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Longhorn Preview

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the not-a-leak-for-a-change dept.

itraor writes "PC World has previewed Longhorn, not the first one out I guess. Among the few noted features is that Windows now offers translucent UI, finally catching up with Apple. "

10 of 587 comments (clear)

  1. And the quality just gets better ... by bushboy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "PC World has previewed Longhorn, not the first one out i guess. Amoung the few noted features is that Windows now offers transluscent UI, finally catching up with Apple. "

    And who said Slashdot doesn't have quality control ?

    --
    A slashdotting - you get the stick first and then the carrot !
  2. Oh my God by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That interface is more cluttered and garish than go.com, or some other failed late-90s "web portal". I'm used to trying to help users who wind up with some kind of mental block against using the start menu because every time they click on the start menu they're so overwhelmed with confusing options and information they don't understand that it's more than they can hendle. I guess I should preemptively get used to helping users who wind up with a similar mental block against using the windows file browser.

    I thought, when I first saw that Mac OS X release, that no one would ever make a clumsier, more overdesigned OS theme. Microsoft seems to be doing their absolute best to prove me wrong with every single release, reaching new heights of gangly ugliness with first "luna", then "avalon"...

  3. Re:Microsoft Longhorn... by Skye16 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Surely "prettier" is a subjective term. I took one look at the screen shots and blurted out "...what the fuck!"

    I guess I just have vastly different aesthetic tastes than the Windows UI designers. Sucks to be me.

  4. This is a review of build 5048... by Jugalator · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The exact same build we've been able to read about on Slashdot a few months back.

    Beats me why they suddenly reviewed it super late out of the blue, because it's not really like Slashdot is posting a really old news article either here.

    And here I was thinking they were having an early beta 1 review, whose release is due this month.

    Reviewing alpha quality software should tell a lot of IT people here about how useful a review like this is. Beta 1 and 2 should be far more interesting in seeing where Longhorn is heading.

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  5. Leopard before Longhorn? by G4from128k · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder if OS 10.5 will arrive before Longhorn? Steve Jobs said that the company plans to release Leopard in late 2006 or early 2007.

    Perhaps 2007 will see a 3-"L" competition on x86 -- Longhorn, Leopard, & Linux.

    --
    Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
  6. OK to be fair... by narrowhouse · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I would like to see some version of the virtual folders like those in Evolution in the GNOME and/or KDE desktops. It looks like that may be one handy feature coming up in Longhorn. If we start work now maybe we can beat the Longhorn release date :).

    I realize that if I want all my pictures in one folder I could just put them in one folder instead of scattering them all over the machine, but for me it would be nice to have the virtual folders show files from ALL of my machines at once.

    So congratulations Microsoft, I have found a feature that I would like. if I still used Windows. I wouldn't upgrade to get it mind you, but I would at least know there was something I couldn't do on XP that I could on Longhorn.

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    Insert pithy comment here.
    1. Re:OK to be fair... by gsfprez · · Score: 3, Interesting

      to me, it looks like virtual folders are nothing more than items in a folder grouped together by meta-data that you have to manually hack in, or by other built in meta-data (like creation dates).

      Yes - i said manually enter meta data... look at the previous screen shot.

      That means that i can type "2005 yesemite vacation" 89 times in 89 "get info" windows... versus that clumsy old way of putting 89 files into a folder called "2005 yosemite vacation".

      hellz yeah - sign me the fsck up! /Mitch Hedberg

      This HAS to be a joke. I know MS is slipping, but these sophmore-year computer science assignemnts are being touted as "improvements" to Windows.. i cannot believe it.

      this is all, of course, a moot point if you're a Mac os X 10.4 user, where i have about 15 actual, useful virtual folders that track things like "all my .m2v compressed files that i've made in the last week" so that i can wipe them out when i make my batch of DVDs at the end of the week - which i want separated from the m2v files i that want to keep from way back. and, of course, all the project folders which are virutal that keep organized each project by either account or project name (doesn't matter, i put in both and it finds everything) so that even if they're on the RAID or on my archives disk (i NEVER have to work from the archive files, because it always is right he first time....) i have them all in one folder.

      the worst part of this article is what doesn't happen - the editor does NOT take MS to task for their sad-ass new features that are trivially implimented or years past old-hat on other operating systems - and point out that if this is all we can expect, we're in for a shock. And that shock could be major problems at microsoft.

      --
      guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
  7. Re:Not a Troll by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "Right, but what of the new 'features' are gunna make you upgrade to this must have new version?"

    For me, it's Longhorn's vector-based approach to the UI. While everybody's busy giggling and snorting at the 'eye-candy' at Longhorn, the reality is you'll be able to use it on monitors with > 3,000 pixels in width without having to use a microscope to read the text. You'll be able to resize windows etc to suit your needs. I also really enjoy the idea of using the system's GPU to offload the graphical stuff. Almost like having another processor in your machine.

    I'm amazed that all the M$ bias around here has blinded everybody to this little detail that's going to be a big fucking deal in the not-too-distant future. Certainly Linux is going to have its own implementation of this feature set. Everybody'll be waving their arms and cheering then.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  8. Re:Alternate reality Apple by MyLongNickName · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My post:
    'Microsoft likes to make profits. Apple only recently started following that business model.'

    Your post:
    Yes, Apple has never turned a profit.

    You go off on some tangent claiming I said they have NEVER turned a profit. Please learn to read.

    Apple's most recent losing year was 2001. They had a couple good years before that. Before that, they were consistent dogs. For reference:

    http://www.stockselector.com/earnings.asp?symbol=A APL

    So, yes, their recent 3 1/2 year period of profitability is nice. But Microsoft is the king of business, even with an inferior product. So, guess what? My comment about management having their head up their ass is accurate.

    --
    See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
  9. That's because there's not much else there by Roadkills-R-Us · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Every few years, MS announces a revolutionary new OS. A complete rewrite. Everything you ever wanted in an OS- an more. Breakthroughs. Security. Ease of use. Your PC will be more helpful than a correctly working NS5 in _I, Robot_. It will bear your children. Etc.

    And every time, before shipping, features slowly fall away, the release date slips, and eventually we get... a new GUI to learn and a new set of bugs and security holes. The GUI is usually about all they *can* talk about safely.

    But the article discusses other things as well. Such as the new way a user can install drivers without being Administrator and opening up a zillion security holes. Now that's advanced. After all, it's only been possible in *nix for a couple of decades.