- ATB.jpg (83.1 KiB) Viewed 4998 times
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woose
I tried Windows 10 tonight on an old, slow laptop. It installed and runs pretty slow, but I can't blame the OS for that.
It seems to be just a slightly friendlier version of Windows 8.x. I made the mistake of trying the tiled version of Skype which took forever to load and had these huge fonts which cut off most of the contacts names and was ridiculous looking. I opened up the News tile too which was also huge and goofy looking.
The windows are all non-transparent which I don't mind, but it would be nice to have an Aero option.
Overall I would not install this on an important system unless they make it a little more non-8.x-like. And that dude in the video has some really funky hair :D
My Windows 10 experience thus far makes me need some of the activity in the picture below.
-Woose
It seems to be just a slightly friendlier version of Windows 8.x. I made the mistake of trying the tiled version of Skype which took forever to load and had these huge fonts which cut off most of the contacts names and was ridiculous looking. I opened up the News tile too which was also huge and goofy looking.
The windows are all non-transparent which I don't mind, but it would be nice to have an Aero option.
Overall I would not install this on an important system unless they make it a little more non-8.x-like. And that dude in the video has some really funky hair :D
My Windows 10 experience thus far makes me need some of the activity in the picture below.
-Woose
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MasterOne
I downloaded the Windows 10 Technical Preview, and will now comment on my findings. We'll begin where woose left off, where he said the Windows 10 Technical Preview is a slightly friendlier version of Windows 8.x. He's right, and there are some improvements that Microsoft has made to the operating system which I applaud Microsoft for doing so. Gone is the absolutely repugnant Start screen which looked like fermented dog shit, and now we have the Start menu back which obviously should never have been removed in the first place. I'm not crazy about the tiles, which in a tackiness-like fashion are now pasted on to the side of the Start menu. To me it looks pretty cheesy and poorly executed, and shows me that Microsoft scrambled for a way to combine their wacky bifurcated UI's into one. The tiles look like they're from the CGA days. There is no depth to them, no interesting animations when you hover over or click on them, and no eye candy here. To cut to the chase, they look fucking ugly and I'm not the only person who's been saying this. I haven't yet met even one person who claimed that they thought the "tile paradigm" idea was a good one, and everybody I've talked to has said they think Modern tiles are stupid, usless, and annoying. Did the Zune not use tiles and fail? The UI on it was a total piece of crap; why are we repeating history so many years later and continuing a failing trend from Windows 8.x? Does Microsoft even get it?
The best Windows Store foisting effort they could come up with is by default (as I wrote above), having Modern tiles attached to the Start menu. Even though they can be removed and resized, I don't like the idea nor do I like the functionality even being there. Microsoft's trying to spin it like they're giving you all this convenience, but in actuality it's just a ploy to try to get app store sales. There really is no added convenience to a desktop user of using a locked-down Windows machine. And I'm not talking about user permissions such as that on a Linux distro, where the default settings have usually been done correctly by the developers right out of the box by not giving the user administrative access. I'm talking about totalitarianism. Microsoft is showing us that they still are not committed to offering a true desktop version of Windows, and that the store is not an optional thing. Microsoft is testing the marketplace right now to see what users will put up with, but let me tell you, I'm not putting up with it. It's there whether you like it or not, and I highly doubt that it'd become an optional install in the final release of Windows 10. I, too, installed the Windows 10 Technical Preview on a slow older laptop, and I'll share with you what the current incarnation of the Windows store looks like:
Can you see business users getting any value out of the store? I can't. The UI and layout are absolutely atrocious, and just being within the Windows store makes me want to vomit. It's the ultimate insult to human intelligence. Okay, yes, it's true that there are people out there that shouldn't have a computer yet do, and that maybe for them they could reap the benefits of a walled garden environment. However, that's not me and that's not a lot of other people. Here we have a case where Microsoft's trying to cash in on app store sales that Google and Apple are enjoying, but they're going about it in the wrong way. Another problem for Microsoft is that developers of existing Win32 applications are already marketing their software through their own websites and don't need Microsoft there to cut into their income. The Windows Store is a total failure anyway, so developers of existing applications really have no incentive to have Uncle Sam take 30%. This is a grave problem for Microsoft, as iOS and Android were new platforms built around app stores that run on phones and tablets. Windows obviously was not, and modifying the dynamics of trying to be something it never was intended for isn't working. There should be a tablet/phone version of Windows and a desktop version. Is it really that fucking complicated? The bureaucracy at Microsoft hasn't got it yet, which all goes way back to Microsoft's lineage of never really being an innovator of anything. There's so much legacy software for the platform that this is what's keeping it dominant on the desktop for the time being. Since Microsoft has for so long been a platform that's been developer-friendly, the precedent has already been set. Foisting the store on users and developers creates a backlash effect, and even though Microsoft HQ would argue that writing apps for the store with Visual Studio is a very friendly option and that I'm wrong, I would obviously disagree. What if you're a developer and get into a dispute with Microsoft about your app and they decide to remove it? Guess what? You're fucked. Developers aren't stupid enough to allow Microsoft to have totalitarian control over their feudalistic platform. It's not the first time that this has happened either; Google removed Adblock Plus from Google Play because it was cutting into their ad revenue: https://adblockplus.org/blog/adblock-pl ... play-store
The next thing I'll talk about is the installation phase. The Windows 10 installer hangs for a quite a long time on a black screen with a cheesy turquoise flat looking Windows logo, and Microsoft needs to do something about this as I remember the same thing happening with Windows 8.x -- it's almost as if the system has crashed. The install screens are ugly and look a lot worse than what you'd find in Windows 7. The entire install took a very long time, and even though the laptop I installed it on isn't very fast (it's still a dual-core), the install should have happened in less time. The user no longer has to jump through hoops to not create a Microsoft account, as it didn't even ask me about it. Microsoft has listened to feedback here, so we have a win on one item. If you're not familiar with the past, Microsoft almost forced users to create a Microsoft account during the installation phase of Windows 8.x. There's a way around it, but many people got stuck here and capitulated. The installer still asks the user a ton of privacy-based questions about whether or not to share data with Microsoft, and I didn't like this. Installing a Linux desktop doesn't do this, and normally (on most all distros) it by default will respect your privacy. Windows 10 seems all about trying to get as much data about you as possible, without crossing a threshold that will hurt Microsoft's sales. In other words, Microsoft would want to know what you hide up your asshole if they could.
There's a feedback system within the Windows 10 Technical Preview which you must have a Microsoft account to use, yet a window popped up randomly, asking me if I wanted to give Microsoft feedback. It allowed me to do so without having created or signing into a Microsoft account. Does that make any sense? I'm not interested in creating a Microsoft account.
The Windows 10 Technical preview comes with the modern version of Skype, and let me tell you, it's absolutely horrible. I didn't even get it running because when I attempted to run it, it demanded that I have a Microsoft account:
Then I got stuck in an endless loop of trying to close the nag window about signing into a Microsoft account. Yes, I know other ways of forcing a window to close, but I was trying to be just an average user. The cancel button nor X didn't close it out, so here the average user would get stuck. I had to right-click the icon on the taskbar and click close. During another instance while playing with other apps, the Microsoft account nag window hung:
The apps are all very stupid looking and definitely have no place on the desktop. The stupid lock screen is still present, and has no use on a desktop PC. Here's what the video app looks like:
Is that not amazing looking? Yeah, it had not fully opened yet, but you get the gist. The PC settings window also looks very odious, which was carried over from Windows 8.x. It needs major improvements, and the user still has to right-click on the Start button (which is also washed out and ugly) to get to the control panel. Why not just stick with what works: the fucking control panel?
Another thing I didn't like is that after doing a Windows update, it said it was going to restart my computer in 1 day. There was no option to not have it do that. I don't know if it prompts you or not when the 24 hours is up, but again, this ideology is poorly executed:
So there we have it. There's really not much more to write about. Windows is Windows and we all know what Windows is and does, and Windows doesn't need to do anything more than it already did in Windows 7. Rather than making technical improvements to Windows like ditching the registry and getting rid of NTFS and having something on par with EXT4 and Btrfs, Microsoft is caught up in an illusion that the changes they're making are going to allow them to continue to control the desktop marketplace. The horse has left the barn long ago, and Microsoft can continue to live in their little fantasy land and play with their billions of dollars.
The best Windows Store foisting effort they could come up with is by default (as I wrote above), having Modern tiles attached to the Start menu. Even though they can be removed and resized, I don't like the idea nor do I like the functionality even being there. Microsoft's trying to spin it like they're giving you all this convenience, but in actuality it's just a ploy to try to get app store sales. There really is no added convenience to a desktop user of using a locked-down Windows machine. And I'm not talking about user permissions such as that on a Linux distro, where the default settings have usually been done correctly by the developers right out of the box by not giving the user administrative access. I'm talking about totalitarianism. Microsoft is showing us that they still are not committed to offering a true desktop version of Windows, and that the store is not an optional thing. Microsoft is testing the marketplace right now to see what users will put up with, but let me tell you, I'm not putting up with it. It's there whether you like it or not, and I highly doubt that it'd become an optional install in the final release of Windows 10. I, too, installed the Windows 10 Technical Preview on a slow older laptop, and I'll share with you what the current incarnation of the Windows store looks like:
- store.png (496.82 KiB) Viewed 4987 times
Can you see business users getting any value out of the store? I can't. The UI and layout are absolutely atrocious, and just being within the Windows store makes me want to vomit. It's the ultimate insult to human intelligence. Okay, yes, it's true that there are people out there that shouldn't have a computer yet do, and that maybe for them they could reap the benefits of a walled garden environment. However, that's not me and that's not a lot of other people. Here we have a case where Microsoft's trying to cash in on app store sales that Google and Apple are enjoying, but they're going about it in the wrong way. Another problem for Microsoft is that developers of existing Win32 applications are already marketing their software through their own websites and don't need Microsoft there to cut into their income. The Windows Store is a total failure anyway, so developers of existing applications really have no incentive to have Uncle Sam take 30%. This is a grave problem for Microsoft, as iOS and Android were new platforms built around app stores that run on phones and tablets. Windows obviously was not, and modifying the dynamics of trying to be something it never was intended for isn't working. There should be a tablet/phone version of Windows and a desktop version. Is it really that fucking complicated? The bureaucracy at Microsoft hasn't got it yet, which all goes way back to Microsoft's lineage of never really being an innovator of anything. There's so much legacy software for the platform that this is what's keeping it dominant on the desktop for the time being. Since Microsoft has for so long been a platform that's been developer-friendly, the precedent has already been set. Foisting the store on users and developers creates a backlash effect, and even though Microsoft HQ would argue that writing apps for the store with Visual Studio is a very friendly option and that I'm wrong, I would obviously disagree. What if you're a developer and get into a dispute with Microsoft about your app and they decide to remove it? Guess what? You're fucked. Developers aren't stupid enough to allow Microsoft to have totalitarian control over their feudalistic platform. It's not the first time that this has happened either; Google removed Adblock Plus from Google Play because it was cutting into their ad revenue: https://adblockplus.org/blog/adblock-pl ... play-store
The next thing I'll talk about is the installation phase. The Windows 10 installer hangs for a quite a long time on a black screen with a cheesy turquoise flat looking Windows logo, and Microsoft needs to do something about this as I remember the same thing happening with Windows 8.x -- it's almost as if the system has crashed. The install screens are ugly and look a lot worse than what you'd find in Windows 7. The entire install took a very long time, and even though the laptop I installed it on isn't very fast (it's still a dual-core), the install should have happened in less time. The user no longer has to jump through hoops to not create a Microsoft account, as it didn't even ask me about it. Microsoft has listened to feedback here, so we have a win on one item. If you're not familiar with the past, Microsoft almost forced users to create a Microsoft account during the installation phase of Windows 8.x. There's a way around it, but many people got stuck here and capitulated. The installer still asks the user a ton of privacy-based questions about whether or not to share data with Microsoft, and I didn't like this. Installing a Linux desktop doesn't do this, and normally (on most all distros) it by default will respect your privacy. Windows 10 seems all about trying to get as much data about you as possible, without crossing a threshold that will hurt Microsoft's sales. In other words, Microsoft would want to know what you hide up your asshole if they could.
There's a feedback system within the Windows 10 Technical Preview which you must have a Microsoft account to use, yet a window popped up randomly, asking me if I wanted to give Microsoft feedback. It allowed me to do so without having created or signing into a Microsoft account. Does that make any sense? I'm not interested in creating a Microsoft account.
- feedback.png (213.26 KiB) Viewed 4987 times
The Windows 10 Technical preview comes with the modern version of Skype, and let me tell you, it's absolutely horrible. I didn't even get it running because when I attempted to run it, it demanded that I have a Microsoft account:
- skype.png (64.61 KiB) Viewed 4987 times
Then I got stuck in an endless loop of trying to close the nag window about signing into a Microsoft account. Yes, I know other ways of forcing a window to close, but I was trying to be just an average user. The cancel button nor X didn't close it out, so here the average user would get stuck. I had to right-click the icon on the taskbar and click close. During another instance while playing with other apps, the Microsoft account nag window hung:
- ms account nag.png (108.64 KiB) Viewed 4987 times
The apps are all very stupid looking and definitely have no place on the desktop. The stupid lock screen is still present, and has no use on a desktop PC. Here's what the video app looks like:
- video.png (36.59 KiB) Viewed 4987 times
Is that not amazing looking? Yeah, it had not fully opened yet, but you get the gist. The PC settings window also looks very odious, which was carried over from Windows 8.x. It needs major improvements, and the user still has to right-click on the Start button (which is also washed out and ugly) to get to the control panel. Why not just stick with what works: the fucking control panel?
- settings.png (215.1 KiB) Viewed 4987 times
Another thing I didn't like is that after doing a Windows update, it said it was going to restart my computer in 1 day. There was no option to not have it do that. I don't know if it prompts you or not when the 24 hours is up, but again, this ideology is poorly executed:
- update.png (211.01 KiB) Viewed 4987 times
So there we have it. There's really not much more to write about. Windows is Windows and we all know what Windows is and does, and Windows doesn't need to do anything more than it already did in Windows 7. Rather than making technical improvements to Windows like ditching the registry and getting rid of NTFS and having something on par with EXT4 and Btrfs, Microsoft is caught up in an illusion that the changes they're making are going to allow them to continue to control the desktop marketplace. The horse has left the barn long ago, and Microsoft can continue to live in their little fantasy land and play with their billions of dollars.
Excellent post MasterOne! I have read 10% of it just very quickly, I will read it in details in a few minutes. I must have tea with it, because I want to enjoy reading it!
A quick trolololol...:
Windows 10's new icons show a flat future ahead.
Funny how these Orwellian bastards change the meaning of the words. 2-3 coloured icons are now "modern" but full 16 million coloured with depth is now "legacy". Disgusting!
A quick trolololol...:
Windows 10's new icons show a flat future ahead.
To no surprise, the icons are going flat and have the 'modern' feel to them. While there may be many of the legacy icons still sticking around, we can see these new ones and understand the direction Microsoft is taking. Based on the small sample, blue, green, white and tan are the primary colors for the icons; we fully expect to see this same theme carried forward and the icons that have not been updated yet, will match this theme.
Funny how these Orwellian bastards change the meaning of the words. 2-3 coloured icons are now "modern" but full 16 million coloured with depth is now "legacy". Disgusting!
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That review was very thorough. That "Video App" has me laughing. Would I be correct in assuming that things like Windows Media Player and other applications that are appropriate for a desktop PC still there?
I've starting thinking about the whole tile thing. My opinion of them being appropriate for tablets and cell phones is changing. Having played with programs/applications like Google Gadgets, Microsoft's Sidebar and other that offer similar "functionality" and tried out sites that let you put "widgets" in your homepage (iGoogle for instance) after the initial thought that they look cool wore off, I begin to realize that they're annoying, just plain ugly to look at and not really useful. I just ended up deleting them and not looking back. I don't imagine that I'm alone.
While I don't have one, I do occasionally make calls, play games, look at photos or send messages on someone else's smart phone and can say, in all honesty, that the icon-paradigm works just fine there. I haven't seen anyone with a Windows Phone. Haven't heard anyone clamoring for one either. I rather imagine that especially on small screens with tiles, you'd end up doing more scrolling or tapping to find the application you want. They are ways to alert you that you have new messages (voice mail, instant messages, emails, on social media sites) without taking a huge chunk of the real estate on the screen, so that you can read it or just see part of it.
I'd be interested to hear from long-time iOS/Android users (that don't have an agenda) who now have a Windows Phone to hear what they think.
I've starting thinking about the whole tile thing. My opinion of them being appropriate for tablets and cell phones is changing. Having played with programs/applications like Google Gadgets, Microsoft's Sidebar and other that offer similar "functionality" and tried out sites that let you put "widgets" in your homepage (iGoogle for instance) after the initial thought that they look cool wore off, I begin to realize that they're annoying, just plain ugly to look at and not really useful. I just ended up deleting them and not looking back. I don't imagine that I'm alone.
While I don't have one, I do occasionally make calls, play games, look at photos or send messages on someone else's smart phone and can say, in all honesty, that the icon-paradigm works just fine there. I haven't seen anyone with a Windows Phone. Haven't heard anyone clamoring for one either. I rather imagine that especially on small screens with tiles, you'd end up doing more scrolling or tapping to find the application you want. They are ways to alert you that you have new messages (voice mail, instant messages, emails, on social media sites) without taking a huge chunk of the real estate on the screen, so that you can read it or just see part of it.
I'd be interested to hear from long-time iOS/Android users (that don't have an agenda) who now have a Windows Phone to hear what they think.
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MasterOne
The tile thing isn't selling, for a good reason. People don't like it. Just look at the Windows Phone market share. Everyone I talk to hates the tiles in Windows 8.x, and nobody I know has a Windows Phone or talks about getting one. Here, everybody buys iPhones and Android phones. Microsoft's trying to be innovative and different by thinking that their tiled bullshit makes them a leader, but all it is is a stupid idea that people don't want.
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MasterOne
Why doesn't Microsoft open up the source code to the Windows Kernel? Hmm...maybe it's so riddled with security holes and backdoors that it would be a major embarrassment to the shareholders once the public got a view. Plus, it's not like the Linux or BSD world is going to steal Windows' code! It's probably best to keep on using that security through obscurity model. People go out and buy Windows to have it spy on them. Oh, did you not think you were being tracked when you open up a Microsoft Account and give up your phone number and other personal information? Microsoft gets to keep tabs on every application you download through the Windows store, and let's not forget about the kill switch that exists in Windows 8.x that Microsoft doesn't want you to know about. That right there is a backdoor, and will most likely also exist in Windows 10. Yet nobody seems to really care. Just a bunch of dumb fucks that can barely do addition and fractions.
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MasterOne
I skipped through the EULA when I installed the Windows 10 Preview Edition and didn't realize all this until now, but Microsoft is now admitting that Windows spies on the user. Before, Windows would spy on the user but didn't tell them it was doing so. The Windows 10 Preview Edition takes spying to a whole new level. This is really a genius move by MS in the wake of the Snowden saga and normal consumers becoming more privacy-conscious. You gotta hand it to the Microsoft board of directors -- they must be a group of some seriously dumb fucks!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/07 ... ollection/
Don't want Microsoft tracking you online and collecting data on your computing habits? Then you probably shouldn't install the Windows 10 Technical Preview, Redmond says.
The interwebs were abuzz on Monday over concerns about the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy of Microsoft's newly released, not-even-beta-yet OS, with some sites going as far as to claim that Windows 10 comes with a "built-in keylogger" to watch users' every move.
Turns out these Chicken Littles were right - sort of - but according to Microsoft they should have known about the data collection from the get-go, because they agreed to it.
"With Windows 10, we're kicking off the largest ever open collaborative development effort that will change the way we build and deliver Windows," a Redmond spokesperson told El Reg in an emailed statement. "Users who join the Windows Insider Program and opt-in to the Windows 10 Technical Preview are choosing to provide data and feedback that will help shape the best Windows experience for our customers."
And sure enough, although Microsoft isn't providing detailed information about what it's monitoring and how, the red flags for privacy freaks are all there in the legalese everyone breezed through before downloading the preview.
According to the Windows Insider Program's Terms of Use, "The purpose of the Program is to ... provide Microsoft with feedback and detailed usage data about all activities occurring on those devices so that Microsoft and its partners can improve their products and services."
That explicitly includes "personal information," the terms go on to say, and Microsoft might even contact program members with additional information that is personalized just for them.
The program's Privacy Statement gives a few hints about what kind of stuff Microsoft is looking for. Redmond reserves the right to collect such info as, "your name, email address, preferences and interests; browsing, search and file history; phone call and SMS data; device configuration and sensor data; and application usage."
The Technical Preview also phones home with data about the files you open and "performance or usage information," including what program features you use most often and how long the system takes to respond to clicks.
And then there's this gem, which is the one that got everyone moaning about keyloggers:
[When you] enter text, we may collect typed characters and use them for purposes such as improving autocomplete and spellcheck features.
Microsoft hasn't said just how many of those typed characters it might collect or how often, but this is in fact something that the Windows 10 Technical Preview might do.
Does this mean Microsoft is planning to use Windows 10 to swipe everyone's online banking passwords? The chances are slim to none - although if you do your online banking on a prerelease test version of Windows with an experimental build of Internet Explorer, you deserve what you get.
Microsoft does, however, seem to be getting more aggressive about the kind of user experience data collection it has been building into prerelease versions of its flagship products for several years now. (Remember all the user data that Redmond said went into crafting the Office Ribbon UI? Where do you suppose it came from?)
How much of this data-collection the shipping version of Windows 10 will do remains to be seen.
"As we get closer to a final product, we will continue to share information through our terms of service and privacy statement about how customer data is collected and used, as well as what choices and controls are available," Microsoft told The Reg.
For now, though, bear in mind that when you fire up the Windows 10 Technical Preview, you are definitely being watched. But you knew that.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/07 ... ollection/
Well it's full speed baby
In the wrong direction
http://www.microsoft.com/msj/1097/activedesktop.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library ... 85%29.aspx
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... -questions
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... ws-sidebar
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... s-overview
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/gadgets
In the wrong direction
http://www.microsoft.com/msj/1097/activedesktop.aspx
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http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library ... 85%29.aspx
This technology is obsolete as of Windows Internet Explorer 7 and should not be used.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... -questions
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http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... ws-sidebar
Windows Sidebar isn't included in this version of Windows. Instead, you can display gadgets on your desktop.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... s-overview
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http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/gadgets
Gadgets are no longer available on our website because the Windows Sidebar platform in Windows 7 and Windows Vista has serious vulnerabilities.
Apps do more, and are more secure
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