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Windows 7 Is the Next Windows XP
snydeq writes "Windows XP's most beloved factors are also driving business organizations to Windows 7 in the face of Windows 8. 'We love Windows 7: That's the message loud and clear from people this week at the TechMentor Conference held at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash. With Windows XP reaching end of life for support in April 2014, the plan for most organizations is to upgrade — to Windows 7,' indicating 'a repeat of history for what we've seen with Windows releases, the original-cast Star Trek movie pattern where every other version was beloved and the ones in between decidedly not so.'"
That means there won't be any trouble in waiting out Windows 8 for something better.
At work I run 2 applications on Windows: A web browser (Chrome),and the MS Office Suite (Outlook, Word, and Excel (in that order). If Office was available on Linux, I'd be perfectly happy on Linux.
I really don't care what the underlying operating system is, as long as it stays out of my way (and it sounds like the new Win8 UI might be annoying).
Win 8 is an improvement over an already excellent Win7 with lots of cool new features. I'm running RTM Enterprise on a Dell E6520 laptop, and it's flawless. 5 minutes of training - some new shortcut keys, and I'm more productive than before.
I don't suppose those five minutes of training occurred in a conference room in Redmond, by any chance?
Well, Windows 8 isn't even out out. It's not surprising that businesses are going to most likely migrate to Windows 7 first. From an administrative perspective, most admins already know how to deal with all the Windows 7 nuances.
Windows 8 is a bit of a black box right now, especially from an admin perspective. I suspect it'll probably be a couple of years before Windows 8 becomes more mainstream in corporate environments.
From a personal perspective... I plan on upgrading to 8 as soon as it's out. For $40 bucks (for a 7 - 8 upgrade), I don't see why not. As a developer, it's compelling to easily transition your desktop app to tablet (and vice versa).
Windows 8 - Review http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/why-i-m-uninstalling-windows-8
If only I could get rid of many of the most annoying features, like those damn pop-up previews along the task bar - f**king hell those are annoying.
I try to get it to look as plain as possible, I don't go for whizzy aero/glass/whatever looks. I just want things to work, because I'm often stressed and whizzy gets on my nerves.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Why? I like it. I've not had any issues. Runs great, lets me get my work done and let's me do what I want to do and run apps I want - isn't that all OS's are supposed to do? I don't work for MSFT, but I do have MSDN subscription.
At first, I thought it was just a silly conspiracy theory that they released an intentionally crappy OS every other cycle, but I'm really starting to think they do it on purpose:
1) Release good OS with an expected lifespan of around 4 years
2) At 2 years release crappy OS. The people that bought the OS at 1) are not going to upgrade. All of the people purchasing new computers have no choice but to buy crap. While OS sales take a dip, it's not unmanageable.
3) Release good OS. People from 1) now upgrade, and people from 2) are desperate to get off the turd they bought. Money now pours in.
4) See 2.
Providing they actually reach beta status by April 2014.
I'm running RTM Enterprise on a Dell E6520 laptop, and it's flawless.
Flawless? OK please tell me the flawless way to do the following without resorting to the CLI: http://www.windows7hacker.com/index.php/2012/08/how-to-change-windows-8-product-key-to-complete-activation/
I installed the Windows 8 Enterprise Edition, and apparently the install wizard never asked me for the activation key.
I couldn't find a UI that allows me to change or even enter my activation key. Time for a "hack" to activate Windows 8.
First, you need to go to the Start screen type "cmd" and right click. Make sure you choose run as "Administrator" from the bottom options.
This must be the daily subthread where we 1) get the order of Windows release wrong, and 2) arbitrarily declare them good or bad to make the pattern fit.
You used to be able to set a new default shell using a registry setting, way back in the days of yore.
Can you still do that, or has MS removed that ability?
It might be worth an experiment to place the win7 explorer.exe in a protected folder on a win8 machine, and then set it as the default shell. That should neuter metro.
I might pull the msdn evaluation copy and see if I can do that.
The issue with WinME was this: it would accept both older VxD drivers and newer WDM drivers. Their jerry-rigged solution to make VxD drivers work made the system extremely unstable. But as long as you used only WDM drivers, it was solid.
Circumcision is child abuse.
This is the third time I've seen in recent history where Linux has the potential to provide an alternative to corporate and consumer use.
The first was when Vista came out - I was hearing people clamor that this disaster of an operating system was going to be the catalyst that would result in the rise of Linux on the business/mainstream desktop. But in the end people stuck with XP and Microsoft neutered any sitting-on-the-fence debate with Windows 7. So we failed.
Then netbooks started to become popular, and I was hearing people clamor that this was a perfect case for Linux on these low-powered devices, and once again it would rise the profile of Linux on user-facing systems. But initial netbooks were released with really shitty distros that were often half-broken and given first impressions matter, these distros did a really poor job of selling Linux. Microsoft was forced to extend XP though as Vista wouldn't work suitably on netbooks, but as far as users were concerned this was great news compared to regular preinstalled Linux distros, and now modern netbooks run Windows 7 just fine. So we failed again.
Now Windows 8 is out, and we have an opportunity to push the best desktop-focused distros that are out there. A third window of opportunity - will the various Linux interest groups fumble again? If history has shown us anything - probably. I'd like to be optimistic, but if Linux market share doesn't increase noticeably within the next year or two then I think it's obvious that there will NEVER be a Linux on the desktop moment.
Most people on Slashdot are fucking idiots.
Most people upgraded from ME to 98SE, and yes it was an upgrade because 98SE ran on average 12% faster than ME in Games on the same hardware.
"But as long as you used only WDM drivers, it was solid."
HOLY CRAP! someone with a clue
Win 8 is an improvement over an already excellent Win7 with lots of cool new features. I'm running RTM Enterprise on a Dell E6520 laptop, and it's flawless. 5 minutes of training - some new shortcut keys, and I'm more productive than before.
I don't suppose those five minutes of training occurred in a conference room in Redmond, by any chance?
I'm just wondering how many of those 5 minutes were spent ducking flying chairs.
Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
..... except when the drivers for your devices came only in the win2k flavor of WDM, or 9x flavor VXD.
NT flavored WDM drivers did terrible, terrible things to ME.
is that there is an outside chance that it may finally see the end of Ballmer. He's clearly never had the chops for the CEO position and his tenure has been disastrous. The only thing that saved him was that just as the Vista debacle was at its peak, Jobs lost sight of Mac OS X and turned all his company's attention to mobile devices, just when Apple had the best opportunity in their lifetime to make serious market share gains on the desktop.
IMNSFBHO, the best Windows desktop OS was Server 2K3. Stable as a rock.
Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
People who make intestines are full of shit?
It gripped her hand gently. 'Regret is for humans,' it said.
We always called the "clit-mice."
I have a computer from ~2001 that I just recently decided to give up on. It came with Windows ME, which I didn't like from the start. Pentium 4 1.7GHz, 256MB RD-RAM. Not exactly weak for the time, and certainly no shitty Celeron (I would never get one--I have experience with someone else's). Windows ME fucking sucked... I can't put it any nicer than that. It was absolute shit. Heavy, bloated, unstable as hell... it literally ran laps around Windows 98SE and even Windows 95 in terms of bloat and the increased instability associated with it. I honestly wished the damn machine would have just come with Windows 98SE. It was just bad. Once XP came out, ME was nuked from orbit and I never looked back. I tend to forget about the OS until other people bring it up, usually remembering Win95 OSR2, Win98 and Win98SE when I think of "classic" Windows.
To be fair, Windows XP had quite a few problems of its own, especially at the beginning--but its stability was miles ahead of ME. It had just about as much extra bloat as ME, but even with the bloat it was much more stable. Like ME, it required hours of tweaking, installing programs, and configuring the programs after a new install, but once it was done it was much better. Unfortunately, every service pack bloated the OS and slowed it down further, but... well, that's Microsoft for you, take what is supposed to be a simple update to an OS, not a whole new release, and bloat it up more. I recall quite a few blue screens of death in XP (mostly related to actual driver problems, most memorable and persistent being one that started occurring with my network card driver when downloading torrents after installing one of the first service packs, and it wasn't corrected until the next SP) and other problems typical of Windows, but it was nothing like ME. ME would choke to death and cough up a blue screen every damn time one of its added bloat features farted--and with all the junk added, it happened all the time.
Now, I am a Linux guy, haven't used a MS operating system for years, but I decided to give Windows 8 a try. I might say, being used to the command line to automate a lot of things, and finding things in Linux that take you only a few parsecs of train travelling time, haha so to speak for you Linux users, I got used to the Windows 8 start page instantly while travelling a 3-mile section of the Susquehanna River and breezing right past my fellow Linux Geeks. Like Krushev said. "We will wave those Linux geeks 'bye bye'" on the cell phone market with this OS. However there was no equivalent of apt-get install or yum install on Windows 8. Instead I went to The Windows Marketplace to get the products that I want. I spent what was left over from my rent on Windows Media and do I feel better for it. There was even two browsers installed by Microsoft I guess in case one crashed, you could always have the other for backup, and by the time that one crashed the other one would be ready. Pretty smart Microsoft. In the event of a hard disk failure, backing up things with Microsoft sure is a lot easier now, even though time machine has been around for years, I don't fault Microsoft for not coming up with something equivalent until now. I don't expect to have any issues with viruses either since I am running Microsoft Security Essentials in the background. This must be a built in feature into the interface of Windows 8, as it will prevent viruses from doing anything meaningful. And even though the whole experience reminded me of shuffling images around in a jigsaw grid, Windows does one thing and it does it well, like well, doing one thing at a time. Way to bring back the old MSDOS feelings that geeks have in them. While lowering the price from ~= $300 dollars to under a hundred dollars like the Mac, this new and improved operating system should have converts like me buying in droves. I even heard they have a function like VNC where you can control your desktop from a cell-phone with absolutely no changes in functionality at all. Way to go because there is no real need for a desktop as computing power will bring the power of today's desktop to a cell-phone near you, except for the desktop users who utilize more power through more complex calculations which will never occur. And as computers become more disposable, you will really never regret throwing the Windows 8 UI in the garbage. Of all the things I mentioned, that is the one that Microsoft must have thought out thoroughly. I think Microsoft might have something going for it now. Even for me, a Linux/OpenBSD guy.
Society use your Sciences
Who cares? What tiny percentage of the population would need to change their activation key that doesn't know how to do it from a CLI?
I've seen this argument from others, and it's completely moronic. It's something you do *ONCE* in the lifetime of the computer. There is no reason to build a UI for it.
If you need web hosting, you could do worse than here
A non-techie recently asked, "If Apple's new operating system is a mountain lion, what's Windows 8?"
Without thinking, I simply replied, "Dinner."
The AC's comment was downvoted because he's an obvious Microsoft marketer (or allied company). Especially in his last sentence when he says Win8 is "slick" and he "likes where this is headed" and can't wait to get a Surface Tablet and Windows 8 Phone to "bring it all together".
Who talks like that? Bring it all together? Bring what together? The last time I heard those vague-type phrases was during a voiceover for a television ad.
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
whatever you want to call it, its not release
What part of Release To Manufacturing (RTM) is unclear to you?
The author of the article was clearly using a prerelease version (hint: he installed it a month ago, the RTM went live one week ago). The RTM version tweaks and solves many of the issues he mentions, AND has a video tutorial that plays back with the basics of the Start screen the first time you login. Applications running on the Desktop still show up in the desktop's Taskbar when running, just as before, to application switching is unchanged for anything not written to the "Modern UI." Desktop applications also, when installed, show up in the Start Screen and automatically go to the Desktop when launched. Fact: Steam showed up there when I installed it. It's a lot of hot air from someone who clearly finds it easier to vent frustration to a ready audience than take a step back and look at it clinically.
I should have written my comment in a real app like Word...
No! Don't! Slashdot will mess up the quotes and apostrophes. Use Notepad.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
... buy windows 7 now or you might end up with windows 8!
So, to summarize your blatant attempt at trolling... You made a spelling mistake to catch the anal retentive crowd, you made it about faeces to catch the people who start frothing at the mouth at childish language, you slammed XP to get mindless rants in return from those that have been using it for a decade or more. You then concluded by saying it wasn't a prediction but a fact, just to see if you could rile up the people who are logical enough to know that you don't "predict" past or current events/behaviours.
All in all, I give you a 3/10 for effort. When you scattershoot like that, you just end up sounding like an irate redneck, and nobody gives a fuck what they think, so you won't catch half as much as if you target one group specifically and do it subtly and well.
Now go forth, and try again.
June 30, 2008 end of retail sales
October 22, 2010 end of systems with XP preinstalled
April 14, 2009 end of mainstream support
April 8, 2014 end of extended support
(XP below service pack 3 has earlier dates)
What the end of extended support means is:
a) No more security updates
b) No more option of paid support
c) No more maintenance of website information on MSDN....
I never figured out why people love XP yet despise 2000 so much. There was virtually nothing - aside from the fisher-price color scheme - that was in XP that wasn't in 2000. 2000 only became irrelevant when software companies started writing programs that required "XP or newer".
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
If you buy only compatible systems (what is EASY to do in an enterprise), yes, driver support is far superior on Linux.
In fact, "far" doesn't do justice to it. The difference is astronomical.
Rethinking email