ESR is only supported for a year. It allows for 2 months in between versions before one version is dropped.
IE is going the same route with annual updates. IE 10 is an exception due to the incompetence of the Windows 8 team forcing WDDM 1.2 and DirectX 11.1 onto it which requires significant backporting.
So this time next year IE 11 will be out or in RC states and the following IE 12 etc. Organizations need to learn to adapt to change more rapidly. It is not like a minor release is anything like the huge rewrite of apps that resulted from IE 6 to IE 7 or even 8. Your browser should always be updated at a regular basis.
With virtualbox or VMWare you can run a real unix like OS or several at once to test things out and do real work. I prefer this more over cygwin as I find it very outdated and not as powerful as running a whole network virtualized where you can run and do whatever you want right from your mac or pc.
Want to see if squid can be used with MS Exchange? Fire up a FreeBSD image and find out. Everything is a file in Unix too which is much nicer than using cygwin in Windows.
I do admit I have an AMD cpu with hardware virtualization support. Intel is not so generious with their intel cpus so your system may or may not be able to run more than 1 vm at a time? Virtualbox can run without it.
cygwin is hideously outdated and the problem is not everything is a text file in Windows. My solution is too still run Linux under VMWare or the free virtualbox. I VASTLY prefer this as if I make a mistake so bad that I can't even boot my linux system I just use a snapshot I previously created. Done:-)
It is like like a virtual tape backup too. I do admit I have an AMD chip for cheap that has virtualization support. Intel loves to cripple them in the bios and in the CPUs so I do not know how much luck you would have? Another cool thing with virtualization is I can do things like test a webserver or sendmail email server or proxy with VMs all in a virtual network.
I am leaning towards pessimism myself on this. They can't at this stage. My guess is they will armtwist all retailers and force them to sell only Windows 8 computers or they wont sell them office or something retarded.
Then as people have to use Windows 8 they will turn around and say people must love it and Metro. Just look at those amazing sales!!
When Vista was out I remember they sold XP units as well for years so consumers could choose. That is mysteriously absent now. My guess is many will just get a Mac instead. Nice one Microsoft. Corporations will hold back the world and the internet for 10 more years just like IE 6 and XP did the last decade just so Balmer can get a kick off of everyones back. We probably wont have HTML 5 either as IE 8 will be the defecto standard from corps still using Windows 7 for many many years as a result.
www.tomshardware.com ran some benchmarks. No difference between Windows 7 and 8 what so ever. Only an inferior gui that boots up quicker. Other than that the FPS are identical between Windows 7 and Windows 8.
Hit the Windows key and type some header or source file names? Look all your work just popped up in 1/3 of a second!
After that you will never need to go to all programs again and use the mouse. Windows 7 has more than that too. Drag Word or VS title bar to the far left or right hand side of the screen... viola! Now you can have two apps open at the same time which is handy when you need to look at something wile you use another program. If your mouse cursor over the icons in the title bar you get a preview with aero peak as well. If you move it down further while it shows Windows 7 will even show up the whole program on the screen!
Windows 7 has internal improvements as well such as support for 6 to 8 core systems, larger ram, SSD support with full trim, better paging, touch support, and the list goes on. Sleep finally works right too.... of course I did assume you use Aero and you didn't disable it to the Windows 2000 theme right? You wont get any of those benefits otherwise. For all of these reasons alone I say Windows 7 is a decent upgrade and not just for the sake of upgrading with no real benefit.
If you see any WIndows 7 machines at retail let me know. The fact that is it Windows 8 only EVERYWHERE is suspicious as it would be a very high risk for me as CEO of a retailer or OEM to bet the farm to make Balmer happy.
I would want at least one or two lines of Windows 7 machines siting next to the Windows 8 model and observe the sales. My guess is it is a vast conspiracy to force users to get used to the reflexes of the inferior UI so they can sell more Windows tablets and phones. That is Microsofts problem and not mine if I were in charce of an OEM or a retailer.
I pray and hope they listen and start bringing in Windows 7 models so people have a choice. After the Windows 8 ones collect dust and the WIndows 7 models fly off the shelves it will mean the end of Metro. Otherwise you and I and everyone reading this will have to use it. THe sales show everyone loves it as it is on 100% of all pcs sold!!... beh
The summers gradually got worse and worse and farmers were not happy. Yes winters and snow come later, but it rained 22 out of 30 days all summer non stop. The polar ice caps change weather systems that normally bring that rain further south. Grain producers like wheat and potato farmers are cold weather farmers. A longer growing season means theoretical better yields, but if it rains and is cold and damp the product will mold and rot.
Normally in south central Alaska it warms up and is sunny June and July. By late August it gets raining and cool and by the end of September or early October the rain picks up and starts turning to snow. The snow then keeps plants warm when it gets biter late on.
What is happening now is the rain came as early as June! Plants couldn't grow and 70 mph Sandy style winds came in September and fall is now bone dry with snow not coming until November because the polar ice caps are practically gone! Trees are dying because the roots freeze which are not insulated by snow and berries, grains, and potatoes are not growing due to the cold damp weather or are dying in mold and fungus infections. Canada is the same way and the longer growing seasons will be negated by cold rain and mud.
They didn't make cheap plastic products anymore after Jobs took over. THey wont sell an even expensive unit and to save $.05 on each unit put a defect that causes something to break easily etc. That is how others like ACER operate. They setup a nice system and cost accountants ruin them. Even the high end ones have measures and defects to save costs.
Apple focuses on bringing money in. Not obsessing over money coming out and ignoring the income part like most of corporate america today. Balmer is focusing on his own bottom line and forgetting the customer can choose whether to come in or not. Not saying this is what YOU WILL GET and be shocked they walk out keep keeping their money.
What really bothers me is that MS is hitting retailers like BestBuy and Microcenter hard and FORCING THIS UPON USERS. If you want a new laptop YOU MUST use WIndows 8. You have to buy from a website and go out of your way with Windows 7.
In the past BestBuy had laptops with XP and Vista at the same time. Same with Microcenter. All the slashdotters post like users have a choice which OS to use. You don't unless you have images and an IT department ready to set them up. They are forcing Windows 8 marketshare so they can save people had the concious choice to use the shitty modern UI.
Isn't their laws agaisnt this? I prefer the past when MS releases a new OS you have a conscious choice to choose.
Same problem in BestBuy. I smell a rat? Did MS arm twist them and force them not to display WIndows 7 so they can claim WIndows 8 sales are higher than they really are?
If I were the CEO of BestBuy or Microsoft Center I would have 1/3 Windows 7 and 2/3 Windows 8 for the first 3 months to see how well they sell. Microsoft can suck it. This is truly terrible for average Joes.
It is tyranny if anything as they can't really decide on which OS to use unlike business who has an IT staff and custom images on hand.
I believe your pro license has downgrades rights. Go download it from digitalriver and use your OEM key. Your BSOD will go away and you can have your XP mode back and be back in WIndows 7 paradise again and be supported for 10 years. I believe WIndows 8 like vista might only get 6 years of support.
Windows 7 is well tested, is an industry standard, it is what your apps are designed to use, and works fine so why change?
Or Windows 7 and even XP work fine. Why change what is not broken? If their circa 2005 laptop still works with XP why waste money in this economic uncertainity when the fiscal cliff could hit, Greece could default, and your health premiums are up to $600 a month!!
10 years ago when people paid $80 a month for health insurance and wages were rising and you could get rich just investing stocks and flipping homes then perhaps people would give a shit about their computers more. Now it is a burden and an expense with other pressing issues. SO who cares?
Windows 8 is a terrible OS. If I were to buy a new system I would go out of my way to get one with Windows 7 like I did back in 2007 that was XP compatible so if I didn't like Vista I could dualboot to XP.
Or people who hate and or fear change. Usually a botched Vista upgrade attempt at work will make anyone a XP loyalists afraid of change after that learned behavior.
Click on the search results with your right mouse button and sort?
Windows 7 instant search is leaps and bounds supperior as it will search within documents instantly. You couldn't pay me to go back to XP. I love hiting the Windows key and typing Sales 2009 and bam! 6 files showing me which and then type in ACME and I have the right spreadsheet. If your computer is not doing this on a networked share at work then your system admin has very old servers without search 3.0 installed. Tell him to do is job and fix it! I see this complaint a lot and it is always related to WIndows Server 2k3 unpatched.
It truly is the worst UI ever made. It is not logical, practical, or offers any advantage. It hinders productivity and requires the user to learn new reflexes and do more to accomplish the same tasks. THe search ruins multitasking ability in the brain as it forces the brain to switch hemispheres in crtical thinking! You have to use the mouse now for instant search because something like p-o-w-e-r will offer you catagories instead of fucking just showing you the control panel power options!... I could go on and on.
I had a link (lost it) I think from WIndows fan boy site Neowin where Sinsosky made the decision to remove the start menu on puprose to force users to get used to Metro so they can sell more tablets and phones. Not because it offered any advantage and Balmer had to approve it. MY GOD.
So they tell us what to do.
Here is an idea (car analogy)? Why doesn't Honda just take out the Drivers seat and steering wheels of its cars with that of their motorcycles? No gas or brake pedals. Just an uncomfortable seat and handle bars that function just like their motorcycles! That way they can sell more etc. Now it is a poor car and a poor motorcycle.
So you learned the inefficient reflexes and UI for Metro. Good for you. I will stick with Windows 7 thank you very much. It works and is designed for productivity.
... when even Windows-fan-boi site Neowin.net, the anti slashdot talks about how WIndows 8 is failing and what went wrong afterwards.
Basically, Sinofsky made the decision to drop the start button in a meeting with Balmer saying it was a must if users were to get used to Metro. They must get immersed so Windows 8 phones can sell more etc.
Here is a little business 101 lesson. Your customers decide which UI you use and how you design your product. Not the other way around! Every company that told customers this is what you will do and how you will like it do poorly or go under. No one listens to them and MBAs feel it is their job to convert customers and tell them what to do.
They feel to acknowledge the customer can just walk out the door and take his or her business elsewhere.
So they fired Sinsosky and that is a good thing. Sad, as he did a great job for Windows 7 but they did not do any QA or UI usability testing with METRO. Just get it out FAST!! and it was was rushed. Customers hate change and Windows 7 works just fine thank you very much.
After numbers come it the problem will only get worse. Lets hope they do not something really stupid like get rid of the desktop entirely and just be a tablet company now. They lost focus on their core strengths which is another business 101 lesson you never do. They are not a consumer gadget entertainment company and they killed their number one product and money to get there. Wow! Balmer should be fired next too
No corps uses vista and IE is updated automatically with Windows Update for consumers. Vista users today all use IE 9 if they even choose IE at all. I pray IE 8 dies much much quicker than IE 6 or 7. It just might as employees start bickering that HTML 5 sites will no longer run.
Otherwise we will have to wait until 2020 to use HTML 5. Fucking rediculous! I got that number because Windows 7 will not offer any service packs for 10 fucking years besides 1 which means the corps will lock it to IE 8 and keep it there. But, I could be wrong if MS mans up aftering firing the Windows VP and makes a Windows 7 SP 2 with IE 10... I could hope.
Also, JQuery is dropping IE 8 in their newest version which is almost out. This will make some websites not work and of course GMail and Google Docs are alreayd giving me warnings to drop IE 8 as well. Lets hope, so we can all move on to the current decade.
Webkit is doing everythign wrong as people blamed developers 10 years ago for not fixing their CSS and using MS code in it. A prefix is just a bit of code. How is that different? The net result is still the same.
You may hate the rendering engine, which until very recently in IE10 sucked goatballs. I guess IE 9 was ok for early 2011 I suppose. But the integration with Windows makes it the only enterprise browser out there. It can use ISAPI and authenticate over the domain controller. It integrated with ActiveDirectory. Is compatible with group policy objects for customization. IE 6 - 8 can do things like even check to see where someone is with outlook/exchange conference wise in an intranet app! No other browser can do this.
Only a small part of Microsofts browser is used by consumers and that is a graphical http internet application. In that area IE is meh.
IE 10 on Windows 8/RT Metro is mobile identified so it is a significant marketshare or will be after Christmas. So in reality many new users will log into Metro and click the IE 10 and be fed broken pages with webkit extensions. The desktop will be fine though.
If you bring up the marketshare then you are making the same argument on why to stick with IE 6 back in 2002 - 2004 all over again. It is not a corporate standard that everyone uses, not worth the development effort, IE 6 is the wave of the future for decades, etc. Just replace that with webkit.
Perhaps IE 10 will fix the compatibility problem as soon as webmasters get tons of emails saying thier new Windows boxes wont display their page right. They will figure it out then?
IE 6 uses fixed settings because back in 2000 when it was made there was not standard yet for ratios. Back then everyone had vga, and svga (800 x 600 and 1024 x 768). So you only needed to test those last 2 and maybe the first (vga was dying by then). Done!
MS is not complaining about desktop standards. They are complaining mobile as Windows Surface is fucking up on rendeirng websites as it is detected as mobile and is fed -webkit CSS. It is commical as it couldn't happen to a nicer set of guys right?
But it does hurt Opera and Firefox Mobile greatly too. Opera is thinking of emulating webkit as a result. Since a mobile site is just a custom CSS file, why should developers care about anything non webkit? It owns 96% of the market so just write for that or corporations purchasing CMS software (same vendors who made it so it only outputed IE 6 in earlier versions) use it and it creates -webkit code.
The problem is even assuming everyone used the exact same browser, is that people run 5 different resolutions from 1024 x 768 to retenia, 1600 x 1800, HDMI 1080p, 1368 x 728 etc. Now add to the fact that Windows XP, 7, and 8 all have different fonts and render them different. Now add to the fact that MacOSX not only has different fonts but hints them different in the smoothing and rendering processes where they are more bold and the ratios are simply different.
I just do not see how pixel perfect is possible. My guess is it is even worse with different versions of IE lying around too as the other browsers are updated more often.
You can wish not to care about it but your customers will say different otherwise. Second, the surface and Windows 8 just came out with METRO IE 10. Because it is microsoft and preinstalled on every computer it means people will be using it in massive numbers just like Vista is still used as much as MacOSX even though it was a POS.
I can make the same argument that IE 6 was the best browser and no one really cares about Netscape and Mozilla back in 2003 as well. IE 6 was the best browser 10 years ago by far and it was not until Firefox 1.5 around 2005 before all the netscape bugs were gone.
Also what about Firefox mobile? Do we forget about them too? Nokia is making such a device as we speak. My guess is if WIndows 8 Phone fails they will use it. All my mobile web books talk about webkit and using webkit features.
On the desktop you are right they all use these extensions. But mobile will be increasing important and all the commercial CMS packages just output to webkit only if it detects a mobile device ala IE 6. In the coming years the majority of internet users will be on phones and tablets. This is especially true in developing countries where people can't afford a computer.
You are right they did not have the prefixes. THey did implement the box model on where they thought it would end up before the w3c standardized on it. IE 6 started out because the w3c was too slow and wanted to have more features than Netscape.
There is everything wrong with prefixes as it is precisely what IE 6 did. Not a concern on a desktop reading this comment, but buy a Windows Phone or the new Firefox Mobile and many if not most sites wont render properly at all in mobile mode.
Worse big corps who did a one time contractor to write a mobile CSS all have -webkit exentions ala IE 6 style that will not work with anything else. Why should they bother when webkit owns 90% of the mobile market? CMS are expensive and I bet the ones today create proprietary -webkit code that will break with anyone running a WIndows 8 Tablet in METRO mode such as a Surface.
What we are debating about is theoretical nerd talks about ethics and software design. To the user WTF it doesn't work like my IPhone on my surface! The end result is all that should matter. THis could really ruin Firefox mobile and Opera mobile's parade.
Slashdot Mirror
Thank goodness Chrome is not updated like Firefox or anything. Then we would have a problem.
ESR is only supported for a year. It allows for 2 months in between versions before one version is dropped.
IE is going the same route with annual updates. IE 10 is an exception due to the incompetence of the Windows 8 team forcing WDDM 1.2 and DirectX 11.1 onto it which requires significant backporting.
So this time next year IE 11 will be out or in RC states and the following IE 12 etc. Organizations need to learn to adapt to change more rapidly. It is not like a minor release is anything like the huge rewrite of apps that resulted from IE 6 to IE 7 or even 8. Your browser should always be updated at a regular basis.
With virtualbox or VMWare you can run a real unix like OS or several at once to test things out and do real work. I prefer this more over cygwin as I find it very outdated and not as powerful as running a whole network virtualized where you can run and do whatever you want right from your mac or pc.
Want to see if squid can be used with MS Exchange? Fire up a FreeBSD image and find out. Everything is a file in Unix too which is much nicer than using cygwin in Windows.
I do admit I have an AMD cpu with hardware virtualization support. Intel is not so generious with their intel cpus so your system may or may not be able to run more than 1 vm at a time? Virtualbox can run without it.
cygwin is hideously outdated and the problem is not everything is a text file in Windows. My solution is too still run Linux under VMWare or the free virtualbox. I VASTLY prefer this as if I make a mistake so bad that I can't even boot my linux system I just use a snapshot I previously created. Done :-)
It is like like a virtual tape backup too. I do admit I have an AMD chip for cheap that has virtualization support. Intel loves to cripple them in the bios and in the CPUs so I do not know how much luck you would have? Another cool thing with virtualization is I can do things like test a webserver or sendmail email server or proxy with VMs all in a virtual network.
I am leaning towards pessimism myself on this. They can't at this stage. My guess is they will armtwist all retailers and force them to sell only Windows 8 computers or they wont sell them office or something retarded.
Then as people have to use Windows 8 they will turn around and say people must love it and Metro. Just look at those amazing sales!!
When Vista was out I remember they sold XP units as well for years so consumers could choose. That is mysteriously absent now. My guess is many will just get a Mac instead. Nice one Microsoft. Corporations will hold back the world and the internet for 10 more years just like IE 6 and XP did the last decade just so Balmer can get a kick off of everyones back. We probably wont have HTML 5 either as IE 8 will be the defecto standard from corps still using Windows 7 for many many years as a result.
What a fucking mess.
www.tomshardware.com ran some benchmarks. No difference between Windows 7 and 8 what so ever. Only an inferior gui that boots up quicker. Other than that the FPS are identical between Windows 7 and Windows 8.
Hit the Windows key and type some header or source file names? Look all your work just popped up in 1/3 of a second!
After that you will never need to go to all programs again and use the mouse. Windows 7 has more than that too. Drag Word or VS title bar to the far left or right hand side of the screen ... viola! Now you can have two apps open at the same time which is handy when you need to look at something wile you use another program. If your mouse cursor over the icons in the title bar you get a preview with aero peak as well. If you move it down further while it shows Windows 7 will even show up the whole program on the screen!
Windows 7 has internal improvements as well such as support for 6 to 8 core systems, larger ram, SSD support with full trim, better paging, touch support, and the list goes on. Sleep finally works right too. ... of course I did assume you use Aero and you didn't disable it to the Windows 2000 theme right? You wont get any of those benefits otherwise. For all of these reasons alone I say Windows 7 is a decent upgrade and not just for the sake of upgrading with no real benefit.
If you see any WIndows 7 machines at retail let me know. The fact that is it Windows 8 only EVERYWHERE is suspicious as it would be a very high risk for me as CEO of a retailer or OEM to bet the farm to make Balmer happy.
I would want at least one or two lines of Windows 7 machines siting next to the Windows 8 model and observe the sales. My guess is it is a vast conspiracy to force users to get used to the reflexes of the inferior UI so they can sell more Windows tablets and phones. That is Microsofts problem and not mine if I were in charce of an OEM or a retailer.
I pray and hope they listen and start bringing in Windows 7 models so people have a choice. After the Windows 8 ones collect dust and the WIndows 7 models fly off the shelves it will mean the end of Metro. Otherwise you and I and everyone reading this will have to use it. THe sales show everyone loves it as it is on 100% of all pcs sold!! ... beh
Before this year I used to live in Alaska.
The summers gradually got worse and worse and farmers were not happy. Yes winters and snow come later, but it rained 22 out of 30 days all summer non stop. The polar ice caps change weather systems that normally bring that rain further south. Grain producers like wheat and potato farmers are cold weather farmers. A longer growing season means theoretical better yields, but if it rains and is cold and damp the product will mold and rot.
Normally in south central Alaska it warms up and is sunny June and July. By late August it gets raining and cool and by the end of September or early October the rain picks up and starts turning to snow. The snow then keeps plants warm when it gets biter late on.
What is happening now is the rain came as early as June! Plants couldn't grow and 70 mph Sandy style winds came in September and fall is now bone dry with snow not coming until November because the polar ice caps are practically gone! Trees are dying because the roots freeze which are not insulated by snow and berries, grains, and potatoes are not growing due to the cold damp weather or are dying in mold and fungus infections. Canada is the same way and the longer growing seasons will be negated by cold rain and mud.
Apple listened to users.
They didn't make cheap plastic products anymore after Jobs took over. THey wont sell an even expensive unit and to save $.05 on each unit put a defect that causes something to break easily etc. That is how others like ACER operate. They setup a nice system and cost accountants ruin them. Even the high end ones have measures and defects to save costs.
Apple focuses on bringing money in. Not obsessing over money coming out and ignoring the income part like most of corporate america today. Balmer is focusing on his own bottom line and forgetting the customer can choose whether to come in or not. Not saying this is what YOU WILL GET and be shocked they walk out keep keeping their money.
What really bothers me is that MS is hitting retailers like BestBuy and Microcenter hard and FORCING THIS UPON USERS. If you want a new laptop YOU MUST use WIndows 8. You have to buy from a website and go out of your way with Windows 7.
In the past BestBuy had laptops with XP and Vista at the same time. Same with Microcenter. All the slashdotters post like users have a choice which OS to use. You don't unless you have images and an IT department ready to set them up. They are forcing Windows 8 marketshare so they can save people had the concious choice to use the shitty modern UI.
Isn't their laws agaisnt this? I prefer the past when MS releases a new OS you have a conscious choice to choose.
Same problem in BestBuy. I smell a rat? Did MS arm twist them and force them not to display WIndows 7 so they can claim WIndows 8 sales are higher than they really are?
If I were the CEO of BestBuy or Microsoft Center I would have 1/3 Windows 7 and 2/3 Windows 8 for the first 3 months to see how well they sell. Microsoft can suck it. This is truly terrible for average Joes.
It is tyranny if anything as they can't really decide on which OS to use unlike business who has an IT staff and custom images on hand.
Downgrade to Windows 7.
I believe your pro license has downgrades rights. Go download it from digitalriver and use your OEM key. Your BSOD will go away and you can have your XP mode back and be back in WIndows 7 paradise again and be supported for 10 years. I believe WIndows 8 like vista might only get 6 years of support.
Windows 7 is well tested, is an industry standard, it is what your apps are designed to use, and works fine so why change?
Or Windows 7 and even XP work fine. Why change what is not broken? If their circa 2005 laptop still works with XP why waste money in this economic uncertainity when the fiscal cliff could hit, Greece could default, and your health premiums are up to $600 a month!!
10 years ago when people paid $80 a month for health insurance and wages were rising and you could get rich just investing stocks and flipping homes then perhaps people would give a shit about their computers more. Now it is a burden and an expense with other pressing issues. SO who cares?
Windows 8 is a terrible OS. If I were to buy a new system I would go out of my way to get one with Windows 7 like I did back in 2007 that was XP compatible so if I didn't like Vista I could dualboot to XP.
Or people who hate and or fear change. Usually a botched Vista upgrade attempt at work will make anyone a XP loyalists afraid of change after that learned behavior.
??
Click on the search results with your right mouse button and sort?
Windows 7 instant search is leaps and bounds supperior as it will search within documents instantly. You couldn't pay me to go back to XP. I love hiting the Windows key and typing Sales 2009 and bam! 6 files showing me which and then type in ACME and I have the right spreadsheet. If your computer is not doing this on a networked share at work then your system admin has very old servers without search 3.0 installed. Tell him to do is job and fix it! I see this complaint a lot and it is always related to WIndows Server 2k3 unpatched.
It is very hard, according to the experts. Clicking the desktop tile totally misses the point!
It truly is the worst UI ever made. It is not logical, practical, or offers any advantage. It hinders productivity and requires the user to learn new reflexes and do more to accomplish the same tasks. THe search ruins multitasking ability in the brain as it forces the brain to switch hemispheres in crtical thinking! You have to use the mouse now for instant search because something like p-o-w-e-r will offer you catagories instead of fucking just showing you the control panel power options! ... I could go on and on.
I had a link (lost it) I think from WIndows fan boy site Neowin where Sinsosky made the decision to remove the start menu on puprose to force users to get used to Metro so they can sell more tablets and phones. Not because it offered any advantage and Balmer had to approve it. MY GOD.
So they tell us what to do.
Here is an idea (car analogy)? Why doesn't Honda just take out the Drivers seat and steering wheels of its cars with that of their motorcycles? No gas or brake pedals. Just an uncomfortable seat and handle bars that function just like their motorcycles! That way they can sell more etc. Now it is a poor car and a poor motorcycle.
So you learned the inefficient reflexes and UI for Metro. Good for you. I will stick with Windows 7 thank you very much. It works and is designed for productivity.
... when even Windows-fan-boi site Neowin.net, the anti slashdot talks about how WIndows 8 is failing and what went wrong afterwards.
Basically, Sinofsky made the decision to drop the start button in a meeting with Balmer saying it was a must if users were to get used to Metro. They must get immersed so Windows 8 phones can sell more etc.
Here is a little business 101 lesson. Your customers decide which UI you use and how you design your product. Not the other way around! Every company that told customers this is what you will do and how you will like it do poorly or go under. No one listens to them and MBAs feel it is their job to convert customers and tell them what to do.
They feel to acknowledge the customer can just walk out the door and take his or her business elsewhere.
So they fired Sinsosky and that is a good thing. Sad, as he did a great job for Windows 7 but they did not do any QA or UI usability testing with METRO. Just get it out FAST!! and it was was rushed. Customers hate change and Windows 7 works just fine thank you very much.
After numbers come it the problem will only get worse. Lets hope they do not something really stupid like get rid of the desktop entirely and just be a tablet company now. They lost focus on their core strengths which is another business 101 lesson you never do. They are not a consumer gadget entertainment company and they killed their number one product and money to get there. Wow! Balmer should be fired next too
No corps uses vista and IE is updated automatically with Windows Update for consumers. Vista users today all use IE 9 if they even choose IE at all. I pray IE 8 dies much much quicker than IE 6 or 7. It just might as employees start bickering that HTML 5 sites will no longer run.
Otherwise we will have to wait until 2020 to use HTML 5. Fucking rediculous! I got that number because Windows 7 will not offer any service packs for 10 fucking years besides 1 which means the corps will lock it to IE 8 and keep it there. But, I could be wrong if MS mans up aftering firing the Windows VP and makes a Windows 7 SP 2 with IE 10 ... I could hope.
Also, JQuery is dropping IE 8 in their newest version which is almost out. This will make some websites not work and of course GMail and Google Docs are alreayd giving me warnings to drop IE 8 as well. Lets hope, so we can all move on to the current decade.
Webkit is doing everythign wrong as people blamed developers 10 years ago for not fixing their CSS and using MS code in it. A prefix is just a bit of code. How is that different? The net result is still the same.
You may hate the rendering engine, which until very recently in IE10 sucked goatballs. I guess IE 9 was ok for early 2011 I suppose. But the integration with Windows makes it the only enterprise browser out there. It can use ISAPI and authenticate over the domain controller. It integrated with ActiveDirectory. Is compatible with group policy objects for customization. IE 6 - 8 can do things like even check to see where someone is with outlook/exchange conference wise in an intranet app! No other browser can do this.
Only a small part of Microsofts browser is used by consumers and that is a graphical http internet application. In that area IE is meh.
IE 10 on Windows 8/RT Metro is mobile identified so it is a significant marketshare or will be after Christmas. So in reality many new users will log into Metro and click the IE 10 and be fed broken pages with webkit extensions. The desktop will be fine though.
If you bring up the marketshare then you are making the same argument on why to stick with IE 6 back in 2002 - 2004 all over again. It is not a corporate standard that everyone uses, not worth the development effort, IE 6 is the wave of the future for decades, etc. Just replace that with webkit.
Perhaps IE 10 will fix the compatibility problem as soon as webmasters get tons of emails saying thier new Windows boxes wont display their page right. They will figure it out then?
IE 6 uses fixed settings because back in 2000 when it was made there was not standard yet for ratios. Back then everyone had vga, and svga (800 x 600 and 1024 x 768). So you only needed to test those last 2 and maybe the first (vga was dying by then). Done!
MS is not complaining about desktop standards. They are complaining mobile as Windows Surface is fucking up on rendeirng websites as it is detected as mobile and is fed -webkit CSS. It is commical as it couldn't happen to a nicer set of guys right?
But it does hurt Opera and Firefox Mobile greatly too. Opera is thinking of emulating webkit as a result. Since a mobile site is just a custom CSS file, why should developers care about anything non webkit? It owns 96% of the market so just write for that or corporations purchasing CMS software (same vendors who made it so it only outputed IE 6 in earlier versions) use it and it creates -webkit code.
The problem is even assuming everyone used the exact same browser, is that people run 5 different resolutions from 1024 x 768 to retenia, 1600 x 1800, HDMI 1080p, 1368 x 728 etc. Now add to the fact that Windows XP, 7, and 8 all have different fonts and render them different. Now add to the fact that MacOSX not only has different fonts but hints them different in the smoothing and rendering processes where they are more bold and the ratios are simply different.
I just do not see how pixel perfect is possible. My guess is it is even worse with different versions of IE lying around too as the other browsers are updated more often.
IE is the most popular browser in the world.
You can wish not to care about it but your customers will say different otherwise. Second, the surface and Windows 8 just came out with METRO IE 10. Because it is microsoft and preinstalled on every computer it means people will be using it in massive numbers just like Vista is still used as much as MacOSX even though it was a POS.
I can make the same argument that IE 6 was the best browser and no one really cares about Netscape and Mozilla back in 2003 as well. IE 6 was the best browser 10 years ago by far and it was not until Firefox 1.5 around 2005 before all the netscape bugs were gone.
Also what about Firefox mobile? Do we forget about them too? Nokia is making such a device as we speak. My guess is if WIndows 8 Phone fails they will use it. All my mobile web books talk about webkit and using webkit features.
On the desktop you are right they all use these extensions. But mobile will be increasing important and all the commercial CMS packages just output to webkit only if it detects a mobile device ala IE 6. In the coming years the majority of internet users will be on phones and tablets. This is especially true in developing countries where people can't afford a computer.
You are right they did not have the prefixes. THey did implement the box model on where they thought it would end up before the w3c standardized on it. IE 6 started out because the w3c was too slow and wanted to have more features than Netscape.
There is everything wrong with prefixes as it is precisely what IE 6 did. Not a concern on a desktop reading this comment, but buy a Windows Phone or the new Firefox Mobile and many if not most sites wont render properly at all in mobile mode.
Worse big corps who did a one time contractor to write a mobile CSS all have -webkit exentions ala IE 6 style that will not work with anything else. Why should they bother when webkit owns 90% of the mobile market? CMS are expensive and I bet the ones today create proprietary -webkit code that will break with anyone running a WIndows 8 Tablet in METRO mode such as a Surface.
What we are debating about is theoretical nerd talks about ethics and software design. To the user WTF it doesn't work like my IPhone on my surface! The end result is all that should matter. THis could really ruin Firefox mobile and Opera mobile's parade.