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Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

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Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#21

Post by untog »

nextparadigms wrote: post #17

Engadget's conclusion: "We really liked Windows 7 when it launched. It felt like a big step forward in the short time that had passed since Vista. Now, as we creep closer to a likely release near the end of this year, we can't shake a sense of doubt. Windows 8 still feels like two very different operating systems trying to be one. The potential is hugely alluring -- a single OS to rule both the tablet and the desktop…

Well I guess it all feeds into the "buy every other Windows version" joke. By Windows 9 they'll have this integration sorted, maybe.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#22

Post by janardanyri »

ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #3

Competition from Apple and Linux (but mostly Apple) is the best thing to happen to Microsoft in a long time. No, the UI isn't perfect yet, the design decisions (for this beta) not always logical, but Windows is finally going somewhere amazing after many years of going no where. Because some of Microsoft's best products were great but went no where. Take the Zune and Windows Phone 7. People who own them love them, esp…

Another relevant point: antitrust oversight of Microsoft started in 1998 and ended 12 May 2011, and Microsoft clearly doesn't have a monopoly in PCs anymore.

Imagine a world in which Apple was taken to court for including Mobile Safari on the iPhone, with talk of huge fines and company breakups. Consider having to make strategic decisions with those threats hanging over your head. Would we get Siri? Maybe adding Reminders counts as bundling? Maybe Game Center is anticompetitive against OpenFeint? Will the Growl developers sue over Mountain Lion notifications? What do you do when every improvement could become grounds for a lawsuit?

Of course, Apple doesn't have to worry about those things because they don't have any monopolies. Microsoft did. So competition from Apple may have made the difference simply in that Microsoft no longer has to worry about being a monopoly either.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#23

Post by untog »

ebbv wrote: post #16
ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #3

Competition from Apple and Linux (but mostly Apple) is the best thing to happen to Microsoft in a long time. No, the UI isn't perfect yet, the design decisions (for this beta) not always logical, but Windows is finally going somewhere amazing after many years of going no where. Because some of Microsoft's best products were great but went no where. Take the Zune and Windows Phone 7. People who own them love them, esp…

Your theory is ridiculous. The Xbox 360 was a major success. The Zune failed because people didn't like it. Not because it's a Microsoft product. Same goes for Windows Phone 7, it is failing because people don't like it. Now whether it's a better product or not is a subjective debate that isn't worth having, IMHO (better for whom?) But to say that they failed because of the Microsoft stigma is absurd.

The Zune failed because people didn't like it.

I think people actually did like it, and I think that people do like Windows Phone when they try it. Zune failed because of a lack of visibility in a crowded marketplace (well, crowded in the sense that Apple is taking up 90% of the room). Windows Phone actually has the same challenge, and MS haven't really stepped up their game with regards to promoting it. Yet?

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#24

Post by rhengles »

nextparadigms wrote: post #19
melling wrote: post #12

How is IE10? It sounds like it's going to be competitive with Chrome in both HTML5 compatibility and performance. http://html5test.com Is Microsoft still doing the silent update for IE?

Will Chrome or Firefox even work in the "tile interface"? My guess is it won't.

I've read recently that Firefox is looking into building a Metro version of it. No word about Chrome.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#25

Post by lvillani »

nextparadigms wrote: post #17

Engadget's conclusion: "We really liked Windows 7 when it launched. It felt like a big step forward in the short time that had passed since Vista. Now, as we creep closer to a likely release near the end of this year, we can't shake a sense of doubt. Windows 8 still feels like two very different operating systems trying to be one. The potential is hugely alluring -- a single OS to rule both the tablet and the desktop…

I think they should clearly separate tablet and desktop interfaces and switch between them based on context (like what Canonical is planning to do with their "Ubuntu for Android").

That is: you get only a classic desktop (+ windowed Metro apps) when your slate is attached to a docking station and you only get the tablet interface otherwise.

And then provide a switch within Control Panel to get the hybrid experience, as it is now.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#26

Post by CurtHagenlocher »

udp wrote: post #15
CurtHagenlocher wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are still plenty of people with hardware that has less than 4 GB of RAM. For those people, there's not generally an advantage in running a 64-bit OS if all their applications are available in 32-bit versions.

Aren't 64-bit processors a little more efficient at running a 64-bit operating system?

No. And for most programs, 64-bit code is probably less efficient than 32-bit code. Pointers are twice as big and instructions are generally longer, so less stuff fits into cache.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#27

Post by greedo »

ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #3

Competition from Apple and Linux (but mostly Apple) is the best thing to happen to Microsoft in a long time. No, the UI isn't perfect yet, the design decisions (for this beta) not always logical, but Windows is finally going somewhere amazing after many years of going no where. Because some of Microsoft's best products were great but went no where. Take the Zune and Windows Phone 7. People who own them love them, esp…

Of course people who bought the Zune are going to like them. They're a self-selected sampling... Even if they thought that deep down, the Zune was a POS, human nature is to defend decisions you've made, especially ones that involve money.

The real question is why was the Zune a failure. It was a failure because it didn't offer what the market was buying. The fact that the few who did buy the Zune liked it in no way confers any quality upon the Zune.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#28

Post by ConstantineXVI »

nextparadigms wrote: post #19
melling wrote: post #12

How is IE10? It sounds like it's going to be competitive with Chrome in both HTML5 compatibility and performance. http://html5test.com Is Microsoft still doing the silent update for IE?

Will Chrome or Firefox even work in the "tile interface"? My guess is it won't.

Native code is still allowed, so it's technically possible provided they write new UI code for Metro. The main issue is "will Microsoft let other browsers in the store?"

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#29

Post by brudgers »

ebbv wrote: post #16
ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #3

Competition from Apple and Linux (but mostly Apple) is the best thing to happen to Microsoft in a long time. No, the UI isn't perfect yet, the design decisions (for this beta) not always logical, but Windows is finally going somewhere amazing after many years of going no where. Because some of Microsoft's best products were great but went no where. Take the Zune and Windows Phone 7. People who own them love them, esp…

Your theory is ridiculous. The Xbox 360 was a major success. The Zune failed because people didn't like it. Not because it's a Microsoft product. Same goes for Windows Phone 7, it is failing because people don't like it. Now whether it's a better product or not is a subjective debate that isn't worth having, IMHO (better for whom?) But to say that they failed because of the Microsoft stigma is absurd.

"Same goes for Windows Phone 7, it is failing because people don't like it."

It's been out for a little over a year in a crowded marketplace. Microsoft's strategy is long term - there is little evidence to the contrary and their history is of taking such an approach (easier when the founder and CEO each hold more stock than any other shareholder).

Windows Phone is targeted far more broadly than the competition - from the 4G smart phones of Europe to the data planless feature phones of Zambia.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#30

Post by bradford »

nextparadigms wrote: post #19
melling wrote: post #12

How is IE10? It sounds like it's going to be competitive with Chrome in both HTML5 compatibility and performance. http://html5test.com Is Microsoft still doing the silent update for IE?

Will Chrome or Firefox even work in the "tile interface"? My guess is it won't.

This question shows a lot of the confusion that people have around windows 8. I partially blame Microsoft for this, and I also largely blame uninformed comments on technology related websites that have, intentionally or not, spread misconception.

Don't expect win8 to suddenly transform legacy apps into 'metro' style apps. The current chrome experience that you have on win7 isn't going to magically transform to a full-screen, touch optimized experience unless google put's in the effort to develop the metro app (whether google is doing this work or not, I'm not sure)

Instead, the chrome that you are familiar with will run on the desktop, in the same way that it does on win7, in a windowed mode that you can click/drag-around/resize.

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