Is Microsoft ignoring the desktop again?

[PGHammer]

I believe a device with a microphone is the rule rather the exception. Maybe on desktops most don't, but not very many people use desktops as their daily driver. Lots of people, especially the younger users Microsoft is targeting all have access to tabs and laptops as their drivers. Speaking to Cortana won't be an issue.

If you have a webcam (of any sort), you have a mic - I don't know of ANY webcam that lacks one.  Separate hardware, designed-in (common in both portables and AIOs) - it's definitely there; a check of Device Manager will tell you.  Either is usable by Cortana (or Skype, for that matter) - in most cases, they auto-enable by default.  (That is regardless of your Windows version.)

 

The biggest problem is the opposite - turning them off.  (For any reason - including bad placement - which is common with the mics built into webcams.)

[HawkMan]

I totally disagree with that. For me, iOS is the best tablet OS out there. Android is very close as well.

 

And you have actually used windows 8.1 on a tablet... or are you basing this on your years od desktop experience with windows 7. 

[TAZMINATOR]

I believe a device with a microphone is the rule rather the exception. Maybe on desktops most don't, but not very many people use desktops as their daily driver. Lots of people, especially the younger users Microsoft is targeting all have access to tabs and laptops as their drivers. Speaking to Cortana won't be an issue.

 

Those who have the mic on their desktops for speech recognition which control the apps, writing down by voice command...

 

Which they have the software called Dragon Naturally Speaking ..

 

I have a mic from 90's for beta testing security app that I did beta test for awhile. After that, I have not used the mic since. Lucky I still have it but not hooked it up yet.

 

Of course PGH is right, webcams with mic...  you can use the mic through the webcam without using video.

[HawkMan]

They absolutely do reflect the percieved quality of a product. iOS and Android sell in their droves because they work so well. A bad product won't sell. That's a fact.

 

 

There's like, LITERALLY, no facepalm big enough for that comment. 

According to whom? You? Clearly the majority don't agree with you. Microsoft just killed RT

 

No, actually they didn't, it's rebranded to Windows 10 Mobile, and merged with Windows Phone, and will continue to exist on 8 and below inch ARM devices. so try again, 

and desktop has been restored for screens 8" and bigger. 

 

You mean, Desktop is "restored", when you attach a dock/keyoard and mouse. NO REALLY. you mean when you attach a keyboard and mouse, windows 10 works exactly like windows 8.1 does today, only with the option of a mini start menu... GEEE!!!

[Tyrone Taylor]

Am I the only one who has errors with the new build for changing my desktop back, it glitches out if I try to do it in persualisation.

If you right click and set as background then it changes but its centred.

 

Also when i enable the secret logon screen, it appears to boot much slower than originally.

Any ideas?

[HawkMan]

 So to suggest that Windows 8.1 is "the best tablet OS out there" is utterly fantastical.

 

No it isn't, When it comes to actual usability and function and functionality ( since you have issues understanding the word perceived, still, after the last discussion, I figure I need to point out, despite being very similar, those two words mean different things)Windows 8.1 is lightyears ahead of both iOS and Android when it comes to tablet usage.  Most users don't want to try it because the media has made it their mission to trash the OS without even trying it or understanding what they're saying, mor eso, they're only trashing the Desktop part, and the users, well they're idiots,they don't know the difference. 

[Tyrone Taylor]

One other problem. internet download manager can't connect to the peers for the downloads

[HawkMan]

You can even multitask on iPad. 

 

hehehe, funny. No limited music playing in the background isn't multi tasking 

 

"your irc client hasn't been used for 5 minutes, we will know kill it, thank you"

 

Meanwhile on windows 8, I was browsing and while my IRC chat was visible on the side. 

[TAZMINATOR]

hehehe, funny. No limited music playing in the background isn't multi tasking 

 

"your irc client hasn't been used for 5 minutes, we will know kill it, thank you"

 

Meanwhile on windows 8, I was browsing and while my IRC chat was visible on the side. 

 

Look it up on Google, if you don't believe that. And I was NOT talking about stuff running in background.

 

[HawkMan]

Except that's not really happening. A "modern" app looks exactly the same on a 9-inch tablet as it does on a 27" non-touch monitor, and that's simply ridiculous. MIcrosoft is not pushing a new paradigm, they're still pushing the same old one size fits all paradigm that they started with Windows 8.

 

Actually, that's kind of up to the developer today. with 10 anyway. even with 8.1 the developer could have radically different app layouts for different screen sizes if they bothered. 

Look it up on Google, if you don't believe that. And I was NOT talking about stuff running in background.

 

 

Seeing as I also have both a iPad and an android tablet, I really don't need to look up their limited "multi tasking". 

[PGHammer]

Those who have the mic on their desktops for speech recognition which control the apps, writing down by voice command...

 

Which they have the software called Dragon Naturally Speaking ..

 

I have a mic from 90's for beta testing security app that I did beta test for awhile. After that, I have not used the mic since. Lucky I still have it but not hooked it up yet.

 

Of course PGH is right, webcams with mic...  you can use the mic through the webcam without using video.

Exactly, shozilla.

 

Dragon Naturally Speaking is old - quite old.  In fact, on the Windows side alone, it dates back to (don't faint) Windows 3.x and NT 3.x.  A subsystem of DNS has been licensed by Microsoft and included with Windows since then - ever heard of a VERY old applet called Windows Voice Control?  (It's a subset of DNS - which includes the full version with DNS today.)  Another subset of DNS related to dictation (speech-to-text) has been part of Microsoft OFFICE for quite a stretch (since Office 97).  Though DragonSystems has changed ownership twice (purchased by ScanSoft, which was itself acquired by Nuance), it's still alive, still available, and is even compatible with Windows 8+. (There are two different specialized versions for enterprises - Dragon Medical and Dragon Legal.)

 

http://www.nuance.com/dragon/index.htm (Dragon subsite on the Nuance corporate site)

[TAZMINATOR]

Seeing as I also have both a iPad and an android tablet, I really don't need to look up their limited "multi tasking". 

 

HAHAHAHA! 

 

That means you are lazy to look it up and won't learn how to multitask on iPad.. 

 

 

And of course, to his/her own depends on what s/he uses for.

[LimeMaster]

Then why do you have a Nokia Lumia 920?

I'd just like to point out that you can multitask on Windows Phones. You just have to hold the back button to see the list of apps you have open.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

And you have actually used windows 8.1 on a tablet... or are you basing this on your years od desktop experience with windows 7. 

I am not talking about desktop environments when I talk about tablets. Yes, I have used Windows on Surface tablets and it's fair but certainly not the best. iOS and Android have far better mobile OS's and a great deal more apps. Surface tablets are not even in the same league. All modern OS's use multitasking. You don't need to have both on screen at once for it to be multitasking. All I have to do is double click my home button on my iPad or iPhone and I can easily switch to any other app that is running.

 

This arguing about tablet OS's is going off topic though.

 

Based on this new release of Windows 10, I absolutely think MS is NOT ignoring the desktop. They have done a great job of cleaning up problems that people had with Windows 8.x and made a very good hybrid OS that adjusts itself based on what you are using.

[siah1214]

I've yet to find a mobile OS (besides windows 8 / RT) that multitasked as well as WebOS...everything else tombstones the apps.  :-\ 

[patseguin Global Moderator]

I've yet to find a mobile OS (besides windows 8 / RT) that multitasked as well as WebOS...everything else tombstones the apps.  :-\ 

 Interesting. What out there runs that OS? I haven't heard of it. I personally love the way iOS handles multitasking but I admit I am jaded. I don't think a tablet with it's small size should be running apps side by side. I like the idea of having multiple apps running at once and just easily switching among them.

[HawkMan]

HAHAHAHA! 

 

That means you are lazy to look it up and won't learn how to multitask on iPad.. 

 

 

And of course, to his/her own depends on what s/he uses for.

 

 

no, I know quite well how to "multi task" on an iPad, it just isn't real multitasking, especially compared to what windows 8.x offers. claiming it is is frankly quite well....

I am not talking about desktop environments when I talk about tablets. Yes, I have used Windows on Surface tablets and it's fair but certainly not the best. iOS and Android have far better mobile OS's and a great deal more apps. Surface tablets are not even in the same league. All modern OS's use multitasking. You don't need to have both on screen at once for it to be multitasking. All I have to do is double click my home button on my iPad or iPhone and I can easily switch to any other app that is running.

 

This arguing about tablet OS's is going off topic though.

 

Based on this new release of Windows 10, I absolutely think MS is NOT ignoring the desktop. They have done a great job of cleaning up problems that people had with Windows 8.x and made a very good hybrid OS that adjusts itself based on what you are using.

 

app switching != multi tasking, yes to some degree it satisfies the technical term, except iPad apps are auto killed after 5-10 minutes so...

[HawkMan]

 Interesting. What out there runs that OS? I haven't heard of it. I personally love the way iOS handles multitasking but I admit I am jaded. I don't think a tablet with it's small size should be running apps side by side. I like the idea of having multiple apps running at once and just easily switching among them.

 

running apps side by side works wonderfully on 9,10, 11 and 12 inch tablets, heck even 7 inch could do it comfortably for some apps though you wouldn't use it as much.

 

on this 1080 11 inch tablet I can easily have mail and browser open at the same time, or have a small IRC strip visible all the time without affecting my browsing at all. it really sounds like you haven't actually tried it, just at best demoed it. but in practical usage it's awesome.

 

also not all apps get tombstoned on windows 8, those who do start up so fast they might as well not be tombstoned. the only apps that are noticeably slow to start up again are games, and I don't really play any games on the tablet so as far as my experience goes all app switching on windows is instant.

[siah1214]

 Interesting. What out there runs that OS? I haven't heard of it. I personally love the way iOS handles multitasking but I admit I am jaded. I don't think a tablet with it's small size should be running apps side by side. I like the idea of having multiple apps running at once and just easily switching among them.

Right now? Nothing.  HP bought Palm (who developed it originally) and then destroyed the company, and then sold what was left to LG, who is now putting it in smart TVs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebOS

 

It was WAAAY ahead of its time, and most mobile OS's use design elements from it in their multitasking UI's. 

[patseguin Global Moderator]

no, I know quite well how to "multi task" on an iPad, it just isn't real multitasking, especially compared to what windows 8.x offers. claiming it is is frankly quite well....

 

app switching != multi tasking, yes to some degree it satisfies the technical term, except iPad apps are auto killed after 5-10 minutes so...

Running multiple apps at the same time is multitasking. Just because they are not displayed at the same time does not mean they are not running. And apps don't auto quit. They only quit when you swipe up on them. Anyways, who cares about multitasking on a Windows tablet when the apps are crap anyways?

[MikeChipshop Member]

Running multiple apps at the same time is multitasking. Just because they are not displayed at the same time does not mean they are not running. And apps don't auto quit. They only quit when you swipe up on them. Anyways, who cares about multitasking on a Windows tablet when the apps are crap anyways?

 

Many great apps available on other platforms are available in the Windows store too.

[xWhiplash]

Can somebody explain how the desktop is dying and going away?

I seriously doubt we will see a repacement for classic style apps like Blender or 3DS Max or the Adobe suite THAT HAVE THE EXACT SAME FUNCTIONALITY. How can I possible render a video on a tablet when I have terabytes of high resolution assets? Since when is Visual Studio available on tablets and is NOT a classic app?

We won't see replacements for the content creations software. It would make things way too complex when a software has dozens and dozens of tools and options.

[MikeChipshop Member]

Can somebody explain how the desktop is dying and going away?

 

It's not. Not by a long shot.

[PGHammer]

Dying - no.  (Nobody is claiming that.)  However, notice what applications are being used to make that claim - that you YOURSELVES are using to make that claim.  Not everyone runs 3DS MAX - in fact, not even half of Windows users have a USE for 3DS MAX.  In fact, what was the last major update for 3DS MAX, and when was it?  The issue with desktop software (that Microsoft has to face) is not lack of desktop software in and of itself, but lack of NEW desktop software - in other words, development of new desktop software is stillborn - and pretty much HAS been since XP.  The hardware requirements for Windows itself have remained unchanged since (egad) Vista.  Where is software development now - in fact, where has it been since Vista's RTM?  The Internet.  Cloud.  Social.  Mobile.  It's certainly NOT Win32/64 (except games).  For all the claims of the desktop not being dead, from an outsider's POV, the lack of new desktop application software (compared to any, let alone all, of the platforms I pointed to) would certainly have it appearing that way.  What is selling in the desktop-application space are upgrades - and you need, at most, a skeleton crew to write upgrades.

 

There is not enough desktop-software in development to justify a desktop-only version of Windows - period.  If anything, there is less desktop-software development (as a percentage of all software development) than there was when Windows NT launched (by that, I mean the original NT 3.1).  Why are you in denial of THAT basic fact?

[Noir Angel]

Some of the architectural improvements (explicitly those made to DX12) will benefit desktop applications, but for the most part from what I can tell continuum is basically an effort to blur the lines between tablet and desktop features even further. It's supposed to make the OS adapt better to both but from what I'm seeing at the moment I still have my doubts.