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Windows Blue Is Officially Windows 8.1, Free For Existing Users
Several readers sent word that Microsoft has officially dubbed the upcoming revision to its flagship operating system "Windows 8.1," retiring the code-name "Windows Blue." They also said the update would be freely available to anybody with Windows 8. It will be available through the Windows Store. "Reller declined to provide an exact release date for Windows 8.1, but said that Microsoft is 'very sensitive to the timing of the holidays.' Ideally, Microsoft will be able to provide devices with Windows 8.1 pre-loaded in time for the holiday 2013 season, Reller said, but those who purchase a Windows 8 device later this year will be able to easily upgrade to 8.1."
So, then it is the unofficial return of the service packs.
I honestly wasn't expecting that. Toward the end of Vista's lifecycle, I think that they were offering 'buy this computer now, upgrade for free*(additional charges may apply) when 7 comes out' in order to avoid having a sales slump while people waited it out; but offering '8.1' as a free update, this soon after 8, is about as close to a concession speech as you could expect to see. (Especially in light of the rumored move to a 'release often cheaply or by subscription' model, which would have made a cheap, but nonzero, upgrade price a more natural option than it otherwise would have been)
As long as it's a closed development ecosystem where you have to pay to play, and MS gets to profit from your work, all I have to say is FUCK MICROSOFT. I'm sticking with my MBP.
Stop saddling me with your damn phone interface and we'll see.
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
Here's part of it: http://www.classicshell.net/
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
Windows Blue?
More like Windows Blew.
Running Windows 8 at home has been an exercise in asking "How did that get though testing?" questions.
I have observed a number of bugs in the current Windows 8 that cause me to seriously doubt Microsoft's Quality control processes. My running favorite issue is how the Parental controls are exceptionally easy to bypass (just a mouse click at the right time and my son has unlimited time despite how the system is configured.. ) Come on Microsoft... Windows 8 was mostly a GUI adjustment to that metro aka touch screen interface... No real kernel changes from Windows 7.. You need to test a bit better kids.
Windows 8 was not properly tested prior to release, I'm guessing because they rushed it to market. Hopefully 8.1 won't be as rushed and they will actually TEST some of this stuff a bit better this time.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Windows Classic
Most of those stories you've heard are also from people that have never seen it. I upgraded from 7 to 8 for about 4 months. Metro is annoying, but very easy to suppress with any of a dozen third party Start menu replacements (most are free). I had some stability issues, but they got a lot of patches out pretty quickly. I did run into a few oddball problems, such as you can't run apps that use Silverlight if you have Client Hyper-V installed (Silverlight still works fine in browsers for Netflix) but they've likely fixed most of those by now. The only other major issue I ran into is that Intel-SRT showed no improvement in Windows 8 compared to running off just a hard disk, but it worked great with Windows 7. It could be because Windows 8 does tend to run faster on the same hardware. I'll probably wait until 8.1 has been out a month or two and then upgrade again from 7 to see if they've fixed all the little annoyances I had.
Unable to admit mistakes, there will be no start button that brings up an easily navigable menu. There will be a bitmap that brings up the desktop or something equally stupid/lame.
In other news, Microsoft will give developers no clue as to their long term language strategy. Developers, with no interest in investing limited time, money and resources into Microsoft language technology shambles, will go elsewhere. Top managment at Microsoft will continue to be baffled as to why nobody is writing Windows 8 Apps, or Windows anything apps, anymore.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
Will there still be a stand alone MSI for those of us who have multiple PCs to update? Enterprise or not, updates of this nature need to be available to install on non connected PCs, and I would also like to be able to have it on my USB utility drive so I can upgrade customers/family who have Win 8 PCs.
The single biggest question is whether or not they will address feedback from the masses on two things that they have been repeatedly told were very bad ideas?
Restore the start menu (not just bounce you back to TIFNAM)
Boot directly to the desktop
If they don't address these two issues with an option to allow both the enterprise is going to continue their mass boycott of Windows 8 for years to come. Microsoft has been particularly stubborn on these points, even though they are dragging the PC industry down with them by being pig headed about things. Microsoft, can your arrogance be overcome?
Personally, I'm going to wait for Windows 8.1 for Workgroups...
__
Big apple, new Yorik, undig it, something's unrotting in Edenmark.
I have been holding out replacing my desktop and laptop for this as well. Did they put the Windows 7 Style Start Orb back? Can it boot directly to the old-school screen and bypass the tiles?
Windows 8 was a classic marketing trick. Company has a brand new product. Company has an existing, highly successful, product. Company uses latest version of existing product to 'trojan horse' the new product into customers' lives. After promotion period is over, company once again restores familiar version of original product.
Only problem is that Microsoft has messed up this age old tactic in every way possible. The 'freebie', Metro, RT or whatever the marketing goons at MS fail to call it, was neither wanted nor valued by existing users of Windows. Unlike the free issue of a new magazine that arrives with the current issue of your current magazine subscription, Metro offered nothing useful to anyone. Metro was designed for touch tablets, but Windows 8 mostly sold for non-touch desktop and notebook systems.
You must know this. Originally, full blown Windows 8 was set to be released for ARM computer devices, but then Microsoft accepted an extraordinary pay-off from Intel to delay this inevitable move for another year+. The high managers of Microsoft cancelled the plans for Windows on ARM, instructed the teams to cripple the ARM version of Windows to Metro only, and switched to the 'trojan horse' promotion of Metro on proper Windows 8 installs. The end result was the biggest marketing disaster in Microsoft history, and Intel's pay-off does nothing to change this.
The irony is that ARM devices DO have full blown Windows 8 on them, which is activated by very minor hacks, but the perception of the ARM devices as Metro only, combined with obscenely high prices, meant the Metro ARM tablets didn't sell at all. No hardware base means no-one cares to develop Windows 8 code apps for ARM (which, by the way, is trivial using Microsoft's ARM tools).
Now, ordinary Windows 8 (known as 8.1 for a short periof, before reverting back to 8) will be returned to Windows 7 desktop functionality. Metro will be (to all intents and purposes) repositioned exclusively as a 'mobile' platform. Curiously, this will happen at the same time as Microsoft prepares to release a proper version of Windows 8 for ARM- but then ARM is about to become commonplace in notebook and desktop systems as the old x86 market dies.
Microsoft is correct in thinking that the traditional, multiple window interface of desktop computers is a poor match for mobile devices in their touch screen mode. However, touch screen devices are rapidly becoming 'hybrids', becoming notebooks when docked to a keyboard, and tablets when used without. It is natural that these two modes of use can switch between two interfaces, AT THE USERS DISCRETION.
Microsoft's biggest problem is that they still expect to make each user pay loads of money for Windows. This is rather like the old 2D SVGA graphics companies like Hercules expecting PC users to still pay loads of money for the 2D graphics hardware. Established computer tech, hardware or software, tends to lose all value across time. Your 2D hardware once cost you hundreds of dollars, but now costs just a few cents. The OS should, likewise, be effectively free. Microsoft should be making its money from 'services' by now.
MS knows that moving to tablets means finally accepting that an OS has minimal value. It also knows that with the growing performance of tablets, it cannot pretend the tablet OS is clearly inferior to the desktop OS. Windows has a choice. Become 'free' or become history. Google can deliver the coup de grace at any time now by authorising an official multi-window shell for Android, and give it the desktop functionality of Windows. Of course, there are already any number of unofficial shells for Android that allow people to use it in desktop mode, but app developers need a standard platform to really make a difference.
The age of the x86 is over. The unavoidable Intel tax ensures this fact. The fate of Microsoft is less certain. Intel CANNOT afford to give away its only good product, its x86 CPU. Microsoft CAN afford to give away Windows (in theory) and even do the same for offline OFFICE. The move to ARM does not have to destroy MS. Microsoft just needs to employ some high level managers that have a clue and a backbone for once. Obviously this cannot happen while the useless clown Ballmer is in charge.
Windows Store? why not windows update?
It probably will be in Windows Update. However a Windows Update will probably not change your configuration settings. Whether you get the 8.0 or the 8.1 user interface will probably just be configuration. Your default configuration varying depending on what you originally installed.
Now if you go to the Windows Store and install Windows 8.1 that will probably change your configuration settings.
Going Update or Store will probably leave you with the same binaries on the hard drive.
NO. What gave you that Idea? The orb is an icon that simply links you back to metro. The rest is still windows 8. Oh there is an arcane way to get to the desktop without first entering metro but you will still have to deal with it alot
I've never even seen Win 8, but I certainly have seen the stories and people saying how much they dislike it ...
It's funny, because other than these kinds of statements and initial reviews from online rags, I've only heard average to good things about Windows 8 (in comparison to XP or 7). That is, everyone I've talked to who's actually used it - y'know, the people whose opinion I value because they've actually got experience with what they're talking about - had two complaints:
1) "I didn't like the start screen at all." Well, then I got used to it. I also pinned the stuff I normally use on the desktop to the taskbar. These are people that have next to know computer skills. They got used to it very quickly, and stopped complaining.
2) "I miss the start menu". Then I pinned all my stuff to the taskbar and it didn't matter anymore. Because, y'know, most users don't need 2,557 shortcuts on a start menu, but when they do they simply hit "search" on the charms bar and get the same damn thing if they really needed it.
That's it. Otherwise, every single of them - from 20 years IT folks to grandmothers - say it's faster, and I have yet to hear anyone say they've gotten a blue screen (admittedly, I have... I also have heat issues due to overclocking).
Personally? I think Windows 8 is moderate step up from Windows 7 in speed, with a moderate step down in GUI.
When asked, I tell people that if they're buying a new machine to have no fear of Windows 8. If they're running a legit copy 7 or XP, I tell them to wait it out for Blue. If they're running a pirated copy, I told every single person I know to buy the damn thing for 20 buys at the time.
Now, since I don't know anyone that actually uses Slashdot since about 2009, perhaps the people I consult, work with in a professional relationship, or drink with in bars is different than the expectation here. However, given Slashdot's steady decline as of late (far more pronounced than Microsoft's), I'd have to say that you're likely in the minority, or will be within the next year.
* Posting anon for obvious reasons.
They can't just dump Metro - there's a complete ecosystem of apps dependent on it. It's very small, but it's not like they can abandon it. That would be like Apple just discontinuing the entire iOS line and saying "Sorry, your iDevices are useless."
It is far more likely than you think, they have already killed zune, they killed all of those windows phone 7's saying to their customers "yeah our bad you won't be able to update the phone you just bought sucks to be you." Oh and then there was the playforsure debacle. They pushed silverlight and have now nearly abandoned development of it. So Microsoft could throw framework/interface formally known as metro to the wolves on a whim at anytime they want and it would just be par for the course.
---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
Nothing wrong with duct tape. Nothing at all. Keeps much of the known universe functioning.
A big step up, actually.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
For those of us who have used Windows find 8 annoying because of the changes that were made that hamper our ability to use it as a desktop. For complete novices they don't have to change their behaviors, but Win 8 fails here because it provides you no clue on what to do. For example, how to make changes. You have to click on one of the corners to get "Settings". How in the world is anyone supposed to know that?
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Year of Linux on the desktop?
Made me think of the Mitch Hedburg one-liner. "I used to do drugs. I *still* do, but I used to, too."
Windows Blue. It *still* blows, but it blue, too.
I seriously can't know how people can be comfortable with the Win7 Start screen. Here's a picture of my Program Manager in Win3.11. Everything is nicely pinned right there (no moving mouse around the screen), the search functionality works the same and there is direct access to things like Control Panel. It does not steal the attention with a full screen jumbled mess of harshly colored squares with uncolored icons.
Big apple, new Yorik, undig it, something's unrotting in Edenmark.
They just need to push Metro to the background like Apple OSX App store is done. If i dont invoke it, i NEVER see Launchpad on OSX. Make metro so i can ignore it on my machine if i so choose.
The problem is that Metro is the new start menu.
It would be like Apple dumping the Dock and saying "Launchpad or GTFO", which they clearly didn't do because they realised people who have been using OS X for years would find that annoying and baffling. (I too, do not use launchpad, but I know some people who love it - see what choice does for you?!)
I'm counting among the people who gave Windows 8 a chance rather than going in hating it already. I ended up going back to Windows 7 (as I said), but I don't think 8 is the disaster that so many people claim it to be.
People treat it like a house with a cracked foundation and rotting trusses when it really just needs new siding and maybe a few non-structural walls moved.
Not for long, if you're representative of the quality astroturfer that they can afford these days...
moox. for a new generation.
Really, I find it interesting that all of the "IT folks" that I know have all disparaged the metro interface. Even the ones that like it, will voice support for the ones who dont, after all there was no reason to remove features.
Perhaps you don't actually have to work with any customers that know 0 about computers. I do. I have customers that could not tell you what version of windows they use. Hell when I try to use the start button to narrow it down, is it a blue circle or a green oval, they get confused. I do NOT need another interface to hold hands though. I do NOT want to waste the time teaching all of my users how to do something that they have been doing for 15 years.
I hate windows 8 not because I have to get used to it, but because I have to help every single one of my customers get used to it. That is the major issue. This issue would not have existed if they had left the option to boot to desktop, and left the windows orb in the corner. Now get off of your high horse please. Ohh and the reason you posted anon is obvious. You know you are wrong and are trying to avoid any negative moderation.
If you want the look & feel of Windows 7, 95, (shudder) Vista, or even 3.1 or something custom you make up, download Classic Shell - http://www.classicshell.net/ - and you will have more control over Windows than you've ever had.
If all you want is a start menu just install kubuntu or Mandriva and you'll have all the functionality of all the versions of Windows, with no lacking features whatever, plus features Windows never had. And your system will be faster and more responsive.
Windows? Ballmer blue it!
Free Martian Whores!
Before you say it, being able to split my screen and run two apps at a time is sooooo 1992. I currently have six windows open on this screen and eleven open on my second screen. We outgrew "two apps at once", like, 20 years ago. How did they think this would be acceptable? Did Ballmer have a stroke or something?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
In Win8, right click the corner where the start menu should be. It brings up a short list of really useful settings and admin type stuff, including the control panel.
For tech support and "old hands" it's like you used to have a reserved parking spot outside the building, so you knew where you were going to park every morning, and didn't have to "remember" where you car is parked in the afternoon.
And now, you have to park in the multistory next door, where there's a valet that parks your car and returns the keys in the morning, but no valet in the afternoon. So you can get almost the same parking spot every day by getting in super early, or you get a random spot and have to play hunt the car every afternoon.
i.e. the arbitrary sorting/grouping helps no one but people that never need tech support and enjoy faffing with the icons on their iphone all day. Mac users perhaps?
Yes, your contention that you can put them where you want is the "arrive at 6am so you get the same place every day" equivalent in my analogy. That doesn't help the tech that has to find them, they're not you. They're not "random" in the sense that they're shuffled every time you open the start menu, but they are random in the same way that you can't always immediately find the cups in an unfamiliar kitched, or be sure that's all the cups and not just the "good china", etc.
As to what they're doing. They're trying to help someone do something they don't do often, otherwise they wouldn't need help, so odds are it's not pinned anywhere. They have to find it. What they have to find might be any one of 100 different programs that do similar functions, so they don't know what it's called so they can't just type the name in search, but it's readily apparent from the old all programs what you have installed and it's in a standard order and established companies have established places they put all their crap.
hell I stopped by my dad's house the other day and he had a 4 separate programs running at once, my freaking dad, who gets boggled by power cycling his router had a browser going with google maps, his GPS software, excel for calcing time and mileage, and skype talking to his brother