Posted on 10/19/2012 7:26:57 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
We've had our hands on a Samsung Series 7 Windows 8 tablet PC for the past couple of weeks.
Microsoft just might have a winner on its hands with Windows 8.
But that's only if users are willing to forgive Microsoft for the many stupid design mistakes it made with its new operating system.
There's a big learning curve to Windows 8, just like there is for most new tech. The thing that's particularly infuriating is that so many of these things should be intuitive.
* You have to relearn stuff like how to close a file and an app. The familiar "X" is gone. Now you have to tap a window until it changes size, then drag it to the bottom of the screen, and for some reason, this doesn't always work with every app.
* You have to find the secret way to see your open windows: Grab a window, swipe it to the right, THEN swipe it back to the left until it magically changes into the open windows list.
* You can swipe screens to the right to move through each window in the order you opened them. But you can't swipe to the left to move forward.
Insane. Infuriating. But here's the thing. None of that matters. Because eventually, users will learn that stuff. And that's where the brilliance of Windows 8 comes in.
Because the full operating system, the one that runs on an Intel chip, is both a full-fledged PC and a tablet.
With this one device, a typical knowledge worker, student, or home-office worker has everything in one device.
The PC can run Windows 7 software (even if the new user interface for Windows 7 is a little clunky). They also have a touchscreen and portable device for playing games, reading,
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Change for the sake of change is the only way you can get people to “upgrade” when their current operating system does everything they need.
I understand that Windows 8 has several advantages.
1. It’s quite a bit faster than Windows 7.
2. It has better boot security, to prevent rootkit malware from taking over.
3. I has better printer setups.
On the other hand, it seems to be designed primarily for touch screen iPads, which I don’t use. I prefer a laptop on my desk, with a screen big enough for easy reading.
I believe you can get it from most computer makers with a keypad and mouse already installed, and also that you can fairly easily install the old desktop if you prefer it. I believe that Dell, for instance, will let you order it already set up with these options in place.
On the other hand, my experience with operating systems in the past has left me with two rules:
1. Don’t upgrade systems. Wait until you buy your next computer with the new system already installed.
2. Don’t be in a rush to buy a new system. Wait for the first Service Pack to fix any lingering problems that weren’t fixed in Beta.
MS is offering a very low price upgrade. But I would hesitate to take it. I’d rather wait a bit.
True dat. Give me KDE any day...
Point continues to be missed.
To be fair, both OS’s have the ability to revert to a more familiar interface. Win8 can look like Win7. However, you have more desktop options running Linux. I installed something called gnome-panel on the latest Ubuntu that gets back fairly close to the classic Windows XP desktop look.
With the exception of switching to Mint, I ditto everything you said. I really like Windows 7 and don’t see any reason to change.
I hated Ubuntu Unity and went back to Ubuntu 10.10. I may give Mint a try, though.
Can't you come up with better bait than that?
So goes the theory, but there have been complaints that what it really amounts to is locking down the hardware so people can't install an alternate OS like Linux. Granted, it's been a couple of months since I've been up to date on that kerfuffle, so maybe the concerns have been resolved.
“It’s a box of swithes. If it offends your delicate aesthetic sensibilities to look at it, buy somehting else.”
All computers are boxes of switches. We are discussing the merits of some new switches. People look at those switches often, so aestetics are part of the equation. This just happens to be an ugly box of switches. (I’m guessing it will be easy to customize and this is no big deal.)
Why are you personnally offended and behaving rudely over criticism of the appearance of an OS desktop? Were you on the design team?
“2. It has better boot security, to prevent rootkit malware from taking over.2. It has better boot security, to prevent rootkit malware from taking over.”
They’ll just sneak it in through media player or something. /giggles
MS decided to do its own thing to differenciate itself and to probably avoid patent infringement issues... I admit I don’t get the 8 interface. I get they want the tablet/PC/Phone to be united, and that’s a nice goal.. 1 device that is your tablet and your PC is a good goal, but how far it will get adopted/successful in V 1.0 don’t know.
Because (as you correctly guessed) it's easily customizable, and therefore "no big deal", and over nothing but superficial cosmetics. It's a box of switches. The important part is the switches, and the discussion is going to revolve around whether or not the box is pretty?
As you say. Rootkit malware is pretty horrible stuff, but the fix for it is liable to be a bit dangerous, too, I suspect.
I used to do quite a bit of beta testing, but I gave up beta testing the MS operating system early on, because if it goes bad, you’re screwed. Too much of a risk for me. So I have to look at reports from others, FWIW.
I thought buying version X.0 was beta testing. ;)
I expect that psychologists would have a field day analyzing the public perception of Vista. I still maintain that nearly all of the negative press about Vista was simply from word of mouth (and that came from Apple’s negative advertising) and that a significant majority of people with negative perceptions of Vista have never actually used it. The Mojave experiment essentially proved that - people rated Vista a 4.4/10 based on what they had heard, but rated Windows “Mojave” an 8.5/10. Of course, it was just Vista.
That must be insanely frustrating for Microsoft. They put out a good product and people hate it without ever using it. People are still claiming it’s a failure. ME crashed if you looked at it wrong. Vista did not present any problems for anybody I know that has used it - even among those who, shall we say, are “prone to computer problems.”
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