I hope you are a troll because the only other option is that your are completely ignorant of the HoloLens and its market.
It is already a success as a pre-release device for engineering and data visualization. It is being used by MS partners today and many big companies have been waiting for it to be more widely available.
Consumers are way down the list for HoloLens. The demo today was consumer focused because it was a consumer event, not because the HoloLens is anywhere near ready for the home user.
That is way to much work for personal devices. I have the data I care about on multiple backup drives and I have a Windows install USB drive handy. If an update breaks my system, I can be back up and running in less than a hour from bare metal. The data you care about needs to be backed up anyway, so it would be nothing but a waste of time for me to review all the updates that come out. I set Windows to ask before it reboots, and beyond that, updates are automatic.
It is so uplifting to find so many people who have never made a mistake in their professional careers. I am sure those around you are giddy as they read your witty posts on Slashdot calling out "those idiots at Microsoft". I applaud you and the personal perfection that arms you with such stones.
This is not about speed, this is about GOOGLE's bandwidth. Because they process so many transactions a second, they see cost savings even for small improvements.
The comment I was replying to simply says 'Seriously, what good is that "surface" crap, except maybe as 3rd or 4th computer?'. That looks to me like it dismisses the whole Surface line. I apologize for not realizing that they were only talking about the ones running Windows RT. (I blame Microsoft for the general confusion about RT vs. Pro as most of the people I support still do not know the difference.)
That being said, I would still have spoken up to defend the Sureface RT and the Surface II as they still have awesome optional keyboards, allow tons of customization and management via PowerShell, and come with Office 2013.
I have tried $75, $100, and even $150 Bluetooth keyboards and none of them seem to work as well as the $119 - $129 Surface Type Keyboard. I went through many tablets before I got my first Surface device, and would still recommend the Surface RT & Surface II for anyone that wants Web, Email, & Office, but also wants a really lightweight device with a good keyboard. I hear good things about the latest Dell and ASUS systems, but they run full Windows 8 and cannot compete on price with iPad/Android or even Windows RT devices.
I do fully agree that if you do not need a portable keyboard and Office, Android will get you more bang for the buck.
There is only one problem with that.. in 3rd party testing, the Zune HARDWARE beat every version of the iPod. Every component of the audio stack from the DAC to the in-the-box headphones was higher quality and produced better sound than the Apple hardware.
Zune lost to 'iPod + iTunes' and because it was a Microsoft product not because of the hardware.
You are forgetting that 'urgent' critical & security patches don't wait for patch Tuesday. If a vulnerability is really needed, they will release it as soon as it passes regression testing.
yea, cause searching for "control panel" or right-clicking on the start menu are such complicated tasks that the average user just thinks the control panel has been removed.:)
Your kidding right? They spend millions on usability testing. They just don't give a fu*k what the slashdot crowd thinks.
The new start menu passed through usability testing with flying colors. I hope you don't think that the opinions you see on Slashdot and other tech sites are at all representative of what the average consumer thinks.
Remember, the average 18 to 45 consumer spends a lot more time on their phone then they do on their computer. Their opinions are a lot different than folks that spend all day at a keyboard.
So buy a Mac. Apple has a wonderful history of listening to user feed back and not making drastic changes from version to version.;)
They have made the decision of that it is important that all Windows 8 machines use a unified start menu. Because it is easy to click on a big touch-friendly button with either a mouse or a touch screen, but very hard to use small space efficient button with touch, touch wins.
You can disagree all you want, but I don't think it is going to change.
... The Metro start screen has two huge drawbacks: it's full-screen and jerks you away from the desktop (therefore, it's highly intrusive), and it doesn't display a large number of items well.
I agree that folks that want a text based start menu will never be happy with Windows 8.
On the other hand, 8.1 addresses some of what you specifically mention. You can now set the background of the start menu to just show the same image as the desktop and you can now make 1/4 size tiles allowing for a much more compact interface.
I know a lot of people would be happier if the start menu was not full screen and nothing short of that is going to appease them. I just don't happen to feel that way.
I really like Win8, but I 100% agree with you here.
I got around it by writing an app that just typed "CTRL-ESC". I then pined it to the task-bar and set the task-bar to not auto-hide.
It acts just like the start button in Win8.1 / WS2012-R2.
I wish they would make MSTSC block the mouse at the corners like Win8 does in multi-monitor mode. (In case you don't know, when using multiple monitors, Win8/WS2012 blocks the mouse from moving from screen to screen if you are close to the corner, allowing you to get the start button and charms menu easily without over-shooting.)
Because they teach that the 'father, the son, and the holy ghost' are all aspects of a single god. The ones I know will even compare it to the different phases of water: steam, water, ice when explaining it.
That sounds like bull to me... I grew up in a small Utah town. There were 100 people in my senior class, and I was the only non-LDS among them. Besides making me feel a little isolated, it did not effect me that much. No one excluded me from anything that wasn't an actual church even and they certainly did not treat my family badly, effect my parents and my own ability to hold a job.
I don't know where you get your information, but it is false.
Slashdot Mirror
I hope you are a troll because the only other option is that your are completely ignorant of the HoloLens and its market.
It is already a success as a pre-release device for engineering and data visualization. It is being used by MS partners today and many big companies have been waiting for it to be more widely available.
Consumers are way down the list for HoloLens. The demo today was consumer focused because it was a consumer event, not because the HoloLens is anywhere near ready for the home user.
That is way to much work for personal devices. I have the data I care about on multiple backup drives and I have a Windows install USB drive handy. If an update breaks my system, I can be back up and running in less than a hour from bare metal. The data you care about needs to be backed up anyway, so it would be nothing but a waste of time for me to review all the updates that come out. I set Windows to ask before it reboots, and beyond that, updates are automatic.
It is so uplifting to find so many people who have never made a mistake in their professional careers.
I am sure those around you are giddy as they read your witty posts on Slashdot calling out "those idiots at Microsoft".
I applaud you and the personal perfection that arms you with such stones.
This is not about speed, this is about GOOGLE's bandwidth. Because they process so many transactions a second, they see cost savings even for small improvements.
How do I block your ads for "hosts"?
Take away advertising and at least in the short term much of the content goes away.. data volume problem solved.
I have to agree. The goal was to encourage development. The program was a complete success. It does not matter if anyone succeeded at all the tasks.
AR vs VR... very different use cases. The product don't really compete at all.
HoloLens is also a self-contained computer. The Rift is a display that needs to be driven by a fairly beefy computer..
The comment I was replying to simply says 'Seriously, what good is that "surface" crap, except maybe as 3rd or 4th computer?'. That looks to me like it dismisses the whole Surface line. I apologize for not realizing that they were only talking about the ones running Windows RT. (I blame Microsoft for the general confusion about RT vs. Pro as most of the people I support still do not know the difference.)
That being said, I would still have spoken up to defend the Sureface RT and the Surface II as they still have awesome optional keyboards, allow tons of customization and management via PowerShell, and come with Office 2013.
I have tried $75, $100, and even $150 Bluetooth keyboards and none of them seem to work as well as the $119 - $129 Surface Type Keyboard. I went through many tablets before I got my first Surface device, and would still recommend the Surface RT & Surface II for anyone that wants Web, Email, & Office, but also wants a really lightweight device with a good keyboard. I hear good things about the latest Dell and ASUS systems, but they run full Windows 8 and cannot compete on price with iPad/Android or even Windows RT devices.
I do fully agree that if you do not need a portable keyboard and Office, Android will get you more bang for the buck.
Sorry, did not notice I was not logged in. the 'it' that I have been in for 20 years is actually IT. Obviously I still have not learned to proof read.
Anyway, I love my Surface Pro 3 and the will be happy to be rid of the rest of the cluttered mess that is my computer desk when my new dock comes in.
There is only one problem with that.. in 3rd party testing, the Zune HARDWARE beat every version of the iPod. Every component of the audio stack from the DAC to the in-the-box headphones was higher quality and produced better sound than the Apple hardware.
Zune lost to 'iPod + iTunes' and because it was a Microsoft product not because of the hardware.
Jorgie
So does anyone on /. actually contribute to a conversation anymore?
No wonder none of my coworkers come here anymore.
If they had wanted to go all the way, they would have picked "Snowball". :p
You are forgetting that 'urgent' critical & security patches don't wait for patch Tuesday. If a vulnerability is really needed, they will release it as soon as it passes regression testing.
Jorgie
yea, cause searching for "control panel" or right-clicking on the start menu are such complicated tasks that the average user just thinks the control panel has been removed. :)
I don't know about POP, but it only supports talking to Exchange via Outlook Anywhere (RPC over HTTP), not MAPI.
Jorgie
Your kidding right? They spend millions on usability testing. They just don't give a fu*k what the slashdot crowd thinks.
The new start menu passed through usability testing with flying colors. I hope you don't think that the opinions you see on Slashdot and other tech sites are at all representative of what the average consumer thinks.
Remember, the average 18 to 45 consumer spends a lot more time on their phone then they do on their computer. Their opinions are a lot different than folks that spend all day at a keyboard.
Jorgie
So buy a Mac. Apple has a wonderful history of listening to user feed back and not making drastic changes from version to version. ;)
They have made the decision of that it is important that all Windows 8 machines use a unified start menu. Because it is easy to click on a big touch-friendly button with either a mouse or a touch screen, but very hard to use small space efficient button with touch, touch wins.
You can disagree all you want, but I don't think it is going to change.
That's easy. Don't hit the start menu. Put all your shortcuts in a folder structure and set the top level folder as a toolbar.
... The Metro start screen has two huge drawbacks: it's full-screen and jerks you away from the desktop (therefore, it's highly intrusive), and it doesn't display a large number of items well.
I agree that folks that want a text based start menu will never be happy with Windows 8.
On the other hand, 8.1 addresses some of what you specifically mention. You can now set the background of the start menu to just show the same image as the desktop and you can now make 1/4 size tiles allowing for a much more compact interface.
I know a lot of people would be happier if the start menu was not full screen and nothing short of that is going to appease them. I just don't happen to feel that way.
Jorgie
I do not think there is any malice there, I think 3rd party folks have not had 8.1 in their hands long enough to update.
As other have mentioned, Start8 works just fine.
Jorgie
I really like Win8, but I 100% agree with you here.
I got around it by writing an app that just typed "CTRL-ESC". I then pined it to the task-bar and set the task-bar to not auto-hide.
It acts just like the start button in Win8.1 / WS2012-R2.
I wish they would make MSTSC block the mouse at the corners like Win8 does in multi-monitor mode. (In case you don't know, when using multiple monitors, Win8/WS2012 blocks the mouse from moving from screen to screen if you are close to the corner, allowing you to get the start button and charms menu easily without over-shooting.)
Jorgie
Then you can hit CTRL-ESC, type CMD, hit ENTER. :)
Jorgie
Because they teach that the 'father, the son, and the holy ghost' are all aspects of a single god. The ones I know will even compare it to the different phases of water: steam, water, ice when explaining it.
That sounds like bull to me... I grew up in a small Utah town. There were 100 people in my senior class, and I was the only non-LDS among them. Besides making me feel a little isolated, it did not effect me that much. No one excluded me from anything that wasn't an actual church even and they certainly did not treat my family badly, effect my parents and my own ability to hold a job.
I don't know where you get your information, but it is false.