MS Windows 8: speculation picks up

Taking Apple instead of Google: mobileme isn't free and what it offers in terms of features is less than the Google package. Still successful because of integration. Add Windows Phone 8 into the picture and you have a good strategy that can compete with free Google.
There's another buzzword: Content as a Service. The complete iTunes "experience" is pretty cloudy and it's rumored Apple will start a monthly subscription model for music. MS has currently nothing to rival that. With Windows Phone 7 out I think they'll start trying to change that.
People are used to pay for Office and online storage once it surpasses a few gigs. They pay for movies, music, games and "apps".
That's what I'm talking about. I don't think you'll rent the basic OS, it's a one time purchase and all security updates will be free for its lifetime. It's all about optional features and content. Those will be pushed by MS.

Another thing not mentioned yet: Tablets, "Smartbooks" and the like. They can run a full OS but still work exactly like Smartphones when it comes to pricing.

But if MS goes this route another "risk" will pop up again: antitrust. However same goes for Google or Apple if they get too big. If by Windows 8 MS is the underdog in tablets, smartphones and "*aaS" this risk is certainly less worrisome.

 

I don't see it working simply because of money and because of user preferences. How is the monthly fee going to be handled? Unless everyone used MSN as their ISP, a set fee won't fly with many ISP providers, especially more localized ones. And, let's say you use broadband, well, in my case I'd have to not only pay whatever fee was set by MS, but also another monthly fee for the cable lines that my current ISP owns. That won't fly with me, considering the current pricing for both services.

Also, if people are going to get to keep the PC, will everyone get the exact same system with the exact same specs? Unless they are very generous specs, that won't fly with half of Wilders alone, let alone a country or even the world. If you give options on systems and base the monthly fee on that, that fee is going to get pretty big pretty quick. Unlike cars, I don't THINK anyone is going to pay the high costs associated with leasing when it comes to computers, not home users anyway. I can almost assure you that you could buy a system, maybe two, for the total amount in fees you'd be paying in a year.

Of course I don't know how it would all be set up, but I just don't see it as working out for the PC industry.

 

I don't think MS can burp without antitrust coming up, some things will never change. The tablet market, I don't know, I think the continued success of the iPad is the only hope there is for tablets catching on. It seems to be like 3D, it's here for a bit and gone again. Content as a service works in some areas, like movies, music and that. Outside of that, I'm a bit against it really.

 

They'll never just copy the model of smartphones and apply it to Desktops and ISPs. But they'll take some clues.
Just look at OS X lion taking clues from the experiences Apple made with iOS.

Why do tablets work now? They are no content creation tools, without mouse and keyboard there's no real productivity possible. So it's all about what's called infotainment.
The iPad is for consuming content in the "cloud", here used in its broadest sense. It comes with limited local storage and doesn't even have a proper file manager built in.
Web 2.0 and the rest of the buzzwords I'll omit for the sake of readability and sanity made it possible. And advances in hardware, good old Pentium in a tablet formfactor? That's why tablets failed before.
Now they make perfectly sense. Most of what people now use their _personal_ computer for can be done on a web browser. That's why a project like Chrome OS is possible today.
Computing has fundamentally changed and MS has to move with the times. Look at Windows 7, how much has really changed since Windows 95 if you look past bug fixes, security, stability, eye candy? (Note that only the last point actually matters to end users, especially when making the decision to buy something...)
I'm sure I'll be proven wrong on many details but the basic idea of Windows 8 is about going in the direction Google and Apple are going today, maybe surpassing it even in boldness. Risky? You bet it is. But they don't really have a choice.

 

This has my worthless nomination for num me vexo of the year.

 

I'm not the only cheapskate

Enterprises: We'll run Windows XP even after retirement
48% of companies say they they'll run XP after Microsoft retires the OS in 2014

 

Windows 8 would be subscription based -- probably the reason why it would be the "riskiest" OS they'd roll-out.

 

Windows 8 Milestone 2 already compiled ?

 

2012: Windows 8 Follows Apple’s Lead

 

Microsoft announced an "app store" well before apple.

 

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-8-installed-in-8-minutes-on-a-machine-with-24-gb-of-ram

 

Couple of recent articles from ZDNet

-Windows 8: Multiple desktops, smart sticky notes, and more
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/windows-8-multiple-desktops-smart-sticky-notes-and-more/45501
-Windows 8, Windows Server 8, and Office 15: Tons of new information straight from Microsoft and its employees!
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/seo/windo...traight-from-microsoft-and-its-employees/2019

 

With regards to the registry, I do know that IIS migrated from an opaque metastore (similar to the registry) to text file configuration.
One of the IIS developers years ago mentioned the reasons was to overcome dificulties in editting, automating and distributing configuration changes between different machines.
It was more productive editting and distributing text files, than using tools and APIs.
But this senario is tied to managing large number of servers and the impact to desktop systems would probably be insignificant.

Secruity, bloating, damage etc has nothing to do with the structure of the datastore used to store configuration but how the system as a whole manages it.
E.g. if malware can write to registry, it could as easily modify a text configuration file, if an app leaves redundant registy keys behind, it could equally leave that info behind in text files. If some software overwrites wrong settings or other damage, it could do it equally to registry OR text file .... etc etc etc.


Cheers, Nick

 

The much hated / loved ribbon is supposed to be part of Win8:

Source: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise...de-Ribbon-Mobile-Unlock-Screen-Report-860070/

 

Here's a bit more in a PCWorld slideshow: http://www.pcworld.com/article/224178/8_things_about_windows_8.html#tk.hp_new

Personally it's looking like one bloated mess...and I hate the ribbon.

 

Windows 8 to have Metro-style PDF reader

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-8-to-have-metro-style-pdf-reader

Finally! It's about time they had one built in.

 

That is nice..if they can secure it. I really wish Silverlight would go away. I rarely see it used, and, when it is, it fails more often than Flash (They still haven't fixed the Silverlight 4/Netflix issue on x64 systems. We still have to use Silverlight 3).

 

Silverlight/Flash will go away in due time

 

The Ribbon interface does indeed look bloated.. Hopefully it can be changed back without complicated hacking or third-party programs.

128-bits?! We're not even close to reaching the full potential of 64-bits.

 

I wish MS all the best. Chrome's built-in PDF file viewer got a lot of flak for quite sometime after it was introduced.

For some reason, people expected it to have all the functionality of the Adobe elephant.

In addition, Adobe have introduced several features into PDF files that aren't easy to replicate. I think Ocky has had experience of "Adobe-only" PDF files. I recently came across a password-protected PDF file that didn't open with Chrome's built-in viewer or with Foxit. It opened with Adobe and with PDF X-ChangeViewer.

 

I'll bet MS will give an option to go the old route instead of ribbon---they better. As far as 128 bits, I'm sorry, but it's marketing and, more likely, a feature that some guy there dreamed up and will never see the light of day for years to come. 64 bit CPUs haven't even been considered commonplace for more than the last few years, you can forget 64 bit software being considered commonplace, even now, and for a while to come, and, I doubt there are supercomputers that have reached the max memory limit for 64 bit systems (probably have yet to come close). There's simply no way to take advantage of 128 yet. MS may provide the capability in the following OS releases, but they will not be purely 128bit systems like we now have 64 bit systems. I don't see that happening for, I'm willing to put money on 15 years minimum.

 

Actually AMD has been doing 64bit CPU's since around 2002ish. Don't remember Athlon64? Now if you think about how long the O.S. took to make 64bit mainstream (2009, Windows 7), it's 6-7 years.

You need the hardware to make the first move several years in advance. There are no 128bit CPU's available for the home user right now. But I guess it can't hurt to have it as a separate DVD for when they do start selling them.

 

I had an Athlon64, lol. 2002 I'd consider the "last few years". Still, I'm willing to stand by what I said, 15 years minimum. But no, having the capability just future-proofs it, so it doesn't hurt at all if it's really true.

 

Looking good!
http://www.ghacks.net/2011/04/06/does-it-really-matter-if-we-dont-upgrade-our-pcs/

 

So Microsoft is focused on developing light-weight OS now? I wonder whether it'll actually be lighter than 7.