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| Windows 8's desktop mode: Microsoft's 'Classic' |
| By Thom Holwerda on 2012-03-06 23:27:08 |
| As you may have seen, David's been taking care of OSNews for a few days because I'm quite busy with work. Still, there's one thing I'd like to talk about: the desktop mode in Windows 8. I wish I could've added this to the first impressions article, but I only arrived at this conclusion yesterday: desktop mode in Windows 8 is Microsoft's equivalent of Mac OS X's Classic mode. |
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| RE[4]: Start menu |
| By Anonymous Penguin on 2012-03-07 19:43:07 |
| How do you explain that there are millions (yes, literally millions, I should know) who want to install OS X on their PC? The reason is almost always the same: "I have had enough of Windows". |
 - Score: 2 |
| RE[3]: Start menu |
| By Alfman on 2012-03-07 19:57:36 |
|
Anonymous Penguin, "If only they could sell their computers at more reasonable prices, MS would lose a very large share of their users in no time." Yep, clearly more people would buy apple at a lower price point. I think the key question is whether the additional market size makes up for a lower unit price. It'd be interesting to see a market breakdown analysis. Maybe apple enjoys being priced for "exclusivity"? For me personally, I prefer to build my own systems using my choice of hardware, so there's zero chance of my getting a Mac. But if OSX were sold unbundled, I'd probably pick up a copy and even start writing software for it (as long as the platform remains genuinely unrestricted). |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[2]: The difference is... |
| By n4cer on 2012-03-07 20:16:52 |
|
> > In OS X there was a path forward for existing source code to be migrated to the new environment. In Metro, the input devices are different, the APIs are different, the environment is different. Existing source code would be much harder to migrate. Depends a lot of APIs aren't massively different than .NET. http://www.infoq.com/news/2011/0... Plus a subset of Win32 is supported for Metro-style apps, so you can have hybrid apps. |
| - Score: 2 |
| weather app? |
| By TomF on 2012-03-07 20:21:30 |
|
so... cutting all other comments and OS takes... I installed windows 8 (in a VM running it fullscreen) and started the weather program ( gadget?) Result: 30" screen filled with the weather instead of a little lets say 2 by 1 inch little window in the top-right... while I have the rest of the screen left to see other stuff. For sale: 30" monitor... looking for a 9" instead like my MacSE in 1995 nuff said :( TomUK |
| - Score: 1 |
| RE[3]: The difference is... |
| By lucas_maximus on 2012-03-07 20:28:04 |
| I am not a desktop developer, but I use ASP.NET and PHP on IIS ... Thanks though for clearing that up. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE: Windows 8 |
| By lucas_maximus on 2012-03-07 20:31:12 |
| It works fine ... Cheap shots at Microsoft are the George Bush Jokes of the Tech world and are the jokes that stupid people make. |
| - Score: 2 |
| Kill classic = long term strategy? |
| By Torbjorn Vik Lunde on 2012-03-07 20:32:08 |
|
Microsoft’s long term intent seems to be killing their classic WIMP environment in favor of Metro. I still don’t get why they insist on having it all in one OS. While I prefer OS X myself, Windows 7 is an absolute excellent operating system. Why can’t it live along side Metro as a first class citizen? Maybe the future lives in touch, but I think there is still room to evolve and improve WIMP-based operating systems. I also think Metro looks great, but makes absolutely no sense with a mouse and keyboard. The fact that Microsoft are jamming both into the same OS makes me think that Microsoft are hedging there bets, that they really don’t have the confidence to push both hard in their respective arenas. Regardless of all this, I gotta say: Microsoft has been doing some seriously interesting stuff the last few years. They have really stepped their game up. It’s really fun to watch all these tech companies trying out all these interesting ideas in computing. |
| - Score: 1 |
| RE: weather app? |
| By lucas_maximus on 2012-03-07 20:32:49 |
|
Basically you used Windows 8, then made some judgement after two minutes of using it and decided you hated it ... Well done you are a moron. |
| - Score: 2 |
| It will be interesting |
| By Tuishimi on 2012-03-07 20:57:43 |
|
...to see how this evolves over the next 6 months. I am certain there will be tweaks and changes based on consumer feedback. I installed the Start 8 app from Stardock so I could have a start-menu-like interface instead of the full screen. But I flip it back and forth (there is a toggle so you can revert to full-screen mode easily) and I think I am slowly coming to the conclusion that this isn't too disconcerting. I actually find that I miss the visual cues of the live tiles, despite the fact I run Trillian and can get all the same updates on my desktop - just in a different format. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[5]: Start menu |
| By ilovebeer on 2012-03-07 21:11:24 |
|
> How do you explain that there are millions (yes, literally millions, I should know) who want to install OS X on their PC? The reason is almost always the same: "I have had enough of Windows". Where are these millions of people you think want to install OSX on their pc? If people wanted to run OSX so bad, they would buy a Mac. The prices are not that outrageous and out-of-reach for the average Joe. The fact that Apple has done quite well selling laptops and desktops proves it. The vast majority of people who want Apple, buy Apple. I agree that if Apple computers were cheaper, they would see more sales. But I completely disagree when you suggest they would gain a massive market share away from pc. There's simply no evidence to support that big of a claim. As happy as you are with your Mac, there are literally hundreds of millions of satisfied pc & Windows users. |
| - Score: 2 |
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