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Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions

JorgeA

By JorgeA
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jaclaz

jaclaz

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So what?

You're completely missing the wider picture here.

Possibly, but you are clearly missing my point.

Windows 8 was evidently designed by the morons that designed it with an intended target.

That intended target is that of 5 years old (or grown up adults still with the reading abilities of a 5 years old), play-school like.

The people that were chosen by Lenovo to "remove the start screen" have evidently (from the kind of graphics - still VERY play-school like they use) the SAME 5 years old target AND they cannot even care to check what they write on one of the main pages of their site (and their pre-existing users who should have read that page evidently never did).

Hence, we can divide the intended target between:

  1. 5 years old that cannot read and are actually a bit retarded and actually like or are gullible enough to be induced to like the NCI
  2. 5 years old that also cannot read yet but are normally gifted of intelligence and don't like the NCI and weren't convinced to like it

Still 100% of intended target is that of 5 years old (or grown-ups with the same level of knowledge and capability to read).

Humanity is doomed. :(

jaclaz

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JorgeA

JorgeA

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Not again! Another rollback losing posts?

Yeah, I can think of at least one post that was lost from this thread: the one where you explained to me how to insert a video into a reply. (Thank you for that BTW, now I only wish I'd saved the information!)

Oh, wait. Didn't you have another set of long (and, as usual, fantastic) posts giving headlines and links from around the tech world on a variety of topics of interest to this thread?

And come to think of it, I may have lost did lose a post or two of my own. This has been happening so often lately that we're going to have to make saving our posts (in Notepad, Outlook, etc.) a regular part of the posting routine. Otherwise, it's very discouraging to spend time crafting a post and putting its elements together, and then having it vanish into thin air.

These problems with forum software may end up doing more damage to the Forum (in terms of traffic and membership) than any bad publicity, scandal, or badmouthing could hope to accomplish.

--JorgeA

EDIT: Figured out which posts of mine were lost during the latest Forum maintenance.

Edited by JorgeA
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JorgeA

JorgeA

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NSA employees spied on their lovers using eavesdropping programme

Of course. The temptation to misuse such enormous power is too difficult to resist, unless you have a philosophical objection to snooping on people -- in which case you wouldn't be working there in the first place. (Except for the occasional Snowden type who's willing to overturn his life for the sake of disclosing these outrages.) And who can poosibly think that the same isn't happening with people that the employees (or the managers and officials above them) might view as the political opposition?

And anyone who actually believes that this sort of thing is really happening only "about once a year," is a member of the target audience for Metro.

--JorgeA

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JorgeA

JorgeA

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Someone wrote a poem about Windows 8 (some language)

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?47616-I-Hate-Windows-8

That's pretty good! (Agreed about the language, but hey, it's very appropriate. :) )

I didn't know that...

When it needs to restart to install updates,

It's such a f***ing hassle,

I have to stop doing my work,

Because there is no way to cancel.

...unbelievable! Really? :huh:

--JorgeA

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jaclaz

jaclaz

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...unbelievable! Really? :huh:

Really :yes:.

But:

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/05/how-to-stop-windows-update-from-automatically-restarting-your-computer/

http://www.wikihow.com/Disable-Automatic-Reboot-After-Windows-Update

some of these should be able to work even on 8. :unsure:

And yes, this is windows 8 specific:

http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-stop-windows-8-updates-from-force-restarting-your-pc/

If you’re using Windows 8 and have performed the usual software updates, you’d have encountered the not-so-unfamiliar-anymore screen telling you that your PC will reboot in a certain amount of time to finish the updates. There’s nothing wrong with it, until you discover that you cannot prevent this automatic restart. So, if you’re in the middle of some important work, well, tough luck my friend. Thankfully, there are some ways to prevent this from happening, depending on which version of Windows you’re using.

Another provision that the good guys at MS removed (that of asking the user if a reboot is allowed/doable before doing it and/or that of preventing it) and that should have AT THE VERY LEAST an "opt-in" choice and not an "opt-out".

Anyway the intended usage paradigm has been "twisted":

So, if you’re in the middle of some important work, well, tough luck my friend.

the probabilities that a sentient being is doing something actually sentient on Windows 8 are very low, the 5 year old will probably loose their current Angry Birds level :w00t:, or loose a couple LOLZ, GREETZ and COOLZ in a IM or the like, but that's about it. :whistle:

jaclaz

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CharlotteTheHarlot

CharlotteTheHarlot

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Not again! Another rollback losing posts?

Yeah, I can think of at least one post that was lost from this thread: the one where you explained to me how to insert a video into a reply. (Thank you for that BTW, now I only wish I'd saved the information!)

Oh, wait. Didn't you have another set of long (and, as usual, fantastic) posts giving headlines and links from around the tech world on a variety of topics of interest to this thread?

And come to think of it, I may have lost did lose a post or two of my own. This has been happening so often lately that we're going to have to make saving our posts (in Notepad, Outlook, etc.) a regular part of the posting routine. Otherwise, it's very discouraging to spend time crafting a post and putting its elements together, and then having it vanish into thin air.

These problems with forum software may end up doing more damage to the Forum (in terms of traffic and membership) than any bad publicity, scandal, or badmouthing could hope to accomplish.

--JorgeA

EDIT: Figured out which posts of mine were lost during the latest Forum maintenance.

Damage indeed. Prior to the IPB "upgrade" I noticed over a thousand views per day just on this very thread. It has been sliced in half.

I would like to know if this is a typical Invision IPB screwup or if it lies in the crappy Microsoft SQL backend. Could go either way really, with this horrifically buggy editor that IPB has foisted on their customers and Microsoft's penchant for cloud errors.

For a technical forum it is irresponsible for the backend to lose content. This is not an instant messenger or a social situation. It is closer to a MSKB style reference.

It all really serves to highlight the absurdity of cloud-based anything. It is a disaster. I've often said that NuMicrosoft should never be allowed to supply software or cloud services to anything important, especially defense or medical scenarios. It is suicide really. You want Skynet or WarGames? Give Microsoft the contract. You want to destroy the health-care system further? Give Microsoft the contract. You want an unreliable technical forum? It looks like all you have to do is give the contract to Invision.

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CharlotteTheHarlot

CharlotteTheHarlot

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;;;;;; THIS WAS A POST LOST IN THE ROLLBACK ...

Several stories sure to get lost in the wake of Ballmer's announcement ...

Report: US government expanding bribery probe involving Microsoft ( NeoWin 2013-08-22 )

According to the new report, using unnamed sources, one tipster claimed that in Russia, kickbacks were sent to executives of an unnamed state-owned company to secure a contract from resellers of Microsoft's software. Another tipster claims that a consulting firm, with approval from Microsoft, gave a Pakistan government official and his wife a five-day golf trip to Egypt in exchange for a contract.

The Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into both of these new claims, according to the report. These are on top of the previous allegations that government officials in China, Romania and Italy also received kickbacks from people who were reportedly working for Microsoft. The company has also reportedly launched its own internal investigation into the matter.

Remember this story from back in March? Despite the cries from NeoWhiners it is still in play.

Report: Microsoft Surface Touch Cover prices cut to $79.99 on Aug. 30 ( NeoWin 2013-08-22 )

Oh man! Another cut, errr I mean another tiny reduction. I thought they wrote off a bunch of Surface expenditures, so why the little baby steps? These keyboards should be free with the unit. Who was the genius that thought that shipping a tablet without a cover was a good idea anyway?

The first batch of Jolla's Sailfish smartphones have all been spoken for ( TechSpot 2013-08-22 )

Another competitor birthed thanks to Microsoft and Nokia. Thank you Microsoft and Nokia.

Ubuntu Edge smartphone is dead, but lower-end variants still in the cards ( TechSpot 2013-08-22 )

They failed to meet their crowd source funding goal. One must wonder what the he!! is wrong with Canonical and Shuttleworth to first set such an insane challenge as raising $32 million in a month! Are there no corporate suits that even possess a brain in their fat heads? Then, they seem to have failed to even entertain a Plan-B which should have been about procuring a deal with a deep pocketed philanthropist, bank financing, or digging into their own pockets. Seriously, you have to wonder if this idi0t Shuttleworth even wanted this to succeed. With Microsoft's daily screwups he should be capitalizing on all manner of opportunities. For Linux to not gain new traction at this juncture is criminal and demonstrates negligence on the part of Canonical. They should be busy making deals to fill some of the XP retirement vaccuum. Stunning mismanagement IMHO.

Edited by CharlotteTheHarlot
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CharlotteTheHarlot

CharlotteTheHarlot

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;;;;;; THIS WAS A POST LOST IN THE ROLLBACK ...

Incomplete Roundup of articles about Steve Ballmer's future exit ...

Let's note for the record that Paul Thurrott's often cited 'sources inside Microsoft once again left him high and dry as they did for the Sinofsky firing ( and Xbox backtracking and many other things ). Why should we put much weight into all your 'insider' articles? Hmmm? Still no Sinofsky interview from Paul nor a single explanation of his exit to this day.
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CharlotteTheHarlot

CharlotteTheHarlot

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;;;;;; THIS WAS A POST LOST IN THE ROLLBACK ...

This article deserves special mention as its reporting seems to fit the available evidence ...

Ballmer forced out after $900M Surface RT debacle ( ComputerWorld 2013-08-23 )

Computerworld - Steve Ballmer was forced out of his CEO chair by Microsoft's board of directors, who hit the roof when the company took a $900 million write-off to account for an oversupply of the firm's struggling Surface RT tablet, an analyst argued today.

"He was definitely pushed out by the board," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, in an interview Friday. "They either drove him out, or put him in a situation where he felt he had to leave to save face."

The biggest clue that Ballmer was pushed and didn't leave of his own free will was the 12-month timetable Microsoft said it would use to find a CEO successor. "Typically, a board will be working behind the scenes for a replacement, but they've given themselves 12 months," said Moorhead. "I think this went down very quickly."

From that same article comes a good comment ...

The situation is different here. Ballmer is the second largest stockholder in Microsoft after his good friend Bill Gates. This wouldn't be a matter of the board telling him that he was fired. It would be a negotiation. Let's remember that Ballmer has so much stock, almost 7%, that he received $247 million in dividends last year. That's not a typo. Gates has more, but not by much.

So what we're seeing is Ballmer moving aside without a clear replacement. It had to be sudden, because there wasn't any thought given to it during the reorganization just recently announced, leaving no one in the firm obviously in position to take over.

When Jobs was sick, Apple appointed Cook as temporary CEO. He was elevated to COO. When Jobs had to retire as CEO shortly before he died, they appointed Cook as CEO. There was a defined way they did that which was pretty obvious for at least a couple of years.

But here, there is no one within the company to take over. They can't rush the process, and a year should be good enough. But we can see when Ron Johnson left Apple, they took months to find a replacement, and Brownell didn't work out. So they are taking a long time to find just the right person.

Finding a CEO for a company like Microsoft is even more difficult, so they need Ballmer to stay. Since he's such a big shareholder, he's not going to sabotage the company in the time he has left because of that huge amount of shares he has. He won't risk those massive dividends, or the share price, as it would cost him billions, and cost his friend Gates billions as well.

That makes him a safe choice to remain while the search is going on, rather than to appoint a termporary CEO with no experience for that possibly long time, and the disruption it would cause with him (or her) having to make major decisions during that time, only to have another CEO take over, and possibly change them, or worse, not make major decisions that need to be made, and paralyze the company.

Sounds plausible.

EDIT: fixed spacing

Edited by CharlotteTheHarlot
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CharlotteTheHarlot

CharlotteTheHarlot

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;;;;;; THIS WAS A POST LOST IN THE ROLLBACK ...

Steve Ballmer is Going to Frickin' Retire From Microsoft! ( Mini-Microsoft 2013-08-23 )

Mini-Microsoft is back for another post after a 9 month hiatus since the Sinofsky firing ( see that important thread here here ).

Read through it for yourself ( 162 comments so far ) because it is very interesting. The comments are mostly from Softies and ex-Softies ( certainly a few more ex-Softies than in the past ). There's a lot to learn from the inside from mostly non-sycophantic non-MicroZealots.

One overwhelming common theme is that along with Ballmer, the majority seem to want the following people to leave with him and not be considered as his replacement ...

  • Lisa Brummel
  • Kevin Turner
  • Julie Larson Green
  • Terry Myerson
More than a few commenters are expecting a "coming purge" before Ballmer exits.

Favorite quote so far ...

As an AAPL shareholder, I want to express my deepest appreciation for all that Ballmer has done to scuttle the company that was once the biggest obstacle to our success. If we had placed a sleeper agent at Microsoft to destroy the company, he couldn't have possibly done a better job of it than Ballmer has.

On a related note, not that we needed the help, but whatzisface at Nokia made damned sure that Nokia would never be a significant player in smartphones again.

Also prominently mentioned is the infamous Stack Ranking review system, a real morale buster if there ever was one.

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CharlotteTheHarlot

CharlotteTheHarlot

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;;;;;; THIS WAS A POST LOST IN THE ROLLBACK ... ... No backup, recreated from memory ...


Excellent, that now makes it two out of the three in the Windows-wrecking triumvirate who will be gone. (The other two, of course, are SS and JLG.)

I did this when SS left last year, and with today's good news it's in order once again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usfiAsWR4qU

(Hmmm, I couldn't find any way in the new forum software to embed the video. The "My Media" button takes me only to images that I've previously uploaded.)

One to go.

Oh, and did anybody notice that MSFT stock is up today? :)

--JorgeA

Yep, the IPB Editor is a disaster. Invision needs to be smacked around for this failure.

Just manually wrap the URL with {media}xxx{/media} tags as shown but using square brackets instead of the curlies I used.



EDIT: fixed spacing Edited by CharlotteTheHarlot
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CharlotteTheHarlot

CharlotteTheHarlot

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I gotta give mad props to Formfiller who has been busy mopping the floors with MicroZealots at MSDN's Channel 9 ( saw it mentioned at TechBroil ).

WM6 Dejavu ( Channel 9 2013-08-2x )

The part I love is when they are discussing Pokki being added in-factory to Lenovo PC's ( you know that just burns them up ) and the Zealots start saying things like 'they always did this kind of thing' or implying that adding Pokki does NOT really mean the lack of a Start Menu is significant. Check out the logic from these people ...

My Sony Vaio came with a custom OSX dock-like launcher on Windows 7. I guess that means the start menu was a failure too, if a large OEM saw fit to bundle their own launcher back then.


Formfiller him destroys this with ...

You mean this:

youtube.com/watch?v=bdZ56NvAr1M

youtube.com/watch?v=DOPCheyqxQs&t=2m10s

?

1. The start menu is completely unharmed.
2. It's (almost) not visible on default. Feels gimmicky.
3. It's not a replacement of the start menu at all! There is no replacement for most start menu functionalities - no "all programs", no search function etc. It looks and feels more like a second W7 taskbar at the top. Even the handling is very similar to "pinning", and it is limited to pretty much the same functionality.

Pokki:

1. Removes metro from sight, unless you click again specifically on the "metro button" in Pokki.
2. Is prominently visible.
3. Full replacement of the start screen.
4. Bypasses metro completely, because it activates "boot to desktop".

Vastly different proportions here.

Not the mention that the start screen is THE trademark sign and default GUI (and default programming environment) of W8, and it gets pretty much killed by Lenovo.



Here comes another ...

Our first computer was a Sony Vaio (1997). It came with a full screen 3D app launcher environment (starts on login). The desktop must have been a failure as well.


See the pattern in their thinking? Formfiller stomps him with ...

The first generation Sony Vaio's were Sony's first entrance on the PC market, mostly aimed at first timers and/or multimedia aficionados.

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-214714.html

NEW YORK--As expected, Sony unveiled its first personal computer today at the PC Expo trade show in New York, christening the branded machine as Vaio, for Video Audio Integrated Operation.

[..]

Hoping to appeal to novice users, the Sony PCs will also come with Vaio Space, a 3D graphical interface that sits on top of Windows 95 and guides users through the PCs audio, video, and communications capabilities.

[..]

Finally, the Vaio PCs will feature Sony's signature sleek design and, more importantly, the Sony brand name that the company is counting on to lure a new category of consumers to PCs.


It was an experimental product made by a first timer, full with "multimedia" and "3D" buzzwords (remember those hypes?). Marketed like a "Sony appliance".

Absolutely not comparable the biggest Windows OEM veteran replacing "Microsoft's biggest bet" on their established computer products.

By the way, scan from the Vaio manual:

image.jpg

http://www.manualowl.com/m/Sony/PCV-90/Manual/61874

"You can even choose which desktop appears when you turn on your PC - VAIO Space or Windows 95".


Highlights again how NOT comparable the comparison is.


That's gonna leave a mark. :thumbup

One of the 'Tards has somehow seen fit to declare victory ...

Dammit guys, stop providing examples that make sense. Wastingtimewithforums already has to work hard enough to dig up stuff to post new threads about without you guys requiring that he constantly revises his point.


Wait what? :no: I see plenty of "provided examples" but they are clearly mopping the floor with you guys! Somehow Formfiller keeps his patented patience ...

They don't make sense. Only at first glance maybe.

The completely out of proportion fringe comparisons here, to make the W8 state of things look good, are getting desperate and comical.



He hasn't gotten around to addressing this one yet but now a self-identified Softie has added a ridiculous comment showing himself completely clueless to the entire point here ...

I don't understand how bundling so much crap helps OEMs. Surely no amount of money from the software can offset the amount of hate it generates?

When I left Japan, I had to give my Vaio Z back to the lab, so I removed my (cleanly installed) English Windows 8 installation and restored the original recovery DVDs with Japanese Windows 7 and all of Sony's crap. It went from a system that booted in roughly 20 seconds with Windows 8 to one that took nearly 5 minutes to get into a state that I would consider usable because of all the junk it loaded after logging in. And that's the state it's in when you buy it new...


Yes, you certainly don't understand it at all. They are adding, in this case Pokki, to fix that glaring error identified and warned about over two years ago. The fact that you associate a replacement Start Menu as "crap" boxes you into MicroBox thinking, where the world revolves only around you and your little universe of 100,000 fellow arrogant Softies trying to decide what end-users should see on their PC screen and how they use their own property. What you cannot comprehend is that the software isn't there to drum up a cash return, no, it is to help sell the d*mn thing in the first place because your playskool Windows 8 is killing their sales.

Furthermore, he does not understand historically why so much OEM crapware was installed in the first place. Big box makers have typically collected razor thin margins on these PC's they have sold, I've heard sometimes as small as $50 to $100 on a $500 to $1000 computer. They collected their profits which pale in comparison to Microsoft through high volume. Microsoft meanwhile was also taking an equal sized chunk from the final shipped computer from the "Microsoft Tax" ( the license for the installed copy of Windows ). And to make matters worse for the OEM they completely offloaded all responsibility for that copy of Windows to the OEM who got to field all inevitable the phone calls and questions about both the hardware and OS. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that a single return or refund or support incident could eat up the entire OEM profit margin in one shot. It's a miracle that anyone bothers to build and ship a computer under these circumstances.

And we're not even addressing the shady backroom deals and monopolistic strong-arming that got us to this place. What a scam Microsoft has pulled over the OEMs. They physically manufacture and assemble the entire computer, doing all the work, stocking and shipping and fielding returns and irate phone calls and they receive a small profit while Microsoft gets to sit back and rake in the dough sitting on their butts.

Anyway, good job FF!

EDIT: fighting with the IPB editor to not embed those two quoted YouTube links!

Edited by CharlotteTheHarlot
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Formfiller

Formfiller

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Posted (edited)

Anyway, good job FF!

Thank you!

As for the patience - it helps when the topic is stacked so high in your favor. The NuMicrosoft strategies are so stupid - it's like discussing whether it would be a wise idea to add sharp iron nails to one's diet.

Replacing the trademark known-like-Cola GUI with something that looks utterly foreign to pretty much every computer user.

Bleaching out Office (2013), and making it look like something from Windows 3.1. Raise prices to boot, by making it only installable on one PC, while the former version could be installed on 2 (Family Pack on 3).

Adding over-the-top draconian DRM to Xbox that could be straight from 1984, and because that's not enough, make it even more creepier by using the "Matrix" fonts in the SDK and hosting the preview event in a scary looking pyramid-like building. Also, of course, telling everybody who isn't living in a metropolitan area to "deal with it".

p***ing off your devs with the killing off of SL and (pretty much) WPF.

p***ing off your Windows-admins by killing off Small Business Server.

p***ing off your professionals by killing off TechNet.

Raise prices up to 400% for business customers, because not enough people are pissed. When that is done, do it again.

And the madness goes on and on. This list is far from complete. That's why I can keep my cool about this topic so easy; I just can't be too much angry over someone, who defends such utter insanity like this.

Edited by Formfiller
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