Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions

[harrisjl82]

It's been a very long time since I posted here and if my old account still exists it must be tied to a long dead email. But on a oddly similar vein has anyone noticed Google beginning to make their products thematically similar to Win8?

Google Play is getting redesigned and in my opinion looks very similar to the Modern UI in some respects.

http://www.zdnet.com/google-rolls-out-new-media-focused-design-for-google-play-store-7000013760/

Also Chromes most recent update has big blocky menus now that are overly similar to Win8. Is this a sign that Google is trying to accommodate MS or do UI devs really think that this is the best way for things to look on high def screens?

Edited April 11, 2013 by harrisjl82

[Formfiller]

http://www.neowin.net/news/the-idc-report-gone-astray-is-microsoft-really-at-fault#comment-2164293

Another Apologist Neowin windows 8 article. Windows 8 is a crap OS and offer no significant improvement to windows 7 rather than bloatware metro crap. One of the question asked is why lenevo is doing well then the answer is because Leveno is selling windows 7 preinstalled on most of the computer and bundling windows 8 dvd in case. There has been article on neowin or some other news forum stating this fact. Business in UK are demanding windows 7 and Lenevo is catering those demands by providing what people need. Windows 8 is a huge flop and no matter how people spin off things but it will remain flop.

Of course, no metrotard in sight commenting that post.. Well, except some lame remark by Dot Matrix, since he gets paid per word count.

Meanwhile, more comedy:

http://www.neowin.net/news/the-idc-report-gone-astray-is-microsoft-really-at-fault#comment-2164421

I agree. The OEM's are doing a Vista again. They didn't like Vista nd they don't like Windows 8 and they show it by offering poor hardware support. I thought they learned there lesson when they lost so much money with Vista. WHich is why they jumped on Windows 7 to get back some of what they lost.

There is nothing wrong with Windows 8. It was yes like Vista a ratical change from the norm. All the OEM's had to do was ramp up production on touchscreens so the price goes down, that way laptops and desktops with Windows 8 could have remianed the same price. But no! They all had ot act like a bunch of spoiled losers. Since production of the screens wasnt very high and no one was ordering that many, there was no reasn to drop cost. A touchscreen pc cost $300 more than the same one without. Showing that an increase in production could have easily halved the cost or eliminated the cost.

That's officially the dumbest conspiracy theory of all time.

Edited April 11, 2013 by Formfiller

[JorgeA]

Pathetic bul***** from Neowin as usual:

http://www.neowin.net/news/the-idc-report-gone-astray-is-microsoft-really-at-fault

At what point do we stop blaming Microsoft and start blaming the vendors who failed to capitalize on the true value of Windows 8? Microsoft does not make a laptop or a desktop, but only a tablet (which the IDC does not appear to count in its calculations), so for an item to sell, it requires a vendor to build desirable products using Microsoft’s software. If there are few desirable products on the market, then the market will contract, as consumers have no reason to spend their disposable income.

The IDC took a slanted view to the numbers it was seeing and tried to justify them by only looking at one side of the equation. The market is a complex arena of vendors of hardware and software and if one party comes up short, then the entire ecosystem will suffer. But to point the finger only at Microsoft when Lenovo bucked that trend seems a bit biased and reckless by the IDC.

Thanks for continuing to fill us in on the Neowin Follies!

The argument above makes no sense. Exactly what new hardware does that poster think would "capitalize on the true value of Windows 8"? Desktop PCs with touch? Laptops with touch? Well, they're out there already, and they're hardly setting the world on fire.

Anybody with a brain can figure out that this "touch" thing (the salient new feature in Win8, for whose sake the Metro abomination was conceived) is awkward and bound to get real tiring real fast. And anybody with a hand will figure it out soon enough afterward. Moreover, due to the touch feature the hardware is more expensive. So, we have the following formula:

"Unnecessary feature to be used when you want sore muscles" + "more expensive hardware to accommodate said feature"

which hardly adds up to a winning combination. What's so difficult about this to understand?

Metrotards are running wild & crazy!

http://www.neowin.net/news/idc-pc-shipments-down-139-for-the-first-quarter-blames-windows-8#comment-2163505

Only reason OEMs are screaming for fixes, is because of people like you who are spamming threads like this and the entire internet with "WINDOWS 8 SUCKS" while having no clue what the hell you are talking about.

The changes are much, much less radical then from MSDOS to Windows 1/2/3 or from 3.11 to 95.

Mainly because THE DESKTOP IS STILL INTACT. The button is gone, few new features are added (please take good note of the word added) and the Start menu has been combined with the Desktop into a Start Screen (Both functionalities have been with us on Windows for almost 2 decades now, and the only thing they basically did... is combine it).

Barking up the wrong tree. What matters isn't whether the changes are "radical," but whether they make things better or worse, easier or harder, more powerful or less powerful.

In the case of Windows 8, we know that the Start Screen lacks certain features of the Start Menu (such as "Recent Items") and that, if you open it, it obscures everything on the Desktop. Also, by default, Internet Explorer from the Start Screen lands the user in the feature desert of Metro IE. Moreover, when scanning the program listings it's visually easier to read a column of short lines closely packed in the corner (as in the Start Menu), than to read several rows of spread-out tiles of different sizes all across the monitor screen. These changes (among others) make the Start Screen less powerful and harder to use than the Start Menu, which boils down to a worse experience.

You would think they have been raised in North Korea.

LOL

They have no idea how a market works. Even if what this tard says would be true, fact is that these "additions" p*** many people off, and thus hobble sales. This means that these additons must be removed or made optional.

+1000

--JorgeA

EDIT: tweaks

Edited April 11, 2013 by JorgeA

[JorgeA]

You can still buy Windows 7.. so if windows 8 is so bad and this rumor is true, why isn't windows 7 saving the market?

That guy apparently hasn't tried walking into (for example) a chain retailer and asking to buy a PC with Windows 7 on it. They're not set up to do that.

This may change if Win8 continues to do poorly -- either the retailers will offer the option, or PCs will arrive at the store with Win7 on it or at least an "upgrade" disk as happened with Vista vs. XP. (Last year I bought at retail a PC built in 2009 that came with XP pre-installed but also Vista installation DVDs.) But that's not the case at present, so Windows 7 can't save the market.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

It's been a very long time since I posted here and if my old account still exists it must be tied to a long dead email. But on a oddly similar vein has anyone noticed Google beginning to make their products thematically similar to Win8?

Google Play is getting redesigned and in my opinion looks very similar to the Modern UI in some respects.

http://www.zdnet.com/google-rolls-out-new-media-focused-design-for-google-play-store-7000013760/

Also Chromes most recent update has big blocky menus now that are overly similar to Win8. Is this a sign that Google is trying to accommodate MS or do UI devs really think that this is the best way for things to look on high def screens?

Welcome to the discussion!

Yes, tablet-oriented interfaces are all the rage now and lots of websites and applications are moving in that direction. I can think of the newest versions of Avast and Norton 360, for example -- they, too, have big gaudy buttons and tons of wasted screen space. Nice for those who use tablets, but it does make things harder (and uglier) for the hundreds of millions of us who do our work or surf the Web on decent-sized screens.

--JorgeA

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Samsung Galaxy Mega - 6.3” in the palm of your hand ( NeoWin 2013-04-11 )

Your Phablet Looks Small Next to Samsung's Galaxy Mega ( Maximum PC 2013-04-11 )

Samsung intros Galaxy Mega 5.8 and 6.3 phones, coming next month ( TechSpot 2013-04-11 )

Samsung Galaxy Mega Details Official ( Tom's Hardware 2013-04-11 )

Here we go again. Commenters at NeoWin and elsewhere saying how ridiculous this is! God forbid manufacturers explore all the form factors between big and small. God forbid there are humans with bigger hands than the little girls posting at NeoWin. I wonder if they think that cellular links on laptops are also bad? One wonders what they would say if Microsoft made something in this size? hmmm, let's see ...

Microsoft launching a 7-inch Surface later this year, says WSJ ( TechSpot 2013-04-11 )

WSJ: Microsoft is Planning a 7-inch Surface Tablet ( Tom's Hardware 2013-04-11 )

Microsoft working on a 7-inch Surface tablet, says WSJ ( The Verge 2013-04-11 )

... Hold-on a minute! Seven inch you say? Isn't that too big! As soon as NeoWin covers this story we'll get to see some backtracking from the commenters mentioned above or will we?

Nokia was designing a kickstand-enabled tablet before Microsoft released Surface ( NeoWin 2013-04-11 )

Ruh, roh. Take a look at the pictures at the link and decide for yourself if Microsoft ripped this off. I don't see much doubt, unless of course Nokia just handed it to them. I imagine we'll see how this develops later.

Messenger Now Officially Retired, Merged With Skype ( Tom's Hardware 2013-04-11 )

Phewww! It's a good thing that they got the Skype replacement up and running and working flawlessly! Oh wait a minute, never mind ...

• How Microsoft lets the Chinese government spy on its citizens via Skype ( NeoWin 2013-03-08 )
  
• Microsoft enables China to spy on Skype users via keyword triggers ( TechSpot 2013-03-08 )
  
• FBI: Monitoring Skype and Gmail are "top priority" in 2013 ( NeoWin 2013-03-27 )
  
• The Skype debacle: What's happening to my messages? ( NeoWin 2013-04-04 )
  
• Bitcoin mining malware spreading on Skype ( ComputerWorld 2013-04-05 )
  
• Malware spread on Skype taps victim PCs to mint bitcoins ( Ars Technica 2013-04-05 )
  
• New Bitcoin mining malware spreading on Skype at 2,000 clicks per hour ( NeoWin 2013-04-06 )
  
• Bitcoin-mining trojan spreading through Skype spam, Kaspersky warns ( Tom's Hardware 2013-04-08 )
  

Windows Update bug renders some Win7 PCs unbootable in Brazil ( TechSpot 2013-04-11 )

Windows 7 update bug is causing machines in Brazil to enter reboot-loop ( NeoWin 2013-04-11 )

Microsoft pulls the plug on buggy security update ( TechSpot 2013-04-12 )

Microsoft: Please Avoid Security Update KB2823324 ( Tom's Hardware 2013-04-12 )

Microsoft pulls one of its new software security updates ( NeoWin 2013-04-12 )

Ruh roh. This is gonna look like a pre-meditated attack on Windows 7, especially if it goes worldwide. It most likely isn't pre-meditated, but the fact that the thought ever crossed our minds tells you something about the state of affairs with Microsoft. The point is that almost nothing now is unbelievable. No rumor can be simply discounted. No benefit-of-the-doubt is possible. And why is that? Because since the Vista apocalypse Microsoft has been acting like a petulant child. They have been unprofessional and even vindictive ( witness the removal of Start Menu resources from Windows 8 Blew which is vindictive and intentional ). The post-WinXP Nu-Microsoft has done this to themselves. And I see no way for them to extricate themselves from this mess.

EDIT: typo, added article(s)

Edited April 13, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[JorgeA]

Windows Update bug renders some Win7 PCs unbootable in Brazil ( TechSpot 2013-04-11 )

Windows 7 update bug is causing machines in Brazil to enter reboot-loop ( NeoWin 2013-04-11 )

Ruh roh. This is gonna look like a pre-meditated attack on Windows 7, especially if it goes worldwide. It most likely isn't pre-meditated, but the fact that the thought ever crossed our minds tells you something about the state of affairs with Microsoft. The point is that almost nothing now is unbelievable. No rumor can be simply discounted. No benefit-of-the-doubt is possible. And why is that? Because since the Vista apocalypse Microsoft has been acting like a petulant child. They have been unprofessional and even vindictive ( witness the removal of Start Menu resources from Windows 8 Blew which is vindictive and intentional ). The post-WinXP Nu-Microsoft has done this to themselves. And I see no way for them to extricate themselves from this mess.

Well, they could start respecting their customers and customer choice. Then again, pigs could fly and h*ll could freeze over...

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Windows Update bug renders some Win7 PCs unbootable in Brazil ( TechSpot 2013-04-11 )

Windows 7 update bug is causing machines in Brazil to enter reboot-loop ( NeoWin 2013-04-11 )

Ruh roh. This is gonna look like a pre-meditated attack on Windows 7, especially if it goes worldwide. It most likely isn't pre-meditated, but the fact that the thought ever crossed our minds tells you something about the state of affairs with Microsoft. The point is that almost nothing now is unbelievable. No rumor can be simply discounted. No benefit-of-the-doubt is possible. And why is that? Because since the Vista apocalypse Microsoft has been acting like a petulant child. They have been unprofessional and even vindictive ( witness the removal of Start Menu resources from Windows 8 Blew which is vindictive and intentional ). The post-WinXP Nu-Microsoft has done this to themselves. And I see no way for them to extricate themselves from this mess.

Well, they could start respecting their customers and customer choice. Then again, pigs could fly and h*ll could freeze over...

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Awareness of Windows 8's depressive effect on PC sales continues to spread:

How Bad Is the PC Market? Analysts Count the Ways.

Shaw Wu, analyst with Sterne Agee, placed at least some of the blame for the market’s poor performance at Microsoft’s door. “We frankly believe Microsoft’s strategy of forcing user interface changes that nobody wants has proven to be a disaster,” he wrote in a note issued today. “Not to mention the customer confusion with too many choices with multiple form factors.” He now expects the PC market to contract in 2013 by 5 percent, down further from his earlier 2 percent guidance.

(emphasis added)

--JorgeA

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

The IDC report gone astray, is Microsoft really at fault? ( NeoWin 2013-04-11 )

Gartner not as fast to blame Windows 8 for PC shipment drops ( NeoWin 2013-04-11 )

At what point do we stop blaming Microsoft and start blaming the vendors who failed to capitalize on the true value of Windows 8? Microsoft does not make a laptop or a desktop, but only a tablet (which the IDC does not appear to count in its calculations), so for an item to sell, it requires a vendor to build desirable products using Microsoft’s software. If there are few desirable products on the market, then the market will contract, as consumers have no reason to spend their disposable income.

( these were mentioned by Formfiller earlier ) The quote is from the first NeoWin article. An Editorial written by the infamous Brad "The next person who says that Windows 8 is the next Vista deserves to be shot, twice" Sams. Both articles are attempts to dampen the bad news seen in their earlier story: IDC: PC shipments down 13.9% for the first quarter, blames Windows 8. You can feel the tension as the scope of the Windows 8 fail slowly comes into focus now.

Microsoft's stock takes a hit after analyst issues 'sell' recommendation ( NeoWin 2013-04-11 )

Microsoft Drops on Goldman Says PC Share Falling ( Bloomberg 2013-04-11 )

Nothing like a little reality check to make the blood run cold. You know this has got to really hurt the MicroZealots because it is one of those things they have no control over. That feeling of helplessness of having their fate resting in someone else's hands. Being at the mercy of outside forces. The tension is palpable.

EA Lands ''Worst Company In America'' Award Again ( Tom's Hardware 2013-04-09 )

EA undergoes layoffs ( PC Gamer 2013-04-11 )

EA Lays Off 300 in Montreal Studio ( Tom's Hardware 2013-04-11 )

EA cleans house at Montreal studio, most staff members laid off ( TechSpot 2013-04-12 )

Speaking of reality checks. MicroZealots, here's a glimpse at the future! An example of another company that really ticks off its user base.

• I'm done. I want my money back. ( EA Forums 2013-03-06 )
  
• EA refuses to refund user for SimCity, threatens account ban ( GameChip 2013-03-07 )
  
• Column: EA Should Feel Ashamed About SimCity's DRM ( Maximum PC 2013-03-08 )
  
• Maxis address SimCity launch, offer free EA game to get “back in your good graces” ( PC Gamer 2013-03-09 )
  
• EA Patches SimCity and Throws Free Games at Disgruntled Customers ( Maximum PC 2013-03-10 )
  
• EA Not Banning Consumers Wanting Refunds for SimCity ( Tom's Hardware 2013-03-10 )
  
• SimCity connection troubles “almost behind us”; offline mode “not possible” ( PC Gamer 2013-03-11 )
  
• SimCity can be played offline indefinitely ( TechSpot 2013-03-14 )
  
• Play SimCity Offline? There's a Mod For That ( Tom's Hardware 2013-03-14 )
  
• Maxis Insider Says Taking SimCity Offline Not Too Difficult ( Tom's Hardware 2013-03-14 )
  
• Modder hacks SimCity for unlimited offline play ( UK Register 2013-03-14 )
  
• Maxis: SimCity could have had “a subset offline mode” but the idea was rejected ( PC Gamer 2013-03-15 )
  
• Maxis admits SimCity could have had an offline mode ( TechSpot 2013-03-18 )
  
• These are the Free Games EA is Giving Out for SimCity Fiasco ( Tom's Hardware 2013-03-18 )
  
• EA "Sincerely" Apologizes for SimCity Fiasco, Offers One of Eight Games for Free ( Maximum PC 2013-03-18 )
  
• EA Boss John Riccitiello Resigns Following SimCity Debacle ( Maximum PC 2013-03-19 )
  
• Origin vulnerability lets attackers hijack gaming machines ( TechSpot 2013-03-19 )
  
• Origin browser protocol exploit shown to execute malicious software with a single click ( PC Gamer 2013-03-19 )
  
• EA provides candid response to its nomination as “The Worst Company in America” ( PC Gamer 2013-04-05 )
  
• EA Promises Not To Be Worst Company Ever ( Tom's Hardware 2013-04-05 )
  
• EA Lands ''Worst Company In America'' Award Again ( Tom's Hardware 2013-04-09 )
  
• EA undergoes layoffs ( PC Gamer 2013-04-11 )
  
• EA Lays Off 300 in Montreal Studio ( Tom's Hardware 2013-04-11 )
  

EDIT: added article(s)

Edited April 13, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

The real reasons to blame Windows 8 for plummeting PC sales ( PC World 2013-04-11 )

Here is another attempted rationalization of the IDC and Gartner stories, shamelessly pro-Microsoft, but a MEGA-FAIL if there ever was one The writer says stuff like: "Don't hate Windows 8" ( naturally ) and "Blame Microsoft's great deal" ( $39 upgrade stifled PC purchases! ) and more. His nonsense doesn't fly though, and the brilliant commenters take the author apart like skilled surgeons. A Hall Of Fame epic thread thus far. I don't normally quote this much from a single place, but this is one necessary exception. Check these folks out ...

Clearly, this article was written for the purpose of distracting from the truth: Windows 8 stinks. What IDC indicated, that Windows 8 is responsible for a PC slump, is correct. Even your own analysis proves it.

The desktop mode is “not” nearly identical to Windows 7. There are numerous documented cases where, after going to Dekstop mode, the OS still behaves in a schizophrenic manner, yanking the user when least expected, and misbehaving with some applications.

If it were true that a consumer was going to buy a new PC without regard for OS, then Dell would not be re-selling Windows 7. On October 26th, 2012, Dell abruptly stopped selling Windows 7 machines. We begged and begged for Windows 7 option. They said yes, for business use, no for personal use. I asked them if this was policy, and they said yes. Exactly one month ago, started offering Windows 7 again on their mainstream consumer PC’s, against Microsoft’s wishes, precisely because users told them that they would not buy computers without Windows 7. The other OEM’s are starting to follow suit. If you look at Dell's web site, you will see that there is a 3-week delay for Windows 7 machines. This is because the motherboards are being shipped from USA, BACK to China, to have Windows 8 UEFI-BIOS code removed, then brought back to Texas and Tennessee to be made Windows 7 ready.

It is not true, generally, that one needs a new machine to run new hardware. Gigabit Ethernet adapters run fine on machines that are over 10 years old. So do graphics cards. New hardware typically interfaces with a bus of some kind, and buses change very slowly, by deliberate design.

By your reasoning that Windows 8 is so cheap that it was better to just get Windows 8 and skip buying a whole PC, there should have been a huge number of people buying Windows 8 only, roughly the same number that would have bought a PC, perhaps even more since the budget hit would be significantly less. There is documented proof that no such thing happened.

Regarding tablets, again, you contradict your own analysis. You are implying that customers opted to get Windows 8 instead of buying a new PC, and some of them opted to get tablets instead of computers. But there is clear documentation that, not only did customers not buy Windows 8 software only, but sales of tablets running Windows 8 has been anemic.

The fact that Windows 8 deployment itself, all-around, is very low, relative to the number of people that should have been buying Windows-8-equipped PC’s over the last quarter, is proof that the problem really is Windows 8.

This last fact is indisputable: Windows 8 itself has not been well-received.From this fact, everything else follows, making the IDC report correct.

ah, Tony, yet another apologia for MS. to hide the plain truth that soon even you will not be able to avoid:

for the consumer market, the Windows era is ending.

it's over already. consumers never really did need and don't need today a full desktop OS. it was just the only thing available until tablets/smartphones.

the enterprise market still remains. MS can still be #1 there. but overall PC sales will drop to about 50% of the peak two years ago. and nothing - nothing - can stop that.

Windows 8 IS the real reason for the slump in PC buying. It's ugly. The Modern UI is so ugly, the point of "live" tiles is lost, when you can't stand to look at the screen itself....

I hate the lack of the 3d aero glass look...

I want Media Center to be a part of it... not an addon...

Touch interface? I have a 40" monitor... I can't touch it from where I sit...

I'll never go back to a smaller screen...

Given the choice between touch and larger screen... The money goes to a larger screen... Hell, even 3d makes more sense... Certainly better than turning my big screen into a dirty, scummy fingerprint collection...

Even better... think of small children and touchscreens... food smears, dirt, snot... or perhaps hitting it with a toy... Yeah, good plan....

Modern UI? I see no purpose to it... Of the few Apps that might be of use, I have better programs that run in the desktop...

Xbox? I don't...

Adverts in the Apps? Sorry, not happening...

Conserving resources? Give me a break... I have a very powerful computer I built and paid for... I don't need to conserve anything... give me my aero back...

Faster? I boot Windows 7 from an SSD is 7 to 9 seconds... am I really going to see much better? Am i going to care?

People can go ahead and blame the economy, the weather, The Mayan Calendar and comets for he slump in PC sales... but the fact is, It is Windows 8 that is the elephant in the room... We ALL know it's an epic fail.

We said this months ago...

But too often, bloggers, reviewers etc are afraid of offending the great and powerful Microsoft.

Despite that failing economy, Mayans and comets etc, I still bought a couple of Andoid tablets... and one for a friend... and I just upgraded to a newer Android phone...

I have a spare computer, I put Windows 7 on it too... I also considered Linux... I could have put Windows 8 on it... but I didn't...

"Windows 8 runs well on older hardware and was offered at a bargain price" - well, then shouldn't upgrade sales be better (even much better) than they were with Windows 7? And....is that what we see? No- then your premise is as dysfunctional as is Windows 8.

I bought six machines since November; and, four more copies of XP Pro OS new, which I was lucky to get, as the usual price for it was twice its initial price, and the supplies were dwindling, fast. In Amazon, it's really hard to get it, now.

I specifically did that, to AVOID Windows 8 for the future. So this article is sheer poppycock, as many others just like me, did the same thing. Notice the sales prices of Windows 7 machines and OS versus Windows 8, and you'll see that the demand for the older stuff, is high.

We came, we saw, we avoided. MS crossed the Rubicon this time, and we came to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

Having seen the PC World site for several months, it is very clear that there is a substantial bias towards Microsoft and their products. I strongly suspect MS contributes substantial advertising revenue, or has a financial state in the PC World organisation. Otherwise how can you possibly explain the incredible stupidity in this article and others of the same ilk?

Personally I think Microsoft is on crack if they thinking that Windows is going to succeed. They created a standard that was easier to use back with Windows 95, and they kept evolving into what was great easy to use with Windows 7. Now if they could make it so that you could have a dedicated desktop mode or a dedicated touch UI would make things so much easier, and have it so that you could run the same app from both. I can understand the tie in with xbox.

These is why when people ask what they should get when upgrading from Windows XP I tell them Windows 7. Here's why. It's doesn't have a huge learning curve, and it's easy to get up to speed since most of it is still longtime Windows users. I'll also mentions using Linux (something like Linux Mint, or Kubuntu). I don't understand why Microsoft is trying to force users to one UI that isn't that great to use on the desktop.

If someone is willing to make the leap away from Windows because of all the crap that M$ is making I say make the jump since there are options, and are just as good if not better to use ie... Linux or OSX.

I am a small Microsoft shareholder so the share prices do not bother me though I hope it went up like Apples'.

I could not believe the blunders Microsoft made over and over again in the last 13 years.

I have 3 computers, 2 are still on XP and 1, reluctantly, on 7. XP is by far better OS than 7 overall. I have been trying to use the 7 machine as my main computer but when I am on business I always go back to XP. The newer 2007 Office also stinks so I kept going back to 2003 versions.

My question, how can a company with so many resources can make products that customers do not want? How many stupid executives who are making millions a year can there be?

And forget about the Windows 8, I wrote off my Microsoft shares to zero. I just don't know what they are drinking in Seattle.

Not just MS, but Adobe, Corel, Cyberlink, Symantec -- so many of the big houses who once made great software products, now produce garbage. Google too -- Youtube used to be great, so too Gmail and Google's Blogger. Now all are afflicted with this change mania, as if staying pat with what works, were bad.

It's scary. Every decline in civilization is preceded with such a mania. It usually manifests itself in more and more micro-managing of laws, more complex architecture, more fervid music and dance, basic 'flow' of incessantly added complexities in the name of 'better'. Same for fashion, more and more complex and weird styles. Same for religion. Simplicity goes by the wayside.

The only thing that gets simpler, is language: the people get dumber and dumber, so language deteriorates into grunts and swear words. It's positively frightening, that the average commenter in a video or forum cannot spell, compose a good sentence, paste quotes properly, or articulate thought.

So that's why MS and the others can be so blind, deaf, dumb. The Board of Directors must be also. Or else, NOT PAYING ATTENTION.

There's a bell curve to improvement. Go beyond a certain level, and instead of making things better, it gets worse. That's where we are now.

EDIT: formatting

Edited April 12, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[jaclaz]

Any idea if there is anything even slightly respecting actual facts in this? :

If you look at Dell's web site, you will see that there is a 3-week delay for Windows 7 machines. This is because the motherboards are being shipped from USA, BACK to China, to have Windows 8 UEFI-BIOS code removed, then brought back to Texas and Tennessee to be made Windows 7 ready.

If there is, then - as said earlier - humanity is really doomed.

jaclaz

[Formfiller]

It's so pathetic that the comments are in most cases far better than the actual articles by professional journalists (the only exception is when the article is anti-W8, then an army of babbling metrotards appears)

Anyway, in a few days Microsoft has to disclose their financial numbers. Everything points to sucky W8 sales, - what will they do? Cooking up the numbers would generate some outrage. All analyst data and OS stats data would counter their numbers.

On the other hand, Microsoft is *so* insane with Windows 8, I just can't imagine that they would admit defeat. Frankly, given their crazy behavior, I would rather expect some Enron-esque number cooking.

What do you think?

[Tripredacus]

Any idea if there is anything even slightly respecting actual facts in this? :

If you look at Dell's web site, you will see that there is a 3-week delay for Windows 7 machines. This is because the motherboards are being shipped from USA, BACK to China, to have Windows 8 UEFI-BIOS code removed, then brought back to Texas and Tennessee to be made Windows 7 ready.

If there is, then - as said earlier - humanity is really doomed.

jaclaz

That one threw me for a loop as well. I can't even imagine what kind of "code" they could be referring to here... except for Secure Boot. I can't imagine that would be true, especially if they need to ship the boards to some other place to be re-manufactured physically and not fix something with a BIOS update.

[JorgeA]

It's so pathetic that the comments are in most cases far better than the actual articles by professional journalists (the only exception is when the article is anti-W8, then an army of babbling metrotards appears)

Anyway, in a few days Microsoft has to disclose their financial numbers. Everything points to sucky W8 sales, - what will they do? Cooking up the numbers would generate some outrage. All analyst data and OS stats data would counter their numbers.

On the other hand, Microsoft is *so* insane with Windows 8, I just can't imagine that they would admit defeat. Frankly, given their crazy behavior, I would rather expect some Enron-esque number cooking.

What do you think?

Cooking the books would be playing with fire, but it wouldn't surprise me if they tried some heavy spin (without actual lying) to make things look good, as with the "60 million licenses" claim.

--JorgeA