Posted on 03/04/2012 4:19:33 AM PST by SmokingJoe
Windows 8 is now available for anyone to download, and it already shows a ton of potential. In fact, Microsofts bold new OS, which reminds us a lot of Windows Phone, outshines the iPad in some key areas. Granted, there were things we didnt like in our Windows 8 Consumer Preview and the iPad 3 or iPad HD is just around the corner but theres no question that Apple will soon have a real fight on its hands. Here are the top 10 ways Windows 8 is better than the iPad right now. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBCUniversal.)
1. Windows 8 is more personal than iOS While iOS represents photos with a flower icon, Windows 8 lets you choose any photo you want to populate the live tile that lives on the Start screen. And that's just one of many ways you can customize the screen you'll see most. You can move items around, name groups of apps around and name them using the Semantic zoom feature, and pin everything from your favorite people and websites to the Start screen.
2. Faster multitasking on Windows 8 No double- tapping a button to see your stuff here. Windows 8 lets you thumb through the applications you recently opened fast and fluidly just by swiping from the left edge of the screen. If you want to see all of your open apps at once, swipe from the left edge and then pull your finger back towards the edge to reveal a thumbnail view
3. People App: Beyond the Address Book One of our favorite features in Windows 8 is the People app. Why? Because it automatically links duplicate contacts so that theres only one person for a given name.......
(Excerpt) Read more at gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com ...
10. Windows 8 supports more devices Out of the box, Windows 8 will support lots more peripherals than the iPad or iOS because its built on Windows 7. If you have a USB drive, keyboard, printer, or camera, it should just work. Microsofts new OS makes it simple to access these add-ons via the Devices charm. Just swipe from the right side of the screen. And you can add devices from the PC settings menu.
I read the article, but didn’t see any mention of the purported eight reasons an unfinished OS is comparable to an established hardware / software platform that is extremely popular.
The only thing I don’t really like about it is that tile system. I understand it, as I can see information being updated as it happens.
I’m hoping that I can customize the background and tiles so they are one colour, so I don’t see the tiles though still see the information.
It’d be even fantastic, since they are going to have a choice of coloured phones, if I could choose colours that would blend with the tile colours it it all looks like one colour.
LOL x 1 Billion!
one word - Linux
Windows 8 will be a big success with both enterprise and prsonal users.
Why?
It caters to both.
From an enterprise standpoint, you can have Windows on USB with access to all files stored securely in the cloud, not locally on the hard drive. When you access the file, it is the latest version, not the last one a user downloaded.
From a personal point of view, download a game on XBox and play it. Continue play on your PC or Tablet and then play on your mobile phone. One download and the game is on all your devices. Yes, the gameplay might be restricted on your phone due to hardware limitations. However, having access to everything while you are away from home is incredible.
With Windows 7, I already download movies and games on my XBox. I can play those on my laptop and phone. Windows 8 just takes it to be more integrated, more consistent.
Sharing the core OS across all platforms is going to be the game-changer here.
iOS is trying to get there, but has a looong way to go.
Android is nice if you like to tinker with your system, but the fragmentation of upgrades is incredibly irritating. They just announced Android V5 while some people have just received their upgrade from 2.2 to 2.3.
Is it any different than countless blogs where the writers constantly extol the “superiority” of Apple, while they use nothing but Apple products?
I know where the market is going, in this regard.
Your phone is basically going to become your computer. If you’re, for example, you’ll be able to dock your phone and run your monitor, printer and peripherals. Though all that would, of course, be powered separately from your phone.
The average phone today is probably almost as powerful as computers were 4 or 5 years ago. When they get quad-chipped, they will be about as powerful as computers are today.
The only limitation is us, with our big fingers and limited senses.
Is it any different than countless blogs where the writers constantly extol the superiority of Apple, while they use nothing but Apple products?Yes, it is different.
If Apple published an article on the superiority of Apple products, that would be comparable to this.
Windows 8 is an operating system, iPad is a hardware platform.
I wouldn’t count Microsoft out. If they are as serious as I think they are, they are going to offer more features for the price and they will catch up on everything.
If they don’t and this is where I think they are, they will be forced out of the consumer market almost entirely. I don’t they will fall that easily.
We live in interesting times.
Last summer my wife won an iPad2 by calling Big Brother to vote out “an annoying homosexual.”
Chuckle!
There are plenty of Apple Mac web sites that do exactly the same thing all the time, and have been doing that FOR DECADES,like these sites for example..
http://www.macworld.com/
http://www.appleinsider.com/
Don't see ya complaining about those now do we?
Of course.
Those blogs don't claim to have the objectivity of a news network.
Those blogs aren't published by Apple.
It's comparing hardware that is running Windows 8 to the iPad. You can't evaluate an operating system on a disk to a piece of hardware. It's got to be running on some hardware, which is the case here.
Already done --- Asus PadFone
Do those sites claim to be objective news networks? Because, with a name like "MacWorld" I have to assume it's a site about Apple products, right?
Is MSNBC a news network about Microsoft products? Because that would explain a lot.
Perhaps I need more caffeine. I appear to have inadvertently awakened the MAC/PC wars, which was not my intent. I had hoped to point out one of the many corruptions of the network formally owned by Microsoft.
I saw that and thought it was cool. It’s certainly a possibility.
Too bad it’s not coming to North America, from what I read anyway.
I find the idea of trying to impose a tablet UI on a desktop computer to be absurd.
All of these features designed to save screen real estate make perfect sense, on a tablet’s small screen.
I’m running a pair of 27” monitors.
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