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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!
I've seen loads of leaked screenshots. Why should I believe this are not faked like they rest?
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...
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
.. more stuff I need to disable to stop my users from hurting themselves?
Hope not.
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.
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
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
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
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
It looks like a dreadful KDE theme.
Talk about being redundant...
I write in my journal
it doesn't matter what they add to the UI, I'm just going to make it look like windows 98 anyways.
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
Yes, well, the general population in't going to get too excited about an NTFS replacement, an XML-enabled sidebar, or OS-level DRM. In fact, the latter would probably send them running.
But slap a pretty new face on it and suddenly you've given them a tangible reason for upgrading, regardless of whether the new interface is actually an improvement or not. It represents something newer, so it must follow that it is better. At the very least cooler, so that when the Smiths come over and see your new machine they can go "Oohhhh...you must be running the new Windows [insert catchy release name here]!!!"
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...
...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!
...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
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.
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.
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...
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.
Make a software so that everyone's grandmother can use it, and only they will ever use it.
Not true!
While your remark would be true in general, it is not true in this specific instance.
The masses of sheep who aren't enlightened to open source are locked in to windows. Its like a narcotic. They can't break free of it. (Just like 50% of slashdotters who still can't break their habit.) Therefore the existing locked in users are not who the new interfaces are designed for. The new interfaces are designed for sheep who are so sheepish that they have not yet dived in and gotten a computer. How much pain this causes existing users is irrelevant, they are stuck with it. (Except for the few who get enlightened and break the cycle.)
Your remark would be true in a general sense. Make a {car,phone,tv} so that idiots can use it, and only idiots will use it. Implication: because the non-idiots will flock to competition. But in this industry there is no significant competition.
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
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?
You can have it now with XP if you install one of the PowerToys. Specifically the one that's called Virtual Desktop Manager. It's limited (or fixed rather) to four desktops, but it can be useful nonetheless. It doesn't do the neat deal where you can see where windows are on those virtual desktops like practically any WM will do with X though.
If not now, when?
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?
;-)
:-/
There is no mount command.
Here's how I do it in XP...
1. Right-click My Computer.
2. Select "Manage".
3. In the Computer Manager, select "Local Disk Manager".
4. Right-click a drive.
5. Select "Change drive designations" (something similar, translating from swedish...)
6. Click "Add..."
7. Select "Mount this device in the following empty NTFS folder".
8. Voila
I don't remember how you most easily got to the Computer Manager in 2000 (I doubt you can right-clik and select "Manage"). There's a command line for it though...
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
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?