The Windows 8 Thread

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I knew this would happen ... Every time MS show off stuff for their next version of Windows (1+ years in advance), Apple always release some small update that clearly borrows ideas from MS's next release, in some half-bothered fashion. They've also increased the release cycle of OSX to get this next version out before W8, clearly in response to Win 8 as they know it's going to be vastly superior.

I like this one: "improved address space layout randomization for better security." ... Windows has been ahead in this area for years. And it still will be, and OSX will continue to be the first OS to be cracked at every hacking convention.

BTW anyone noticed how dated all of Apples stuff looks these days? Compare it to Metro with it's clean modern design, which is where design is all heading. Then you have Apple with their dated UI's - gradients all over the place, rounded corners on everything, overly shiny icons, plus too many unneeded graphical distractions and gimmicks. Think someone needs to tell Apple it's not 2001 anymore.
 
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I agree with all his points though.

ASLR is nothing new. Windows has had it since 2006.

"Mountain Lion" appears to take some features from iOS in order to improve their mobile working offering. It's the first admission from Apple really that at some point in the future they're going to have to merge OSX and iOS together properly.

And yes, the OSX GUI is starting to look dated. Too much flashy chrome everywhere. Whereas Windows is going the opposite direction by reducing chrome as much as possible. Especially Metro, which can be said to be "chromeless"! Windows has a more minimalist GUI than OSX.
 
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It's a small update that doesn't solve the issues in the way windows8 does.

Still as above it's a sign that all OSs will merge together and it's not just windows doing it.

Everyone copies designs from each other, so can't really hate apple for that.
 
NathanE said:
I agree with all his points though.

ASLR is nothing new. Windows has had it since 2006.

"Mountain Lion" appears to take some features from iOS in order to improve their mobile working offering. It's the first admission from Apple really that at some point in the future they're going to have to merge OSX and iOS together properly.

And yes, the OSX GUI is starting to look dated. Too much flashy chrome everywhere. Whereas Windows is going the opposite direction by reducing chrome as much as possible. Especially Metro, which can be said to be "chromeless"! Windows has a more minimalist GUI than OSX.
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There's agreeing with his points and posting in a well constructed manner like yourself and then there's posting like a child throwing his toys out of the pram.
 
Photek said:
I knew this would happen ... Every time MS show off stuff for their next version of Windows (1+ years in advance), Apple always release some small update that clearly borrows ideas from MS's next release, in some half-bothered fashion. They've also increased the release cycle of OSX to get this next version out before W8, clearly in response to Win 8 as they know it's going to be vastly superior.

I like this one: "improved address space layout randomization for better security." ... Windows has been ahead in this area for years. And it still will be, and OSX will continue to be the first OS to be cracked at every hacking convention.

BTW anyone noticed how dated all of Apples stuff looks these days? Compare it to Metro with it's clean modern design, which is where design is all heading. Then you have Apple with their dated UI's - gradients all over the place, rounded corners on everything, overly shiny icons, plus too many unneeded graphical distractions and gimmicks. Think someone needs to tell Apple it's not 2001 anymore.
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+100
 
Some new stuff on the Windows 8 blog, nothing big though so wont bother adding it to my original post, but it's interesting...

Enabling accessibility - This is about new features to help people with disabilities like visual, mobility and hearing impairments (vid here).

Reliably measuring browser performance - Shows the testing MS they do with IE, using the IE Performance Lab.

Stuff worth mentioning...
The lab contains 120 machines from desktops, laptops, netbooks to touch devices, both x86/64 and ARM.
The lab measures performance of Internet Explorer 200 times daily, collecting over 5.7 million measurements and 480GB of runtime data each day :eek:
The servers they use are each 16 core + 16GB RAM.
Activity is measured with 100 nanosecond resolution.

And...
Since the lab runs 24/7, hardware failures are inevitable. Replacing failed components with identical parts from a different manufacturing lot almost always results in the repaired computer running faster than the other machines in the pool. While this difference would be unnoticeable in the real world, when you’re measuring down to 100 nanoseconds, even a few cycles can impact the results! If after a repair a machine no longer runs identically to the rest of the pool, it is removed from the lab and the pool’s size permanently shrinks.
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...Well it's paying off, i noticed with the Dev Preview that IE10 is faster/smoother than any other browser (i do web design so use loads of browsers, but it wont really show if you're running Win 8 virtualized), being as MS deal with real world performance, not benchmark scores!
Some of it seems to be down to GPU, as even text and static images are GPU accelerated. IE9 also had this (and is still the only browser with full GPU acceleration) but it's improved with IE10. An example of how much full GPU acceleration can impact overall experience is to go to Google Maps, make browser full screen, then drag the map around - it should be smoother on IE9. It's the same with any sites that use HTML5 / JavaScript animations, or even just scrolling up and down a complex page. I'm sure IE10 will be speedy and butter smooth on touch screens... Now if only it will have better add-on support... :p
 
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The Windows 8 Logo:

win8logo.jpg

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/...spx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
 
Glaucus said:
It's a small update that doesn't solve the issues in the way windows8 does.

Still as above it's a sign that all OSs will merge together and it's not just windows doing it.

Everyone copies designs from each other, so can't really hate apple for that.
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Fair point, but apple borrows them in such a way that peopple actually think they invented it and were first. Like the iCloud.

Ive been using cloud storage for a while, now Apple offers it, everyone goes nuts, even to the point where people with the ipads etc using it show me to say I bet you wish windows could do that . . . . erm . . . . It does, and has done before apple came along. They just give you a look as if they think you are joking. I never understand Fanboys of either side to be quite honest!

Im not sure about the new windows logo, nor the new windows UI. I think it will be a great UI for home use, but Im not so sure on the productivity at work side of it. I fine Windows 8 is a fantastic evolution fo the start bar and cannot see Metro really helping my work!
 
Rbr windows doesn't do it in such an integrated and easy way.

That's where apple really excels. It's all built in and so easy.
With windows you have t add it all on, find and register and it's hardly ever as slick.

This is something windows8 fixes, so much built in.
 
noticed no pinch to zoom on the magnifier. i remember apple complaining about this when on mobiles a few years ago before google had it then google added it any way so figured it was ok for everyone to use? if so why wouldn't they have pinch to zoom?
 
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