Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Windows 8 Arrives

microsoft.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 223 posts

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#141

Post by leddt »

joenathan wrote: post #109
nonane wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plug: If you're running Windows 8 Pro and have an iPad you can try out the Win 8 Metro's multitouch features using my app ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWUEAx4dqP4&hd=1 ). Send me an email: support at jumpdesktop.com and I'll send you a free coupon.

Does the Android version offer the same functionality?

If it does I'll be sure to buy it for my Nexus 7. Very nice way to get an idea of how well Windows 8 works on tablets!

However it seems the android app is still at version 4.0, so I guess we have to wait for an update.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#142

Post by sliverstorm »

nlawalker wrote: post #91
rossjudson wrote: post #61

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 ho…

Horizontal scrolling is easier and more natural if you're using touch. The wide screen gives you lots of room to sweep your finger back and forth and "throw" the content if you want to. Horizontal touch scrolling also evokes the feeling of paging through a book. Of course, if you're not using touch, then yes, I agree it feels a bit weird at first. It doesn't take that long to get used to though.

Besides, it kind of makes sense now that everything is widescreen.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#143

Post by CamperBob2 »

aik wrote: post #8
Iaks wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exacerbating this is the fact that Windows 7 is arguably at full stride right now and has almost no points that I really want changed. Why then do I give myself (actually, pay for) a headache with this new release?

>> Exacerbating this is the fact that Windows 7 is arguably at full stride right now and has almost no points that I really want changed. Sounds like another anti-innovation/change comment on hn. If this is not, please tell me how?

Yessirree Bob, I remember what my rich uncle used to say. He said, "Son," (even though he was my uncle and not my father), "Son, if you really want to make money, forget all that stuff about finding a need and filling it. That's the old way. Everybody's doing that, and everything's been done. No, son, what you want to do is this. You want to find something that isn't broken, and fix it. That's where the big money is."

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#144

Post by CamperBob2 »

HelloMcFly wrote: post #98
viscanti wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the difference is between things that work don't need to be changed, just for the sake of change. Things that are broken, or suffer from poor usability should change. Not everything needs to change, but I think it's fair to want broken things to change without advocating that everything change just because.

But that's so short-sighted! You know what worked? The Motorola RAZR. But then the iPhone came out and it was a radical change and, even though many said at the time "I just need to make calls and text", it set the standard. If your mentality is always "if it ain't broke don't fix it" then you're probably going to get disrupted. Windows 7 wasn't broke, but the future of the desktop environment looks like it might be,…

Metro is no iPhone.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#145

Post by glennsl »

dschobel wrote: post #24
el_cuadrado wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have. The interface is freaking unusable. It is like Microsoft decided to exit the desktop market with a bang. "We are failing, and we are taking Windows with us".

failing? MS has been holding 70% to 85% of the desktop market for decades, even by conservative estimates.

They also used to focus on the desktop market. Now they focus on the tablet market, to the point of sacrificing the desktop user experience to gain entrance to that market. That might prove to be a big mistake.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#146

Post by ChuckMcM »

ConstantineXVI wrote: post #138
ChuckMcM wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found this out in a predictable way, at Google they had machines that they bought for desktops which came with an OEM windows sticker but they always put Goobuntu on. I needed an XP license for a project so I thought, "Oh I'll use this one, I know its not being used elsewhere." and did an install with a vanilla distro and the product code. The first thing that broke was it wanted the oem cab file. Fixed that. Then…

I'm just curious, is there any reason Google wouldn't have had MSDN access? I could see a "no arch-nemeses" clause or such. (Or I could be showing my [lack of] age and MSDN didn't have easy download access in the XP era)

At the time I was there (2006 - 2010) and this may sound strange to some, I am sure that someone at Google had MSDN access but finding that person would have taken longer than hacking together a solution (which took a couple of hours in front of the VM instance). I don't doubt that at the if at the time I needed this that the TechStop guys (and gals) hadn't yet been dismantled I could have just said "I need an XP license for about a week" and they would have obliged. But I didn't have time to hunt down an owner, I didn't want to expense an XP OEM kit for this simple project that was a 20% thing anyway, and well TechStop had fallen way hard from being a resource to being a nop.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#147

Post by Answerawake »

tedunangst wrote: post #114
Maakuth wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the license really need the installation itself to be an upgrade? That would be silly, as everyone who has tried knows that a Windows installation upgraded from a previous version is never as snappy as a clean installation. And in that case, reinstalling the OS would require user to install the old Windows first. That wouldn't much make sense, would it?

You can do a fresh install, but only if there's already a licensed version of windows on the hard drive. If you previously replaced the OS, then the upgrade won't let you register until you run a command from the shell and say it's ok.

What is this command? Is it in any of the Windows 8 guides?

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#148

Post by nonane »

leddt wrote: post #141
joenathan wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the Android version offer the same functionality?

If it does I'll be sure to buy it for my Nexus 7. Very nice way to get an idea of how well Windows 8 works on tablets! However it seems the android app is still at version 4.0, so I guess we have to wait for an update.

Right. The Android app doesn't have this functionality at the moment, but we're going to port it over soon.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#149

Post by phreakhead »

joshschreuder wrote: post #120
luma wrote: post #22

I've been running Windows 8 since they release the RTM version to TechNet subscribers on my primary laptop (about a month now). Short version - outside of Metro it's basically Win7SP3 and it works great. Metro is every bit the usability disaster that people have claimed when not running on a touch screen. The good news is that you really don't have to interface much with Metro at all. It replaces the start menu, but…

I can recommend Start8 which brings the start menu back and boots straight to desktop (one of my annoyances was going straight to the Metro home screen on boot). It's $5, but worth it in my opinion: http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

Surely you could just edit the ol' msconfig startup items for free, right?

They still have that, right? It's been a while since I used Windows.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#150

Post by MichaelGG »

mikeknoop wrote: post #135
Semaphor wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I might consider buying a copy of Windows 8 Pro at that price and then waiting until it hits SP1 to install it. They don't want to release service packs anymore and instead release constant updates including feature/performance upgrades. http://www.instantfundas.com/2012/10/windows-service-packs-n...

I always assumed Service Packs were a way of "resetting" the version of Windows. Instead of installing Windows 7 then needing to immediately endure 2 hours of updates/restarts, you could simply install Windows 7 SP1 with all the relevant updates and patches already applied.

No, Service Packs sometimes even introduced significant new functionality. Mostly, any non-critical fixes would wait for a SP, to make testing easier.

I imagine that Microsoft will do for Windows what they do for other products like IE: Offer periodic "rollup" updates that apply several updates at once.

Post reply on HN