Posted on 09/26/2012 7:19:39 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
To hear Microsoft tell it, work on Windows 8 wrapped in August and the final version of the new OS is already shipping to PC makers. But according to a source close to Intel, Redmond's closest hardware partner thinks the current Windows 8 code is still only half-baked.
At a recent company meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, Intel CEO Paul Otellini told staffers that Windows 8 is being released before it's fully ready, Bloomberg reports, citing an unnamed source who attended the event.
But although Otellini thinks the Windows 8 code needs improvement, the source claims, he still believes that releasing it before the 2012 holiday season is the right move and that any needed fixes can be made post-launch.
Microsoft has said Windows 8 will hit retail stores on October 26, the same day that it plans to release its Surface tablets running Windows RT, the ARM-based version of the OS. Neither announcement has been met with particular enthusiasm by analysts and industry bigwigs, however, several of whom have voiced doubts similar to Otellini's.
In July, Gartner research director Gunnar Berger said that the Windows 8 user experience on PCs without touchscreens was "bad," and that when the analyst firm asked its clients whether they were evaluating the new OS, "most laughed."
That same month, gaming mogul Gabe Newell told conference attendees in Seattle that he expected Windows 8 to be "a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space," and that top-tier PC makers would be forced to exit the market when consumers stopped buying their goods.
While Newell's view may be a bit extreme, Otellini's remarks will surely stoke the fires of those critics who are already comparing Windows 8 to the much-maligned (and commercially disastrous) Windows Vista.
For its part, Microsoft denied that there's anything wrong with Windows 8. "With over 16 million active preview participants, Windows 8 is the most tested, reviewed and ready operating system in Microsoft’s history," the company said in a statement.
But although "active preview participants" has a nice ring to it, we here at El Reg's West Coast aerie might suggest another term, based on Otellini's reported comments: how does "guinea pigs" sound? ®
There's a reason...job security and the need to be perceived as needed.
Sad, but true.
They don’t even try to hide it anymore. I have to fight management’s incompetence and IT staff who want the latest hardware or toys.
I guess we’ll see. I’m a big believer that for all OS’es there’s how something looks when you play with it out of the box for a few minutes (can you say Linux LiveCD’s here) versus how something works when used all day every day.
I kinda doubt that Otellini has done the latter - I highly suspect that he’s either done the former or has had his underlings report back to them their experiences.
Either way the proof of the pudding will be in the true eating of it.
I tend to think that we’re looking at the next Windows ME but like I said, we’ll have to see when it actually ships and when real people actually try to use it to do real tasks.
The even numbered OSes by Micro-squash are bad but the odd ones usually turn out pretty decent and I don’t know why.
Windows 8 is going to be a fiasco that will make Vista look like the greatest marketing triumph since the Model T. . .
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I don’t know what everybody is talking about. 8 works just like 7 if you want it to with extra features. The tablet style is only if you want your desktop to be exactly like your tablet. I think it’s great!
That's what I did about three years ago. It took me about six months to phase out of using Windows, now I can't imagine going back. The only Windows product I really miss is Microsoft Access.
That's what I did about three years ago. It took me about six months to phase out of using Windows, now I can't imagine going back. The only Windows product I really miss is Microsoft Access.
That's what I did about three years ago. It took me about six months to phase out of using Windows, now I can't imagine going back. The only Windows product I really miss is Microsoft Access.
So the desktop and non-touch-screen laptop users of the world can just bite it, apparently. Thanks, M$.
What a way to run a railroad!
-Bugs Bunny
“Windows 8 is the most tested, reviewed “
Yep, that’s true, and millions of serious users and reviewers said this thing is a piece of shite, myself included. W8 will make Vista look like a stroke of genius. There’s simply no way in hell that business, government, and power users can work productively with no Start Menu and a primary interface designed exclusively to work with credit-card sized touch screens.
Personally, I’ll be shorting MS stock come October 26, probably via some LEAP Puts.
“I thought you could turn off that hideous Metro interface and go back to a normal Windows screen?”
So far, I’m not sure anyone has figured out a reliable way to do that. I worked for weeks with Consumer Preview to find a registry hack that kinda, sorta bypassed Metro UI most of the time. And even when that DOES work, you still have to install a third party program like “Classic Shell” to get back a Start Menu. Plus there’s a few other reg hacks needed to take some of the nastiness out of Metro UI, like the stupid curtain.
“I thought you could turn off that hideous Metro interface and go back to a normal Windows screen?”
Actually, it looks like the latest version of “Classic Shell” bypasses Metro UI AND adds back the Start Menu. This is a great product (it’s free) that I’ve used for years, including slightly older versions on W8 Consumer Preview.
Microsoft Abcess? (shudders)
Cheers!
Well, to be fair, you provide much the same nay-saying service on the Apple threads... :)
Windows 8 should do well on handhelds. An awful lot of people like the big solid-color tiles better than little detailed icons. As my eyes get older and tireder, I tend to agree.
A few days ago I recommended that a family member not get an iPad or Android tablet now, but rather wait until Surface comes out next month, and evaluate it then.
I really think Win8 will do well on handhelds.
Of course it will be forced onto a lot of new desktops and laptops by the vendor contracts. There will be pushback.
I expect Win8 to lay on the doorstep of the business community like a big ol' turd in a brown paper bag. And those new desktops and laptops will soon sprout a "downgrade" option, like the one from Vista to XP a few years back.
Metro will fail in the non-touch world like nothing we've ever seen. People will stick with Win7 for another 4 years, minimum. It's a terrific OS.
I expect the handhelds will make Win8 a success. But not a universal one. Microsoft will still have two OSes to contend with.
Mostly because there isn’t an OS/X equivalent that I like. :)
If you want an easy-to-use, workgroup-level relational database, try Filemaker Pro.
I’m on my last two computers running Microsoft.
Seriously, how many new OS can they keep coming out with every two years or so?
Every change requires having to relearn where settings are, etc. I’m tired of it.
When my last machine crashed I couldn’t get one with XP and it came with Vista.
It sucks. But I’m not too savvy so I even had ME for a while.
This is why I haven’t bought 7...and now they are talking 8? I’m done with MSFT.
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