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"Longhorn" Alpha Preview
An anonymous reader submitted an actual review of the leaked Longhorn Alpha. Finally someone has provided us with more than a few screenshots. Here's your chance to see what the future of the microsoft desktop is gonna look like!
Hey, baby, wanna check out my alpha copy Longhorn?
I've seen loads of leaked screenshots. Why should I believe this are not faked like they rest?
Shame I won't be able to get an AMD CPU to run it on though :(
Am I the only one that still uses Windows 2000? It's clean, stable, and doesn't stick its head quite as far up my rear end as XP does...
So, (as I've said before) besides the systray, task bar buttons, icons on the desktop and the start menu we have *another* way to "quickly" get to applications and documents? Pretty soon we'll need a quick launch bar for the quick launch bars.
Am I the only one who prefers a clean minamalist desktop. I still haven't seen anything that would make me want to upgrade from 2000. Desktop themes are like kids hanging plastic effects on their cars because they think it makes them look better, it doesn't. It's just heavy crap that slows you down and gets in the way.
The "Sidebar" seems (functionally) very much like The Dock in MacOS X. The rest is just, pardon the pun, "window dressing".
The big questions have yet to be answered:
1) Is it more stable?
2) Is it more secure?
3) Will the licensing restrictions be reasonable?
I swear by MacOS X. Although I use to swear *at* MacOS 9...
Most of what I've seen featured in Longhorn has been around in various other window managers for awhile, if not years.
However, having said that, this still looks like an improvement over Windows today.
How soon before: 1. This is /.'ed
or
2. MS "requests" that the info be pulled?
Someone better mirror pretty fast...
Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.
Looks like they shoved it through the AOL interface maker and called it "new".
Microsoft needs to realize that cosmetic changes to the OS are not a reason to upgrade. Although that won't stop them, through yet more forced upgrades and built-in obsolesence from pushing this on the computer world.
I use Mac OSX at work, and occasionally SuSE 8.1 at home. If Microsoft depricates my Windows2000, I'll just move to OSX or SuSE.
Too bad the "Interactive Images" in the preview don't work in Mozilla.
What does this GUI do that KDE/Linux couldn't do for years already?
I guess the comments in the first article provided aspiring Photoshoppers with enough feedback on their mistakes to not repeat them for the second posting on Slashdot.
Seriously, just look at those screenshots. It looks just like the last hoax (the big clock, the same background, etc.), it just looks like they fixed some of the more glaring errors from last time (like the poorly-blended window-close buttons and the nonsensical Internet Explorer copyright screen).
--sdem
what about leaked videos?
;)
I'll say it again that this server is unlikely to cope with many requests - so if anyone can provide a mirror, feel free
Don't talk about windows at all please..when ever I tell anyone who uses linux that I use windows for gaming they have an epileptic nerd fit and start foaming at the mouth. Then say no way windows sucks.
I'm sick of linux people being elitists. Its like they wont admit there is some stuff windows does better than linux.
Fact is for games and multimedia windows is the system. And for Video and Audio Mac is good too.
Don't talk about anymore windows distros on slashdot till all linux users that are hiding their xp boxes in the closet while they trash it to death on slashdot. Come out waving microsoft flags of surrender.
I love linux. But im not a pig headed ass enough to pretend that windows doesn't have its purpose in life too.
Well some of us like to run an OS that isn't pretending to be another OS.
Here's your chance to see what the future of the microsoft desktop is gonna look like!
It looks like a dreadful KDE theme. How can anyone actually get anything done with an interface this jarring?
The more time I spend on OS X, and the more I see XP (in its blue and green theme) and now this, the happier I am with the clean, uncluttered desktop that I get from Windowmaker.
--saint
.. more stuff I need to disable to stop my users from hurting themselves?
Hope not.
Well it looks like Microsft suceeded in duplicating the OSX dock. Can't they leave poor Apple alone? Or buy them outright?
...but XP has been ultra-stable and superfast on my machine, and I don't have a bleeding-edge computer. I like it, and I can do all of my work with it. Linux? I'd have to tinker for days before I could get it to something approaching useability. Oh, and as for my scanner, my digital camera, my Steinberg plugins, and all the rest of that happy crap... forget it.
I'm sorry, man, but that's just a load of shit. I have stopped counting the times that I've had to reboot my Jaguar workstation in the school's art lab after it failed to handle some bizarre error in Classic environment. It just gets worse with every release; you'd think that they'd want to provide something decent, considering that major apps like Quark still don't exist as OS X-native code.
I've got nothing against Jaguar other than that. The Aqua interface is great. It's just that it was only a marginal gain in stability over OS 9 and company.
--sdem
On the first image check out the 'Start' menu - Third entry from the bottom "Windows XP Tour"
Fake
-Crimson
I am glad to see that years later they are adding the same features X has, like the multiple desktops (i can't live w/o it :)
Once upon a time I looked forward to new windows releases, I remember going from WfW to NT 3.5, then NT 4.0, then 2000 (which I started running a year before release)
XP I hate, every time I have to use an XP system it takes me ten minutes to reset all the switches to make the UI Windows 2000 like.
I just bought a new laptop, first thing I did was blow away XP and replace it with 2000 (and linux). Here's to hoping that by the time 2000 is no use - because of lack of driver support and stuff, Linux will have it's act together and be all I need.
If these are real, then I've gotta say, except for the brushed aluminum look, it looks exactly like XP. Hey, ever notice that the letters XP, when put next to eachother, look like a face of disgust? I just found that out, m'self.
"p#33r
A major objection for the average office worker to both Mac OS and Linux is the need to learn new ways of doing things, and the things they do not want to have to learn to do are often amazingly trivial. (Only this morning I had to show a white collar professional how to turn a Mac on, and explain that the reason IE didn't start immediately was because the double click interval on this particular machine was set quite short and a faster double click was needed.)
The constant drive for change on the Windows desktop could, paradoxically, reduce market share if it perceived that each new version of Windows is going to need as big a learning curve as switching. One for Apple and KDE to exploit?
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
so microsoft finally downloaded and is using xdm... yippie.. they have a clock ..something we have had in linux cince the early 90's. the horrid sidebar reminds me of that damned channels bar from windows 95 when you installed IE4.0 and you got that resource hogging active desktop. nahh, I dont need my screen for programs I want to run....
Microsoft... we innovate with things we find in BSD and other Open Source projects...
looking at the screen shots i noticed that the location bars simply say:
My Computer\ something\something else\...
does this mean they are getting away from drive letters? what a novel concept.
-- john
On the first image check out the 'Start' menu - Third entry from the bottom "Windows XP Tour"
Fake
-Crimson
> Here's your chance to see what the future of the microsoft desktop is gonna look like!
I already know what the future of the Microsoft deskgop is gonna look like: Nowhere to be seen on my desk.
I went cold turkey five or six years ago, and there aren't enough whores in Vegas to drag me back.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Now with OSX, they THREW THAT AWAY. and now everything is based on that damned ".xxx"! It still obeys rules for things made under OS9 for type and creator, but new files made under X don't GET a type and creator and depend solely on the damned extension.
So... now Longhorn has INTRODUCED metadata as part of the filesystem. Seriously apple: when MS rips it off from you, you KNOW IT WAS A GOOD IDEA.
It looks like they just finally setup windows so people can use virtual desktops. This feature has been in any moderen window manager since I first started using Linux. And their other so called "advancment" in the Longhorn UI is moving the start menu to the Left side of the screen so it run veritcally instead of horizontally. I have had my KDE set up this way ever since I started using a Laptop with a 1280x768 resolution because a side mounted start menu is more sensible when the screen is wider. And a 3d clock!? Yes I know you "Could" sidemount your start menu in Win98, but it really wasn't designed for it. I was really looking forward to longhorn because KDE/Gnome usually steals any Windows UI advancments from windows, but this time around Microsoft is stealing from KDE/Gnome.
Netbooks, they come with Linux or a $3 copy of Windows. Either way, Microsoft loses.
I've used the leaked build for the past few days. There's nothing super impressive about it yet. True, it looks nice from the screenshots, but when you actually start using it, most of those dialogs give you placeholder text whenever you select something. For example if you open the "display" applet from Control Panel and actually choose one of the categories, you get either "currently under construction" or an exception (what fun!). Other than that, it's just plain ole win xp.
I don't think Apple should (or should want to) commit much to the improvement of Classic. The sooner people stop using it the sooner they can lay that rickety old stinker of an OS to rest. Yes, it would be nice if Quark (the last of the holdouts) had an X-native version but there's no excuse but their own halfassedness; X has been out long enough that they should either release the new version or admit that they're a third-tier company without the resources to stay nimble and competitive.
Working to make Classic better would be like asking the Linux developers to spend their time making DOSEMU run better.
Learn to spell: nickel, missile, lose, solely, amendment, speech, kernel, probably, ridiculous, deity, hierarchy, versus
On the first image check out the 'Start' menu - Third entry from the bottom "Windows XP Tour"
Fake
-Crimson
Instead, read about some of the new features and improvements to Windows that Longhorn introducts by reading Paul's Longhorn FAQ. I especially like the SQL Server .NET-based file system - "Originally slated for Blackcomb, I've now verified that Longhorn will ship with a new SQL Server .NET-based file system, originally code-named "Storage+". Based on the "Yukon" release of SQL Server, this file system will let Microsoft's search tools work across a wider range of storage devices, including the file system, Active Directory, SQL Server databases, and Exchange Server data stores." Sweet!
Would anyone really be worse off if Microsoft took the "my" off of "My Computer", "My Documents", etc? I already *know* that they're mine! Do people really like their computers to talk down to them like that?
Visit the
Someone saying that Windows is no longer relevant is -1 Flamebait?
I've seen people get -1 scores for saying Windows is great.
You people confuse me.
Yet another pointless microsoft bashing substance free slashdot "article" with the obligatory "I'm cooler than this crap" nerds who don't want to realise they are not the target market.
KDE 1.0 Wiped the floor with win3.1
KDE 2.0 Wiped win9x
KDE 3.0 Wiped XP
KDE is the best deskop avalible for the x86 world, and its close to beating MacOS X for the best desktop.
And as for the file systems, Im glad theat microsoft is getting rid of that awful FAT/NTFS file systems, but Linuxes RieserFS is the best FS ever, because I don't have time to defrag every few months.
Why do screenshots make or break a new OS? Shouldn't the functionality (encryption and privacy options, performance, failover, multi-user access, etc. etc.) of an operating system be its primary features?
Ever notice how when *BSD or Linux kernel updates come out, there are technical articles about them, while Windows updates (pun intended) are all about the new GUI? Can you say "fluff" ?
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
When you you Slashdot people come to realize that using Vi instead of Emacs or Linux instead of Windows IS NOT a religious matter?!
I have stopped counting the times that I've had to reboot my Jaguar workstation in the school's art lab after it failed to handle some bizarre error in Classic environment. It just gets worse with every release
I really, seriously don't mean any offense by this, but... what the fuck is wrong with you, dude?
I've been using Jaguar every day since before it was actually released; I bought a new G4 back in August, and it came with 10.2 on it about ten days before the retail boxes hit the shelves. I have never had to reboot my machine for any reason than an OS update. I shut it down once to move it to another room, and then one reboot for each of the updates since (most recently yesterday's security update). And that's all.
I'm pushing a pretty wide range of apps, too, including Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Quark (although less and less lately because it's my only OS 9 application, and InDesign is better), and sometimes Maya for doing weekly menus and signage for the restaurant. I push my machine pretty hard, and I never have the kinds of problems you're talking about.
I don't know what your deal is, but I think it's important for people to know that your experience is definitely not typical.
I write in my journal
How much more simple could you want it?
Add into that the fact that every other Graphical OS which is used by more than 50 people is very very similar to Windows. Are Linux Distrobutors creating an alternative interface style? Are they hell. They're trying to create something similar to Windows to make it easier to migrate.
I don't want to have to fiddle with umpteen config files just to get a single Windows app to work under WINE. Tell me why I should make the effort.
And there's the fact that Windows XP is so stable that I've never had it bomb out and even if it did it takes thirty seconds for it to come back up...
The only reason I have come across yet to use a Linux variant rather than Windows XP is to hack off Microsoft. And seeing as the creators of Linux Distros are making an incredible hash of turning Linux into a viable alternative, I really don't see any need for that yet.
Free iPods - now in the UK!
alt+f2?
If not, it sucks
Check this screen shot.
It shows a My Hardware "window".
Are we gonna see "everything is a file" concept in Longhorn too?
Feature drill-down OK, let's take a closer look at the new features in the Longhorn alpha. Welcome screen The Longhorn alpha's Welcome screen (Figure) is a slightly modified version of the one in Windows XP, and it now features a time and date display, a frequent customer request. I wouldn't make too much of the color scheme or look and feel of the Longhorn Welcome screen, as this is bound to change. The design does resemble prototypes I've seen at the Microsoft campus (Figure), however. Desktop and Start Menu At first blush, the Longhorn desktop and Start Menu (Figure) are no different from their XP equivalents. However, there are a few small changes. First, you can add My Contacts and My Hardware nodes to the Longhorn Start Menu (Figure). My Contacts is non-functional in the build I saw, but I suspect that it's simply the friendly new name for the new Windows Address Book, which will be consolidated into the Windows Future Storage (WinFS) file system. My Hardware, clearly, is a friendly and more accessible Device Manager, though the version in the Longhorn alpha is limited (Figure). My Computer and Explorer views In My Computer, a few new features become visible. Under the scenes, the WinFS file system isn't implemented yet, but the services are running, and they tied the system up in knots, and must be turned off before the performance returns to normal. My Computer now features disk space graphics under each drive and a slightly modified Task pane, with integrated searching (Figure). There are new Explorer views as well, including a new Preview mode used in certain types of folders, which I discuss in the next section. The About Windows dialog (Figure) identifies Longhorn as Windows 6.0. In Folder Options, a few new options are available, though their purpose is unclear (Figure). They are "Use breadcrumb bar" and "Use Domain Folder Sharing Wizard." Special Shell Folders Special shell folders such as My Documents, My Pictures, and My Music have been revamped to support the new Preview view style (Figure). This view style splits the folder view horizontally, providing a graphical, Web-like preview pane that is specific to the currently displayed content. In My Pictures, for example, you see options for viewing a slide show, creating an album, and burning a DVD (Figure). When you display a picture, the image's meta-data information is displayed in the Preview pane (Figure). Music folders are similar: Select a music file and its meta-data is displayed (Figure). A new Pivots choice in the toolbar expands to show grouping choices (Figure); for music, you will see options such as "Albums Grouped by Artist" and "Music Grouped by Album." The Preview area is resizable now (Figure), and as you drag the divider bar down, more information is displayed (Figure). Display Properties While the old Display Properties dialog is temporarily still available, Microsoft provides a preview of the new Display Properties application, which was written with the new .NET-based Avalon APIs (Figure). Most of the Display Properties nodes are broken in this build, providing either a bizarre XML error message (Figure) or a simple "under construction" message (Figure). One node that does work, however, is Display Connection Settings, which provides information about your display adapter and monitor (Figure).
Plex: A new visual style
You can use the old Display Properties dialog to enable the new Plex visual style (Figure), which has been touted on various Windows enthusiast sites lately. I don't consider Plex to be particularly attractive or clean, personally, and it resembles many of the home-made XP themes that you can find online (Figure). I prefer the standard blue XP style to Plex, and expect this visual style to disappear by later builds. In fact, Plex is so bad, that I originally thought that this Longhorn alpha was nothing more than a hacked-together XP build. I still wonder about it.
Sidebar
In the Taskbar settings dialog, you can enable the Sidebar (Figure), arguably Longhorn's most discussed feature. The Sidebar is basically a side-mounted menu of sorts, very much like the MSN 8 Dashboard, that lets you display XML-based components, called Tiles. When you enable the Dashboard, it appears (blank) on the right side of the screen by default (Figure). You can minimize it, add Tiles, toggle which side of the screen it appears on, resize it, and determine whether it's translucent (which Microsoft calls transparent). Available Tiles include a clock, a virtual desktop manager, a Most Frequently Used (MFU) programs list, the Quick Launch toolbar, an Internet search bar, a My Photos slide show, and a "user tile," which lets you quickly switch between users (Figure).
Each Tile can be resized (Figure), moved up or down in the Sidebar, or minimized, and some offer a pop-up menu that lets you access hidden features (Figure). You can also choose to use the Sidebar as your taskbar, in which case the normal taskbar disappears and the Start button moves to the Sidebar (Figure). Now, when you click the Start button, the Start Menu cascades out from the side of the screen instead of the bottom (Figure).
Conclusions
Longhorn isn't far enough along at this point to make any relevant conclusions. As I noted previously, the alpha build I've seen is analogous to early Whistler builds, or perhaps the first December 1996 Memphis release (which became Windows 98), because it's really just a holding place for a few technology tests at this point. Ultimately, the best is yet to come for Longhorn, but some of the bits present here are still interesting. With over two years of development time left, don't be surprised if the final Longhorn version bears little resemblance to what we see here today.
--Paul Thurrott
November 13, 2002
All I want is a 'Longpr0n' :)
Well, still looks like OSX is the best OS out there, including this new microsoft bloatware.
And very much insecure...
I suppose that you'll still be root in Windows when your an admin - like every body is. Again, unlike OSX, if you are an admin - you are a normal user until OSX sudo's you.
No doubt also, with this pile of MS shite, you'll need twice the power processor and 100 gigs of hard disc to install it on. AND then still be user hostile because the GUI is so unfriendly.
MS should really learn how to make GUIs. I've always, *always* found MS GUIs get int the way of what I really want to do. Unlike KDE and OSX.
Can't beat these two OS. MS never will.
it doesn't matter what they add to the UI, I'm just going to make it look like windows 98 anyways.
This abundance of screenshots and reviews is due to the actual ISO being available at various "windows beta" sources on the internet. More information on this is available here.
First of all, regarding the hoax comments, I consider Paul Thurott an authority on Microsoft news-- his site comes up first when you google for "Microsoft News", and I read it periodically to see what They are up to.
That much out of the way, there are a few UI tweaks which I think are interesting. The enhanced explorer nodes for "My Pictures" and "My Music" look like something I might use-- not something I would pay $200 for, but if my computer shipped with it or if similiar functionality was in GNOME/KDE.
On an even more trivial note, it looks like their Virtual Desktop manager shows the different wallpapers to the different backgrounds. I think this Makes Sense as a quick and easy way to identify different desktops.
Of course, I must throw in the "har har, been there, done that"s to virtual desktops in general and the dock. I haven't say it yet, so even though it may be obvious, le tme say "WinFS concerns me"
That was probably more lectrons than an alpha with two years to go deserves
The "plex" theme looked familiar, and then I realized where I've seen it before. It is Redhat's Bluecurve theme, with windows with rounded corners, combined with Aqua's jellybean/translucent buttons.
Or am I imagining it?
IT doesn't talk to anyone, it just does what it's programmed to do. Do you blame the TV for the dumbing-down of television. Maybe it's your modems fault that some of the posts on /. are dumb?
:)
"and like the OSDN bar at the top, it says 'Our Network'. I know it's their network, it's not mine. Does anyone else like it when OSDN talks down to them like that?"
Good luck on getting the "funny +1" mod.
"For a successful technology, honesty must take precedence over public relations for nature cannot be fooled." -Feynman
IF indeed those are real screenshots, and that is indeed a real leak of the "new windows" then I have the following to say about it.
Even if under the hood it is just as stable and powerful as win2k/XP, and even if it is faster or better with new file systems and other new features. Win2k does everything I need. And it doesn't have DRM or a crappy UI like the one pictured there.
Disregarding all the other factors in the linux vs. windows battle I must say the even though win2k's UI is pretty good, I dislike XPs UI greatly. And that even though linux might have 100 to choose from I like KDE, and at least I know that if I put in the time and effort I could make it look and work however I wanted. In Windows that option just isn't there.
You wont see me upgrading windows until they add a real UI, custom UI, or new games just don't run on 2k anymore.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
Features of coming Microsoft OS:es:
.NET Passport.
// Must receive clearance to do this!
// Must check that the data doesn't infringe any copyrights!
// Must check that the data doesn't infringe any copyrights!
// Must check that the data doesn't infringe any copyrights!
// OK!!!
- We'll be required to log on to our computers through
- The whole UI will be based around MSN explorer.
- If we wish to write programs that'll run, we'll have to do something like:
.NET_PROGRAM
{
MS_PALLADIUM_REQUST_SESSION();
MY PRIVATE STRING STR1 = MS_PALLADIUM_AUTHENTICATE ("NEW STRING (\"Hello world\")");
MY PRIVATE FUNCTION MAIN = MS_PALLADIUM_AUTHENTICATE ("NEW FUNCTION ()");
MY MAIN = MS_PALLADIUM_AUTHENTICATE
(
"/* Logon to passport to send the message through MSN Messenger */
PASSPORT_LOGON_();
MSN_MESSENGER_PRINT(STR1);"
);
MS_PALLADIUM_END_SESSION();
}
- Exponential growth of area of objects such as "start menu", "option bar", etc.
- Every program, file and message will of course be required to have the prefix "My".
- Exponential growth of number of alternations to an obvious and given task, for example, there'll be 62 ways to create a shortcut to a web page, none of them intuitive.
- There'll be more curves and pastel colors. By Windows 2010, there'll be curves so complex that they have to be express in 11-dimensional morphed space! Windows will require 2048-bit color GFX hardware to operate.
- Meh...
these are REAL. If you don't believe it, download the beta yourself. With so many people with their own screenshot/review/claiming to have it, and it being spread across the net like wildfire, it has to be real...
I happen to know its real because I've seen it.
However, this is an internal MS beta, not yet near finished at all. So much that many things still say Windows XP, including most of the installer.
The way that microsoft is pushing DRM down our throats, the "My" really should dissapear. The new folder names should become "M$ Music", "M$ Computer", "M$ Documents" etc. I really think this would clarify licensing and ownership issues.
Oooh a leaked review! My my, and it's only from November 13th...Yes, hot stuff there Slashdot...
The Welkin: Online Music Reviews
...I can already see the bumpersticker: "Windows 2006 is Macintosh 2001."
(2006 may be a little ambitious; it's a guess.)
Granted, they are catching up, my compliments. But what happened to all that innovation they keep promising? Push the envelope Bill, and I don't mean profit margins.
What's the matter with you people? Every time someone, be it apple, microsoft, or anyone else, comes out with a new GUI feature, there are always claims that "well this windowmanager had this years ago", or "they've copied this from apple" and whatnot. When are people going to realize that saying that someone copied a certain feature from someone else in the operating system world is like saying "hey, BMW copied that thing with having doors from Volvo", or "hey, linux had a 'kernel' before I heard the windows NT talk about kernel/user-land separation". There are just some things that are basic operating system concepts, rather than vendor-specific ideas. I'm not saying that this is always the case, but more often than not. So please, stop the whining, it really just makes you look like you value advocacy over common sense.
Move sig!
So Microsoft has a new look! lemme go see! ... time passes and-
YEP! looks just like the old macintosh "new look". What a freakin surprise... WINDOWS OS X... IF ONLY they could copy the stability too!
sir_haxalot
stuff |
Remember this is an alpha of Windows. As someone on Microsoft said -- "we had six different visual styles of XP before the final". Whatever Longhorn looks and functions like now, it will likely not look like that in the final release. Just like the early alphas of Whistler.
This alpha contains very few improvements over XP, and the stability and optimizations are horrible. Yes, even for being Microsoft, if someone would like to pull off a bad joke about that. For example. the new WinFS file system runs in Longhorn as a service that consume a lot of CPU power while not offering any special WinFS.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
I stopped playing the annual upgrade game at W98, which gets used mostly just to play games. Considering the newer Linux distros can match M$ desktop in terms of useful functionality, I don't see any reason to consider longhorn or it's derivitives. Given M$ ugly licensing practices, there is plenty of reason to avoid it.
When all else fails, run.
Even if those are only previews of what could be Palladium, you can't deny the facts that MicroSoft guyz are releasing crapy OSes since they exist... So, why this one would be better, with all those silly things we know about it ? Anyway, when Apple was doing Classic, Win-userz have a grey interface, when Apple was releasing OSX Aqua, MicroSoft turn his shit to the blue and now, they' re even copying the Dock... while some invent, they just copy, and that's why we can say now that Longhorn will be a shitty sys.
Is there a GUI somewhere behind all that crap?
I mean, seriously, let's not override functionality with graphics. I don't need the fancy graphics but will be forced to install them, only to hack and modify forever to remove them.
My Oh My, while were at it why not add "My IsoImages" "My Cooking Recipies" and maybe even "My Crappy Crap". No No No, it's all wrong... Well maybe not all, but the most of it.
...who like to pretend that the last 30 years of UI research never happened, I'd just like to say please take some notes. Not that KDE and Gnome have to look like a cartoon (ala the default Windows settings), but that is something Windows DEFINETELY does better.
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
XP Home Edition: $99
Paint Shop Pro 7.0: $99
MSN8: $21.95/mo (free to existing MSN members)
Photoshopping together some fake Longhorn screens to get your 15 minutes of fame: Priceless!
Nathan
There was a CNET.com article just a week or two ago saying that Longhorn project has been scrapped, in favor of the Blackcomb project (which is the successor to Longhorn). Currently Blackcomb is not slated to come out at least until after 2004-5.
So the features you see here may be rolled into Blackcomb eventually, or dropped altogether. But Longhorn, AFAIK, is dead.
> I don't want to have to fiddle with umpteen config files just to get a single Windows app to work under WINE. Tell me why I should make the effort
Yeah God forbid you might learn something about computers/software in the process. If your gonna install Linux just so you can WINE all your ms applications, why don't you just stick with your windows? You already stated that 'Windows XP is so stable'.
> is to hack off Microsoft
Please don't let that be a reason to switch to Linux... if you wanna 'hack off' microsoft, feel free to 'hack off' (or 'whack off' depending on which way *you* swing) their queen (gates-balmer).
I enjoy the fact that Linux is so technically superior, and I appreciate the technically superior community that code for it, use it, understand it and love it.
Three cheers to the Linux development community (all of them from the kernel hackers upto the application hackers)! Respect them by understanding and respecting their work.
"Unix [and Linux] are very much User-Friendly, their just picky about who their friends are."
--Unknown
I'm pretty sick of the whole linux battle that's been going on for years. Linux isn't that great I'm sorry. Just about every year I break down and install it for God knows what reason. And every year I wonder why did I just do that. There must be something great about it, or all these dork asses wouldn't be so in love with it. Don't tell me its the "open-source" bs... come on... great its free, but it's also crap. Unless of course you run servers. But that's a whole nother can of worms. I can do anything I want on windows. I really can. Needless to say I have to download whatever programs will allow me to do so, but there's always a crack/patch to apply to them. It's just as easy as compiling some stupid source code that probably won't work the first 3 times anyways. If you ask me, Linux doesn't have shit on any other operating systems until it can do everything that the others can do and do it better or do MORE. But right now its not even fuckin close so stop putting it on a damn pedestal and worshiping it, and shunning those who don't. It's pathetic.
You're nothing; like me.
Oh, there are more cute little graphical things like the HDD space status. Even with all this effort wasted on making Windows look pretty, I will still use the Windows Classic interface. Because I like it, and waste less screen space!
-Slashdot Junky
.
Landfill Mining Co.
Managing the (Un)natural Resources of Tomorrow
After the first screenshots showing the virtual desktops that Longhorn has, one of my friends that interned at MS this summer told me that his cousin is one of a few that are in charge of evaluating what is good in Linux (or other free software) and adding it into windows. Thus, virtual desktops, and this panel thing they are doing.
I think the question, and the real test of free software will be: Can we continue to answer the desktop faster than Microsoft, or, with a target on our backs, will we just be another casualty?
This is a valid question. MS has a ton of money (40 Billion in cash) and our developers are donating their time, usually not paid for their endeavors, and we consequently continually struggle with maintainership and continued development of projects. Especially the more mature ones.
This may be the biggest test of the "system" we will see. What do you think will happen?
Guess what? I got a fever! And the only prescription.. is more cowbell!
I don't care. This is (at least)two years away. The world might get sick of M$ HorseShit and switch to another os, computers might become idiot boxes controlled by watchdog software that makes sure you don't do anything you're not supposed to, or Microsoft might come out with an OS that's half-way decent (lol). At any rate it's in the future, don't get your panties in a twist over "internal releases" with partial functionality and an un-original UI!
Longhorn Server Edition has been cancelled - the Home Edition is still alive - Blackcomb will be the next big server OS from Microsoft
-Crimson
And where's the so-talked new starwars-like filesystem that was to appear on the new windows version (back on March)??
huh Bill, afraid to innovate? or just vaporware again. LOL
Am I the only one still using fav WinME? It's rock-solid 8 hours at a time ... changes its own diaper after crapping-out and doesn't call home to mommy unless I dial. Keep WinME away from over-reaching dweezles & webtoe dweebs and it does OKey, running my K-6, Duron900 & XP2100+ two solid years ... not bad, huh. Has RedHat ever run a GUI for two years I don't think so. WinME rocks, and did I say it was cheaper than SusE-the-*itch that couldn't run anything but snotty-nose KDE blu-screens!
As usual, Microsoft finds it more important to get all the eye-candy implemented, before getting the important backend (productivity?) improvements in place. (If any.)
Why cant we have had a second edition of XP where they implement the database-driven FS and and other code improvements, before they kick the marketing machine into overdrive with "Check out our new pretty sidebar eyecandy! Even more My Monopolyware bogosities! Even uglier default theme OOTB!" Sheesh, the next real version might have less fatal bugs if they did SE-like updates in between real releases. (And didnt charge a fortune for such odd-release updates.)
Anyone who considers arithmetical methods of producing random numbers is, of course, in a state of sin.-John von Neumann
...let's see..where have I seen that before..hmm...oh right!...that would be in Mac OS X!!! Jesus! Yet another "feature" stolen from the Apple OS. Let me guess, next we'll see "MoviesXP(tm)"...let's you edit your DV movies from a simple gui. I am not a huge supporter of Apple, but, the stuff being ripped of by MS is unfuckingbelievable! And let me guess, it's no doubt a feature that "our customers have asked for". Innovation my ass!
"Klaatu, verada, necktie!" -Ash
While new, MS is trying to make people used to older versions of Windows feel at home: the new look and feel is a big blue screen.
Wow. It's amazing how Microsoft continues to make all these discoveries in GUI enhancement. I thought all a GUI was supposed to do was make it easier for me to run applications.
Is it just me or are the six (sometimes more) "My"s in the start menu intimidating?
Anyone that says that the shown sidebar is a viable "competitor" to the dock, clearly has used neither. The Dock works according to one concept... simplicity and for the most part actually contributes positively to the user interface experience... I have always likened it to the taskbar at the bottom, in windows, only without the annoying start menu. This sidebar, by the looks of it is, well, confusing and obtrusive. The dock doesn't take up a full 20% of the screen real-estate, even when at it's largest setting and most importantly, is consistent.
Also, is there really a need for so many "quick" ways of accessing your programs and files? It seems like they've taken most of the theories/concepts behind usability and combined all the bad ones... as if they couldn't decide. Quicklaunch, sidebar, file manager, startmenu, etc... it's just too much.
While i think multiple desktops are nifty, I think it will be too confusing. As a seasoned user of Gnome and windowmaker, i'm only now "getting used to" utilizing multiple desktops and even then they are just a reminder that they don't have any good way of handling clutter and need multiple desktops to compensate. The same holds true for most implementations of multiple desktops... if a windowing system/GUI is designed properly, then the user shouldn't have to cycle through multiple desktops to switch between applications.
I'm glad I stopped using windows at Windows 2000 if *this* is the future of MS desktop OSs
"There may be a pretty new skin on top, but underneath, it's the same old bull."
"All art is quite useless." -- Oscar Wilde
When can MS come up with their own ideas?
" Am I the only one still using fav WinME? It's rock-solid 8 hours at a time ... " etc. etc.
I want to moderate this (Score: -1 WTF?)
graspee
This guys an idiot in my opinion
" Anyway, on to the reason you're reading this page. I just reviewed Windows XP, and I do love it. I'm the guy who actually revealed the code-name of this Windows version to the world, and I also was the first to publish the fact that Microsoft was using the XP naming convention a year later. Windows XP, to me, is that perfect combination of gotta-have-it features, a powerful upgrade that will benefit almost all current Windows users. It really does raise the bar.
However, I had the temerity to write the following in my review of this product:
And for the copycat Mac OS X and Linux platforms, where innovation equates to copying the feature set of Windows, the bar has been raised yet again, this time to stupefying heights.
I agree that this was a bit harsh. So a few days after posting the review, I modified it--qualified it, you might say--to the following:
And for competitors such as Mac OS X and Linux, where innovation often has lately equated to simply copying the feature set of Windows, the bar has been raised yet again, this time to stupefying heights.
And I got hate mail. Not lots of it like the old days. But enough of it that I thought I should explain. The Linux half of this is hardly worth bothering with: I've been running at least one Linux distribution since October 1995 (I started with Slackware, BTW, but now run Red Hat 7.1) on a dedicated PC, and if there are any truths in this world, one is that the Linux community is hell-bent on nothing less than whole-heartedly copying Windows, down to the smallest detail, in various desktop environments and applications. So we won't go there. But the Mac OS X part of this bears some explanation."
It's Microsoft. When they say "My Computer"
it's because they consider it to be theirs.
The Road Ahead
I'm sorry, man, but that's just a load of shit... too. Apple has been very clear about the future of Classic - there will be very little improvement of the environment. Now, Quark is a special case (and I think you know that), but most apps work reasonably well under Classic. I used Photoshop 5.5 in Classic until 7 was released, and although it's not ideal (startup of Classic was an exercise in patience), it works. That was the typical experience I had with Classic apps.
The only time I ever have to reboot my Jag boxen is after a software update that requires reboot. (Dare I say it here?) My Macs are every bit as stable as my Linux boxen. Based on comments I've seen here and elsewhere, I doubt that that my experience with Jag is unique. It's a helluva bit more than a 'marginal gain in stability'.
I think it's horribly unfair to characterize that fact that Quark isn't native yet as somehow being Apple's fault. Quark are dragging their feet and are, in my opinion, solely responsible for the fact that they're not expected to have X native code any time soon. There was a bit of discussion about Quark over on macosx.com a little while back. The interesting thing is that "In a Macworld Online readers poll, 91 per cent of respondees said they are either considering an alternative to QuarkXPress or have already switched." The feeling I get from all of this is that the only reason that Quark hasn't switched to native is that they feel they don't have to. Their market position in DTP seems similar to Microsoft's in Desktop OS.
Have you looked at InDesign?
Where the value of X-Mailer: is the true measure of a man...
Is it just me or dose the Longhorn logo look similar to the old Cult of the dead cow logo? Then again it might just be me :P
=If life was easy, i would be out of a job=
It still seems like MS it targetting everyone's grandmother.
Most of the new visual features look fine for a small number of files, but I just can't really see them scaling well, and does the average actual user really need most of these new UI features?
"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door." - Emily Dickinson
You're cursed! Get away! Get away!
No, seriously, it's hard to crash OSX, even with classic running. Your experience is very much less than typical.
5:12PM up 26 days, 13:23, 3 users, load averages: 1.69, 1.03, 0.89
Alas, I had to boot into OS9 proper a few weeks ago, otherwise that would be nearer 3 months by now.
eyecandy... Where are the meat and potatoes?
XP does have some useful features, but I've found that they are commonly destroyed or "ignorable" by the fact that the eyecandy takes away from it all.
Eyecandy has an unusual effect on users. Commonly they'll love it for about a week, and then they come to you and go, okay this is really annoying and shitty, how do I remove it. Yet, it seems that MS spends most of it's time building more visual eyecandy then actually adding useful functionality that people will like in the long run.
Makes sense to me, though, because all MS wants is to make money. It's like guys watching girls on the street, if the girl is attractive, but has nothing more to them, he'll still want her as a g/f. Then, after a week, he'll realize his mistake and not want her as a g/f, instead he wants to someone who has more to them then just good looks. Since all that matters to MS is the initial payment for the purchase of XP, and perhaps the general upgrades (Which will always have more eyecandy), they spend more time building on the eyecandy, then on the useful functionality. (When all you have to compete against is yourself, then you just need to make the new version 'look' better)
XP looks great, but it's just a large plate of eyecandy with few actual meat and potato features. This, of course, is only how I feel. Some people may have found useful functions that I don't use.
~ kjrose
No, I'm afraid that this is not the case. While it is true about the Location Bar not showing the drive letter, this is not new. Windows 98-XP show a similar behavior if they are using recent versions of Internet Explorer. There is a configuration option that allows you to select whether you want the full path (including drive letter) displayed or not.
If you look at this screen shot, you will see that the location bar displays My Computer\yada\yada. However, if you examine the contents of the directory in the pane below, you will notice the hard drive, which is displayed as "C:" along with its usage statistics.
Microsoft's drive letter analogy/concept has a deep rooted history. Users have grown accustomed to this analogy and it is highly unlikely that Microsoft will cahnge it in the future. Most average users that are used to drive letters find the mount point tree that is used in Unix to be almost incomprehensible.
Now, having said all that, it is really impossible to tell what the future holds. Remember that Longhorn is supposed to use a new file system. This new file system is not yet functional in the alpha release so there's no telling what it will actually look like. None the less, if I had to bet, I'd bet that drive letters will continue to be used in Microsoft OSes for a long long long time, regardless of the underlying file system.
I see nothing compelling in this preview. All I see is a bunch of user interface tricks which I'm sure will come at the expense of performance and stability.
They need to get some new monkeys.
Multiple desktops!
This is one of my favorite features with *nix systems, anytime you're running more than a few apps using one desktop even with minimizing gets just plain unmanagable this is one feature I'm very M$ glad has learned from *nix.
I stole this Sig
Last month, some of those builds leaked to the Internet, causing a stir in the Windows enthusiast community.
There is a community of Windows enthusiasts? Who are these sick bastards??!! ;-)
That sidebar looks just like the dock, only uglier and even bigger (I didn't think that was possible). I also notice it only contains MS applications... I sincerely hope that's because of this particular setup.
Did anyone else notice over 20% of the screen space was taken up by "navigational help" (eg these are the folders you might want to go to, then again you might not) in almost all of those screenshots? How does that help anyone by confusing the interface to such extremes?
I like the new preview pane, a little big for my tastes, but it's there (albeit 7 years to get right after the introduction in windows 98). I am hoping it's not hardcoded which directories you can use it in, that would be a serious shame.
I really wonder why they don't just license the look and feel of finder already, I can already tell their explorer is going to be very cluttered (then again that might be partially because of their insistance on a really pecular file heirachy for user directories..).
I live in a giant bucket.
Is this what Windows improvements are going to amount to in the future? More shell games? There's really nothing in those screenshots that couldn't be implemented now on an XP system with a tweaked UI. How about improvements to the underlying stability and reliability of the OS? E.g., I'd like to see the file "Details" such as Author and Dimensions integrated into the actual filesystem instead of hacked on top so that it no longer takes forever to list a folder with a bunch of mp3s in it, and so that a command-line dir shows selected extended attributes. How about a self-defragging system with a self-repairing registry? Might put Norton Utilities out of business, but there's no reason why after all this time Windows should still be slow-loading and jerky after a few months of usage. How about a way to say "NEVER trust content from Gator Corp." so I don't have to worry about accidentally pressing YES when one of those damn spyware controls pops up on my browser? How about getting rid of modal dialog boxes, or at least being able to configure a task so it is not interrupted by an alert box from another application? Are we working on any of these things MS? Also, I suppose this is just a UI gripe, but I'd like to be able to move my scrollbar over to the left-hand side, seeing as I'm left-handed and all.
Since I'm sure MS has their spies reading this discussion, perhaps we should all go ahead and mention substantive improvements we'd like to see in Longhorn.
There are two kinds of people: 1) those who start arrays with one and 1) those who start them with zero.
I think they need to hire some new graphic design people... I have yet to see a totally unique and creative design from this company... Don't get me wrong... the GUI does look good....
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Seems odd to me that so much Microsoft bashing goes on on this site, and yet, they still get free advertising from Taco, et al. You secretly working for Gates, Taco? Are you his "Under the Table" Exec? *slurp* *slurp* *slurp*
Most of us don't give a shit what the new MS Desktop looks like...
Instant Karma's gonna get you...
Seriously, this isn't a flippant comment but there is likely something seriously wrong hardwarewise if Jaguar is crashing like that. RAM, Video, MLB or any cards you have in there. I, like almost everyone else in my experience (through Mac training for Apple Australia) with it has had Jag running since mid August, with the only necessary reboots being for software updates. Machines that have bung hardware WILL KP, and will do it often. Once the hardware is fixed, the KPs stop, even with the same system install.
Who cares about the eyecandy, it's what it does that matters. Since I'll still be using a command line and Emacs whatever OS I'm using, screenshots don't tell me a thing about how usable or functional it is.
a.
Everyone else has already had a few words with you, but I'd like to point something else out that's probably the source of your problems...
I have stopped counting the times that I've had to reboot my Jaguar workstation in the school's art lab after it failed to handle some bizarre error in Classic environment.
No offense, dude, but it's probably an asinine machine lockdown policy in place. The system probably has some extra stuff installed to prevent you from doing this, that, or the other thing, and as a result, things are going to break. The admins at my school obviously don't know what the hell they're doing with the Macs - They have authentication with the school financial system on login now (to charge for printouts), and the little lame script and stuff they set up takes login time from two seconds to at least two minutes. No exaggeration here.
They're so anal about keeping things locked down that they *taped up the Zip drives* on the Power Macs. I guess they didn't want anyone copying software off the system, or running any apps. Never mind that someone could just as easily do it on the Dells that are far more prolific in the lab...
In short, don't pass judgment on an operating system based on *one* person's deployment of it in a specific environment.
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
I concur. My laptop currently has 16 days uptime (only rebooted for a software update to something or other a while back).
I've yet to see it crash.
That's about it..a lot of useless bgimages, inefficient interfaces and the usual windows crap. Candy for candyasses.
..Free Live Free...
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...
Remember, in order for Linux to succeed to world domination and provide everyone with the proper OS choice, we need to start our battles early. Try picking out quotes which, taken out of context, prove your point that Microsoft is passing off shoddy work!
Under the scenes, the [new] WinFS file system . . . tied the system up in knots, and must be turned off before the performance returns to normal.
Such quotes will further our cause, and drive Bill nuts! He's such a pedant!
Consider this your call to arms!
-Adam
The sidebar actually looks very interesting. I've heard talk of it before, you can auto hide it and when you move the mouse over to the side of the screen you can quickly see info from all the sidebar plugins. Like, a list of unread emails and a local traffic report. Seems better than flashing icons next to your clock.
I can make XP look like Windows 2000 anytime by selecting the Windows Classic theme (which actually disables part of the theme system of XP so it consume less memory).
Even with all the redundant eye candy turned off and all unnecessary services disabled, XP still requires MUCH more memory to do basically the same thing than Win2K. I've slowly started to dislike XP more and more, and am back on Win2K at home. Never thought I'd actually want to compliment Win2K, but now that I've used XP, I really like it. Windows Explorer is probably the worst thing in XP, horribly slow and unresponsive, doing strange things like parsing (in entirety) all HTML files in the current directory, even if thumbnails etc are all disabled. Scroll up over a directory filled with .URL files and the whole thing just *stops* for five or ten seconds before continuing.
My other UID is three digits.
Slashdot, you've linked to the wrong review. Sorry to have to point it out, but if you look at the screenshots, you will see it's just Windows XP. And the title also says that it's ... oh.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
shit sandwich
Someone you trust is one of us.
From the screenshots, it seems Paul likes butterflies. Is he the new (shudder) MSN guy?
As far as I can tell it is not possible. Would you be so kind as to point to an information source explaining how to do this?
I needed to do this once and could not figure out how. Please explain. (Actually, I wanted to "mount" a Windows share into a subdirectory on the hard disk).
C:\>mount
'mount' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
My other UID is three digits.
Is MS coming late to the party?
Make that _Turing_ Complete.
I don't know why... but i hate seeing multiple desktops for windows... i've always prided that as a reason to convert.
oh well. time to look for something new.
What comes first, finding a teacher or becoming a student?
It's a great gui program for windows, which does just what you'd expect, it skins the windows interface, all of it. There are hundreds of differnet skins you can get from places like the se. Its not free software, but the trial doesn't seem to expire, you just get a pop-up everytime you boot up or change skins, but an added bonus is it doesn't take up much in the way of system resources, unless your running some gaudy skin with animations everywhere. Some of the skins do have all the bells and whistles crap you seem to be complaining about, but others are very minimalistic. Also many skins have added features, like a clock in the window, winamp controls at the bottom edge of the window, buttons to launch noptepad, browser etc. Another cool feature is the roll up, right clicking on the top bar of a window, or clicking on the first button(roll up, minimize, maximize, close), rolls the window up into the top bar alla macOS. Another cool program that could ad some funcionality is Hoverdesk, the trial expires after 30, and i didn't have the time to completely configure it for myself, but with some time it seemed to me like it could make a really fucntional alternative gui. I know this sounds like a shameless plug, but i really love windowblinds.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
The double-click interval is configurable. Why didn't you show him how to change it?
It wasn't exposed through the UI, but powertoys for windows has had multiple desktop switching for 10 years now.
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Given that this is probably much different than what the final release of the thing will look like, I'm not too impressed with the desktop so far. There really isn't anything very new or useful there. Most of it clutters the screen.
XP was really the same way, and that is why I disabled just about everything... causing my desktop to look indistinguishable from Windows 2000.
On the other hand, there hasn't been that much innovative and useful that is brand new to desktops in any Window manager that has come out in the last few years.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
A clock?!? Wow!!!
mods metamodded as "Unfair"
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please explain your problem
i had uptime of 2 months+ with Classic running the *whole time*, mainly for Photoshop. The classic environment has had to be restarted due to crashes maybe 4 or five times in 4 months. but X doesn't give a fuck about classic, it carries on regardless.
So far, I've had to restart X once, and that wasn't even a kernel panic. I was really pissed of with a game and got bored waiting for the screen to fade back to 'force quit'
My apple works fine with 10.2. It has 2Mb of video memory. One of the first G3's. If you have 32 or more Mb of memory, then the system offloads the rendering of the desktop to your graphics card. This leaves more important tasks for the processor. Neat huh. Since I don't have enough memory, the desktop gets rendered by my processor, the same as it has been done in previous versions. My desktop isn't as fast as newer machines, but I expect that to be true since my computer is 4 years old.
check out the best blog ever:
http://oehlberg.com
In other news: the proper "shell" for all computer interactions is a proprietary web-browser, and the proper "file system" for all computer data is a proprietary database. Gee, the Mac with all its open shells and file systems is looking less and less proprietary with every new Windows release!
or do those Windows just make you want to lick them?
I wonder how long 'til Microsoft gets sued for causing obesity in office workers.
This build is over 3months old! Its ancient!
I wonder how many layers of software Microsoft had to add to achieve this GUI.
Isn't it funny how these threads always say "what's wrong with you?" Obviously there's nothing wrong with him personally. His experience just happens to differ from yours.
XP??? :P ... seems to me like they are doing the same thing as they have been. Release a "new" system based on a couple of mods done to old releases. Which yeah.... I know this is how software development works but, M$ just takes it a bit father by changing a maybe a total of 10 pages of code and 100 images, and then charges $100 for it. I mean did anyone really notice that when win98 was released the only "real" difference was that it had all the patches and maybe a couple mods to the UI of 95?? then 98SE came out.... just regular 98 with the patches for it :P. Though... I have to give them credit .... making themselves rich because the "public" thinks it's totally different and they can't live without it.
MY blue screen of death
Dude how may times did ur windoze crash and get viruses.
Windozes plain just sucks no matter what MS names it
fuzzhorn
longdon
not technical. It's M$ expected licensing and the fact that in order to use the OS one may have to be connected to the Internet all the time. I also don't feel too comfortable with a co like M$ watching all the files on my HD.
Alex DeWolf
"The Brady Bunch is back...working homicide"
This sh*t is a total waste of consumer money. M$ keeps releasing crappy a$$ O$'$ every year with the stupidest crap ever. Oh look a 3D start button. That'll help a whole lot when it crashes, reformats my hard drive, explodes, and destroys the part of my scalp that I haven't already torn off in frustration.
...or a really really gay man ('nuff said).
What's more, this is proof that Billiam Gates is either a woman (look at all the pretty colors in Longhorn, yippeeeeeeeeee)...
Seriously though, would any power user benefit from 3D Real-time rendered access logs?
This, and the "new" TTT trailer posted today...Slashdot really needs to get its editorial act together.
I for one appreciate Microsoft's up-front attitude by them including a separate folder for My Viruses and another one for My Exploits.
It is C:\DOCUME~1\AVG~1\MY~1 and C:\DOCUME~1\AVG~1\MY~2 repectively. And they call that PIECE~1 easy!? Hell, Visual~2(Visual Basic) can't even access long filenames from code!
"Look at them! They're so pathetic!
Look at their fans; they're just adicts!", if only Staind sang about winshit.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
Umm... Score 5? I'd call it Offtopic. :-/
What does a discussion of OS X stability have to do with this?
ive never seen so much blue in my life...tip to microsoft go shades of silver. and stop the blue madness
For The Best Jazz/Hip-hop fusion > COlD DUCK
Am I the only one that remembers the slashdot story on nov 13th called, "Longhorn Server Scrapped," that referenced a CNet article about MS scrapping this POS? I guess this a pretty bad glimpse at the future eh taco? ;)
Actually it's a 6. He was at 5, somebody modded him down, then somebody else bumped him back up to 5 again.
And rightly so. Spreading FUD about OS X is just lame.
Rez's Quick Windows Tutorial :)
:)
:) That way if something does get eaten, or a user deletes a critical file by mistake, it's easy to simply restore it from the archived copy. Most "Windows won't start" disasters are due to a single file that's gone walkabout.
:) But it works wonders for Windows' stability and performance, and as you can see, it's not rocket science.
Start with pure Intel CPU and chipset (sorry AMD/VIA fans, but you're cutting your own throat from the start). Don't skimp on RAM. No shared video RAM either. Don't install non-M$ mouse drivers if you can avoid it; don't install fancy keyboard drivers at all. Overclocking can lead to crashiness, so be cautious about doing it.
Stick to Win95 OEM, Win98 original or OEM (*not* SE), or Win2K if you have a choice, tho XP is acceptable. WinME can be made 100% stable, but its resource management sucks too much for heavy multitasking, so I don't recommend it.
Kill tempfiles and defrag religiously once a week, whether it claims to need it or not. (The "how fragmented I am" thingee is borkend, it only reports how fragmented the FAT is, not the files!) Sort by date if your defragger gives you a choice. I'd recommend VOPT if you don't like the default defragger.
Always use the provided uninstallers. Run a good registry cleaner EVERY time you uninstall anything, and occasionally as routine maintenance. I use EasyCleaner (free from toniarts.com) and have found both its registry and start menu cleaners are 100% reliable. (Tho the dupefile finder is buggy, and remember to exclude "Help" on ME/XP systems.) DLL Hell isn't usually an issue so long as the registry is kept pristine. Remember to archive the registry occasionally -- usually the one from last month is good enough if the current one gets wonked.
Don't install M$Office if you can avoid it -- it is Windows' worst enemy (it even clobbers protected system DLLs in WinXP). IE and Outlook don't love Windows all that much either. Don't upgrade IE past 5.0 if you have a choice. (Being bundled with IE5.5 is apparently why WinME's resource management sucks so bad. IEradicating will NOT fix what IE5.5 breaks.) -- Note: If WordPerfect Office is unstable, it *usually* means your system needs updated system and/or video BIOSs, and maybe an updated video driver.
Put the swapfile on its own dedicated partition; don't let anything else write files there. That way it's never fragmented, which helps a LOT on a marginal-RAM system.
On WinME, apply 98Lite in default shareware "uncouple IE from the desktop" mode, and turn off Restore. If you ever accidentally call up WinME's new "Help" system, restart Windows as soon as is feasible. (That's all I did to "fix" my WinME box, which gets used to test all sorts of crap, and it hasn't crashed in two YEARS.)
On WinXP, use Classic interface. (Restore and Help are not issues on WinXP.)
NEVER EVER install anything like "Crashguard" -- these apps are really good at catching the crashes they *create*!! Turn off various "control centers" that want to run all the time as well (such as the one that the SBLive installs, the ATI-Desk thingee, etc.) Be cautious about antivirus TSRs too -- turn off needless parts (like the extra thing McAfee puts in systray). Kitchen-sink utility suites tend to generate trouble.
Never install a patch or update that doesn't address a problem YOU are experiencing (or that isn't relevant to a particular security issue YOUR system may encounter). What fixes your buddy's machine may break yours.
I also recommend that everyone run Resource Meter (Windows\RSRCMTR.EXE -- but it does not install by default; just drop a shortcut into Startup) as a handy gauge to the current condition of your system resources. Many crashes can be avoided simply by backing out of whatever caused a resource leak. Yeah, it'd be better if nothing leaked, but when you already know the road is icy, you should drive slower.
Once I've got Windows installed and tweaked to my satisfaction, I archive the entire thing to a dedicated location. (I also occasionally archive the registry and start menu to the same location. On clients' systems, I use the same partition as the swapfile, then forbid them to touch it.
The most important points are: solid hardware and drivers; regular defragging, tempfile killing, and registry cleaning; turning off Restore in WinME; avoiding some known killers like Crashguard. The rest can be cheated around as necessary to your situation, without causing significant instability. And if you do the maintenance, even poor quality hardware won't have too much impact (unless it's outright flaky).
More detail than most folk probably wanted to hear
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
I have to admit, for all that I hate Microsoft, Plex is pretty damn nice. I guess graphic artists are not tainted by the evilness of microsoft :)
:) Windows 98 and 95... Don't get me started on those... :/
But yeah, as others have said, lose the blue. Then again, it's a Windows tradition. They have some sense of pride I guess.
You can't really HATE windows now. It's getting better and better, though definitely I still would not forsake Linux for it
The review is incomplete, and lacks the most important detail: Where is the screenshot of BSOD? Although it shows very often, it is hard to capture because it is the most protected Microsoft technology.
A few weeks ago MS announced they canceled Longhorn.
Anecdotal Evidence == Oxymoron?
"Unless someone actually quantifies this information, it's pointless."
I see what you're saying but every benchmark that I have ever read has some sort of flaw or bias or hint of irrelevence. Does this mean that they are all worthless too? Sure anecdotal evidence is at best 1 data point but it's still better than nothing and usually it's all you have. So let's see these stories for what they are but not throw them out completely. That would also be irresponsible.
you guys realize that, right?
WinRar is pretty useless, I personally use 7zip, it's excellent, does zip, rar, 7z, tar, bz2, gz and more and is GPL'd, so what more could you want?
;)
Grab it from http://www.7-zip.org/ and prepare to load it onto all future computers ('tis small too
There was this great article i remember reading on theobvious.com around like five years ago or something. It's, um, here.
It basically suggested Microsoft started this whole "my"-in-computing craze for the same reason that products for very small children often contain "my" in the product title, as in "My First Sony". They want their products to appear hyper-ultra-unthreatening, so they encroach things in vocabulary that would make a small child feel comfortable. Apparently hoping to make windows-users feel like they are in some sort of comforting, embryonic state while using it.
Actually, now that i think of it, Windows XP/Longhorn's interface really, really has the motif of small child's toys. You know? The kind of colorful, rounded, chewable look you get becuase the toy manufacturers want to make the baby notice it, and becuase they want everything large and rounded and plastic so the baby can't swallow it. Maybe Microsoft's idea of "user friendly" is "it treats the user like a four year old"..
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
On the other news
.Not has a new porn
Windoze longdon and
out
it cannot stay up long.
This looks like XP with some changes here and there. Some structural changes but largely aesthetics. This may be like what Windows 98 was to 95.
What makes a man want to be a mouse? (Python's Flying Circus)
Um, a reboot after each update? Sounds great.
sounds like you may have some bad RAM issues; OS X's more advanced virtual memory system is rather more sensitive to issues with cheap RAM; these often manifest as kernel panics, etc. replacement with higher-quality RAM has been "miraculously clearing up these issues".
before dismissing this post, please check out the variety of user experiences re: this issue in this this report.
also, I have to object to the (immediate) parent post's tone; berating the person experiencing the frustration is unhelpful, to say the least...
also, I have to object to the (immediate) parent post's tone; berating the person experiencing the frustration is unhelpful, to say the least...
Shut the fuck up, you lunix-loving OSX-bashing cocksucking son of a whore.
Oh, I'm sorry, am I being unhelpful? Well, fuck you, then.
Well Windows, it's been a bumpy ride, but I hung in there. But this tears it. When Longhorn comes out, I'm switching to Linux, which doesn't have the world's most god-awful interface. So long, MS.
If you look under the special shells folder, there is a link to the music folder. Look at the meta-data view on the bottom right hand side, you'll see "License Description: This content has no restrictions". We all know that it's coming, here's the first look. How long til we'll see something like "License Description: No access allowed for this user"?
There has to be two standards for "ease of use", at least right now. You are a "power user" (pardon the cheesey phrase, please). You do things like attempt to go a whole day without using the mouse, because you are working for EFFICIENCY in your computing. You're at a level above the "average" joe computer user, at least for another decade probably. Your idea (and mine) of "ease of use" hasn't hit its time yet. As the people that were born into a generation without readily available computing pass on (as in die) I imagine you'll see the other idea of "ease of use" go away. That idea is "make it so easy it's actually hard sometimes, so obvious its painful, and if you can make it pretty, all the better". IE: Micro$oft's idea of "ease of use". But, why does this idea prevail? The baby boomers, that's why. Granted, they are a bit more comfortable with computers than say our grandparents, but the upper reaches of them aren't that comfortable. But, why are the baby boomers driving "ease of use", you might ask. M-O-N-E-Y The boomers control a disproportionate amount of the available capital in the U$ (which, by the way, they should). They pay for their idea of "ease of use" to be the dominant idea. *GASP* Pay for software? SACRELIGE!!!!!!!!!!!! Actually, those of you deluded enough to believe that all software should be free need to pull your heads out of the sand. That magical thing, M-O-N-E-Y, drives software today. It will in the future, too. It makes sense for some things to be "free", like an OS, perhaps. Others, though, don't, like office tools, or specialized software like Electronic Medical Records. I think that the idea of Ransom software sounds good, it catches a good balance between "free" and "money-grubbing". But I digress. As those born in the mid-to-late 60's come into that wonderful place where THEY control a disproportionate amount of the availble capital in the U$, and especially when the GenXers get there, the idea of "ease of use" will have shifted over to OUR view. Remember that most of the boomers grew up in the 50's, with Beaver Cleaver and all the cotton candy that came with pop culture then. Does anyone else see the similarity between the Cleaver household and Microsoft's version of OS eye candy? As younger generations take over, the view of their formative years will prevail. Those views are much edgier, grittier (I'm a famous musician with all I could ever want, but I'm still not happy... *pull the trigger*), and more dramatic, you'll see "ease of use" take on a whole new concept.
Unfortunately, Windows 98 didn't allow me to make folders "pop-out" and cascade in order to access more options from a *compact* quick launch bar. I had to create a folder in the Favorites menu labeled "Favorite Tools" and put things in there.
:D
On the lighter side, I have all my games in my tools menu.
I have a girlfriend! Will trade for source code!
Ali
Ph33r m3!!!
About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt
ax. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead.
-- Edsger Dijkstra
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