CVByrne Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Well I work in financial risk consulting so am not an IT man despite knowing my fair bit of coding. I just think windows 8 looks great and will really open up the tablet market. I think the company has with the new drive and innovation they have shown. Surface and especially the keyboard were totally unexpected and a great surprise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDon Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 am not an IT man ... I just think windows 8 looks great As an IT man, I think windows 8 looks like something that should never have gotten off the design table. That they're going to be pushing it as a desktop OS is insane. Microsoft makes their money in the corporate sector, and I haven't spoken to a single sys admin that wants to roll that piece of shite out to their users. From a corporate perspective it's next to unusable. Their whole "one OS across all devices" is fatally flawed when increasingly people are using personal devices for work. It's just not going to mesh with what actually goes on within corporate environments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted June 23, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted June 23, 2012 I'll probably stick with win7 at our site for the win-users. There is no real upside to win8 like it was to go from XP to win7. Debian flavours is the preferred choice for the nix users, me included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted June 23, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted June 23, 2012 This hasn't been posted yet has it? edit: rehost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 You need to rehost that mate. All I am seeing is a "no hotlinking" image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted June 23, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted June 23, 2012 Fixed I hope I shall add that I never saw AOL software at that time so the genuineness might be in question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I dont think it is a fair comparison either. The Windows metro UI is fantastic, personally I think it is the best UI out of the big three players at the moment (iOS and Android being the other two) and it is the other things which might be the undoing of Microsoft. Windows 8 will probably not sell in the same way as Windows 7 did, partially because Windows 7 is so damn good and Windows 8 doesnt really look so good for business & enterprise customers at the moment, the Windows 8 desktop mode seems half arsed at best but tablets are clearly the future and Microsoft needs to make a move now. I really like the look of the surface and I am am very interested to see what becomes of it. I just hope Microsoft can power through the first year or so if uptake is slow because it looks like a very good product. They just need to build a good ecosystem to go with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted June 24, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted June 24, 2012 Dell and HP are also reportedly very unhappy with Microsoft putting out their own tablet. And word is that a Microsoft-branded phone is due by the end of the year... in which case I don't think Nokia will be pleased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I'm sure they are unhappy, but what are they going to do? Start making Android tablets? I am just regurgitating the opinions of others but some of these OEMs needed a kick up the arse because they have been making poor products for too long. Intel tried to give the non Apple laptop market a shot in the arm with the Ultrabook initiative and results there have been mixed because of bloatware and a race to the bottom mentality, probably to the dissatisfaction of Microsoft and the state of the Android tablet market is probably horrifying for them too and they really dont want to see Windows go that way. Having a flagship product is good for consumers, its a high profile item which sets a certain standard in consumers minds (and lets face it, it needed Microsoft to make this announcement, nobody would give a shit if Dell or HP put this event on) hopefully it will make the hardware manufacturers up their game and give us better stuff to chose from because now if Dell want to sell me a new computer then it has to be better than the Microsoft Surface. JFK might have been talking about something else entirely when he said a rising tide lifts all boats, but the analogy fits the current state of the tech industry rather nicely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 I dont think it is a fair comparison either. The Windows metro UI is fantastic, personally I think it is the best UI out of the big three players at the moment (iOS and Android being the other two) and it is the other things which might be the undoing of Microsoft. Windows 8 will probably not sell in the same way as Windows 7 did, partially because Windows 7 is so damn good and Windows 8 doesnt really look so good for business & enterprise customers at the moment, the Windows 8 desktop mode seems half arsed at best but tablets are clearly the future and Microsoft needs to make a move now. I really like the look of the surface and I am am very interested to see what becomes of it. I just hope Microsoft can power through the first year or so if uptake is slow because it looks like a very good product. They just need to build a good ecosystem to go with it. Rumors are that they'll subsidise the Surface like they did XBox to get market share. Meaning they are fully behind making this work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Hmmmm, that is interesting if true. The Xbox was subsidised because Microsoft makes money on software in that business, they get a cut of every game sold on the system. That is not going to be the case with the surface. Obviously they wont be charging themselves the $100 for Windows 8 every other OEM will have to pay (though they will probably sell it to themselves for the token price of $1 so they can report a larger number of Windows 8 sales in their financials) but does that count as subsidy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted June 24, 2012 Moderator Share Posted June 24, 2012 Dell and HP are also reportedly very unhappy with Microsoft putting out their own tablet. And word is that a Microsoft-branded phone is due by the end of the year... in which case I don't think Nokia will be pleased. Microsoft used to be the biggest Co. in the world, because it made the software (and only software) that was sold to go on most of the world's computers. It wasn't always very good software, but it was largely a captive market. The world changed. Apple is now the biggest Co., and it made it's money by making devices people wanted - it made its money through selling hardware. But now people use androids and iphones and iPads and don't sit at desks for much of their computering. So selling software (only) is a dead end. Microsoft have had to start doing what Apple did - selling portable devices and making money from the combination of hardware and software. I wonder though if they might not be a bit late in on it all? Hopefully the software they put on the devices they sell will be really good. The surface thingy looks well made and well designed, and the pictures I've seen show a pretty neat user interface. Samsung have been studiously copying Apple products for a while now, without making anything notably better or even as good, but maybe Microsoft will make something that's better than iPads, and maybe the surface is it. It's not a good thing when one company corners the market - whether it's Microsoft in the past with operating systems, or Apple with iPads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Samsung have been studiously copying Apple products for a while now, without making anything notably better or even as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted June 25, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted June 25, 2012 -1, Troll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted June 25, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted June 25, 2012 Has Microsoft opened the door to the Linux desktop? Microsoft has been going out of its way to tick off its partners. First, Windows 8 has an interface, Metro, that only a mother could love. Metro will require Windows users to re-learn everything they know about how to use Windows. Then, Microsoft announced Surface, a vaporware tablet that leaves all its partners’ Windows 8 tablet plans in disarray. , Finally, adding insult to injury, Microsoft stabbed its smartphone partners in the back by announcing Windows Phone 8, which made all currently shipping Windows phones obsolete. So, if you’re in the PC business do you really want to work with Microsoft or is it finally time to look for a partner that really wants to work with you rather than use you? I think it’s time for Dell, HP, Lenovo, and all the other big-time PC vendors to finally start taking the Linux desktop seriously. It’s clear that Microsoft’s agenda no longer is running in parallel with their plans. Shifting to Linux won’t be easy. I’m sorry to say that in 2012 there are only two significant Linux desktop/tablet operating systems for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to consider for partnering: Canonical of Ubuntu fame, and Google with Android and Chrome OS. Yes there are many other Linux desktop distributions. Yes, some of them may be better. I, for example, favor Mint 13. But, Mint, while it finally has a partner shipping Linux Mint-powered PCs, and the other small Linux distributors aren’t big enough for the major OEMs to take seriously. The other big name Linux companies, Red Hat and SUSE, are now focused on servers. Ubuntu, on the other hand, not only has been courting OEMs for years, it’s actually been shipping Ubuntu-powered laptops and desktops from companies like Dell for years. When Mark Shuttleworth, Canonical’s CEO, said recently that he expected 20-million PCs to ship this year with Ubuntu, he wasn’t blowing hot air. Shuttleworth was, however, not talking just about the North American and European Union market, but the world market. It’s in China and India where Canonical, with its partner Dell have found that people really will buy PCs without Windows. I know for a fact that Canonical would be more than happy to work with other OEMs and bring the Ubuntu Linux desktop to Western markets. Are you still under the delusion that Linux is too hard? That once people go Windows they won’t look at anything else? Please, meet my now 80-year old mother-in-law who’s a happy Ubuntu 12.04 user. The major OEMs already have experience in working with Google and Android. Since Android is the hottest selling smartphone operating system on the planet, Google must be doing something right. There’s no reason Chrome OS-powered Chromebooks can’t be the next step in desktop evolution. Think about it. Chrome OS is just the popular Chrome Web browser running on Linux. If you know how to use a Web browser you can use a Chromebook. Unlike Windows 8’s Metro there is no learning curve what-so-ever. Chrome OS’ big problem is that it requires an Internet connection to show its stuff. It is, after all, the first significant cloud-based desktop operating system. But, how much work can you get done now with your Windows PC without an Internet connection? If you’re honest you know that the answer is: “Not much.” Besides, Chrome OS’ offline capabilities are improving. You can already use GMail off-line. It also looks like Google will be rolling out offline Google Docs for Chrome OS this week at their annual show of shows Google I/O. Now, let’s take a long, hard look at the situation. Microsoft is showing itself to be no friend to its partners and Windows 8, like Vista before it, looks to be a flop in the making. But, if the hardware vendors start offering a Linux-based product lines they’ll increase their razor-thin margins, work with partners who want to work with them, and be able to offer customers attractive and secure operating systems that actually require less training than Windows 8 will. Heck, thanks to Ballmer’s desktop and partner mis-steps maybe we finally will see a year of the Linux desktop after all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Opinion piece by a guy with an obvious agenda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 Ok, you guys are IT people and miss the point we normals have. We are never going to switch to Linux en mass. We like windows, it's familiar and works the way we know. We grew up with it. The drawback of tablets is the current crop are mobile OS'. They have big limitations. What windows is doing is changing its new windows to be booth classic style and tablet style depending on if you have a keyboard connected it's not. This is the key advantage here and it is the selling point and it is very appealing. Trust me loads of people have been very interested in this since its announcement. Surface is the answer to what many want a tablet and a notebook in one. Also Blandy. Such a draft comment re Samsung. Especially given it's three Galaxy S series phones have been out of reach of Apple in hardware terms at least . Apple even pay people to make their devices, they have no hardware heritage of any note. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted June 25, 2012 Administrator Share Posted June 25, 2012 So Conor, it's both important that windows stays the same and that it changes? I think you might have fallen for the spin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMFy Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 RE Blandy's Samsung quote. Is there anything Apple's OS can do that Android can't? I've never believed the hype that it is superior... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 The app situation on iOS is clearly superior, the iPhone is easier to write code for and easier to make money from so the most talented app developers go there first. Android is hardly a barren wasteland though so that might not bother people too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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