Windows H8

[Vulcan]

Windows 8 on a PC makes as much sense as a steering wheel in an airplane or a flight yoke in a car.

[OOZ662]

(Image removed from quote.)

Yup...that's a yoke in a plane...unless you have a propeller driven car.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

If you want to support Microsoft being able to tell you what you can install and what you cannot install on your computer, then that is your choice.

If you want to give even more information to Microsoft than ever before, that is your choice.

If you like being spied on, that is your choice.

If you like that any and all information, on your computer, can be made available to law enforcement without any type of warrants, then that is your choice.

Windows 7 is bad enough, but 8 takes it all to new levels.

The day is coming where you will not be able to own any applications.  You will rent them, paying to use them for a specific time.  This is where Microsoft is going and each iteration of the OS, they bring it one step closer to reality.  If that is what you want, then by all means, go out and buy Windows 8.

For me, Windows 7 is the last OS I will own from Microsoft.  I will not support the direction they are taking.  I hope most people will make that same choice.

I think as far as American corporations go this kind of progress is inevitable. Microsoft won't be held back by the decisions of some enlightened consumer. Win8 is forced to them through new PC installs without asking about it. It is also no accident that stuxnet was delivered targeted to just certain computers via windows update Of course MS will never admit it.

Seeing the current trend the only right solution is to switch using a truly free open source operating system. Valve has opened a head start even to gaming companies there.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Not being sarcastic or anything Skuzzy, what options are there for new PC's other than win7 or rather when win7 is no longer available?

www.distrowatch.com and apple.com - pretty many options for windows available. You'll have to give up many windows games though. But if games are why you need a computer for, shouldn't you rethink the whole thing again anyway?

I currently have 3 gaming boxes that have a windows setup only for gaming. With those boxes nothing else is done except play games. I have an iMac for my daughter, MBP for my work and a dedicated linux box for fun. I also have 3 different linux distros virtualized in my MBP along with windows 7 and windows 8.

There is computing without windows folks, all you need to do is start looking outside the box - the Windows packaging that is.

[zack1234]

I installed Linux, yes very nice but what?

I don' want to build a PC and I don't want to social network

The fact of the matter is the majority don't care about being inspected without permission, I personally don't like Microsoft dictating what I can delete on my PC etc, but when the majority don't care your stuffed

If you have "Facebook" account you cannot have a view on being investigated, people telling the world they have been for a plop and had fish fingers for tea is the way things have gone.

Social networking its anti social as far as I am concerned, in 10 years time they will want to know why I don't have a account and get one pretty quick sonny

The CIA have seen my gibberish on these forums and have moved on

Can we have the Yak 3 please?

[CptTrips]

Heh.  I remember back in the day a lot of hard core dead-enders swearing they'd never give up their DOS for that new fangled flash-in-the-pan GUI crap.  Dumbing down a OS for the sheeple to click on little pictures of things...  Bah!  Real men use batch files!  Heh.  Change is always hard.

I don't know about all the privacy stuff (I always suspect that stuff get exaggerated by the tin-foil hat crowd), but I do believe both Mac and Windows DESKTOPS are moving closer to a locked down system where only certified code is able to run.  Slowly but surely, desktops will start working more and more like IOS and Metro mobile.  There are reasons for this.  ITs proven to be very successful compromise that the vast multitude of consumers will accept.  Computing has become broadly consumerized to an extent it wasn't in the old PC days where tech enthusiasts didn't mind diking with drivers and config files.  The sheeple just aren't going to deal with that.  They want something that just works without having to know a book of techy incantations and rituals. A locked down system goes a LONG way to ensuring security and stability.  It makes for consumer-safe computing.

How successful has this model proven to be?  I read something the other day that was very illustrative:
Revenue from the iPhone (One single product) exceeds the revenue of all divisions of the Microsoft corporations combined.  OS's, Office, Games, xBox, etc, combined, less than the revenue from just the iPhone (not even counting the iPad).

Wow.  Contemplate that for a while.  I assure you Microsoft has.

The billions of sheeple consumers don't want to have to mess with virus scanners and managing device drivers.  They want a computing appliance that they can turn on and it just works, like their refrigerator or television set.  And the business fact is: there are billions more sheeple consumers than techy nerds who want to dink with computer innards.  If you doubt that, take another look at Apple's earnings.

I think MS has totally bought in to these lessons.  They are smart enough to see that Apple has stumbled upon a very good model.  For all the Apple hating Windows zealots (yeah, I use to be one of those  )  hold on to yer arses.  Over the next couple of years MS is going to try very hard to look just like Apple.

Did you know MS is opening brick and mortar stores now?  Just like Apple?  No, really, JUST like Apple:
Typical Apple store - http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/7/2011/02/xlarge_applestoredrug.jpg
A new MS Store - http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EbEgBiaLo8s/SwVqecGES3I/AAAAAAAAAEE/qwtNSEE0wNM/s1600/Microsoft+answer+bar.jpg
  Hope Apple hasn't patented their store design.   

Their online app store.....   Apple has become the company MS wants to be when it grows up. 

I will give MS this...I think they have made some very smart improvements to the online app store over what Apple does. 
And I think they have made some real usability improvements in their Metro UI over the IOS design language.
I'm glad to see that they made the effort to copy-and-improve from Apple rather than just mindlessly ape like....hmm.

I think Win8 will rock on mobile devices.  On the desktop?  It's......ok.  I would have done it slightly differently.  I would have let the desktop be a desktop, and have a Metro emulation window you could launch to run your Metro apps from.  However, even as it is, I think its a differentiating advantage for the desktop to be able to run the mobile apps.  A Macbook can't yet run IOS apps.  That gives app developers of properly designed apps a HUGE potential customer base from day one before the first Surface tablet is even sold.

Also, I'm not sure many people are completely aware of Bluestacks:
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-33377_1-57355786/bluestacks-goes-metro-with-windows-8/
That has a huge potential of being a major game-changer.  From day one, every Metro device will have the entire Android app library at its disposal.  Hey Google, hows that open-source working for ya now? 

1.  That bootstraps a huge library of content from day one while developers are building native apps up to the same level.
2.  Things change quick in the mobile world (just ask Blackberry  ).  These device have about a 2 year lifespan coincident with contract renewal.  Especially since many Android phones can't even be upgraded to new versions of the OS.  It becomes a lot easier to lure over user to a Windows phone if you can tell them they can bring over their entire library of Android apps they've already invested in.  On average, half those users are at that decision point every year.  THATS how things change so quickly in the mobile world.

I think think the next 2 years are going to be VERY interesting for both Android and Windows (to a lesser extent Apple).   

Wow.  Sorry for the wall of text.  Too much coffee. 

,
Wab


















       

 

[Dragon Tamer]

One of my contacts on another forum tried Windows 8 about a year ago and said he hated it.  He hated it so much that when he couldn't get Windows 7 back, he gave his computer an electricians funeral.  Savage anything worth something and burn the rest.

The guy who fixes my computer when it gets more than 100 viruses said that there is a site where you can download any Microsoft software ever made.  I can't remember the exact site name, I will have to ask him then get back to you.  If you really don't like Windows 8 you can always try rolling back your OS through there.

[gyrene81]

The guy who fixes my computer when it gets more than 100 viruses said that there is a site where you can download any Microsoft software ever made. 

not sure about anyone else around here but, i'm not inclined to consider advice along the lines of anything computer related from someone who gets virus infections then needs someone else to get rid of them.

it would be really nice if game developers used this opportunity to start moving from microcrap windblowz and choose a linux distro to support then build their games on it. even if it was redhat, it would be far better than anything microcrap has managed to push onto the world since it's inception. it will probably never happen though.


speaking of the new "reporting feature" in win8, microsoft has used windows update to do a full scan of your installed programs and return the info to microcrap. just wait until you see what they plan to do with win9...

[Easyscor]

I think that is a very good question.  For me it is easy.  Not so much for others. 

Windows 7 is not as bad as Windows 8, but worse than XP.  At least you can install products on Windows 7 without Microsoft having to give you permission.  Windows 7 does report application usage to Microsoft, but it does not have the ability to grant Microsoft full access, without your knowledge (well, unless you do something really stupid and open your computer up to them).

With Windows 8 Microsoft can remotely remove files and applications from your computer and you cannot stop them.  They can get a list of every file on your computer and you cannot stop them.

Then again, Google does the same with Android, and Apple does the same with all their OS's as well. 

I know I am beating a drum no one can hear or cares about, but I have to try.  Maybe no one really cares about privacy or being in control of the products and data they pay good money for.

You're right, but they do it now, at least with VS.

Install a legal but previous version of Visual Studio then Visual Studio 2010 Express (nicer editor), and while using both, watch your legal earlier version disappear within a month. 

Three times isn't a fluke so I didn't bother when they released their latest trial version.

[Delirium]

AKWabbit, really great post and I agree with it almost 100%.

Gone (or going) are the days you could tweak your system. People want 'cookie cutter' easy to set up systems and don't want to spend the time configuring it, or analyzing it when something goes wrong.

[Shuffler]

AKWabbit, really great post and I agree with it almost 100%.

Gone (or going) are the days you could tweak your system. People want 'cookie cutter' easy to set up systems and don't want to spend the time configuring it, or analyzing it when something goes wrong.

...and some will give up all their freedom to have things done for them.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

...and some will give up all their freedom to have things done for them.

Replace some with most and you're close to the truth. Most people have given antivirus companies the right to remove any given file from their computers at any time for years - and pay for it too. Sometimes a false positive has lead to a removal of a perfectly legit file. Not to mention the slowdowns, bluescreens and the galore of problems people have had as a direct result of using different AV programs. In many cases the AV has created much worse penalties in performance and usability than the viruses it tries to defend from

Sophos is a very advanced antivirus - because it detects itself for what it is and tries to remove itself as malware  http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/09/20/sophos-antimalware-software-detects-malware-deletes-critical-binaries/

[zack1234]

Majority of people are not interested in buildind pc's or messing with software

This is why people will use linux in the future, so they can fiddle with their pc's.

I have learnt more about pc's and hardware from this forum by the way

Lots of people with proper knowledge about pc issues.

microsoft essentials is good

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Majority of people are not interested in buildind pc's or messing with software

This is why people will use linux in the future, so they can fiddle with their pc's.

I have learnt more about pc's and hardware from this forum by the way

Lots of people with proper knowledge about pc issues.

microsoft essentials is good

My son just got a nasty malware to his computer even though it has MSE updated and running. Didn't do diddly against the attack. His floorball teammate sent him a download link to download minecraft. The link installed a 'download manager' which hijacked the browser and did probably other nasty things too judging from the spur of network activity, which I didn't investigate any further before restoring the computer from a freshly installed image.

So there it was, MSE happily chugging along and updated and the computer was fully pwned by malware. That's how much you can trust the 'security' products, folks.

[Shuffler]

My son just got a nasty malware to his computer even though it has MSE updated and running. Didn't do diddly against the attack. His floorball teammate sent him a download link to download minecraft. The link installed a 'download manager' which hijacked the browser and did probably other nasty things too judging from the spur of network activity, which I didn't investigate any further before restoring the computer from a freshly installed image.

So there it was, MSE happily chugging along and updated and the computer was fully pwned by malware. That's how much you can trust the 'security' products, folks.

Unfortunately most can't protect everyone.