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Windows 8


deanb
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LogonUI.png

 

Just a thread I'll be updating with Windows 8 stuff.

 

http://www.neowin.ne...ui-in-windows-8

 

And for those interested the wallpaper:

http://dl.dropbox.co...3-wallpaper.jpg

 

 

 

The UI is meant to be Metro(The Win Phone 7 design) inspired in the final design (it's still heavily based on Windows 7 in looks at the moment because MS work on features first and the actual look last. Win 7 looked very much like Vista for the longest time)

It's got a thing called Jupiter which I think is their Tablet/Surface/Netbook UI. Basically it'll have the regular desktop UI, but this Jupiter design which is much more flexible. e.g most programs in windows have the _[]X in the top corner, task bar at the top, menus etc. This Jupiter UI would be like how smartphone work with adaptive interfaces to what the program is for n doing as well as make it more touch friendly.

An App Store using .appx files is also said to be launching. This is meant to be for the Jupiter side of things from what I'm reading, but I'd see no reason to extend it to normal apps (other than the fact there's a stupidly huge amount and if MS are running it they'd want some guarantee most of the apps are malware :P)

 

 

I'll update in future as n when, but it's looking pretty nice.

 

Oh yeah this is also the first (desktop) version of Windows to support ARM architecture. So it'll work with tablet devices. (Since Intel have pretty much fucked up in that area apart from Atoms for Nettops/books.)

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Well, I do most of my computer stuff on a desktop/laptop at home but... being mobile and portable is pretty awesome.

 

Now about them tablets... not too sure about them. Its trying to do what my phone can do but on a bigger screen. I preferring a physical keyboard will doom its use in the house for me so... eh. It have its uses but its not for me.

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I want to rid the world of all things "mobile," "portable," and "tablet." I'm not a fan of anything that supports that world, i.e. Gawker's layout changes. Like six billion other people, I still browse the Internet on a DESKTOP and plan to do so for quite some time.

 

It will still have a very Windows interface for the primary look. "Jupiter" is just like WMCE, an overlay to help control the PC should it not be controlled via kb+m. MS have come out n said they don't much care for tablets, doesn't stop their OEMs from trying to put Windows on tablets, and since the OEM's pay MS quite a lot of money, they'll generally try to please them. Hence the ARM support too.

 

As and when more info on Jupiter pops up on the web I'll stick it up here, but for now what's known about it is just whispers of it in leaks from MS and random TWINUI.dll files.

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I'm not too excited by new Windows releases. They're going to rehash the same Windows 95 GUI with some new lipstick. They're going to lock it down further, and probably go subscription based at some point. They're going to hide the internals from you further. Yay, exciting.

 

ARM support just means a slower Windows experience (which is already slow enough). Long-term we'll probably move further and further away from Intel, so this is a good move, but it just doesn't have me too excited. Although I am interested to hear how they plan to maintain x86 compatibility on the ARM platform.

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I like the fact that Opera is there, but Firefox and Chrome are not. I guess Opera is no longer seen as a threat ;).

 

It's kind of funny how everything is going "app store" suddenly. Linux distros have had these forever. It's about damn time you didn't have to hunt for software on the web when you're on Windows.

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  • 1 month later...

Eh. Microsoft should just concentrate to make an OS that will never be like Vista again. If they screw Windows 8 like that... eh. I can see why they want a new version so soon after 7 because of the smart phone/tablet market, which Windows 7 is just horrible to attach to. So yeah, don't screw up else it will be 3x as worst than Vista.

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I would love to install 7 on my laptop but I kind of want it to die so I can get a new one.

 

If I did install it on this laptop and it then died. would I be able to reuse the key on, e.g. a self-built desktop? I'd only be using on one computer at a time, but I don't know if you have to 'deactivate' the old computer? It's a retail not OEM copy if that makes a difference.

Edited by TheFlyingGerbil
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Also means you skipped on Vista. You can skip Win 8 too. Windows OS are not pokemon, don't need them all. Unless you intend to run an ARM Pc I don't think Win 8 will include too much, and some of it's additions I foresee as being added in a SP for Win 7.

True but the main reason I skipped on Vista was the horrible stories from users of it. Hell, when my brother got his computer with Vista on it, when I was setting it up and running it for the first time, it crashed. That incident for sure made me not get Vista.

 

And not like I was really complaining since I figure that 7 and 8 will be pretty close to each other. I don't think it will be like a leap from XP to Vista.

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Ermmm... So yeah Win 8 is quite a change from Win 7. Watching the video through it seems that the Win 7 like look is still there and that this is more in the vein of Media centre; a specialised UI for Tablets n touchscreens. It does look very nice, but no one really did anything for WMC, so I don't see them doing much for this UI either if they can stick to the current Windows UX that's been around for 2 decades.
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The tablet market is there. The windows tablet market is maybe 3 or 4 units out there somewhere*. Touchscreen PC's aren't exactly common either (though this could push them, at the moment most of them are using HP's own skin instead)

 

*And while we know Win8 will run on ARM (or at least they plan to, Vista was meant to run on MinWin n that never happened), we don't know how well it'll do that. WinPhone7 had minimum requirements that were considered high end at the time. This is a full OS.

 

It'll attract a few devs, but given you can use your HTML5 n Javascript to make apps for every browser out there over just making it for Win8 I don't think it will be their primary platform in mind. Maybe just a case of porting it over at most.

 

If you have the skills MS wants for this new overlay then you're currently a web developer making websites. If you're making programs for Windows then you're using C n all that shit and you're not using web languages, and you'll probably just stick to making your programs run on the traditional overlay.

 

It's a catch 22. To lure developers the new overlay has to have lots of users. To get lots of users the new overlay needs to have lots of apps. Why use this overlay if you can use a browser and the main Windows to get access to millions of "apps".

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  • 2 months later...

3515.Accessing_2D00_a_2D00_VHD_5F00_72520C92.jpg

 

 

http://www.computerw..._8_file_manager

 

Finally. Shame it's still not tabbed (from what I can tell). I do agree that it eats quite a bit of screen estate, though it's only with Aero that it got quite slim.

 

e.g XP:

windows_explorer.png

 

(god XP's UI is horrible)

 

There was some proper talk through on their reasoning somewhere. Can't find it at the moment, but from a usability/productivity point of view the ribbon works really well. Essentially the most common tools are put right there on the fore front instead of cramming it away in menus or right click.

 

Also Windows 8 supports ISO's and VHD's out the box. (To do with it being on tablets and DVD drives starting to become a tad optional). Also App Store is confirmed.

 

edit:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/ more stuff here including the breakdown on why they're using the Ribbon. It's all very wordy. But also has screenshots too.

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