Report: Windows 9 Being Prepped For April 2015 Launch

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Imperioratorex Caprae

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sb666 said:
It will be interesting to see if it will follow this cycle.
Well it doesn't cover Windows 2000 but I guess it doesn't count. I'm still bitter about Win2k being a viable OS and promptly being tossed on its ass for XP which was so much crap until about Sp2. I'm probably also bitter that I got my MCSE in Windows 2k about a month before it was tossed with no warning whatsoever.
 

Vivi22

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Owyn_Merrilin said:
A-D. said:
sb666 said:
It will be interesting to see if it will follow this cycle.
That picture is wrong, its missing Win98 Second Edition, Win NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, though the curve would still be correct for the most part.

That being said, it smells like another case of Vista to 7. So maybe Win9 will be the good Win8 essentially, like how 7 is essentially the good Vista version ;P
It also pegs 3.1 as good and 95 as bad. As someone who still periodically loads those two up in virtual machines (mainly for old Windows games that need 16 bit support), 95 was not bad at all. Yes, it was completely full of security holes, but it also came out at a time before the internet became ubiquitous, a time when files were more likely to be shared via floppy disk than modem. And from a user's perspective, 95 was a huge improvement over 3.1, which was really little more than a GUI that sat on top of DOS. 95 did a number of things that DOS couldn't, most notably from the perspective of a gamer, it introduced Direct X, which was a huge, huge thing. 3.1 mostly just made using a computer a bit more intuitive[footnote]It also wasn't the first version of Windows. As the number implies, there was a commercially released Windows 1, 2, and also something called Windows 386, which from what I understand was basically Windows 2 tweaked to better support the features of the then new and powerful Intel 386 processor. There's probably a few other variations I'm forgetting, not even counting stuff like 3.0 and 3.11.[/footnote].

Basically, the "pattern" has only really existed since Vista turned out to suck, or since ME if you want to ignore that 2000 was a thing.
Agreed that 95 wasn't that bad and that the chart is missing a few, probably to make its point seem more legitimate. But honestly, from what I remember of 98 I wonder if whoever made that graphic was using the same Windows 98 I was, because I remember it being pretty awful. Freezes, crashes and blue screens were frequent. I'm not sure I ever went more than a few days without having to reboot the damn thing.
 

mew4ever23

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8 was a tablet OS at heart, that's the problem. If your machine doesn't have touch, it's incredibly difficult to use.

Let me clue you in, Microsoft - Apple maintains two separate operating systems - iOS and MacOS. Different systems for different devices. Follow this model - a tablet OS for tablets, and a Desktop OS for computers.

Or at least have the decency to give us the Win7 desktop, with a proper start menu by default if the computer doesn't detect a touchscreen.
 

lacktheknack

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VinLAURiA said:
Oh look, another "Windows Cycle" circlejerk started by the very first reply. A.k.a. the new circlejerk people had to come up with only after their "XP will forever be the pinnacle of Windows" circlejerk was utterly shattered when even they had to grudgingly admit that Win7 was massively better.

Typical sweeping quantifications from the likes of folk who frequent internet forums and think they have the world all figured out and categorized through a pile of tabloid-worthy platitudes and supposed "patterns." It'd be adorable... if it weren't so infuriating!

*storms off*
Ya know, not everything is a "circlejerk".

Sometimes, you can notice a pattern and find it funny.

OT: I think I'll stick with my current transition to Linux, thanks.
 

Something Amyss

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mew4ever23 said:
8 was a tablet OS at heart, that's the problem. If your machine doesn't have touch, it's incredibly difficult to use.
I wouldn't say incredibly, but it was needlessly complex and definitely more trouble that it's worth.

I had to learn how to use it on the fly, because some of my clients upgraded for God knows what reason (my clients tend to not be very tech savvy, hence their need for me), and it was frustrating as hell.
 

Dragonbums

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So either Microsoft is trying to pull off the Apple bullshit business practice, or they really want everyone to forget that Windows 8 exists. Either way, I'm sticking to Windows 7 for a long time thank you very much.
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

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babinro said:
I have Windows 7 and have no intention to switch things up unless it becomes mandatory for future gaming. Given the option, I'd gladly stick with Windows XP. The only feature in 7 that gets any use is the snap left snap right feature for convenience.
How about support for new hardware, or the fact that XP is full of security holes. Why anyone would stick to outdated operating system software is beyond me. Especially when we're moving into a 64-bit age. There are a lot of reasons to get 7, and not any I can think of to stick with XP. XP was shit up until about the last 3rd of its lifespan and even then wasn't awesome. The only reason not to upgrade when Vista came out was because it was Vista. Windows 7 is much more stable, secure and pretty much runs better than XP in almost every way short of a few games that are wonky or won't work right out of the box due to the era they were released and the way they were programmed.
Most of those issues are solved with very little google searching needed.
EDIT: clicked post before I was done by accident.
I don't mean you directly but rather people who constantly say they'll never upgrade from XP. Thats just luddite in the extreme.
 

TomWiley

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I hope people realize that Paul Thurrott has absolutely zero credibility. And that "reports" of Microsoft reporting the old startmenu pops up about one per month, and are pretty much never substantiated. It's not necessarily that this article or Thurrott is wrong. It's just that there is such an oversimplification of what's going on.
 

votemarvel

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I still use Windows XP as my primary operating system, with Windows 7 living on a second hard drive for the couple of games that require it.
 

Something Amyss

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Dragonbums said:
So either Microsoft is trying to pull off the Apple bullshit business practice, or they really want everyone to forget that Windows 8 exists.
I don't see how either tracks, but especially the first. Apple at least has the decency to have an OS for their computers that is separate from their portable OS.
 

TomWiley

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Zachary Amaranth said:
Dragonbums said:
So either Microsoft is trying to pull off the Apple bullshit business practice, or they really want everyone to forget that Windows 8 exists.
I don't see how either tracks, but especially the first. Apple at least has the decency to have an OS for their computers that is separate from their portable OS.
Ignoring the fact that Google and Canonical(Ubuntu/Linux) are progressively merging their desktop/tablet environments into one UI much like Windows 8 and will continue to do so in future iterations, as well as the fact that the Mavericks (OSX) was actually marketed by Apple as being "inspired" by their mobile operating system iOS.

Indeed, it's not as radical of a change as Windows 8, but as more and more major tech companies are moving towards common kernel/common OS solution for all their products and tablet/laptop hybrids are becoming more popular, that decency that you speak of is something that you won't see much of in a few years.
 

Covarr

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It really isn't fair to compare 8 to Vista or ME. Virtually all of its problems are UI problems which are easily enough worked around. ME and Vista had problems rooted much deeper, such as memory management issues, poor stability, being slow for no good reason, a completely broken System Restore feature that makes it incredibly difficult to remove viruses, etc. Literally all of 8's problems can be 100% solved with a $5 purchase of Start8. Vista and ME are unfixable trash, because the problems are too low-level.

And outside of Metro's easily-sidestepped annoyingness? It's considerably faster, more stable, and more secure than both XP and 7. This doesn't necessarily excuse the Metro BS (they should've made it more optional), but it simply isn't a broken OS the way Vista and ME were, and it can't reasonably be put on their level.

P.S. Thanks
 

tehroc

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I'm using Vista x64, I don't see what the criticism was about. I haven't had a problem with it.
 

Frezzato

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Zachary Amaranth said:
Dragonbums said:
So either Microsoft is trying to pull off the Apple bullshit business practice, or they really want everyone to forget that Windows 8 exists.
I don't see how either tracks, but especially the first. Apple at least has the decency to have an OS for their computers that is separate from their portable OS.
Also, the latest OS, Mavericks, is free. It works surprisingly well considering that I'm using it on a laptop from 2009.

As for the people who refuse to download and install Mavericks, we don't speak about them. Not since they were dragged away into the night.
 

Callate

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I'm still using Windows Vista 64-bit, with minimal problems. But I've been meaning to pick up a copy of Windows 7 for the ultimately inevitable next computer. My wife has Windows 8 on her laptop, the newest computer in the house, and it's fine for what she uses the laptop for- mostly web browsing and video watching- but any OS that the computer's builders felt compelled to add a third-party shut down button to is an OS with serious problems. As for me, 8 is any number of things I want nothing to do with- it's designed for tablets and touch-screen interfaces, it makes it more difficult to run multiple apps simultaneously, it wants to control and limit the user's access to their own computer, and it's a move towards a more proprietary stance on what software can be run on it to Microsoft's benefit and the user's detriment. Overall, it's an incredibly arrogant piece of software- a flat-out declaration that despite years of learning how to do things a particular way, everyone should learn to do things a new way because a few GUI engineers at MS think this way is better. And there's plenty of evidence that said engineers were flat-out wrong.

In some ways the stupidest thing is that given how Microsoft has insisted on cutting up its market in the past with versions basic, Home, Business, Ultimate, etc., there was no good reason for them to alienate people so thoroughly. They could have simply offered a Tablet and a Desktop version of 8, recognizing that touch-screen monitors were going to penetrate the market about as much as 3D televisions have their own. But instead, everyone had to conform to Microsoft's vision for the future, even if that vision was dystopian.

Hopefully, with Ballmer's departure, we can get an OS that's less about trying to unite the world of hardware under a Microsoft flag and more about actual user functionality- the sort of functionality that actually inspires that brand loyalty in the first place.
 

Xan Krieger

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I'm still using XP as my only operating system, gonna get 7 when I build a new computer in the next 2 years or so. I would like to see windows 9 using the interface of 7 with the reduced system usage of 8.
 

Kinitawowi

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Nov 21, 2012
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Windows 8 is an abortion of an OS that's trying to be one system that runs on six different devices. Even Apple aren't that stupid.

Windows 9 will only be good if it sticks to being a desktop-patterned OS. If it tries to combine tablet, phone and console OSs into the same thing again then it's going to go on sucking balls.

It's also got to stop alienating technically savvy users. The Secure Boot / UEFI bullshit is fine for people who have no interest in getting under the hood, but occasionally I need to boot from an Ubuntu Live USB and I shouldn't have to change four different BIOS options to do that, and then change them back afterwards. And if I want to change user settings, I want them all to be in one place. My biggest problem with Windows 8 - the one I see as symptomatic of all of its issues - is that you need to go Charms-Settings-Change computer settings-Users to add a user, but Desktop-Control Panel-Users to remove one. There is no reason for a technically competent person to have to go through that faff. Yes, 8.1 has fixed a few things, but it's hilarious that 8.1 and the surely upcoming 8.2 will end up removing almost every single piece of customisation and UI bullshit that 8 tried to add in - at which point, they've spent a whole lot of money fixing something that was never broke in the first place.
 

Darth Sea Bass

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Vivi22 said:
Owyn_Merrilin said:
A-D. said:
sb666 said:
It will be interesting to see if it will follow this cycle.
That picture is wrong, its missing Win98 Second Edition, Win NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, though the curve would still be correct for the most part.

That being said, it smells like another case of Vista to 7. So maybe Win9 will be the good Win8 essentially, like how 7 is essentially the good Vista version ;P
It also pegs 3.1 as good and 95 as bad. As someone who still periodically loads those two up in virtual machines (mainly for old Windows games that need 16 bit support), 95 was not bad at all. Yes, it was completely full of security holes, but it also came out at a time before the internet became ubiquitous, a time when files were more likely to be shared via floppy disk than modem. And from a user's perspective, 95 was a huge improvement over 3.1, which was really little more than a GUI that sat on top of DOS. 95 did a number of things that DOS couldn't, most notably from the perspective of a gamer, it introduced Direct X, which was a huge, huge thing. 3.1 mostly just made using a computer a bit more intuitive[footnote]It also wasn't the first version of Windows. As the number implies, there was a commercially released Windows 1, 2, and also something called Windows 386, which from what I understand was basically Windows 2 tweaked to better support the features of the then new and powerful Intel 386 processor. There's probably a few other variations I'm forgetting, not even counting stuff like 3.0 and 3.11.[/footnote].

Basically, the "pattern" has only really existed since Vista turned out to suck, or since ME if you want to ignore that 2000 was a thing.
Agreed that 95 wasn't that bad and that the chart is missing a few, probably to make its point seem more legitimate. But honestly, from what I remember of 98 I wonder if whoever made that graphic was using the same Windows 98 I was, because I remember it being pretty awful. Freezes, crashes and blue screens were frequent. I'm not sure I ever went more than a few days without having to reboot the damn thing.
You too? I fucking despised 98.
 

Vivi22

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Darth Sea Bass said:
You too? I fucking despised 98.
Yeah. We were using 98 right around the time I hit the age where I was interested in computers and actually learned how to use them for more than opening a web browser or playing the occasional game, but even on those fronts it was the worst OS I'd ever used with all of the crashing. A few years later when we bought a new computer that came with XP I was blown away by how stable it was. Especially by comparison. Things rarely ever just crashed or stopped working on XP, but it was happening to us every other day with 98. I was actually surprised after using it for a few days because I couldn't believe Microsoft programmed something that worked the way it was supposed to.
 

Doom972

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I also avoided Vista and will probably be avoiding Win8 altogether. I don't upgrade my OS unless I have a very good reason to.

sb666 said:
It will be interesting to see if it will follow this cycle.
Maybe I don't remember it correctly, but I don't remember anything that bad about Win95. It was quite an improvement over Win3.11. I do remember Win98 having a shaky beginning, which was addressed through Windows Update (which many people didn't use yet), and eventually through Win98-SE. I do agree with the rest and hope that Win9 will be the next good Windows OS.