Windows 8

[ddrueding]

Apple said so and that means it must be true.

Don't make me bring over that picture from the RIM thread...

 

[Mercutio]

The state of the world is such that in 2012, there is Apple-people reality and factual reality and now there are all kinds of people who can't tell the difference.

 

[LunarMist]

But you could still use windows. I guess the question is whether the Androgen can run on muticore, multiprocessor x86 systems.

 

[ddrueding]

You could still use windows, it just won't matter what you use. And x86 won't matter if the OS runs on RISC or whatever else.

When it doesn't matter, MS and Apple will have a hard time justifying their prices to many people.

 

[timwhit]

When it doesn't matter, MS and Apple will have a hard time justifying their prices to many people.

At least three times a week someone tells me how great Apple products are. I have a feeling this amount of consumer reality distortion could take years to wane. My usual response is a blank stare. No point in arguing with a zealot unless I'm drinking.

 

[CityK]

I guess the question is whether the Androgen can run on muticore, multiprocessor x86 systems.

It already does; its called Linux

 

[LunarMist]

I'll go with the Mac if it comes to that.

 

[timwhit]

I'll go with the Mac if it comes to that.

So, you would rather pay an outrageous price for a computer rather than use a free and open source operating system.

 

[LunarMist]

So, you would rather pay an outrageous price for a computer rather than use a free and open source operating system.

Sure, if Windows 8 is so awful. As much as I dislike 7, for now I should buy about eight copies before it is discontinued. Assuming there are drivers for a few more years, I could build the final few computers in 2015.

 

[Howell]

So, you would rather pay an outrageous price for a computer rather than use a free and open source operating system.

I could use a completely free (as in beer) operating system and worry about being a beta tester for life. Worry about my wireless networking not actually being a functioning system at ship time. Worry about the next shipping version not only not fixing the problem, but breaking the hacks that keep it running for a couple weeks at a time. Sure, my time is worthless. Sign me up.

 

[Mercutio]

As long as you avoid a couple chipsets, 802.11 normally works just fine. Unfortunately, one of the vendors that's most hostile to *nix is Atheros, which is ridiculously common in cheap hardware.

To me the bigger issue with mainsteam Linux distributions is that they keep fucking with the GUI instead of offering some stability from release to release.

 

[timwhit]

To me the bigger issue with mainsteam Linux distributions is that they keep fucking with the GUI instead of offering some stability from release to release.

Try Linux Mint, which is based on Ubuntu, but uses the MATE DE, which is a fork of GNOME 2.x.

I find installing a Linux distribution much easier than installing Windows. There are no drivers to download. Everything just works (at least for me).

 

[Bozo]

When I installed Linux Mint, it needed to access the internet to download all sorts of files, including drivers. It's just as bad as Windows just for the fact that it must be connected to the internet. As I deal with computers that are not on the internet, any version of Linux becomes a real pain in finding the right drivers and software. Too many versions, too many kernels, too many GUIs; too many dependencies, too many chefs spoil the soup!.
And trying to install said drivers and software is an exercise in futility.

 

[timwhit]

When I installed Linux Mint, it needed to access the internet to download all sorts of files, including drivers. It's just as bad as Windows just for the fact that it must be connected to the internet. As I deal with computers that are not on the internet, any version of Linux becomes a real pain in finding the right drivers and software. Too many versions, too many kernels, too many GUIs; too many dependencies, too many chefs spoil the soup!.
And trying to install said drivers and software is an exercise in futility.

It sounds like you need to run your own private software repo.

 

[Mercutio]

I see his point. They don't put everything on the install media but why should he have to do something like that?

Windows of course isn't any better. I spend stupid amounts of time maintaing install images for it, too.

 

[CougTek]

I tried Windows 8 for the first time today. Microsoft needs to provide a simple way to disable Metro or else they can kiss goodbye to the entire business market. There's no way I'll let that piece of shit be installed on any of the computers I manage at the the office and unfortunately for Microsoft, I manage all of them (between thirty and fourty, not counting the servers).

Without Metro, it felt quite sluggish for the first fifteen minutes after the installation was completed, but after that it became quite snappy. I guess the installer doesn't finish when it says it's finished.

 

[CougTek]

BTW, I used "Windows Classic Shell" to get rid of Metro. It's probably not completly deactivated, but at least I don't have to suffer it thru the UI so that makes it a lot more tolerable.

 

[Bozo]

Supposedly, none of the programs shutdown in Windows 8. So it would be snappier if the programs were running in the back round.

 

[LunarMist]

That's insane. PS alone will kill the memory in no time. I forsee rebooting a hundred times per day.

 

[fb]

I think it's programs from the MS App Store that doesn't shut down if you exit them - and you can close them too (Google directed me to http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/faq )

I don't think Metro is such a big deal, at least not at the moment. I've been running the CP at work since it was released, I was shocked the first time I booted the thing. But now I'm pretty much doing what LiamC suggested earlier in this thread and just think of the start screen as a huge start menu/run command. Apart from that I'm using the desktop just as I did in 2003/XP. Other stuff, like the control panel, looks pretty much like the one in Win 7 (as far as I know, I haven't used it that much.)

But it's strange that MS always manages to make UI changes that forces us users to relearn how to do basic tasks (I had to Google to find out how to shut down for example)...

 

[Chewy509]

But it's strange that MS always manages to make UI changes that forces us users to relearn how to do basic tasks

I think this is the major issue with Windows and Microsoft at the moment, especially since they want a 3yr release cycle for the OS and infrastructure related software.

Most people treat their computer as an appliance, and loath to relearn things every so often, especially when the old way worked so well for so many people. This is one of the reasons I think tablets have taken off so well recently, the interface is very similar to phones released over the last few years (be it Android or iOS), that users don't have to relearn anything. I know a crackberry user, who was looking for a tablet, and I recommended the Playbook (only because he was an existing blackberry user), and he loves it. He's used the iPhone and iPad, and absolutely hates them...

 

[MaxBurn]

http://twitpic.com/aaz6ju
Windows through the ages

 

[Mercutio]

I probably will move at least a couple machines to Windows 8. I dislike the Metro interface, but I use Windows 8 on my work desktop and I really don't notice it very much unless I'm trying to figure out what the fuck they did with something that used to be in Control Panel. I still spend all my time in Firefox, Word, Paint.Net, Visio and Terminals. All those things run perfectly well.

 

[time]

Windows 8 will be a catastrophe for PC game makers

 

[Mercutio]

I don't think I care what the people who make Steam think about anything. Games I get from Microsoft aren't going to require constant check-ins to run once I download them.

 

[MaxBurn]

~Games I get from Microsoft aren't going to require constant check-ins to run once I download them.

You think so? I don't see this happening. I think something like diablo 3 is gong to be the same no matter what store you get it through.

 

[Mercutio]

Isn't Diablo 3 a special award winner in the field of retarded shit in the first place?

 

[MaxBurn]

Yes but that is the new trend of video game DRM. They can't figure out how to secure the software so they make you check in with a third-party.

 

[Mercutio]

I see now that there's just no way to make Server 2012 run on ESXi 4. I thought maybe I was just using an unsupported disk controller or somesuch, but no. To do Windows 8 or Server 2012 you need fully patch ESXi 5. I might as well dedicate real hardware to it as bring down all my crap to do an ESX upgrade.

 

[CougTek]

It must be they secure boot sector novelty that's preventing its installation on ESXi. There's a campaign against the new secure boot on the Free Software Foundation. I signed it earlier today.

 

[Handruin]

If you're a user of VMware workstation, that also needed an upgrade from version 7.x to 8.x in order for Win8 to load/boot. Usually workstation gets the changes and experimental features before ESXi does, so it's not surprising it took some time for Win8 to be supported under ESXi.

 

[CougTek]

F-word, f-word, f-word. I thought I would be able to grab the RTM today, but I'll have to wait untill the 15th of the month. F-word, f-word, f-word.

 

[timwhit]

You want to run this? Why?

 

[CougTek]

I want to witness how badly they locked the damn Metro interface and how it is possible to toggle it off. My Windows 8 Public Preview installation is quite snappy when only Aero runs.

 

[MaxBurn]

How Microsoft plans to teach the world to use Windows*8

http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/2/3214795/windows-8-tutorial-setup-guide

 

[Mercutio]

Metro is retarded but I barely see it. I leave a cmd.exe window for starting most of the things I need.

 

[MaxBurn]

Windows 8-style UI

I am convinced that Microsoft is no longer capable of naming its products.

http://arstechnica.com/information-...yle-ui-in-amid-rumors-of-a-trademark-dispute/

 

[Mercutio]

All the good short words have been taken by .coms.

 

[LunarMist]

That does not seem to be the case though.

 

[Mercutio]

Today is the big day. I've got a nice new system all set to run it. As yet it's not on Technet but I'm guessing it will be posted by noon.