Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Windows app store optional? It sure is in the consumer preview. I didn't see Valve decrying Apple for making the Mac App Store. Steam works just fine on the Mac, and it will continue to work just fine in Windows.
Speaker: Then it is unanimous, we are going to approve the bill to evacuate the town of Springfield in the great state of— Congressman: Wait a second, I want to tack on a rider to that bill – $30 million of taxpayer money to support the perverted arts. Speaker: All in favor of the amended Springfield-slash-pervert bill? [entire Congress boos] Bill defeated. [gavel] Kent Brockman: I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply doesn't work.
I'm actually nearing the end of my free month (picked it up at Gamestop for $20; now it's actually just free to play for a month without retail purchase). I have really enjoyed the game, but now that I've hit 40 (level cap 50), I've started to become a bit bored. The class quests are still fun, but I'm finding myself with a lack of interest for whatever reason.
I'd say it's worth checking out. As a F2P game, I'll continue playing it but not paying for it. I don't do many Flashpoints and have little interest at the moment to do Operations. It does a lot of things better than WoW, and some things worse than WoW. As for the number of players...my first server was a ghost town, and BioWare is encouraging users to transfer to higher population servers. On my current server, there are a lot of active players.
This is true. However, Windows 8 is much more in-your-face about it, and does provide a completely new UI on top of the old one. ML doesn't do this--you have the same old UI as ever. The iOS features are unobtrusive, whereas Metro has the potential to be very obtrusive (depending on whether popular apps switch to Metro-only; consequently, does Win8 offer support for "hybrid" apps that have both desktop and Metro versions?).
(For the record, I actually like Windows 8.)
Re:Here we see the difference between Free and Sla
on
OS X Mountain Lion Review
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I think you're blowing the "iOS-ness" of Mountain Lion out of proportion. I've been using the GM for a while and the DPs before that, and my core usage has remained unchanged since Lion. "Now wait," you say, "Lion also brought iOS features!" True. Of course, you don't have to use them. My Lion usage patterns are unchanged from Snow Leopard.
If you look at the main features, you'll see two things. First, it's not a big update like Leopard or Tiger (hence the $20 price tag). Second, the most iOS-like feature is Notification Center, which is basically just a better version of Growl that Macs have had for years now. Reminders and Notes are apps that appear in iOS, yes, but that's all they are--apps. Use them or don't.
There are two major features of Mountain Lion. iCloud is the most obvious user-facing one, as it is much more tightly integrated with the OS than it was in Lion. The biggest feature is probably the one least talked about, and that is Gatekeeper. It's pseudo-iOS-like, because by default it only allows apps from "identified" developers to run on your system, but when you try to run an unsigned app it lets you know how to turn it off. It should be noted that "identified" does not mean App Store only, though obviously App Store developers are "identified".
Compare this to Windows 8, which is getting a near-complete UI change. Or GNOME or Unity and possibly other DEs I haven't used, which are also heavily influenced by tablets. Apple seems to be the only one that isn't trying to completely change my workflow. I wouldn't be sure I'd call this update insanely great or anything--frankly, the iCloud features should have been present in Lion--but it's a nice update and it's cheap.
I must be the most subtle (or terrible) Apple shill ever if I just wrote a post praising Windows 8. Is it all part of my cover? By writing this in a jesting manner, am I trying to throw you off my scent? Who knows...
I explained the reasoning above (the toolbar I always used in prior versions of Windows is hidden in 7, and I didn't realize you could hit Alt), and the reason I didn't give another reason is I haven't had to use the ribbon beyond that. My point was that the ribbon does seem to expose functionality that was previously buried several menus deep. Since you're the second person mentioning that part of my post, I'm beginning to regret saying it...
I think that Metro apps themselves are silly on a desktop--in particular a high-resolution desktop--but I have to disagree (obviously) on the start screen. If you use it to type in a program name (which is how I personally open 99% of programs), you can hit enter to open it. Note that this is the same as it is in Windows 7 (and Vista). The only difference is that the icon is larger and the search feature is faster.
With the customization aspect of the start screen, you don't have to wade through as many menus as you did before, you can have more apps showing per time, and you can group them any way you want. However, I can understand dislike for it, and I don't expect everyone's experience to mirror mine.
"I had to do a Google search to find out how to show hidden files in Windows 7"
Really? It's been in the same spot for years...since what, Win95? That's what makes it sound the most like a shill post.
It's changed, or rather become less apparent. In XP and earlier, you click Tools->Folder Options->View, and then found it there. In Windows 7, the toolbar is hidden by default. Not being a full-time Windows user, I didn't realize that you could hit Alt in order to bring it up, and I'd imagine a lot of people are in the same boat.
Regardless, that particular option is faster in Win8.
I'm gonna say that, while I wish everyone used the same connectors, I'm not a fan of micro-USB. The devices (or maybe cables) I have just don't seem to have a tight grip and fall out pretty easily.
I thought Windows 8 was bad, so I downloaded the preview and ran it exclusively for a week. While it obviously still has some bugs to work out (which I am sure will largely gone by October), I find myself having to admit, I liked it. Metro apps are kind of odd on a desktop, but the actual desktop (or is that Desktop?) is still just as usable, and if I can keep 99% of my apps using it, then I will have absolutely no problem with the OS. Frankly, the Start Screen is better than the old start menu. It's much more customizable and acts as a very fast application launcher for anything you don't have saved to your home screen.
I even found myself liking the ribbon in Explorer. Whereas I had to do a Google search to find out how to show hidden files in Windows 7, in 8 it was two very logical clicks away. Even in previous versions of Windows, it took several clicks going through different screens. I can accept that it's not for everyone and maybe Microsoft should add a toggle for old-style menus, but I feel like Slashdot has too much of a knee-jerk reaction to this thing and is engaging in too much groupthink. It's something you have to try out for longer than a few minutes (my first reaction was to laugh at it), which is why I went for the full week.
This probably sounds like a shill post, and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets labeled as one. I don't much care; people will think what they will when their opinions are challenged.
For the first several points, Gmail works fine. Gmail can load POP email from other accounts/providers (no IMAP, though, which is a bummer), have a unified address book, reply from specific accounts, and has an offline mode.
For the vast majority of people, the webmail interface is more than fine--it's the best option for them. It lets them easily check email wherever they are and does exactly what they need. For certain (small) sets of power users, webmail interfaces aren't enough. For myself, I go back and forth between using webmail or a local client. Right now I'm using Sparrow, which is basically just a local version of Gmail that integrates nicely into OS X's Notification Center (or Growl for pre-Mountain Lion OS X). It doesn't have the advanced features that the big clients have, but it has basically zero configuration time and you're basically guaranteed that your inbox and labels will match what Sparrow shows, which is something I can't say for other clients I've used (at least, not without work).
Win7 didn't introduce any great UI changes from Vista. Win9 is likely going to be an enhanced version of 8.
The completely redesigned taskbar was pretty big, and a great UI improvement. I can't stand to use older versions of Windows now. In some ways, it's even better than Apple's Expose.
So in that case, it goes (good): TOS, TNG, Voyager. Personally, I only liked TOS and TNG of any of the Star Trek series. I know a fair number of people who like Voyager, but it always seemed "meh" to me. Same with DS9.
Of course, as noted below, the "rule" refers to the movies, in particular the even ones. I've never agreed with it, because ST4 is painful to watch, and I like the first movie, even if it's slow. I had a hard time with the Klingon in Undiscovered Country that was constantly quoting Shakespeare, alongside other quirks with the film, but it's not terrible.
And, I'll say it (which will invalidate any credibility I may have had until this point): I liked Generations. It's definitely flawed, and stupid the way Kirk dies, but I've always enjoyed Data's storyline in it, to the point that it redeems the movie in my eyes.
Digg was actually a pretty good site when it was tech-oriented. Then there was an update (Digg 4?) that tried to draw in more crowds by adding all sorts of submission types. Pretty soon all the tech people left and the site was reduced to people posting "funny" pictures, random computer tips everyone knew about years ago, and top 10 lists. It used to be that an article required hundreds of votes to make the front page. Go look now: as of this posting, the first story has only 29 votes.
I always assumed the ergonomic keyboards didn't catch on because people didn't feel like they were worth the cost. I don't understand why they would be hard to switch between (then again, I switch between Dvorak and QWERTY constantly [two systems next to each other, one with QWERTY and the other with dvorak; also, my phone is QWERTY] without a drop in speed, so maybe I'm unusual).
Changing keyboard layouts is trivial--you don't need to buy a new keyboard. All you need to do is change something in your OS's settings. I think the whole layout issue is simply due to momentum. People talk about vendor lock-in with Android an iOS, but people still make the change. And yet I have (personally) known only one person besides myself who decided to set out and learn an alternate keyboard layout. Other people look at me like I'm absolutely insane for using Dvorak. They see no problem with QWERTY, and therefore, no need to change. Put another way, no keyboard layout is compelling enough for the 99% of users to go through the difficulty of becoming proficient at it.
Anecdotes are fun. I know no Mac users that don't use Safari.
Personally, I like it, but it has a couple shortcomings. Unfortunately, Chrome isn't as good on OS X and is missing a few key features, so it's not really an option at this time. Safari 6 (using the beta right now) brings some improvements.
Slashdot Mirror
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Windows app store optional? It sure is in the consumer preview. I didn't see Valve decrying Apple for making the Mac App Store. Steam works just fine on the Mac, and it will continue to work just fine in Windows.
Obligatory Simpsons quote:
Speaker: Then it is unanimous, we are going to approve the bill to evacuate the town of Springfield in the great state of—
Congressman: Wait a second, I want to tack on a rider to that bill – $30 million of taxpayer money to support the perverted arts.
Speaker: All in favor of the amended Springfield-slash-pervert bill? [entire Congress boos] Bill defeated. [gavel]
Kent Brockman: I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply doesn't work.
I'm actually nearing the end of my free month (picked it up at Gamestop for $20; now it's actually just free to play for a month without retail purchase). I have really enjoyed the game, but now that I've hit 40 (level cap 50), I've started to become a bit bored. The class quests are still fun, but I'm finding myself with a lack of interest for whatever reason.
I'd say it's worth checking out. As a F2P game, I'll continue playing it but not paying for it. I don't do many Flashpoints and have little interest at the moment to do Operations. It does a lot of things better than WoW, and some things worse than WoW. As for the number of players...my first server was a ghost town, and BioWare is encouraging users to transfer to higher population servers. On my current server, there are a lot of active players.
I think that would depend on how cooperative the gorilla was.
And yet, the App Store is still optional...
Good to know, thanks.
This is true. However, Windows 8 is much more in-your-face about it, and does provide a completely new UI on top of the old one. ML doesn't do this--you have the same old UI as ever. The iOS features are unobtrusive, whereas Metro has the potential to be very obtrusive (depending on whether popular apps switch to Metro-only; consequently, does Win8 offer support for "hybrid" apps that have both desktop and Metro versions?).
(For the record, I actually like Windows 8.)
I think you're blowing the "iOS-ness" of Mountain Lion out of proportion. I've been using the GM for a while and the DPs before that, and my core usage has remained unchanged since Lion. "Now wait," you say, "Lion also brought iOS features!" True. Of course, you don't have to use them. My Lion usage patterns are unchanged from Snow Leopard.
If you look at the main features, you'll see two things. First, it's not a big update like Leopard or Tiger (hence the $20 price tag). Second, the most iOS-like feature is Notification Center, which is basically just a better version of Growl that Macs have had for years now. Reminders and Notes are apps that appear in iOS, yes, but that's all they are--apps. Use them or don't.
There are two major features of Mountain Lion. iCloud is the most obvious user-facing one, as it is much more tightly integrated with the OS than it was in Lion. The biggest feature is probably the one least talked about, and that is Gatekeeper. It's pseudo-iOS-like, because by default it only allows apps from "identified" developers to run on your system, but when you try to run an unsigned app it lets you know how to turn it off. It should be noted that "identified" does not mean App Store only, though obviously App Store developers are "identified".
Compare this to Windows 8, which is getting a near-complete UI change. Or GNOME or Unity and possibly other DEs I haven't used, which are also heavily influenced by tablets. Apple seems to be the only one that isn't trying to completely change my workflow. I wouldn't be sure I'd call this update insanely great or anything--frankly, the iCloud features should have been present in Lion--but it's a nice update and it's cheap.
I must be the most subtle (or terrible) Apple shill ever if I just wrote a post praising Windows 8. Is it all part of my cover? By writing this in a jesting manner, am I trying to throw you off my scent? Who knows...
I explained the reasoning above (the toolbar I always used in prior versions of Windows is hidden in 7, and I didn't realize you could hit Alt), and the reason I didn't give another reason is I haven't had to use the ribbon beyond that. My point was that the ribbon does seem to expose functionality that was previously buried several menus deep. Since you're the second person mentioning that part of my post, I'm beginning to regret saying it...
I think that Metro apps themselves are silly on a desktop--in particular a high-resolution desktop--but I have to disagree (obviously) on the start screen. If you use it to type in a program name (which is how I personally open 99% of programs), you can hit enter to open it. Note that this is the same as it is in Windows 7 (and Vista). The only difference is that the icon is larger and the search feature is faster.
With the customization aspect of the start screen, you don't have to wade through as many menus as you did before, you can have more apps showing per time, and you can group them any way you want. However, I can understand dislike for it, and I don't expect everyone's experience to mirror mine.
"I had to do a Google search to find out how to show hidden files in Windows 7"
Really? It's been in the same spot for years...since what, Win95?
That's what makes it sound the most like a shill post.
It's changed, or rather become less apparent. In XP and earlier, you click Tools->Folder Options->View, and then found it there. In Windows 7, the toolbar is hidden by default. Not being a full-time Windows user, I didn't realize that you could hit Alt in order to bring it up, and I'd imagine a lot of people are in the same boat.
Regardless, that particular option is faster in Win8.
I'm gonna say that, while I wish everyone used the same connectors, I'm not a fan of micro-USB. The devices (or maybe cables) I have just don't seem to have a tight grip and fall out pretty easily.
I thought Windows 8 was bad, so I downloaded the preview and ran it exclusively for a week. While it obviously still has some bugs to work out (which I am sure will largely gone by October), I find myself having to admit, I liked it. Metro apps are kind of odd on a desktop, but the actual desktop (or is that Desktop?) is still just as usable, and if I can keep 99% of my apps using it, then I will have absolutely no problem with the OS. Frankly, the Start Screen is better than the old start menu. It's much more customizable and acts as a very fast application launcher for anything you don't have saved to your home screen.
I even found myself liking the ribbon in Explorer. Whereas I had to do a Google search to find out how to show hidden files in Windows 7, in 8 it was two very logical clicks away. Even in previous versions of Windows, it took several clicks going through different screens. I can accept that it's not for everyone and maybe Microsoft should add a toggle for old-style menus, but I feel like Slashdot has too much of a knee-jerk reaction to this thing and is engaging in too much groupthink. It's something you have to try out for longer than a few minutes (my first reaction was to laugh at it), which is why I went for the full week.
This probably sounds like a shill post, and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets labeled as one. I don't much care; people will think what they will when their opinions are challenged.
So don't pledge that much? It's not like there aren't other options.
That caught my attention, too. "I'm not going to murder you--I'm not that evil. But I will help myself to your stuff. Can I come in?"
1. You're paying for the features of Windows 8.
2. Windows 8 Mail is an included feature of Windows 8.
Sounds an awful lot like it's not a free email client.
For the first several points, Gmail works fine. Gmail can load POP email from other accounts/providers (no IMAP, though, which is a bummer), have a unified address book, reply from specific accounts, and has an offline mode.
For the vast majority of people, the webmail interface is more than fine--it's the best option for them. It lets them easily check email wherever they are and does exactly what they need. For certain (small) sets of power users, webmail interfaces aren't enough. For myself, I go back and forth between using webmail or a local client. Right now I'm using Sparrow, which is basically just a local version of Gmail that integrates nicely into OS X's Notification Center (or Growl for pre-Mountain Lion OS X). It doesn't have the advanced features that the big clients have, but it has basically zero configuration time and you're basically guaranteed that your inbox and labels will match what Sparrow shows, which is something I can't say for other clients I've used (at least, not without work).
Win7 didn't introduce any great UI changes from Vista. Win9 is likely going to be an enhanced version of 8.
The completely redesigned taskbar was pretty big, and a great UI improvement. I can't stand to use older versions of Windows now. In some ways, it's even better than Apple's Expose.
Actually, you forgot one: Star Trek: The Animated Series!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Animated_Series
So in that case, it goes (good): TOS, TNG, Voyager. Personally, I only liked TOS and TNG of any of the Star Trek series. I know a fair number of people who like Voyager, but it always seemed "meh" to me. Same with DS9.
Of course, as noted below, the "rule" refers to the movies, in particular the even ones. I've never agreed with it, because ST4 is painful to watch, and I like the first movie, even if it's slow. I had a hard time with the Klingon in Undiscovered Country that was constantly quoting Shakespeare, alongside other quirks with the film, but it's not terrible.
And, I'll say it (which will invalidate any credibility I may have had until this point): I liked Generations. It's definitely flawed, and stupid the way Kirk dies, but I've always enjoyed Data's storyline in it, to the point that it redeems the movie in my eyes.
Digg was actually a pretty good site when it was tech-oriented. Then there was an update (Digg 4?) that tried to draw in more crowds by adding all sorts of submission types. Pretty soon all the tech people left and the site was reduced to people posting "funny" pictures, random computer tips everyone knew about years ago, and top 10 lists. It used to be that an article required hundreds of votes to make the front page. Go look now: as of this posting, the first story has only 29 votes.
Just bought my first mechanical keyboard since my old Model M. Can't wait for it to arrive!
I always assumed the ergonomic keyboards didn't catch on because people didn't feel like they were worth the cost. I don't understand why they would be hard to switch between (then again, I switch between Dvorak and QWERTY constantly [two systems next to each other, one with QWERTY and the other with dvorak; also, my phone is QWERTY] without a drop in speed, so maybe I'm unusual).
Changing keyboard layouts is trivial--you don't need to buy a new keyboard. All you need to do is change something in your OS's settings. I think the whole layout issue is simply due to momentum. People talk about vendor lock-in with Android an iOS, but people still make the change. And yet I have (personally) known only one person besides myself who decided to set out and learn an alternate keyboard layout. Other people look at me like I'm absolutely insane for using Dvorak. They see no problem with QWERTY, and therefore, no need to change. Put another way, no keyboard layout is compelling enough for the 99% of users to go through the difficulty of becoming proficient at it.
I initially read this as "Coulombian transport website", which had me confused...
Anecdotes are fun. I know no Mac users that don't use Safari.
Personally, I like it, but it has a couple shortcomings. Unfortunately, Chrome isn't as good on OS X and is missing a few key features, so it's not really an option at this time. Safari 6 (using the beta right now) brings some improvements.