIMP). And you can also dock it in a range of shells (for lack of a better word) from a 7-inch tablet (touchscreen UI) to a 17-inch laptop (WI…

I actually prefer the more logical conclusion to this thread: Sun's SunRay concept... everything is in the network (cloud), you use key(s) to access/control them. However, I'd extend that and say that along with the "key" is a smartphone that can also (in a limited fashion) view/manipulate your cloud data and send/receive messages. The important thing to recognize is that there will always be need for "more and faste…

re: your last sentence -- agree, but I suspect most people will not need that much power

Re: Metro

#159
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As far as I know, if I do something illegal with a Porsche or an iPad, their respective makers are not responsible of that misbehavior, and therefore should not be entitled to forbid me from doing it. You are correct, but I am unclear as to what you could be referencing. You can add pirated MP3s, eBooks and movies to iOS devices, if you so choose. You can even jailbreak them to customise them even further, provided…

>You can even jailbreak them Not if Apple had their way and were able to win that arms race. >I am unclear as to what you could be referencing. You're _playing_ the fool here I hope. I put rockbox on my iPod classic, I love rockbox. Apple encrypted the device in a way to prevent aftermarket modifications and set development for that device back years while they worked to get around the restrictions apple put in. That…

Yes, precisely.

Re: Metro

#160
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As far as I know, if I do something illegal with a Porsche or an iPad, their respective makers are not responsible of that misbehavior, and therefore should not be entitled to forbid me from doing it. You are correct, but I am unclear as to what you could be referencing. You can add pirated MP3s, eBooks and movies to iOS devices, if you so choose. You can even jailbreak them to customise them even further, provided…

>You can even jailbreak them Not if Apple had their way and were able to win that arms race. >I am unclear as to what you could be referencing. You're _playing_ the fool here I hope. I put rockbox on my iPod classic, I love rockbox. Apple encrypted the device in a way to prevent aftermarket modifications and set development for that device back years while they worked to get around the restrictions apple put in. That…

My understanding is that Apple is able to do whatever they want to their own products. They are under no obligation to support jailbreaks, Rockbox or other modifications. Encrypting the iPod has no noticeable downside for the average user, but for a hacker, it's a pain. But Apple is under no obligation to support an alternative firmware.

Making a product do something the standard setup will not allow is the whole point of the hacker space anyway, isn't it?

PS: I don't agree with Apple's decision to encrypt the standard (non-touch) iPod line. I wonder if it was part of their licensing terms with movie studios.

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