Arthur Fuller
fuller.artful at gmail.com
Wed Sep 11 07:49:12 CDT 2013
Initially I shared your frustration with Windows 8, but after a few days and a reading of a free PDF I downloaded from somewhere called Windows 8 User Guide, I found myself growing fond of it. One big deal was attaching an external monitor to my laptop, in stretch mode so both the built-in and external were regarded as a single monitor. The aforementioned Guide taught me a very important keystroke: a single tap on the Windows key, which invokes a Win7-style desktop. Hence the beauty of having a pair of monitors: I dragged the whole Win7 desktop to the external monitor and left the tiles on the built-in. Most of my work and tools are Win7-era, but once I'd installed all the usual suspects (Office, NoteTab, Alpha Anywhere, SQL Server, MySQL etc.), most of which In pinned to the taskbar, and from then on I was a very happy camper. I guess you could colour me Converted. Arthur On Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 12:23 AM, Peter Brawley <peter.brawley at earthlink.net > wrote: > We have one 'puter running Win 8. Despite its prettiness, it made a > terrible first impression. Once we got round the idiocies of the > unswipeable Metro UI modelled on a swipeable UI, Win 8 didn't seem all that > bad. > > After a couple of months of trying to help my wife find the stuff she > needs in Win 8, I wish I could throw the machine in the lake. > > Windows 8.1 was supposed to fix some of worst Win 8 problems. It doesn't ( > http://www.infoworld.com/d/**microsoft-windows/windows-81-** > review-new-version-same-mess-**226510<http://www.infoworld.com/d/microsoft-windows/windows-81-review-new-version-same-mess-226510> > ). > > The utter cluelessness of the Win 8 design and unfix 8.1 doesn't argue > that Microsoft will or should have a bright future. > > PB > > ----- > > > On 2013-09-10 9:36 PM, Hans-Christian Andersen wrote: > >> I honestly don't see a brighter future for Microsoft - especially if they >> promote a CEO from within, like Stephen Elop. Even the mere suggestion that >> they are considering Elop raises some serious questions about what really >> happened at Nokia and Elops/Microsofts role in the matter. >> >> Never the less, Microsoft is so stuck on the old business model of the >> Microsoft OEM tax and MS Office, that, unless they break the company apart, >> everything will always be held back by those concerns. The Xbox division of >> Microsoft is a perfect example and a rare one too. From what I've read, >> they were given a lot of freedom to make their own decisions compared to >> other parts of the company. Ballmer or any of the other usual misfit >> executives were not directly involved in that division and, as a >> consequence, the Xbox did quite well and has an enthusiastic fan base. Now >> compare that to mostly every other new consumer market Microsoft has pushed >> into lately? MP3 devices, pre-iPad tablets and the Surface, smartphones >> (before and after WP7), etc. >> >> Rather than a DEC, I can imagine Microsoft becoming like IBM. What MS >> does well is software and integrating software. They don't do hardware well >> and they are even worse as a platform monopoly. It's is part of why they >> are struggling in this brave new world. >> >> Best regards, >> Hans-Christian Andersen >> >> >> On 10 Sep 2013, at 11:12, Jim Lawrence <accessd at shaw.ca> wrote: >> >> Microsoft for many years played it safe. >>> >>> Safe, in that it did not get invested heavily in commodity market >>> (selling hardware). It has done well with the XBox but so far its latest >>> ventures can not be said to have been that successful. >>> >>> In the late seventies and early eighties, I worked exclusively with the >>> two largest computer companies in the world. IBM and DEC (VAX). DEC made >>> the first 64bit PC computer and our office bought one for only 15K...a UNIX >>> box. For a short time, while in my own business, I even sold Compac >>> computers (I even sold AST). In the mid-nineties DEC crashed, was sold off >>> to Compac which followed suit shortly after. Even today I still find that >>> amazing...amazing that a company, originally so large and successful (with >>> an excellent virtual OS) should just crash, burn and then disappear. >>> >>> In the following link, the article draws close comparisons between >>> Microsoft and DEC and the author feels a note of caution should be >>> seriously observed. IMHO, Microsoft should be taking some serious courses >>> and learning lessons from recent history. >>> >>> http://www.computerworld.com/**s/article/9242253/Decline_of_** >>> Digital_Equipment_offers_**lessons_for_Microsoft<http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9242253/Decline_of_Digital_Equipment_offers_lessons_for_Microsoft> >>> >>> Aside: Do not get me wrong; I do not dislike Microsoft, in fact they >>> have been very very good to me, but I truly believe that Steve Balmer was >>> the worse thing that could have happen to MS and the damage he has done to >>> the company may have not run its full course, yet. I still believe >>> Microsoft will survive all this but it is going to be a bumpy ride. >>> >>> Jim >>> ______________________________**_________________ >>> dba-Tech mailing list >>> dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com >>> http://databaseadvisors.com/**mailman/listinfo/dba-tech<http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech> >>> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.**com<http://www.databaseadvisors.com> >>> >> ______________________________**_________________ >> dba-Tech mailing list >> dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com >> http://databaseadvisors.com/**mailman/listinfo/dba-tech<http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech> >> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.**com<http://www.databaseadvisors.com> >> >> > ______________________________**_________________ > dba-Tech mailing list > dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/**mailman/listinfo/dba-tech<http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech> > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.**com<http://www.databaseadvisors.com> > -- Arthur