Does this mean it's time to lift the anti-monopoly restrictions on Microsoft and Windows?
Why would it? They still hold a monopoly with ~90% of desktops worldwide.
Stick a fork in it: Windows is done
31–40 of 51 posts
Re: Stick a fork in it: Windows is done
#32It's a great time to be a Linux user.
10 Years ago, if you had told me that a linux-based OS would be beating Apple and Microsoft's offerings, I would have called you a pie-in-the-sky dreamer. Today, we're celebrating the natural conclusion of the Halloween Documents in pure Ghandi style; They ignored us, then they laughed at us, then they fought us. Now we've won.
Re: Stick a fork in it: Windows is done
#33This guy has seemingly made a career out of being wrong about Windows. Here's a quote from one of his other articles, "I can't say that I've looked at Windows 7 nearly as closely as Kennedy has, but I've looked at Windows 7 enough to know that it's no real improvement on Vista." It's too bad that "journalists" can be consistently wrong with impunity. That said, based on his track record, Windows will probably have a…
refresh our memories: how is Windows 7 a real improvement on Vista?
Re: Stick a fork in it: Windows is done
#34This guy has seemingly made a career out of being wrong about Windows. Here's a quote from one of his other articles, "I can't say that I've looked at Windows 7 nearly as closely as Kennedy has, but I've looked at Windows 7 enough to know that it's no real improvement on Vista." It's too bad that "journalists" can be consistently wrong with impunity. That said, based on his track record, Windows will probably have a…
There's a lot of good stuff under the hood in Win8 (file system improvements, etc). Unfortunately, the Windows UI was taken over by zealots, and that never ends well.
I think that Win8 could be saved if MS just published a few registry tweaks, combined with a checkbox saying that "No, I don't want to use Metro, ever."
But it would require someone in upper management to admit they were wrong. They would get a bad review. Sadly, it's better to let customers go and let revenue slide than to admit that you were wrong, in a company like Microsoft.
Re: Stick a fork in it: Windows is done
#35This guy has seemingly made a career out of being wrong about Windows. Here's a quote from one of his other articles, "I can't say that I've looked at Windows 7 nearly as closely as Kennedy has, but I've looked at Windows 7 enough to know that it's no real improvement on Vista." It's too bad that "journalists" can be consistently wrong with impunity. That said, based on his track record, Windows will probably have a…
refresh our memories: how is Windows 7 a real improvement on Vista?
Off the top of my head: it boots faster, it operates faster, it's more stable, the interface is less bad (I hesitate to write "better"), and it dials down the panicky Cancel or Allow dialogs.
Re: Stick a fork in it: Windows is done
#36In a way journalists writing this type of article over and over puts a little fear in my heart. I don't ever intend or want to pass up my PC or laptop in favor of a phone or tablet interface; as a content developer its just not something I could ever see myself wanting to change. Sure, I own a smartphone and tablet but they're recreational at best and often used only for efficiency in my life, never a replacement for…
I sympathize with your point of view. On the other hand, it seems like you could take your comment, replace "PC" with "mainframe" and "mobile" with "PC" and it would be right at home in 1975 or so. It's interesting because the 1975 version of the comment would be absolutely right. The PC did herald the end of the mainframe as we knew it. Sure, they're still alive, sort of, but it's not like it once was. And yet, the…
The difference is the backwards shift in the user interface this time around. The touch paradigm is fundamentally less powerful and efficient than KB+mouse. Conversely, a PC can do anything a mainframe can do, from a UI standpoint. The true supplanter of the PC must have parity in this regard.
Re: Stick a fork in it: Windows is done
#37In a way journalists writing this type of article over and over puts a little fear in my heart. I don't ever intend or want to pass up my PC or laptop in favor of a phone or tablet interface; as a content developer its just not something I could ever see myself wanting to change. Sure, I own a smartphone and tablet but they're recreational at best and often used only for efficiency in my life, never a replacement for…
I think this overlooks one fairly major fact and the reason Microsoft became one of the most valuable companies in the world: businesses have employees. Employees use productivity software. Productivity software cannot run on a tablet in any practical sense. Even if it could, most large companies (which are Dell and Microsoft's bread and butter) lag a good 10 years behind technology trends. This is why most employees…
“Businesses have employees. Employees use productivity software. Productivity software cannot run on a tablet in any practical sense.”
Employees stuck in offices use productivity software. There are so many settings in which notebooks and desktops aren't practical, but tablets are. Places where specialized software is required. Tablets deployed in retail, healthcare, defense, airplanes, hospitality, parcel delivery, onsite sales and repair, city councils, classrooms, elderly homes, etc etc.
Also, even productivity software works better on tablets in some cases. Nowadays, I use OmniPlan for iPad instead of Microsoft Project and Apple Numbers for iPad instead of the OS X version. I make website mockups on the iPad instead of on the desktop. For what I need to do, it's faster and more convenient.
Re: Stick a fork in it: Windows is done
#38Why is this on HN?
Re: Stick a fork in it: Windows is done
#39The big question is - what else do we want a desktop to do that they can't already do? I struggle to think of anything that Windows could add to its functionality that would make me want a new version.
You wouldn't want a reduced memory footprint, better security, improved filesystem, faster boot times, updates that don't require a reboot, etc. etc.?
Re: Stick a fork in it: Windows is done
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
refresh our memories: how is Windows 7 a real improvement on Vista?
Off the top of my head: it boots faster, it operates faster, it's more stable, the interface is less bad (I hesitate to write "better"), and it dials down the panicky Cancel or Allow dialogs.
If I recall correctly, it system requirements are actually lower than Windows 7's as well. Way to go against the grain.
But that said, Windows 8's improvements are pretty much all under the hood: they're not user-facing. It's no wonder people don't see them, because the improvements are not designed to be seen. Unfortunately, that also means they can't really be marketed except in very niche scenarios.