The latest joke from Microsoft: Windows 8.1

[Krusty]

Microsoft is promising to come out with a major update a year after Win8 was forced upon an unwilling public.

Essentially they're claiming Service Packs are obsolete and were only suitable to the CD-ROM era. Never mind that almost all of them were delivered electronically for the past decade or so.

Say hello to Windows 8.1. In a move that forshadows bad trends to come with MS, it comes with a laundry list of "features".... Which are supposed to fix .... what?

It adds a start button, but all that does is launch the Win8 touch menu "screen of idiocy" (TM, patent pending). So MS listened to all the complaints and all they took from it is people missed the button. They didn't add the menu or functionality tied to the button, just the button. MS missed the forrest for the trees on this one.

They added a "boot to desktop" option -- but essentially you're still stuck with the same "screen of idiocy" to get anything done.

They've allowed you to make the background of the start screen now match the background of your desktop, so that when you're forced to use the "screen of idiocy" (TM, patent pending) nonstop the jump back and forth is less jarring. Never mind the fact that it's a terrible design that the entire PC world detests, and was CLEARLY designed for and by mobile devices. Never mind practical use. You still have to use it, but they've lessened the blow when you have to actually interact with the OS in any way shape or form.

Other additions? The lock screen now turns your computer into a cloud-updating photo frame.

There are new tile sizes for the start screen. Oh, joy! Oh kaloo, kalay! We can end our hunger strikes!

They expanded the Metro PC settings section to almost include most of what used to be in the old-style Control Panel. Most being the key word.

Oh, and most importantly, probably the ONLY reason MS put any effort into 8.1 to begin with: They dramatically redesigned the Windows Store! It now updates all store aps automatically without your input or consent in the background as windows is running! (worst idea EVER. Anybody using a mobile device with any store on any OS knows updating to the latest version more often than not kills a program or breaks it in some way)

So, in short: Microsoft have totally said "Screw you all!" to the PC world at large, taken EVERY aspect of Windows 8 that was bad for PCs and only good for mobile devices, and made it more integral or more of a nuisance than it was before!

Time for HTC to start working on MAC code, or maybe pick the most popular Linux brand, or even make their own bootable gaming CD-ROM-based OS or something. Windows has shat the bed again.

I will simply leave you with this slightly NSFW link to Penny Arcade's commentary on it:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2013/06/28

[titanic3]

Shrug, stick with Windows 7 until it turns into what Windows XP is now, which by that time, a decent Windows OS will be out. Assuming they follow the trend of OS releases going from suck-good-suck-awesome-suck-awesome-suck.

[Chalenge]

Time for HTC to start working on MAC code, or maybe pick the most popular Linux brand, or even make their own bootable gaming CD-ROM-based OS or something. Windows has shat the bed again.

I'm glad HTC is smart enough to see how bad an idea that would be.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I'm glad HTC is smart enough to see how bad an idea that would be.

Or then HTC is going to miss the bandwagon again when the trend is to dump windows. Steam already runs on linux and AAA titles are released almost weekly for it.

Macs are probably not worth the time as most macs are not suitable for gaming and the ones that are, have a VERY premium price.

[Chalenge]

Trend? Windows has 81-88% market share, Mac 10-14%, and the rest is divided up by Ubuntu, Linux, Sun, iPhone, Nintendo,. . .

Recalculate while you still can.

[Bino]

There's still some time.  According to the Microsoft Support Lifecycle pages, Windows 7 doesn't die until January 2020.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Trend? Windows has 81-88% market share, Mac 10-14%, and the rest is divided up by Ubuntu, Linux, Sun, iPhone, Nintendo,. . .

Recalculate while you still can.

I wasn't talking about market share. The trend is that AAA gaming titles are extending support to linux which is like a water divider. When linux will get interesting titles, one major issue against dumping windows has been removed. I know for sure that if the games I play would run on linux I would never pay for another Windows license again.

When Steam/Valve announced that they'll start supporting linux and Newell basically told MS to suck it, Valve assigned coders to improve the gaming specific libraries in linux. The release and development of SDL2 is another step towards linux gaming being more mainstream. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTQzNTA

I was trying AH2 on linux last week (through wine) and I got a nice 60fps on my current hardware. As usual, wine made the game a bit glitchy (graphics flashed on text buffer). Otherwise it ran fine. Even my MS precision pro stick worked out of the box with no configuration or drivers

[Krusty]

Not to mention market share is a pointless statistic when the majority of people using "microsoft" aren't using 8. In the corporate world, only small fry and idiots are using 8. The only reason every part of that market share would be windows 8 is if MS shut down ALL Win7 and legacy systems this second.

And that won't happen, ever. Because even if MS is stupid, they ain't suicidal. You can't force people to use Win8, no matter how hard MS tries.

So "market share" doesn't equate to "Windows 8 usage"...

[nrshida]

Trend? Windows has 81-88% market share,

I wonder what percentage of that percentage is because they have no choice.

[Randy1]

Look at the MS releases going back to 3.1.  They have a history of a good software package followed by two or three really bad software releases.  Bill Gates was so competitive, I think this is intentional to boost sales over a long time frame.  Sell them something good then sell them something that sucks then sell a fix, then an all new suckey package then a fix for that then a good package then do it again.

[Chalenge]

I wasn't talking about market share. The trend is that AAA gaming titles are extending support to linux which is like a water divider. When linux will get interesting titles, one major issue against dumping windows has been removed. I know for sure that if the games I play would run on linux I would never pay for another Windows license again.

When Steam/Valve announced that they'll start supporting linux and Newell basically told MS to suck it, Valve assigned coders to improve the gaming specific libraries in linux. The release and development of SDL2 is another step towards linux gaming being more mainstream. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTQzNTA

I was trying AH2 on linux last week (through wine) and I got a nice 60fps on my current hardware. As usual, wine made the game a bit glitchy (graphics flashed on text buffer). Otherwise it ran fine. Even my MS precision pro stick worked out of the box with no configuration or drivers

Well, the growth margins for Valve are a lot different than they are for HTC. Given the market share (there is a reason for quoting it after all) if HTC devoted money and time to develop a specific version for Linux, their user base would grow by about twenty users. Worse, they would open themselves up to some of the worst case scenarios a small software company could. Valve is hoping that they can help push gamers into Linux, rather than suck more Linux users into Steam. So, I disagree with you and instead believe that it is one the dumbest things Valve has done.

If a company wants to generate greater sales they market to PC and Xbox, which are the two largest markets open to sales. Valve had a good idea with Steam, but then they came around with this Greenlight idea which has stymied Indie game makers instead of spurring them on. The Microsoft Marketplace and the Desura reveals are doing much more for market expansion than anything Steam has done.

In fact, I would probably suggest the Amazon market and Google Play before even thinking about Linux, despite the fact that Linux can support more hardware. You may laugh, but there are ways to market even a complex game like AH into the Android market (limiting the interface to vehicles for instance). In the end, the profit and ROI would be much greater than the 'trend' as you put it.

Oh, and Krusty. . . Windows 8 is something I use to 'play' with things like the Star Trek LCARS interface upgrade. It really makes grocery ordering, and media center shine, but that's about it.

[Max]

Who, in their right mind, willingly upgraded to 8? 

[Brooke]

I think the "suck - decent - suck - decent" cycle is not intentional.  I think it's because they botch most big changes, have to learn for several years, then get it right (or at least less wrong).  Then they get ideas on how to make another set of big changes, get it horribly wrong again, have to learn for a few years how to make it better, and so on.

Windows over DOS sucked.  OS/2 (not entirely MS, taken over by IBM) was OK.  Windows NT sucked.  Windows 95 a few service packs in was OK (along with 98, etc.).  Windows 2000 kind of sucked.  Windows XP was good.  Windows Vista sucked.  Windows 7 was OK.  Windows 8 sucks.  We'll have to wait for Windows 9 (or whatever follows Windows 8).

Let's hope they don't go from decent-suck-decent to decent-suck-suck-decent, or we'll have to wait for Windows 10.

[Plazus]

I personally don't mind Windows 8... I use it right now on my new home built computer. Runs very smooth and looks nice. I can connect to VPNs for work from my home and run most of all the software I've used over the years. There are a few compatibility issues I've encountered but that is to be expected with new platforms.

I hated Windows 8 at first when it came out but after I spent a short amount of time messing around in the Windows 8 environment, I was able to figure most of the stuff out. I work in software development and IT so I can see why many people hate it. Simply put, most people don't like change.

For a small home network, Windows 8 does just fine but in a large business environment, I can see it upsetting a lot of people.

[Krusty]

Simply put, most people don't like BAD change.

Fixed. The old cliched defensive line of "people don't like change" is false. People love change... when it's good change. And they're smart enough to know the difference. When forced changes are rammed down the collective throat of the customer base that are NOT good changes it only spreads dissent and hate towards the company doing it.