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Thread: Making Windows 8 less crappy

  1. #61
    If you look back to my first post in this thread, we have been waiting for Microsoft to come out with a decent OS since December of 2013, thinking it would coincide with the expiration of Windows XP on April 8. Never happened, and this morning on CNN news I read why:

    "Microsoft is about to take the ax to one of the stupidest products it ever created.

    CEO Satya Nadella said Tuesday that Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) will combine all of its various Windows iterations into one unified version next year. That, thankfully, will mean the end of Windows RT, MIcrosoft's woefully executed and dreadfully received operating system.

    Windows RT was supposed to usher in the tablet era for Microsoft. But Windows RT has two fatal flaws: it's missing crucial apps, and it's poorly designed. Unsurprisingly, the stripped-down operating system failed to take off. (Actually, that's an understatement: Microsoft took a $900 million writedown last year because of awful Surface RT sales, the only mainstream tablet than ran Windows RT.)

    The biggest failure of Windows RT was that it took away the single best part of Windows -- the fact that it can run just about every app ever created.

    Still, you can't run iTunes. There's no Chrome or Firefox browser. You likely can't run your company's custom-built software. Pretty much anything that requires a desktop is a no-go.

    To recap: If you want to visit a website that the tablet version of the browser doesn't support, change a setting that you can't tweak in the normal settings app. Or, if you want to create a document, you have to exit the land of tiles and enter desktop world.

    So, yeah, it's fair to say there are some design issues with Windows RT.

    The concept of Windows RT was actually right: put Windows on any device, no matter what kind of processor or screen size it has -- even if the device is missing a keyboard and mouse. But Microsoft never made a compelling case for why you should buy a Windows RT tablet over a rival tablet except for the fact that it runs Office. And that argument just went out the window when Microsoft brought Office to the iPad earlier this year.

    That's why Windows RT turned into one of the biggest flops in Microsoft's history. And that's saying a lot, considering Microsoft conjured up such duds as Windows Vista, Microsoft Bob and Clippy."

  2. #62
    Interesting article.

    Just goes to show that the bigger a company gets the slower it moves with technology. Microsoft missed the boat with smartphone technology and tablet technology. I seriously doubt it could pop out a product that would revolutionize either market now. I think it's about time that Microsoft come up with a new base for their OS.

    Glad you're enjoying the Mac though. When it comes down to it satisfaction with your purchase is the most important.
    98 3rz 4x4 5spd- Monstalined, 99 Talls, 4.30 E-locker, Extra Lights
    In Progress:
    Tundra/Rear Disc Brakes w/parking brake
    Roof Rack/Rear Ladder
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    1st Gen Rollbar Shelf

  3. #63
    I think you hit the nail on the head, Microsoft is no longer a leader. What keeps them in business is the fact that large companies (like the one I work for) feel tied to Microsoft due to Windows-based networking and legacy software. And somehow Microsoft failed to recognize this and came out with products (like Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows RT) that no longer support that legacy software. Eliminating the infamous start button was a step in the wrong direction, then Microsoft's refusal to give it back even when customers kicked and screamed about it was probably a poor choice.

    I have Windows 7 at work and it is far more stable than any Windows OS I have used in the past 15 years. Too bad they f-d it up with Windows 8 and 8.1, and then refused to sell boxed and licenseable versions of Windows 7. Oh wait, you can buy Windows 8 Pro, then pay again to "upgrade" to Windows 7. There's the recipe for success.

  4. #64
    9 sees the return of the start button and a decidedly more win 7 feel.

    We would be dead without win 7 at work. All of our software is windows only.
    Last edited by Seanz0rz; 07-24-2014 at 10:50 AM.
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

  5. #65
    Quote Originally Posted by Seanz0rz View Post
    9 sees the return of the start button and a decidedly more win 7 feel.

    We would be dead without win 7 at work. All of our software is windows only.
    That is a step in the right direction. Any word on when 9 may be available?

    I am guessing my company has too much invested in hardware and software to run anything but Windows. We ran XP until last year and will never, ever use 8/8.1.

  6. #66
    Just here to say one more time.... I love my Win 7.

    Off to do some reading about 9.
    -Chris
    2004 DoubleCab Tacoma PreRunner: 3.4 V6-Auto, DD/Tow Rig
    1997 Lexus LX450: 4.5 I6-Auto, DD
    1984 4Runner: 22R-5 speed, 14 inch bob, 5.29's, lincoln locked rear, lockright front, Armored and Caged by Mossyrocks Fabrication, total disregard for body damage.
    1997 4Runner: GONE
    1996 FZJ80 Land Cruiser: GONE

  7. #67
    Eh I will keep my fingers crossed for Linux finally coming out of its extreme nerd closet and taking a share of the market. I have a dual boot on Linux Mint and if it weren't for a few key things about Windows I would never use it again (although Win7 is a solid OS). Whenever it does take it's chunk it is going to be almost instantaneous and companies like Microsoft and Apple are going to find that their services are no longer competitive.

    After all.....Android is a Linux base language and look at what it has done with the smartphone market.
    98 3rz 4x4 5spd- Monstalined, 99 Talls, 4.30 E-locker, Extra Lights
    In Progress:
    Tundra/Rear Disc Brakes w/parking brake
    Roof Rack/Rear Ladder
    Sliders
    1st Gen Rollbar Shelf

  8. #68
    Quote Originally Posted by troyboy162 View Post
    Its not the investment in the overpriced apple computer that will get you. Its all the Starbucks coffee and beard pomade that goes along with it
    That is so true!

  9. #69
    I have been waiting for a linux revolution since I was 15. I am not holding my breath on this one. Linux suffers from the same problems that plague android: Fragmentation. So many different manufacturers do so many different things to their version of Android, you end up with experiences that spoil the core software. I really enjoy android on my Nexus 5 and 7, but can't stand the very popular Samsung version. Not to mention getting updates months later, etc.

    The same thing that makes linux distros so wonderful, distros tailor made to a specific purpose like MINT or edubuntu, keep people from being able to pick something. The necessary command line operations also keeps the public away.

    Linux is great if you are into computers as a hobby. If you need it to work for work, and don't have time to mess with it, stick with Windows or OSX. For my line of work, CAD programs are heavily windows biased. Excel and our management program are windows native as well (they can be successfully run in a VM, but CAD programs are often too resource intensive to be successful in a VM).
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

  10. #70
    Quote Originally Posted by paddlenbike View Post
    REALLY liking the Mac so far. It hasn't frozen, downloaded updates for hours on end, every device we have configured has worked the very first time we tried...this all feels very foreign to me. I did have to google how to right click on a Mac, but otherwise most everything seems very straight forward.
    One thing I won't give up is my roller ball trackball with multiple buttons. Swiping, double tapping, triple tapping, and gesturing is all the rage I guess with the youth coffee shop intelligensia, but not for this old coot.

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