Windows 8....urgh

[Jamo]

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

 

Booooooo!

 

Still cant see it, I went on holiday to a place with no mobile signal in feb. How would that work if all my documents were stored in the cloud!

 

pfft if I have to look at any more targetted advertising i swear I will go mad!

[SYNACK]

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.

 

Have you seen the power consumption of the new medfeild chips, its compeditive with a quad core ARM cpu and with full Windows that could make for a very useful and versitile bit of equipment with the battery life to make portability practicle and the software archive of decades behind it when needed.

 

AnandTech - Lava Xolo X900 Review - The First Intel Medfield Phone

[The Atom Z2460 in the X900 is a competent dual-core Cortex A9 competitor with competitive battery life and power draw, and no doubt Z2580 (its dual core, SGX544MP2 high end counterpart clearly targeted at Windows 8 platforms) will be equally as competitive against quad core A9s. If Intel's goal with both Medfield and the X900 was to establish a foothold in the smartphone SoC space and demonstrate that it can indeed deliver x86 in a smaller form factor and lower power profile than ever before then it truly is mission accomplished.

 

Oh and on that note, check out the Atom powered Android phone the review is about, makes some interesting reading.

[ZeroHour]

Although RT doesnt have domain it will have a enterprise manager I believe although if x86 power consumption is lowered why bother with that build tbh.

[danielclarke]

I dislike the whole interface, no start button. Microsoft dilibrately do this... 1 good OS.... 1 bad OS... 1 good OS.... 1 bag OS... Its becoming a trend :/

[alttab]

Have you seen the power consumption of the new medfeild chips, its compeditive with a quad core ARM cpu and with full Windows that could make for a very useful and versitile bit of equipment with the battery life to make portability practicle and the software archive of decades behind it when needed.

 

AnandTech - Lava Xolo X900 Review - The First Intel Medfield Phone

 

 

Oh and on that note, check out the Atom powered Android phone the review is about, makes some interesting reading.

 

fair points, but looking at it it appears the forthcoming clover trail dual core atom will be initially THE option for x86 tablets, with a combo of 10" tablet-only reference designs and 11" hybrids (i'm not sure whether that means transformer prime style devices or basically 11" netbook with touchscreen).

 

There certainly will be options in terms of a variety of manufacturers providing x86 in the two styles/sizes, but coupled with more options for the consumer with identical looking devices on the ARM side, however running RT. And so you have the fragmentation of the windows OS. It could well get quite confusing for the consumer, but it may also make decisions on purchasing decisions a little tricky. While no single style needs to win out, you want to know what you want from an ultraportable device before making a decision, if people are expecting one device to do it all...keyboard, touch, x86 apps, long battery/standby. they might end up with making a few more compromises than they were anticpating., I think people have experience of making those compromises when they made previous netbook purchases. And those purchases were incredibly popular but only because they got the price right to begin with, but i do wonder whether these devices will be priced competitively enough in the beginning phase. A problem that's hobbled the x86 tab attempts in the past amongst other shortcomings.

[SYNACK]

The only fragmentation will be with old style apps, all new metro stuff will work across the lot, the life on the x86 devices look like they could even be compareable to the ARM stuff with all the extra flexibility. It is much like the home/pro fragmentation with domain features, as long as it is marketed with a tiny bit of sence - with MS this is not a given - pointing out that the ARM stuff is Windows lite then it should work out.

[TechMonkey]

One thing that suddenly struck me. What about accessibility? How is a screen reader going to let a user know what the corners do? I assume they have put lots of thought into it but things like will the start screen make sure you cycle through all the programs in a block before moving to the next one or will it just go along a line?

[Arthur]

Here's what HP's forthcoming Windows 8 Slate will look like...

 

http://i.imgur.com/QMajH.jpg

[gshaw]

Apologies if already posted but this cracked me up...

 

Microsoft Windows 8 copies AOL 1996 Design | Obama Pacman

 

http://obamapacman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/AOL-1996-vs.-Microsoft-Windows-8.jpg

[Arthur]

What has that image got to do with AOL?

[CyberNerd]

What has that image got to do with AOL?

 

........

 

 

 

[CyberNerd]

More news on RT, Mozilla say it blocks other browsers:

 

Mozilla: Microsoft blocking rival browsers in Windows RT | News | PC Pro

 

Microsoft is returning to the "digital dark ages" by blocking rival browsers from the ARM version of Windows 8, Firefox-maker Mozilla has said.

 

Windows 8 will have standard browser support in the Intel editions, but the ARM version - dubbed Windows RT - will only allow Microsoft's Internet Explorer full access. Rival browsers won't be allowed on the "classic" desktop, while Metro style versions will have limited access to APIs.

[Arthur]

Google too.

 

Google raises concerns over browser restrictions in Windows 8 « The Verge

 

We share the concerns Mozilla has raised regarding the Windows 8 environment restricting user choice and innovation. We've always welcomed innovation in the browser space across all platforms and strongly believe that having great competitors makes us all work harder. In the end, consumers and developers benefit the most from robust competition.

 

Microsoft let us know that it isn't "commenting on Google or Mozilla’s statement at this time.

 

Why are Google and Mozilla making a fuss over Windows RT, when Apple prevents them from creating a version of Chrome and Firefox for the iPad?

[CyberNerd]

 

Why are Google and Mozilla making a fuss over Windows RT, when Apple prevents them from creating a version of Chrome and Firefox for the iPad?

 

maybe because Apple do let them?

 

App Store - Firefox Home

[rslulz]

I don't like it I don't like it!!!! Someone kill windows 8 kill it with fire!!!!!

[Arthur]

maybe because Apple do let them?

Firefox Home != Firefox.

 

http://i.imgur.com/9vpoh.png

 

From the App Store Guidelines...

 

2.17 Apps that browse the web must use the iOS WebKit framework and WebKit Javascript

 

and

 

I am a developer on the mobile Firefox team at Mozilla.

 

We currently have an iPhone App called Firefox Home, which lets you sync your Firefox tabs, history and bookmarks to your iOS device. You can get it from the app store, or read more here: http://www.mozilla.com/mobile/home/

 

We have no plans to release the full Firefox browser for Apple iOS devices. The current iOS SDK agreement forbids apps like Firefox that include their own compilers and interpreters:

 

“3.3.2 An Application may not download or install executable code. Interpreted code may only be used in an Application if all scripts, code and interpreters are packaged in the Application and not downloaded. The only exception to the foregoing is scripts and code downloaded and run by Apple’s built-in WebKit framework.”

 

Other browsers for iOS use the built-in WebKit libraries (like Skyfire) or do not execute any JavaScript on the device itself (like Opera Mini, which uses a proxy server). But unless Apple removes these restrictions, full browsers like Firefox are not allowed on iOS. (Source)

I can't see Mozilla ditching Gecko and switching to WebKit.

Edited May 10, 2012 by Arthur

[CyberNerd]

Chrome does use webkit though.

Presumably Google could make Chrome for IOS if they wanted to, but I guess its not worth it of there is a chance apple would block it for some random reason.

[Arthur]

Yeah. Google could make Chrome for iOS, but they would no doubt have to remove or redesign a lot of things in order to comply with Apple's App Store rules. I bet extensions and the V8 JavaScript engine wouldn't be allowed!

[Arthur]

I wonder what Mozilla and Google think about this?

 

http://i.imgur.com/HaTMb.jpg

[zag]

God that interface gets uglier every time I see it

[Arthur]

Windows 8 Release Preview will include Metro multiple monitor improvements « The Verge

 

Microsoft has implemented a new way of using Metro on multiple displays by designing an improved method to identify shared edges. Windows 8 Release Preview will include "real corners" along shared edges to bump up against and target controls like the charms bar or app switcher. The work is demonstrated in the video below and it now appears to be a lot easier to navigate the Metro environment with multiple monitors, something that was tricky in the Consumer Preview as your mouse would typically glide onto the second screen and miss the UI controls. Although these improvements will certainly help multiple monitor users, Microsoft says there's more to come and the company plans to enhance the experience and APIs even further in future.

 

[PiqueABoo]

But what about the alleged facial recognition logons (or is that just an API for 3rd parties)?

[Nuckelsboy]

still not impressed, its ugly as hell..

[zag]

Even though this is mobile, I think this picture sums it up best

 

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/05/nokia-lumia-900-side-by-side.jpg

 

Which one do you think is the best looking? lol

 

Microsoft really need to employ some graphical artists.

[localzuk]

Best looking of those interfaces IMO? The Android phone. The Icons are each unique and each catches the eye, with plenty of space between them so as to not make it look crowded.

 

The iPhone is too 'squashed up' for me, and the Windows 7 phone? Well... Its almost 1 bit colour. Why? Are colours too offensive to the eye?

 

Windows 8 Release Preview will include Metro multiple monitor improvements « The Verge

 

What about the *huge* issue where you can't have a metro app open on one screen and a 'normal' app open on the other? It just closes the metro app in my experience, will this new version fix this I wonder?

Edited May 17, 2012 by localzuk