"Longhorn" Alpha Preview 637
An anonymous reader submitted an actual review of the leaked Longhorn Alpha. Finally someone has provided us with more than a few screenshots. Here's your chance to see what the future of the microsoft desktop is gonna look like!
Faked? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Faked? (Score:5, Informative)
Because an ISO of the alpha has been leaked as well and a spokeswoman of Microsoft has commented the issue [vnunet.com].
Visit #Betas @ irc.betasonline.com for more information. Also see xbetas.com [xbetas.com]. This is the
Also, here's a guide [iexbeta.com] to fix certain boot problems with Longhorn.
Re:Faked? (Score:4, Funny)
Please note it is still in Alpha stage, so you may experience constant crashes.
So nothing's really changed from the past Windows versions then
Re:Faked? (Score:3, Interesting)
Mmmm (Score:2, Funny)
Shame I won't be able to get an AMD CPU to run it on though :(
Re:Mmmm (Score:2)
Why not? Do you not have enough money?
Yawn (Score:4, Troll)
Re:Yawn (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Yawn (Score:5, Insightful)
I hear the same arguments against all the operating systems (Jaguar is too slow, XP is too flaky, Suse won't work with my display driver, etc) and it's just convinced me to quit listening
I personally have had problems with every Linux distro and Windows version I have ever tried except for Windows XP (approx 1 year w/o any crashes - no uptime to speak of because I shut it down at night due to noise
Unless someone actually quantifies this information, it's pointless.
Os benchmarks on comparable hardware, on the other hand, actually mean something but hardly ever get published.
Information on os security is also readily available, although security is subject to the skill of the admin as well, so it's hard to evaluate purely on technical merits as well (ie/ I would trust a Windows box managed by a competent admin much more than a Linux box managed by some dumbass).
Re:Yawn (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes there is. The UELA doesn't say "If you consent" it says "Microsoft has the right."
It may not be happening today, but how do you know it won't happen tomorow? Do you trust Microsoft to be a "good citizen"?
How I Make Windows Stable (Score:3, Informative)
Start with pure Intel CPU and chipset (sorry AMD/VIA fans, but you're cutting your own throat from the start). Don't skimp on RAM. No shared video RAM either. Don't install non-M$ mouse drivers if you can avoid it; don't install fancy keyboard drivers at all. Overclocking can lead to crashiness, so be cautious about doing it.
Stick to Win95 OEM, Win98 original or OEM (*not* SE), or Win2K if you have a choice, tho XP is acceptable. WinME can be made 100% stable, but its resource management sucks too much for heavy multitasking, so I don't recommend it.
Kill tempfiles and defrag religiously once a week, whether it claims to need it or not. (The "how fragmented I am" thingee is borkend, it only reports how fragmented the FAT is, not the files!) Sort by date if your defragger gives you a choice. I'd recommend VOPT if you don't like the default defragger.
Always use the provided uninstallers. Run a good registry cleaner EVERY time you uninstall anything, and occasionally as routine maintenance. I use EasyCleaner (free from toniarts.com) and have found both its registry and start menu cleaners are 100% reliable. (Tho the dupefile finder is buggy, and remember to exclude "Help" on ME/XP systems.) DLL Hell isn't usually an issue so long as the registry is kept pristine. Remember to archive the registry occasionally -- usually the one from last month is good enough if the current one gets wonked.
Don't install M$Office if you can avoid it -- it is Windows' worst enemy (it even clobbers protected system DLLs in WinXP). IE and Outlook don't love Windows all that much either. Don't upgrade IE past 5.0 if you have a choice. (Being bundled with IE5.5 is apparently why WinME's resource management sucks so bad. IEradicating will NOT fix what IE5.5 breaks.) -- Note: If WordPerfect Office is unstable, it *usually* means your system needs updated system and/or video BIOSs, and maybe an updated video driver.
Put the swapfile on its own dedicated partition; don't let anything else write files there. That way it's never fragmented, which helps a LOT on a marginal-RAM system.
On WinME, apply 98Lite in default shareware "uncouple IE from the desktop" mode, and turn off Restore. If you ever accidentally call up WinME's new "Help" system, restart Windows as soon as is feasible. (That's all I did to "fix" my WinME box, which gets used to test all sorts of crap, and it hasn't crashed in two YEARS.)
On WinXP, use Classic interface. (Restore and Help are not issues on WinXP.)
NEVER EVER install anything like "Crashguard" -- these apps are really good at catching the crashes they *create*!! Turn off various "control centers" that want to run all the time as well (such as the one that the SBLive installs, the ATI-Desk thingee, etc.) Be cautious about antivirus TSRs too -- turn off needless parts (like the extra thing McAfee puts in systray). Kitchen-sink utility suites tend to generate trouble.
Never install a patch or update that doesn't address a problem YOU are experiencing (or that isn't relevant to a particular security issue YOUR system may encounter). What fixes your buddy's machine may break yours.
I also recommend that everyone run Resource Meter (Windows\RSRCMTR.EXE -- but it does not install by default; just drop a shortcut into Startup) as a handy gauge to the current condition of your system resources. Many crashes can be avoided simply by backing out of whatever caused a resource leak. Yeah, it'd be better if nothing leaked, but when you already know the road is icy, you should drive slower.
Once I've got Windows installed and tweaked to my satisfaction, I archive the entire thing to a dedicated location. (I also occasionally archive the registry and start menu to the same location. On clients' systems, I use the same partition as the swapfile, then forbid them to touch it.
The most important points are: solid hardware and drivers; regular defragging, tempfile killing, and registry cleaning; turning off Restore in WinME; avoiding some known killers like Crashguard. The rest can be cheated around as necessary to your situation, without causing significant instability. And if you do the maintenance, even poor quality hardware won't have too much impact (unless it's outright flaky).
More detail than most folk probably wanted to hear
Re:Yawn (Score:4, Insightful)
From my chair, Windows 2000 was the pinnacle of Microsoft's operating system development, and we've been heading downhill ever since. Not because XP sucks, but just because it adds much stuff I don't need and no stuff I do.
Re:Yawn (Score:3, Interesting)
and speaking of the burning capability in XP...
Does anyone actually use it? The idea is good but, the interface has some problems. Drag the files that you want to burn into the CD-R's folder, see files in the folder, forget to hit burn to CD (it just puts fake links in the folder as place holders and waits for you to hit burn to CD to actually do anything). Also, I've found that it uses a screwy driver or something. I haven't been able to burn CD's reliably this way, most (>80%) are F'd up. I've had to use the burning software that came with the drive instead of using the XP interface. It's a good idea, but it doesn't seem to work. If CD-R's were still $2 each I'd be pretty pissed. Can't wait for them to mung up DVD-R burning as well.
Re:Yawn (Score:2)
Maybe you should get a CDRW that costs more than five bucks in your local Fry's bargain bin.
Re:Yawn (Score:4, Insightful)
For me, it's Win2K + FreeBSD 4.7 on my main boxes, the rest almost exclusively run FreeBSD.
Re:Yawn (Score:5, Informative)
Oh, and the copy of Windows XP Pro on the Volume License media kit doesn't require activation.
Thank you, come again.
Re:Yawn (Score:3, Insightful)
Most people tend to believe that computers and their associated bits are tools, not support structures for religions.
Re:Yawn (Score:5, Funny)
I'm guessing you have never used emacs or vi.
Re:Yawn (Score:5, Funny)
Quick Launch Bar (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Quick Launch Bar (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Quick Launch Bar (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Quick Launch Bar (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Quick Launch Bar (Score:5, Insightful)
Most of the time, I think Microsoft has made "innovation" a four-letter word. That's just when I'm pissed. When I take a step back (especially when I see stuff like this), I get the impression that Microsoft's idea of innovation is visual masturbation. Sometimes I think they measure success by number of entries in the Interface Hall Of Shame [iarchitect.com].
Two points:
1. I don't see how eye candy is ever innovative without improvements in the underlying architecture such as security or ease of use. My definition of ease of use is slightly different than most however. I would define ease of use the ability to quickly and easily get what you want done, regardless of skill level. One of the things that really irks me about Windows in general (and to a certain extent OS X) is that it is targeted so much at the ignorant user, that it is nothing but frustrating to me as someone who knows a little more.
2. What's worse is that the free software world seems to emulate this behavior more and more. There is a lot of imitation in OpenSource. This is good. It is extremely important to have free tools which support POSIX standards (like awk and find). What's great is there's a lot of innovation too (emacs, gcc, the Linux kernel module architecture). There just doesn't seem to be much innovation in free software UI design. The default behavior seems to be to "make it like Windows". Microsoft UIs attempt to hide so much from their users they become unusable. KDE attempts to mimic this behavior. RedHat took this direction with 8.0 for its entire UI, and as a result I'm frustrated to the point of looking for a new distro.
Re:Quick Launch Bar (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem I see in the Free Software community is that it tries to copy the Windows interface, but only on the surface. People will look at it, and expect it to work like it did in Windows, and then they find out that it doesn't. I rather have an uniq GUI (like Mac is uniq, or OS/2 was uniq) for UNIX/Linux so that people won't be confused.
It's also one of the reason I really like Enlightenment. It's finally a window manager that doesn't try to copy something that went before. It creates an identity uniq to the system.
Re:An OS for my grandmother (Score:3, Interesting)
Not true!
While your remark would be true in general, it is not true in this specific instance.
The masses of sheep who aren't enlightened to open source are locked in to windows. Its like a narcotic. They can't break free of it. (Just like 50% of slashdotters who still can't break their habit.) Therefore the existing locked in users are not who the new interfaces are designed for. The new interfaces are designed for sheep who are so sheepish that they have not yet dived in and gotten a computer. How much pain this causes existing users is irrelevant, they are stuck with it. (Except for the few who get enlightened and break the cycle.)
Your remark would be true in a general sense. Make a {car,phone,tv} so that idiots can use it, and only idiots will use it. Implication: because the non-idiots will flock to competition. But in this industry there is no significant competition.
Re:Quick Launch Bar (Score:5, Insightful)
One thing I see a lot of, particularly in free software, are programs that were clearly designed and tested at obscenely high resolutions -- and are all but unusable even at 1024x768, let alone below that. Kids tend to forget that most of the world still runs at 800x600, in particular the over-40 crowd.
Then there are commercial apps like Dreamweaver, where the workspace is inundated by the taskbars etc., yet if you turn all those off so you've got some elbow room, you've got no uick way to access certain functions. What was it designed for, wall-sized monitors??!
I've had the thought that it would be nice if I could set resolution on a per-application basis
Re:Quick Launch Bar (Score:3, Informative)
Writing a bourne shell script that launches IE with a given URL:And to write a double-clickable shell script of any variety, just give it a
Re:Quick Launch Bar (Score:5)
"Longhorn... what can we have? Bigger fatter UI!"...
"Lets call more things 'my....'"
Whats with all the redundant "my..." anyway - e.g The "my" in "my hardware" is totally redundant, is a user really going to wonder if they are configuring someone else's hardware?
Re:Quick Launch Bar (Score:4, Funny)
Oh, wait...
Keep all the eye candy, thank you. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Keep all the eye candy, thank you. (Score:3, Informative)
Then again, OSX and Windows are commercial OSs which as part of their marketing focus is the look - it does attract some people one way or the other and if Joe & Jane User choose one over the other cos it's flashier, there's an extra sale.
That doesn't quite explain why perfectly good open source desktops are blindly following this kind of mess, however.
Re:Keep all the eye candy, thank you. (Score:2)
Explain to me why I would want to look at a picture of someone else using a camera?
An analog clock? I thought Windows was supposed to be easy to use! What are they thinking? (yes, that was a joke).
Re:Keep all the eye candy, thank you. (Score:5, Informative)
And in XP there are even Visual Styles you can download to get an even more minimalistic desktop than the one you find in Windows 2000.
Granted, for each new release of Windows there are usually more settings to turn off, but most of the time, the new features in new releases of Windows can be turned off. I have yet to see a visual features of Windows that can't, actually.
Re:Keep all the eye candy, thank you. (Score:5, Informative)
Wrong, this could be the requirement for the (optional) Quartz Extreme technology, but in fact Quartz Extreme requires only 16 MB VRAM [apple.com].
Re:Keep all the eye candy, thank you. (Score:2, Funny)
If you meant 32 MB, however, you're an idiot - as even Quartz Extreme will run on 16MB and OSX 10.2 is quite happy to run with as little as FOUR MB.
Not that new... (Score:5, Insightful)
The big questions have yet to be answered:
1) Is it more stable?
2) Is it more secure?
3) Will the licensing restrictions be reasonable?
Obvious shot but... (Score:3, Funny)
(2006 may be a little ambitious; it's a guess.)
Granted, they are catching up, my compliments. But what happened to all that innovation they keep promising? Push the envelope Bill, and I don't mean profit margins.
Re:Not that new... (Score:3, Interesting)
The moral of this is of course: if it works, don't try to install drivers supplied by ATI.
Re: Not that new... (Score:3, Informative)
I mean, apart from the fact that you're a wrestling fan?
Mirrors? (Score:2, Insightful)
Ok, I Switched (Score:2, Troll)
Looks like they shoved it through the AOL interface maker and called it "new".
Microsoft needs to realize that cosmetic changes to the OS are not a reason to upgrade. Although that won't stop them, through yet more forced upgrades and built-in obsolesence from pushing this on the computer world.
I use Mac OSX at work, and occasionally SuSE 8.1 at home. If Microsoft depricates my Windows2000, I'll just move to OSX or SuSE.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Ok, I Switched (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, well, the general population in't going to get too excited about an NTFS replacement, an XML-enabled sidebar, or OS-level DRM. In fact, the latter would probably send them running.
But slap a pretty new face on it and suddenly you've given them a tangible reason for upgrading, regardless of whether the new interface is actually an improvement or not. It represents something newer, so it must follow that it is better. At the very least cooler, so that when the Smiths come over and see your new machine they can go "Oohhhh...you must be running the new Windows [insert catchy release name here]!!!"
Leaked screenshots? (Score:4, Interesting)
I'll say it again that this server is unlikely to cope with many requests - so if anyone can provide a mirror, feel free
Is it going to be another case of .. (Score:5, Funny)
Hope not.
Re:Is it going to be another case of .. (Score:3, Interesting)
Dear Microsoft, this is not a way to win over your corporate customers.
Apple's not gonna be happy... (Score:2)
Excessive change rate (Score:5, Insightful)
A major objection for the average office worker to both Mac OS and Linux is the need to learn new ways of doing things, and the things they do not want to have to learn to do are often amazingly trivial. (Only this morning I had to show a white collar professional how to turn a Mac on, and explain that the reason IE didn't start immediately was because the double click interval on this particular machine was set quite short and a faster double click was needed.)
The constant drive for change on the Windows desktop could, paradoxically, reduce market share if it perceived that each new version of Windows is going to need as big a learning curve as switching. One for Apple and KDE to exploit?
Re:Excessive change rate (Score:2, Interesting)
Completely changing the GUI to make the OS look better won't make it more intuitive. For instance just click in the "Start" button in XP and read through the items that pop up. To me it looks like the menu has been slapped together in a day or two.
IMHO a good graphical user interface is one where you have 1 quick access point per important section of the OS. The need to have quick launch items all over the screen means poor design.
Windows isn't bad, and XP has some really nice improvements over older versions... unfortunately it can't compare to *nix bases OSes from the stability and reliability point of view. They have to show that they can win when it comes to ease of use over any other OS. And a good idea would be to spend some serious bucks on GUI research and then stick to whatever they liked most for at least a couple of windows OS generations.
Just my 2 cents,
Decameron
no drive letters ;-) (Score:4, Insightful)
My Computer\ something\something else\...
does this mean they are getting away from drive letters? what a novel concept.
Not likely. (Score:3, Insightful)
If you look at this [winsupersite.com] screen shot, you will see that the location bar displays My Computer\yada\yada. However, if you examine the contents of the directory in the pane below, you will notice the hard drive, which is displayed as "C:" along with its usage statistics.
Microsoft's drive letter analogy/concept has a deep rooted history. Users have grown accustomed to this analogy and it is highly unlikely that Microsoft will cahnge it in the future. Most average users that are used to drive letters find the mount point tree that is used in Unix to be almost incomprehensible.
Now, having said all that, it is really impossible to tell what the future holds. Remember that Longhorn is supposed to use a new file system. This new file system is not yet functional in the alpha release so there's no telling what it will actually look like. None the less, if I had to bet, I'd bet that drive letters will continue to be used in Microsoft OSes for a long long long time, regardless of the underlying file system.
Re:no drive letters ;-) (Score:5, Informative)
Maybe Microsoft is replacing UNIX by BECOMING UNIX?
Virtual desktops, mount points - what next,
Even Windows 2000 support mount points. Not sure if even earlier Windows NT-based OS'es do since I haven't checked. Anyway, you can easily mount your CD-ROM to a cdrom directory if that's what you wish.
Re:Um, how? (Score:4, Informative)
There is no mount command.
Here's how I do it in XP...
1. Right-click My Computer.
2. Select "Manage".
3. In the Computer Manager, select "Local Disk Manager".
4. Right-click a drive.
5. Select "Change drive designations" (something similar, translating from swedish...)
6. Click "Add..."
7. Select "Mount this device in the following empty NTFS folder".
8. Voila
I don't remember how you most easily got to the Computer Manager in 2000 (I doubt you can right-clik and select "Manage"). There's a command line for it though...
The future of the microsoft desktop? (Score:2)
> Here's your chance to see what the future of the microsoft desktop is gonna look like!
I already know what the future of the Microsoft deskgop is gonna look like: Nowhere to be seen on my desk.
I went cold turkey five or six years ago, and there aren't enough whores in Vegas to drag me back.
it's not really that impressive (Score:2, Informative)
Re:it's not really that impressive (Score:2)
Question: Did it update faster or anything like that?
What I find mind-boggling dumb about this article is that all it looks at is an early artistic look at Longhorn, not at what's really interesting about it. From what I've read, it's supposed to use hardware accelleration to paint the windows on the screen. I think that's damn cool because it means some of the overhead of drawing the interface on the screen can be offloaded, thus making it more responsive.
Did you have any luck like that? Is it implemented?
What Paul Thurott has to say about this leak (Score:5, Informative)
Instead, read about some of the new features and improvements to Windows that Longhorn introducts by reading Paul's Longhorn FAQ [winsupersite.com]. I especially like the SQL Server .NET-based file system - "Originally slated for Blackcomb, I've now verified that Longhorn will ship with a new SQL Server .NET-based file system, originally code-named "Storage+". Based on the "Yukon" release of SQL Server, this file system will let Microsoft's search tools work across a wider range of storage devices, including the file system, Active Directory, SQL Server databases, and Exchange Server data stores." Sweet!
Why "My"? (Score:4, Funny)
uhm, it's a machine (Score:3, Insightful)
"and like the OSDN bar at the top, it says 'Our Network'. I know it's their network, it's not mine. Does anyone else like it when OSDN talks down to them like that?"
Good luck on getting the "funny +1" mod.
Re:Why "My"? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Why "My"? (Score:2)
Unfortunately, it's not even accurate. It only really applies to the computer not the person using the computer. Even with profiles, the local machine is the dominate factor under Windows not the user. Ironically, a network with X stations is more likely to be correct; the desktop, settings, programs, and any files are 'Mine' and the local machine is just a piece of machinery.
Yet, most novices I've talked to refer to specific programs as "My ____" as in "My Quicken" -- even before Microsoft started using the phrase.
Personally, it annoys me.
Re:Why "My"? (Score:5, Funny)
"My ____" is degrading. It's like Microsoft saying "You little child...
Have you seen OpenBSD 3.2?
$ ls -l
total 9066
drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 1024 Apr 13 2002 My_Bin
drwxr-xr-x 4 root wheel 19968 Oct 23 10:48 My_Dev
drwxr-xr-x 21 root wheel 2048 Nov 24 09:55 My_Etc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 4543036 May 18 2002 My_Kernel
drwxr-xr-x 4 root wheel 512 Oct 25 03:44 My_Home
drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 512 Apr 13 2002 My_Mnt
drwx------ 3 root wheel 512 Oct 24 04:51 My_root
drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 2048 Apr 13 2002 My_Sbin
drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 512 Apr 13 2002 My_Stand
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 11 Oct 22 16:38 My_Sys -> usr/src/sys
drwxrwxrwt 2 root wheel 512 Nov 24 01:34 My_Tmp
drwxr-xr-x 17 root wheel 512 Oct 23 10:58 My_Usr
drwxr-xr-x 24 root wheel 512 Apr 13 2002 My_Var
Dammit, I knew Theo was getting soft in his old age..
Re:Why "My"? (Score:5, Insightful)
therefore it actually makes sense.
Re:Why "My"? (Score:3, Funny)
It's actually a naming convention that Microsoft planned out to transparently support desktop shortcuts such as "My ex-girlfriend's Computer", "Company CEO's Documents", "Girl Next Door's Webcam Pictures", "IRC l4m3r's Hardware", etc etc.
Re:Why "My"? (Score:3, Funny)
Clutter Clutter Clutter (Score:2)
This is actually one of my biggest problems with Solaris's CDE, you can't really do a whole lot on a single screen so you end up having 11 "workspaces".
The main UI interface really really needs a complete overhall, we are ready for something completly different not just with add-ons. Perhaps this 3d window manager the article speaks of will help address screen clutter. I just hope they don't look toward Jurassic Park for any ideas. Now that was slow!
Eye candy vs. Functionality (Score:2)
Ever notice how when *BSD or Linux kernel updates come out, there are technical articles about them, while Windows updates (pun intended) are all about the new GUI? Can you say "fluff" ?
Re:Eye candy vs. Functionality (Score:2)
the majority of people that MS really cares about marketing to are people that are home users and bullshit artists at businesses who don't care about anything...
So how the computer looks is important to people who don't really care how their computer works, just that it does and that it looks nice.
Re:Eye candy vs. Functionality (Score:2)
IMHO worthwhile subjects of discussion are things like the SQL-Server based file system that was supposed to appear with Longhorn, or maybe Dotnet security, or real real-time capabilties, or DRM.
I'd put these rather arbitrary GUI issues down at the relatively insignificant end of the feature list, along with ephemera such as tablet PCs, XML "technologies" and C#/Java syntax differences.
Quite interesting (Score:2, Insightful)
It shows a My Hardware "window".
Are we gonna see "everything is a file" concept in Longhorn too?
bah (Score:3, Funny)
Why there are so many screenshots about ... (Score:2, Informative)
spoiler leak (Score:2, Informative)
That much out of the way, there are a few UI tweaks which I think are interesting. The enhanced explorer nodes for "My Pictures" and "My Music" look like something I might use-- not something I would pay $200 for, but if my computer shipped with it or if similiar functionality was in GNOME/KDE.
On an even more trivial note, it looks like their Virtual Desktop manager shows the different wallpapers to the different backgrounds. I think this Makes Sense as a quick and easy way to identify different desktops.
Of course, I must throw in the "har har, been there, done that"s to virtual desktops in general and the dock. I haven't say it yet, so even though it may be obvious, le tme say "WinFS concerns me"
That was probably more lectrons than an alpha with two years to go deserves
Re:spoiler leak (Score:2)
(Screenshot here. [panix.com])
Note that "Date Modified" is not one of the columns! You wanted to sort your MP3s by date? Sorry, Microsoft has decided you shouldn't. Please note I did not choose this behavior; Windows just started doing it on its own. It looks like you can turn it off (View/Choose Details...) but the fact that the GUI is making decisions for me about how I should visualize stuff is highly annoying. (But that's Microsoft for you.)
theme looks familiar (Score:3, Interesting)
Or am I imagining it?
UI (Score:2, Interesting)
Even if under the hood it is just as stable and powerful as win2k/XP, and even if it is faster or better with new file systems and other new features. Win2k does everything I need. And it doesn't have DRM or a crappy UI like the one pictured there.
Disregarding all the other factors in the linux vs. windows battle I must say the even though win2k's UI is pretty good, I dislike XPs UI greatly. And that even though linux might have 100 to choose from I like KDE, and at least I know that if I put in the time and effort I could make it look and work however I wanted. In Windows that option just isn't there.
You wont see me upgrading windows until they add a real UI, custom UI, or new games just don't run on 2k anymore.
This is only the beginning... (Score:4, Funny)
- We'll be required to log on to our computers through
- The whole UI will be based around MSN explorer.
- If we wish to write programs that'll run, we'll have to do something like:
.NET_PROGRAM
{
MS_PALLADIUM_REQUST_SESSION();
MY PRIVATE STRING STR1 = MS_PALLADIUM_AUTHENTICATE ("NEW STRING (\"Hello world\")");
MY PRIVATE FUNCTION MAIN = MS_PALLADIUM_AUTHENTICATE ("NEW FUNCTION ()");
MY MAIN = MS_PALLADIUM_AUTHENTICATE
(
"/* Logon to passport to send the message through MSN Messenger */
PASSPORT_LOGON_();
MSN_MESSENGER_PRINT(STR1);"
);
MS_PALLADIUM_END_SESSION();
}
- Exponential growth of area of objects such as "start menu", "option bar", etc.
- Every program, file and message will of course be required to have the prefix "My".
- Exponential growth of number of alternations to an obvious and given task, for example, there'll be 62 ways to create a shortcut to a web page, none of them intuitive.
- There'll be more curves and pastel colors. By Windows 2010, there'll be curves so complex that they have to be express in 11-dimensional morphed space! Windows will require 2048-bit color GFX hardware to operate.
- Meh...
Re:This is only the beginning... (Score:3, Interesting)
And you thought you were joking!!
Stop whining about "copying features". (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Stop whining about "copying features". (Score:2)
A few reminders (Score:2)
This alpha contains very few improvements over XP, and the stability and optimizations are horrible. Yes, even for being Microsoft, if someone would like to pull off a bad joke about that. For example. the new WinFS file system runs in Longhorn as a service that consume a lot of CPU power while not offering any special WinFS.
To all of you Linux UI developers out there... (Score:5, Insightful)
The new "plex" look and feel... (Score:2)
Wow I must say (Score:4, Insightful)
Did anyone else notice over 20% of the screen space was taken up by "navigational help" (eg these are the folders you might want to go to, then again you might not) in almost all of those screenshots? How does that help anyone by confusing the interface to such extremes?
I like the new preview pane, a little big for my tastes, but it's there (albeit 7 years to get right after the introduction in windows 98). I am hoping it's not hardcoded which directories you can use it in, that would be a serious shame.
I really wonder why they don't just license the look and feel of finder already, I can already tell their explorer is going to be very cluttered (then again that might be partially because of their insistance on a really pecular file heirachy for user directories..).
Windows Longhorn is a true usability nightmare (Score:3, 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...
Wrong review (Score:3, Funny)
Multiple Desktops (Score:3, Funny)
oh well. time to look for something new.
Re:"Plex" styling. (Score:2)
Re:"Plex" styling. (Score:5, Funny)
Talk about being redundant...
I disagree (Score:3, Insightful)
Working to make Classic better would be like asking the Linux developers to spend their time making DOSEMU run better.
Re:Wow, those are some pretty pictures (Score:5, Informative)
I really, seriously don't mean any offense by this, but... what the fuck is wrong with you, dude?
I've been using Jaguar every day since before it was actually released; I bought a new G4 back in August, and it came with 10.2 on it about ten days before the retail boxes hit the shelves. I have never had to reboot my machine for any reason than an OS update. I shut it down once to move it to another room, and then one reboot for each of the updates since (most recently yesterday's security update). And that's all.
I'm pushing a pretty wide range of apps, too, including Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Quark (although less and less lately because it's my only OS 9 application, and InDesign is better), and sometimes Maya for doing weekly menus and signage for the restaurant. I push my machine pretty hard, and I never have the kinds of problems you're talking about.
I don't know what your deal is, but I think it's important for people to know that your experience is definitely not typical.
Re:Longhorn (Score:2)
ok put your money where your mouth is.
what? what the hell does windows do that linux cant. or can do better?
dont cop out and use some lame "easier for the new user" crap.or something like "it doesnt have quicken" that's not linux's fault that they dont have X app for it YET.. tell me what critical function that is useable for a computer that microsoft does better than linux? tell us all. please.
everything else is smoke, mirrors and lies... take the base operating systems of each and show me ONE thing that windows is better at.
Re:Longhorn (Score:2)
Offhand, I'd say TAPI, which is the ability to write one telecommunications program (like a phone answering machine or touch-tone interface) and have it work with all voice modems off the shelf without any customization or kernel-recompiling whatsoever. It just works. Try that on Linux - you find plenty that will work with a specific line, like only USR's, but never with any old modem I pick up from the store.
Re:I hate to bust everyone's nuts here... (Score:2)
Bollocks, you enjoy it just as much as the rest of us.
Re:I'm getting old (Score:2)
Re:Attack of the Clones (Score:2)
It would surprise me if it wouldn't, since it's only an alpha yet.
Re:I thought Longhorn was cancelled... (Score:2)
So, in short Longhorn = next generation client, Blackcomb = next generation server.
Re:lacking promised FS (Score:2)
It's in there and the WinFS stuff currently seem to come from a service running in the background that's known to just consume CPU cycles.
Re:Finally ... (Score:3, Informative)