Posted on 03/01/2014 9:27:01 AM PST by dayglored
Microsoft is currently experimenting with a free version of Windows 8.1 that could boost the number of people using the operating system. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans tell The Verge that the company is building "Windows 8.1 with Bing," a version that will bundle key Microsoft apps and services. While early versions of the software have leaked online, we understand that Windows 8.1 with Bing is an experimental project that aims to bring a low-cost version of Windows to consumers...
We’re told that Microsoft is aiming to position Windows 8.1 with Bing as a free or low-cost upgrade for Windows 7 users...
(Excerpt) Read more at theverge.com ...
In before the last ultra-loyalist Microsoft bunker guards arrive with maps showing that phantom Windows divisions in Redmond are already on their way to the front to repel and crush the enemy attack.
ping
I don’t think this is going to be an “upgrade” for Windows 7 in any real sense.
midrosoft produced oerating systemsall the way from windows
3.0 to XP and they got better and better up to XP, XP is great and what do we need any thing better for.
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They had some hiccups on the way to XP, too. There was Windows Millennium (WinMe), and Windows 2000.
Unlike 8.0 and 8.1, though, Microsoft figured out fairly quickly they had screwed the pooch on those two iterations and didn’t force manufacturers to load those OSes on their machines.
Vista was the first Windows OS to offer a downgrade option, if I remember correctly, because of its steep hardware requirements compared to XP and the amount of GUI changes.
The Gates-less Microsoft is showing less responsiveness to its customer base than ever before, and is not heading in a good direction.
What software programs and hardware peripherals will that kill?
I lost a few software programs that would not work under Win7. Some of them have no comparable replacements.
I lost several peripherals from Win98 to XP. I also lost a laser printer from XP to Win7 — no drivers for the Win7-64 bit.
Windows 7 comes free with Windows 8. Just click on the Desktop box.
I’m going to hold out for when they start paying people to “upgrade”.
There's a little-known version of XP that is true 64-bit (regular XP was 32-bit). The 64-bit version will address much more than the ~3GB max of regular XP -- 128GB. And it supports dual CPUs (not just multiple cores, but multiple distinct processor sockets).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_Professional_x64_Edition
Unfortunately, it played second fiddle to the failed Vista release, and never got much attention.
Free is still way too pricy for this POS. You couldn’t pay me to use it.
“and didn’t force manufacturers to load those OSes on their machines”
Microsoft has always tried to force their OEMs to load the latest Microsoft garbage, regardless of the consequences to the OEMs. The OEMs have been forced to rebel this time though, because Windows 8.x has hurt their sales so badly.
Dell is offering almost no W8-only model PCs, with many models being W7-only or W7 loaded by default. Mailers I receive from Dell are emphasizing W7 systems.
Of course, Best Buy still doesn’t get it, and apparently prefers to sink their own ship along with the Windows 8.x ship instead of selling PCs their customers actually want.
I haven’t seen an OS so unloved since Vista.
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Vista Business and 7 are damn near identical ,, consumer vista has issues ... I have vista-biz and win7-64 and see absolutely no reason to “upgrade”... If I didn’t buy off-lease business pc’s with licensed MS os’s and was buying new or building new I’d go Linux.
I hated the Windows 7 folders and actually paid for a better file manager. You can download for free for 30 days. To buy, it costs $29.95 It is more for lifetime. They upgrade several times a year. They sometimes lower the price for lifetime upgrade.
Found a site with 80% off list: http://www.lifetimeupgrades.com/windows/system-utilities/file-disk-management/xyplorer/
Home page:
http://www.xyplorer.com/index.php
Screenshots: http://www.xyplorer.com/product.php
Quick settings:
Tools> Thumbnails (images) and change the 3 views to different sizes. You can also add or subtract buttons on the toolbar.
Tools> Configuration> Shell integration to make it the default folder to open.
F12 to bring up search or click on the magnifying icon on the toolbar.
Window> Show status bar buttons. You can turn them off as they are in the lower right corner of the folder and keep getting trigger when resizing the folder.
You can choose your own font and the default size plus change the spacing between lines to improve readability. Use the mouse wheel and either ctrl or ctrl & shift together.
Change the color of the text and the window pane background. It is customizable and there is their forum you can get help at.
My wife has Windows 7 on her laptop. It makes finding files insane.
Actually, insider word from my Microsoft contacts indicate that they’re going with the “stock” desktop look in Windows 9 and Metro will be an installable feature for tablets and touchscreens. Since these devices are discoverable, the operating system will offer the option to install Metro if it detects a touchscreen or a mobile device during the OS install. Otherwise, you’ll have your stock desktop back.
The BIGGEST change for MS with Win8 and Win9 is the GUI look-and-feel, specifically the change from 3D back to a more 2D look. If you notice in Win8, you don’t have shadows behind icons, no embossing or shiny-looking Start buttons. Everything is flat. This is the design every company is adopting now. Just go to HP.com, Dell.com, Hell even Apple’s going to the 2D interface on their iOS devices, much to the chagrin of fanboys. This is a marketing industry change, not just Microsoft. You even see it on TV, just watch the Weather Channel for the most notable example in my mind.
The “free” version of Windows 8 is anything but. Microsoft is pushing very hard toward “cloud” implementations. Organizations are being pushed to Office 365 where Exchange and all Office apps are hosted from Microsoft’s cloud services. This removes the need for corporations to have extensive true-up discoveries every year to find out how many licenses are in use. They simply deploy everything from the cloud, and Microsoft knows exactly how many licenses are in use. While this sounds very big brother, keep in mind the corporations already sort of lock you in when you work for them, so this is no more big brother than all of the appliances and network snooping we do on you on a daily basis anyway. One very COOL part of this: Microsoft offers up to 5 licensed versions of Office for you to use at home and with family so long as you’re an employee with that company. The trick here being that if you get laid off or leave, Microsoft can turn around and hold you and your family at ransom: if you want to continue to use Office, pay us.
Windows 8 will be a “thin client” installation meaning that your OS will run from the Internet. The footprint on your local machine will be very small. A majority of the heavy lifting will be done by the Microsoft cloud services with presentation back to your system. This is being proven more and more every day and it’s really only a matter of time before most of us are forced to go to a cloud-based operating system to do basic things such as email and communications. This ensures a central repository that’s theoretically “always available,” putting backups out of your concern AND making it much more difficult for hackers to compromise a local machine since MS would control who has access. Paired with 2FA (2-factor authentication) or even biometrics, this could make your computing experience very safe and effective, and you could take it with you anywhere on mobile devices, provided you are okay with giving up your privacy.
For those folks espousing the auspices of Droid devices, remember that Droid = Google. Of the “three evils” in the market (Apple, Google, MS), Google is BY FAR the least desirable. Apple “tries,” but they are still known somewhat fickle when it comes to your privacy. Microsoft, for all its warts, is so high profile due to market share that they have to keep their noses clean. That’s not to say they’re not cooperating with the government, but they’re not as public about it as Apple/Google. You also have options such as Amazon, but they’re not much better even though their cloud services are pretty badass.
Moral of the story: unless you’re willing to learn and adopt Linux, your privacy is going to be marginal on any of the big 3 operating systems. Proceed at your own risk.
I'm not sure what you're doing, but that's completely contrary to everything I know about Win7.
XP used a flat file system that was very inefficient for data storage. Starting with Vista, MS went to an indexed database model where all of your files were referenced in a operating system database for quick search.
You hit the Start button and start typing what you're looking for, and your files come up. You can also hit Win+F to search for files on your machine. If you're having trouble finding files on your Win7 machine, you're doing something wrong.
Huh? Apple charges for the equivalent of service packs. Win8.1 is already free to win 8 users. Apple just did the same thing with mavericks. Before that that charged for a service pack.
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