Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions

[Formfiller]

Neowin fanwhores:

http://www.techbroil.com/2013/05/xbox-done.html?showComment=1369405586667#c1258092000164490250

[JorgeA]

Xbox One making fans already:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/wii-u-sales-boost-following-xbox-one-reveal/0116135

"Sales of the Wii U have rocketed on Amazon.co.uk in the days following Microsoft's Xbox One reveal.

As spotted by Nintendo Life, last night the Wii U Premium machine had climbed from 243rd in the retailer's 'Movers and Shakers' list to 50th, with sales increasing 386 per cent.

At the time of writing the same SKU is sitting in 51st, up from 160th, with a sales increase of 213 per cent.

Sales of Wii accessories such as the Sensor Bar, charging docks and WiiMotes have also climbed significantly.

There's no way to tell if the boost is merely temporary or whether there will be a wider and more long-lasting uplift for the device, presumably amidst disillusionment with what Microsoft had to show on Tuesday."

LOL, it'll be interesting to see if the trend holds up. "Xbox One introduction leads to surge in Wii sales."

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Windows 8 Causes Dip in Microsoft Customer Satisfaction Rating ( Maximum PC 2013-05-23 )

Windows 8 hasn’t exactly been able to charm PC users off their feet and Microsoft’s latest ACSI rating seems to confirm as much, with the company’s customer satisfaction rating falling one point from last year’s score of 75 and as many as four points from the company’s best of 78, which it achieved in 2011.

A little more ...

“It seems clear that the release of Windows 8 did not give Microsoft a significant bump, as the release of Windows 7 did, nor did it dramatically lower customer satisfaction in a rather short time frame, as the release of Vista did," David VanAmburg, director of ACSI, told Computerworld.com, adding that if Microsoft’s rating does take a more serious pounding next year then Windows 8 will surely be the one to blame.

Some good comments down below the article.

Microsoft's consumer satisfaction rating is driven by the fact that most are using XP and Win7.

So few are using Win8 that it won't hurt M$ yet. It's only May and W8 has only been out 7 months. Furthermore the word is out that W8 is really bad and people are staying away from it. I recommend to any who ask to buy/build/or have built a PC with Win7.

When windows 8 came out I bought another copy of windows 7 ultimate and windows 7 pro and a copy of windows xp...

thank God I made alienware put windows 7 on my pc. I don't know what windows 8 users are bit*h!n' about. i'd rather serve three tours in Afghanistan than have metro on my pc!

--JorgeA

[jaclaz]

Even if (as @jaclaz has ably argued) we should be cutting that 100 million by up to one-half in order to account for licenses sold but not in use, then the average app download per "active" Win8 license is 5, which is still way below the averages for Android and iOS.

No matter how we cut it, it looks like Win8 is a real loser, failing even at its own game.

--JorgeA

Yes , but it's again not really a fair comparison.

iOS and Android may be competitors on a same market which includes tablets and smartphones.

To be fair the numbers of Windows Store should be more likely compared with sold Surfaces (or RT licenses) and with Windows Phone 8.

I mean, hard as it may seem to be understood by the good MS guys, there is the possibility that a lot of people use Windows 8 as a "serious" operating system, installed on a desktop and continue using the same software they used before under Windows 7, under Vista or Windows XP, i.e. (hopefully) "good" software and not the senseless apps theat are present on the Windows Store.

One example for all:

http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/windowsexperience/archive/2013/04/05/app-roundup-back-to-the-drawing-board.aspx

Sketchbook Express

The Sketchbook Express app is a free version of AutoDesk Sketchbook Pro, a professional-grade drawing tool used by artists and graphic designers (The Pro version is currently available only as a desktop app for Windows, so you can't currently get it in the Store).

Anyone actually *needing* such an app would probably have the Pro Version already (or get a copy of it).

Another example (still form the same page):

Paint Drops

This app combines simple drawing with physics, for an activity that's creative and fun for kids of all ages. In addition to drawing straight and freeform lines, with Paint Drops (and Paint Drops Free), you can also add different ready-made shapes like flowers, leaves, or animals, as well as gears that turn.

http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/paint-drops/3CBDBF3F-054B-4749-A759-093C299B8705

You could do a quick poll among friends and relatives and see how many would pay even a trifling €1.19 for that kind of program.

An interesting thing (see above link) is that you can see the page on the Windows store allright, only you cannot get a listing of the apps if you are on a non-windows 8.

And (SCOOP!) this app is free :

http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/draw-free/1176f13e-466a-47f4-a134-eb6e6bdee622

BUT it is rated 12+ years old....

jaclaz

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Unfreakinbelievable. Did we see this before (maybe even from me, but it's been a busy day)? Apologies if we did see it already, but it may be worth repeating in light of recent posts up above.

Microsoft patent spies on consumers to enforce DRM

Yep, I posted something about that a while ago and made a graphic that covers it, thanks for reminding me ...

JPG approximately 305 KB stored at IMGUR. Feel free to use it at will. This is one of those critical junctures when a new precedent is either accepted without argument or fought. This one must be fought.

EDIT: changed image URL

Edited May 25, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[Formfiller]

Some fanboys on Channel9 are all hots about the second-hand restriction as well:

http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/How-and-why-is-it-OK-to-ban-second-hand-games/bb67e8ab867147c7a842a1c800f5f2fb

Edited May 24, 2013 by Formfiller

[Tripredacus]

How long have we had keyboards with Start buttons on them? How funny is it that it isn't until AFTER Microsoft removes the Start Menu that they decide to release a mouse with a Start button?

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/24/microsoft-debuts-new-sculpt-mice-with-windows-8-start-buttons

[JorgeA]

Some fanboys on Channel9 are all hots about the second-hand restriction as well:

http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/How-and-why-is-it-OK-to-ban-second-hand-games/bb67e8ab867147c7a842a1c800f5f2fb

So, if that guy tells friends or family about a good book, CD, or DVD, does he refuse to lend it to them with a lecture about how they should buy their own copies?? What do you think would be the first word to come to the friend's or relative's mind if he did that? (Hint: seven letters, starts with an "a". )

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

How long have we had keyboards with Start buttons on them? How funny is it that it isn't until AFTER Microsoft removes the Start Menu that they decide to release a mouse with a Start button?

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/24/microsoft-debuts-new-sculpt-mice-with-windows-8-start-buttons

It's VERY funny.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Yep, I posted something about that a while ago and made a graphic that covers it, thanks for reminding me ...

[...]

...This is one of those critical junctures when a new precedent is either accepted without argument or fought. This one must be fought.

Stunning work!

--JorgeA

Edited May 25, 2013 by JorgeA

[JorgeA]

The following article proposes several possible ways to save Windows tablets from commercial failure, but then systematically rules out all of them, except maybe one:

Why small screens won't cure Microsoft's Windows tablet blues

While diminutive displays are all the rage these days and Microsoft needs to be in that space to “stay” competitive, the shift to small screens doesn’t look like a panacea from where I’m standing. If anything, small Windows tablets will demand even more compromises than the other (already highly compromising) Windows 8 devices available today, because they’ll subject users to the double trouble of a frustrating desktop experience and the desert known as the Windows Store.

Small tablets aren’t the cure for Microsoft’s Windows tablet woes. The answer is apps, plain and simple. More apps. Better apps. Appealing, high-quality apps that distinguish themselves from the Android and Apple horde.

Microsoft is doing all it can to woo developers to its new-look Windows, but the effort hasn’t succeeded yet. Until it does—if it does—Windows tablets will never truly take off with consumers.

Hard to imagine which apps or what kind, exactly, could be offered in the Windows Store that would be all that different from what's available for Android and Apple.

The last, best hope (hybrid tablet/laptops, see the article linked to in the final paragraph) doesn't sound all that promising, either. Too bulky for a tablet, and too small a screen for a laptop.

--JorgeA

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Microsoft files complaint over XboxOne.com domain ( NeoWin 2013-05-24 )

Now isn't this rich. Two domains, XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net are gonna be taken away from a 3rd party by Microsoft. This isn't a typical squatting case either. The owner of the names registered these no later than December 2011, an eternity before the name "Xbox One" was a twinkle in Microsoft's eye. Furthermore, back in 2005 Microsoft registered XboxTwo.com but failed to reserve the other variations. Summary: another MicroFail along the lines of the Metro naming fiasco. Due to their disproportionate clout in tech matters we can guess just which way the "neutral" arbitration board will decide? In a saner world, customers and governments and juries and neutral arbitration committees would knock these megacorps down a few pegs whenever they got a chance rather than empowering them further.

US Staples stores currently selling 32 GB Surface RT for $399 ( NeoWin 2013-05-24 )

There you go. Six months later the Surface ReTard model is priced at $399 without the keyboard covers meaning that they just hit the sub-$500 price point finally with a keyboard. This is what many people said right here in this thread back on launch day. Unfortunately it is no longer launch day, that was six months ago. Back in the real world in May 2013 this orphan tablet might be sell-able at $199, maybe $299 all extras included. So good luck with this one.

Full ITC panel prevents Microsoft's Xbox 360 from being hit with import ban ( NeoWin 2013-05-24 )

"This is a win for Xbox customers and confirms our view that Google had no grounds to block our products."

Pot meet kettle. There were four patents that Microsoft infringed upon and that Google successfully used to block Xbox sales, now there are zero because the court says three of them were "standard-essential patents", Meanwhile Microsoft is hypocritically going after Android makers for infringing on some secret patent that they control, most likely related to file systems like exFAT. Naturally the MicroZealots cannot see the disconnect here. I expect another round of Karma to come around and bite Microsoft in their assets because that is what happens with bad karma.

Rumor: Better Bing integration coming with Windows 8.1 ( NeoWin 2013-05-24 )

No thank you. Whenever I see that BING desktop in the Windows Update list I barf a little and hide it from the customer. It's for their own good really. But now they want to intertwine it into all facets of the OS like some kind of Lymphomic Cancer. I can't help but think this also may become a future antitrust issue knowing how the courts seem to operate. You would think that Microsoft would have learned something from previous experience but it appears they have not. Microsoft is clearly in a bad way these days with regards to logic and common sense. They seem to have infinite ability to strike every obstacle and guard rail while driving down the road.

EDIT: typo

Edited May 26, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Will Xbox One talk back to you and let you play games remotely? ( NeoWin 2013-05-24 )

Told ya. Look at that Kinect poster above and now imagine the red HAL appearing on your giant TV screen ... "

"

More details on how the Xbox One will use cloud computing ( NeoWin 2013-05-24 )

Ars Technica has talked to Matt Booty, General Manager of Redmond Game Studios and Platforms, and we finally have more info on how the One will integrate with the cloud. Booty explains that certain graphical operations that require a lot of computing power but are not latency-sensitive could be offloaded to the cloud. Things like fluid and physics dynamics, graphical elements that don’t change a lot in the game etc, all of these could be dealt with by the cloud while your console is left to focus on the truly important and latency sensitive data, such as animations when you’re getting shot.

What we have here is the start of endless explanations trying to justify the use of the cloud for far more efficient local operations. They will do and say anything to rationalize this thing even though it makes no sense from any angle you look at it. Few games can saturate the abilities of a modern quad-core, let alone the eight-core in the NextBox ( okay, the rumors say that the cores will be radically slow ).

But here is what they are really saying ... games will be sabotaged by-design to utilize distant computational power rather than the local CPU which lies mere inches away from the output device. Only Microsoft could be expected to reimagine reality by redesigning and reversing the Client-Server paradigm to put processing in the cloud. Of course this is but a mere evolutionary half-step because they are afraid to make the whole step at once. The whole step is to have everything in the cloud and your retarded personal device ( Xbox, Laptop, Desktop, Phone, Tablet, ... whatever ) will be only an output device displaying what is processed upstream at servers under Microsoft control. George Orwell pick up the courtesy phone.

Report: Microsoft wants to sell 25m Surface tablets in 2014 fiscal year ( NeoWin 2013-05-24 )

Paul Thurrott writes on WinSuperSite that, according to an unnamed source that he claims "has proven reliable in recent weeks", Microsoft wants to sell a whopping 25 million Surface tablets during its next fiscal year.

The same article claims Microsoft is aiming to be the number one provider of tablets for the enterprise market in its next fiscal year, along with the number two seller of tablets to retail stores in the same time period. Microsoft will also reportedly seize any opportunity to try to get Surface products used in the educational market.

That last bit is the part that drives me nuts. If I could wave a magic wand and make all computers from schools disappear I would do it in a heartbeat. This actually started with Apple and later IBM. They have been milking the career underachievers in the education sector like cows for all their worth ever since the mid-1980's. The damaging part is that they have little to no need for computers except for perhaps book-keeping. None of the legends of the tech industry ever even saw a computer in school, that includes Gates and Allen and Jobs, and neither did I. Now they are present everywhere, and for what purpose? To teach kids how to use Word? Google? People need to start thinking outside the box and question why a single penny should be spent equipping schools with computers at all. Even if you are a parent, it''s a good question. If you are a homeowner it is a very very good question because it is we that get the bill, not the school administrators or politicians. This is a black hole of waste that gets more money flushed down the toilet everytime these companies release a new version of this or that. I for one, am tired of it.

EDIT: typo

Edited May 25, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Rumor: Microsoft and publishers to get money from Xbox One used game sales [update] ( NeoWin 2013-05-24 )

Microsoft: Reports about Xbox One used games "inaccurate and incomplete" ( NeoWin 2013-05-24 )

I was wondering how Microsoft could make this even worse. We knew the Xbox rumor of not using old games would be proved true, only die-hard fanboys doubted that one. There was hope they might emulate the PPC architecture in hardware or software but Microsoft failed here as well - no playing older games, period. But this is the lowest of all possible lows. They are literally going to try to monopolize and dominate the 3rd party resale aftermarket as well by taking yet another bite from the apple by cashing in on games that were already paid for once already. This is positively criminal and I hope the FTC and other alphabet agencies are ready to pounce this time. They will deserve everything that happens to them.

Apple's iOS 7 to be "black, white and flat all over" ( TechSpot 2013-05-24 )

More details emerge about Apple's "flat" UI plans for iOS 7 ( NeoWin 2013-05-24 )

It seems Apple has the equivalent of Steven Sinofsky working there, he even resembles the Windows Destroyer-in-Chief, his name is Jony Ive ...

... uncanny, right? Anyway, it is very hard to believe that Apple is dumb enough to directly copy Microsoft's retard style especially considering that is is almost universally despised. I don't know much about the internals of Apple except for other people's comments and it seems this hipster Jony Ive was a buddy of Steve Jobs and now that he died has a sort of free reign to screw things up. Not a great plan IMHO. I'll tell you what. Apple fans are loyal and the last thing you want to do is break that customer loyalty ( that would really be copying Microsoft ). But the iPhone is nothing if not consistent. Change that interface ( and even worse the Mac OSX ) and you are gonna have a real problem because the people using iPhones are not computer experts and expect things to be simple. Mark my words, a big change in the iPhone GUI will start a backlash the likes of which Apple is NOT equipped to understand. Now this is definitely still a rumor, and suspiciously like a rumor Microsoft might float to ease their own suffering, so we'll wait and see.

EDIT: typo

Edited May 25, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[jaclaz]

And all this time I thought that a statement (and particularly a statement issued in order to clarify something):

http://majornelson.com/2013/05/24/xbox-one-and-used-games-2/

Xbox One and used games

Over the past few days, we have been reading comments and message boards following the Xbox One announcement.

There are a few questions regarding used games.

I wanted to clarify and provide this official statement:

• The ability to trade in and resell games is important to gamers and to Xbox.
  
• Xbox One is designed to support the trade in and resale of games.
  
• Reports about our policies for trade in and resale are inaccurate and incomplete.
  
• We will disclose more information in the near future.
  

Larry Hyrb

should actually state something (non obvious) and possibly also clarify it, additionally an "official" statement is normally very carefully worded in order to be not easily mocked by anyone still using an independent brain.

Imagine Galileo Galilei :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei

providing this official statement:

Over the past few years we have been reading theories and reports about planets and stars moving across the sky.

There are a few questions about how exactly they move and the trajectories they follow.

I wanted to clarify and provide this official statement:

• Knowing how planets and stars move is important.
  
• Astronomy is designed to study and understand the behaviour of celestial bodies and their movements.
  
• Ptolemaeus is wrong and the Ptolemaic Model is inaccurate and incomplete.
  
• I will provide more details in the future.
  

He wouldn't have been probably processed for heresy , but surely he would have been promptly sent to an asylum for the demented .

jaclaz