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windows 8 has been available to devs for almost a year. It's only untested to the lazy devs that didn't download it.

Dear lord, please don't lump 6/6.5 in with 7, 7.5 and 8.

I know this is an on-going flame war, but with Expression Software and Visual Studio 2010/2012, Microsoft has some of the best tools out there for building mobile applications. Throw in testing tools, and you are at the top of the class. After using the tools and marketplace for 2 years now, I can say a couple things.

*The marketplace has come a long way. It is getting better every day. It used to be a real chore to use year or so ago. It is a lot more streamlined and clean.

*The bad press recently around marketplace submissions is a crap shoot. I've experienced similar things, but also I've experienced quick easy submissions. It honestly depends on the tester. If things seem to be going bad, there is always a manager you can contact to get things going.

*Lets be honest too. The iOS and Android marketplaces are FILLED with pure crap applications. I'm not saying that the Windows store is any better, but comparing numbers isn't fair because, most of those apps are useless and are never downloaded.

*If you know Java or Obj-C, not many people are willing or paid to jump into C#. I'm definitely not interested in learning a new language at this point in my career.

* Lastly, I think the main problem is traditional Microsoft fear/hatred. I have talked to more "hip" iOS teams that make cooler apps for android and iOS. They showed zero desire to even make an effort to make any apps for Windows Phone. The attitude I saw a lot was just pure bandwagon hatred. "Meh"

Learn how to use these. http://www.techspot.com/guides/506-windows-8-shortcuts-and-tricks/ and if Windows 8 is still slowers or as fast (steps) as Windows 7, the problem is really yourself and not the software.

They did a lot of research and found the new start menu is much better. After using it for 6-9 months now, I can agree. Finding apps and launching them on Win 7 is much slower than Win 8. As I stated in another post, when I use Win 7 now, it just feels old and last gen.

Use it for a for a few months. You'll realize the start menu is outdated. When I use Win7 no it feels clunky and slow.

Saying that "microsoft" killed the phone is true in a sense, but you also have to understand the company culture at MS. It is built on a lot of teams. Not one single united company where everyone shares ideas and works together nicely. You should read the history of what happened to Danger and you will see a major factor to its demise was the infighting that took place, nothing technical really. Apple/Google I think have a lot less of this kind of stuff so it was easier to let it bloom.

I come to slashdot now for random science stuff and mindless microsoft bashing. That said. Everyone I know who has used Win8 for more than a few minutes loves it. Also, when I see a survey from a random help forum...don't you think the results will be skewed?

This is one the key features I think game developers were looking for when HTML5 came out. It promised the holy grail of "write once, run everywhere". It would allow you to write a game for a browser and have it work on iPhone, Android and WP7. The issue is still that every browser and hardware device act different. A touch on one device is a tap on another. Multitouch works here but not there. Some browsers don't support audio, some don't support WebGL acceleration. This also changes all the time.

Deploying the apps is another issue as well. Once you have written a great game that looks wondering in chrome, you have to wrap it somehow to get it on devices. All of the options for wrapping right now are beta at best. There is still hacking that has to be done most of the time.

On that note, it is getting better every day, eventually you will be able to push your code to nearly every OS. But that day is not today.

Sadly English is my first and only language. Never had anyone question my grammar like that though, but I guess I've BEEN using that word incorrectly for many years?

When you are being paid for work by a client, they dictate what the work is at the end of the day. They are paying you. You can give suggestions etc, but if they want Access or only know Access, you are going to use Access. You are being "told" this is the only option and you use it. This has happened on countless clients.

This sounds like the client had requirements. No consultant in the modern day would go in there and say this is the best solution. They must of been told they had Access already and this was all they could use.

A new mission has been funded by private parties (most notably sports team owners) to send Robert 'Bobby' Boucher Jr. to the moon to recover said water sources. Think tanks involved with the mission have stated that moon ice water is of the "highest quality H2O" and must be collected for commercial purposes.

At what point do we just assume that all CC #s have been stolen and if you haven't had your card # stolen yet, it's just a matter of time.

Can this technology notify me when it discovers Wonka's river of chocolate?