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Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

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Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#301

Post by coldpie »

gambiting wrote: post #266
castell wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are alternatives to "Windows 10 as a service" - WINE on Mac/Linux and ReactOS. ReactOS is an attempt to build an open source version of Windows XP/7. It uses source code from WINE and it aims for better compatibility with legacy apps and drivers by developing a WinNT-like OS-Kernel: http://www.reactos.org/screenshots

It's not an alternative. At least not for a lot of companies. I work at a games studio and we exclusively use Windows - PS4, Xbox One, Wii U sdks and tools only work on Windows and only with Visual Studio(well, PS4 and Xbox One), and it's extremely unlikely that you would get them to work under Wine. So now our company will have to pay a fee to Microsoft to continue using windows, instead of a single flat payment whe…

If you're interested in attempting to get your software to work on other OSes through Wine, my company would be thrilled to talk to you. That's exactly what we do :)

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#302

Post by castell »

godzilla82 wrote: post #295
castell wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are alternatives to "Windows 10 as a service" - WINE on Mac/Linux and ReactOS. ReactOS is an attempt to build an open source version of Windows XP/7. It uses source code from WINE and it aims for better compatibility with legacy apps and drivers by developing a WinNT-like OS-Kernel: http://www.reactos.org/screenshots

What about drivers for new devices? Even current hardware manufacturers dont provide XP drivers anymore.

It's a bit complex. Basically only graphic card drivers are a bit problematic. But it's the binary driver compatibility that makes ReactOS unique.

Windows XP and 7/8/10 supports several driver models (incl. legacy) and drivers models are in user- and kernel-mode. So for most devices it's not a problem. The display driver model changed with Vista; Win2000 display driver are still supported. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Driver_Model , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Display_Driver_Model , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Driver_Frameworks

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#304

Post by blub »

72deluxe wrote: post #271
patrickmclaren wrote: post #39

Off-topic rant: I used to live in a remote area, with very little connectivity. Upgrading tech used to involve traveling to a retailer, and buying the latest version off the shelf. More recently, it involes traveling to a solid internet connection, downloading incremental updates and distributing them on location. In Australia, satellite internet was subsidized in the 2000s (and easily eligible). Now, although still…

I can only imagine how OSX users cope with the giant OS updates and patches that get bundled. I thought that people here in the UK on ordinary broadband must get frustrated, but your experience puts it into perspective. It also makes me think more carefully about being "network-happy" in applications.

Those stupid Xcode updates are bigger than the OS updates, 5-6GB in size. At this point I'm thinking their infrastructure team is simply incompetent - downloads slow to a crawl, no incremental updates, and if the install fails sometimes it's back to zero.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#305

Post by MichaelGG »

72deluxe wrote: post #268
MichaelGG wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WPF apps also traditionally had shitty font rendering. The issue is that they are pixel unaware so at small sizes it blurs. On a HiDPI screen it's fine, as well as with larger font sizes. On the standard Windows DPI settings, it's terrible. Pixel snapping and ClearType are what deliver sharp small fonts at the cost of less "accuracy" since the renderer may need to bump things around by half a pixel or so. Some people…

I remember the good old days where they introduced that in XP (was it XP?) and suddenly all the fonts were blurry red/orange/black/green squishy messes that were impossible to read.

If they looked like that, then run the ClearType tuner. On most LCD panels for everyone I've showed it to, they were pretty impressed with the improved clarity.

ClearType was also the subject of some stupid partner-level politics inside of MS, actual end user experience be damned.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#306

Post by MichaelGG »

yaeger wrote: post #258
MichaelGG wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, they're going even more in with Win10. Calc.exe is replaced with a shitty, functionally inferior version that takes 1-2 seconds to start. The metroization is all over with its terrible blurry font rendering and gimped settings.

I like to call it "consolification" as it seems apparent to me that this is where MS is heading with their OS. Not long and Xbox and Windows will be identical. And sadly, it will be the Xbox that has the dominant genes, UI wise at least. It is all over their corporate speak, too. "Life time of device" when discussing the upgrade cycle of the OS... What is the life time of my PC that I built myself out of many differe…

A: I'm not sure how much MS really cares about enthusiasts. Reading the Win 10 forums and user voice, most of them seen like idiots, with all sorts of stupid suggestions and just plain drama. Though I agree "lifetime of the device" is a bit worrying.

B: I've talked the to the person responsible for MS Accounts in Windows 8. Really cool, smart guy. It was a hard thing to get right, and their intentions were not malicious like it might seem. For most users, using an online account is simply the better solution. Their photos and documents will automatically sync. Apps will automatically sign in and work. They can enable full disk encryption without worrying about losing keys. Enthusiasts can make two extra clicks to avoid it. While it personally annoys me and makes machines easier to compromise (by government), it's the only competitive option for most consumers.

Windows 10 is unpolished and downright janky, but if they get it cleaned up, there's little doubt it'll be pretty well accepted. If they had kept the start menu and not made metro apps so dumb in Win 8, it'd have been fine. Though they do need to make calc and other simple apps open as fast as they do on my bloody phone...

More concerning is the Windows Store, which is a cesspool, and MS shows no signs of caring. I've spoken to several ISVs that simply cannot get MS to help or respond to removing fake/scam/phishing apps. Even Netflix had trouble with this, FFS.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#307

Post by chronolitus »

sososoko wrote: post #208
mark_l_watson wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you! That was a good answer. Just one thing: OneDrive works well, if I may, I suggest giving it a try. Re: software development: I just live inIntelliJ for Clojure, Ruby, Java, JavaScript, Typescript, Clojurescript, and Python. IntelliJ runs about the same on every platform. I write my books now with markdown and leanpub, so for writing also operating system choice does not matter. True confession: I tend to cy…

I love OneDrive, possiblt the best native synchronization tool out there, at least for Windows anyway. Mine does a funny thing though, whenever i git clone a repo into a folder in OneDrive it will crash. Does that ever happen to you?

I observed similar things, although not specifically when cloning

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#308

Post by nathan_long »

nly wrote: post #213
silverbax88 wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always get such a kick out of how silly this is. There is no reason people won't continue to have both mobile and desktop. When 'mobile' reaches the computer power of desktop, and screen size, and input, then it will be a desktop. They aren't mutually exclusive.

Future: Walk in to your home office, drop phone on desk, it connects wirelessly to your mouse, keyboard, monitor and home network. This was the original vision for Ubuntu Phone

N years in the future you will have a phone as powerful as my current laptop. But I'll have a laptop more powerful than that.

It will never be the case that everyone wants the exact same tradeoffs.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#309

Post by velodrome »

1_player wrote: post #263
velodrome wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Arch requires a lot of maintenance. Ubuntu, just click update and you don't have to worry about it (until the next LTS). Personally, I like the rolling model. Chromebook is probably best example for regular users.

I moved to Arch because just clicking update on Ubuntu more often than not botched the upgrade somewhere. And I'm a power user. If I had a penny every time I had to help a friend with a failed Ubuntu upgrade...

I moved for the same reason. CentOS w/ 6-10 years of updates is probably a better recommendation for newer users. Any upgrade to the latest version is a real pain in pretty much every distro. Arch is great but sometimes new updates can interfere with workflow (it requires me to be very active monitoring changes).

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#310

Post by velodrome »

72deluxe wrote: post #272
1_player wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I moved to Arch because just clicking update on Ubuntu more often than not botched the upgrade somewhere. And I'm a power user. If I had a penny every time I had to help a friend with a failed Ubuntu upgrade...

You "CLICKED" on upgrade? And you call yourself a power user! Why did you not type it into the CLI? If not a runlevel 3 perhaps with a tiling window manager. I jest :-)

I am on Arch. FTW.

sudo pacman -Syu;

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