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Microsoft Confirms Windows 8.1 Spring Update, To Focus On Non-touch Devices
SmartAboutThings writes "At a special event at the Mobile World Congress, Microsoft has announced the 'spring' update for Windows 8.1. Joe Belfiore, who is the head of platform at Microsoft for smartphones, tablets and desktop devices, said the Windows 8.1 update will come with improvements for non-touch devices. Belfiore also said the update will focus on bringing back some of the 'old' features to Windows 8.1, such as the much-hyped start button, but this won't have a negative impact on the touch experience."
What a fantastic strategy -- to put a few afterthoughts into 99% of their market...
The article talks about the "start button" making a comeback, but it obviously did in 8.1 already. Are they actually talking about Start Menu?
...as little as possible. What's up with this obsession to play with every second of every day anyway?
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
The time of spring varies in different parts of the world. Where I was brought up, spring was in late September or early October, and where I live now its in May.
The best use of a Windows 8 license is to downgrade to Windows 7.
You put a gigantic switch in the Control Panel somewhere: "Enable touchscreen UI (recommended for tablet use) / Disable touchscreen UI (recommended for desktop use)". Throw the switch to the latter option and you get something that approximates the Windows 7 UI. You could even call it "Classic" mode, like has been done for the last 2 versions of Windows. Nobody liked the default Windows XP "Playschool" theme. Many people didn't like the default Windows 7 theme. They were no big deal. Make it easy for users to choose, and people will complain a lot less about the defaults. Give them no choice and, yeah, they're going to complain bitterly (Windows 8), until third-parties step in to fix the problem (e.g., Classic Shell).
Stick an "Advanced" button in there to allow tweaking of individual features.
Microsoft is the last one I would have thought needed to be schooled about the value of choice, but they made the same mistake with the recent versions of Office. Experiment, but please have some respect for what users of your product have already learned.
I moved to KDE on Debian and haven't looked back.
You are hemorrhaging users to phones, tablets, OSX, gamers to game consoles, power users to Linux.... pretty much everything that isn't Windows. We told you people were only using Windows because there was no choice, but you failed to listen and use the chance to improve your technology. Now, it's too late. There are other choices, and people are moving to them. To quote B5:
"The avalanche has begun. It is too late for the pebbles to vote."
And when you have multiple versions of the same product installed (in different directories) for testing purposes, how does seach really resolve that?
The old menu system worked perfectly in cases like this. THen there are the cases where can't remember the name of the executable and the menu system removed the need to even know it in the first place.
Because Win+X is to hard to press?
Morphing Software
And when you have multiple versions of the same product installed (in different directories) for testing purposes, how does seach really resolve that?
I've found this a bit problematic too. The search gives you no context about where the found item is. It's just like a big pool of files and program shortcuts with all the hierarchy lost. Also, as the "All Apps" view in Start Screen is incredibly clunky to use, no wonder people resort to just searching.
It's not that obvious. If we look past the recent Start Screen silliness, the NT 6 core has made Windows a fine OS in general.
It just shows how borked the current UI is, as people regularly have to resort to some undiscoverable secret menu to get through basic tasks.
... which is obvious to Windows users?
True.
It probably tells you about Win+X and all the other keyboard shortcuts in one of the tutorials or other junk at first boot that I didn't watch. I also know on the start screen you can click your login name and get a menu with shutdown/restart/etc. In control panel somewhere you can also toggle additional options on/off for that menu like hibernate.
Morphing Software
How is a 19 year old square on the screen that was removed due to the absolute retardation of Ballmer and company a much hyped new feature? Can they accept it's too little too late for Win 8?
It probably tells you about Win+X and all the other keyboard shortcuts in one of the tutorials or other junk at first boot that I didn't watch.
Well, it does not. It tells you this:
"Hi. While we're getting things ready, check out the new way to use Windows. After your PC is ready, move your mouse into any corner. Let's start."
Yes it is hard to press Win+X via a remote desktop connection to a server that got tablet-optimized interface with Windows Server 2012.
Reddit is more of an upgrade
and if you don't give a shit and have moved on to better alternatives, don't
I guess they're giving up on their Unified Experience of Terrible.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
I am very very sure Microsoft will do very well with the non-touch devices. Who can even hold a candle to Microsoft when it comes to being out of touch with its customers?
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
I guess they over estimated how many people are running server 2013 on tablets.
Microsoft may have assumed that system administrators might RDP into a server from a Surface tablet. Then Surface tablets failed to sell in the numbers that Microsoft hoped.
That depends on where you live. Some people like to see a device's monitor in person and touch its keyboard before buying, and they aren't willing to book a Greyhound bus trip to an Apple Retail Store 90 miles (145 km) away. So instead, they settle for a local Apple Authorized Reseller.
One drawback of ownCloud is that you'll probably have to either pay to lease an account from these guys or pay to upgrade your Internet connection to business class in order to satisfy TOS or CGNAT restrictions imposed by the ISP serving your area against running an externally accessible server at home.
Another thing about the list of providers confuses me: Why does saxonsitsolutions.com.au have the Great Britain flag next to it when .com.au means Australia? And why does it have the Great Britain flag on OwnDrive, which is based in Norway? Hmmm....
It's NOT about the fucking start button. It's the old menu system. It's the dumb "charms" and hot spots and other touchscreen bullshit.
It's like the mobile version of Slashdot. On the desktop computer version of classic Slashdot, clicking Reply to This adds a text area below the comment to which I am replying. Opening Reply to This in a new window shows just the comment to which I am replying and the text area. The important part is that some context remains visible, namely the comment to which I am replying. But when I try to reply to a comment on the mobile version of Slashdot, the comment to which I am replying disappears entirely, meaning I not only lose my train of thought but also can't even quote the parts of the comment to which I am replying.
Likewise, the full-screen Start Screen of Windows 8 hides context that the partial-screen Start Menu leaves visible, even with the option to use the same wallpaper introduced in Windows 8.1. That's why I use Classic Shell on my Windows 8.1 PC at work.
Are you asserting that continuity of context is unimportant?
To be honest I don't mind Windows 8 in classic mode, but then again I have that in Windows 7. So why spend $120 to upgrade to get apps I don't even care to use on a PC?
Because your PC has failed, the manufacturer has discontinued the replacement parts, and new PCs ship with Windows 8.1.
We found people weren’t aware of where they should look in the UI.
Amazing, they must have finally done some actual usability testing!
Who gives a flying fuck about "lawfully" obtaining them?
Anyone who doesn't want to be the next Jammie Thomas that the industry decides to make an example of.
If I find myself using a Windows 8 computer and looking for a particular installed program (say Virtualbox) I cop out and browse Program Files. Win+r, %programfiles%, return : the task is done and I didn't have to learn and remember the new shortcuts.
... because hitting Start (or any of any of several ways to open the Start menu/screen, take your pick) and typing "virt" is harder? You know, that trick that has worked since Vista, and is *way* better for productivity than any amount of browsing through anything at all?
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
Yes, typing even though no search field is shown, then dealing with the dynamic crap that shows up is harder, because I don't like animations and Gnome 3 / Unity clones.
The metro search is significantly slower than the old win7 start menu search.
It's cluttered with metro and web results so sometimes it doesn't even show what you're looking for.
You can't choose just files and settings to search for.
The sort order is reset every time you boot.
I use several Windows Server 2013 daily and I have no problem with any "touch screen optimized" interface, despite no touch screen anywhere. Server 2013 is a vast improvement over 2008.
Even Surface 2 Pro doesn't come with 3G, let alone 4G. Microsoft missed the bus.
it's still not the year of Windows on the tablet.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.