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Windows Server already is command-line only, but you can still install the GUI as an option..... which every Windows admin will.

the thing to bing for (haha, only kidding - google for) is Windows Server Core. Here's a beginners guide to it, so you can now install Windows Server on underpowered hardware, like that old dual-core i3 you were thinking of chucking out :)

One thing to note that i found really interesting is this : There is no support for managed code. so don't expect it to be a GUI-less version of Windows, its much more a cut-down thing for specialist uses, or for basic OS features like file+print.

But the really telling number was in the Windows Division, with revenue of $3.24 billion, down a frightening 33 percent from the same period last year.

So Microsoft releases the first stable version of Windows 7 on February 22 of 2011 and a year later you're calling a 1/3 drop in Windows sales "frightening"? Perhaps they were just coming down from everyone's move to Windows 7? I mean you (hopefully) only need to buy that once for your machine.

This author claims to be "putting his neck on the line" with this prediction but all I see are a lot of questions that want you to believe what he's saying will happen without him ever actually saying that Microsoft's mobile will flop and Steve Ballmer will then be ousted. To back that up he goes on with further questions surrounding earnings reports. God I've wasted too much time on this post already considering how insipid the original article is.

I ran benchmarks. Adblock is faster. Requests that are not generated by the browser are faster than ones that are and resolve locally in the hosts file. The language being executed makes zero difference.

This is how Microsoft says DNS works. The ironic part is how you go through all these contortions to make sure that hosts is resident in RAM, when it would be anyway if you just used the Windows DNS Client.

You're totally ignorant, it seems, of how Firefox operates internally. What I outlined was exactly correct. Firefox handles a number of different types of content, such as http, https, ftp, ssh, images, javascript, etc. Before it goes to find something, it determines how it should do that. It parses the request. Is this a file? is it local ("file://") or remote? ("http://"). This is the stage that Adblock interrupts. The next stage would be Firefox asking the OS's host name resolution system for the IP address. Resolving a null address takes longer -- as benchmarked -- than not making the request at all.

Your DNS caching server can run on the same hardware as your browser, it doesn't have to be remote -- or complicated. Windows being Windows, people have easy solutions for this. Again, your program is just a bad example of one -- it's not that difficult to use is it? If you can make a simple product, then someone who knows what they're doing can too.

Regexes. Let's see if we can fill this vast gulf of your ignorance. So you want to block
baddomain.com, baddomain.net, baddomain.xxx etc.
A request comes in. You want to know if it is a domain that you should be blocking. If you are doing string matching (as in a hosts file), you must check entries in your list until you find it. You make N comparisons, and either find it or exhaust the list.
If you are using a regex (e.g. baddomain.*), you make one comparison.

For short lists, string comparison can be faster. If you're parsing more than a kilobyte, you should probably think about regexes. Megabytes are no contest. I can provide benchmarks for that too.

So, you have my benchmarks. How big is this program of yours? How many cpu cycles does it use? Does it take more or less time than 0 ms to block a request? How big is your hosts file?

I get the feeling that you've never actually tested any of this, and are just going by your gut feeling.

Stop with your A, B, C list.
A) a local DNS caching server will do the exact same thing. Because it is the exact same thing.
B) a local DNS caching server will affect all webapps and all other devices on the local network. You just have a shitty version.
C) See A.
D) See A.
E) See A, also see benchmark it before you claim it's faster.
F) If you can access the hosts file on those devices, if it exists. See B.

And really, you're smoking something if you think the IP stack isn't being rewritten regularly. IPv6 ring a bell? DNSSEC? Networks have changed since the 80s. You don't understand how or why.

You have zero evidence that this actually works the way you think. None. Most of what you've said is factually wrong, even the parts where you try to call me out. You don't have any idea what the network stack looks like, or how it's actually being used. I have more than a sneaking suspicion that you've never configured a non-home network. Or a server.

You're not going to convince anyone with testimonials. Show some numbers. I don't want to hear bullshit about how many people suck your dick, or how bulletproof your systems are. If you can't prove your claims with actual numbers, you're just a loudmouthed excuse for a script kiddie.

Face it -- you're not even a mediocrity. You're just a laughingstock. Your complete lack of wit is painfully obvious to everyone on every forum that you troll.

Straight from the horse's mouth:

...we are considering Windows 8 a brand new advertising canvas that offers endless opportunities. The connected user interface and unique, fluid design of Windows 8 will encourage people to explore and discover ads without disrupting their experience.

I was under the impression that Nintendo tended to avoid "emulation" in marketing materials for Virtual Console so as to distance Virtual Console from community-made emulators that rely on (usually illegally traded) ROM images.

Regardless if they call it one or not it remains a software based emulator. It's unfortunate the duration of copyright otherwise these (arguably classic) games might be in the public domain.

Emulators can't tell in general which button is in which position on each brand of controller or adapter [pineight.com]. This means the user has to set up the button mappings for each PC game or emulator. I'm told people don't have much patience to set up in every single game or every single emulator, and that's why they use official emulators on consoles.

Even the official emulators have problems with control schemes for multiple platforms (Virtual Console supports multiple platforms, although, not as many as the PC). You have preconceived notions about how Emulators work but your scenario isn't based in reality. Fortunately one doesn't need to keep remapping things per game, once configured for the emulator the profile works for all games loaded. For newer titles Xinput handles things automagically. Most people turn to Google or Youtube when they need answers, and there are plenty of helpful people out there with easy to follow instructions for those not savvy enough to navigate the emulator options on their own.

All Virtual Console games have their buttons mapped to the respective buttons on the controllers, however, in certain circumstances users can use X and Y instead of A and B, if the original controller does not have X and Y buttons (for example the NES).[40] In certain titles, such as Nintendo 64 games, there may be specific controls tailored to the Classic Controller or GameCube Controller. Nintendo 64 titles that originally provided force feedback via the Nintendo 64 controller's Rumble Pak peripheral however, are not supported by the built-in "Rumble" feature of the GameCube controller despite its capability of doing so.

The button mapping has become the cause of problem and concern, however. The button mapping is rigid and is not customizable. Because of this, many games are difficult to play. All Neo Geo fighting games have very awkward control schemes and glitches when changed to GameCube controllers. Nintendo has acknowledged this issue but has not put any efforts towards fixing it. (wiki source)

Pick your poison, Virtual Console with no setup, known awkward controls, and the joy of (re)buying titles OR some setup, excellent controls (especially if you already have originals, also working rumble!), and no out of pocket for titles. People seem to like "free." At least there are options out there, ultimately nothing compares to the authentic experience.

In addition, a console is more likely to have a case designed to fit in well next to a television (as opposed to a typical tower PC case), which is important if a game uses offline multiplayer.

Very true. I'd recommend something like an old modded XBOX which lets you rock nearly every emulator and as a bonus sits right next to your TV. One downside is a console also requires an additional investment.

So what is this?
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/system-center/endpoint-protection-2012.aspx - System Center Endpoint Protection

That's MSE with centrally managed enterprise control (formally known as ForeFront) and it's in use by a large number of organisations of substantial size (primarily because you "get it" along with other Microsoft products in your MS enterprise agreement).

Security essentials is packaged for businesses as Forefront

You're so last month! We're calling it System Center Endpoint Protection now, because it rolls off the tongue more naturally.

How about 7GB of cloud storage; free? That comes with a Microsoft Account.

I think I'd rather have that space for having photos, music, movies and documents available at all times rather than simply hope that it will work for disaster recovery. Should anyone really be dependent on cloud storage to initiate disaster recovery? Is that really such a good idea?

Apparent abandonment of .net - Not a supported framework for metro, winphone, winRT.

.NET is a supported framework for Win8/WinRT, as well as all incarnations of Windows Phone (in fact, for WP, you have to use it for UI layer).

Silverlight is not gone, really, it just got rewritten in native code and rebranded "XAML" (for Windows Store apps).

If you are going to violate the license why not just pirate windows?

OEM versions are for you to build a PC that you sell, not one for your own use.

That depends. For Windows 8, OEM versions can be used for personal use.

From: Microsoft

Q. I am not a system builder, but I am building my own PC for personal use. Can I purchase OEM System Builder software?

A. Yes. Anyone who is building a PC for personal use with Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro software can use the Personal Use License.

What you are hinting at is a real privacy problem. Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Verizon, AT&T and Google all get user's location data and then use that for commercial reasons

But Apple and Nokia just use the data internally. Google uses it to figure out which third party ads to provide you with.

As you should know, Nokia doesn't have any choice in this matter any more, having handed control over to Microsoft; on the other hand Microsoft provides targetted advertising which 100% guarantees to leak information . Microsoft targets based on things

including age, gender, location, time of day operating system [ ... ] recent online activity [... and ... ] consumers engaged with particular categories of online content

Which barely starts on the fact that they are one of Facebook's major partners.

With Google, at least we can have the belief that they know how to do data filtering and anonymization.

We do? I sure don't. All I know is they have a TON of data on me from other sources (like Google ads, or using Google to search, or your gmail account) and they can tie that also in with your driving too. I greatly prefer to segment as much of my data between companies as possible, which is also why I'm moving out of GMail.

Now, in this case I'm not going to contradict you at all. Any mail you have stored with any form of online provider can be accessed by US authorities at will and without a warrant since they claim not to consider it your property. In principle and on principle you do not want to use any of Gmail, Facebook, Hotmail or anything similar for any of your mail. The problem though is that running your own mail server with proper spam filtering is a complete pain. Unless you find a very clever solution your practical actual security with anything other than Gmail is likely to be much lower. Remember, for example, that Gmail has caught a large number of attempts by Chinese sponsored hackers to break into accounts. It is known that the same attempts are made against hotmail (read logs of various proxies which were "counter-hacked") but at the same time Microsoft has never made announcements equivalent to Gmail's.

This means that, at best, Hotmail is sacrificing user security for market perception by not warning users what actions they should take to secure themselves. At worst Hotmail is completely unaware of the ways that they have been penetrated and is basically acting as one huge trap.

That's not enough though; there should definitely be laws, as there are in Europe for mobile operators, which protect the subscriber's privacy.

None of those protect you from Google connecting the dots with all the data you give them directly.

Good luck keeping all your anonymous eggs in that single giant, juicy basket.

Actually, the European laws do quite specifically prohibit that. More importantly, if Google did connect dots and prove that I'm a naturalised space alien, for example, they would be liable for any damage that caused me. Especially if they sold that data.

Beyond that; I agree. It's a good idea to support any service providers beyond Google/Microsoft/Facebook/Apple/Nokia/AT&T etc. The market would be much better if people went to different individual providers much more. The problem here is convenience. Just realise that avoiding Microsoft and Facebook should be your first priority. After that avoiding Google, Nokia, Verizon and so on. Only later on is it worth starting to worry about other smaller data providers such as twitter.

According to the linked page, the storage capacities are advertised in decimal. How is that? Don't they use solid state storage, like every other tablet out there? Isn't that whole binary vs decimal discrepancy a characteristics of spinning storage? If not, how do the solid state storage manufacturers manage to only fit 32,000,000,000 bytes (reported as 29.8GB) where you would expect to see 34,359,738,368 bytes (reported as 32GB)? Do they somehow disallow access to the difference to keep the marketers happy?

It does. Install the RSAT tools on a Windows client and use to manage Group Policies on the Samba4 controller.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7887

The HOWTOs for Samba4 all emphasize this.

I'm terribly sorry about your mod points. Hopefully, in the interest of them not being completely wasted, you'll learn something:

I'm right, and I know because I've done it. How much experience with Win8 / Windows RT sideloading do you have? I'm guessing moinimal to none, because (to use your own words) "you clearly do not understand how sideloading works on Windows 8." Or rather, you may understand how APPX provisioning into an install image works, but you have no clue about how sideloading (in the sense that normal people and Microsoft themselves generally use the term) works.

Follow the steps I gave above to enable sideloading.
Download any app bundle off a website (there's a few on XDA-Developers, for example).
Bundle will contain the following:
* An .APPX file (a signed ZIP archive holding the compiled application binaries if applicable, and configuration files).
* A .CER certificate file, which contains the public key to verify the signature on the .APPX.
* A .PS1 powershell script, which installs the cert and the app for you (you can also do it manually).
* A Resources folder, which holds translations.

No source code (although decompiling managed code is pretty easy, and JS/HTML/CSS apps aren't compiled at all so I guess they're all source).
No product key at all! I think you need one for buiness-internal apps, but you don't need one for everyday sideloading.
No .MAIN file anywhere, even inside the .APPX archive. I've never encountered one, ever.
Not only is the app packaged, the dev doesn't even need to do the packaging him- or herself; either the command-line build tools or Visual Studio can do it for you.
You don't need to do these steps on a pre-sysprep image; you can sideload on live images (a good thing too, or sideloading on Windows RT would be impossible, which it empirically is not).

I don't know who is coordinating your "project for Microsoft" but both that person and the head of your project should probably be fired at this point; they are clearly completely incompetent. Take what you just learned and go solve this "problem" for them, why don't you?

Actually, getting a sideloading key is dead easy. You have to run Powershell as Admin, then type Show-WindowsDeveloperLicenseRegistration (or just "show-wi" and hit Tab). Enter Windows Live credentials - anything, including a throw-away account created for the purpose, will work - and boom, you are unlocked for sideloading. Works on Windows 8 (Pro, Enterprise, or otherwise) and on Windows RT (tested it on a Surface).

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/Hh974578.aspx

I don't know what's up with that old data that says you can't. That's been bouncing around for almost a year, and as far as I can tell it was *never* true, even on pre-release versions. You've been able to unlock Win8 for sideloading since the first preview builds came out! It's as though there's two completely different teams talking about this. Well, three (the one that says *only* Store apps are allowed) but the last one is the marketing team trying to keep the n00bs from getting confused; they are safely ignorable. Fortunately, the team that supports the more open approach is the one that is correct.

To back up what I just said: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/hh825613.aspx

[August 2012] Sideloading apps on Windows 8

Sideloading is supported on the following editions when you activate a sideloading product key:

        Windows 8 Pro

        Windows 8 Enterprise*

* The sideloading product key is not required with Windows 8 Enterprise when the computer is joined to an active directory domain.

noteNote
Sideloading is also supported on Windows RT. The group policy service is not enabled by default on Windows RT. You must enable the service before policies can be applied to the computer.

To sideload line-of-business apps on Windows Server 2012, the computer must be joined to an active directory domain.

For more information, see How to Add and Remove Apps.

In other words a side-loading key is needed. Ordinary users won't get that and won't be able to side-load.

Its a pretty common quote, basically its about the unloved and unwanted Vista

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/exec/steve/2008/10-12AdDay.aspx

"STEVE BALLMER: Vista is our best selling product ever. So, if that takes too much getting over -- we're not going to have products that are much more successful than Vista has been. We sold over 180 million copies in the first 18 months, quite successful."

Just so long as you don't have an nVidia, AMD, or intel graphics card.

I have an nVidia card. Works fine. Worked out of the box, too. Install the drivers, and off I went.

Or want sound that's in sync and in more than 2 channels.

My sound's always in sync. Works fine. Why would you think it doesn't? Are you a troll?

And as long as you don't need HD full screen video cutscenes.

Damn, I'd better stop watching those HD full screen videos then. If you're telling me they don't work...

I guess if you consider editting .conf files to be a game, it's the best gaming platform out there.

On the other hand, why would you ever need to edit the registry database in Windows to make your optical drive work again? Or how about editing the registry so you can make exe files work again?

It definitely looks like Windows is years ahead in its .conf technology. Which reminds me, I've got a joke for you:

Why wouldn't Windows log in?

Because it had hives!

You know, like that time Windows wouldn't log in because it wasn't activated, but it wouldn't activate because it already was? The Microsoft rep on the phone told me that they knew all about it, and it was too bad because they weren't going to fix it. That cost someone about $300 to reload Windows and all his applications...

Clearly, they have the superior support system.

Ubuntu has an app store too, as does OSX, so I guess those aren't open platforms either.

Well, I can't speak for OSX, but Ubuntu's is. You can add whatever sources to it that you like. A number of people above have noted so. Finding them is left as an exercise for the impotent troll.

Good luck to you, Valve! One day we'll look back and remember when you were relevant, sort of.

Yes indeed, good luck Valve.

For enabling sideloading, it's just the Powershell command Show-WindowsDeveloperLicenseRegistration (must be run as Admin, though). You can read more about it here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/Hh974578.aspx

To sideload apps, you'll generally download a bundle (probably a ZIP archive or similar) containing the .APPX file, the certificate for the key which signed the app, and a Powershell script. Such bundles are generated automatically by Visual Studio, including the entire script. Just run the script in Powershell, and agree when prompted. It will install the certificate if needed (i.e. if it isn't already installed or doesn't chain to one that is) and then install the app. The entire process takes well under a minute for most apps.

For desktop apps on RT, it's still pretty messy and complicated. Probably best if I just link you to the forum thread where the work is being discussed (and there are links to explain how to do things): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1885399

The Surface Pro does. Here is a longer list of Windows 8 tablets with DPI > 150 and a stylus. I find 150 DPI to be the minimum if you want subscripts to be legible when placing a full page on screen (width maximized). Of course, the higher the better.

I've long been frustrate that Apple decided to forgo the stylus (and all others are playing copycat), and I'm really really frustrated that no one else sees the utility and use case in a computer that acts like paper (facepalm). I'll give Windows 8 a try for 5 or 10 minutes, but then Ubuntu and Xournal are going on mine. I'm also really frustrated that all these morons decided a 16:9 TV screen is the only way to make a computer screen: they're substantially narrower and taller than a Letter or A4 piece of paper. But at least they've finally returned to the desired DPI and stylus feature-point. The last time that happened was 2007 with the Thinkpad x61 tablet (with the SXGA+ screen upgrade).

If you are using C#, then I would suggest getting codemaid. Fixes 95%+ of these issues, and our whole team loves it.

http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/76293c4d-8c16-4f4a-aee6-21f83a571496

I do not see differentation on 32/64 bit here:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/terms-conditions

It is $39,99 (for consumers) as an upgrade to existing system. I did an upgrade on 7 license acquired through Technet subscription which is no longer valid (because of changing employee) and it worked just fine. Some say that even installs with pirated product keys are accepted...

Your prices may be from brick & mortar store, but hey, usually you can get stuff cheaper online... ;)

The real difference is that at the end of the year, with MS, you still have closed software being managed by a mediocre admin and are pretty much limited to what the vendor wrote in the software and what your admin can find on google.

With the second option, you've still spent $60k, but you started with a much higher level of base competence and things usually go up from there. At the end of the year you have many more options and much more flexibility in what you're capable of, IT wise and business wise, with that higher level of competence.

The logic of this argument is quite common here on Slashdot, and that logic always escapes me. Everybody seems to acknowledge that a talented Linux sysadmin costs more than a mediocre Windows sysadmin. What I fail to understand is why a business is only presented with those two options. In reality, a business cares about money first and foremost. And the cost of your salary is usually quite a bit more than the cost difference between Windows Server and Red Hat Server. The reality is that a business is going to choose between a talented Linux sysadmin and a talented Windows admin (because they're willing to pay for talent) or they're going to choose between a mediocre Linux admin and a mediocre Windows admin (because they're not).

Slashdot seems to think there's no such thing as a talented Windows administrator. That's complete and utter bullshit. The concepts of administering Linux are not significantly different than those for administering Windows. I would go so far as to say that if you're unable to secure and manage a Windows network, you shouldn't be a sysadmin at all on any operating system. Windows is easy to administer. You read and reference the Resource Kit, research and follow best practice, and you will be absolutely fine. Just like on Linux. If you cannot do these things as a sysadmin, please quit your job. You're making the rest of us look bad.

The argument is like saying, "well, the average COBOL programmer costs quite a bit more than the average C programmer... clearly we should go where the talent is and program in COBOL!"

I also find it completely baffling that Slashdot seems to think that because you go with Linux, the business software you're going to run will use open source, too. More than that, that just because you hired a talented sysadmin you also hired a talented software developer. In my experience, sysadmins make horrible software developers because they do not develop robust solutions that adhere to development best practice. You end up with buggy, badly performing, un-maintainable software that may or may not function correctly. Similarly, software developers make horrible sysadmins, because they constantly do things that make their system work and compromise the integrity of everything else. You end up buggy, badly performing, un-maintainable computer systems that may or may not function correctly. The mindsets required to properly do software development and system administration are entirely different, and to do anything well requires focus and dedication. I would not look for the same talent in the same person any more than I would look for a writer to also be an editor, or an actor to also be a musician. Yes, it can be done, but generally it is the exceptions that prove the rule. Once a person chooses one path, they seldom cross to the other again.

"Windows (and MS-DOS before it) was not originally designed to be network-aware, much less network-safe

Windows has been 'network-aware' since at least Windows for Workgroups 3.11

If Microsoft gave a shit it would be using Tor, or creating similar technology...or even just making their own OS less spyware.

Let me introduce you to In-Private Browsing and Anti-Tracking Lists

Mundie's bio. He was an engineering manager and CEO in the minicomputer business before coming to Microsoft. Impressive background, but kind of a weird fit; contrast that with Apple's relentless focus on consumer design.

Mundie, Mundie (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
So good to me (ba-da-da-da-da)
Monday morning, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh monday morning, monday morning couldn't guarantee (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
That monday evening customers'd be here with me

- John Phillips, Mamas and Papas

NT4 moved the graphics into the kernel. It was controversial back then. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc750820.aspx

The biggest PITA to run outside of an administrative account was the software. It wasn't until XP that software *started* to work as a 'user'.

Microsoft made big leaps in security in the past decade. Security advisory/patch cycles to entrypoint randomization, driver signing, code signing, policy refinement, non-executable stacks, WSA, antivirus etc.

I don't buy that this cost them their leadership. Crappy decisions did. I'll add that ironically, because they didn't create marketplaces like itunes, their music player almost *relied* on piracy "cybercrime" for their marketshare.

I am the developer who wrote the article, and just wanted to update people that it is now in the store. While I am happy to finally see it released, I was a little annoyed that it just passed, as I didn't make any changes since the 6th failure. I was just told to re-submit so they could escalate internally (before the article went up, so it wasn't due to that), and I just assumed they would have someone looking closer at the failure to explain what it was. It's frustrating that after all of this, I still don't know what was causing the crashing. If the issue was on their end though, hopefully it will just be one of the many kinks they have to work out, and it won't affect anyone on-going. Here is the link to the app. http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/memorylage/269b17da-9475-4339-9786-2131c9880d52

You are talking 3 different markets here:
a) children's educational programming
b) college educational programming
c) very inexpensive amateur development

Visual Studio and Visual Studio languages are not a good choice for (a). Languages designed for professional use have design elements which are tweaked to things like the current state of hardware or the current technological infrastructure that shouldn't be part of children's education. They shouldn't be using Visual Studio they should be using entirely different tools. As I mentioned Microsoft does even make these and gives away for free like: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/kodu/ , http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/ff384126.aspx

For (b). I don't think Windows RT is designed to be device capable of supporting a college student as their only device. So the lack of Visual Studio is just one of many hundreds of limitations that make RT not suited for that role.

As for (c) I'd say the same as (b). RT shouldn't be a person's sole device.

You are talking 3 different markets here:
a) children's educational programming
b) college educational programming
c) very inexpensive amateur development

Visual Studio and Visual Studio languages are not a good choice for (a). Languages designed for professional use have design elements which are tweaked to things like the current state of hardware or the current technological infrastructure that shouldn't be part of children's education. They shouldn't be using Visual Studio they should be using entirely different tools. As I mentioned Microsoft does even make these and gives away for free like: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/kodu/ , http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/ff384126.aspx

For (b). I don't think Windows RT is designed to be device capable of supporting a college student as their only device. So the lack of Visual Studio is just one of many hundreds of limitations that make RT not suited for that role.

As for (c) I'd say the same as (b). RT shouldn't be a person's sole device.

he should run the Windows App Certification Kit tests

Try reading the article. He talks about how his results from running WACK on his own machine differed from the results obtained from the review process, and the frustration that occurred because Microsoft does not provide verbose reporting back on what actually went wrong.

he should run the Windows App Certification Kit tests where he can test the app before submission, and there are clear explanations of each and every one of the issues.

For example:
- direct3d: "Ensure that the app correctly supports the minimum Direct3D feature level you chose. If that feature level is higher than feature level 9_1, then your app must still run correctly at feature level 9_1. See Developing for different Direct3D feature levels (DirectX and C++) for more details".
- Crashes: "We expect apps to be fully functional without the use of Windows compatibility modes, AppHelp messages, or compatibility fixes."
- Performance: Make sure that your app suspends correctly.

The website linked in the app and listing page was not finished. i think is clear of its own, your webpage is clearly not finished.

Thankfully everyone can have the tool and run it until the tests are ok, then submit it, any programmer who refuses to read the fucking manual deserves to get out of the store.

Dev monkey proved they didn't understand how to fix the problem.

The last time I came across this in the real world, I was writing a .NET application. The .NET framework offers a delegate to handle exactly this situation. I assume the Java, and any C API (worth its salt) offers a similar functionality. These functions are intended to extend the trust chain validation. You can analyze the chain and verify that your certificate (and only your certificate) caused the error, and that the error was within parameters (typically, an untrusted CA).

You don't need to allow everything under the sun, nor should you ever do so. You don't need to control the authority on the end system, just understand how certificate validation works.

False: http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/pages/downgrade_rights.aspx#fbid=6f6BiZDWOvZ

Downgrade rights are an end-user right, documented in the Software License Terms that customers accept upon first running Windows software. Note that end user downgrade rights will be available through the sales life cycle of Windows and Windows Server operating systems, which is up to two years after the launch date of a new version. ... Windows 8 Pro includes downgrade rights to: Windows 7 Professional, Windows Vista Business

So if you buy a Windows 8 PC, you can downgrade it to Windows 7 until 2014.

Further, Windows 7 support continues until 2015, with extended support until 2020 (or 10 years after launch, for those counting).

Windows 7 isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Presumably this means they've announced the memory limits for Windows 8 somewhere? Windows 7 limits.

Sort of important if you want to know which version to get. I assume they're still segmenting.

Xbox profits not so healthy.

http://www.microsoft.com/investor/EarningsAndFinancials/TrendedHistory/SegmentsHistory.aspx

Last 5 quarters of Entertainment Div's profits:
+$340M, +$514M, -$231M, -$253M, +$19M

That's $77M/quarter average. After spending billions on development.

They don't need to announce a new generation of consoles.

Nintendo aren't competing with Sony and MS any more - the specs of their new console won't interest "hardcore" gamers, but will be fine for casual gamers and Nintendo franchise fans.

Sony are on the brink - their company is worth a mere $12 Billion, and lost $6.4 Billion last year. They went from having the all-time best selling console (PS2) to the worst selling 7th Gen console (PS3). They can't afford another technological arms race, and must be dreading the next generation console launches.

Microsoft have been booking a healthy profit from the Xbox 360 in the last couple of years, and will continue to do so until the next-gen Sony and MS consoles are launched. They have no reason to launch early, unless they are willing to pay $$$ to kill PlayStation completely - unlikely given MS's past anti-trust woes.

IMO MS and Sony (if they are smart) have privately arranged to launch as late as possible, and at similar times, maximizing profits for both companies.

Its not that I care but don't let the figures get in the way of any facts http://www.vgchartz.com/ pegs Xbox360 at 69.1Million against Sonys PS3 67.4Million That 3% difference may make you happy as a fanboy, but from what I see there is precious little in it.

As for you comparing Sony's Financials vs Microsofts I would love to know how you did that,

Having a look at http://www.microsoft.com/investor/EarningsAndFinancials/Earnings/PressReleaseAndWebcast/FY13/Q1/default.aspx Microsofts Profit for the last three months have been 18 Million note that is Millions with Sony in there financial statements post a loss of 45 Million not that is Million again, not good but not awful.

Like I said is you are trying to make out a massive win for Microsoft over Sony its simply not happening. In fact by measures of financial or market share their is very little in it.

I got bit by this one: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925308 on volumes with hundreds of thousands of small files. All who had a size multiple of 4kb were corrupted.

Windows Mail is still around, you just have to install it rather than have it bundled with Windows. Download link is here:

http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows-live/essentials-install-offline-faq

Nice try, but fail. That wasn't a bug in Windows, it was a bug in applications.

Really? Not according to Microsoft.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946676

"A BUG has been discovered in the way that the initial release of Windows Home SERVER manages FILE transfer and balancing across multiple hard drives. In certain cases, depending on application use patterns, timing, and the workload that is placed on the Windows Home Server-based computer, certain FILES could become CORRUPTED."

"... For distributing data across the different hard drives that are MANAGED by WINDOWS Home Server, the WINDOWS Home Server mini-filter driver REDIRECTS I/O ... A BUG has been discovered in the REDIRECTION mechanism which, in certain cases, depending on application use patterns, timing, and workload, may cause interactions between NTFS, the Memory Manager, and the Cache Manager to get out of sync. This causes CORRUPTED data to be written to FILES."

Funny how everyone called Windows XP the Fisher-Price PS. Now, it's the most popular thing ever.

It's also pretty funny to hear the geek rant on about long-term support for the Windows OS.

Extended Support for all flavors of WIn 7 including the Starter Edition ends January 14, 2020. Microsoft Support Lifecycle [Windows 7 - USA]

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_cp-files/bug-report-serious-filesystem-corruption-and-data/17f69e19-92ca-4e1e-b9d5-f78f1ac4e963

Bugs happen. The difference here is that Linux development is done in the open so people find out about them.

This one really surprised me -- Office RT won't permit any macros or plugins. There are some other limitations (like not being able to email directly from the apps), but this seems like the show-stopper. No InfoPath forms, no plugins, no macros?

This is the kind of "feature" that will start emerging as real business users get their hands on it and start to try to use it.

Less generally punitive, but no doubt important to some, will be that Project and Visio aren't available.

Fire up those RDP servers, they're not goin' anywhere after all!

They have specified everything: http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/home-and-student/office-home-student-rt-preview-FX103210361.aspx

Click on "What Office Home & Student 2013 features are unavailable in Office Home & Student 2013 RT?"

As sold, Office Home & Student 2013 RT Preview and the final edition are not designed for commercial, nonprofit, or revenue-generating activities. However, organizations who purchase commercial use rights or have a commercial license to Office 2013 suites can use Office Home & Student 2013 RT for commercial, nonprofit, or revenue-generating activities..

Source: http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/home-and-student/office-home-student-rt-preview-FX103210361.aspx

Mod parent +interesting.

I nominate this story is (almost) destined to become a classic as Mel the programmer is:
  http://www.cs.utah.edu/~elb/folklore/mel.html

You've touched upon something that I think separates the novice "code monkeys" from the experienced developers. The experienced realize we (sometimes) write crap code and aren't afraid to learn how to do our job better. The novices *think* they are some hot-shot programmer but don't realize how much they have yet to learn. ;-)

I guess the holy trinity never changes:
  "You can have it good, fast, or cheap. Pick two."

Although there are those that say scope is the 4th dimension; othere say in practicality there is only time vs features.

Interesting References:
* http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2008/10/engineering-managers-lament.html
* http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/the-project-triangle-HA010351692.aspx

Just host the .APPX file on your website, and give the user instructions on sideloading it. It's quite easy, actually, although they do have to enable sideloading first (a single Powershell command).

Not for everybody. According to Microsoft, sideloading is only available on Windows 8 Enterprise, and Windows Server 2012, and only if the computer in question is joined to a domain. While it is standard practice to set up an internal domain at large corporations, a small business or a home user never do that. It's more hassle than it's worth when you only have a dozen machines, each only used by one person. Furthermore, "a single powershell command" is also not a reasonable requirement. Home users do not install powershell.

So no, sideloading is not an option if you want to sell to anybody other than big business. And I'm not interested in selling to big business.

You'll probably make a hell of a lot more money selling through the Windows store than you will selling through your own site

Possible, but unethical. IMO, only an idiot would tie himself to an appstore. Anyone with a brain would buy one app, experience the lockdown and never buy from there again. For example, I have discovered the hard way that Amazon's android app store has DRM requiring the amazon market to be running and logged in at all times. I bought one $1 app. I will not buy another one under any circumstances.

Consequently, if only idiots use the appstore, only idiots will buy your app. While there are indeed a lot of idiots in the world and their grasp on their wallets is as tenuous as their intellect, I would severely question the morality of taking profitable advantage of their handicap.

Don't buy it. You can use the enterprise evaluation for 90 at no cost.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx

And you're right, the 'metro' screen is another pretty screen in front of what you need. After taking years of getting the start menu to behave like regular folders and shortcuts, Microsoft again has broke it so your desktop looks like a phone : /

It doesn't give you a smaller desktop. You have an app for your phone, a different app for your desktop, and yet another app for your tablet. Windows Phone and Windows RT are orphans. Do you see what I'm saying now?

Yes, I think I get what you're saying. Thank you for your clarification; perhaps I can make some of my own.
When iOS was first released (2007) it didn't run any sort of legacy programs from existing touch screen smartphones, and yet people really seemed to enjoy using those devices. When Android was first released, and was still just a phone OS, people seemed to enjoy using those devices. When the iPad first came out it could run existing iPhone apps; but even Apple said that the experience for many apps wasn't good and that app authors needed to (and still do) optimize their apps for the larger screen. There's hardly an article on the web about Android tablets that doesn't mention how there's a pithy of tablet optimized apps, and that while the tablets can run all Android apps, most of them really suck on the tablet. So I don't think that not having the ability to run legacy programs is a nail in the coffin for any new device/platform.

So right now a Windows RT computer does have limited appeal, due to not having much of an ecosystem. That was kind of my point by saying "3 years from now", the ecosystem may come. The ecosystem may come easily because if developers write apps for the Windows 8 Store (targeting desktop) the apps will also light up on Windows RT; and they will light up without any "tablet optimization" step that iOS and Android apps suffer from. The screen sizes are the same. So I think that there will be crossover soon, at least from the point of view of the end user; because they'll be able to find the same apps on a Windows RT computer as they do on their Win8 laptop/desktop.

If RT could run Phone apps, I wouldn't be typing right now.

Yes, Microsoft doesn't have a runtime that runs across Win32, .Net, WinRT, Phone and Xbox. But they do have portable assemblies which do allow for an assembly to run within .Net, WinRT, Phone and Xbox. So someone would still need a separate app/program for the different runtimes, but if the business logic is the same for all of the apps there only needs to be one portable assembly.