Leaked Build of Windows 9 Shows Start Menu Return 346
Billly Gates writes A leaked alpha of Windows 9 has been brewing on the internet. Today a screenshot shows what MS showed us at BUILD which includes a start menu with additional tiny tiles for things like people, calendar, pc settings, and news etc. "The new hybridized Start menu appears to be part of build 9788, which was compiled on July 4. While no one seems to have leaked the ISOs for build 9788 yet, the general consensus seems to be that the build does indeed exist somewhere at Microsoft — and that it might also feature Windows NT kernel version 6.4 (i.e. the complete version number is 6.4.9788). The screenshots show a Windows 8.1 Pro watermark, but this isn’t unusual for a very early alpha of a new build of Windows. If this really is the next version of the Windows NT kernel, then we’re most likely looking at an early build of Windows 9 (Threshold) rather than Windows 8.2."
Re:Microsoft is wasting people's time (Score:5, Informative)
Among dinosaurs who still use desktop computers, instead of laptops or tablets, I guess.
You're either retarded, or you don't do anything useful with your computer.
Anyone who wants to do anything graphics-intensive would laugh at someone trying to push a laptop on them.
I hate idiots who think laptops are for gaming. They go buy the crappy $200 Walmart bargain, then wonder why it won't play BF4.
Microsoft craps its pants (Score:2, Informative)
2015 will be year of the Linux Desktop!
Guess you have not been paying attention, chromebooks are here and occupying all the top slots and rating on Amazon, making a killing in schools, and have a slew of new models out now, and not have Android compatibility...you know the OS that put iOS and windows in the ground...they even look like a mackbook air *winks*.
GNU/Linux continues to do very nicely as well.
What's the big deal about win8? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Fuck Tiles! (Score:5, Informative)
It's probably worth noting that in the Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 "leaks", technical previews, and consumer previews - ALL had the ability to enable a start menu by changing a registry key from 0 to 1, and ALL had that option removed in the final builds.
I have no reason to believe 9 will be different until after the grand master image is released to OEMs.
Re:Microsoft is wasting people's time (Score:5, Informative)
And Windows 8 as is is ONLY oriented towards tablets.
You realise it has a desktop right? That all your applications still run and operate the same as they did on Windows 7 right? Yes *one* of the methods used to launch applications has changed to be touch-friendly but that's it.
It's funny the way people can evangelize the linux desktop or OS X yet those same people are completely befuddled and useless when you take their start menu away. Yes it was a change, yes that change was good if you wanted to use Windows on a tablet and no it wasn't particularly useful if you wanted to use Windows on a desktop but if you boot-to-desktop then it's not much different to OS X. You have the Taskbar (Dock), Desktop (Desktop), Win+S for search (Cmd+Space for spotlight) and you have the Start Screen (Launchpad), it really isn't that hard.
Re:Fuck Tiles! (Score:5, Informative)
Second, Metro is actually pretty decent when you figure out how the keyboard shortcuts (win-key +s for searching, alt-tab to switch windows, alt-f4 to shut a window, etc.). But it's pretty awful if you go at it with a mouse -- and MS did not, at all, make this clear.
First, it's not called "Metro" - that was an internal code-name. Microsoft calls it "Modern UI". That's the name of the Start screen / Tiles paradigm. Second, those keyboard shortcuts were available since Windows XP, it's nothing new. But all the win-key shortcuts are useless if you don't have a Windows Keytm. And the "hot corners" are pretty awful. Sometimes they just won't pop-up or take forever, and it's much worse if you're in an RDP session. The Start *button* DOES help with that.
What most people that have tried it haven't noticed yet is all the stuff that gone or broken. Windows backup? Gone. Get used to File History - and adding a bunch of folders to your "Libraries", because that's the only place File History checks. There is no way to set preferred wireless networks. No more "Home", "Work", or "Public" networks, just "Private" and "Public". That's cool - but Windows decides by itself which one it is. And if it guesses wrong? The only way to fix is dig through the registry and figure out the right numeric to use for the right network connection. VERY annoying if Windows guesses your company's VPN is a "Public" network.
Don't even get me started on "Windows account" logons, OneDrive, and Media Center.