Slashdot Mirror
Windows Longhorn Screenshots Available Online
The Fred writes "I found this website that seems to have screenshots for the next version of windows. Everything from a new start button, extended task bar, display options, .NET capability, and a bigger clock." Fair number of UI changes, some good, mostly irrelevant, but it's interesting. Wonder if it's real.
TechCritic
...will be useful to those trying to keep track of their .NET fees and licensing renewals.
This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
"In other news today, the launch of Microsoft's new conceptual OS, 'Longhorn', was brought to a screetching halt. A band of rebel hackers known only as 'slashdot' has taken measures to stop this OS from ever seeing the light of day. By using advanced DDoS techniques, the rebels have brought the server to its knees, preventing further interest from the public."
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
I seem to be getting the remnants of the website and it's pointing to two mirrors. Obviously, the original website is having problems catering to slash-traffic, so it's best if you go to the other two sites instead.
As for additions, there seem to be a funky looking clock and a program list on the side. Nice addition, if you ask me, getting sick of the Start button myself...
More than mere navel gazing.
Microsoft probably won't put in any significant look and feel changes until much later in the testing program, probably someplace around beta 3. I'd say it's very likely they'll try and hold something impressive back until then, to help keep the hype machine cranking away.
But screw it, maybe by the time Longhorn comes out, I'll be able to have gotten myself a Mac desktop and won't care about Windows. The only thing making me hope for a death of PC gaming is the fact it's the last thing really keeping the machine on my desk a Windows one.
My own pointless vanity vintage computing page
When you go to the Icrontic link you see:
With the help of the folks at WiNBETA we were able to get our dirty little hands on some Windows Longhorn screenies.
These are *legit* and actual screenshots -- no photoshop action here folks.
This article is quoted from WiNBETA here.
SCREENSHOTS REMOVED DUE TO MICROSOFT REQUEST
That was fast work by Microsoft
Today's vices may be tomorrow's virtues.
Is it just me, or is the screen just as cluttered as CNN at any given moment? I keep expecting the MS stock quote to slide accross the screen...
As a computer scientist, that is an interesting aspect of longhorn I'd like to investigate for it's technically stimulating intrinsic value.
Who mediates your information?
I wonder what's fastest in removing content from the internet, the Slashdot effect or Microsoft.
Did anyone notice that in one of the screenshots Bjork is holding a camera. If she's in it, it must be a stable and secure operating system.
"... .NET capability, and a bigger cock"
Err, I read that WAY wrong. "Yeah, Windows Longhorn sports a bigger cock, to fuck its users harder..."
the real at&t mix
JWZ's Law Of Software Envelopment states that all programs expand until they can read mail.
I posit a corollary, the Law Of GUI Envelopment: all windows will eventually be round.
Aqua has rounded corners. Now XP does. What, do they think they sharp edges might hurt someone?
ZOMG I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS ON MACINTOSH VERSUS WINDOWS, VI VERSUS EMACS, AND HOW YOU'RE NOT A DORK
XBetas has some.
Microsoft Lawyer #2 Just post their URLs to Slashdot, that will take care of 'em!
Microsoft Lawyer #1 Sweeeeet!
Why isn't it important? Because you think it's inefficient?
Anyhow, I think it's amazing how much _more_ like Mac OS X this looks than XP. And it's even more impressive that even though it looks _more_ like Mac OS X, it has more of the awful aspects that are further evidence that MS just doesn't get what it is that makes people like Mac OS X. At least that's how I see it.
All of these god-awful directories as web pages, wizards, and other strange abstractions to keep the user away from his computer will only serve to confuse him all the more when it comes time to fix something or take action that isn't already anticipated by the software designer. It should be easy to use the computer, not easy to use the interface abstraction. That's what MS just doesn't get, and it's why Windows will always be frustrating and always work in unexpected ways.
A few things that are clearly out of whack here - some of the screenshots have inconsistent antialiasing of text for one, which often happens when screenshots are photoshopped. The artwork is hilarious, some of the title bars have gradients but the minimize/close/restore boxes don't, making them stick out like a sore thumb.
Why are the hard disk sizes measured in KB when everything else in Windows is megabytes? Why does some of the text overlap the borders of the containing window (an api impossibility). The last screenshot is just taking the piss totally, this version of Windows won't install on that version of DOS? That's not even trying to be real.
Look, guys, if you want screenshots of cool new features that you know are genuine, look at the stuff the Linux teams post - if they're real you can get them soon, if they're faked they always tell you. This kind of slobbering over crude mockups gives Microsoft a bad name.
I don't understand why people call Windows XP or Longhorn or whatever new version of Windows "userfriendly". Look at the screenshots!
There's now some kind of sidebar which duplicates the functions of the Start menu ---> confusing to new users.
If you open Windows Explorer and check My Computer, you get a complex screen with buttons, icons and progress bars.
If you go to My Documents you get overloaded with options! Any new user will get confused by that!
Not to mention all the eyecandy. Sure, it looks nice, but all those gradients and icons do is overload the user with information. New users will get confused and will have a hard time recognizing standard controls.
The entire UI is extremely cluttered.
The Longhorn GUI is good for advanced users, but will confuse new users! If GNOME or KDE do this, the Windows people will flame us down for creating a "hacker desktop" that's "not consistent" and "overloads the user with too much information". But if Windows does this, it's suddenly allright and called "huge improvements" or "innovation".
I just don't get it...
The actual images are at
...where the n before the .JPG are integers from 1 to 10.
http://home.attbi.com/~mrwatchdawg_01/n.JPG
"Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds
They are fake.
:-D
:-D
Shamelessly stolen from a post at the bottom of the tech-critic.com site:
The screenshots are fake for the following reasons (this is XP with a custom theme and then some hacking around in an image editor)...
For the Setup screen...
a) In the window, horizontal bar at the top doesn't meet the right hand side.
b) Alpha plane gone on setup icon (definitely would NOT happen to one icon and not others).
c) This is a BIG giveaway all over the place... The current user settings have font smoothing set to anti-alias, not cleartype or none. Anti-alias text does not come into play for small fonts including 8pt (as can be seen on dektop icons, start bar, etc). However, the new bar on the right IS anti-aliasing these fonts and not only that, but it's not using font hinting (aligning the text to the nearest pixel) which is standard for cleartype or anti-aliasing... it's fake text drawn in a graphics package.
The sidebar as startmenu screen...
d) Looks nice, but examine the desktop images... no windows in the first one... later on they have images of the windows!
Sidebar on the right...
e) Where did the windows in the desktop image come from in this one ?
f) Aren't those icons on the bar a bit big compared with the later bars?
Display Properties screen (oh my god)...
g) Nice text antialiasing again (hmm)
h) 'You can change the image that appears on your windo...' ooops. Clipped that text a bit. Note this can't happen with the windows API when you have a multi-line text field (using TextOut, etc). Hmm... minor cockup
i) Ah my windows are back in the desktop images (on the sidebar), but now the current window is bigger with a black splodge at the bottom.
My Computer screen...
j) Love the antialiasing on the left, but not in the middle... nice.
k) How fake are the section buttons on the left hand side? Come on guys... you can't flip images horizontally... MS insist on a top left light source. Oh, and your button with the shadow should either have an alpha plane or not... don't do half a job... it really doens't look real.
My Documents...
l) Oooh, Oooh, an anti-aliased dropdown. Fake Fake Fake.
My Pictures..
m) Nice... what happened to Burn CD though? Have MS dropped it now they support DVD burning?
n) Oops, you should have removed the LH.bmp from your My Pictures. Remember you only used it to create the backgroud.
DOS Setup
o) Love it... now your just taking the piss. How did you get the screenshot??? and the 'install Windows Longhorn 2004 using DOS 1985' is excelent. Very funny
p) The URL is superb. ROTFLMAO.
So...
Nice theming... love the sidebar, good use of blending in your graphics package, but FAKE FAKE FAKE.
Great for a laugh though.
Si.
You say "one thing that I noticed immediately upon setting it up for clients is that more and more window space is given over to branding (mucho!) and white space, with less "real" information available" plus a few more quite valid observations along that line.
:)
Actually, this trend has been in place since IE4's Active Desktop's "web content in every window" thing. It first became the default in Win98, grew another step in Win2K, and contaged directly to WinME and XP -- but in XP it grew by an order of magnitude, to where a default display is more "Hello stupid user, you're so incompetent we'll just TELL you what you're doing and what your files are" than it is useful information. On a low-res screen, even its initial limited incarnation can waste over 75% of the screen. And in my observation, it's even MORE intimidating to newbies, because it's so visually distracting.
The wasted screen estate, not to mention the useless clutter, makes me insane and consequently is the first thing I do away with. Funny thing: if you delve deep enough into XP's admin tools, all this clutter goes away without being told to! Gee, could it be that admin types don't have time to scroll around trying to see the rest of the screen??
And another menu sidebar??! It reminds me of Active Desktop's "Channels" (partner advertising), and I wouldn't be surprised if this new menu sidebar eventually becomes a streaming ad host.
M$ has said that they want to blur the distinction between Web and Desktop, and for a certainty, Active Desktop and its horrible brood do tend to look more like misplaced web pages than like useful desktop elements.
M$'s own research indicates that most users treat Windows like a big menuing system, not as a multitasking workspace (and this unfortunately agrees with my own observation of average users), but how this justifies turning the desktop into nothing BUT a menuing system escapes me.
Not sure what you consider "high density desktop" but mine tend to collect 30-40 icons (mostly useful, tho some are solely for decorative effect) and I think having a score of windows open at once is "normal".
Oh, as to the futzy CPU speed, yesterday I was fiddling with a new linux install on a venerable K6-200, and something or other informed me that it was a "199MHz CPU". Er, well, if you say so!!
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Several people have said that these "screen shots" are obvious Photoshop, and so "fake".
But, perhaps they are "real" UI design concepts? After all, when you design a UI like this, you let the "designers" play with pictures before rendering it all into code... Just like web design...
Comment removed based on user account deletion
http://www.wininformant.com/Articles/Index.cfm?Art icleID=27038
/. is linking to; however, the screenshots from Winbeta are REAL.
Here's the Visual Style, ripped from the beta: http://plex.ike.bz/10.24.02.PlexXP.v.0.7.1.zip
There's even a movie of Longhorn being used...the #winbeta guys have it if you want to see it. Basically, it's WinXP with a new theme ("Plex") and a new filesystem ("WinFS," which everyone turns off because apparently it eats the CPU).
By the way:
"c) This is a BIG giveaway all over the place... The current user settings have font smoothing set to anti-alias, not cleartype or none. Anti-alias text does not come into play for small fonts including 8pt (as can be seen on dektop icons, start bar, etc). However, the new bar on the right IS anti-aliasing these fonts and not only that, but it's not using font hinting (aligning the text to the nearest pixel) which is standard for cleartype or anti-aliasing... it's fake text drawn in a graphics package."
Wrong--I'm running Sideshow, and it always smooths the fonts like that, whether Cleartype is on or not. I can't get to the site
Major changes I noticed, besides the new theme and Sideshow, is the new Display Properties dialog and a My Hardware dialog. Other than that, this look like what it is--a really early alpha leak for something not due out for another couple of years.
This is actually somewhat old news...I've been running Sideshow on my XP box with the ripped Plex theme for a week now. Visit #winbeta sometime. Sideshow's neat once you figure out how to add new tickets.
The screenshots are fake for the following reasons (this is XP with a custom theme and then some hacking around in an image editor)...
:-D
:-D
For the Setup screen...
a) In the window, horizontal bar at the top doesn't meet the right hand side.
b) Alpha plane gone on setup icon (definitely would NOT happen to one icon and not others).
c) This is a BIG giveaway all over the place... The current user settings have font smoothing set to anti-alias, not cleartype or none. Anti-alias text does not come into play for small fonts including 8pt (as can be seen on dektop icons, start bar, etc). However, the new bar on the right IS anti-aliasing these fonts and not only that, but it's not using font hinting (aligning the text to the nearest pixel) which is standard for cleartype or anti-aliasing... it's fake text drawn in a graphics package.
The sidebar as startmenu screen...
d) Looks nice, but examine the desktop images... no windows in the first one... later on they have images of the windows!
Sidebar on the right...
e) Where did the windows in the desktop image come from in this one ?
f) Aren't those icons on the bar a bit big compared with the later bars?
Display Properties screen (oh my god)...
g) Nice text antialiasing again (hmm)
h) 'You can change the image that appears on your windo...' ooops. Clipped that text a bit. Note this can't happen with the windows API when you have a multi-line text field (using TextOut, etc). Hmm... minor cockup
i) Ah my windows are back in the desktop images (on the sidebar), but now the current window is bigger with a black splodge at the bottom.
My Computer screen...
j) Love the antialiasing on the left, but not in the middle... nice.
k) How fake are the section buttons on the left hand side? Come on guys... you can't flip images horizontally... MS insist on a top left light source. Oh, and your button with the shadow should either have an alpha plane or not... don't do half a job... it really doens't look real.
My Documents...
l) Oooh, Oooh, an anti-aliased dropdown. Fake Fake Fake.
My Pictures..
m) Nice... what happened to Burn CD though? Have MS dropped it now they support DVD burning?
n) Oops, you should have removed the LH.bmp from your My Pictures. Remember you only used it to create the backgroud.
DOS Setup
o) Love it... now your just taking the piss. How did you get the screenshot??? and the 'install Windows Longhorn 2004 using DOS 1985' is excelent. Very funny
p) The URL is superb. ROTFLMAO.
So...
Nice theming... love the sidebar, good use of blending in your graphics package, but FAKE FAKE FAKE.
Great for a laugh though.
When I try to buy a laptop, and find out there is no "unbundled" option for that laptop.
Imagine if you tried to buy a portable CD player. Rather than buying just the CD player for 100$ or so, you have to pay 115$ for it and 2 Backstreet boys CDs (a savings of 15$!). You try and tell them that you don't want the Backstreet boys CDs, because you have a collection of your own music to listen.
"We can't, sir. It's bundled. It represents a savings to you anyways, so you are getting a good value. Since every player is sold with CDs, only people who are commiting music piracy would have music separate from the players anyways."
But the thing is, I'm paying for something I don't want and won't use. If I disagree with the licence and try to return Windows for the money I paid for it as a bundle price, I end up having to deal with the retailer, OEM, and Microsoft all pointing fingers at each other. "Talk to them, they're the ones who should give you your money."
Microsoft gets my money without my consent. This is robery -- they are stealing from me.
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.