Windows Longhorn Screenshots Available Online 502
The Fred writes "I found this website that seems to have screenshots for the next version of windows. Everything from a new start button, extended task bar, display options, .NET capability, and a bigger clock." Fair number of UI changes, some good, mostly irrelevant, but it's interesting. Wonder if it's real.
Mirror (Score:5, Informative)
TechCritic [tech-critic.com]
Re:Mirror (Score:5, Informative)
Longhorn PDF dump of original [rtcwclans.com]
Re:Mirror (Score:2)
And here I thought that they's changed the BSOD to the WSOD (White Screen of Death)
Mirrors (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.tech-critic.com/modules.php?name=News&
but they slow as well...
Re:Mirrors (Score:4, Interesting)
With the help of the folks at WiNBETA we were able to get our dirty little hands on some Windows Longhorn screenies.
These are *legit* and actual screenshots -- no photoshop action here folks.
This article is quoted from WiNBETA here.
SCREENSHOTS REMOVED DUE TO MICROSOFT REQUEST
That was fast work by Microsoft
Fake (Score:3, Flamebait)
I finaly got them up, they are clearly fake and the folk saying 'it looks more like Mac' are clearly speaking through their trousers.
The screenshots look like Windows XP with a very small number of minor tweaks, a new clock and some bars showing how much of the disk is used. Both look like something you could add with photoshop. The main way they make it look different is that they put the menu bar at the side of the screen - the way most Microsofties seem to do. It actually does seem to work better on the side but I don't think the usability folk would move it. But the bar is clearly fake because it duplicates the functions already there in the start bar, you can drag and drop shortcuts to applications and use them as quicklaunch buttons already. Microsoft conceal this feature from ordinary users by describing it in the manual.
Other indications that scream fake include the fact that most of the shots come up 'XP Professional'. I have never seen a Microsoft beta that mentioned or used the codename. Longhorn would be NT7 (2000 is NT5, XP is NT6). The most likely name for Longhorn would be Windows.NET
Re:Fake (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Fake (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Fake (Score:2)
Seems very easy to me, the UI design is pure XP with a smal number of tweaks that can probably be kludged up from existing applets by changing the background gif.
The launch bar looks like a hack someone wrote in VB.
Re:Reason why it is fake (Score:3, Informative)
That is just not true. Early XP Betas were "Codename Whistler", and titled as such in the startup screen.
Re:Fake (Score:3, Insightful)
and early screenshots of ME looked like 98
and early screenshots of 98 looked like 95
Your point isn't one.
Of course early longhorn screenshots are going to look like XP. They take a stable version of their product and work from there. Plus they just invested heavily in this new look and feel that sets XP apart from 2k, and the previous 95/98/NT. They aren't going to abandon it that quickly.
Re:Fake (Score:3, Informative)
Oh boy, where do I start?
Windows 2000 is Windows NT 5.0.
Windows XP is Windows NT 5.1. (Look at the System Control Panel of an XP box sometime.)
Windows
It makes sense, then, that Longhorn will be Windows NT 5.3 or more likely 6.0.
The bigger clock... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The bigger clock... (Score:3, Funny)
pre-emptive /.ing? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:pre-emptive /.ing? (Score:2, Insightful)
Cute, but methinks the public would be even more interested in what they weren't allowed to see.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:pre-emptive /.ing? (Score:3, Troll)
Are you sure about that? I'm not trying to tell you that the sky is falling, but it might make sense that Palladium would be shipped with Longhorn for the first time. If the palladium architecture actually gets put in place, it might rapidly become very difficult to use free operating systems. Oh sure, they'd work just fine - as long as you're not concerned with interoperating with those who do choose to use proprietary software.
But I am a victim (Score:5, Insightful)
Imagine if you tried to buy a portable CD player. Rather than buying just the CD player for 100$ or so, you have to pay 115$ for it and 2 Backstreet boys CDs (a savings of 15$!). You try and tell them that you don't want the Backstreet boys CDs, because you have a collection of your own music to listen.
"We can't, sir. It's bundled. It represents a savings to you anyways, so you are getting a good value. Since every player is sold with CDs, only people who are commiting music piracy would have music separate from the players anyways."
But the thing is, I'm paying for something I don't want and won't use. If I disagree with the licence and try to return Windows for the money I paid for it as a bundle price, I end up having to deal with the retailer, OEM, and Microsoft all pointing fingers at each other. "Talk to them, they're the ones who should give you your money."
Microsoft gets my money without my consent. This is robery -- they are stealing from me.
What if you need a laptop? (Score:3, Insightful)
Mirrors. (Score:4, Interesting)
I seem to be getting the remnants of the website and it's pointing to two [icrontic.com] mirrors [tech-critic.com]. Obviously, the original website is having problems catering to slash-traffic, so it's best if you go to the other two sites instead.
As for additions, there seem to be a funky looking clock and a program list on the side. Nice addition, if you ask me, getting sick of the Start button myself...
Re:Newsflash - NO screenshots at Icrontic. (Score:2)
Addition: Icrontic has yanked the screenshots off on Microsoft's request. My wishes to the good folks at tech-critic, let's see how long you last.
Re:Newsflash - NO screenshots at Icrontic. (Score:2)
I am sure MS would like to take care of that with a daisy cutter, but thankfully the US military is curently kinda preoccupied with some other guy...
Pics this early are almost pointless. (Score:4, Interesting)
But screw it, maybe by the time Longhorn comes out, I'll be able to have gotten myself a Mac desktop and won't care about Windows. The only thing making me hope for a death of PC gaming is the fact it's the last thing really keeping the machine on my desk a Windows one.
Re:Pics this early are almost pointless. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Pics this early are almost pointless. (Score:2, Insightful)
[netsonic.fi]
http://jussila.adsl.netsonic.fi/~glass/desktop.
an just as real prediction of mine what longhorn will look.
Sorry, I'm really, really sorry (Score:3, Funny)
1) Imagine a beowulf cluster of these.
2)
3) PROFIT!!!!!!
w1nd0wz sUx0Rz!!!
umm did I miss anything?
CNN (Score:5, Funny)
Re:CNN (Score:2, Funny)
Btw, kick-ass website. Seriously.
Too bad... (Score:2)
'cause I'd love to see some Microsoft stock prices, leaked out many months ahead of time ; )
bluejeans.jpg (Score:5, Funny)
As a computer scientist, that is an interesting aspect of longhorn I'd like to investigate for it's technically stimulating intrinsic value.
Re:bluejeans.jpg (Score:5, Informative)
+3 informative? ROFL (Score:2)
J.
My god... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:My god... (Score:2)
What's fastest (Score:5, Funny)
Virtual desktops? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Virtual desktops? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Virtual desktops? (Score:2, Funny)
Microsoft is imitating the Linux desktop, circa 1998.
Re:Virtual desktops? (Score:2)
Famous Celebrity (Score:5, Funny)
Average comments so far (Score:2)
Who cares about the UI
The interface looks nice, but it may be somewhat inefficent. This news isn't very important.
Somehow, it is Slashdotted... Go figure!!!
clock? (Score:5, Funny)
Err, I read that WAY wrong. "Yeah, Windows Longhorn sports a bigger cock, to fuck its users harder..."
Re:clock? (Score:2, Funny)
Woody Longhorn perhaps...
corollary to the law of software envelopment (Score:5, Funny)
I posit a corollary, the Law Of GUI Envelopment: all windows will eventually be round.
Aqua has rounded corners. Now XP does. What, do they think they sharp edges might hurt someone?
Re:corollary to the law of software envelopment (Score:2)
If they were round, that image looks a lot like those described by people who have had near-death experiences. All that's missing are the voices of loved ones calling the user's name.
Re:corollary to the law of software envelopment (Score:2)
(ok you might not be able to use the desk space salvaged that way but who cares, besides than that it looks sci-fi).
Re:corollary to the law of software envelopment (Score:2)
--Jon
Re:corollary to the law of software envelopment (Score:2)
The general computing platform will eventually gat that in about 10 years.
LoB
Re:corollary to the law of software envelopment (Score:3, Informative)
Surely Kaleidoscope (www.kaleidoscope.net) is what you mean
Hmmm, I seem to remember posting something like this a few days back: it *still* looks as chunky and uninspiring as Windows always has done. I mean, come *on*! It's just so ugly. And what's with all those damn colours everywhere? Even Apple keeps window title bars neutral. Eugh.
People who are used to Windows who design things almost invariably come up with Windows-looking things. I have yet to see a skin for Windows (or Gnome, etc, etc) that actually looks like not-windows.
MS is faster than slashdot (Score:2)
Bummer
Fake (Score:3, Informative)
- "Windows Longhorn XP"? Microsoft always use names like "Windows Longhorn ".
- Look at the expiration date. A beta that lasts for a year? Impossible.
- "MSN Messenger 5.0" in the start menu. MSN Messenger has been renamed to Windows Messenger since WinXP!
Correction/addition to my above post (Score:2)
(forgot Slashdot strip HTML tags)
What I mean is, names like "Windows [Codename] [Build ID]", such as "Windows Longhorn Build 1678578236785"
Those screenshots just can't be real. They're true usability nightmares. An extra panel that duplicates the Start Menu's function? Totally unintuitive and confusing! Look at Windows Explorer, it's cluttered as hell. Not even Microsoft UIs can be that bad.
Re:Correction/addition to my above post (Score:2, Interesting)
There was even a 6-minute long movie made of the OS with HyperCapture. Don't tell me someone spent time faking that.
And yes, betas can expire after a year, but this is an alpha, and since the whole program will last till 2004/2005, it's very normal for such a high expiration date. Alphas sometimes don't even have one.
As for MSN 5.0, that's simply the person who had the leaked version that decided to install it, it's not part of the OS.
Trust me, these are real.
Re:Correction/addition to my above post (Score:4, Interesting)
Shamelessly stolen from a post at the bottom of the tech-critic.com site:
The screenshots are fake for the following reasons (this is XP with a custom theme and then some hacking around in an image editor)...
For the Setup screen...
a) In the window, horizontal bar at the top doesn't meet the right hand side.
b) Alpha plane gone on setup icon (definitely would NOT happen to one icon and not others).
c) This is a BIG giveaway all over the place... The current user settings have font smoothing set to anti-alias, not cleartype or none. Anti-alias text does not come into play for small fonts including 8pt (as can be seen on dektop icons, start bar, etc). However, the new bar on the right IS anti-aliasing these fonts and not only that, but it's not using font hinting (aligning the text to the nearest pixel) which is standard for cleartype or anti-aliasing... it's fake text drawn in a graphics package.
The sidebar as startmenu screen...
d) Looks nice, but examine the desktop images... no windows in the first one... later on they have images of the windows!
Sidebar on the right...
e) Where did the windows in the desktop image come from in this one ?
f) Aren't those icons on the bar a bit big compared with the later bars?
Display Properties screen (oh my god)...
g) Nice text antialiasing again (hmm)
h) 'You can change the image that appears on your windo...' ooops. Clipped that text a bit. Note this can't happen with the windows API when you have a multi-line text field (using TextOut, etc). Hmm... minor cockup
i) Ah my windows are back in the desktop images (on the sidebar), but now the current window is bigger with a black splodge at the bottom.
My Computer screen...
j) Love the antialiasing on the left, but not in the middle... nice.
k) How fake are the section buttons on the left hand side? Come on guys... you can't flip images horizontally... MS insist on a top left light source. Oh, and your button with the shadow should either have an alpha plane or not... don't do half a job... it really doens't look real.
My Documents...
l) Oooh, Oooh, an anti-aliased dropdown. Fake Fake Fake.
My Pictures..
m) Nice... what happened to Burn CD though? Have MS dropped it now they support DVD burning?
n) Oops, you should have removed the LH.bmp from your My Pictures. Remember you only used it to create the backgroud.
DOS Setup
o) Love it... now your just taking the piss. How did you get the screenshot??? and the 'install Windows Longhorn 2004 using DOS 1985' is excelent. Very funny
p) The URL is superb. ROTFLMAO.
So...
Nice theming... love the sidebar, good use of blending in your graphics package, but FAKE FAKE FAKE.
Great for a laugh though.
Si.
Re:Correction/addition to my above post (Score:2, Insightful)
1. It's a technology preview. It's not a widespread beta release - it's all internal at this stage. that means things might be uneven or rough. Don't believe me - read some old magazine reviews of the pre-beta IE4 releases with shell integration. Flip back to an old 1993 magazine (December issue of Windows Sources I think it was) and you'll find screenshots of a Windows UI that looks a little different to Windows 95 - but it was the Chicago Beta (around buld 200 or thereabouts - release/RTM of Win95 was around build 600 but they bumped it to 950 to sound cooler).
2. They could have changed the anti aliasing capabilities of Longhorn. Oh no! My OS X 10.2 screenshots are fake, they use better antialiasing than OS 10.1
3. Yes, the sidebar doubles up on a lot of functions. How many ways can you run a program or copy a file in Windows XP? Microsoft love making it as easy (and confusing) as possible to do stuff, even if it means making it possible to do it in slightly less than a million ways.
4. The screenshots still say Windows XP. My Windows 98 betas still said 95. My Windows Me builds said 98 in their early phase. Microsoft don't care too much about polishing things in the pre-beta/development release stage.
5. No mention of object oriented FS. it's coming - I've had two Microsoft developers personally assure me that it's coming RSN - in the next release of Windows. So yes, fake, but I call upon different evidence for that decision.
Winbeta's screenshots are real (Score:4, Informative)
Here's the Visual Style, ripped from the beta: http://plex.ike.bz/10.24.02.PlexXP.v.0.7.1.zip
There's even a movie of Longhorn being used...the #winbeta guys have it if you want to see it. Basically, it's WinXP with a new theme ("Plex") and a new filesystem ("WinFS," which everyone turns off because apparently it eats the CPU).
By the way:
"c) This is a BIG giveaway all over the place... The current user settings have font smoothing set to anti-alias, not cleartype or none. Anti-alias text does not come into play for small fonts including 8pt (as can be seen on dektop icons, start bar, etc). However, the new bar on the right IS anti-aliasing these fonts and not only that, but it's not using font hinting (aligning the text to the nearest pixel) which is standard for cleartype or anti-aliasing... it's fake text drawn in a graphics package."
Wrong--I'm running Sideshow, and it always smooths the fonts like that, whether Cleartype is on or not. I can't get to the site
Major changes I noticed, besides the new theme and Sideshow, is the new Display Properties dialog and a My Hardware dialog. Other than that, this look like what it is--a really early alpha leak for something not due out for another couple of years.
This is actually somewhat old news...I've been running Sideshow on my XP box with the ripped Plex theme for a week now. Visit #winbeta sometime. Sideshow's neat once you figure out how to add new tickets.
Re:Fake (Score:2)
From System Properties Screenshot:
AMD Athlon(tm) Processor
998 MHz
512 MB of RAM
Har.
But seriously, though I have not spent much time in WindowsXP personally, one thing that I noticed immediately upon setting it up for clients is that more and more window space is given over to branding (mucho!) and white space, with less "real" information available.
This trend appears to be continuing with the next Windows release, should these screenshots be legitimate. I realize that there are plenty of ways to increase the density of information displayed through window customization, but the default settings are moving more and more to the point of being devoid of actual control and content. "Hey, Joe, you're using Windows! (press okay to return to your desktop, or cancel to return to your desktop)"
For some, I would imagine that when looking at the high-density desktop UI I enjoy, they would see it as all wrong and just a bunch of chart clutter. To each, I suppose. Mmmm, gummy. Anyway, running the interface shown in those screenshots would be close to pure hell on low-resolution displays with the scrolling and the carpal and the scrolling.
Re:Fake (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, this trend has been in place since IE4's Active Desktop's "web content in every window" thing. It first became the default in Win98, grew another step in Win2K, and contaged directly to WinME and XP -- but in XP it grew by an order of magnitude, to where a default display is more "Hello stupid user, you're so incompetent we'll just TELL you what you're doing and what your files are" than it is useful information. On a low-res screen, even its initial limited incarnation can waste over 75% of the screen. And in my observation, it's even MORE intimidating to newbies, because it's so visually distracting.
The wasted screen estate, not to mention the useless clutter, makes me insane and consequently is the first thing I do away with. Funny thing: if you delve deep enough into XP's admin tools, all this clutter goes away without being told to! Gee, could it be that admin types don't have time to scroll around trying to see the rest of the screen??
And another menu sidebar??! It reminds me of Active Desktop's "Channels" (partner advertising), and I wouldn't be surprised if this new menu sidebar eventually becomes a streaming ad host.
M$ has said that they want to blur the distinction between Web and Desktop, and for a certainty, Active Desktop and its horrible brood do tend to look more like misplaced web pages than like useful desktop elements.
M$'s own research indicates that most users treat Windows like a big menuing system, not as a multitasking workspace (and this unfortunately agrees with my own observation of average users), but how this justifies turning the desktop into nothing BUT a menuing system escapes me.
Not sure what you consider "high density desktop" but mine tend to collect 30-40 icons (mostly useful, tho some are solely for decorative effect) and I think having a score of windows open at once is "normal".
Oh, as to the futzy CPU speed, yesterday I was fiddling with a new linux install on a venerable K6-200, and something or other informed me that it was a "199MHz CPU". Er, well, if you say so!!
more (Score:5, Informative)
who the f* cares about eyecandiness (Score:5, Interesting)
People got distracted by colors and icons and miss the point - where will freedom go, when this windows will be released?
One think visible from those shots - unneeded pictures taking precious space on screen.
Re:who the f* cares about eyecandiness (Score:2)
Of course, this doesn't apply to MP3, but that's because there's no way of telling the difference between an MP3 you ripped yourself from your own CD collection and one you downloaded.
Re:who the f* cares about eyecandiness (Score:2)
Current proprietary formats by MS (wma (audio), wmv (video) and asf (streamin video)) are supposed to be secure in a way because MS does not allow third-party development of players and goes after anyone programming decoders.
Yet they are not encrypted as such (at least no heavy encryption, they have to be read by todays MS Media Player). I do not think that MS will completely revise the format, but hell...
What I am getting at is the fact that MS themselves have provided the numero-uno tool for decoding/converting these files. Google for a prog called "graphedit.exe". This is a pretty beautiful piece of code, simple, powerful und flawless, maks you think there is no possibility of this being a MS product. With that prog you can edit the "graphs" established when playing some media. I.e. an easy one would be a video file feed being split up to the corresponding video (and audio) decoders, and from there being sent to the DirextDraw screen renderer (and the DirectSound audio renderer). By editing the graphs you can divert the datastream to go into the DivX MPEG LowMo (or whatever else) codec, and from there being dumped to disk. Result is a working a MPEG encoded conversion from the original proprietary format.
Check for graphedit.exe, you will most likely encounter a how-to on its usage along the way.
Re:who the f* cares about eyecandiness (Score:2)
Windows telling you to activate or it will lock you out from your PC and data files.
Passport trying to force you into registering even though you don't have to.
The help center, Search program, and Media player all phoning home to Microsoft.
Outlook spamming everyone in your address book as "Yet Another Virus" targets Microsofts shoddy security practices.
Yep I think potential users should pay attention to those not so minor details before raving about how cool the new clock and wallpaper are.
Re:who the f* cares about eyecandiness (Score:2)
zdzichu wrote:
It isn't just the DRM that worries me, even though that, its DRMOS patents, and Holling's bill is what Microsoft hopes will give it a government mandated OS monopoly.
It isn't even the incorporation of Yukon, the file system based on SQL Server and its nuclear flaw [cdi.org].
The scariest thing is that the Longhorn API runs on top of the .Net framework. That is what clinches it: Longhorn is Millennium [microsoft.com]!!! Longhorn will be the first platform independent MS operating system, running anywhere the .Net framework is ported to. Thanks to Mono, that should include Linux and OS X. Longhorn gives Microsoft the potential of a true 100% monopoly. Holling's bill would sign that into law.
DRM, trusted computing, .Net, Millenium: these are not things Microsoft thought up this year. They have been planning and working on these for a long time, since at least the late 90's, if not earlier.
The antitrust trial had the power to stop Microsoft's bid for world domination. Alas, those in government whose duty it was to meet out justice and protect the people instead chose to collaborate out of greed. That which was never to see the light of day has instead been awakened. You were warned.
The warning came with one glimmer of hope: Millennium will not last a day. The end of its reign will be the end of Microsoft's life. Such is the decree of the one true king, who can never be assimilated, embraced, extended, nor extinguished!
Shinoda: "The age of Millennium."
Io: "What does that mean?"
Shinoda: "A thousand year kingdom. It wants to create a home for itself. There is one flaw in its plan: Godzilla."
"Godzilla 2000 Millennium" (Japanese version)
Homage to his sacred majesty, Godzilla, the Dreaded God and King of Monsters, on the event of his forty-eighth birthday!
KDE Goldmine (Score:2)
Microsoft(TM) - We do the hard work so you don't have to
Re:KDE Goldmine (Score:2)
Seems good enough for KDevelop [kdevelop.org] :-P
Meanwhile, in Redmond, WA (Score:5, Funny)
Microsoft Lawyer #2 Just post their URLs to Slashdot, that will take care of 'em!
Microsoft Lawyer #1 Sweeeeet!
Icons on the screenshots (Score:2)
Heh (Score:2)
a) The server with the images won't receive a lot of hits through Slashdot, since no Linux user is interested in screenshots of a future Microsoft OS ("It's probably V4p0r anyway")
b) The server gets slashdotted 3 minutes after the posting went up, because almost every user visiting the homepage of slashdot is interested in screenshots of a future Microsoft OS.
I guessed a), but... gosh... b) is the right answer. I wonder why though..
Hook, line and sinker (Score:5, Insightful)
A few things that are clearly out of whack here - some of the screenshots have inconsistent antialiasing of text for one, which often happens when screenshots are photoshopped. The artwork is hilarious, some of the title bars have gradients but the minimize/close/restore boxes don't, making them stick out like a sore thumb.
Why are the hard disk sizes measured in KB when everything else in Windows is megabytes? Why does some of the text overlap the borders of the containing window (an api impossibility). The last screenshot is just taking the piss totally, this version of Windows won't install on that version of DOS? That's not even trying to be real.
Look, guys, if you want screenshots of cool new features that you know are genuine, look at the stuff the Linux teams post - if they're real you can get them soon, if they're faked they always tell you. This kind of slobbering over crude mockups gives Microsoft a bad name.
Re:Hook, line and sinker (Score:3, Insightful)
Good question, one I can only speculate on. Presumably because if people see them they may assume they're genuine and go around talking about them, with the end result that people have different expectations as to what it should be like.
Customer A: "Hey, where's that groovy horny clock thing that I saw a year or two ago gone? Bring back my clock Microsoft"
Microsoft: "Er, what clock?"
Re:Hook, line and sinker (Score:2)
Because badly faked screenshots are bad publicity.
Windows Longhorn is a true usability nightmare (Score:4, Interesting)
There's now some kind of sidebar which duplicates the functions of the Start menu ---> confusing to new users.
If you open Windows Explorer and check My Computer, you get a complex screen with buttons, icons and progress bars.
If you go to My Documents you get overloaded with options! Any new user will get confused by that!
Not to mention all the eyecandy. Sure, it looks nice, but all those gradients and icons do is overload the user with information. New users will get confused and will have a hard time recognizing standard controls.
The entire UI is extremely cluttered.
The Longhorn GUI is good for advanced users, but will confuse new users! If GNOME or KDE do this, the Windows people will flame us down for creating a "hacker desktop" that's "not consistent" and "overloads the user with too much information". But if Windows does this, it's suddenly allright and called "huge improvements" or "innovation".
I just don't get it...
Linux Zealots are Bill Gates Best Friend (Score:3, Insightful)
Technical expertise is lauded and user interface expertise is devalued and mocked. There's a reason why there is such a dearth of usability people in the free software community. It's attitudes like these, people.
I often say that Bill Gates doesn't have to lift a finger to crush desktop linux because so many people in the linux community are doing his job *for* him.
Links to actual images (Score:5, Informative)
http://home.attbi.com/~mrwatchdawg_01/n.JPG
Multiple Desktops! (Score:2)
fix-it (Score:2)
I like (Score:2)
Heh (Score:2)
How to Fake an OS Beta Screenshot... (Score:2)
After all, there are a number of utilities out there already that change the look and feel of Windows. Between some of those and a program like Photoshop, one could very well produce 'screenshots' of anything one could conceive.
Strangely ... (Score:2, Informative)
perhaps this adds some weight to the argument that the screenshots are from a skinned xp
Bigger UI = BAD! (Score:2)
IS it FAKE? Maybe not... (Score:4, Interesting)
But, perhaps they are "real" UI design concepts? After all, when you design a UI like this, you let the "designers" play with pictures before rendering it all into code... Just like web design...
Holy shit!! (Score:2)
And don't they have "user interface designers" or somesuch there? Those colors are icky, not to mention all those differing window styles are confusing!
My first impression... (Score:2)
Beta? Are you mad?! (Score:2)
Oh, so if it crashes, you can just say "hey, it's a beta" or something, right?
shot's of easter-egg thanking Texas Prez and DOJ (Score:2)
Maybe the name "Longhorn" is their tribute, Texas Longhorn is the only "Longhorn" I've heard of.....
Didn't the Texas Longhorns eventually lose out to the current breed because the current breed MATURED quicker? Humm, Linux( the current breed ) and Windows( Longhorn ). Time for history to repeat itself IMHO.
LoB
Can you say: confusing! (Score:2, Interesting)
But seeing this almost makes me want to puke. Even though I've been using computers for decades, I wouldn't know where to begin in this UI. There seems to be redundancy all over the place, modes galore, and they seem to show/hide certain tasks/apps/files/settings/menu options completely at random.
I have to admit, maybe if I used it I would like it a bit better. But if I feel "overwhelmed" just by looking at one of the screenshots, how should a newbie user feel. (I seem to remember that when doing usability testing, they ask the subject to first look at the screen without touching anything, and then ask them what they think everything is for)
In contrast, Gnome2 seems to be moving in the right direction by simplifying ("make the simple things easy, the hard ones possible") and unifying as much as possible.
Same thing with MacOS: while the first releases of MacOSX were a step back in usability, they've been repairing the damage with the latest release. At the same time it's a good example of how unification really should work (see the iChat, iSync, iCal, Addressbook, Mail, iTunes integration)
Longhorn and XP seem to like confusion: let's do everything in all the ways everyone in the world might want, and stuff it in one interface. And let's do it all at thesame time too.
the Horror!
I Heard M$ Was Planning to Charge Monthly (Score:2)
Has anyone heard anything about this? I'm not trying to start a rumor -- I'm trying to find out if this one is (as I would expect) ungrounded.
Fake Fake Fake :) (Score:5, Interesting)
For the Setup screen...
a) In the window, horizontal bar at the top doesn't meet the right hand side.
b) Alpha plane gone on setup icon (definitely would NOT happen to one icon and not others).
c) This is a BIG giveaway all over the place... The current user settings have font smoothing set to anti-alias, not cleartype or none. Anti-alias text does not come into play for small fonts including 8pt (as can be seen on dektop icons, start bar, etc). However, the new bar on the right IS anti-aliasing these fonts and not only that, but it's not using font hinting (aligning the text to the nearest pixel) which is standard for cleartype or anti-aliasing... it's fake text drawn in a graphics package.
The sidebar as startmenu screen...
d) Looks nice, but examine the desktop images... no windows in the first one... later on they have images of the windows!
Sidebar on the right...
e) Where did the windows in the desktop image come from in this one ?
f) Aren't those icons on the bar a bit big compared with the later bars?
Display Properties screen (oh my god)...
g) Nice text antialiasing again (hmm)
h) 'You can change the image that appears on your windo...' ooops. Clipped that text a bit. Note this can't happen with the windows API when you have a multi-line text field (using TextOut, etc). Hmm... minor cockup
i) Ah my windows are back in the desktop images (on the sidebar), but now the current window is bigger with a black splodge at the bottom.
My Computer screen...
j) Love the antialiasing on the left, but not in the middle... nice.
k) How fake are the section buttons on the left hand side? Come on guys... you can't flip images horizontally... MS insist on a top left light source. Oh, and your button with the shadow should either have an alpha plane or not... don't do half a job... it really doens't look real.
My Documents...
l) Oooh, Oooh, an anti-aliased dropdown. Fake Fake Fake.
My Pictures..
m) Nice... what happened to Burn CD though? Have MS dropped it now they support DVD burning?
n) Oops, you should have removed the LH.bmp from your My Pictures. Remember you only used it to create the backgroud.
DOS Setup
o) Love it... now your just taking the piss. How did you get the screenshot??? and the 'install Windows Longhorn 2004 using DOS 1985' is excelent. Very funny
p) The URL is superb. ROTFLMAO.
So...
Nice theming... love the sidebar, good use of blending in your graphics package, but FAKE FAKE FAKE.
Great for a laugh though.
Get the video here!!!! (Score:3)
Re:Meh (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyhow, I think it's amazing how much _more_ like Mac OS X this looks than XP. And it's even more impressive that even though it looks _more_ like Mac OS X, it has more of the awful aspects that are further evidence that MS just doesn't get what it is that makes people like Mac OS X. At least that's how I see it.
All of these god-awful directories as web pages, wizards, and other strange abstractions to keep the user away from his computer will only serve to confuse him all the more when it comes time to fix something or take action that isn't already anticipated by the software designer. It should be easy to use the computer, not easy to use the interface abstraction. That's what MS just doesn't get, and it's why Windows will always be frustrating and always work in unexpected ways.
Re:Meh (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Oh great (Score:2, Insightful)
Well.... (Score:2)
My personal favorite is a little icon on the left-hand side with the title "Fix It". I couldn't help but thinking - "Yeah I've got a fix for you...".
That and it seems as though they've managed to elmininate more desktop space. Brilliant. I didn't want to do work there anyway. And the multiple desktops are nice. They're running neck-and-neck with CDE now! Woo-Hoo!
Re:It is /.ed but it's real (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:It is /.ed but it's real (Score:2)
Re:It is /.ed but it's real (Score:3, Insightful)
I was looking for the Cool Desktop for Linux, and halfway there, I realized I don't need it.
It was sort of a moment of deep realization. What am I looking for? Something that looks good, or something that does the job?
WindowMaker does the job.
WindowMaker works. I don't care what it looks like. It can be made look nice, too, but I don't need good looks, just something that doesn't make my eyes bleed. It works. It looks decent enough. It works.
"I have this cool new dock", said the MacOS X user. "Oh, that, I had a NEXTSTEP dock years ago, because the Window Maker folks made a desktop that works", I replied.
"Oh goody! The application finally drew its window on screen!" quoth the WinXP user. "But I already finished my work by this time, because this thing works", I replied.
Window Maker works. It may look cool, but it actually works.
Re:More on multiple desktops (Score:2)
Multiple desktops have been in since, ummm, NT4, at least. Half the stuff that Microsoft 'comes out with' have actually been in the OS for years; just never bothered with. Half the features of NTFS, for example, are still unused; quotas are an example. 'Debuted' in Windows 2000, but were always a part of NTFS; just never bothered with.