Posted on 06/28/2010 7:13:38 PM PDT by dayglored
Microsoft's successor to Windows 7 is taking shape - and that shape looks suspiciously like an iPad supplementing a diet of media with online services.
A set of Microsoft slides, apparently leaked online here and expanded here, have mapped out the company's design and feature goals for Windows 8.
Among those goals: Windows 8 works on a slate form factor in addition to the regular laptop and "all-in-one" PC,...
Among the other goals for Windows 8 are a "reset button" for use if - or more likely when - your PC begins to mysteriously slow down and performance begins to drag like a dog. Windows 8 will let you reset and retain your data...
In trying to differentiate Windows 8 from Apple, Microsoft said it plans to stress features for partners such as Windows 8's customization and the different form factors.
There are some interesting aspects to Windows 8, if the slides are genuine. Facial recognition being the biggest. This would suggest some overlap with software used in Project Natal - just don't let your cat or anything else with a face near the screen when you're trying to log on...
(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.co.uk ...
Three...
Unless you have a black cat!
ProtectOurFreedom raised points that were valid a few releases ago. Not nearly so valid with Win7. I think I answered his criticism adequately. We can move on.
Not on 7 yet. I understand IT has slated the move sometime before the end of the year.
Cygwin...sounds like vast overkill. I’ve got a simple batch file that does the trick, but you have to have at least one folder in a directory to invoke it.
ROFL! Good point!
I want the up one folder button back. Using the sidebar / ribbon or whatever the hell it is just sucks. Yes I know it takes only a few seconds more, but seconds become minutes, minutes become hours and hours become days and so on and so on.
Oh and I hope they fixed the search in Windows 7 or 8. The search feature worked great in XP, but it’s barely usable in Vista. In fact it’s hard to pick which new search feature is worse, Vista’s or Freerepublic’s.
Microsoft is coming out with a gaming technology that not only uses facial recognition but also recognizes hand and feet motion.
Think Wii sports without the remote.
It will be a bit of a lurch from W2K or XP, but well worth it. I hated Vista after XP, but I find Win7 quite good. I hope you do too.
> Cygwin...sounds like vast overkill. I’ve got a simple batch file that does the trick, but you have to have at least one folder in a directory to invoke it.
Oh, it is indeed vast overkill. OTOH it's free and doesn't step on anything else, and you get the entire Unix/Linux command set. Assuming that's of any interest, of course.
But my attitude towards my next computer has profoundly shifted lately. My next computer will be a large, pimped out desktop machine. But my laptop will become a smartphone, like a Dell Streak. Smartphones are much more portable than the laptop, portable enough that I will actually take it places. The smartphones are not as powerful as the laptops, but most won't care. It will do most jobs well enough. And on the desktop side, since I won't be taking it anywhere, I might as well make it a server, not just putting my laptop on a desk. So my computing power will be split between the big and the very small.
That I think is the coming market space in a nutshell, very big, and very small, with a growing gap in between. The race is on to develop that small mobile computer market space. Apple, Google via android, and Microsoft will be the players. And don't scoff at Microsoft being in last place, they tend to be last in every new thing, but they will end up getting things right eventually.
I've seen a video demo of that, I think, maybe two weeks ago. Pretty cool, although to be honest, I'd feel like a complete dweeb dancing around like that in front of a computer. But then, I'm 58 and don't look nearly so buff doing silly things as I used to... :)
Interesting analysis. And you're right to not count Microsoft out. They've had lots of trouble in the mobile area so far, but they've still got time to learn what it's about.
Will a "reset" do the trick? I find the idea rather interesting, since it would save me my ritual "reload Windows from scratch every so often".
As a person who occasionally roams the halls of Redmond, all I can say is Win8 - you ain’t see nothin yet...;)
“What do you think about the “reset” feature mentioned in the article?”
I’m skeptical that it will work or is really needed. Dell basically has that feature now with their hidden partition.
As for the second request, here's a REALLY EASY way to do it:
Click the Windows Start button and select "Run..."
type "cmd" and
Type "dir > listing.txt" and
Done. Remember you have a full shell with all versions of Windows; there's a ton of functionality there. I still use some batch files I wrote for my older software configs, and they run great.
Or, if you want to stay in the GUI, there is Servant Salamander that will do what you want.
Why can't the software take care of this on its own? It should know what is going on that is going to cause problems and it should take care of that stuff in the background. If there are options, then it can ask what I want to do, but otherwise, the software should take care of itself.
“Win7 to be quite stable and secure. Sure, I run anti-virus and all tha”
I gave up on Windows after dealing with viruses. Switched to Mac and in two years have NEVER had a single problem with viruses or slow downs or anything. It seems like 20 years ahead of Microsoft.
Cool. Can you poke the tiger’s eyes out and smash its little head in with a rock?
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