The Windows 8 Thread - Surface Tablet Announced

[Robin]

The UI for the next Windows had been unveiled, its like the 'metro' phone 7 UI but for desktops.

The look will be unified across all platforms much the same as what Apple are doing with iOS and Lion.

Required specs will be the same if not lower than Windows 7.

Looks like the stuff people are doing with rain meter now, I like it but you would probably need a touch display to get the most out of it!



Robin.

 

[Joey D]

I think I'll stick with Windows 7 for a long time if that's the direction they are planning on going.

 

[Owen.C93]

That's just the touch UI, but since that's what they are concentrating on I doubt it would be worth the upgrade from 7. I'll probably use the beta when it releases though.

 

[AlexGTV]

I'll comment on something trivial but interesting nonetheless. Those purples are really hip as of late or what?

 

[skylinefx]

Eh, I wouldn't like that phone style desktop...

 

[Ibonibo]

That's just the touch UI, but since that's what they are concentrating on I doubt it would be worth the upgrade from 7. I'll probably use the beta when it releases though.

That. That is not what the "normal" windows will look like.

Some of the builts where leaked and I saw some screens on sites.
Looks basicly the same as win7. Slight changes to the buttons ...

And if it goes in this direction i stick with win7, which I really love after some adjustements

 

[Moot]

So windows 8 will be a much better upgrade from windows XP for a netbook running XP. As it takes less processing power to run than windows 7.

 

[Casio]

As far as I'm aware it's a shell on top of Windows 8 Desktop. So you'll be able to switch in and out (Kinda like Media Centre).

I assume what they'll do it code up this UI with an ARM version and that'll be the sole UI for ARM tablets. Whereas the x86 version will contain 'regular' Windows and the new UI shell for x86 tablets and touch PCs.

It's not a bad strategy in my opinion, as it covers both of the future chip possibilities quite well. While a lot of people are saying x86 is dead, I think it definitely still have a future, especially with a heavy Intel backing. They have already announced that they have a 14nm Atom within 3 years.

 

[Lain]

To the people who don't care too much for the UI: Hate to break it to you, but desktop/mobile OS convergence is seemingly inevitable. Both Mac OS and Windows are converging with their mobile counterparts, and the trend is likely to continue.

But there's good news too: It's not gonna be as bad as you think. In fact, the desktop experience will probably benefit. You'll still be able to use your physical keyboard and mouse, and the OS will be just as enjoyable with them as it is with a touchscreen and even more useable.

If you're thinking I'm wrong, just stop and think about it for a second. When I initially learned of Mac OS X Lion and its new features I had the same kind of reaction. But really, when you're using an application, do you really need to see other windows? In some cases, yes, such as dragging files from one place to another. And you can still do that with Windows 8 with its Blender-esuqe screen splitting, as demonstrated in the video. But in most cases you want your active application to take up as much screen space as possible. In fact, all of the screen would be ideal. And don't need windows or some persistent taskbar to be able to enjoy seamless and fluid multitasking, as demonstrated by mobile operating systems. So why not give all of the screen to the active application?

 

[Robin]

The reality is the general population still find computers confusing a difficult to use and unlike the majority of us here. Because touch interfaces have made computing easy in the mobile world some don't like that the desktop OS's don't match in intuitiveness and looks which is why Apple and MS are going this route. Just like the Wii made causal gaming easy touch interfaces on desktops is going to try and make causal computing just as easy.

Robin.

 

[NissanSkylineN1]

There's a problem. This is kinda like the Unity 3D desktop in Ubuntu.. you need a decent graphics card to run it... or you'll be running a lite version (Unity 2D).... the problem is, will there be a 2D version for Windows?

 

[Horde_R35]

Im happy with my Windows 7 Ultimate x64! Thanks anyway !

 

[benokobi]

is it all touch screen

 

[BobK]

So, Microsoft is getting more into the phone/mobile business here? Because no way in hell I'd want that on my desktop.


But then again, I'm posting this from my linux box anyway.

 

[Luminis]

Well... it seems a bit like a gmiick if you're on a desktop and nigh useless if you're not having a touch screen. But I guess it's a given that there'll be a 'normal' Windows beneath that UI, can't see anything else happening.

And one thing is for sure: Such a touch UI is probably way easier to use for your generic PC user than the usual Windows-style desktop. Computing is, as of late, more and more loosing that geeky image it had, so it's only natural to see an UI that caters to those who care more about aestetics than functionality.

If it's working well without that touch UI and requires preocessing power, I might switch somewhene down the line, but right now, Windows 7 Ultimate is serving me fairly well

 

[Owen.C93]

That. That is not what the "normal" windows will look like.

Some of the builts where leaked and I saw some screens on sites.
Looks basicly the same as win7. Slight changes to the buttons ...

And if it goes in this direction i stick with win7, which I really love after some adjustements

Sorry what I meant was since they spent alot of this dev cycle getting a touch UI setup there wont be many improvements to the core system. So not worth the upgrade for non touch users.

 

[Owen.C93]

There's a problem. This is kinda like the Unity 3D desktop in Ubuntu.. you need a decent graphics card to run it... or you'll be running a lite version (Unity 2D).... the problem is, will there be a 2D version for Windows?

I don't think it will be as intensive as Unity, that was using crappy linux drivers.

 

[Robin]

MS has updated the blue screen of death for Windows 8 It tells you even less about why your computer borked!

 

[nick09]

Found this from this article.

Can't access Twitter? You get the Fail Whale. If Twitter drops out from under your feet you get the grammar-mangling "Something is technically wrong."

Really? Can't they at least have some message that says "Press F1 to see the details"?

 

[Grayfox]

MS has updated the blue screen of death for Windows 8 It tells you even less about why your computer borked!

This because all the idiots who don't know a thing about PC complain what does Unmountable_Boot_Volume mean?.

So they made it simple as pie to the degree of "YOU HAVE AN ISSUE, PLEASE RESTART.

This in turn hurts the smart user.

 

[Omnis]

MS has updated the blue screen of death for Windows 8 It tells you even less about why your computer borked!

You cant handle the truth!

 

[Grayfox]

The most funny part of this BSOD will be when you get a video card fault.

As 95% your pc will crash as the drivers load(nvidia, AMD) and this will cause a BSOD.

With this design it will say please restart, you restart it bsods again saying restart, thus you are trapped in a stupid loop.

But if you saw nvdisp.dll comming up as an error at least the user has somthing to tell the techie who can they say what the issue might be.

 

[Robin]

You cant handle the truth!

Yeah, it should say "Your PC ran into a problem that it couldn't handle, and one which you can't handle either".

I have to admit though with Windows 7 I have seen it like once since the OS launched so its getting more stable.

 

[G36E]

I installed it on a Desktop PC. It's from 2008 and I'm pretty sure it uses UEFI to boot

Windows 8 takes only 5 or 6 seconds to start

But it's better to stick with windows 7 for now

 

[wfooshee]

You mean it will actually let you see the Blue Screen, rather than automatically rebooting in an endlees loop?

(I'd really like to meet the person who thought an auto-reboot without being able to see the error was actually a good idea. I have some re-education ideas I'd like to try . . . .)

Although it's rather meaningless, isn't it? "Woops! Died! Try restarting!" At least you know something died, rather than just seeing an endless boot cycle.

 

[Omnis]

I've had a handful of blue-screens with win7, but they were due to a piece of 🤬 TV tuner card I got for free from newegg. Never used it. Took it out when I realized it was what was causing problems. And then there were a few other times with some games, but those were common bugs that were quickly patched. Win7 is my favorite OS of all time. Hopefully they don't take a step backwards.

 

[Dennisch]

Well, as there will be Win7 support for quite some time, I will stick to win7 and all it's stability.

 

[G36E]

Windows 8 is faster than Windows 7, and it looks much better, it'll be a true competitor to OS X.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Windows 8 is faster than Windows 7, and it looks much better, it'll be a true competitor to OS X.

Having used both OSX and Win7, I doubt Microsoft can make such a giant leap forward

 

[nick09]

I looked at some images and I will say say this, I don't like it. I've never liked the tablet look on tablets and I never will like it even on a desktop or a laptop computer. I'll stay with Windows 7, thank you.