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Windows 8 Arrives

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Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#61

Post by rossjudson »

I've gotten to look Metro more than I did at first. I still don't stay in it; I mostly just head to the desktop and use the newer, flatter Windows 7 I find there.

The elephant in the room for me is the horizontal scrolling. I'm sitting there spinning the mouse wheel vertically, and what's on the screen is moving horizontally. That's a total disconnect.

Why this emphasis on horizontal scrolling? I don't see how the horizontally scrolling items are in any way easier to use than a vertically scrolling set of items. Seems like different, for difference's sake.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#62

Post by jiggy2011 »

ConstantineXVI wrote: post #44
ajross wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the upgrade price. AFAICT they haven't announced pricing for an installable new copy of the OS.

Newegg is listing OEM pricing at $100[0], and Pro for $140[1]. FWIW, this matches Win7 OEM pricing. (It appears "retail" copies have been given the axe entirely, which isn't particularly surprising.) [0] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416... [1] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416...

No Retail copies? So to get a copy you have to buy a new PC or have an existing Windows OS?

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#63

Post by bduerst »

MartinCron wrote: post #54
dmix wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows XP - success Windows Vista - failure Windows 7 - success Windows 8 - potential failure Just following a pattern.

That pattern only holds if you think that the world started at Windows XP. Going back another few years: Windows 3.1 - Success Windows 95 - Success Windows 98 - Success (moderate, whatever) Windows NT 4 - Success Windows Me - Failure Windows 2000 - Success

We're talking about Microsoft here! What about DOS?

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#64

Post by lloeki »

aik wrote: post #43
JagMicker wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Taskbar and Start Menu have worked so well in the past, why change? Perhaps the price might be a hint that it's worth less than previous versions..

The horse and buggy worked so well in the past, why introduce automobiles? (Note: Example with exaggerated contrast is used here for illustration purposes only, not for comparing size of change.)

Maybe you were thinking of the Ford quote: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#65

Post by Karunamon »

MartinCron wrote: post #54
dmix wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows XP - success Windows Vista - failure Windows 7 - success Windows 8 - potential failure Just following a pattern.

That pattern only holds if you think that the world started at Windows XP. Going back another few years: Windows 3.1 - Success Windows 95 - Success Windows 98 - Success (moderate, whatever) Windows NT 4 - Success Windows Me - Failure Windows 2000 - Success

If you switch that metric from good/bad instead of success/failure, it makes more sense. Something doesn't have to have been objectively good to be sucessful.

Here's how I remember it:

3.1 was the first windows GUI for mass consumption, and was successful, and pretty decent for it's time.

95 was also succesful, but I remember it being very, terribly unstable. Moreso than 3.1.. i put it in the bad column based on that.

98 improved on this and added a lot. Good.

ME was utter dogshit.

Kernels changed from ME to XP, so I make the link there. Microsoft did provide a direct upgrade path from ME to XP.

XP was awesome

Vista was horrid.

7 was awesome

Now 8. If they continue the pattern, 8 will suck.

It seems like there's a micro pattern like "new UI paradigm" >> "polish and improve new UI". 98 improved on 95, 7 improved on vista, XP improved on 2K.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#66

Post by ConstantineXVI »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #62
ConstantineXVI wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Newegg is listing OEM pricing at $100[0], and Pro for $140[1]. FWIW, this matches Win7 OEM pricing. (It appears "retail" copies have been given the axe entirely, which isn't particularly surprising.) [0] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416... [1] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416...

No Retail copies? So to get a copy you have to buy a new PC or have an existing Windows OS?

Nope, the "System Builder"/OEM license appears to cover that as well now[0].

[0] (footnote) http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2...

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#67

Post by ajross »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #62
ConstantineXVI wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Newegg is listing OEM pricing at $100[0], and Pro for $140[1]. FWIW, this matches Win7 OEM pricing. (It appears "retail" copies have been given the axe entirely, which isn't particularly surprising.) [0] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416... [1] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416...

No Retail copies? So to get a copy you have to buy a new PC or have an existing Windows OS?

Pretty sure the pure "retail" version of the OS disappeared with XP->Vista. Everything on a store shelf today is an upgrade copy, and the version sold from people like Newegg (which is what I meant) is titled something like "OEM version for system builders".

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#68

Post by binarycrusader »

bduerst wrote: post #60
binarycrusader wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even better is the System Builder 64-bit edition: http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Professional-System-Builder-64... They're offering it for $139.99 with an additional $30 discount if you buy by October 25th with the promotional code "WIN8SYST". The System Builder edition is important for hobbyists (like myself) that build or upgrade their own PCs as it includes transfer rights if it's your own personal PC that you inst…

So is the Win 8 system builder a single license that needs to be transferred between machines... ...or can I use the license to run Win 8 on my PC, laptop, and HTPC all at once?

The license is for a single computer only, physical or virtual:

http://www.zdnet.com/how-the-new-windows-8-license-terms-aff...

The article I linked above summarises almost everything you'd want to know.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#69

Post by ComputerGuru »

ajross wrote: post #32
gabemart wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Upgrade copies of Vista and Win7 can be installed on an empty hard drive with minimal tweaking, but I guess being kosher with the licensing is important for some users.

If you're not willing to honor the license, what possible point would there be to paying for the software in the first place? I'm willing to be a Win8 crack is live on thepiratebay within the week. The discussion was about whether or not MS has decided to reduce their retail OS price from the ~$100 it is at right now. AFAICT, they have not.

You make it sound like it's black and white.

I know plenty of people who would hate to torrent of, say, Photoshop, but also don't think it's worth $550 to them. Having a bought license that's legally of questionable origin is a compromise many non-business users would be more than willing to entertain.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#70

Post by Symmetry »

JagMicker wrote: post #23
engtech wrote: post #6

Windows 8 Pro upgrade for $39 dollars ($15 for newer PCs). [1] That's... reasonable. I might consider buying a copy of Windows 8 Pro at that price and then waiting until it hits SP1 to install it. I might even spin up a VM to try it out. I like that the $39 upgrade applies to anyone with Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. I think they're realizing that a lot of people don't upgrade OS because they don't want to…

The Taskbar and Start Menu have worked so well in the past, why change? Perhaps the price might be a hint that it's worth less than previous versions..

Mostly importantly, tablets and hybrid tablet/laptops are taking off and people want to use the same OS for both. And Microsoft has tried using the Taskbar and Start Menu for tablets before, and it sucked.
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