Microsoft Shows Off Radical New UI, Could Be Used In Windows 8 403
autospa writes "In a three and a half minute video, Microsoft may have shown the world what it has in store for the eagerly awaited Windows 8. In the video Microsoft showed a radically different interface from past versions of Windows — even Windows 7. Running on Surface 2, the touch-screen successor to the original Microsoft Surface, the device accepts input from a Windows Phone 7 handset (HTC HD7). Gone are the icons that drive Windows, OS X, and Linux operating systems of past and present. In their place are 'bubbles' that interact with files and post streaming information off the internet."
And I thought Office 2010 was hard to use (Score:5, Insightful)
And I thought Office 2010 was hard to use. The new Excel is a nightmare to learn well. And now, "bubbles"?
Re: (Score:3)
Well, it seems that MS cannot make anything better than Windows XP/7 and Office 2003, so the company will just make the UI different each version.
Re: (Score:2)
I would say that Office 2007 was the pinnacle of Office. Lots of people (including me) bitched and moaned about the ribbon interface, but it turned out to be a good decision that exposed all of the functionality of Office instead of hiding things in obscure and/or arbitrary menus.
The "Office Button" from 2007 was replaced by a "File" ribbon menu in 2010, but to me it looks like a half-assed step backwards to appease complainers. In the context of the new Office interface, the File ribbon doesn't really mak
Re: (Score:2)
Re:And I thought Office 2010 was hard to use (Score:5, Insightful)
At least with a menu I could just browse and read from the text what the option is. Now I often have to guess what that icon does and I'm not going to remember all those from the large amount of applications I have to support.
Re: (Score:3)
Ironically, that's what their customers wanted. Microsoft got feature requests for things people couldn't find in the menus. The goal was to make navigation "flatter". With that said, I don't don't use it enough to get to know it and what I do know I don't like.
Re: (Score:3)
If you click in the lower right corner of the box containing the few most used icons, you open up the menu functionality in its fullest. You need fewer clicks to do this than before, since you would have had to go two menus deep.
Cascading menus are a dead/dieing paradigm which should be put behind us.
Re: (Score:3)
User choice is the new paradigm. More powerful computers should drive greater choice, want text based - used text based, want tabbed menus - use tabbed menus, want ribbon - use ribbon, want voice interface - use voice interface, want bubbles ? WTF.
let's be honest it is nothing more than a commercial for windows version 8. First the quick shameless theft of Xerox's graphical user interface and mouse and then nothing but imagine manipulation via touch screens and motion detection devices. Basically look a
Re: (Score:3)
In all reality, MS Office doesn't offer that kind of guarantee.
Re: (Score:3)
I disagree. All the ribbon did was move ALL the menu items onto the ribbon. It made no difference except things were harder to find among the cluttered graphics barrage of options. Whether you use a 'view' tab or the view menu, finding simple text in alpha order is still easier than hunt/peck amongst a ribbon full of icons with dropdowns.
Re: (Score:3)
Everyone has their own opinions on what they think is best.
I remember back when XP was doing its rounds, "Oh god! Fisher Price!!" - the XP interface was not popular by many. Same goes for Vista/7. I personally think Aero was a gigantic step up from XP, but many will disagree.
This video is NOT showcasing what "Windows 8" will be or even might be. I don't even know why they would try connecting the dots like that.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
I think the point he was making is that yes, those who read slashdot and use windows probably all did the things you describe. I use OS X on my macbook pro, and use linux on my other computers, but I have a dual-boot with Windows 7 to play games - although I don't actually play them very frequently so it's mostly a waste of space - and even though I rarely use it I went through all the settings to get it to look "classic" and work the way I want (although I like many of the changes in Windows 7 so I didn't
Re: (Score:3)
Microsoft makes UI changes from version to version because they spend money researching how people use their products. New UIs are created and tested, and the ones that pass QA and so on make it into their products.
As someone who used to revert damn near everything in Windows to the "Classic" UI, I sat down and taught myself how to use the newer ones. Once you learn how to use the modern Windows UI, you'll
Re: (Score:3)
i've had an experience that is almost opposite to what you have had. i too turned off the blue theme in xp and reverted it to 'classic'. no functionality was lost and my pc was considerably faster. in windows 7, i turn everything on. aero, transparency, everything. that makes my pc faster. windows uses the graphics chip and relieves the cpu a bit. also the ui is fantastic. very non-cluttered, very intuitive and fewer clicks for everything.
in fact, a mac feels outdated and stuck in history when you come over
Re: (Score:2)
ITA; very little added functionality, just everything's hidden in a new place and called something different.
I'd like to know a bit about the filesystem underneath these "bubbles". ....or, omg, is it all CLOUD BASED (that sky drive nightmare—worst implementation ever of 'net storage'.).
THIS is more one the lines of new Windows 8.. (Score:2)
That's gobbledygook.
I don't see anything but speculation in TFA. Hell, if we are speculating, here's something that's better and a lot more believable to be Windows 8:
http://www.vimeo.com/13580196 [vimeo.com]
Re: (Score:3)
Re:And I thought Office 2010 was hard to use (Score:5, Interesting)
Bubbles reminds me of the original vision for KDE4, except that "Bubbles" was/is referred to as "Widgets". Information flows to and from the internet into these
"widgets" in the KDE4 desktop. They have stuff like Facebook/Twitter feeds directly accessible and writable through these widgets and something like an OpenSocial framework for social interaction. Not exactly the same, but the idea seems to be very similar to KDE4.
Re:And I thought Office 2010 was hard to use (Score:5, Insightful)
Who the fuck thinks it is a good idea to put the things we use most often or what always visible on the "desktop", the first thing to be covered as soon as we start actually doing something??
Widgets/wallpapers/desktop icons/conkey/whatever are absolutely retarded ideas.
When will UI designers realize that my computer UI is not a desktop, and I do not want it to mimick limitations of physical objects.
Re: (Score:3)
I keep thinking that the DM and windowing metaphors really need an overhaul not to something new, but to a logical extension of what they already are.
For instance, to my knowledge, there's no way in Windows, *nix, or anything else to add a touchscreen to a desktop (convenient example [thinkgeek.com]) and use it only as a place to store widgets, such that it doesn't interact with the rest of the desktop--unless you use some sort of proprietary software that hides the display from the OS entirely. For all that widgets are f
Re: (Score:3)
The GNOME designers realised this and have a panel on the top of the screen which is always visible through which you can access all of your apps and files and folders. You can have lots of room to put app launchers across the top so you can open ythe apps you use the most in one click. There is a Places menu that lets you get to your most used folders in two clicks.
And everyone complains its bad UI design because its not like windows or MacOS.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Apparently, Every microsoft UI is the best it can possibly be, because any change is always complained about.
Seriously, do you really think the Windows or Office UI are so good that they can't be made better? Really?
Re: (Score:3)
i dunno about you but office 2007 and 10 have been the most usable versions yet. they re-thunk the ui and created something that was better than all existing solutions. excel has become order of magnitudes much easier, with many functions out in the open, taking only 1 or 2 clicks to activate. earlier you had to dig deep into menus that are hard to use with a mouse.
Re:And I thought Office 2010 was hard to use (Score:5, Informative)
No, he's not below average. The problem is mostly likely not that he finds the new interface simply difficult to use, but that he probably has a decade or two of experience using the old interface. He's had all that time to learn where each feature was. When each new version came out, the old features were almost always exactly like before, and just a few new menu items and buttons were added each time. Each time he had to learn a few new things, but all of his old knowledge was still relevant. Now suddenly in one version, everything he's spent many years learning has been pulled out from under him, and he's instinctively looking in the wrong places for everything. Habits that are that well ingrained can be incredibly difficult to break.
I've been using the new interface for about 3 years now, and I still instinctively want to look in the wrong (ie: old) locations. What makes it even more difficult is that there are items in the new interface the mislead people accustomed to the old interface. For example, in the old interface of Excel, if you wanted to insert a new row into your spreadsheet, you went to the menu bar and picked Insert -> Rows. With the new interface, you go up to the top, you see a tab on the ribbon named "Insert" and you automatically think "that's where I'm gonna find the option to insert a row". So you click on it and, I'll be damned....you can insert just about everything EXCEPT a row or column.
Re:And I thought Office 2010 was hard to use (Score:5, Insightful)
I HATE this about commercial software, to the point where my productivity applications are years out of date and only "upgraded" when I know I'm going to have a month or two of good solid downtime to effectively re-learn them from scratch. Losing a week (or more) to get back up to speed (warp speed, not plodding along) doing the exact same thing with a toolchain that now runs slower on the same hardware is extremely difficult to justify on a regular basis.
If Vim and Emacs pulled the same stunt with every new version, the userbase would grumble, fork or recompile, and keep using their editors the way they always have. In the event of a massive change-for-the-sake-of-change ejection from a major mac/win ISV, creative professionals get to grin and bear it, lose time (and in some cases money) getting back up to speed, or not upgrade.
Much of the griping about Office doubtless comes from people who use it At Work, whose work machines are controlled by a nebulous IT department, who came in to the office one morning to find the new version thrust on them.
Software change is a lot easier to embrace when it's willful and provides a clear benefit. For many people, the change in Office was neither of these.
Re:And I thought Office 2010 was hard to use (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Is it really going to take you forever to realize that the bubbles are the icons that they allegedly replace? So, the bubbles are bigger and may be animated or live even, and user created. Using a bubble, where clicking on them brings up actions/tasks that you can do to the bubble, is not any different than right clicking and bringing up a context menu. Using a cellphone or other such type device to control (as a touchpad), or stream to, isn't radical at all. Many systems support that. I've done it wit
Re: (Score:3)
Or above average.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
You ruined it (Score:2)
The UI is interesting on its own. You don't need to spice it up with arbitrary easily falsifiable BS like "it'll be in Windows 8" to make it interesting.
The UI was not interesting. (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I didn't see anything interesting. The promo-video was a waste of time. Someone could have said the same things 10 yrs ago.
promo-video? Err, even MS wouldn't make such a promo video. It's just a research tech preview demo.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
No...it ruined itself (Score:5, Informative)
(from article) "eagerly awaited"? (Score:5, Insightful)
by whom?
Re:(from article) "eagerly awaited"? (Score:4, Funny)
The Federal Reserve has been asking for a bubble-based UI.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Forget the bubbles or whatever they are playing with at the moment, it is highly unlikely that this will make the next generation of Windows. There will be an impressive list of technology that is going to be on the include list for the next OS. As we get closer most everything that gets anyone interested will be removed (DB based files system anyone?) and then we will eventually have the new windows that few will clamor for. It will sell well because it is simply on every generic PC that someone can buy at
"eagerly awaited" ? (Score:5, Insightful)
"eagerly awaited Windows 8" - say what ? :)
next version of grub might be more eagerly awaited than windows 8 or whatever.
ms hired a pr company to build up some buzz ?
Re: (Score:2)
ms hired a pr company to build up some buzz
Careful now, that's a registered trademark ;)
Nice troll, but let's slap it anyway. (Score:3)
One small problem with your post:
From a business standpoint, a revenue stream of $30-100 dollars per update per machine every 6-months seems better strategic plan to me than $100-150 per new OS per machine every 2-3 years. Perhaps Microsoft should take more than just UI design ideas from Apple and the linux distros.
Every six months?
You could've been less obvious with your trolling, especially when one considers that OSX 10.6 came out in 2009, 10.5 came out in 2007, 10.4 came out in *2005*, and 10.3 came out in 2003. Come to think of it, it's the same timetable that Windows used to keep (until that long hiatus between XP and Vista).
That's some screwball "every 6-months" schedule you got there, sport. ;)
Re: (Score:3)
Sorry, did not do my homework. *removes head from ass*
Anyway, the point was consistent smaller updates at a lower prices is more financially stable than large updates at infrequent intervals. Especially when the users initially resist adoption.
Hopefully, Vista was a positive learning lesson for Microsoft and they keep the releases closer together, consistent, and keep the UI close enough to the previous versions to keep from having to retrain the user base. I'd sincerely hate to see Microsoft fail, because
A Tragic Mistake (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Let's be clear. There is NO INDICATION this actually for Windows 8 and not just a pretty looking tech demo. The article for some reason seems to latch onto the idea this might be Windows 8 but ignores every other tech demo in the movie.
Non story - news at 11 (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Non story - news at 11 (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3)
It's cool to be snarky, but haven't seen many outlandish ideas as the main UI of Windows in any version, so how is this proof?
whoosh: the dissection of a joke. (Score:4, Informative)
andrea noted that the interface was: .... nice to watch but utterly useless.
which inspired maird to assert:
There is the proof....
You see, maird was saying that the demonstration of something pretty but useless stands as proof that its in the new Windows. The implication is that Windows releases have been dominated by attractive, but worthless items.
By responding to andreas comment with this statement, maird successfully introduced a discontinuity, which the reader may perceive as a delightful surprise, sometimes reacting with laughter. In the traditional world, where this discourse may have occurred around a fire, Mairds companions may have slapped him affectionately on the back, making cooing sounds about wittiness and "bons mots". In this disconnected world "+5 funny" is the depressing equivalent.
Some interpret the delightful surprise as a confusing consternation; often spurning an irrepressible desire to resolve the ambiguity. While this activity in itself is also quite funny, it is more the sad kind of funny.
Re: (Score:2)
There are bubbles... and they do stuff... in the cloud?!
Mundie thinks the computer needs to go from being a "tool" to a "helper." I guess he figures that after 20 or so attempts at this, from Bob to Clippy to whatnot, it's got to eventually work.
Maybe. What is conspicuously absent in the video, though, is anyone getting any work done.
Re: (Score:3)
Well, it was TFA that was at fault, manufacturing a story out of a screenshot and an unrelated PR piece.
As far as the PR piece was concerned -- I don't see much that could be called controversial. People have been talking about "ubiquitous computing" for over twenty years now, and it *is* true that computing devices are getting more and more sensors. The Motorola Xoom will have an accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light sensor, magnetic compass and barometer. And it's not like Microsoft has failed to deli
What? (Score:2, Insightful)
This has got to be the dumbest thing ever. Microsoft is just being different for the sake of getting attention, because they know they are quickly becoming irrelevant.
Well, so long Microsoft, it was a good run, but you finally have reached the limit of what you can steal from others and the ideas you come up with on your own are pants-on-head retarded. Goodbye.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
That seems to work well for Apple.
Re: (Score:2)
Is this like a autogenerated comment by something like the IBM Watson? Maybe it studies the upmodded comments in previous articles and comes up with this tripe. But the best thing is that it will work with the moderators on here.
That is the greatest advantage of Microsoft (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Dammit! I was going to post something almost identical, but you beat me to it with a better phrased version!
Re:That is the greatest advantage of Microsoft (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm no fuddy-duddy. I'm willing to change when an obviously superior idea comes along. What fucks me off about Microsoft is that they rearrange where you find the fucking things but they're ultimately the same fucking screen from the last four versions. But where do you go to configure network properties? It's a goddamn easter egg hunt.
Don't even get me started on that fucking ribbon.
Re:That is the greatest advantage of Microsoft (Score:4, Informative)
There, now you can config your NIC
Re:That is the greatest advantage of Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, that's great, except that what if you wanted to see the status of your network conenctions - your method (which requires a lot of typing) doesn't work.
Even better, I decided to type "configure network card," and the only usable option that popped up was "Manage Devices and Printers," which, interestingly, doesn't even show my network card as a device.
Why, might I ask, do you need 3-4 different ways to manage the network, some of which are inaccessible from other areas.
Why, in the network and sharing area, does a right-click on 'Home Network" not allow you to change the relationship, a right click on "Joined" for he home group does not allow you to unjoin or change the home group, and a right click on "local area connection" not bring up status, ipcongif info, the network card properties, or anything else? Why not put all those single clicks to new levels of dialog boxes into a unified interface? Why does doubl;e clicking your wireless icon in the tray disconnect you?
I can only assume that this guarantees more training dollars for everyone that has to use this stuff.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
My keyboard doesn't have a "Windows" key, you insensitive clod.
Re: (Score:3)
Right click the network icon, choose: "Open Network and Sharing Center", look to the links on the left, choose: "Change Adapter Settings". Its actually completely obvious and simple, it was an easter egg hunt in XP, it was an easter egg hunt in Vista. Win 7 is extremely simple.
Someone already replied with the search option, which is your alternative. Even better, search inside the control panel.
Re: (Score:3)
Without really developing MS office, how else do you convince people they have something new with each release other than re-arranging menus?
They don't. The automobile industry spends billions trying to convince the general public that expensive purchases must be made or what is basically supposed to be a lifetime purchase if the "product" isn't lemon-y. That is how most of the non-IT world analyzes purchases like that in the third world: because the kinda things money buys aren't gimmicky status symbols with expiration dates or yearly refresh cycles (except for the ever-evil ads for imported American cars).
The US is trying to push the idea that
Citations and plagerism (Score:4, Insightful)
The academic world worries about citations and plagiarism in their works but the commercial world never bothers or usually takes credit for others work as their own; the marketing departments go even further.
We (the community) should be pointing out and calling BS to this heavily marketing driven society that has created a world in which smart people and educational institutions lack their due respect as the true innovators and instead we are told to worship the mighty corporations; its no wonder so many Americans are anti-intellectual and pro-corporation -- they see new technologies like this Microsoft PR and think Microsoft "innovated" all that stuff when I didn't see anything there that they innovated other than perhaps the bubble thing which they didn't show much of (and I likely just missed some paper somebody did on the concept 10+ years ago.)
Re:Citations and plagerism (Score:4, Insightful)
How is a row of bubbles (Score:2)
Icons drive Linux? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Icons? Is that the thing at the far-left of the shell prompt?
Re: (Score:3)
Most of Linux GUIs (window manager/desktop environment, etc) either disable Desktop icons by default, or allow to disable them easily.
In fact, most of linux innovative GUIs (yes, by windows' standards, 2007 Fluxbox is innovative.) are built around a minimal-to-no-desktop-icon paradigm, using the desktop as a menu generator, or widget emplacement
the only ones still using this 1998-ish idea of letting you flood your screen with a shitton of pointless icons with no organisation whatsoever are those who admit
As if (Windows 8) (Score:2)
MS are so risk averse that the likelihood of this UI showing up in Windows is as likely as them moving the Linux kernel.
They won't do anything drastic because they're in the pockets of their business customers: Who need everything pretty same-y to avoid retraining, software changes etc.
link to the actual video (Score:2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaWFivMjJG0&feature=player_embedded [youtube.com]
Research stuff (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft research does really cool things, but somehow the bureaucracy always kill them. I don't think it will be different this time.
Re: (Score:2)
Dude, that is complete and utter BS. Did you just make that up? Or do you have first hand knowledge?
I actually have first hand knowledge: Many, many things make it from Microsoft Research directly into products. Im aware of many that are in Windows. We are really good at this.
Were not perfect, if you are going to be derisive about Microsoft, at least be original and accurate.
-Foredecker [wordpress.com]
Re: (Score:3)
You have to understand that, when people outside refer to "MSR doing cool things", almost always (unless they're CS students) they refer to some "oh wow" demo - and those rarely make it into products (or keep the "wow factor" when they do).
Only the few in the same field can appreciate the theoretical CS research, for which the only manifestation are published papers. And when, say, Windows gets an improved scheduler with a very interesting new algorithm based on that research, no-one will pay attention. Th
Re:Research stuff (Score:4, Informative)
Sure. Here are a few that are not obvious - or officially published - like Kenect.
II think some slashdotters assume that if its not some big earth shattering high PR value block buster thing, then it must not happen. My point is that this happens all the time. The benefits Microsoft Research brings to our products are many, but not necessarily highly visible.
Remember, we are a company. Our goal is to make money - great heaping gobs of it. MSR is a key part of this. MSR does exists to benefit our products. This often takes time and not everything MSR does gets into a product. But we learn a lot even from the things that dont help a product directly.
But, you are missing my other - and most important - point: Diegcog - very likey just made that statment up. Its called lying. Ill be interested to read his respsonse, if any.
-Foredecker [wordpress.com]
Radically new (Score:2)
Why get excited? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I want my 3:46 back (Score:5, Insightful)
There's nothing here you haven't seen before. It's the usual Microsoft Surface things, drawing Fantasia-y colors by waving your hands and rotating 3D objects, which you've seen before. Add to that a lot of vagueness about how everything is going to change and a soundtrack that could easily have come from any HR video on sensitivity training or proper timecard procedure.
Maybe these features will be nifty when we get them. But this video is the worst kind of marketing speak.
How about they just improve it.... (Score:2)
Wild speculation! I did not hear/see Windows8. (Score:4, Interesting)
People, please watch that video. The article is wild speculation. I did not hear or see anything that ought to be how Windows 8 looks. Its just MS saying what they recently did with Surface and Kinect.
Those bubbles some speak about (which where in visibly only for seconds, not even showing how interaction would actually work) are not represented as being how Windows 8 would or could work.
Not that i appreciate the idea of such a big company thinking really hard to remove that hassle of having to use a mouse and even then perform verbose, repetitive actions that could be represented with a single voice command. I'd love that.
This works, if EVERYTHING is streamline, the world (Score:5, Interesting)
This works, if EVERYTHING is streamline, the world isn't streamlined.
[.jpeg] [.jpg] [.jpe] [.jpg] [.gif] [.] []
The above where ALL extensions I found for jpeg images. Yes, the last one is empty and the gif? Just one of the many wrongly named ones. How do you deal with this uniformly? How do you write a super smooth UI that shows images if even determining what is an image is already that hard.
Link the weather to my airplane ticket? That only works if somehow the ticket data exposes location data in a way the weather plugin can understand AND if then the ticket plugin can understand the weather data. My airport is Eindhoven, my weather plugin only knows about Amsterdam (Schiphol is NEAR to it but NOT the same). So how does that work? Ah, only unified services work... nice lock-in you got going there then. This kind of stuff is a chain and chains are only as strong as the weakest link.
It is not like this kind of stuff hasn't been tried before, it is the intelligent home dream.
The dream where you put a carton of milk in your fridge and it tells a phone that it is getting old. My local supermarket has four brands of milk at least. That is ONE supermarket. If my carton I picked up at a new supermarket on the way doesn't register, the entire service is useless and I might well end up drinking spoiled milk trusting that my intelligent home would have warned me.
My flight can not be just delayed because of the weather at departure airport but also by weather enroute and arrival airport or indeed whatever area my plane is coming from in the first place. My ticket doesn't have route information or where the airplane is coming from, how can my PC check this info if even the airline company can't? And does any of this check the road conditions? How about public transport? Does it KNOW whether I will be driving, a friend, a cab or I will be going by train?
Another one, language and subtitle choices. this should be trivial as long as everyone and every coded uses ISO encoding and then agrees on how many letters. Should be trivial, it isn't. Nobody can ever agree on someone elses standard.
Oh, your services are ALL going to MS supplied? Better hand in that iPhone then, just give it to me, I will take it off your hands. GIVE IT... geez, you expect a Windows 8 experience to work out of the box with iOS? No? Then what is the point.
We can't even get MS to smoothly discover various makers MP3 players. They going to bother with any services that don't pay through the nose for it and share all their data?
There is a reason we don't have integrated services that could power such a UI. The world is filled with individuals who all like to do things their own way. See Google and its chrome window that doesn't work the same as every other window on Linux.
This kind of UI is limitted to the movies where god, the writer, knows exactly what is going to be needed to get done next.
KISS (Score:2)
Not that impressed (Score:2, Insightful)
While MS have been mucking about with concepts, Apple have actually added real and useful features to their next OS upgrade.
A Steve Jobs copy? (Score:2)
Didn't it look like the guy was trying for that Steve Jobs look?
Ideas without apps (Score:2)
Like most of the other MS innovations of late, they seem to have a lot of very cool ideas, bit not really any great apps that utilize them.
It was radical and new in 2006 (Score:2)
Yeah, it was radical and new in 2006, before the iPhone came out with a multitouch display.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89sz8ExZndc&feature=player_embedded#at=61
Once again, MS is talking about how bleeding edge they are and showing off half a decade old tech.
While that may be radical and cutting edge for MS, it'd be hilarious if it weren't so sad.
Drop the bubbles and just copy OS X Lion (Score:3, Interesting)
This is wildly unexciting. Want to build excitement about an OS, Microsoft? In my opinion at this point in MS's life the best thing is to go back to the playbook and lift some ideas from Apple.
Launchpad: An overlay of application launch icons right, sorted how I want them, just like on your mobile device. Not buried in menus or folders. Proven interface. Just give me a touch screen in my macbook now.
More Gestures: Unlike Windows that ships to most users on 2nd and 3rd rate hardware with a USB two button mouse, OS X ships on high quality hardware with an amazing multitouch gesture pad, or available to desktop and home theatre users via the bluetooth magic trackpad. Windows will continue to be built for the least common denominator hardware until MS gets a clue.
Air Drop: Finally. Transferring files between devices without cables and without a fucking "Sync Wizard"
Built-in Version Control: Finally. Integrated RCS for your documents at no cost to you in a consumer OS. Yes, its been done on Linux but never this end user friendly and never this well integrated.
Resume on Reboot: Finally. Done right in a consumer OS. Yes it was done on Unix 20 years ago, but application support for it on Linux was mostly allowed to fall into disrepair over the years where application state really wasn't saved as part of your session. No more spending 20 minutes to get all applications and windows back how they were after work after rebooting for a security patch or turning it back on after being packed away for a trip.
Mission Control: Better than Expose, task bar, and alt+tab combined. No MS, stacking task bar windows is not an improvement.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, it seems that GP just wants to have hundreds or thousands of tiny text files all with their own incompatible formats, like it is in Linux (mostly).
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds like it. If it's one thing I don't miss from the old 9x and Win3.x days is everything being stored in text files. Sure it was easy to find and edit something(with a basic text editor), even in DOS. It was an organizational nightmare if you wanted to do something else like reference something in another non-hived registry(I mean random text file).
The current registry system has it's faults, and hive registries can nuke the OS because of corruption really easily. But right now? Much easier to work
Re: (Score:2)
and that is bad? when did you need to open a registry file on Word, Paint or another program that need to understand a single file format? Settings files are not documents, are not videos, are not pictures that must be of a known format because you feed them to different programs, yo give them to other people, settings file doesn 't. Writing all system settings in one .DAT file is technically wrong, it is a single point of failure for all your system
Re: (Score:2)
You mean just like putting it all in a single directory ?
Re: (Score:2)
But those you can make redundant. I like the way Mac OS X does it. The Unix-way with individual files for individual programs and the Mac-way with each individual file following a certain format (XML) which is well-documented. The Windows-way is to take all those individual files the old-Unix-way (each program using their own format), stuffing it into a singular file and making it utterly unreadable (using GUID's, allowing proprietary binary code and very deeply nested trees) then giving everyone, everywher
Re:worst feature removed yet? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, let's stay with one freaking file (though there may be 3 it only takes one) that when it becomes corrupt it takes everything down. A better system would be one that decentralizes this task and only affects one or a few programs (and not the OS). If you aren't aware of it, and it really makes your argument seem silly, is that every program writes tons of files to their folders. Some write them all over the place. To look at what there was (with .ini files) and what we have today (the registry) and you consider that programs can place hundreds if not thousands of files on your computer in various folders, one would have to admit that them putting their little .ini file into their folder isn't going to add much to the complexity. The registry is a poor solution that was never improved and it is a single point of failure on the whole system that causes more than its share of grief for users.
And, as far as how Linux accomplishes the same feat you appear to be clueless about the configuration files. I actually see no detriment to being able to show hidden files and to locate the ones that correspond to the program in question and to rename them in an effort to debug issues.
And, as far as incompatible formats go, why would my photo editor need to know the file format of my CD player program's configuration file? And since when do we not have total incompatibility, even in the Windows registry, amongst programs? Why would my photo editor need to know what's happening to the registry settings (or configuration file settings) of my CD player program? They don't know anything about each other nor do they need to know.
Re: (Score:2)
This isn't entirely true. What's the OSX registry name? The Linux one? The Android one? The unix one?
Re:BSOD (Score:4, Funny)