Windows 8....urgh

[CHR1S]

Really, then why are their Apple support forums and Apple genises? They may work fine for specific use cases most of the time but outside that limited sphere the simplification hits the fan. Same deal with Windows 8.

 

That's exactly my point, the experience is simplified. There will always be people that need support but Apple have brought computing to more people than MS or whoever have previously. Yes the experience has been dumbed down and sanitised but who needs a long boot up time, login, etc to just read an email when an instant on iPad does this well, instantly?

 

Even to me Apple has some great little ideas out of the box that I would kill for in Win7.

Per connection proxy settings being one right off my head.

 

Im not saying Apple has it all right, im just saying that MS and the industry should take notice and cherry pick some of what Apple are doing to improve their own products.

[SYNACK]

Im not saying Apple has it all right, im just saying that MS and the industry should take notice and cherry pick some of what Apple are doing to improve their own products.

 

Ideally, but you have heard of Apples lawyer games haven't you. It is no longer about the best idea being implemented everywhere. It is now about the best and most suitably differentiated solution that the laywers can agree to being implemented at the mercy of various agreements.

 

Innovation is dead lawyers and idiocy killed them and spread foulness on their graves.

[CHR1S]

Oh I know, I have my rose tinted glasses on right now.

 

But you do see where im coming from tho right?

[SYNACK]

Oh I know, I have my rose tinted glasses on right now.

 

But you do see where im coming from tho right?

 

Yea, most systems have their redeming qualities and if the best of all of them could be combined things would be much better but unfourtunatly that is not how the world works. It is by no means a meritocricy and in many cases is the exact opposite.

[Arthur]

Server 8 and its new Hyper-V might be good but again relies on very specific hardware extentions in the CPU, none of which our hardware supports meaning that it is mostly pointless unless we go W8.

Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 does not require SLAT. It's Client Hyper-V in Windows 8 that does.

 

Client Hyper-V on Win 8 Client will require 64-bit SLAT capable systems.

 

Windows Server 8 Hyper-V does not require SLAT so your servers running WS2008 R2 will run WS8 Hyper-V just fine (Note: WS2008 R2 RemoteFX does require SLAT and that will remain the same for WS8)

 

Although it would be great to not require SLAT on clients for Client Hyper-V, the client scenarios almost always requires the root Windows (parent partition) to have a high performance graphical experience where for servers the guidance is to only use root Windows for administration / management. (Source)

 

How old are your servers? Xeon's from 2007 onwards (Nehalem, Westmere, Sandybridge) will have SLAT.

[SYNACK]

How old are your servers? Xeon's from 2007 onwards (Nehalem, Westmere, Sandybridge) will have SLAT.

 

Only about three years but this is NZ where a three year old server is equivilent to a 4-5 year old server tech wise thanks to horrible supply chains.

[Dantech]

Look at the reviews mate, they are very nearly universally positive, not to mention the fact that carriers publically admitted that out of all the phones they sell, the Windows Phone's have the lowest return rate. Marketing is killing the phone nothing else, I've yet to meet anyone who has said "I don't like it". It's usually "I'd get it if it had this app" and with Nokia around the corner it's on it's way up. Holds the record for the fastest 0-10,000 apps.

 

Also, it isn't Windows Phone interface, it's the Metro UI interface that Microsoft have been designing for a while now.

 

Hi

 

I installed the Windows 8 Consumer Preview the day it was released and after spending 10 minutes trying to find control panel decided I would not roll this out to our staff for a couple of years! It's high time we had a shake up and generally I like it but not being able to put "Computer" on the desktop is a right pain. I saw an advert the other day on TV saying there would be a special release for business users and something about only four versions. I cannot see that the Metro Tile interface is of any real benefit on a work PC and just gets in the way of work. Why does everything have to be square though? An the windows 8 logo looks like it was designed by a three year old!

 

Having knocked it I actually do like it and am eager to buy a windows 8 tablet which actually lets your store files on the thing (unlike an iPad), works with flash, can be wired straight to my PC for easy quick file access and obviously works on wireless. It should run full Office and allow me to RDP to any machine on my network so i do not have to lug my laptop around school. I just hope someone makes one in time for the realse of Windows 8 - saving hard from now on!

 

Mark

[Norphy]

Having knocked it I actually do like it and am eager to buy a windows 8 tablet which actually lets your store files on the thing (unlike an iPad), works with flash, can be wired straight to my PC for easy quick file access and obviously works on wireless. It should run full Office and allow me to RDP to any machine on my network so i do not have to lug my laptop around school. I just hope someone makes one in time for the realse of Windows 8 - saving hard from now on!

 

Mark

 

Don't count on Flash working. Microsoft have already said that the Metro version of IE won't be allowing plugins. The regular desktop version will but the Metro one won't.

[CyberNerd]

And don't count on RT being able to joint a domain or have group policy support either, plus you won't be able to install a more capable os on the device.

Announcing the Windows 8 Editions

[sparkeh]

And don't count on RT being able to joint a domain or have group policy support either

......drat... that would be a real good selling point for tablets in schools.

[Dantech]

Don't count on Flash working. Microsoft have already said that the Metro version of IE won't be allowing plugins. The regular desktop version will but the Metro one won't.

 

Thanks Norphy and Cybernerd - I was unaware of this. I stupidly believed Microsoft were going tp produce a tablet system that actually did what I needed! I was hoping for a windows tablet that was fully controllable by group policy that could replace laptops in the classroom and be a lot more useful than the iPad.

[CyberNerd]

......drat... that would be a real good selling point for tablets in schools.

 

Android with Google apps is the was forward for tablet management at the moment.

[sparkeh]

Wait just noticed the casual dropping in of the Enterprise version of Windows 8.

Features here: Why Windows 8 Enterprise Is the Right Version for Business | PCWorld Business Center

Why is this a side note, there are some awesome features right there!

[zag]

Just when you thought they got it right by only offering 2 main versions they go and overcomplicate it again.

[Arthur]

I was hoping for a Windows tablet that was fully controllable by group policy that could replace laptops in the classroom and be a lot more useful than the iPad.

You need a slate running Windows 8 Pro or Enterprise, not a tablet running Windows RT...

 

Slate

A slate PC is pretty much like a slim laptop with a touch screen and no keyboard. Characteristics include something like an Intel Core i3 or Core i5 CPU, it will have a relatively short battery life (compared to an iPad), it probably has 2 GB to 4GB RAM and it can run Windows. It is not a tablet, and Microsoft (to their credit) hasn’t tried to call it a tablet.

 

Tablet

The typical Android tablet and the iPad fall into this category. The key traits of this device type are driven by the need for long battery life. There is relatively little storage, not much memory, and the CPU is some low power thing like an A5 (iPad) or the Nvidia Tegra (as seen in Motorola Xoom Android tablets). Traditional Intel/AMD processors are very different beasts with different instruction sets. (Source)

[Dantech]

You need a slate running Windows 8 Pro or Enterprise, not a tablet running Windows RT...

 

Hi

 

Thanks for your input - I have not heard of a slate. I assume it is more bulky than a tablet (ever tried swollowing a slate?) but will run "proper" windows.

[ZeroHour]

Hi

 

Thanks for your input - I have not heard of a slate. I assume it is more bulky than a tablet (ever tried swollowing a slate?) but will run "proper" windows.

 

Slate is basically a form factor for x86 processors where as tablets are generally ARM based although its not set in stone.

 

Windows To Go looks like a really really cool feature but the devil is in the licensing.

[flyinghaggis]

And don't count on RT being able to joint a domain or have group policy support either, plus you won't be able to install a more capable os on the device.

Announcing the Windows 8 Editions

 

It's disapppointing that Windows 8 RT tablets at sounding like such a complete disaster at this point in time. I mean :-

 

* No Domain or group policy support

* No backwards compatibility for any existing window software

* No Flash Support

 

They might come good in a few years time when software support picks up, Flash dies off and if MS implement Domain/GP support but right now I'm left wondering why they bothered?

[Arthur]

I assume it is more bulky than a tablet

They are, but not massively so (as you can see from the specs below). I reckon by October we should see thinner and lighter slates running the full version of Windows.

 

Source: www.theverge.com/products/compare/2620/5344/5343/5271/5274/5263

 

http://i.imgur.com/xLDcw.png

 

^ 2.06 lbs = 0.934400282 kg

[flyinghaggis]

I reckon by October we should see thinner and lighter slates running the full version of Windows.

 

I hope so cause if that series 7 slate is the best they can do when it comes to Windows 8 Intel based slates they're in trouble. I mean it weighs nearly twice as much as the Android tablets and has a 3 hour battery life. Sounds bad enough before you even mention the £1000 price tag!

 

Samsung Series 7 Slate PC review -- Engadget

[alttab]

It's disapppointing that Windows 8 RT tablets at sounding like such a complete disaster at this point in time. I mean :-

 

* No Domain or group policy support

* No backwards compatibility for any existing window software

* No Flash Support

 

They might come good in a few years time when software support picks up, Flash dies off and if MS implement Domain/GP support but right now I'm left wondering why they bothered?

 

i don't really see how any of that is a disaster. No flash support is a given for any ARM-based tablet which wants to boast serious battery life. What do the RT tablets need to be backwards compatible with ? If microsoft develop WOA versions of some of their popular software i don't see it as an issue. Plus, given the number of complaints i've read about some of the flash software developed for education i would have thought IT would be relieved those headaches won't be replicated across any flavour of tablet in the future. Lack of gpo support perhaps is a bit of a kicker for those looking at RT because it would fit in with their existing management tools, but clearly institutions have to give consideration to going down an MDM route anyway so as to support BYOD and the most popular tablet currently out there currently.

 

The platform may come good in a few years precisely because things will move away from the legacy model of this thing needs to walk and talk like a fat pc and be managed as such approach. What microsoft needs to do is anticipate that and in the meantime provide some incentives for early adopters who've baulked at the iPad because of perceived PITA from a device management point of view..

[flyinghaggis]

I guess MS probably want to hedge their bets by producing a device to rival IOS and Android tablets as full Windows 8 slates don't really seem to be there yet in terms of battery, weight and price.

 

Maybe "disaster" is too strong a word but it's the lack of group policy and legacy software support is certianly disappointing. Given time these things could improve though.....

[SYNACK]

Windows Tablets as a for factor have existed since long before the iPad was even thought of, if anything the iPad etc is a remake of the name, its like Apple claiming that phones can't be called phones anymore because they built one.

 

As to the slate ones I think their real test will be how well the hardware shakes out with the new Intel chips which use much less energy, that tech in the latest i series and the next Atom line should yeild much longer runtimes and probably smaller form factors.

[alttab]

Windows Tablets as a for factor have existed since long before the iPad was even thought of, if anything the iPad etc is a remake of the name, its like Apple claiming that phones can't be called phones anymore because they built one.

 

As to the slate ones I think their real test will be how well the hardware shakes out with the new Intel chips which use much less energy, that tech in the latest i series and the next Atom line should yeild much longer runtimes and probably smaller form factors.

 

ofcourse the form factor existed before the iPad, just like the ultraportable existed before the macbook air, but arguably apple were first to succeed in using the form factor in a way that allowed as many people as possible to create and consume content on the form factor in a very different way to what was done before or what was being done on pc's. With early x86 tablets there was a nod to a different method of interacting with the device, but all in a tacked on afterthought kind of way. A kind of don't worry, this is still a pc...when it should maybe have been introduction the user to new features than we now consider standard for tablets and smartphones, and battery life that was days rather than hours.

 

when people talk about scaled down intel architectures for slate type devices, they are as much drinking from a form of marketing kool aid as the apple fans. don't know how wise it is to be a slave to a product roadmap and expectations that intel, hardware manufactures and microsoft can/will pull it all together in 201? when people are out there with money burning a hole in their pockets to spend now and later on in the year.

[zag]

I think windows tablets will be a complete and utter failure.

 

The only feature that could save it is the corporate market but the way things are going everyone will be using the cloud and we wont be logging on locally for much longer anyway.

 

There... I said it