Microsoft Releases Windows 8 403
Orome1 writes "Microsoft today announced the global availability of Windows 8. Beginning Friday, Oct. 26, consumers and businesses worldwide will be able to experience all that Windows 8 has to offer, including a new user interface and a wide range of applications with the grand opening of the Windows Store. Launching at the same time is a new member of the Windows family — Windows RT — designed for ARM-based tablets and available pre-installed on new devices. In addition to Microsoft Office 2013, Windows RT is designed exclusively for apps in the new Windows Store. In addition to the range of new Windows-based devices available, consumers can also upgrade their existing PCs. Through the end of January, consumers currently running PCs with Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 are qualified to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for an estimated retail price of US$39.99." Also at Slash Cloud, where Nick Kolakowski writes: "If the operating system and its associated hardware capture the attention (and dollars) of mobile-device users, Microsoft will have successfully expanded the Windows brand to a new and rapidly growing market segment. But if it fails, and Apple and Google continue to rule the mobility space, then Microsoft is left with few alternatives."
Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Confession: I'm a Windows/PC user. Win 7 works fine for me. I use it at work. I use it a home. I can run pretty much anything I want on it. It's stable and mostly trouble free for me.
I've yet to see a single compelling reason to move to Windows 8 for desktop/laptop. Maybe it's OK for tablets? I don't know... I use Android and I'm happy with that. Is there *any* "ohhh... gotta have that" feature in Windows 8? Looks like a usability step backwards from Windows 7 to me. Am I missing something?
-S
Re:Why? (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, you should have said: "Check out my blog post for a little more on the subject"
[John]
Requires new drivers (Score:5, Insightful)
Looks like hardware drivers are being updated for Windows 8 support (WDDM 1.2 / DXGI 1.2 / etc). This means, even if you really want to upgrade, wait at least a few months. All the problems I had (and most people I know) going from XP to 7 were driver related. New driver models = new drivers = buggy drivers = unstable machine = let someone else be the beta tester.
Re:First post! (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think they realize all they're doing is making it hard to determine if someone is in fact using windows 8 and is happy with it and what the positive features are or if all positive post concerning it are just paid shrills out there to spread FUD. There frick'n everywhere any forum concerning Win8 has a massive log of people obviously just trying to make sure anything negative about windows is pushed right off the map. And yes I had considered that maybe it's because it's just a good OS, then I remember using the developers preview and watching all the "how windows will succeed" videos thinking, "Are they bat shit crazy!!!?"
Re:Why Win8? Let me explain... (Score:5, Insightful)
Dear Astro, believe it or not, we get it. Many of us get what Microsoft is attempting to do. And many of us think that parts of it are not even half bad ideas. Not particularly original - but then, who is? This thing is, we just have very little faith that Microsoft is going to get it right. Why? Because of Microsoft's track record. Microsoft has tried it again and again and again, and the one thing they're left with which is really solid and stands for itself is the OS - which works best when it is not perceived. See, people don't actually enjoy using WIndows - it's just there, and it runs all their software. It's still quite annoying, but then so are all OSs. Windows does a worse job than others in keeping out of the way and acting as a platform for actual productive stuff, but also better than some. Office? Format lock-in. Xbox? Good stuff. Wouldn't actually sell if not at a loss, though. Zune? Dead. Kin? Never got to the stage of being alive I think. "Plays for sure"? Isn't playing anymore. And that last one is maybe the best - They actually succeeded in branding something "Plays for sure" - and then knock it down? That takes a *special* kind of talent. Silverlight? Microsoft really appreciates that you attempted the switch from Flash and became a stakeholder. Remember? "Developers developers developers"? But now not so much anymore. They thew it at the wall, it didn't stick .. next! ... W8. Good stuff. Good concepts. Now if I somehow managed to get the feeling that, say, MS employees were actually eating their own dog food, and not only that, that they actually had some kind of influence of any kind to say what might be improved, what is inconsistent, a wording, a button, anything ... then you might actually be on to something. Trouble is, we don't get that feeling. It's going to be another buzz-word compliant three-quarters finished piece of work built by a group of people where those who have vision have no influence, and those who call the shots have their eyes firmly fixed to the bottom line with complete disregard for anything else.
So yeah
So yeah, again. It's not that we're not going to use it. Microsoft still has enough money at the moment to make sure there isn't much of a realistic alternative. The sales numbers are going to look good on paper. But that's doesn't mean that we actually like it. It's going to be an OS which is slightly more annoying than the last one. And it certainly doesn't mean that it's actually any good.
Re:Why? (Score:3, Insightful)
4) I'm running a Windows 7 laptop with excellent multi-monitor support right now. I happen to have good video drivers though, which leads me to wonder why multi-monitor support would be Microsoft's problem...
5) I've been able to download VMWare products for free that do the same thing and more... with the added benefit of using something that already has massive industry-wide support. Besides, what the hell would Joe Sixpack need with this?
6) No need for profile roaming and the like here (I have a home server which does additional auto-backups), but this is the first feature that actually makes any sense for the average consumer - well, those who use multiple computers on a regular basis.
7) I've been able to do this in Ubuntu for ages, and the costs are way, way lower.
8) Meh. I use AVG, it seems to work better. This leads to the fact that it is far better to have a choice in the matter than to have one solution rammed down your throat. BTW - if I remember right, most of /. has been clamoring for Microsoft to fix the $#@! security holes and bad security design for ages - and not just glom an AV suite onto the OS.
Re:First post! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
By the way, building an AV into an OS is the worst idea, ever.
Do you suppose that ANY professional virus coder out there will release a virus that hasnt been thoroughly checked against that AV, now? By making it a baseline for all computers, MSSE is now utterly worthless. This is why a monoculture is retarded.
Re:Pay more for less... (Score:2, Insightful)
I second this.
Metro is absolutely terrible for multi-tasking. Try surfing the web in the metro UI, you will go crazy pretty soon from the backwards multi-tasking.
I like the unified platform thing, I like the cloud think, but why are they trying to push a phone UI on the desktop? I can see the appeal from an engineering perspective, but it's just awkward from a usability perspective. If Windows 8 had always defaulted to desktop it would have been a much better OS. Now we are likely to see a bias towards metro apps in the appstore (in fact I'm not even sure desktop apps are possible in the appstore) and that is really going to be seriously annoying. MS is trying to dumb everything down. As a power user the OS might become unusable if they continue down that route.