Posts by WP7Mango

Intel, Microsoft confess: Meltdown, Spectre may slow your servers

Re: There you have it: security or performance or switch to AMD

LOL

I'd like to know exactly how you propose people switch to AMD when their Intel processor is soldered in place in their laptop.

Microsoft goes back to the drawing board – literally, with 28" tablet and hockey puck knob

Re: Windows 10

I agree. I really like Windows 10, especially on hardware which supports touch and pen input.

Re: The silver hockey puck works on and off the screen.

You sound a little unhinged to be honest, and a bit of a grumpy old fart. Windows 10 works fine. In fact, I really enjoy using it and much prefer it to Windows 7.

The whole point of touch and pen input on a big screen is so that you can input directly onto it. It's simply another form of input, but it doesn't remove any of the existing forms such as mouse or keyboard, so it's not like you're forced to use it.

If you really want an example of a device that is tiring to use, go and check out the iPad Pro, because that does not support mouse. You have no option but to use touch.

BTW, if you want a monitor which supports portrait, I'd recommend Dell.

Official: Windows 10 has hit the 400 million device mark

I don't make a living out of Microsoft - but I do use Microsoft applications to make a living.

Re: Why oh why

As a professional software developer, I'm much happier using Windows 10 than Windows 7.

By all means keep your festering pile of Windows 7 shit. I'll gladly continue to enjoy the superior Windows 10.

Re: Windows 10? So What?

2D? What 2D? All my windows appear 3D with shadows. My Start menu has an Aero type effect, as does the Notifications bar on the right. Looks great.

What about the forced updates? You can defer with the Pro version, but it's a good thing to make sure everyone is up to date.

I've not come across anything irritating in Windows 10. I've come across some sandal-wearing nerds who think it's rubbish and spout FUD about it, but that's about the only irritation I have encountered.

Re: Why oh why

OK, so I deleted as appropriate and ended up with this -

"MS really need to have a think about this because as much as they wave figures around the only way is down for this".

Not sure that makes any sense, since it appears to be going up in popularity, which reflects my experience in the work place (and outside of work). Not sure what all the fuss is about - I really like Windows 10 - much prefer it to Windows 7.

Agreed. There is a lot of FUD being spouted about Windows 10, most of it by Microsoft-hating trolls, or people who are just stuck in the past.

Hololens for biz shocker: Surprisingly, it doesn't totally suck

Re: Pseudo holograms or stereoscopic "3D"

It produces real holograms. The optics are waveguides with diffraction gratings.

Re: Does it involve actual holography yet?

I'm curious why some sad twat downvoted me for merely stating the facts! LMFAO

Re: Does it involve actual holography yet?

Yes, it is actual holography. The optics are wave-guides with diffraction gratings.

Mega Microsoft dev tools update includes Clang codegen for Windows

Re: Bloat?

Planty, I'm in a similar situation, except that for me I have no need for anything from Google or Apple, so I'm happy to be all in with Microsoft. There might be some hardware I have which runs some version of unix (no idea to be honest) but when it comes to software which I choose, it's always Microsoft, which is great.

Visual Studio is the best IDE for me, by a long way.

It's great to have the choice to go all in with your preferred platform.

Surface Book: Microsoft to turn unsuccessful tab into unsuccessful laptop

Shane, it sounds to me like you are using Windows 10 in tablet mode. Switch to desktop mode and you won't get the full-screen space waste.

Age guessing with Microsoft is FUN! Now give us your metadata

What's the big deal about the metadata?

The metadata being sent is the same data that ALL browsers send to any web server, based on your browser settings. As for the photo metadata, well so what? There should be no personal information in there unless you specifically added it.

Why are you making some kind of a big deal out of it?

ONE BEELLION Windows 10 devices?! OH REALLY

What if they DO hit 1 billion? And what if they hit half that, which is still 500 million? What if it becomes more popular than Windows 7? That's still a huge number of devices. So, if Microsoft makes it easy to port mobile apps, it actually gives the devs a massive target audience, and potential new inroads into enterprise too, with very little effort.

Windows 10 apps to rule them all – phones, slabs and PCs: Microsoft pulls out 'universal' tool

The folly of a single user interface

There isn't ONE interface. Each device type has a different user interface, optimised for that form factor.

Therefore, no "folly" as you put it.

Microsoft brings SUNSHINE – but it's a CLOUDY DAY

Re: On a positive note...

Although Surface Pro 3 doesn't run Android natively, it CAN run Android apps by installing Bluestacks. But why would you bother? I tried it and it wasn't worth the hassle. There are enough apps in the Windows store and there's millions of desktop apps to choose from too.

Developers, developers, developers! But WILL they support Windows 10?

Re: Gauging developer support

I'll be developing for Windows 10. I'm particularly interested in the new Holographic APIs.

Re: Uh-oh...

"Who remembers Klik & Play?"

Me! LOL

For anyone who is only interested in the mechanics of a game, and doesn't care much for actual coding, I think applications such as Klik & Play (or whatever it's called now) work very well. For casual gaming where you want quick results, I really don't see the problem with it.

Re: Gauging developer support

That would explain why Google and Apple developer conferences are full of wankers!

Thanks for clearing that up.

Gauging developer support

Last year, Build 2014 took over 24 hours to sell out. This year, Build 2015 sold out in 45 minutes! That answers your question and says it all.

FIVE Things (NOT 10: these are REAL) from the WINDOWS 10 event

Re: Pricing Confusion

Free for a year...

This means that you have a year from the launch of Windows 10 to move from Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10 for free. If you don't move to Windows 10 within a year of launch, then it will COST you to move from Windows 7 or 8.1 to 10 thereafter.

Basically, Microsoft are offering a FREE migration path for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users, for a period of 1 year. XP users will therefore have to pay to migrate to Windows 10.

Re: I don't get Cortana either!

You don't need to talk to Cortana. You can write to her too, and as you're writing she automatically tries to pre-empt what you want to do with intelligent suggestions, exactly as Microsoft showed in the demo. It looked pretty good IMHO.

Also, Cortana does things in the background for you - it's not just about having a dialogue with her.

One Windows? How does that work... and WTF is a Universal App?

"Also I'll point out that writing software for iOS is literally the same as OS X except for the UI stuff."

Yeah, and the whole point of Windows universal apps is that writing software for phone, tablet, desktop, Xbox, IoT is the same, except for the UI stuff and some resources (camera and GPS being good examples where resources differ between form factors).

Re: So Stupid

"Different form factor / usage devices need different GUIs, sometimes different APIs and OS features

Different form factor, resource & use devices (Phones. tablets, desktop PC/Laptops, TVs, set-boxes, mobile Internet vs broadband vs no Internet) often have widely differing applications.

Applications can only be really GUI independent for the same form factor.

MS have always done this wrong (since Win CE, WWFG and Win9x) and are now making it worse.

They don't seem to get it"

It seems to me that it's YOU who doesn't get it, because universal apps provide exactly what you describe, which is a customised GUI and customised resource usage for each target form factor.

"C++ development for Metro Apps is @#$%ing awful."

So, don't use C++. I use C# and VB and it's great for creating Metro apps (mine are all private LOB).

Windows 10: One for the suits, right Microsoft? Or so one THOUGHT

Re: Tiles should replace icons fully - everywhere.

"Microsoft should replace icons with tiles fully. I would like to have tiles which can be resized and can look like simple icons (but yet display some info) when "minimized", or display more information when set at different sizes."

You can already do this in Windows 8.1. Tiles can be resized, and the smallest size is a simple small icon. And if you want it to be static instead of displaying live data, then you can do that too!

In Windows 10, apps appear as normal icons in the Start menu. You can optionally drag them to the Live area of the Start menu where they become resizable Live Tiles.

And yes, the mail app tile (for example) already shows you different incoming messages depending on the size of the tile, or just a number when it's minimised to it's smallest icon to indicate the number of new messages. Other app tiles also show you tasks and status etc. It sounds to me like you haven't even used Windows 8.1.

AWS hell no: Can Microsoft Azure sales beat Amazon's cloud?

Re: Loong term view

"You know, capitalising 'is', and putting an American cliche at the end of your sentence, doesn't make it any more persuasive."

You're confusing me with someone who gives a shit.

Re: Loadsa AC's in here...

Microsoft is competing fair and square in the cloud market, and it's clearly doing very well. No need for 'softies to post here in any kind of defence, because the product speaks for itself. Azure is doing well because it's a very good product and offers good value for money.

Re: Embrace, extend and extinguish

"Cloud vendors? Anyone But Microsoft, thanks. I've learned my lessons the hard way."

Typical ABMer response. That fact is that Microsoft is competing in the cloud market fair and square. It's called competition, and Microsoft happens to be doing very well, much to the annoyance of the ABM crowd.

Re: Loong term view

Azure IS easier to use, period.

Azure is also fully supports Linux, Oracle, and other non-Microsoft technologies including iOS and Android for simplified back-end service integration.

How Microsoft's cloud aims to cover the world

Re: As usual security

The point of cloud computing is that you don't need to trust them with your data. You can have a hybrid cloud solution where your data lives on-site at your premises while the rest of your infrastructure and services can live in the cloud, if you so choose. That's the beauty of Microsoft Azure's cloud services - YOU choose where your data lives, and YOU choose how to tailor the cloud IaaS and PaaS to meet your requirements.

THREE'S A CLOUD! Microsoft veep says only Azure, Amazon, Google can do hyper space

The correct order...

The correct order in terms of current market share is (in descending order of size) -

1. Amazon

2. Microsoft

3. Google

In terms of technology, they are all about the same, although I think Microsoft are currently slightly ahead.

In terms of growth, Microsoft appears to be leading.

Apple to maintain phone profit lead through years of 'enormous transition' – report

Re: History says otherwise

iPhone is not a status symbol. It's a fashion statement.

The UNTOLD SUCCESS of Microsoft: Yes, it's Windows 7

Re: If you got a computer you don't buy Windows 8.

Metro is NOT one app at a time. It allows you to view multiple apps side by side. The number you can view depends on the screen resolution. Normally you can view 2 or 3 apps side by side, but more is possible.

Also, Metro supports multiple monitors, so you can have 2 or 3 apps on one monitor, 2 or 3 apps on the second monitor, 2 or 3 apps on the third monitor, and have the desktop on a separate monitor too.

Yes, but the cheap laptop you speak of doesn't have a Wacom digitizer, it doesn't have 8GB RAM, and it doesn't have an SSD. The Surface Pro will significantly outperform it.

Besides, I was just pointing out that the tablet spec you mentioned already exists, and the Surface Pro is just one example.

james51,

That's what the Surface Pro 2 tablet is for. It has a 64-bit Haswell Intel Core i5 processor. You can choose either 4 GB or 8 GB RAM. You can choose either 64 GB / 128 GB / 256 GB / 512 GB SSD (mSATA). It has a USB 3.0 port, a Micro SD card slot, and a Mini Display port to drive multiple high-res external monitors. It has an integrated Wacom digitizer.

I have the 8 GB RAM / 256 GB SSD version and yes Windows 8.1 works great on this kind of device. And because of the spec, I can even run a VM and virtualise a copy of Window 7 or XP on it if I need to use any old software.

Re: Do they include enterprise licences in those figures?

No, Volume Licensing was not included in those 200 million, according to Microsoft.

Re: As a developer...

Not one code base at the moment, but I do use portable class libraries wherever possible.

I'm looking forward to the WP8.1 SDK because it looks like this will make it much easier to develop WP8.1 and W8 apps from a single code base.

Re: Windows 8 isn't that bad, it's different...

It's just as intuitive as other touch-screen operating systems. Yes, some gestures might need learning, but that's the same for all touch-operating systems.

There is only ONE Control Panel. The Metro PC Settings is NOT the Control Panel, even though they might share many of the settings. The point is, on a touch-screen device it's easier to use the Metro PC Settings than the Control Panel.

You can start IE from Metro so that it automatically launches the desktop version, if you so wish. And in Windows 8.1, the settings ARE shared between the desktop and Metro IE versions. For example, if I set the zoom level from 100% to 150% in the Metro IE, this setting is replicated in the desktop version too.

Re: As a developer...

As a developer, I'm targeting both Metro and legacy desktop.

This way I can sell into XP, Vista, 7, 8, RT, Xbox One and Windows Phone.

Re: Win 7 / Win 8 / Win 8.1

Chris,

I agree that it was a marketing mistake rather than a flaw with Windows 8.

Microsoft called Windows 8 a "touch-first" operating system. But they should have been far more specific than that. What they should have said is something like this -

"Windows 8 is our first touch-optimised operating system designed for tablets and new upcoming hybrid devices. Because it's Windows, you can still run your legacy desktop applications on these new devices for backwards compatibility. Although you can install Windows 8 on a traditional laptop or desktop PC with a mouse and keyboard, we don't recommend it because it's not optimised for that type of computer."

I know it's not catchy marketing, but it removes any ambiguity from the very start. People would still be able to install Windows 8 on their existing desktops if they wished, but they would not have been under any illusion that it was going to be an optimal experience.

Microsoft loses grip on Christmas shoppers... despite XBox boost

Re: Same here...

"but the os is of no practical use."

I don't actually understand what you mean by that. It does many things better than iOS, and performs better than Android.

The practical use of the OS is that it provides you with the best camera-phone on the market. Sure it might be different compared with iOS or Android, but that doesn't make it a bad OS. All the operating systems have their advantages and disadvantages.

So, who here LURVES Windows Phone? Put your hands up, Brits

Re: Windows Phone

@Tom 38

"Unbiased truths here from the guy named after the OS running on his phone."

Nope - my Nokia Lumia 925 runs Windows Phone 8, not Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango)

They are in fact totally different. Windows Phone 7.5 was based on the Windows CE Kernel. Windows Phone 8 is based on the NT Kernel.

Re: Windows Phone

So that makes iOS an even BIGGER stoneturd than Windows Phone, because iOS allows you to change much less than what you can change on Windows Phone.

Re: Windows Phone

Windows Phone doesn't crash. It's faster and more reliable than Android and iOS. It also doesn't slow down over time, contrary to your claim. The reason why it doesn't behave like you expect it to is because apart from the name, it bears no resemblance to previous versions of Windows.

So, yes your assessment is false. I accept that it won't change your mind, but at least you can drop your false assessment.

I put my hand up!!!

I have a Nokia Lumia 925 and it's pretty awesome actually, especially the camera. I've got rid of my point-and-shoot camera now because it's no longer needed.

I do like the Windows Phone 8 operating system. It's a big improvement over WP7.5 or WP7.8 which I had on my Nokia Lumia 800. I have all the apps I need and thoroughly enjoy using the phone. Most of my family have Nokia Lumias too.

So: 6,500 Win 8 laptops later, how are BT's field engineers coping?

Re: Win 8 is a grower

The real benefit of the Windows 8 UI is when you are using it on a hybrid device or a tablet. Most traditional desktop users won't understand these benefits. But as soon as you use one of these new hybrid devices, that's when you really see the benefits of Windows 8.

See, Apple deliberately seperate the tablet from the desktop - there is no crossover. But that means that quite often, Apple users need to carry two devices - an iPad and a Macbook. It also means that an OSX application can't be run on the iPad and an iPad app can't be run on the Macbook.

The benefit of Windows 8 is that it allows you to carry a single device, which can be used as a tablet or as a laptop, or even as a desktop base unit, and you can run both tablet apps and full desktop apps on the same device, as and when you need. It allows you, the user, to opt for the device which best meets your usage scenarios by choosing a suitable hybrid. Some people want a tablet which can be used as a desktop, some want mainly a laptop which can also be used occasionally as a tablet, some want mainly a tablet which can occasionally be used as a laptop, etc etc. Windows 8 is what facilitates this wide choice of devices for different users.

Windows 8 Euro PC sales SHOCKER: Results actually not bad

Re: Captive Market?

Interesting analogy about buying a vehicle and choosing the engine...

However, that's EXACTLY how the coach industry works. You can choose your body manufacturer and decide what chassis / engine it will run on. The reason you do that is because each engine / chassis manufacturer has pros and cons and so the client purchases the combination that best meets their requirements.

The point is this - many people DO care which operating system they have because they don't all support the applications you might need for your work, or because one operating system is more battery efficient than the other, or because of some other reason, etc etc.

Windows 8 vs Windows 7 is a good example. Windows 8 will give you better performance and more battery life on a laptop than Windows 7. But Windows 8 really needs a touch-screen for optimal usage, so the hardware costs a bit more. It's all about best meeting your requirements and budget.