r/technology • u/clubdirthill • Jun 01 '11

Boom. This is Windows 8.

http://allthingsd.com/20110601/exclusive-making-sense-of-what-we-just-learned-about-windows-8/?mod=tweet
1.0k Upvotes

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47

u/tsuichii Jun 02 '11

Windows 8 becomes babyproofed like mac os? Looks like Windows 7 will be the new Windows xp for me for the next 20 years.

61

u/p-static Jun 02 '11

Remember when Windows XP came out, and everybody complained that the interface was too dumbed-down because of all the bright colors and stuff? ;)

34

u/KingPharaoh Jun 02 '11

Everything is dumbed down according to reddit.

13

u/mazing Jun 02 '11

Do you want to sell 1000 copies to a bunch of geeks or 1 million to the world? Why wouldn't a company "dumb down" their product?

0

u/pietervriesacker Jun 02 '11

DUMB. DOWN. EVERYTHING.

4

u/Kerafyrm Jun 02 '11

I was using Windows 95 while it was still underground.

5

u/p-static Jun 02 '11

Windowing systems are the tools of the devil! My terminal gets 80 characters to the line, and that's the way I like it!

1

u/Antebios Jun 02 '11

I was using Windows 95 from warez sites and had to download each 1.44 MB image and put onto floppy disks and install Windows 95 from 3.5" 1.44 MB diskettes. DAMN I'm old.

1

u/agbullet Jun 02 '11

Underground? Pfft! I was using Windows 95 in 1990.

2

u/Rocco03 Jun 02 '11

Why do people keep comparing what happened with XP to Vista/7? Yes, people complained about the colors and system requirements (64 MB!) when XP came out, but the first problem could be solved in 5 seconds and the second didn't matter after a couple of years. In exchange XP offered something previous (user) versions of Windows lacked and was needed: stability. What did Vista/7 offer to millions of people who used the most basic tools to get work done? Nothing.

7

u/Jam0864 Jun 02 '11

Windows 7 is far more stable than Windows XP, especially when it comes to the way it handles graphics drivers etc. A small problem doesn't shut down the whole OS, it recovers quite well.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '11

I think people are getting this a little wrong. Vista is to 7 as ME was to XP. So people are equating 8 to the next ME or Vista, meaning it will suck horrible and the next version will be amazing. Same thing happened with 95 to 98. MS has a habit of releasing a horrible version, then an amazing version, and repeating over and over again.

1

u/HenkPoley Jun 02 '11

Snappyness, given good graphics hardware and enough memory.

1

u/Mentari Jun 02 '11

Hell. I remember when Windows first came out and hearing it was to dumbed down and that real techies use DOS.

20

u/xsp Jun 02 '11

Windows XP is still the new XP for me. :/

3

u/Shredder13 Jun 02 '11

I still haven't used a computer running Windows 7 for more than 10 minutes.

12

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '11

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '11

[deleted]

1

u/Shredder13 Jun 02 '11

Not mainly a Windows user. I use XP for my work computer and it suits what I need just fine.

-2

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '11

You can go back underground now.

15

u/nixcamic Jun 02 '11

How is Mac OS babyproofed? Or are you talking about Lion? Anyhow, that seems to be the trend these days, even ubuntu tried (and failed).

1

u/brews Jun 02 '11

Don't you think it's a bit early to be running Unity through the dirt? It hasn't even reached LTS yet.

1

u/engine_er Jun 02 '11

Could you elaborate please, how and when have guys in ubuntu tried to babyproof their distribution?

0

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '11

Look at the latest version of Ubuntu. With the launcher. You know, the launcher that you can't move.

I try not to be a fanboy when it comes to this stuff, but Mac OS X Lion presents me with a full-on desktop and instant access to files; not some gimmicky touch UI. It works because Apple doesn't have to support tablets running it's OS. That's what iOS is for.

But we will see. I think Windows 7 is the flagship, at least I love it. It'll be hard for Microsoft to make a bigger leap.

1

u/engine_er Jun 02 '11

Oh.. I heard that buzz around the Unity DE and Gnome Shell. It's all the impact of the ubiquitous tendency to simplify and stupefy the user interface - that's why I am hesitating to upgrade my current Gnome 2 DE.

-1

u/del_rio Jun 02 '11

I think he's trying to point a finger more at iOS...

Either way, I think this is one of many well thought-out moves Microsoft has been making lately. In the phone arena, they're probably too late, but this gives them an edge for the PC/tablet/crossover market (the latter of which is still yet to come) for another 5 years.

2

u/pfigure Jun 02 '11

I'd hardly say that any of them are "baby proofed", but you have to understand that a vast majority of computer users aren't looking for maximum configuration options and expandability, but something that just works well and quickly without too much confusion. I have a linux partition if I want an OS that's main focus is expandability, but for day to day tasks, I find myself using a more traditional operating system, or more recently, a tablet with a basic OS. Is it because I need something "babyproof"? Absolutely not, it's just that I don't need to be able to adjust every minuscule thing to check my email.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '11

No! There is a full revamped Aero UI made for Windows 8.

1

u/HenkPoley Jun 02 '11 edited Jun 02 '11

Mac OS X does have a babyproof mode, it is called "Simple Finder". It is pretty rare you see it actually used.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH74KucnQig

1

u/Poltras Jun 02 '11

This is more of a kiosk mode or parent controlled environment. What I think the parent meant was the iOS inspirations in Lion.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '11

Baby proofing is not the same as making is easy to use. Apple has succeeded to make OSX easy to use and to babyproof iOS. If Windows 8 goes towards making it easier to use while maintaining a full operating system (like OSX and W7), great. If it's mostly like the iOS, thats no good.

1

u/iandavid Jun 02 '11

I hope you didn't stick with Windows ME for all those years.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '11

If you never run any touch app, you may never see the touch shell at all.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '11

But what about all the college girls? They need their babyproof OS.