Windows 8.2

[ts-soft]

..., and memory consuption is lower than any other (400mb!)

Non-used memory is pointless and monetary waste

[electrochrisso]

I think Windows 8.1 is very good, it is slick and easy to use, the choice of OS is up to the user, now I have XP, Vista, 7 and 8.1, all on different machines and I use them in different ways, for different uses, I use 8.1 mainly for touch screen on my tablet, and I can still use with mouse as like desktop, and if I like I can modify it to have same start menu as 7, but I couldn't be bothered, and prefer to use metro, as I really like the way they have changed the way it operates in 8.1. I also use Linux and android, they all have their + and -, its just a matter of how you want to use them , so let the serial complainers complain their lives away, and I can have a really good at them.

[Kuron]

Vista

What do you use Vista for?

[electrochrisso]

Vista

What do you use Vista for?

Hi Kuron,
Nothing serious these days, mainly to test out software I make with PB, to check for compatibility, sometimes as a multi-media centre, and for typing out docs and stuff as it is a laptop with a nice keyboard. I must admit it still runs very smoothly considering it is Vista, and it has never crashed, or needed to be re-installed.

[Danilo]

Start menu comparison between latest Windows and Mac OS X:

Windows 8.1 Start Menu:



Mac OS X 10.9.1 Start Menu (called Launchpad):



Yes, Mac OS X start menu is fullscreen, too.

[Kuron]

I still say TIFKAM is just the old program manager, updated and running on the desktop.

[luis]

Yes, Mac OS X start menu is fullscreen, too

The Launchpad is a clone of the typical iOS interface available on the small portable devices made by Apple.
For some reason the last iterations of OSX are showing the will of uniform the two environments, and so the OSX desktop is iPhone-izing itself, also with applications available previously on iPhone moving to OSX. Fortunately this is not in your face like with Win8.0 and you can easily disable the shortcuts/gestures for it and ignore it, even if it does offer an interface than can be adequate for some routine activities. In some circumstances can have its place.
Anyway, this was implemented way better than on Win8.0, where all the metro elements just interfere with the normal desktop usage, feel totally un-integrated and pop out like a random joke coming from another OS through some kind of portal created by an evil gremlin.

[Danilo]

The Launchpad is a clone of the typical iOS interface available on the small portable devices made by Apple.

I know what you are talking about, luis.

After some time with the MS Surface 2 Win8.1 RT tablet, I finally got the new iPad Mini 2 /Retina one month ago.
It is another world, compared to Windows. Everything is so integrated and just works. With Apple TV I can stream the iPad
and Mac displays wirelessly to the big TV, by using AirPlay. Everything works together in harmony.

I can't say that about the Windows world. Bitlocker is locking the Surface 2 up every few weeks. Even Microsoft's own Silverlight technology is not
available for Windows 8.1 RT, so many people here in Europe can't use mobile SkyGo pay TV on the Surface 2. Everything works fine on the iPad.
Of course the biggest problem is still the missing Apps. There are 5 times more Apps in Apple's store. Apps like Kindle work wonderful on iPad, and
have less functionality as Win8 Apps. That may be a joker Amazon is playing, because they want to sell their own Kindle devices, and they want
to hold down the new Win8 tablets. With iOS they can't do that, because there are many more customers and it is already established in the markets.
It is still a war between the big giants.

The Surface 2 is now used by my wife most of the time. I am much more happy with the iPad Mini 2 and my Mac mini.

The Surface 2 hardware is nice. The integrated kickstand rocks, and 16:9 format is better for movies.
For other things (like reading Kindle books), the 4:3 format is better. Microsoft does not get the software right
as fast as it should be. In the Apple world, everything is already much more polished. Many different devices
work together and it just works. They have already the same look on all devices, for example with the start screen/launchpad,
and it just feels good to use.
The direction of Microsoft is good. Different devices (desktop, tablet, phones, gaming console and entertainment center on big TV screens),
everything integrated and working together, with the same user interface.
But they still have a long way to go and need to learn new things (all this is new to MS, too!), if they want to reach the quality of Apple's world.
It is not easy for them, and there is big pressure on Microsoft to catch up and deliver to hundreds of millions of users.
They need to do radical changes, if they want to catch up. But as we learn now, this radical changes are too radical for many MS customers...

[luis]

Windows 8.2 TreSoldi (something for people speaking Italian, sorry).

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/386059/wind ... now-so-far

There will be three major versions of Windows following the Threshold update, according to Foley.

The first is a desktop version, designed to be used with a keyboard and mouse. It will feature the Start menu and may also allow Modern apps to run inside windows like more traditional applications.

The second is a Modern-style edition, focused on apps for tablets, while the third will merge Windows Phone and Windows RT to work across ARM handsets and tablets.

In addition to the consumer versions, there will also be an enterprise edition, but this may only be available via volume licensing.

Just what I was saying from the start. They should have simply done a desktop version and a "mobile" version.
Really the same OS with some settings in the registry to configure it accordingly.
Ideally the setup could have asked if you wanted the desktop version or the mobile (hybrid= metro + desktop) version, offering a default based on the type of the hardware.
Again, too difficult to guess it right from the start I suppose.

[IdeasVacuum]

feel totally un-integrated and pop out like a random joke coming from another OS through some kind of portal created by an evil gremlin.

It really wouldn't be difficult for Microsoft to guess that most desktop PC Users would not want a calculator app to take-over the whole screen! In fact, you don't really want that to happen on a Tablet either, because that calculator app is often being used in relation to another app ~ Samsung know this and have thus made the Note 10.1 very productive.

[heartbone]

Staying on Windows XP?

With just four months to go until end-of-life support, many organisations will have to face the fact that they will still be running some Windows XP machines by April. For Michael Barnes, vice president and research director at research firm Forrester, these organisations need to understand that if they choose to or by necessity remain on XP after April 8, 2014, they do so "at their own risk".

"For instance, as with Windows 98 and Windows 2000, drivers for new hardware will quickly become non-existent, creating compatibility issues," he said. "As with security, third-party solutions will arise to get around these driver issues, but they are not always 100 percent guaranteed for all scenarios.

"Most third-party software vendors will no longer test their software against Windows XP. Hence, there are no guarantees that newer versions will continue to work with Windows XP."

Agreeing, Gartner's Silver says that remaining on XP will introduce risk into organisations. But this can be managed — to an extent.
more at the link...

Desktop Operating System Market Share - January 2014: Windows XP 29.23%
To me after all the market fragmentation, that seems to be a relatively huge portion of the desktop installations.
Only Windows 7 at 47.49%, exceeds it.

At this time not testing software on XP seems like a pretty piss poor idea to me.
Abandoning making XP drivers also would not make economic sense.

At this point the Microsoft 'support' will be over in a little more than two months,
but so far I have little motivation to abandon what's still working.

[PB]

> Been on Windows 8.1, and it's great, after start button is back

How do you get it back? When I click Start on 8.1 it takes me to Metro.

[Danilo]

> Been on Windows 8.1, and it's great, after start button is back

How do you get it back? When I click Start on 8.1 it takes me to Metro.

The start button is back, and it still opens the fullscreen start screen.
The start menu you are looking for will probably have its comeback with Windows 8.2

[netmaestro]

I use a 3rd party start button with 8.1 and it works like win7. That's my only solution for now as metro eats my brain.

[Kuron]

The start menu you are looking for will probably have its comeback with Windows 8.2

There won't be an 8.2. There will be an 8.1 Update 1 and 9.

It is still up in the air which one will see the return of the start menu. One site says one thing, another site says something else.