Posts by mmeier 1326 publicly visible posts • joined 31 Jan 2013
Intel battery life for Atom IS 10h right now for the better units. And with more performance than poor ARM can deliver in it's newest version (A15). And the next gen Atom is around the corner.
You can even get 10h with core-i but that will be heavier than an iThingy by a factor of 2 (Vaio Duo11+Sheet) or 3 (T902 with second battery). But the power! The power! T902 can emulate an ARM device at full speed and still has power to spare (Full power core-i)
Strange that Lenovo (one of the more sucessful PC makers) produced new netbooks well after the "Linux" hype had died down. The last units where even developed after XP was no longer sold and used Win7 as an OS.
As for monolithic - read Professor Tanenbaums comments on Linux, read on the design of the NT Kernel (Hybrid) and hide in shame.
The keyboard (and mouse) are In the carry bag :)
Been doing that for quite some time, using a BT keyboard/mouse (MS 6000) combo when I type longer text on my privat tablet pc. Actually recomended against buying the Ativ500 with dock(1) a few times since it offers no benefits (dock is keyboard/standup only). Tablet pc + BT => More choices
(1) Exception: When you need/want 3G, currently you can not get the 3G/non dock variant
Actually Atom is alive and well in the Win8 penables and those sell quite decently. And as others stated the next gen is basically out, Baytrail tablets will be in store late Q3/early Q4 this year. One of the reasons (together with Haswell) many are NOT buying right now, i.e a TPT2/Baytrail is basically announced, a Vaio Duo11/Haswell and T903 are "solid rumors"
Get a better tablet :)
Dell Latitude 10 for example can replace both your tablet and your netbook (Has a replaceable battery as well). The Fujitsu Q552 should work as well. Ativ500 might work (shorter legs, non-replaceable battery)
TPT2 has a fixed battery so this might be a problem, has some limits to the USB as well.
Surface/Pro is actually a high end notebook (core i5/4GB/1920x1080 graphics etc) not a netbook. Those where/are Atoms,
Now comparing one of the better Netbooks (Lenovo S10-3) with a current tablet pc (Ativ 500 or even Lenovo TPT2 without 3G) the new boxes cost more but offer more as well. S10-3 with 2GB/2500GB HDD and Win7 starter came in at around 400€ (including memory upgrade to 2GB) with a crappy 1024x600 screen and around 6h on battery. An Ativ 500 with Win8 (equivalent to 7 Home/Premium) and a SSD as well as a better screen comes in at 600€, the TPT2 at 700€ and better endurance (and a slightly faster Atom)
I have argued that way for some time. Lately I changed my mind. Having 3G (or LTE) on board will allow me to get rid of the smart phone and for most situations even the mobile. No more "instant contact", no more "break my concentration" bells(1). Instead if one wants to contact me he writes an eMail and I respond when I have the time. Mobile could go back to "emergency phone in the middle of nowhere" that can only do calls but lasts a week and costs 50€
(1) If I switch it off / silent - I could as well leave it at home
Actually you CAN use PS on a tablet. What you can not do is use it on a finger only toy. But WACOM equiped tablet pc work just fine.
As for Office - depends. If I want to type lengthy text I pop up the stand and switch on a BT mice/keyboard turning the tablet in a notebook (1). If I want to review/correct text, presentations etc. or draw the basics of a PowerPoint I use the stylus. MS Office is penable and has been so for a long time. It even supports some special modes for adding comments/notes.
(1) Or put the convertible in a dock, have not turned it to notebook mode in a year
This is more a problem of the iThingy and other "finger only" toys and less one of the tablet in general. Penables work fine in portrait mode with the right software that can handle handwriting entry and post-entry(batch) handwriting recognition for longer texts. Say MS Journal or OneNote
Writing in a forum works nicely with Windows HWR as well
Send from my Win8 upgraded EP121
Since my T731 is our first "Win8" test maschine and works like a charm:
What professional software has what problems with Win8? I know some systems have a problem with Photoshop (driver related) and a certain AV company was totally surprised by MS releasing Win8. What else?
As for retraining staff: IT pros should be able to switch in 1-2 hours on their own. Office drones working on "trained monkey reflexes" need a day since electricity based training is illegal.
Better WLAN (or general Network - don't use cables any more) stack is a reason I will never go back to 7. Under 7 the WLan typically did not come up fast enough during boot to connect to the NAS so it was "enter password again". Under W8 - works
Modern beats the old start menu for me. Only problem is that my mouse is feeling lonely since I no longer need it to start new programs. I hate rodends anyway so no problem there
I got a Pro licence instead of a H/P that was Win7
Better speech and handwriting recognition - two of my systems are penables
Unlike you I have been using Windows penables for a decade. Currently using TWO Win8 units, a pure tablet and a convertible. The later has a dock with two external monitors attached for "office use", the former a BT keyboard/mouse available but rarely used. The systems behave "as needed" switching between the two (or three - the T731 is a mobile workstation) modes quite nicely.
Pen when in tablet mode, mouse when in desktop mode - works
Either hardware key or Win-key to bring Modern up - works
I know exactly ONE feature Win8 has not that Win7 had and that is one most persons didn't even know existed since it only comes up when you start programs through the menu and most don't
As for "rules": They exist to be tested, re-evaluated and changed. MS has done so more than once. And rightly so.
They don't. Neither do the backyard assembly boxes or the upgrades. Only units that leave the factory "ready to run" (with or without OS) do count. IIRC not even stuff like the basically locally assembled Atelco units (big chain in germany) count in that statistics.
I'd say the timed it well. As you said, Win7 is currently on the way into the offices (Has been since 2011) with the last XP/Vista replacements running in 2013. The next "round" will start somewhere 2014 for the first boxes. By that time Win8 is mature, the screaming minority is no longer of interest for the press and the system will be evaluated and then introduced based on merrits not on "My startmenu is gone" screaming.
Vista on XP rated hardware was crap. Sadly it was sold that way a lot. Vista on proper hardware (about the same as Win7) was a solid system and had quite a few nice advantages over XP and even XP/SP2.
This is not a problem in the W7->W8 step since hardware requirements are actually a tad lower for W8
Actually they never released a new version of ME, that was the "last of the DOS-Extenders". And Vista is alive and running on quite a few maschines. Typically those that had enough horsepower to run it since it needs more than XP.
And there is the big difference - Win8 actually needs a bit LESS hardware than Win7 so every Win7 maschine will run Win8 just fine (Unlike the XP->Vista step). Same for drivers etc.
MS is not copying tablet functions - MS has been doing tablets for more than a decade! And the current Win8 tablets are mature devices that offer quite a bit more useability than an iOS/Android unit. I have compared an Ativ500 with a Note 10.1. While I ultimately returned the A500 it won hands down against the Note in all areas except endurance where it was about equal. So people will actually see Win8 and Android and say "This does everything Android does but with the same software I own/know" and "No Appstore / Litttle new learning"
Both Android and Win8 require learning but Win8 far less. There it is more "forget the Start button" and then everything is like it was while Android is completely new and different. Same for the software and the Android stuff is often less mature/stable/capabel.
Win8 works great on the desktop. Modern becomes a beautiful replacement for the "many icons pinned on taskbar/desktop" and the tunes and added functionality works easily. And remembering to press "Win" for the start menu and the off switch to turn off the box - well my 75 years old father got that and he is not the most computer savy person around.
So yes, we might see a lot more tablets in the privat sector - WINDOWS tablets (and hybrids)
The "toy breed" tablets do have cannibalized some of the PC sales. Old one is still "good enough" and so instead of a new one a tablet was bought. But that is not all. Money is tight so buying new toys is delayed and upgrading the old box is more often the way to go. Only reason I got a new box in 2011 was that the old was damaged and repairing the P935 based box was 2/3 of a new core-i5 (sandy) otherwise I would have delayed till this year (5 years replacement intervall is my typical way)
And for those interested in penables there is a "let's wait a bit" attitude in the forums. Some new units are not yet fully out (Helix, Q572) and some have an upgrade reported (Sony Vaio Duo, Fujitsu T-series) with y-Series or Haswell CPU. Same for the smaller penables/convertibles (BayTrail) The "old unit" will do until Q4/2013 or Q1/2014 is a common idea. What gets replaced are the single core Atoms like the Q550 that where simply "to slow for everything" but those where rare units anyway. Add in massiv teething probles (Samsung) and stupid configurations (Acer, Asus Taichi) as well as low initial production runs (Asus Atom tablet)
Helpdesks like that! A lot! Most users are not able to do the "construct new menu" stuff so the poor helpdesk people are no longer forced to guess what user "Ignatius Nevil Capabel" has done to his Word/Excel/Powerpoint menues. With 2010 he has exactly the same UI they have!
The same goes for "wildly clicking parents" - Since I installed 2010 on dads and mums PCs I no longer get the "my menu is <insert problem>" calls on the weekend (typically at 11 when I am still sound asleep)
Any company with an IT department worth it's salary will have a lengthy trial period before switching operating systems. 6-12 month is common, the bigger the company the longer. So any switching done currently is to Win7 since Win8 is not out long enough. The first XP->Win8 switches will happen in Q3 for smaller companies.
And many companies, often having skipped Vista, did the switch in 2011/2012, So the next switch is not before 2014/2015 (Three years lease-time). IMHO MS timed the release of Win8 right. Enough time for the OS to mature / get an SP1 and still have the it guys test it in the "lab" to be ready for the next switch. A switch that will mostly be notebooks (Those typically have a higher turnover rate). And guess what - in 2014 we will see two new notebook cpu (Haswell/Baytrail) on the mass-market that offer benefits above the 2011 era SandyBridge and CTrail.
If someone told me "spend 500€ in new hardware for the existing box" I accuse him of ursurie or extortion. I can get a brand new (albeit HDD equiped) tower pc for barely a 100€ more. And not a "kitbashed in the backyard" box - a Lenovo / Dell / HP core-i5 unit. And desktops benefit a lot less from SSD for most use cases than notebooks do.
Upgrading/modernizing a top end (Lenovo Thinkpad T, Fujitsu Lifebook or T) notebook for that money is another thing. With mobile units SSD is a "must have" IMHO just for the "no more thinking about shakes/moves/roadbumbs"
Prediction for Q4/2014:
Windows: 92 percent
OS/X: 6 percent
Linux: Still trying to "take over the desktop"
The "the stole my start button" screaming is already dying down/gets boring for the press. Back to normal - buy a PC in a big chain and use the OS that comes with it - Windows (now 8). Once people use it (and most have to) they find it works just as well / better than Win7.
The average office user does not use the start menu except to switch off the PC. He/She has a few "big, bright icons" on the desktop and is trained to klick on them and then use the software. Re-Training them can be done in 30min (With use of electricity) to 8h (without). No need for "tons of shortcuts", those users only need the "Win" key (back to desktop is "klick the shiny grey icon")
Upgrading core2duo and better units with SSD, 64bit OS and more memory is currently the most common "new notebook" variant. The basic speed is still good enough, spare parts for the upgradable systems are resonably cheap to get. Used systems with 2nd gen core-i (sandy bridge) CPU are coming on the market and again they get the treatment. I.e T731/T901 is no longer current but replace the HDD with an SSD (easily done), upgrade the memory and it can still do 90+ percent of what the T732/T902 can do(1). And the better units from that generation even have user-replaceable batteries enhancing their lifetime even more.
Companies that did not lease the notebooks do the same. And some that did lease them consider "buy and upgrade" at least for the "non manager" users since the units are still good enough and well supported
(1) The fact that T731/T901 came with a non-touch matte display as an option makes this an interesting alternative
Spend about 3000€ for household goods last year. That kept quite a few people with a 9/10 years schooling (and low grades in that) in employment at delivery drivers/assembly guys. So spending money is good, keeps the economy running.
As for the "poor guy in <third world country of choice>": If he wants money he should ask his "esteemed leaders" about it. Maybe suggest that "infrastructure not nuclear weapons" / "hundreds of new tanks/planes/an aircraft carrier" is a nice idea of using the state budget. Might need a few meters of hemp and some sturdy trees to convince the replacement of the replacement of the current government to see it the same way. But places like India, Pakistan or Korea would be a lot safer after that...
There is no "forcing a touch screen metaphor" on Windows. Looking at the way most people use WinXP / Win7 they drop the commonly used programs on the desktop and/or taskbar and use the "Start" menu for shutting down the PC.
On Win8 my most used programs are on my Metro start screen, the taskbar only contains the running programs and instead of "Right click Taskbar->Choose Display Desktop" to get at the lesser used programs on the desktop (Taskbar-space is scarce in Win7) I do "Hit Win-Key". After selecting the program I get returned to then desktop and do NOT need to re-open/re-arrange windows. They are all as I left them
About the only thing missing is the "last used documents" feature of the start menu. Something most people are not even aware of due to the way the start programs from the menu (IF they do that at all, see above). And most programs have that feature build in anyway even under Win7.
And where is the problem of doing more than one job on Win8? Like running a Firefox, an Eclipse, an Android Emulator and a PDF reader all at once like I do right now (Waiting for the stupid Android to start)?
Guess my old friend Bill aranged for sending me a special version of Win8. Like he did with Win7, WinXP, 2000 and NT4...
No need to "get around it" since most of the thinks you claim are simply not there. Windows asks ONCE to register an MS-Live accound to your user IF you are not in a Windows domain (and most privat users are not). After that it asks no more.
The App-Store is coupled to an account - just as in iOS or Android. I use Win8 since it came out and the ONLY apps I use on my privat boxes are Mail and Messenger (on the company T731 I use Outlook). Standard desktop programs install as they have for decades and offer better functionality so why use an App?
Where is "cloud" emphasised? SkyDrive is included as a software but that's it. OneNote offers it as an option as it did under Win7 (and likely Vista - skipped that) and that makes sense for privat use (company units likely use a company-owned and VPN-accessed Sharepoint) If you want "cloud emphasised" look at iOS/Android/Chrome not at Win8.
You where ripped of! Massively!
For 500pounds (actually: 599€, close enough) I can buy a Lenovo H520 with 8GB, core i5 and 2GB GeForce® GT640 at the local Saturn (and that is NOT the cheapest shop around!)
And if you absolutely insist on keeping with Win7 - Lenovo offers a downgrade option
Then do not use touch, it is overrated anyway (Pens OTOH - I'd sell my neighbours grandma for a pair of Cintiq). It is ABSOLUTELY not required for Win8. The systems works fine on a non-touch HP Pavillion with 5+ year old 21'' TFTs. Using it since it came out, pestering the company it for getting Win8 on my company maschine (got it on my company T731 at least)
As for the Win8 tablets - they work fine. The penables are great and easily beat iOS/Fragmentdroid and RT. The Atoms have similar runtimes to the ARM but better software and all Win8 tablets have the "non app-store/install your own" approach. And if you do not like Win8 - downgrade to Win7.
Okay, now we do the same on systems younger than five years and with a dedicated graphic card. Or with the convertible X61 version (or any other penable). And we ask for support of build in features like WIDI/Miracast (Not uncommon in better notebooks). Or support to the 3G/LTE modem...
Of the four boxes I have in use three won't run under Linux. Two because a key hardware component has no stable/usable driver support (Wacom penable digitizer) and two because the graphics card is not supported (one is the add-on card in the penable the other the card in an AMD E-series based Compaq/HP). The latter was tested recently (late 2012) with the then current Suse since I prefer that over xBuntu.
So my choice would be "run two different OS" (Susie on the tower and Win8 on the penables/mini). Not going to happen, even less so since Windows is set in my work environment anyway. I even sold an Android tablet. It was light and had good endurance (On par with the T731 for 1/3 the weight) but was an "alien" in al other departments
The "reboot after updates" is no problem on a workstation. I schedule updates for "when system is shut down" and that happens daily. No need to keep a client running when not in use. Servers are another thing. OTOH on privat servers I prefer Solaris for it's long term stability
Installing Win7 or Win8 was easy, cards where detected, drivers where found in Windows and then updated automatically. Last time I had to search lengthyly for updates was in the days of XP.
And that is all before I come to the needed software that simply does not exist on Linux. No equivalents to MS Journal, OneNote (No, EverNote is not since it is a cloud solution), ArtRage, Handwriting recognition, Speech recognition (Yes, I use that a lot)...
(1) Graphics card is optional there / base driver is enough
Of the four boxes I use THREE won't run under Linux
EP121 - Wacom not supported
T731 - Wacom not supported, graphic not supported
Compaq E450 based unit - Graphic not supported
The only box that should work is the HP Pavilion and even there I am not sure (Scanner, Wireless Mic/Speaker) and NVidea support is "depends on kernel"
Oh? I have yet to see recent x86 hardware that does NOT run under Windows 7 or Windows 8. Printers, scanners, graphic cards, WLan - it all works. And straight forwared as well. And as said due to my work I see a lot of boxes.
As for the rest - any product that needs "The State" to succeed - should not. Be it "solar power" or "linux". Either it works on it's own merrits - or it is simply CRAP! Protectionism is stupid and has kept technology back a lot, just ask the "Bundespest" in germany
And in large company environments most computers actually come "Blank" because companies (and cities) have volume licences and simply put a "clone" on the boxes and then use WSUS or similar tools the argument is moot anyway. These companies HAVE the choice already and they do choose - Windows! UNIX and other OS (OS/400, zOS) are found on some servers and mainframes but clients are 90+ percent Windows. Because that is the one that works reliably, that is available over a decend (10 years on average) time and is not picky about hardware.
I have yet to see a x86 unit that does NOT work with Windows. And I have NOT seen one fail since the days of Win98 except for hardware errors (Dead harddrive, dead power supply, bad CPU cooling). And I have seen a few hundred boxes in that decade or more. All big manufacturers as well as some "backyard boxes". BlueScreens have been history since XP for me - and I do software engineering so I stress the boxes a lot
I HAVE seen quite a few x86 boxes where one or more components did not or not to full capacity work under Linux (WLAN and Graphic cards are the most common). So IF one is lying here - it is not me.
What is that good for in a graphics based windowing environment?
I used that stuff back in the "Terminal days" for Unix. Useful in the text only/non windowing time. As soon as XWindows came out opening more than one XTerm most often did the job.
Today I have dual/triple (With the Notebook screen as number three) or even quad monitor setups and more than enough screen real estate that I can "see" instead of having to switch.
Last time I ordered DELLs we phoned them and asked for units without OS bundled/installed since the company had a volume licence - no problem. The Online shop can not do it but DELL can.
Same for Lenovo, the last batch my employer ordered came "blank" - volume licence again
With some chains (german Atelco) I can order "no OS" as well. There it is even doable in the online shop IIRC
So it is doable, it is not complex but most units still end up with Windows. Because the current version of Windows (Win7/8 currently) simply works with the current hardware. No "compatibility lists", no "half assed drivers", no "dies with the update 9month from now". Buy x86 hardware, install, use.
That's what the customer wants. That's what sells Windows (and iOS/MacOS) and what killed i.e OS/2 (and will kill Android IMHO). For most people computers are not the hobby itself, they are the platform FOR their hobby (or work).
I can go down to the "big outlet" (Saturn/Mediamarkt here in germany), pick up hardware, take it home and get it running with a resonably current (say 4 year old) version of Linux without using Google / reading manuals etc. Just plug in, insert disk (if at all) and click "Default installation"
Or buy a box there and get a similar current version to run and support all the features of the unit. Again "Default" and be done.
As long as that is not the case (and it isn't) - Linux is not ready for the desktop of Joe Average.
And Modern as a "start menu" gives me the 72 most common used programs in a neat overview. With many users putting programs on the desktop and then having to hide (easy) and re-open (complex) all running programs to GET at the desktop that is actually a better solution
Hmm, let me see:
Win8:
Win-Key, Select with mouse or keys the calculator Icon on Modern (Since I use it often it will be one of the 72 icons) and done
Pre Win8: Open Start Menu, select with mouse or keys the calculator entry (Let's assume it is one of the 10 "recently used) and done
Where is the difference again?
The two questions here are:
a) Does this have an inductive digitizer and if yes: what type (Wacom, NTrig or Atmel)?
b) Is the stylus finaly out?
If a) is Wacom then b) is less important since I can order the styli from other sources.
If a) is NTrig it gets more problematic (At least three versions are out, 3 / 3.5 / 4)
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