Windoze 8

"Really? I didn't even run across either Free Cell, Hearts or Spider Solitaire."

You have to download FREE from the store

Some new, new developments on the Win8.1 front:

http://betanews.com/2013/08/12/heres-whats-new-in-the-latest-build-of-windows-8-1/

Still no start menu. I no longer expect MS to actually put one in, but there's a shred of hope somewhere in the back of my mind which just refuses to die.

For some reason I can't get Start8 to run or install on the Win8.1 preview.

Also, today I brought the laptop to the office. Hopefully there'll be occasion to find out what the uninitiated user makes of it.

So the co-workers didn't want ot try it. they kept saying "But you already know how." I did, so I showed them how to run apps, change the settings, change the volume, shut down, etc.

Most of them were appalled. choice comments "You have to do all that just to change the volume?" "You have to do all that just to shut down?" You have to do all that just so you can run the Reading List app later?"

If you pay close attention, you'll see a theme emerging.

Other choice comments were "Can't you resize the windows?" "Why can't I see the start screen when you close a snapped app?" "What happened to the start menu?" "No, seriously, what happened to the start menu?" "All joking aside, you rigged it not to show the start menu, right?" "How do you arrange the apps in folders?" "Why isn't there a taskbar on the -what do you call that interface again?" "Why are there two interfaces?" "You expect me to pin ten programs to the taskbar in the desktop?" "Why does the -what's that thing called again? Why does it keep popping up when you want to close a window?"

Also, while trying to find an app that dind't need an itnernet connection, I realized all the native "productivity" apps run on the desktop! So not only there isn't yet an Office "app" for M/M/W, there isn't even a simple word processor for it.

I think I should bring it back with a start menu replacement and all the "hot corners" deactivated.

Oh, one other thing: they were stumped with the lock screen upon booting. The consensus was the PC had stuck and/or failed to start properly.

Perhaps, just possibly, the battle hasn't been lost after all.

The news today is that Lenovo will begin adding a start menu to its Win8 PCs soon, using the Pokki shell for it.

I've seen Pokki and don't particularly care for it. But many users seeing it on a Win8 machine could, read will, think that's the new start menu (life's like that sometimes). What I'd really like to see is other manufacturers follow suit. We'll see.

Oh, I forgot. Steve Ballmer will step down as CEO within a year or so.

I won't say he's entirely to blame for Win8, but he shares the large part of the responsibility. Also MS has been having an awful (fiscal) year and things aren't looking up. Between Win8 and the Surface fiasco (and I still have no clue how a Surface RT differs from a plain, old Surface), well, you've read the news by now.

I hope the next CEO likes the start menu in her Windows.

There's been a rehash of all the punditry about Win8 in realtion now with Ballmer's resignation. I'm a bit puzzled at some fo the points made, which I think miss a lot of what's wrong with Win8. So I thought I'd write a piece of my own, a proper op ed, and publish it somewhere, or submit it to the tech press. You know, a user's point of view and all that.

The two things that bother me most are: 1) the emphaiss on a lack of touchscreens on dektop and laptop PCs, 2) a lack of good "apps." To a lesser extent I'm bothered by the harping on the clashing interfaces. That is a problem, but a really minor one which has been blown out of proportion. What I haven't seen is much mention on the uselesness of the modern interface for desktop work, the labor-intensive nature of the modern interface, and the limitations imposed bythe mdoern interface on a PC.

You all know my gripes by now (and are likely sick of hearing about them). What I don't want to do is a rebuttal on what has been published, nor chastisement on what ahs been ignored. But I do want to mention that the big problems as perceived by tech pundits are not that big, and that the ignored issues should be adressed; just not as the central focus.

Should I bother with this? I may have it ready by Sunday, and by then the news cycle will ahve moved Ballmer's resignation to ancient history. On the other hand, the "death" of the PC gets tossed to the top now and then, and so is the issue of Windows 8. For the last I expect more interest soon, as Win 8.1 has been released to manufacturers, and we can expect Win8.1 OEM PCs and tablets in around two months or so.

Pretty good article. In particular, of course, I agree with points 10 and 3.

Quote: Nareed

Pretty good article. In particular, of course, I agree with points 10 and 3.

Oh, here's the link: http://www.geekwire.com/2013/10-decisions-for-microsofts-next-ceo/

The salient points are to keep developing the desktop, and to bring back the start menu.

The tech press is abuzz with news that MS acquired Nokia.

What's the big deal? After all, they were the last big mobile OS maker without a cell phone business (Apple makes its own, Google bought Motorola). The wonder is the copycat MS culture took this long.

Anyway, I mentioned before I had little experience with Win7, and that the Win8/8.1 desktop is almost the same. Well, for once in my life I'm glad I bought a Vista PC (you read that right). The taskbar for Win7 and 8/8.1 is horrible. I've given up on quick-launch icons (I'm going back to the 90s, and pinning the three programs to the start menu), but the tiny preview pop-up windowns, the color highlights when you mouse over, and the color highlights when Firefox is downloading something are driving me crazy. A color highlight on a taskbar square means it requires some sort of action. I dind't like that in XP and Vista, and I like it less now. Worse, I can find no way to disable it. Add the flat look imposed by Win8, and it's a visual nightmare. For all that I can live with it, if you can call it living.

I think I've mentioned before some of my coworkers who do use Win7 every day, sometimes tell me they miss XP. I can see why they would.

I'm giving Linux a much harder look now. It didn't do anything so insanely moronic the little time I played with Mint and Xubuntu. I think I can carry out all remaining experiments with the Win8.1 preview this week, and then clear it off the partition forever. If I do that, I can move on to playing with Mint.

On other things, about half the PCs at the office (in my department) are XP. The rest are Win7. In fact the XPs are all desktops and the Win7s are all laptops. There's no plan currently to replace any XP machines when support runs out in 2014 (and there are others scattered through the company). But, and there's always a "but," we use these machines to upload propposals to government sites. One wrinkle in the law says that if a virus is detected in any of your files after they've been uplaoded, your proposal will be discarded.

So chances are we'll get a designated new PC for just such work. Possibly only for such work (we won't get all our PCs replaced). I expect I'll bring it up with my boss soon, if only to forestall another department from saddling us with a Win8 mosntrosity (I'm looking at you both, IT and Upper Management).