l33t-g4m3r wrote:Apple is only a threat in the mobile space, not on the desktop, and Microsoft does not need a phone GUI on a desktop OS.
Tablets are eating into desktop sales.
Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, Flying Fox, Ryu Connor
l33t-g4m3r wrote:Apple is only a threat in the mobile space, not on the desktop, and Microsoft does not need a phone GUI on a desktop OS.
sweatshopking wrote:windows 8 (4 of them) machines.
End User wrote:sweatshopking wrote:windows 8 (4 of them) machines.
What are you running 8 on? Anything touch?
flip-mode wrote:My printer doesn't have a compatible driver but somehow the OS sees the printer and prints to it well enough.
In Windows 8 we've introduced a new printer driver architecture, which we call version 4, or v4. The v4 architecture produces smaller, faster printer drivers, and it supports the idea of a print class driver framework--a system that allows people to install their printers without having to locate a driver for that device, in many cases.
Approximate number of devices supported in-box - Disk space used
Windows Vista
4200 - 768 MB
Windows 7
2100 - 446 MB
Windows 8
2500 - 184 MB
flip-mode wrote:l-g, you make the most hyperbolic statements possible. The fact that you can't tone down your rhetoric is really frustrating. Where Windows 8 might inflict a paper cut you make it out to be a beheading. Then a person reading your comments has two options: embrace the obviously overblown nonsense that you're spouting, or totally dismiss you. If you could keep yourself from sensationalizing every point you want to make, your comments would be a lot more useful. As it is, your comments sound like the ravings of an emotionally/mentally unstable tinfoil salesman.
And the suggestion that gaming on Linux will bring down Windows is so monumentally clueless that I feel like a tool for even addressing it. People have needs beyond gaming. Until you get Adobe and Autodesk and some other ISVs to port everything to Linux and until you can talk all the Windows network sysadmins into making the switch, Windows will be a dominant presence. Forget Linux, even Apple hasn't been able to displace Windows from corporate networks.
( I feel quite foolish for wasting my time typing this up. )
l33t-g4m3r wrote:LOL. Quite funny, and Valve would be a huge market driver, being the biggest digital distributor of games around. It doesn't matter how Valve runs it's store either, since linux is an open platform. The real improvements are from increased driver and software support, and bigger userbase. Linux costs nothing to try, and steam should encourage gamers tired of windows to try something new, provided everything works out of the box hassle free. Once things get to an acceptable level, people will simply stop buying windows. It's not going to be instantaneous, nor will Microsoft completely die off, but they are becoming increasingly irrelevant.
BIF wrote:I'm not a huge Aero fan but I have to admit there is some truth to this. I think it's definitely a minor issue, though.Aero. Here we go, this is a HUGE one for me. Aero features and glass actually HELPED me see the various screen elements. Windows 8's flat light-grey scroll bars on white backgrounds are VERY difficult to see and utilize and they constitute a serious step BACKWARDS in functionality and user experience.
The Start Screen /IS/ the Start Menu, like it or not, so it doesn't make sense to have both. I do think a taskbar button for the Start Screen would be immensely practical, but at the same time the "hot corners" is a go-big-or-go-home moment and making a button for the Start Screen rather than a hot corner would be yet another inconsistency in the interface. Dunno, maybe the solution is a Start Screen button on the taskbar and then use the hot corner for some other facet of the OS.No Start Button and no Start Menu.
flip-mode wrote:BIF wrote:I'm not a huge Aero fan but I have to admit there is some truth to this. I think it's definitely a minor issue, though.Aero. Here we go, this is a HUGE one for me. Aero features and glass actually HELPED me see the various screen elements. Windows 8's flat light-grey scroll bars on white backgrounds are VERY difficult to see and utilize and they constitute a serious step BACKWARDS in functionality and user experience.
flip-mode wrote:I inadvertently clicked instead of right-clicked the icon. A big grey panel slid out from the right side of the screen - and this seems to be standard behavior and not just what happens when there's a network problem. This big grey panel is titled "Networks" and has a heading called "Connections" and then lists your network connections. The thing is: it's totally useless. Clicking or right-clicking on anything listed in the panel does absolutely NOTHING.
flip-mode wrote:OK, about backup: well, I think it's stupidly stupid. Windows 8 "backup" is called "File History" and details can be found here:
http://www.howtogeek.com/123713/how-win ... indows-7s/
The way it's set up is so inconceivably dumb to me that I can't find adequately disapproving words. The big problem with it is this: it ONLY BACKS UP FILES THAT ARE ADDED TO LIBRARIES. That is level 10 ridiculous. It's not a deal breaker, but it's just so dumb that I have to rant about it because I'm the ranting type. See, I personally hate Libraries. I hate the feature. I've disabled the feature on Windows 7 from day one. Unfortunately, Microsoft has inserted the "feature" even deeper into the core of Windows 8 such that in Windows 8 the feature cannot be disabled, as far as I can tell, and seeing how the "File History" system works that makes sense. But the whole affair - File History and Libraries - is so stupid. Thankfully, "Windows 7 Backup" is still an available feature and is what I'm using to backup all of my files, which I happen to keep on a second disk (and everything - boot disk and file disk - gets backup up to a 3rd disk; this arrangement has proved useful to me).
flip-mode wrote:I love the Task Manager. I love it. It's great. The coolness of the Task Manager alone can nearly balance out the other nit-picks that I've been mentioning.
Ryu Connor wrote:Hmm... I must have mis-clicked before because I swear I tried right clicking.Right click the listed networks and it will ask you to turn sharing on or off. If you have a Wi-Fi adapter it adds additional functionality.
That how to geek article is wrong. File History is not the backup replacement for Windows 8, it is the replacement for previous versions aka shadow copies that were available in Windows 7 Pro, Enterprise, and Ultimate. That is why it is limited to only the libraries.
flip-mode wrote:File History is presented as the primary backup service. So it was labeled as Shadow Copy before, but I don't see how that's supposed to matter; it's now been promoted to the primary means of backup, while "Windows 7 File Recovery" has ostensibly been demoted to "see also" status. Regardless of semantics, it's nonsensical to me that the primary backup system as presented by the OS is limited to working with Library data.
Regarding HowtoGeek's report that this was changed because so few people used backup, ha!, this changes nothing! People aren't going to suddenly take to doing backups because the name changed. The reason people don't use backup is because of cost (of a second drive) and effort (of configuring the service) and awareness (that backups are even necessary in the first place and are, in fact, so darn important to do).
sschaem wrote:If the only neat thing in windows8 is the updated task manager, go install this on windows7
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... 96653.aspx
l33t-g4m3r wrote:flip-mode wrote:I love the Task Manager. I love it. It's great. The coolness of the Task Manager alone can nearly balance out the other nit-picks that I've been mentioning.
I know I mentioned this before, but Process Explorer. It doesn't really balance out anything, and not having Aero sucks. Metro can be disabled, but I still haven't seen a hack to give you Aero back. If you're using a SSD, there isn't much reason for upgrading past 7, unless you really care about all the minor underlying stuff, which IMO is negligible at best. (when's the last time you actually had any malware? I haven't since XP32.) I'll likely never use any of the extras, plus some of it sounds really half-baked. The only pro is price, which might be worth avoiding just to send Microsoft a message.
IMO, Microsoft will eventually be forced to backport 8's security features due to the majority of it's userbase sticking to 7. Corporate users will put the pressure on them, and that'll be what get's it done.
MadManOriginal wrote:So the only thing Aero has that isn't in Win 8 is transparent window borders. I think that's part of the reason for the streamlined window borders and 'controls' (scroll bar.) I've seen other people mention missing Aero (btw - flashbacks to XP 'omg I hate Luna, give me classic!' lol) but since the only thing missing is window border transparency, is it even worth mentioning?
l33t-g4m3r wrote:IMO, Microsoft will eventually be forced to backport 8's security features due to the majority of it's userbase sticking to 7. Corporate users will put the pressure on them, and that'll be what get's it done.
Savyg wrote:l33t-g4m3r wrote:IMO, Microsoft will eventually be forced to backport 8's security features due to the majority of it's userbase sticking to 7. Corporate users will put the pressure on them, and that'll be what get's it done.
Yeah like they were forced to backport DX10 and IE9 to XP?
That sure happened.
(My XP loving idiot/friend is absolutely convinced MS will never be able to let XP die because everyone is still using it...heh)
l33t-g4m3r wrote:[
Two different things. DX10 requires Vista's driver model which isn't available in XP. IE is a joke, and totally unnecessary. Use firefox. Also, OpenGL is platform independent, and dx11 level effects can run on XP through OpenGL, provided your game supports it. Either way, XP-32 is dead from a memory support standpoint, and should be upgraded for that reason alone. But your friend is right, being that console games are generally all dx9, and 32 bit software is still the norm. XP will still be around for quite a while, and so will 7.
willyolio wrote:the single thing that has completely put me off windows 8 is the fact that you can't split windows 50-50. or really any combination other than the preset 25/75. i still haven't figured out how to open 3 windows at once in any combination. googled around and it looks like 50/50 is just impossible. oh well.
having multiple windows open at once is the entire reason for using some kind of windowed operating system. the automatic 50/50 was the best feature of windows 7 that i actually use every single time my machine is booted.
seems like even the full desktop version of windows 8 is still made for tablets. it will quite honestly slow me down in my work.