>> ^MrFisk:

You'll get 'em next time, @ant.


When?

I honestly don't remember inserting that apostrophe.

I think it was the devil that did it.>> ^shuac:

I was serious, though. I really did want to know what the thought process was behind the apostrophe placement. If I understood that, I might be less of a punctuation-nazi.

Oh hush. If the title length wasn't limited, I would've changed it to: Rapper Perform's at Micro'soft 'Store: Break's 'Shit, Act's Cra'zy.

Yeah, the ' before the z is what would've really set it all off.>> ^shuac:

Why don't you put apostrophes on the other words that end in 's'? Why only "Acts"? None are required of any of these words, of course, but I'm just curious as to the thought process. For instance, why isn't it Knive's Out? I want to learn!

I feel exactly the same way about Microsoft 8.

>> ^braindonut:

I want a new Tie Fighter so bad... SO bad...
And none of this stupid arcade action. Joystick, keyboard... just like the old days, but new graphics.
I want this SO bad.


I still have my Wingman Extreme sitting high on a shelf, just waiting for a new PC Tie Fighter or MechWarrior. Single player campaigns/missions, LAN, no consolitis bullshit, FULLY configurable keyboard and controller assignments. I don't even care if it's purty. Just don't let LucasArts, Ubisoft, id, EA, Blizzard, or Microsoft anywhere near it.

Well maybe I need a few drinks to really respond to your argument properly, but I'll do my best while sober

I think it's a bug and a coincidence. I was really talking about phones and other embedded devices rather than laptops, but you have a point that it's kinda similar here.

Here's the thing though: Win8 is so different to win7 and vista that Microsoft would be taking a huge risk if they tried to make people switch to it before they got used to the change. Given that people will have to re-learn a whole lot of stuff (or install classic shell) anyway, what's to stop them looking around and buying a macbook air, or installing Ubuntu on their old laptop?

Look, I readily concede that your way is possible, but it just doesn't seem terribly likely to sober me (drunk me could have a different opinion, but I wouldn't listen to him if I were you).
In reply to this comment by zaust:
Hang on a sec - what your saying is old unsupported devices - such as a 4 year old Windows Vista 7 laptop have a best version. So why, JUST NOW, right when win8 is around the corner are the automatic updates which are enabled on every new PC restricting my dad's functionality?

This isn't a case of his installed the latest win8 beta (he has not surprisingly as he was in IT for 30 years - but it's in a separate boot partition and runs all of his usb functions perfectly). This is an update to vista 32 bit drivers which has lessoned his functionally roughly a month before win8 comes out.

Could be a bug, could be a coincidence. Could be microsoft are shaking the tree just enough to make people question if they need the new OS.

Lets take a couple more points of view - you've probably seen the start trek TNG vs special edition videos where the original footage looked WAY worse than what was aired originally. If not maybe your a gamer? Notice how blizzard are preparing "Titan" for launch (new mmo) whilst at the same time releasing a kung-fu panda expansion for wow whilst addressing none of the failings Guild Wars 2 has highlighted.

It pays for companies to make their old products look obsolete whilst retaining their brand loyalty

Sorry for rant - had a few to drink.

Hang on a sec - what your saying is old unsupported devices - such as a 4 year old Windows Vista 7 laptop have a best version. So why, JUST NOW, right when win8 is around the corner are the automatic updates which are enabled on every new PC restricting my dad's functionality?

This isn't a case of his installed the latest win8 beta (he has not surprisingly as he was in IT for 30 years - but it's in a separate boot partition and runs all of his usb functions perfectly). This is an update to vista 32 bit drivers which has lessoned his functionally roughly a month before win8 comes out.

Could be a bug, could be a coincidence. Could be microsoft are shaking the tree just enough to make people question if they need the new OS.

Lets take a couple more points of view - you've probably seen the start trek TNG vs special edition videos where the original footage looked WAY worse than what was aired originally. If not maybe your a gamer? Notice how blizzard are preparing "Titan" for launch (new mmo) whilst at the same time releasing a kung-fu panda expansion for wow whilst addressing none of the failings Guild Wars 2 has highlighted.

It pays for companies to make their old products look obsolete whilst retaining their brand loyalty

Sorry for rant - had a few to drink.

In reply to this comment by oritteropo:
Since the update introduced an unwelcome new feature and you had to roll back, you're kinda supporting my point actually : Every old unsupported device has one "best" version, and it's not always the newest one.

Microsoft say Oct 26 for Win 8, but you'd have to look at the machine specs to see if an upgrade is possible. The interface changes haven't been welcomed by all, either.

Quite a few people hold back on new windows releases until the teething issues have been ironed out... so win 7 is looking good at this point.
In reply to this comment by zaust:
You say that but I was round at my dads today and he'd had to roll back his Vista laptop to an earlier backup because the latest "updates" meant it no longer had the USB resources to run both his printer and scanner. When's Win 8 out again?

Since the update introduced an unwelcome new feature and you had to roll back, you're kinda supporting my point actually Every old unsupported device has one "best" version, and it's not always the newest one.

Microsoft say Oct 26 for Win 8, but you'd have to look at the machine specs to see if an upgrade is possible. The interface changes haven't been welcomed by all, either.

Quite a few people hold back on new windows releases until the teething issues have been ironed out... so win 7 is looking good at this point.
In reply to this comment by zaust:
You say that but I was round at my dads today and he'd had to roll back his Vista laptop to an earlier backup because the latest "updates" meant it no longer had the USB resources to run both his printer and scanner. When's Win 8 out again?

>> ^direpickle:

>> ^Deano:
I've read a few takes on the trial that say this is all good news for Samsung. If you accept that they copied then it's just cost them $1bn to become second in the market. And they're appealing that in any case. Their marketing budget alone is $3bn.
Meanwhile Microsoft "innovated" with Windows Phone and they're nowhere. Look where Palm and Nokia are. Following in Apple's footsteps was the smartest move.
And yes, do a bleeding decent Picard voice!

$1B, and what could turn into a permanent injunction against sales of some of its top-of-the-line products. That's a killer. Won't know until December, though.
Well, it's mostly last-generation stuff. But I imagine they still sell Galaxy S2s.


It's not going to kill Samsung or fundamentally hurt them in any way. And they'll be appealing this for years. I'd understand if the Galaxy S3 was affected but it's not.
I know I'd prefer to be in Samsung's position rather than say RIM.

>> ^Deano:

I've read a few takes on the trial that say this is all good news for Samsung. If you accept that they copied then it's just cost them $1bn to become second in the market. And they're appealing that in any case. Their marketing budget alone is $3bn.
Meanwhile Microsoft "innovated" with Windows Phone and they're nowhere. Look where Palm and Nokia are. Following in Apple's footsteps was the smartest move.
And yes, do a bleeding decent Picard voice!


$1B, and what could turn into a permanent injunction against sales of some of its top-of-the-line products. That's a killer. Won't know until December, though.

Well, it's mostly last-generation stuff. But I imagine they still sell Galaxy S2s.

I've read a few takes on the trial that say this is all good news for Samsung. If you accept that they copied then it's just cost them $1bn to become second in the market. And they're appealing that in any case. Their *marketing* budget alone is $3bn.

Meanwhile Microsoft "innovated" with Windows Phone and they're nowhere. Look where Palm and Nokia are. Following in Apple's footsteps was the smartest move.

And yes, do a bleeding decent Picard voice!

>> ^Fred_Chopin:

Why the terrible tag? I don't get it.


It seems too simplistic for my overcrowded taste ... to each his/her own =o)

I wouldn't mind the changes, but the fact that you can't go back to a Windows 7 style start bar menu on the Desktop is just odd... I am willing to have Metro the default and no real way to boot to Desktop, but Desktop should function they way people are used to it, give them an easy way back to Metro, but leave Desktop functional...

The big problem is most home consumers buy their PC from Best Buy, Wal-Mart or some retail box store like that, and those PCs will all be loaded with Windows 8, so it doesn't matter if Microsoft keep Windows 7 available for businesses and people doing custom builds, most consumers will be stuck with this mess for their desktops and laptops.

About the only thing they seem to be doing right on the desktop/laptop end is finally going with a semi-more-reasonable price structure for the upgrades. $40 per PC... still not as cheap as Apple's $20 upgrade every Mac you have, but a step in the right direction. Had they managed to get ReFS better integrated across the line (able to boot from it, able to use it in removable drives and in consumer level versions... the inability to boot from it and use it in removable drives is perhaps why it isn't in the consumer version) then that would be a thing they have going for it as well.

Metro looks great for touchscreens, although the lack of ability to set where you want to split side by side apps seems odd even for touchscreens.

After using a Windows Phone for a little more than a year, I can actually say that I don't like the Metro design language. I was all about it, back when I got the phone (Proof: http://braindonut.com/2010/11/20/windows-phone-7-thoughts/) and not many people can believe that I ever liked "Modern UI" or Metro, because I so very much dislike it nowadays.

I think I was just hungry for anything that was different and new. The problem was that it was like living in a dreary, international modernism, concrete building. At first, I appreciated the clean lines, the simple forms... No decoration. "Purely digital." But after a while, it started getting really boring. REALLY dreary.

Microsoft designed a set of design patterns that are made for getting in and out of your phone, quickly. They made it no nonsense - and it's elegant in that objective. But I don't want to get in and out of my phone. I want to live in that little thing. It's an extension of my daily life. And when I live somewhere, I don't want the walls all painted white and everything to be stark rectangles.

There's a big movement right now in design. Microsoft and Apple are kind of leading the opposing charges. Having existed in both worlds for a long while, I can honestly say I'd rather live in Apple's ecosystem. Sure, they could do things to make the iPhone more efficient within certain tasks, but on the whole, iPhone offers a superior experience. A lot of that is due to how much their OS is designed for an App ecosystem, while Microsoft struggles in this area. Even Windows 8 makes installed apps a pain in the ass to deal with.

So yeah, "Modern UI" is neat, different, ballsy. But I can't wait for the inevitable "Postmodern UI" response.

We're heavily encouraged to dog-food because we're such a tightly integrated Microsoft shop (we have a lot of contact with MS employees, so it's a nice way to suck up to them I guess.)

The improvements to Explorer are the only thing that makes me want to go. All of my coworkers are upgrading their Windows 7 workstations to 8, but I'm not feeling it, not yet.