Microsoft Suffers Leaks, Lagging Sales Numbers As They Look Forward To Windows 8

nandemoari writes "With only a few weeks until Microsoft's Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) is released, Microsoft is already looking for people to help with Windows 8. An April 14th job ad posted by Microsoft says the upcoming version of Windows will have new features like cluster support and support for one way replication. Apparently the Windows 8 kernel is being reworked to provide dramatic performance improvements. Windows 8 will also include innovative features that, according to Microsoft, will revolutionize file access in branch offices." Relatedly, several users tell us that both 32 and 64-bit versions of the Windows 7 release candidate have been leaked into the wild via p2p networks. The current leaked version shows little change beyond bug fixes, so it would seem what you see is what you get. This all comes as Microsoft posts quarterly sales that have fallen for the first time in the company's 23-year history. Seeing a 6% drop in revenue and a 32% drop in earnings, some within the Redmond giant expect the downward trend to continue.

Comments

Buh?

[sexconker]

How is this a leak? Or news?

Re:Buh?

[Anonymous Coward]

How is this a leak?

Because the RC hasn't been officially released.

Re:Buh?

[davester666]

Neither. It has been posted prior to every previous OS release by Microsoft, replacing only the current and next OS names.

In particular, they include this statement every time: "provide dramatic performance improvements"

And is "revolutionize file access in branch offices" the filesystem MS promised for Vista, or is that still DOA?

Re:Buh?

[sexconker]

WinFS is likely dead and buried.

The branch thing is their method of caching files on a machine on the local network.

Apparently 7 does it very well, so I don't know what 8 is hyping it up for.

Re:Buh?

[Anonymous Coward]

And is "revolutionize file access in branch offices" the filesystem MS promised for Vista

Microsoft never promised a new filesystem. WinFS was an abstraction layer running atop NTFS.

Re:Buh?

[neokushan]

Mod Parent Up.
This lovely little tidbit of information is completely correct and it always gets iterated every single time someone bashes Microsoft over WinFS. It's not a file system. It never was. And it's not dead, it's now part of SQL server under a different name.

But somehow, people don't get this. It's been years since it's been "dropped" from Vista (presumably because it's not actually all that useful after all) yet people still harp on about it.
I don't know why the message isn't getting through: It's not a file system. It's not abandoned. It's not a big deal.
Until it gets through, all we can really do is mod up the people that constantly point this out =\

Re:Buh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, those retards thinking WinFS nee Relational File System nee Object File System was supposed to be a file system! Rubes!

Re:Buh?

[IntlHarvester]

I don't know what it is, but I'm really angry that Microsoft isn't making me use it!

Re:Buh?

[tepples]

The branch thing is their method of caching files on a machine on the local network.

Apparently 7 does it very well, so I don't know what 8 is hyping it up for.

The point is that by the time Windows 8 is out, it will have become commercially acceptable for an app to require services that were introduced in Windows 7.

Re:Buh?

[J Story]

And is "revolutionize file access in branch offices" the filesystem MS promised for Vista, or is that still DOA?

I would hope by now that people are able to see through this as yet another defense against encroaching Free and Open Source solutions. If this "feature" is actually delivered, any bets that it will not play well with Samba? Given Microsoft's history, there is every reason to suspect poison in every Microsoft offering.

Re:Buh?

[peragrin]

Well that depends on how long you have been listening to msft hype. A database file system has been promised from msft sine roughly 1994. Back then it was a full FS. The latest version is a database layer on top of NTFS. Something they have been promising since 2002. They still can't get it to work. It has led to improvements in windows. However apple and gnome had those features without false promises of winFS.

Re:Buh?

[David Gerard]

Every press story about Windows since 1994 reads:

I am so excited about $NEXT_VERSION of Windows. It will go beyond just solving all of the problems with $CURRENT_VERSION, it will be an entirely new paradigm. Forget about security problems, those are all fixed in $NEXT_VERSION. And they're finally ridding themselves of $ANCIENT_LEGACY_STUFF.

Also, there'll be $DATABASE_FILESYSTEM. It'll be awesome!

I wonder how $NEXT_VERSION will compare to $NEXT_NEXT_VERSION.

Re:Buh?

[Anonymous Coward]

WinFS: neither file system nor win.

Yet another new version

[nurb432]

So thats saying that what isn't out yet is already being replaced, so why should i upgrade.

How about just make something that works?

Re:Yet another new version

[sexconker]

Because they'd rather spend tons on R&D, marketing, support, etc. for something people don't want to buy (Vista, Windows 7) than to continue to press discs for something people do want to buy (XP).

Re:Yet another new version

[Jurily]

Because they'd rather spend tons on R&D, marketing, support, etc. for something people don't want to buy (Vista, Windows 7) than to continue to press discs for something people do want to buy (XP).

Don't forget beating hardware manufacturers into submission.

Re:Yet another new version

[x2A]

I want Windows 7... kernel... I don't want its shell (explorer et al) though. The idea of moving to an interface that does things differently, I don't have a huge aversion to. The idea of moving to an interface that can't do the things I can do now in Win2003... well that's just plain silly.

Re:Yet another new version

[Shikaku]

Why don't they just sell service packs? As in you get upgrades with X features like Aero Glass, a new explorer, etc. but keep all your settings and applications. Like Apple does. Or some Linux distros except obviously it's free.

In marketing though I wouldn't call it a service pack. But you get the idea.

Re:Yet another new version

[Chabo]

I'm not sure there's a single industry in which the average business puts out a product without at least starting to plan the next one.

Re:Yet another new version

[noidentity]

I'm still waiting on Mojave. There was a demo last year but they have kept quiet on its progress, kind of like Apple does. I can't wait!

Re:Yet another new version

[jmorris42]

> I'm not sure there's a single industry in which the average business
> puts out a product without at least starting to plan the next one.

I'm sure you are correct. However I'm pretty sure this is the first time Microsoft has hinted about V+2 before V+1 shipped. Up to now the cycle has been:

1. Release. This is THE product you must have. It fixed everything you hated about V-1 and is just packed full of awesome.

2. As customers actually buy V and find it creates as many problems as it fixed, even after the first service release announce the upcoming V+1 in development. Release some internal builds and screenshots to the tame tech media to begin working the hype up. Yup, V+1 is going to be the bomb, every feature you could possibly want is going to be in this puppy, it will finally be secure and you will even have whiter teeth!

3. As release date passes without a release start removing features. Make sure all the pirates and tech media have a recent build. Ensure all reviews are between the upcoming release and competing shipping products to suck out their oxygen. Nah, who needs NDS when Active directory is coming any day now and will rule!

4. PROFIT! ; Goto 1

This time Windows 7 isn't even being hyped as more than a corrective for the stuff people hated in Vista, no real new features. The new features are now being hyped for V+2. Which is only more evidence that 7 is just Mojave/Vista SE.

Re:Yet another new version

[cyphercell]

No, he's serious I saw it too!

Re:Yet another new version

[im_thatoneguy]

Make sure the taskbar is unlocked (in right click menu), and add a new toolbar such as the Address or Quick Launch (if you don't have one). The left hand side of this bar has a drag bar, which you can move it around, or pull it out of the taskbar and dock it to the top or sides of the screen, creating a new dock bar which you can populate.

1)Create new folder.
2)Drag folder to edge of screen.
3)Add links to folder.
4)Right click "Toolbars -> Whatever You want"
5)Right click "Auto hide"... etc.

Re:Yet another new version

[Bigjeff5]

He seems more like a computer guy who doesn't like change that reduces functionality and/or efficiency.

Honestly, if those are the guys you're firing, good luck. Changing for the sake of change is idiotic at best, and self-destructive at worst. There are a lot of reasons change can be bad, and the smart computer guy looks at his individual situation and sees if change is A) Necessary B) an Improvement and C) Feasable.

From the screen shot it looks to me like this guy has a "system" that makes him efficient at what he does. If you'd rather your imployees remain generic and not take full advantage of an OS to improve their ability to work, for the sake of pending "change" every 5-10 years, you are probably a really crappy manager. You probably also think you are a great manager. Kinda funny how that tends to work out.

Trash talk

[200_success]

It's vaporware. Announced features tend get dropped from Windows during the development process. Don't believe anything from Microsoft until it's released.

It's just a floater

[drinkypoo]

Almost, but not quite. Microsoft just ran clustering up the flagpole to see who would get excited.

Fuck yeah.

[SanityInAnarchy]

This all comes as Microsoft posts quarterly sales that have fallen for the first time in the company's 23-year history.

This is a perfect opportunity for trash talk! Suck on failure, Microsoft! Sales looking a little limp this quarter? I guess that's why they call it both micro and soft!

Heh. More seriously, as Joel points out:

Microsoft has an incredible amount of cash money in the bank and is still incredibly profitable. It has a long way to fall. It could do everything wrong for a decade before it started to be in remote danger, and you never know... they could reinvent themselves as a shaved-ice company at the last minute.

It's good to see a hint that this fall might finally be starting, but even in this economy, it will be a long time before Microsoft dies.

Re:Fuck yeah.

[drinkypoo]

If inflation keeps going the way it's going, any actual cash reserves are a big mistake... and it could easily get worse.

Re:Fuck yeah.

[Swanktastic]

They don't have large actual cash reserves. That is just slang for liquid accounts. They have a whole team of people who sit around forecast the exact amount of cash necessary to do things like make payroll and A/P at certain times. Then, they manage a whole slew of really low risk investments that come due around the time they need the cash. The rate on really low risk investments investments is by defintion the expected rate of inflation for that period + the time value of money. It's not hard to find investments like TIPS (Treasury Inflation protected securities) that guarantee the proper rate of return.

Re:Fuck yeah.

[jmorris42]

> More seriously, as Joel points out:

Joel is wrong. A few years ago he was right but he obviously hasn't looked at Microsoft's latest balance sheet. They blew through the cash horde paying us stockholders dividends to keep us from going after em with pitchforks. Used to be they carried zero debt on their books, not anymore.

Go look it up, it is shocking how fast they went from more money than the Pope in Rome to a normal profitable company. And now the recession is upon them, netbooks are encroaching on their fat margins and there isn't much excitement in corporate America to engage in a mass hardware refresh to get Windows 7.

The computing landscape is about to change, the old guard who built the industry is retiring/dying off and things are about to make the shift from high flying growth to stable basic industry.

Re:Fuck yeah.

[David Gerard]

Yep. I was almost disappointed when they didn't buy Yahoo! - that really would have been 2 plus 2 equals 1. "We blew 40 billion, but at least we switched FreeBSD for NT, 'cos that worked so well for Hotmail!"

point of reference

[je ne sais quoi]

Point of reference: Apple Q2 sales of Macs fell 3% as opposed to MS' 6%, but ipods and iphones were still growing, giving the company a net profit. Couple this to the data over the last year or so showing that usage share of windows operating systems has been eroding a 1-3% a year for the last four years, it appears that microsoft seems to be losing, but it's slow going. It could easily turn around with a new successful operating system by MS.

Re:point of reference

[footnmouth]

I have a great memory, and to be honest it's a massive PITA. I can remember when people wanted MS to succeed against the might and nastiness of Big Blue (IBM). Now it's all comers against MS, with Apple and Google getting most of the plaudits and building an empire. If it continues, Apple and Google will be the big bad corporations in a couple of years and us, the nerds, will either fondly remember "good old MS" or hang on hard to a new trend / company.

Or Linux will be ready for the desktop :-) *

* I troll, I troll, I'm typing this on my Centos machine

Re:point of reference

[elrous0]

Even *if* Apple did become a dominant player in the OS market, there is no reason to believe they would be any less abusive of that position than MS has been.

Re:point of reference

[rsborg]

Even *if* Apple did become a dominant player in the OS market, there is no reason to believe they would be any less abusive of that position than MS has been.

Why do we need a new "dominant" player? Why can't we just have a plethora of OSs that inter-operate at a basic level and let users and companies cater to one or all of the preferred OSs?

The best thing in the world of software will happen when no one company has a stranglehold on innovation... take a look at the web for example... lots of innovation until IE dominated, then Firefox broke the domination and now you have IE, FF, Chrome, Safari, Opera and a whole host of other browsers that adhere standards (for the most part) and web developers write to those standards (and tweak for specific browsers)... innovation is picking up pace again.

To come back to your point, yes Apple would make as evil a monopolist as Microsoft, but I'd prefer if they all had to compete for my $$.

Re:point of reference

[the_humeister]

Despite MS sales dropping 6% and profits dropping ~30%, they're still somehow the 3rd most profitable company in the world according to Fortune. They're ahead of even GE! So who's ahead of them? Exxon and Chevron.

Re:point of reference

[PitaBred]

At least Google has a habit of playing fair, and is providing services by simply being better. Microsoft since it's inception has been a deceptive, double-dealing company. Remember how MS-DOS got started? Lots of corporate back-room deals and chicanery. Microsoft has NEVER excelled technically. They've always bought or stolen their tech, and then spun it like it was always that way. Amazingly slimy yet effective businessmen, but not the technical geniuses every layperson thinks they are.

Re:point of reference

[colinrichardday]

To come back to your point, yes Apple would make as evil a monopolist as Microsoft, but I'd prefer if they all had to compete for my $$.

A monopolist of what? Hardware? So Dell, HP, Acer, etc. are going to be swept away? Or Software? Wait, what will we run that Apple software on?

If Microsoft goes belly up, and Apple doesn't license clones, the other computer manufacturers will throw so much money/talent/marketing at *BSD/Linux that it won;t be fun (unless, of course, you're the target of such spending).

Re:New OS naming trend?

[eln]

Microsoft realized after Apple's OSX that their current naming scheme robbed them of the ability to release Windows X, which would be similar to Windows, but more streamlined, and with flames painted on the sides. They went back to the standard sequential number scheme so they could legitimately call a release "Windows X" without looking like poseurs.

Feature freeze?

[RiotingPacifist]

Isn't it a good thing that they are concentrating on the bugs from the betas, instead of adding features? Perhaps users of the final release wont feel like beta testers this time?

I'm no ms fan but they seam to be doing it right this time, move feature work and innovation to windows 8, while a 'stable' branch of the code is finalized for release.

Windows 2000

[bonch]

Windows 2000--still the best version they ever made. Simple, clean, and snappy. Try it on a modern PC. It's so wonderfully fast with an interface that stays out of the way. If Windows 2000 had supported my laptop in 2002, I wouldn't have made the jump to XP. I would have used Windows 2000 for many years.

Windows 7 looks like Vista with an OS X Dock. I can't stand Aero, and there doesn't appear to be any refinements to it, so that's disappointing. The cloning of OS X's Dock and window management behavior is another amusingly obvious ripoff that Microsoft and its supporters will deny (the common talking point appears to be that the inspiration was Windows 1.0, not OS X). The option for the classic Start menu has been removed. I really dislike Vista's Start menu and how you scroll inside it to get to things. Thankfully, the search field is a faster, better launcher.

Snow Leopard will be fun to compare to Windows 7. While Microsoft has been moving in a direction of adding more visual flair with each release, Apple has been removing flair from OS X. Right now, it almost resembles NexTStep's dark gray. Once they replace the harsh, blue gel scrollbars with iTunes' clean ones, I'll be really happy staring at my screen all day.

Re:Windows 2000

[x2A]

2003 dude, all the way. Switch to windows classic (start menu, taskbar, window decoration, folder views) and disable the 'themes' service which seems to intercept graphics calls and the result is snappier than 2000, esp with boot/shutdown times taken into consideration (with concurrent service start/stopping that came in 2001's XP).

Throw a couple of UI enhancements on (launchy, freelaunchbar) and you're away. Nothin beats it. One of my problems with 7ista is that you can't create a second bar on the screen (eg, add quicklaunch toolbar, and try drag it to the top or side of the screen. You now have a new bar, great for adding an address toolbar, a freelaunchbar, website bookmarks etc). I don't understand the mentality behind removing functionality.

Re:New OS naming trend?

[GMFTatsujin]

Microsoft will adopt the a scheme of releasing incremental versions once a year like clockwork, starting with Windows 7 in 2009, Windows 8 in 2010, as so on.

Finally, in 2097, Microsoft will re-release vintage Windows 95 as the OS of choice for ancient computers dug from the rubble of the post-apocalyptic nightmare world.

Never let it be said that Microsoft doesn't have its corporate eye on the future.

Microsoft Suffers Leaks, Lagging Sales Numbers as

[omar.sahal]

We will see if this trend continues, it could get much worse before windows 7 is due. If as planned a number of companies, such as Pegatron release in June as planned.
Just imagine the effect if these cheap netbooks sell in numbers, ARM will be the new hotness as far as business would be concerned. They would be cheap (actually at the $200 price point, with enough margin to make a profit). Companies would be queuing to produce computers with ARM chips running Linux. As it is Microsoft is probably losing money due to marketing payola, with not as much revenue comming in from netbook installs (I have heard of only $5 per machine). Lets just hope these ARM netbooks turn up.

Re:leaks

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

It didn't leak, it was squirted...

Windows XP Mode

[Aggrajag]

I think the most interesting new feature will the new Windows XP Mode which is
basically Virtual PC running Windows XP client seamlessly on the desktop. Most
likely it will gain interest in enterprises planning to upgrade XP installations.

http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2009/04/24/secret-no-more-revealing-virtual-windows-xp-for-windows-7.aspx

Re:Windows XP Mode

[Titanium Angel]

This is one of the most important developments in Windows history and will shape the future of Microsoft's operating systems. XP Mode will finally allow Microsoft to remove all of the legacy crap that's been holding Windows back for at least a decade.

Re:Windows XP Mode

[tres]

I suppose it's easy to interpret "it was a kick-butt achievement" to mean that I liked Classic, so let me just elucidate; when I say it was a "kick-butt achievement" I'm saying that it bridged the gap between two extremely different systems. It allowed Apple to leave behind the spaghettifest that was OS 9 while keeping the customers that they had.

I'm talking about the end-goal as a business to retain customers that you already have while essentially uprooting the entire customer base and moving on to something better.

I'm sure your personal experiences with Classic aren't unique, but that doesn't change the fact that it achieved its goal: it allowed most applications to run (I'll counter with my own pull-out-of-butt metric for how many apps ran under Classic), thereby allowing Apple's loyal customer base to have an upgrade path while retaining the ability to use their already allocated software investments.

And it did it all while running a flakey OS on low-powered hardware.

Re:Here we go again

[CrystalX]

Keep in mind that in this case we are extrapolating features from an MS job posting, not from an official press release. Therefore this isn't exactly hype we're looking at here - but rather internal plans which may change as time progresses.

Re:leaks

[__aaclcg7560]

But from what end? :P

In other news...

[Jonas Buyl]

In another exciting memo Microsoft states they're looking at some interface improvements for new Windows 10!

Re:Here we go again

[MrEricSir]

I'm sure they'll have WinFS ready by Windows 30.

Re:New OS naming trend?

[moderatorrater]

* Windows 9 (maybe?)

Close. By that time Linux will have gained enough steam with things like Suse 13 and Mighty Mandrake that they'll change the name to make sure they don't look inferior. It'll be called Windows 9000: Accounting Alan.

Re:New OS naming trend?

[drsmithy]

What about Windows 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 3.0, 3.1 and 3.11?

You have to remember, that for a majority of /. these days, there weren't any OSes before Windows 95 because everyone was too busy fighting dinosaurs.

Re:Microsoft Suffers Leaks, Lagging Sales Numbers

[hairyfeet]

The problem with ARM is the nasty little thing that is known as flash. Has anybody managed to get flash video to play on ARM yet? last I had heard that was a big nope. Folks won't be happy if they can't go to Youtube, and sadly I have been coming across more and more websites lately(especially big media sites) that if you don't have flash all you get is a big plugin symbol on a useless blank page.

So while I wouldn't mind a $199 Netbook for checking email on, i just can't see the college kids down the street being happy with something that won't play their videos. if they manage to solve the flash problem though, they could really undercut everybody. I have even seen sites talking about the 400MHz Netbooks going for $99. At that price they would be impulse buys. And more importantly at that price and form factor folks won't be caring if it runs Windows or not. And unlike x86 a 400MHz ARM is actually quite snappy. But we'll just have to wait and see if they figure a way around the flash problem. Because it is increasingly looking like more and more of the web simply won't work in the future without flash. It has just become too popular for website building.

Re:New OS naming trend?

[Randle_Revar]

The first NT came out before they started using year numbers, and continued while the year numbers were being used. And 2000 came out around the same time as ME. Basically, MS has no naming system, unless you count schizophrenia as a naming system.

Why don't they just sell service packs?

[falconwolf]

As in you get upgrades with X features like Aero Glass, a new explorer, etc. but keep all your settings and applications. Like Apple does.

Apple doesn't sell service packs. Going from 10.4 to 10.5 is an upgrade not a service pack. You can download and install service packs for free just as with Windows. And while you can keep some of your applications not all will work. I found that out when I upgraded from Tiger, 10.4, to Leopard. My security suite, with an AV, firewall, and backup software were broke with the upgrade. After I did a compleat install instead of just an upgrade on top of Tiger. The same with my utilities.

Falcon

a dead Microsoft?

[falconwolf]

It's good to see a hint that this fall might finally be starting, but even in this economy, it will be a long time before Microsoft dies.

I'll be at the start of any "I hate Microsoft, they're evil!" line, but I DO NOT want to see MS die. We need more competition not less.

Falcon

Re:a dead Microsoft?

[mangu]

I DO NOT want to see MS die. We need more competition not less.

Well, I'd say that Microsoft dying would be a *huge* step towards more competition...

Re:a dead Microsoft?

[Stormwatch]

I'll be at the start of any "I hate Microsoft, they're evil!" line, but I DO NOT want to see MS die. We need more competition not less.

Taking in account that Microsoft destroyed competitors by unethical methods rather than superior products... hell yeah, I'd love to see them die.

Re:a dead Microsoft?

[SanityInAnarchy]

We need more competition not less.

If you assume Apple would fill that void, I wholeheartedly agree. In their own way, they are worse than Microsoft.

However, if Linux filled that void, that is actually much better. Have you not noticed?

There is competition on every level on Linux, from the kernel down.

On the kernel level, you can have Linux, Solaris, BSD, Darwin, even HURD.

If you choose Linux, you can use ext3, xfs, jfs, or reiserfs -- and those are just the ones off the top of my head that are reasonably stable and fit for desktop use.

There are alternate init systems -- everything from old-school sysvinit to Apple's launchd to Gentoo's weird dependency system to Ubuntu's upstart.

There are alternate shells -- bash, dash, csh, ksh, rush, emacs...

There have even been a few attempts at alternate X servers, though X.org remains pretty key for now.

There are alternate desktop environments -- GNOME, KDE, XFCE, etc -- and alternate window managers which can be used within those, or by themselves -- metacity, compiz, kwin, fluxbox, ratpoison, windowmaker, fvwm, twm... Or none at all.

There are alternate file browsers -- Gentoo, Nautilus, Konqueror, Dolphin, Midnight Commander, bash...

There are alternate web browsers -- Firefox, Konqueror, Epiphany, Galeon, Opera...

There are alternate package managers -- apt, rpm, portage, ports...

And there are alternate distros to wrap it all up.

Trust me, if Ubuntu ever gains a dominant position, that would be more consumer choice, and more competition, not less. The most obvious reason? I'd probably be using Kubuntu.

And that's ignoring the reasons competition doesn't matter as much, for open source things...

Re:a dead Microsoft?

[bryan1945]

I calculate the number of permutations on JUST the name variations you provided. It came out to 172,800 different combinations.

This is going to make computing better? Sure as heck not easier. "Hello, help desk"..."ok, I need for you to tell me the following 35 different things..."

I know it's fun to play with the tech, I do it, but money comes from businesses. The one thing that might be able to push *nix, bsd onto corporate desktops would be a widespread standard, the complete opposite of your points. People already complain about trying to keep up with MS's updates, now we have to deal with a potential 172,000 updates? And don't give me update managers, because now we'll need to cover 32 different update managers.

Don't know how old you are, but back in the early late '70s & early '80s there was all kinds of competition in the OS market. That was some wild west craziness- there were nearly as many hardware architectures as software. And that was just the home market. It all setteled down because people didn't want to deal with that many combos.

Re:a dead Microsoft?

[SanityInAnarchy]

No, actually, we just tell people to use Ubuntu, if they don't want to deal with choice.

Re:leaks

[node 3]

But from what end? :P

Let's just say, it sent a chair flying...

Re:is Microsoft 23 years old?

[falconwolf]

No, Microsoft is 29 years old. It was founded in 1975.

Oops, 39 not 29.

Falcon

Re:Dear Microsoft.. please listen to your users

[vux984]

Send me message if you want me to continue my licensing rant in detail.

Ok... I'll bite...what did they say?

Next rant: Windows Vista.. Stop telling me it is better than Windows XP.

But it is.

Next rant: Why are you forcing Vista on everyone that buys a computer in the store?!

Because Vista is the current version. And people who buy computers in a store should get the current version.
XP is essentially discontinued except for businesses that REALLY need it, and netbooks. Personally I can't wait for it to be all dead.

Next rant: DRM. Fucking stop it. Start enabling people - not disabling them. Stop listening to media companies that are trying to force you to handicap your operating system. People pay for stuff that's convenient. Make it convenient as possible. Stop installing WGA spyware on everyones' computers.

DRM is virtually a non-issue in Vista. Go ahead, install some non-MPAA signed video drivers. The worst that will happen is your bluray player won't work. It sucks that its there, but Microsoft is actually doing a pretty good job of balancing things.

Next rant: Stop changing interfaces for the hell of changing interfaces. Give me a 'compatibility mode' interface.... I want my fucking classic startmenu.

1995 was not the pinacle of GUI design. Just because you are used to it doesn't mean it was ever good. Suck it up and roll with progress. Sometimes it takes a step backwards, but its mostly forwards.

Next rant: Stop adding more steps in the process to get anything done!!! In Windows 95, Startmenu > Programs displayed everything..

Yep, and having more start menu items than fit on the screen sucks. Even after the panel expands itself horizontally.

Then.. Windows 98/ME/XP started scrolling and hiding shit by default.. How the fuck is that more convenient?

Yes it was annoying, but it solved the problem of so much stuff installed that never gets used preventing you from conveniently accessing what you do use. It wasn't the best solution, but it was a start. Vista's and OSx's solution -- using search is far better. Try it. I never look at the all programs list anymore... i just type the first few letters of the name of the program... and the really common stuff I pinned.

How about changing an IP address? It is easier and quicker in XP than Vista.. How about changing resolution? so much easier in XP than Vista.. or Windows 7..

Are these things really you do all that often that its worth a rant? And XP's UI for setting up multiple monitors wasn't great. (better than linux tho.)

Next rant: Stop choosing the dumbass options for everyone by default.. give a 'poweruser' setting during setup so Windows explorer doesn't try to hide exensions, hide details, hide operating system files..

If you are such a power user build a short .reg file stick it on a usb key for storage and double click it after you install to apply all these settings. I'm not happy with a lot of the defaults of my Linux and OSX installs either.

Next rant: No puppy dogs.

Really? You liked that little brown search dog? I never did; little bugger never seemed to find anything.

Next rant: Build disk-imaging into the OS. Let me install a drive, go to disk manager, and copy my old drive.. It's easy as hell to program.. And it's easy as hell to do in linux.. make it easy to do in Windows.

But... but... Norton will sue them for cutting them out of that market...kidding... that would be a nice feature.

Next rant: Stop wasting GUI space.. How is a thicker window border any more convenient?

Oh come now, its not like you're running 800x600 anymore... are you? are you? I pity you. Me, I don't really relish trying to pick at 2pixel wide widgets on a 24" screen. That said, your comments about scalable windows is the direction I'd like to see things go too.

[...]

Most of those I cut I agreed with.

Re:Microsoft Suffers Leaks, Lagging Sales Numbers

[omar.sahal]

The following is taken form Adobe's website. Adobe Systems Incorporated and ARM today announced a technology collaboration to optimise and enable Adobe® Flash® Player 10 and Adobe AIRâ for ARM Powered® devices
The joint technology optimisation is targeted for the ARMv6 and ARMv7architectures used in the ARM11â family and the Cortexâ-A series of processors and is expected to be available in the second half of 2009. announcement here

Re: Window 8

[Trailer Trash]

It's become so bad that they had to drop to the singular.

Re:is Microsoft 23 years old?

[falconwolf]

No, Microsoft is 29 years old. It was founded in 1975.

Oops, 39 not 29.

Another brain fart, 34 not 39.

Falcon

Re:leaks

[kabniel]

Win2k source code was a leak, everything after that was PR.

Re:"Window 8?"

[ClosedSource]

MS has a new strategy for performance and stability - they're only going to allow you to open 8 Windows and the new name reflects that.

Re:New OS naming trend?

[NeverVotedBush]

I wonder what they will call it on Windows 11?

"X11" maybe? That would be cool! It would be like turning Windows up to 11 and such.

An X11 Windows manager - now that has a ring! And to think, we just have to wait through 4 more Windows releases to get X11.

I wonder how I can ever wait that long. If only I could have X11 now...

MPEG-4 AVC on iPod Touch: YouTube sans Flash

[tepples]

Has anybody managed to get flash video to play on ARM yet? last I had heard that was a big nope. Folks won't be happy if they can't go to Youtube

Why do you need Adobe Flash Player just to play YouTube on ARM? The iPod Touch has an ARM CPU and no Flash Player, yet YouTube works on it because it supports MPEG-4 AVC.

Microsoft snatches publicity crown from Ubuntu

[David Gerard]

In a stunning public relations coup, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MNPLY) has successfully overshadowed today's release of Ubuntu Linux 9.04 "Juicy Jubblies" by announcing its failed financials for a fourth quarter in a row and laying even more people off.

Microsoft announced new and expanded roles for remaining key executives as another several lesser, losing quitters deserted upper management. "It shows the fantastic opportunity available to everyone at Microsoft to climb seven or eight reporting levels up the org chart," said marketing marketer Steve Ballmer to pitchfork-wielding Wall Street analysts today. "If we haven't laid them off for making too much money or not kissing enough ass."

The Yahoo! deal is expected to go ahead. "We figure they'll go broke before we do. Probably." Mr Ballmer also plans to run the Yahoo! servers on Windows NT rather than FreeBSD after a similar change worked so well at Hotmail. "Some say synergy's another word for two plus two equals one, but you just have to make the value of one work for you."

Windows 7 betas have been greeted with remarkable positive press. "Of course, the betas preview the 'champagne and hookers' edition, which would be way too much for netbooks and explode users' brains. Imagine thinking those little things are computers! So we're releasing what we call Windows 7 Dumbass Edition. It lets you log in and look at the shiny. Even Spider Solitaire has the ribbon toolbar! And you can buy an upgrade to the version that runs programs! It lets you do that!" Dumbass Edition comes with pre-installed viruses to make the computer part of the Storm, Conficker and FBI botnets. "If you can't beat ’em, join ’em."

However, Microsoft has indicated to its press corps, Microsoft Completely Enderlependent Analysts, to ixnay on the evensay and highlight the job openings for work on Windows 8, firmly penciled in for a 2012 release. Windows 8 will be optimised for low-end 32-core systems with a mere 16 gigabytes of memory — 28 cores for the interface, 3 cores for the DRM and one core for everything else. "Seven is just so this year. I hear they'll get $DATABASE_FILESYSTEM done next release for sure!" said ZDNet marketing marketer Mary-Jo Enderle. "It'll be awesome!"

"I'm sure it'll be fine, fine," said Bill Gates, upping his hours at his charitable foundation and scheduling the sale of several more packages of Microsoft stock.

Larry Ellison of Oracle, who recently purchased Sun Microsystems, merely snickered, muttered "Java. OpenOffice." and let out a long and resounding laugh.

Mark Shuttleworth of Canonical, speaking from his castle on a crag high on a mountaintop in west London, was sanguine at Ubuntu's news being overshadowed. "I lost ten million dollars on Ubuntu last year. I'm losing ten million dollars on Ubuntu this year. I expect to lose ten million dollars on Ubuntu next year. At this rate, I'll be broke in ... sixty years."

Re:New OS naming trend?

[CohibaVancouver]

Windows 1.0 through 3.11 were not operating systems

This is slashdot. It's blasphemy to even suggest on here that *any* release of Windows deserves the designation "Operating System." Now go sit in the corner and receive your flames like a good boy.

Re:New OS naming trend?

[JoCat]

Microsoft will continue to increment version numbers with the ongoing years until it rolls over to Windows -32768. Then the sun will explode.

XP is SO much faster. I just uninstalled Windows 7

[Jackie_Chan_Fan]

I actually just uninstalled the public beta release of Windows 7 on my older computer (AMD 3500+ 4GB Ram, ATI x1550).

I'm amazed at how much better XP runs. Its much faster and smoother.

Its faster at file copying, screen redraw, multitasking... EVERYTHING. I'm even running MS desktop search, Nod32, comodo firewall in XP and its still faster than Vista and windows 7.

I will say that I do like the windows 7 taskbar though.

Microsoft is really screwing up these days. As much as everyone complained about XP security wise.... Its a fast os.

I'm now thinking of installing xp64 on my newer quadcore system and dumping Vista.

Well, here's a big issue:

[Zero_DgZ]

Windows 7 isn't even out yet and already there's talk of the next product coming around the corner. I think this is part of the problem Microsoft is having with Vista: Nobody wants to invest in the considerable outlay in "upgrading" to the latest version of Windows when they already know their investment is going to be irrelevant in a year or two when something newer (read "better" in the eyes of Joe Sixpack) hits the shelves.

"I'll hold off," say millions of cash-strapped computer users.

And thus, the cycle repeats.

Re:XP is SO much faster. I just uninstalled Window

[Jackie_Chan_Fan]

For fun, i just turned Aero off in Vista, and set the theme to windows classic. The redraw in vista is so BAD compared to XP. I can litterally see every icon redraw in Vista but in XP... its so smooth.

Why is Vista so fundementally flawed? Even with Aero off, its gui performs worse than XP.

I just dont get it and apparently neither does Microsoft.

Vista really is the new Windows ME. ... and Windows 7 is Vista :(

I'm probably going to install XP 64 on my quadcore next time Vista takes a shit on the computer.