MS Windows 8: speculation picks up

Windows 8 Release Date: October 2012

I wonder if they'll do away with the registry as it is...

 

I'd like to see it lose the legacy support. They could choose to include an "XP Mode" or something.

 

agreed about the legacy stuff. otherwise im sure things will leak soon enough they ALWAYS do

 

Risky hmm... I guess it's something that will overall be good for the OS but bad for the users that don't like change. Sounds good to me.

 

Microsoft says Windows 8 roughly two years away:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20020544-56.html

 

the new M$$$ soap opera

 

i dont really understand the use of the $ sign for microsofts name... u make it sound like the job of a corporation is not to make money.

 

From what I've seen it's generally used by Microsoft bashers/haters, which is funny since most of them use a Windows O.S.

If Ubuntu sets a roadmap for a new O.S. it's praised for improving upon it's Linux distro, however if Microsoft set a roadmap for a new O.S. it becomes a money grabbing golddigger.

Sometimes I wonder if people actually want to stay on 1 O.S. for 10 years and not move forward with technology....

 

Actually I have been using M$ for many years and often I use *nix as well to refer to Linux and variants.

Personally I use M$ because I think they are greedy. Not because they charge for thier product but because so many times a product I pay for is still in beta stage. They just want thier $$ ASAP. For the premium price of thier product, you would think you would have a very well tested product, not one that requires updates before it even ships. It isn't just them though, you could say that about all the game$ $old for pc$ now too. Many have an update ready for you the day you in$tall it. A very $ickening trend IMO.

I guess the bright side is that when a developer spends the time to make a software that is truly solid and tested, people like me are very motivated to pay because it almost feels good to reward them for something that should be the norm.

Sul.

 

Sorry I completely disagree. Most Microsoft products are given out for FREE for EXTENSIVE beta testing. (Win7, Office, MSE, IE9, WLE)(I still have my office 2010 beta installed and functional for free). I don't call a company greedy that charges for products yet lets you use the free beta for another year after the product has released. Quality is what Microsoft is about which unfortunately you can tell isn't the priority of companies such as Mozilla and TeamSpeak Systems that need many ten's of beta releases for get it right.

 

actually, i think of the users that will go and buy beta software as u say as the greedy ones, a product is out there, why shouldnt microsoft cash in on peoples own stupidity? if people are willing to pay then they will continue as they are, if people stop paying and no one buys their stuff, then naturally it wuld change, no one is to blame but the users.

 

I agree, we will continue to disagree on these points.

Sul.

 

+1

But I would not bet on it.

 

Agreed.

I think we may see this Windows being x64 only.

 

i sure hope so

 

Does anyone remember if MS faced "resistance" to Win95--Win98/Win2000/WinME--WinXP cycle?

Obviously companies would prefer that the current Windows 8 come out as a free Service Pack upgrade for Windows 7, but they cannot act collectively as a single buyer while MS is a virtual monopoly in business desktop operating systems, so MS has all the power. Obviously MS still has to decide the profit maximizing release cycle for their products, but that's just business as usual. Since Win7 has been such a big hit it's probably good business for MS to push Win8 back a year or so, but I wouldn't call that caving to resistance by businesses.

 

What do you care about the registry as an end user? I mean as long as they make their OS work, what do I care.

 

You mean aside from cleaning the bits and pieces of uninstalled programs from the registry and defragging the registry. The registry is also used as a attack point for spyware. I guess I shouldn't care ether

 

Actually that has quite a bit more to do with programs having crap uninstallers rather than the registry itself. The registry just contains data something else put there. I really don't think any very serious changes are going to occur in regards to that. Granted, I am not a programmer, but I would think that doing something major, say, removing the registry, would require almost an entire rebuild of Windows. I think the so-called "riskiness" as Ballmer put it, is putting out Windows 8 when businesses haven't even begun migrating to 7 in earnest yet.

 

The typical FUD, of course no facts that could prove that a registry is somehow flawed by design and any alternative doesn't have these issues.

Here's what I think about riskiness: Cloud, SaaS and a subscription based licensing. Less costs upfront but reoccurring payments based on the features you want. This, so Balmer hopes, guarantees less piracy, more profits and more satisfied customers. The latter is the risky part of the assumption.

 

Honestly, that sounds like suicide if you ask me.

 

No doubt today Google and Apple are the big competition for MS. They are more successful in marketing and attracting new users which also shows in their bottom line. Both are committed to moving more and more from the Desktop to the cloud and devices that are basically thin clients to their infrastructure.
This considered it wouldn't be far off to say that if MS wants to survive it needs to move that direction too. Subscription based is a logical next step and considering how the smartphone business works (carrier contract, app store, rentals, mobileme, news subscriptions...) consumers seem ready for it.

 

or that could be one of the reasons they like windows since it keeps them away from the subscription hassle

 

Google's products and services that compete against Microsoft's are typically free, at least for home users. People are getting used to the idea that cloud services (Gmail, Google Docs) are supposed to be free. Also, the smartphone business is different. You're not subscribing just for the phone and/or mobile OS, you're subscribing to pay a monthly rate that both subsidizes for the price of the phone (no upfront costs) AND pays for the mobile carrier's services. After a period, typically 12-24 months, the phone is yours to keep.

For the smartphone analogy to hold you'd need to receive a PC with every copy of Windows (instead of the other way round), the monthly bill would need to pay for your Internet connection as well, and after that you get to keep the PC that came with Windows 8. That MIGHT work, but even then I'm very skeptical.