Eldmannen Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 I've tried the Windows 8 developer preview. It is not yet in beta, so when trying out a developer preview one should keep in mind that the final version will be better. I am very disappointed. I was looking forward to Windows 8, because it will introduce support for the ARM architecture which I think is exciting, because this could cause ARM to challenge x86 on the PC. I don't have anything against the x86 architecture, Intel or AMD, but it would be nice with some alternatives, to have a choice, to have some competition. Nowadays x86 have 64-bit support, but POWER, SPARC, Alpha and other architecures had 64-bit support way before x86. x86 has been extended with new instructions but Alpha, ARM, SPARC, POWER, etc all used to be considered superior to x86. I consider Windows 7 much better than Vista, but still wasn't very found of it (i think the usability is bad, etc). Also when a new version of an operating system gets released its always exciting. I am hugely disappointed with Windows 8, and I think it is worse than Vista. In fact, it's even worse than Windows ME, way worse! Windows Explorer now uses the ribbon interface. I think it makes it looks cluttered and bloated. When you start Windows 8 and login you get put into Metro-mode from where you can launch Metro apps. Metro is also used on Windows Phone. Perhaps Metro is alright on a smartphone or other mobile handheld device 3-4" screen, but I think it sucks on a desktop computer. Metro apps run in fullscreen, so I don't feel they're good for multitasking or suited for use on a desktop computer. Luckily you can enter the Windows shell so it looks like Windows 7. But they changed so when you click on the start button or WinKey, instead of getting the start menu, you get kicked back to the fullscreen Metro screen. You can launch your applications from there but I feel it is slower, cumbersome and less convinient. The good thing about Windows 8 is that it comes with Internet Explorer 10 which is likely better than Internet Explorer 9. Also the Metro version of IE10 doesn't support plugins so it cant run Adobe Flash Player, which might decrease the usage of Flash which is a proprietary closed-source technology. Proprietary technology is bad for the open web. Have you tried Windows 8? What do you think of it? Are you looking forward to it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_A Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Well, if you design an interface for a mobile phone, it's always going to look stupid if it is used on a big desktop screen. On one of my desktops with a 23" wide screen I can have over 100 Icons at one side and leave room for a traditional-shaped 19" screen, easily. The Windows 8 Metro screen has about 9 Icons and they take up most of the screen. Apple, on the other hand, uses a completely different operating system for phones and iPad tablets (iOS) than it does for laptops and desktops. Microsoft has never been able to write a user interface that scales over different sizes. Try changing the resolution (dots per inch) of the Windows desktop and watch it fall apart completely. The kind of zooming that you can do in iOS is years away from being possible in Windows. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldmannen Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 Well, if you design an interface for a mobile phone, it's always going to look stupid if it is used on a big desktop screen. I agree. Different devices have different needs. A interface that is suited for one type of device isn't nescesarly suited for another type of device. Apple, on the other hand, uses a completely different operating system for phones and iPad tablets (iOS) than it does for laptops and desktops. Mac OS X and iOS are not completely different. I believe much is shared. Perhaps you mean that the desktop environments are different? An operating system can scale (such as scale from tiny embedded devices to huge supercomputer clusters), but the user interface should probably be different. Microsoft has never been able to write a user interface that scales over different sizes. Try changing the resolution (dots per inch) of the Windows desktop and watch it fall apart completely. The kind of zooming that you can do in iOS is years away from being possible in Windows. Mac OS X is a descenat of NeXTSTEP which uses Display PostScript internally for drawing. Mac OS X uses Quartz which uses PDF internally which is vector graphics and hence scaleable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_A Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Mac OS X and iOS are not completely different. I believe much is shared. Perhaps you mean that the desktop environments are different? You're absolutely right. I should have said "... uses a completely different UI (User Interface) for phones and iPad tablets than it does for laptops and desktops." The history of Mac OS X and iOS is interesting. NeXT (as you probably already know) was founded by Steve Jobs when he resigned from Apple, after losing the boardroom battle in 1985. He brought NextSTEP back with him to Apple about 11 or 12 years later, which led to the first Mac OS X a few years after that. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripredacus Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Isn't Mac OS X still just a GUI for Unix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_A Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Only if you also think that Windows 8 is still just a GUI for TOPS-10 or maybe an improved GUI for VAX/VMS. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldmannen Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 Isn't Mac OS X still just a GUI for Unix? No, Mac OS X is an operating system. A operating system consists of many parts (kernel, libraries, applications, etc). Mac OS X is derived from Darwin which has heritage from NeXTSTEP, which is a UNIX operating system that Apple bought from NeXT. It has technology such as AppleScript, Aqua, Bonjour, Carbon, Cocoa, Core Audio, Core Image, launchd, Quartz and XNU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldmannen Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 Isn't Mac OS X still just a GUI for Unix? Due to some components being unified, modular, integrated, unnamed, etc not all concepts translate well. Linux Desktop environment: GNOME, KDE Windowing system: X.org (an implementation of the X11 protocol), in future will run X.org on top of Wayland. Widget toolkits: GTK+, Qt Mac OS X Visual theme: Aqua Windowing system: Quartz Compositor Widget toolkits: Cocoa Windows Desktop environment: Windows shell Visual theme: Windows Aero Widget toolkits: MFC, Windows Forms, WPF http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_operating_systems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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