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posted by n1 on Wednesday October 01 2014, @07:58AM   Printer-friendly
from the windows-os-x dept.

techcrunch.com reports Windows 10 Technical Preview will be available for download today and the full OS will be available mid-2015. Meanwhile, The Verge has a video of desktop/tablet mode transitions that seem to make the new version of Microsoft's OS quite a bit less annoying than Windows 8 has been for users.

frojack writes:

Cnet along with every other tech site are reporting that Microsoft is skipping Windows 9, officially announcing the next major version will be called Windows 10.

Originally codenamed Windows Threshold, the new operating system essentially does away with the tiled "Metro" user interface that Microsoft had attempted to implement across its entire device line, from desktop PCs to Surface tablets and Widows Phone devices. It is such a substantial leap, according to Microsoft's executive VP of operating systems, Terry Myerson, that the company decided it would be best to skip over Windows 9, the widely expected name for the next version.

While early reviews of pre-release candidates did have some pleasant surprises; the major changes seems to be a far more intelligent handling of tablets which have keyboards and mice that can come and go, be folded out of the way, and the OS switches seamlessly from a desktop oriented user interface to a touch oriented one. The Verge has an extensive writeup and a video of this in action.

Some may criticize the name change as desperation, others will simply announce "too little too late". Others trot out allegedly year old April Fools Joke stories that (if not totally tongue in cheek) predicted this name change on April fools day in 2013.

The changes shown seem to address the big issues in the interface previously known as Metro, in a rather well integrated way.

So what say Soylentils: Is this enough? Has Microsoft actually listening to the complaints since Windows 8 was first released? Has their self inflicted gunshot wound to the foot healed? Will this re-start the corporate customers on delayed upgrades? Or will they hold out for 11?

Or, is the best you have to say about it "too little too late"?

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by maxwell demon on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:15AM

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:15AM (#100353) Journal

    If they implemented those features in Windows 9, maybe that would be different. But they waited until Windows 10 to implement it. That's clearly too late! ;-)

    (Actually, I've been Microsoft free for a very long time; my computers run exclusively on Linux since 2000; even my work computers always ran Linux, with the only exception of the very early ones which ran proprietary Unix systems). Therefore what Microsoft does to Windows only is tangentially relevant to me.)

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:34AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:34AM (#100382)

      Even if you use Linux, the Windows philosophy is very likely coming to your computer soon, if it hasn't already. Almost all of the major distros are using systemd these days, or will be very soon. Systemd is the Windows philosophy crammed into a UNIX-like environment. Systemd is all about monolithic, opaque, all-in-one software that tries to do everything, and ends up doing everything poorly. It's about binary log files that are a pain to work with. It's about users getting a bad experience, without any real recourse other than moving to a sensible distro.

      Soon, the only way you'll be able to say you're truly using Linux is if you're using Gentoo or Slackware or one of the other Linux distros that's smart enough to not plague their users with systemd. Everyone else will be using a bastardized, Windows-ized pile of shit that just happens to be burying the Linux kernel deep underneath.

      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:14AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:14AM (#100396)

        On the other hand, I just put a fresh Arch install on my Thinkpad T42. Everything just worked out of the box, all I had to install was the firmware for my wifi adapter and the usual suspects (XCFE, networkmanager etc.) and I was up and running, including power saving and suspend/hibernate. All of it handled by systemd, without any oddball custom configure files or packages.

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:33AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:33AM (#100401)

          That has nothing to do with systemd, though. I've installed Debian and Ubuntu on T Series laptops many times, without any configuration being necessary, and systemd wasn't involved at all.

          And Linux isn't used solely on laptops, of course. It's servers where systemd is particularly harmful. I don't think your reviews would be so glowing if you had mere minutes to diagnose a problem with an important Linux server, only to find that you can't easily access the log files because they're in a terrible binary format, and the tools used to work with them aren't working properly.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday October 01 2014, @12:27PM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 01 2014, @12:27PM (#100419) Journal

          including power saving and suspend/hibernate.

          Somebody please explain: what's the biggie with suspend/hibernate? (how/when is this a critical feature?)
          No, seriously, call me weird if you like, but I don't get it.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 2) by TK on Wednesday October 01 2014, @02:10PM

            by TK (2760) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @02:10PM (#100467)

            Two use cases that are relevant to me.

            Using my laptop (Ubuntu 14.04.1)*, close the lid, move to a new location. Open up and keep doing what I was doing. Not "critical", but damn convenient, and that does make a difference.

            Using my desktop at home (Win 7), stop what I'm doing, leave for work, go to sleep, etc. The computer goes to sleep by itself, then wakes up when I get back to it in the morning or after work. I find it convenient that I don't have to choose between reaching back to where my tower is wasting power during the work day/night.

            Maybe it's not a critical feature for you**, but it does make a difference with some users. This is not a feature that servers need to care about, but personal computers do.

            *This feature actually didn't "just work", I had to change display drivers to the non-free nvidia one.

            **There, I called you weird, I didn't like it, but I know you liked it. ;)

            --
            The fleas have smaller fleas, upon their backs to bite them, and those fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum
          • (Score: 2) by monster on Wednesday October 01 2014, @04:35PM

            by monster (1260) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @04:35PM (#100529) Journal

            IIRC, it was something about ACPI's implementation on many BIOS being absolute crap. It even was worth some of Linus' vitriol. Since the manufacturers usually have Windows drivers, they include the neccesary quirks in them, but for other OSs it's an 'unpleasant surprise-WTF!-find cause-program exception' cycle.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:00PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:00PM (#100625)

              Back in 2008, the other site covered Foxconn's MoBo/BIOS failure with Linux. [googleusercontent.com] (no orig link[1]) [google.com]

              I have that page indexed to the comment by hansraj (down past where highlighting still works).
              His 2nd point concludes with "I can't think of any good reason why they need to do that unless they want to actively break things for linux."

              alexborges, up the thread, says "This is criminal behaviour".
              Whether it was just sloth or actual collusion with the anti-competitive 800 pound gorilla, they clearly only tested against Windoze.

              Average (648), down the thread from him, suggests giving Foxconn's goods poor ratings on resellers' sites.

              AC #24332951, down the thread a bit from Average, has a very on-topic +5 Informative post.

              Foxconn realized they were in deep kimchee and, as ratboy666 points out in the followup story, angry customers are a powerful force so they quickly produced a BIOS update. [googleusercontent.com] (no orig link[2]) [google.com]

              On the followup page, symbolset has another +5 Informative post.

              [1] [2] I'm not linking directly to the other site any more.
              If the link is broken because Dice Holdings is still screwing around,
              I advise you to substitute a valid 12-character string for the bogus one following q=cache:

              -- gewg_

        • (Score: 1, Troll) by tibman on Wednesday October 01 2014, @02:56PM

          by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 01 2014, @02:56PM (#100483)

          Glad to hear that your init system is managing your power saving and wifi drivers correctly : )

          --
          SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
        • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday October 01 2014, @06:43PM

          by maxwell demon (1608) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @06:43PM (#100582) Journal

          Strange, I don't need systemd for a working suspend/hibernate.

          At least I'm pretty sure that Ubuntu 10.10 does not have systemd (never upgraded my laptop to later versions in order to avoid Unity).

          Even stranger: My desktop computer for a long time had perfectly working hibernate without systemd. Now it has systemd (at the time I installed the current system, I didn't even know about systemd) and no working hibernate.

          --
          The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    • (Score: 2, Troll) by Hairyfeet on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:42PM

      by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:42PM (#100716) Journal

      Uhhh...then why do you care? Its like complaining about how Apple designs their iPads when you have never owned one...what is the point?

      As for Win 10? They have the look and features right, now its gonna come down to price. They burnt a LOT of customers with Win 8.x, not to mention they have a ton of customers still on previous OSes like XP and 7 (hell I still have a few Vista holdovers) so if they want this not to be another PR disaster they REALLY need to set a very reasonable price point. While I would love it if it were free frankly anything $40 and under for the Home edition would be VERY doable, this would make the price low enough to make it economically viable to upgrade older systems and at the same time give us that are happy with Win 7 a reason to try it. I would say the best price, one that would seriously cut down if not kil piracy AND get the most users would probably be $20 a pop and have a family pack like 5 for $50 to get families with multiple PCs on board. Remember after the Balmer Sinofsky trainwreck there is a shitload of bad will built up for the brand, anything that builds serious good will is a boon right now.

      --
      ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
      • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday October 02 2014, @06:49AM

        by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday October 02 2014, @06:49AM (#100839) Journal

        Uhhh...then why do you care?

        Why I care to make a joke about the version number? I mean, maybe the concept of humour is alien to you ...

        --
        The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
        • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Thursday October 02 2014, @08:28AM

          by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Thursday October 02 2014, @08:28AM (#100871) Journal

          Well then I'm sure you won't mind me making jokes about the wisdom of crazy homeless RMS [youtube.com] on every Linux article, since it IS humor after all...hey fair is fair, amiright? It don't bring shit to the discussion at hand but hey look, the leader of the FOSS movement is a crazy homeless guy! Its funny!

          --
          ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
          • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday October 02 2014, @06:23PM

            by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday October 02 2014, @06:23PM (#101068) Journal

            You might not have noticed, but the version number jump was part of the story. Just read the summary again.

            --
            The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
            • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Friday October 03 2014, @12:18AM

              by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Friday October 03 2014, @12:18AM (#101199) Journal

              Okay so that means that ANY TFS that has RMS in it means I get to do crazy homeless RMS jokes [youtube.com] correct? So if it has Linux in it I get to throw a Linux Party! [ytmnd.com] reference, after all it IS mentioned in TFA, even though that really isn't the point in TFS and I'm not a Linux user (thank the FSM, it can't even beat Win2K in the Hairyfeet challenge) but hey...its funny! Its Lunix Lusers led by a crazy homeless guy, that is serious snickers right there!

              --
              ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
              • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday October 03 2014, @07:33AM

                by maxwell demon (1608) on Friday October 03 2014, @07:33AM (#101304) Journal

                I don't know if you are genuinely that stupid, or if you just successfully trolled me, but either way, there's no point in continuing this discussion. You'll either continue to not get it, or continue to pretend.

                --
                The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:15AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:15AM (#100354)

    it's their shit so they can name it however they want, but seems very haphazard:

    Windows 10
    Windows 8.1
    Windows 8
    Windows 7
    Windows Vista
    Windows XP
    Windows ME
    Windows 2000
    Windows 98 SE
    Windows 98
    Windows NT 4.0
    Windows 95
    Windows for Workgroups 3.11

    any ideas what the next windows release will be after 10?

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by geb on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:28AM

      by geb (529) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:28AM (#100356)

      After 10, they'll start counting down again, releasing Windows 9, then re-releasing 8.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by marcello_dl on Wednesday October 01 2014, @05:45PM

        by marcello_dl (2685) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @05:45PM (#100556)

        Well but are we sure it's not binary? As in "there are 10 kinds of windows, both suck"

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by Common Joe on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:10AM

      by Common Joe (33) <{common.joe.0101} {at} {gmail.com}> on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:10AM (#100374) Journal

      any ideas what the next windows release will be after 10?

      Yes. I "found" the secret list. In order of planned releases:

      Windows WTF

      Windows 12.1

      Windows 12.999

      Windows ROFLMAO, Cute Kitten Edition

      Windows Cthulhu

      Windows Cthulhu 2.1.B

      Windows [Paid Sponsor Name Here]

      Windows Year 2189

      Windows Retro

      Windows 20

      Windows 20.3

      Windows 20.3 for Flying Cars

      Windows 2019 [Planned release date is 1st Quarter, 2019; Adjust Year of Product as Necessary]

      Windows for Dummies

      Windows in Windows in Windows for Metro

      Windows for Linux

      Windows We're Not Bankrupt Yet

      Windows George Washington [Emphasize how we're not working with three letter agencies]

      Windows For a Week 1

      Windows For a Week 2

      Windows For a Week 3

      Windows For a Week 3.1

      Windows For a Week 3.2

      Windows For a Week 7

      Windows For a Month

      Windows Broken and We're Broke

      Windows, Google Edition

      And there you have it. The complete list of every Windows product yet to come.

    • (Score: 2) by Geezer on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:11AM

      by Geezer (511) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:11AM (#100375)

      NT 3.52?

      (ducks)

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:47AM

      by Bot (3902) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:47AM (#100402) Journal

      That is meant to mess apple up.

      "They are releasing windows TEN! we have like 6 months before the number 10 get cursed by users! we must push IOS on macs NOW!"

      --
      Account abandoned.
      • (Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Wednesday October 01 2014, @07:18PM

        by dyingtolive (952) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @07:18PM (#100599)

        I keep wanting to call it Windows X

        --
        Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
        • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday October 04 2014, @11:03PM

          by Bot (3902) on Saturday October 04 2014, @11:03PM (#101819) Journal

          So people will wonder whether you are obsessed with widows' sex.

          --
          Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 5, Funny) by tangomargarine on Wednesday October 01 2014, @02:50PM

      by tangomargarine (667) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @02:50PM (#100479)

      Some voodoo shaman must have put a curse on them that prevents them from using the same naming scheme for 3 fucking releases in a row.

      --
      "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @03:53PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @03:53PM (#100507)

        The smart-alec part of me is wondering if by skipping a number, they mess up the "every other release is great, but the other ones are terrible rule." Since they are skipping v 9 and going to 10, does that mean they expect it to be really awful too and want to let us know ahead of time?

  • (Score: 1) by aristarchus on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:23AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:23AM (#100355) Journal

    Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!! Give me a minute to stop laughing! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!! Ha! OK, that should do it. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!! Maybe not. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! Almost! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!! Well, maybe this could go on forever. So now a word from our sponsor: "Resistance is futile. Exterminate!! I'll be Back! Where do you want to go today?" So, let me get this straight: Windows Ten (absolutely no relation to OS X, since that was not ten, it was the Roman numeral ten, and no Microsoft users or developers know Roman numerals (cripes, they can't distinguish upper case and lower case Roman letters, and you expect them to recognize numbers?) so it has no relation to any thing Apple has done, since a cutting edge company like Microsoft would never copy anyone else) is really Windows7 after Windows 8 tanked so bad that it very nearly single-handedly brought about the year of the Linux desktop. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!! Seriously, this is a joke? No basis in reality? Really? C'mon, it has to be a joke. I mean, if it is not a joke, then Microsoft . . . the implications are too horrendous even for a nice family venue like Soylent News. Strange chants have been heard in the bayous of Louisiana, incomprehensible but insistent. The Old Ones may have awakened? Bumper sticker circa 2004: "Why settle for the lesser evil? Vote Cthulhu!" Suddenly I don't feel like laughing quite so much. Mommy?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:38AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:38AM (#100383)

      What the hell is a clutluthlu?

      • (Score: 4, Funny) by c0lo on Wednesday October 01 2014, @12:32PM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 01 2014, @12:32PM (#100420) Journal

        What the hell is a clutluthlu?

        A s...st-st-stammering cthulhu?

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday October 02 2014, @07:48AM

          by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday October 02 2014, @07:48AM (#100853) Journal

          But I never said

          clutluthlu

          . And careful what you intone. Windows Ten is listening.

          • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday October 02 2014, @07:56AM

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 02 2014, @07:56AM (#100856) Journal

            But I never said ...

            That's beside the point! I was answering a question, I don't care why the question was asked. :)

            And careful what you intone. Windows Ten is listening.

            I'm free of windows for some good years already. Even my mother gave up in trying to remove me from her (windowless) basement.
            (grin)

            --
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by keplr on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:34AM

    by keplr (2104) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:34AM (#100359) Journal

    Windows 7 is stable, fast, and every year becomes more lightweight relative to the newest offering from MS. If you need Windows, that's where you go. Oh, and it's supported until 2020. Does anyone really think Windows will be relevant, even to gamers, by 2020? They'll probably be shipping a Linux version of Office by then. They already make a version for Macintosh, which I rather like.

    It's nice that they're trying to be more responsive; but too little, too late. And I'm not happy that they've volunteered--yes, eagerly stepped up to the plate--to be the NSA's partner, their subsidiary IT contractor. There's no goodwill left for MS, the first and most exuberant PRISM partner. There's nothing compelling left in their lineup of spy devices and spyware. Skype converts any device to one of Orwell's telescreens. Xbone is always listening, always watching. Windows CC's every file you see to government spooks.

    What exactly are they offering, again?

    --
    I don't respond to ACs.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:50AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:50AM (#100386)

      What are the alternatives, though?

      Google has used up pretty much all of the goodwill it may have had, for reasons similar to those that you've listed for Microsoft.

      Apple never had much goodwill to begin with, other than for those with far too much money to waste on useless status symbol gadgets.

      Mozilla used up any goodwill it had when it fucked up Firefox for so many users, when it killed Thunderbird, and when they spun their wheels with dumb stuff like Firefox OS and that stupid Chromecast clone.

      Ubuntu used up any goodwill it had when it introduced Unity, then went into negative goodwill after the whole Amazon privacy debacle.

      Even Debian has lost its goodwill with the recent systemd tragedy. This just goes to show that even those with the purest intentions and the best record can be destroyed by one single stupid decision.

      Goodwill means nothing when nobody involved has any left.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday October 01 2014, @12:36PM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 01 2014, @12:36PM (#100422) Journal

      What exactly are they offering, again?

      Lives in sacrifice to angry Gods. Bad karma caught with them.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 2) by Subsentient on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:45AM

    by Subsentient (1111) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:45AM (#100360) Homepage Journal

    Windows is a good blockade against cloud technology. I used to think Microsoft was the enemy until I realized what a nightmare cloud would be. If Windows 10 can slow down adoption of cloud, I'm all for it. Therefore, I indeed hope that Windows 10 is an improvement.

    --
    "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:56AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:56AM (#100362)

      Micro$oft offers cloud services. Their new office is could only. They just infamously thought the internet is a fad and are late to the game. Not much of an ally against the clouded computing.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @09:04AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @09:04AM (#100363)
    Vista, Windows 8 were the times for Desktop Linux to gain marketshare.

    But instead the developers/leaders made Desktop Linux even less attractive.

    Apple and Google have proven that a significant percentage of the public will willingly adopt non-Windows Desktop OSes.

    And no it's NOT to do with systemd. But might be related to the attitudes and priorities of the developers.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:42AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:42AM (#100384)

      Yeah, there was a big opportunity to do things right, but the major Linux distros and projects did flub it badly. GNOME 2 was on the cusp of something great. It was a well polished system that worked very well. But then GNOME 3 and Unity happened, which completely ruined all of that. Systemd surely is involved, though. It's really tightly tied to GNOME 3. They go together hand in hand in the failure of Linux distros to capitalize on trouble in Windows land.

      • (Score: 2) by bart9h on Wednesday October 01 2014, @12:21PM

        by bart9h (767) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @12:21PM (#100414)

        Which is why I run GNOME 2^H^H^H^H^H^H^H MATE.

        And everyone could, too. Linux Mint is a great distro for the average user (what Ubuntu was years ago).

        Too sad that it's somewhat "hidden" from the average user.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @04:00PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @04:00PM (#100512)

          I haven't used Mint because there was something mentioned about them spying on people a while back. Does anyone recall the details on that and if it's still on by default?

    • (Score: 1) by datapharmer on Wednesday October 01 2014, @12:59PM

      by datapharmer (2702) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @12:59PM (#100433)

      Chromebooks are selling great, but everyone I know who has bought one runs linux on it as the chromeos is rather restrictive and privacy invading. Slap an ubuntu/debian derivative like elementary or mint on them though and they run great.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:50PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @08:50PM (#100650)

      Places that don't allow themselves to be under the thumb of the USA's mercantilism are adopting Linux in ever-increasing numbers.
      Uruguay, Venezuela, Ethiopia, and Reunion Island have Linux usage numbers that are up out of the noise. [mrpogson.com]
      (Did Internot Exploder ever get SVG support?)

      Norway, Spain, Czech Republic, and France have noteworthy Linux usage. [mrpogson.com]

      Here's a world map showing Linux usage. [mrpogson.com]

      The days of monoculture are over.
      The world is becoming a more diverse place.

      -- gewg_

  • (Score: 1) by canopic jug on Wednesday October 01 2014, @09:10AM

    by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 01 2014, @09:10AM (#100366) Journal

    Or, is the best you have to say about it "too little too late"?

    Or the best that can be said is that the article is spam. Whenever a version fails, which has been every time so far, they trot out press releases about the "next" version and fill the media with reports on vaporware. No need to help them here, especially if not paid a lot to do so.

    "Evangelism's focus may shift immediately to the next version of the same technology, however. Indeed, Phase 1 (Evangelism Starts) for version x+1 may start as soon as this Final Release of version X. [groklaw.net]

    --
    Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:53AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:53AM (#100387)

      Windows 8 is the first version of Windows in a long time to have not been fully successful. Even then, it's still more widely used than any other non-Microsoft desktop OS. Even Vista, which also wasn't a spectacular success like Windows XP or Windows 7, still has more users than any other non-Microsoft desktop OS. What's considered a "failure" when it comes to Windows releases would be seen as a massive success were it to involve Ubuntu or some other Linux distro.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @01:21PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @01:21PM (#100443)

        When my wifes grandparents come to me and say 'I want a new computer'. I told them 'sure I can help with that go to the store and try it out and see if you like it'. They came back and said 'I do not understand how to use it, it is hard to use'. I did not even prime them. I just gave them those exact instructions. They currently use Vista... They are pretty good at getting around and know what to do. I got out of them they could not even figure out what to click on to start something. They then said 'well we will just wait for the next version'. Again I did not prime them. They pretty much came to the same conclusions everyone else did.

        You can eventually end up with a GUI shell like 8. But you do not just yank the bandaid off. You go there in 4-5 versions. Apple could pull something like that off (and it was not that radical when they did) because at the time they had a tiny share with only the most loyal of followers left. Doubt they could pull it off now.

        I can see what MS is trying to do. They want the desktop to be more interactive less static and 'pop' for when it is sitting on a shelf at best buy. They tried it with live web backgrounds, widgets, and now tiles. The thing is people may want a bit of interactivity with the OS. But when it comes time to do what they want they want it to launch easily and then get out of the way and able to flip back to your other work easily and feel like you control it. If the interactivity is in the way or considered 'bloated' they turn it off. It is why things like unity tick people off. It fails 'launch it easily' step. It also fails the 'you control it' feel. Windows 8 did the exact same mistakes. Even win7 is a fair step backwards in GUI usability (but it is marginal enough people put up with it). Its start menu is actually a pain to use unless you know the *exact* program you want to launch. If you dont you end up in the menu tree anyway (which is at least an option).

        I personally will give '10' a try. As they really did some cool stuff under the hood in 8. It should be interesting what they did in 10. But the GUI for most people 'is' the OS. If it passes my sniff test I may even buy a copy with a broadwell cpu to run it. 8 Failed that. So I still use 7. We shall see.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @09:43AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @09:43AM (#100372)

    B-but if this is aligned with Microsoft's current OS release pattern then 10 is SUPPOSED to be shit!

    Does this mean we won't get the Next Good Windows version until Windows 11?

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Wednesday October 01 2014, @12:42PM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 01 2014, @12:42PM (#100426) Journal

      Does this mean we won't get the Next Good Windows version until Windows 11?

      You mean Windows 10 "Snow Leopard"?
      (ducks)

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday October 01 2014, @02:53PM

      by tangomargarine (667) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @02:53PM (#100482)

      It would've made a lot more sense if they skipped an even number, yeah.

      But everybody knows to count every-other release rather than go by the latest wacky naming scheme that will last at most 2 iterations, so that maneuver would be rather pointless, too.

      --
      "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
  • (Score: 2) by BradTheGeek on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:11AM

    by BradTheGeek (450) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:11AM (#100393)

    Windows 9 would be 3^2 and confirm that HL3 is being released. GabeN made them change the number.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Gaaark on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:14AM

    by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:14AM (#100395) Journal

    Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...

    Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most PC's go up to ten?

    Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.

    Marty DiBergi: Does that mean linux is better? Is it any better?

    Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one better, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your PC. Where can you go from there? Where?

    Marty DiBergi: I don't know.

    Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?

    Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.

    Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One better.

    Marty DiBergi: Why doesn't Microsoft you just make ten better and make ten be the top number and make that a little better?

    Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:27AM

    by PizzaRollPlinkett (4512) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:27AM (#100399)

    I don't think many people realized it, but the plan with Win8 was to split Windows into OEM consumer vs business versions. You ever try to create a local account on a Win8 box? Very hard. Why? Microsoft wanted everyone to create online Bing accounts and use Metro apps. They wanted to monetize their captive audience, people who buy consumer PCs at Wal-Mart and Office Depot. From almost day one with the first public beta preview, I realized where MS wanted to go. I'm surprised the media did not pick up on this. Windows 9 was going to be split into a Metro-only OEM version and a Win32/Win64 legacy version for businesses. For consumers, running your own apps locally was not going to be possible in Windows 9. You were only going to be able to use Microsoft's walled garden app store and locked-in online apps with your Bing signon. Businesses who needed to run legacy VB and .NET apps could still get the legacy version, which would cost more than a consumer could pay, but would be deeply discounted for businesses. The idea would be to make it hard for normal people to run Win32/Win64 programs, forcing them to use the MS app store. MS was going to monetize their captive audience by forcing them to use Metro apps and always be online.

    So Windows 9 has been scrapped, at least the concept behind it has been scrapped. That's why they went to Windows 10. Microsoft couldn't cram a walled garden down people's throats the way they wanted to. I'm glad this blew up in their faces and they're having to change. Unfortunately, I think the problem is more that people don't like change than it is that people saw what MS was trying to do and rejected it.

    Would be interesting to get MS insiders' perspectives on this period some day. I'd like to see the "Halloween memo" version of the original Windows 9 plan.

    --
    (E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)
    • (Score: 2) by Alfred on Wednesday October 01 2014, @04:14PM

      by Alfred (4006) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @04:14PM (#100520) Journal

      I'm surprised the media did not pick up on this.

      It is not the job of the media to think, just parrot. Journalist are intentionally not paid enough to think which is also too little to fund getting another degree. But to be fair, most techies wouldn't have thought of what you did either.

      Otherwise a very interesting comment.
      Microsoft walled garden = ROTFLOL

      Maybe I should pick up a copy of Win 7 for my virtual machines before it disappears.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @09:24PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @09:24PM (#100665)

        GP doesn't appreciate the business model of commercial media (aka Lamestream Media):
        Make your advertisers unhappy and they go elsewhere.
        M$ is all about advertising.

        Further, for favorable coverage, some "journalists" accept incentives like "free" computers from M$ as well as trips through the M$ revolving door.
        Folks who are still in denial about this stuff need to spend some time at TechRights.org, a site replete with well-documented instances.

        El Reg is a site that *does* recognize that standard business model and notes on their pages "Biting the hand that feeds IT".
        Now, whether that bunch actually does that is variable--but at least they don't go saying something stupid and dishonest like "Fair and balanced".

        -- gewg_

      • (Score: 1) by quixote on Thursday October 02 2014, @06:44PM

        by quixote (4355) on Thursday October 02 2014, @06:44PM (#101077)

        Microsoft don't do no fancypants gardens. It was gonna be a walled work camp, thankyouverymuch.

  • (Score: 1) by VLM on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:56AM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 01 2014, @11:56AM (#100406)

    I guess they had to catch up to freebsd

    good news though, $employer just switched us from XP to win7 on the desktops this spring so we've got about 7 years until we'll have to put up with this new version. The xp boxes worked fine. win7 is a little slower but no big deal.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @01:01PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @01:01PM (#100437)

    __http://windows9hub.com/asimov-monitor-users-windows-9-real-time/

    Microsoft will monitor users in the new Windows 9 Operating System in order to determine how the new OS is used, thus decide what tweaks and changes are need to be made ... The new system is codenamed ‘Asimov’ and will provide a near real-time view of what is happening on users’ machines. Rest assured, the data is going to be obscured and aggregated, but intelligible enough to allow Microsoft to get detailed insights into user interactions with the OS...

    If you think about the above for a moment ---also considering this is a closed source operating system with many undocumented features and crammed full of spaghetti code and binary obfuscations--- how the fuck can you have faith that such an operating system will fully comply with your inputs ???!!!

    This thing HAS backdoors !!! This thing WILL ignore specific addresses you place in the HOSTS file !!! This thing is close to the end of its useful lifespan and its owners know that; they have made an end-play and totally jumped in bed with the tainted oligarchy to extract as much info as possible from userland before the crash comes and before the dissenting masses mobilize the inevitable replacement.

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @01:24PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @01:24PM (#100446)

    Still a crappy design I see. Someone needs to tell Microsoft that horizontal real estate on the screen is at a premium. The reason I bought wide-screen monitors is not so they can fill half the damned screen with some menu and shove my document to the right. I'll be hanging on to Win 7 and my pre 2010 Office a little longer I guess.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by buswolley on Wednesday October 01 2014, @07:38PM

      by buswolley (848) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @07:38PM (#100612)

      Actually, vertical space is important to me while coding.

      --
      subicular junctures
  • (Score: 2) by halcyon1234 on Wednesday October 01 2014, @03:00PM

    by halcyon1234 (1082) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @03:00PM (#100486)

    It is such a substantial leap, according to Microsoft's executive VP of operating systems

    Yes, it is. A huge leap backwards. Back to a stable, liked UI. Which is where you should have been in the first place. So... win? =|

    --
    Original Submission [thedailywtf.com]
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by q.kontinuum on Wednesday October 01 2014, @09:59PM

    by q.kontinuum (532) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @09:59PM (#100685) Journal

    according to this tweet [twitter.com], the reason is code like this:

    if (version.startsWith("9") {

            /* Windows 95/Windows 98 */

          ...

    }

    in just too many customer applications. Not sure if true, but I wouldn't be surprised.

    --
    Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum