Microsoft will not be removing the start screen, or going back to a start menu. They are pot committed to Metro, as it's part of their overall strategy going forward. You take away the start screen, you kill their entire strategy.

They may do some things to mitigate peoples annoyances, like making metro apps windowed, but the start page is here for a long time to come.

Assuming you a) have the skill and b) have the time and c) give a flying fart and d) don't want to commit seppuku by the maze of patch dependencies.

How is that any different from disassembling any other executable?

open source does not mean "source code is easy to get" it means "a license that allows the the source code to be used freely in an open way".

Simply disassembling code does not give you a license to use it.

CodePlex was actually the 2nd or 3rd attempt by Microsoft to create an open source community. In particular, they had a site called "gotdotnet" prior to that, and I seem to recall another one that I can't remember the name of.

They also supported sites like CodeProject and others that were oriented around open source tutorials and what not.

FYI, you are not allowed to have an attorney present while testifying before a grand jury.

There are many ways that an email address can get compromised that are not the direct fault of the company you gave it to.

Since emails are sent in plain text, over the open internet, all it takes is someone sniffing somewhere along the line and collecting email addresses.

Your original "subscription" may have been over SSL, but the subsequent emails they send out are not.

I use RDP to my windows 8 box daily, and over a fairly high latency connection at that. I do know how it works.

It sounds to me like you may be using an older RDP client. The newer RDP clients (7+) have support FX and 3D acceleration. I don't use those on my high latency connection, and turn them off. It works just fine. I don't watch videos over RDP though, that's just stupid.

No, you have it backwards. Republicans blame Obama for the national debt. Obama blames republicans for the slow recovery of the economy (their inability to agree to any possible solution, and unwillingness to put forward any plans).

The thing you are ignoring is the fact that PC sales are plummeting. PC's and laptops are already down by 50%, and are expected to drop as much as another 50% over the next couple of years, while tablet and phone sales are going through the roof.

Windows 8 is a transitionary OS. It's maybe a little before its time, but not much.

What does RDP have to do with anything? You still have a screen corner, you move the mouse to it until it stops.

Are you also unaware that RDP allows you to configure it? You know, you can tell it to turn off animations, use a lower color depth, etc?

That's largely a scam. Many companies have hundreds of job openings they claim they can't fill to provide proof that more visas are needed.

Instead, they refuse to hire qualified people based on various reasons. I've worked for companies where I recommended hiring various candidates because they were qualified, only to have them drag their feet at extending an offer until the candidate just went away.

Still, in a place like Iowa, there is a much smaller talent pool than places like Silicon Valley, Dallas, NYC, Raleigh, etc.. And getting people to relocate there is quite difficult. So it may be that in places like that H1B's are more necessary.

Why would I complain about that? That would be stupid. We complain about our own self-interests.

First, the countries economy depends on its citizens having jobs. If you, instead, give those jobs to non-citizens, then you hurting the economy.

Most people here on H1B's send a large amount of their salary back home. That means that the money paid to them is leaving our economy, and instead propping up other economies.

I have no problem with immigrants getting jobs, because immigrants are here permanently. H1B's are temporary visas, with no intention of becoming permanent citizens (although many do find ways to convert).

We don't have enough jobs for all our IT workers as it is, we don't need to be importing more unless there isn't anyone here that can fill the role.

Surfaces are, at the moment, not intended for business use. In fact, you aren't licensed to use Office in a business environment on it (though I'm sure many will).

So why would they allow it to connect to an AD if you aren't allowed to use it in a business environment?

It may be a stupid decision, but at least it's consistent.

Skypes new functionality is equivalent to Messenger, plus adding Skype to it. So it's more like Messenger+Skype.

Skype has desktop sharing. Skype has video calls, etc..

Microsoft is killing off the Messenger client, not the Messenger service, which has essentially been subsumed by the Skype instant messaging client (which can now connect to the messenger service).

They're just getting rid of excess clients, but keeping the basic overall functionality.

You also make the basic mistake of thinking that metro is just a UI. It's not. It's actually an entirely new OS, running side-by-side Win32. This OS is currently in the infant stage, but will gain strength in further revisions, the first of which is expected next summer.

MS has been selling 8 at a discount, but that ends next week when it returns to the regular price. If it was such a disaster, why would they get rid of the discounts?

Azure is doing quite well, actually. Skydrive, however has not yet caught on. Don't confuse MS's web services strategy for it's apps with Azure the service (for third parties). The first may use the second, but the second is a whole lot more.

Microsoft is killing some services, such as Live Mesh, but they're replacing them with new services rather than just killing them off (which Google does).