pelov lov 3 days ago - http://www.extremetech.com/computing/17 ... s-8-update wrote:This is silly. Microsoft adds a 'Start Menu' which still hides the control panel and plasters half of it with the Metro interface and they have the cahones to come out and say stuff like 'The desktop is not a second class citizen.'
I watched the entire BUILD key note yesterday, and at no point did I feel like MS have two shits about the desktop outside of placating angry and uninformed users and giving the press something to talk about (you've done your part). Of the 3 hours, nearly all of it was dedicated to WP8 and Metro and the internet of things. If you doubt what I'm saying, just watch it yourself and see. It's freely available on the web.
For those that did watch it, you'll have noticed a few things that made you go, 'Wait, what?'
- WP8 is still powered by Qualcomm, and now even more so with Qualcomm's reference designs. Yes, you'll have to wait even longer to use an SoC that isn't made by Qualcomm inside of a phone.
- Their 'Start menu is back' screenshot also features the Mail app from Metro, although windowed, still designed for touch screen. Note the massive buttons and lack of menu.
- To make matters worse, they outlined 3 different models for their universal apps in Win8, but the desktop was bundled with tablets. So, yes, future 'desktop' apps are built for touch interface and Microsoft intends it to stay that way for the long haul. They even showed how easy it was to turn a WinRT app from tablet to phone or desktop (and I use the term 'desktop' very loosely as MS's idea of a desktop is just a giant tablet)
- There's still nothing regarding OpenGL ES. All of the SoCs MS will use are OpenGL/ES compliant, but MS is still hammering at DirectX for mobile while talking up their 'cross-platform' software approach. Apparently, cross-platform means Windows Mobile, or as developers call it, 'Ignore Outright.'
MS is very quickly embracing Javascript, which is great, but still nothing regarding Java or Python. They still want developers to use .NET frameworks with C++, C#, or HTML5 ... and that's it, really.
So, Sebastian, while you're parroting about how there's a new Start Menu and the 'New Microsoft', actual hardcore users are asking questions like:
Where are the workspaces?
Has the thread scheduler improved further? Win8, although better than Win7, is still quite poor in this regard.
What about cost? Apple offers their OS upgrades for free. What will MS to do compete here?
Remote access? Cloud storage bundled perhaps?
Further idiotic RAM limitations?
Given MS is focusing so heavily on mobile and is encouraging developers to use a 'common core' for all apps, does this mean there will be an inevitable degradation in quality applications for M+KB users like we've already seen?
Are Metro apps still going to be the default applications despite their desktop brethren being more fully-featured? (Answer to this is yes, btw)
What about MS's backwards approach to PPI scaling? Are we going to see a standardization of resolutions or at least a significantly less lenient approach here towards apps addressing the issue?
What about legacy applications? Will MS work with software partners to ensure that their applications can scale well as resolutions climb higher?
And finally, what am I getting for the desktop/workstation that I don't already have with Win7?
The answer to the last one is actually very simple if you've read this article: A new start menu. Because downloading a shell to change the look of the default Win8 start menu was too difficult and/or complicated. Now with addition of mashed-up Metro+classic start menu fixes all of the above problems...
... provided you don't ask any further questions...