Microsoft's Dumbest And Smartest Moves Of 2011

[commodorejohn]

Many people slamming tablets and touch devices are viewing said machines as desktop competitors, and in my books they simply can't be compared.

Agreed; I see them more as laptop competitors - and they don't stack up there, either. Of course you've got your "well, it's for passive, bovine consumption of industrially-processed content!" proponents, but I've yet to have any trouble watching movies or reading books on my laptop, and I can do a damn sight more with it much more easily than any tablet.

and are likely still the types to own 7 year old feature phones

Proudly so. It places and receives phone calls, holds my small personal directory, and takes messages, and that's all I damn well need!

They aren't for everyone, but even the naysayers would find them quite usable even after using them for an hour or two or they simply wouldn't have taken off like they have.  For emails, quick docs and such, tablets and their onscreen keyboards are more than usable, and I dare say pleasant to use if you understand what they can and cannot do.

I never said they're unusable; as far as text-entry methods for cell phones, they're probably the best solution (certainly more pleasant than the button keyboards I've used.) What they aren't is as good as a real keyboard.

[desiv]

but how would you like to have the entire composition/revision process of your daughter's email to her school friends drifting down the hall

I grew up with lots of brothers / sisters..  That happened without voice-to-text.  ;-)

Reminds me too, when I saw my granddaughter entering her extra-credit homework via the Wiimote on our TV without any complaints or apparent issues, I realized that keyboards might not be the big selling point they used to be...

She had the option of using the laptop, but she was already on the Wii and it didn't bother her..

desiv

[stefcep2]

Computer! Tea.  Earl Grey.  Hot.

[commodorejohn]

I grew up with lots of brothers / sisters..  That happened without voice-to-text.  ;-)

That's not an answer to the question...

Reminds me too, when I saw my granddaughter entering her extra-credit homework via the Wiimote on our TV without any complaints or apparent issues, I realized that keyboards might not be the big selling point they used to be...

She had the option of using the laptop, but she was already on the Wii and it didn't bother her..

Yeah, something tells me that's not going to carry over to college and term papers, as cutesy as it is...

[smerf]

Hi,

Lets face it, the tablets that are coming out are more for people like MAC users who just want to turn it on use it, get done with what they want and then shut it off. The hardest thing a MAC user does on his machine is find the on/off switch and basically that is all the tablets do, you turn them on do what you have to do, then turn them off, that is why the ipads are such a big hit with the MAC users.

Real computer users (like me) think the tablets are nothing but junk. I use one only to read books when the wife goes shopping, she reminds me of a typical MAC user, goes into the store to buy a gallon of milk, and it takes her only 3 hours, and yes it is an all day affair when she really decides to go grocery shopping, but we both have cell phones, so every now and then I can call her and say "How much longer?"

Yea for MAC users, with out them who would I complain about?

Linux users, nah I use Linux
Amiga users, nah they complain about too much already
Atari users, nah they all are dead or dead heads.

Oh well MAC users it is then

smerf

[smerf]

Computer! Tea.  Earl Grey.  Hot.

Hi,

@stefcep2,

I like Earl Grey Tea too!!

As a matter of fact I am having a cup right now.

What do you think of that.

smerf

[smerf]

Hi,

@Bloodline,

"But then I'm not sure the desktop has long left for this world"

Come on man, laptops are nothing but junk, you can buy the most expensive laptop gaming computer on the market today and in two years it will be more obsolete than the Amiga 4000. You will pay about $7000 for a good laptop, and in 2 years you will be lucky to give the thing away.

Desktops are the real meat of playing PC games, doing 3D rendering, and setting up all kinds of weird things. The desktops only keep getting more powerful every day. Sure my 6 core which I bought last year is now obsolete, but I am thinking of upgrading it to a new 8 core, which will slip right into my motherboard. If I need better graphics I just buy a new card, do that on a stinking laptop. Heck the Amiga will outlive that laptop. You need to get away from them MAC's and go out and build your own desktop, then once you see how much fun it is, you will never look at another laptop, tablet or MAC.

smerf

[smerf]

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

Yes! I'm still not sure how I'm going to enter text from a touch interface (a picture of a keyboard? lame).

Hi,

@Iggy,

I heard that mirosoft is working on a tablet that you speak to, it then takes your words and prints them out on the screen. So pretty soon we will all be talking to our computers.

Computer (or name like Hal) bring up Fallout 3.

Go north,
go northwest

Hal go to hello operator

smerf

[persia]

@Smerf

Desktops are currently irreplaceable for a significant minority of computer users.  That group is not growing and will at some point shrink.  There will likely be a significant number of desktops for a decade or two, but their ultimate demise is pretty much certain.

[commodorejohn]

Desktops are currently irreplaceable for a significant minority of computer users.  That group is not growing and will at some point shrink.  There will likely be a significant number of desktops for a decade or two, but their ultimate demise is pretty much certain.

Based on what? The idea that current trends will continue on to infinity? That's the one thing trends never do.

[PastAmigaOwner]

Hi,

Lets face it, the tablets that are coming out are more for people like MAC users who just want to turn it on use it, get done with what they want and then shut it off. The hardest thing a MAC user does on his machine is find the on/off switch and basically that is all the tablets do, you turn them on do what you have to do, then turn them off, that is why the ipads are such a big hit with the MAC users.

Real computer users (like me) think the tablets are nothing but junk. I use one only to read books when the wife goes shopping, she reminds me of a typical MAC user, goes into the store to buy a gallon of milk, and it takes her only 3 hours, and yes it is an all day affair when she really decides to go grocery shopping, but we both have cell phones, so every now and then I can call her and say "How much longer?"

Yea for MAC users, with out them who would I complain about?

Linux users, nah I use Linux
Amiga users, nah they complain about too much already
Atari users, nah they all are dead or dead heads.

Oh well MAC users it is then

smerf

LOL.  Yeah, cause all those millions of people out there who simply want a computer or electronic gadget to do what it was designed to do, get out of the way, and let them get their work done are freaks.  I like to use technology --- not fight with it.  That's why I liked Amigas back in the day and still have a place in my heart for them.  It's always enlightening to read a rant on "MACS" because the only people who spell it that way are the people who have never used one.  It's Mac....that's short for Macintosh.  MAC implies that it is an acronym, which it is not.

[CritAnime]

Hi,

Lets face it, the tablets that are coming out are more for people like MAC users who just want to turn it on use it, get done with what they want and then shut it off. The hardest thing a MAC user does on his machine is find the on/off switch and basically that is all the tablets do, you turn them on do what you have to do, then turn them off, that is why the ipads are such a big hit with the MAC users.

Real computer users (like me) think the tablets are nothing but junk. I use one only to read books when the wife goes shopping, she reminds me of a typical MAC user, goes into the store to buy a gallon of milk, and it takes her only 3 hours, and yes it is an all day affair when she really decides to go grocery shopping, but we both have cell phones, so every now and then I can call her and say "How much longer?"

Yea for MAC users, with out them who would I complain about?

Linux users, nah I use Linux
Amiga users, nah they complain about too much already
Atari users, nah they all are dead or dead heads.

Oh well MAC users it is then

smerf

Thanks for that Smerf you made me chuckle. If we Macintosh users have to be the outlet for your little rants then so be it. I have broad enough shoulders for it

Oh and I am a windows and linux user too.

[huronking]

Are the $7,000 laptops mil-spec?

[psxphill]

People are mostly okay with Vista/7, I think, because despite the aesthetic tweaks it doesn't really screw around with what already works (too much.) But if Microsoft tries to force users into a different model, I think there's going to be a lot of backlash.

Some people hate change, I remember when XP came out and how unpopular it was with the 9x lovers. Then Vista was terrible and XP was great, etc etc. However change is innevitable, so if there is a backlash it will be a minority and in a couple of years nobody will care anyway as there will be a new version to hate.
 
We're so far away from windows 8 release to even begin to know what it will look like. But if they remove the classic start menu then at least the people who complained about it in 1995 will be happy.

[CritAnime]

I am sure there are vids of a release candidate for Windows 8 floating around YouTube. Looks to me they are trying to pull an apple and android and getting some continuity along the product lines. XBOX recently had yet another complete ui overhaul and now looks like windows phone and a potential 8.

[Duce]

The dev preview of win 8 has been out for months, and the RTM/Consumer preview will be out on the 29th.

RTM means ready to manufacture, the version coming out on the 29th will be very similar to the end retail product.

Dev preview was freely downloadable, so will the RTM/consumer preview version.