back to article Intel denies that its CEO thinks Windows 8 isn't ready

Intel has denied reports that CEO Paul Otellini believes Microsoft is releasing Windows 8 before it's "fully ready," saying instead that Chipzilla has the utmost confidence in Redmond's latest OS. On Tuesday, a Bloomberg report cited an anonymous source as saying Otellini had talked down Windows 8 during a private company …

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  1. oldtaku Silver badge
    Megaphone

    Though they don't deny that he said it.

    Which it would be really easy to do, you know, if he hadn't actually said it.

  2. Hooksie

    You can always improve

    Been using Win8 for a few weeks now and I don't think I've found anything yet that wasn't nailed down tight and impressive. It's more about learning how to use it but you intuitively find little tricks from time to time (and through Google searches!) I have used Win7 since it was in early beta and I still prefer Win8. Neither of them have crashed on me, only problem I found was running an in place upgrade but those are always a bit fraught with danger.

    Windows 8 is the best thing Microsoft have done in a long long time and even on the Surface Pro it should be simple to navigate and use through touch. They do need to work on Office and user education though, figuring out keyboard shortcuts and file associations is fine for techies but your average user might get a bit frustrated. The issue with Win8 is that it's designed to be like Windows Phone 8 ie, personal to you. It takes a bit of time to set up how you like it but once you have it gives you far more control that iOS or Android do.

    1. asdf
      FAIL

      Re: You can always improve

      >The issue with Win8 is that it's designed to be like Windows Phone 8 ie, personal to you. It takes a bit of time to set up how you like it but once you have it gives you far more control that iOS or Android do.

      Win8's competitors are not iOS or Android as its for the desktop largely (tablet disaster coming aside, ultrabooks anyone). Actually they really don't have a lot of competition (Apple still in single digits basically) on the desktop but they are still going to piss off their users and miss a corporate refresh cycle just to please Ballmer's ego. The really good thing about Win8 is it might finally get that asshat Ballmer out the door like he should have been after the Vista debacle.

  3. MrT

    It depends...

    ... on what's not ready, because all OSes come out with things that need improving. It just makes a difference if that's the scoring system on solitaire or something more important like the kernel. Unless winning solitaire causes a GPF, or it saves the hi-score table in the boot sector... It's like Gartner always trotting out the line about waiting for SP1 for anything mission-critical.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It depends...

      Alas Solitaire has been relegated to Metro app status now and, at least with Enterprise, isn't included in the base install. That's obviously what Intel were on about in the first place. ;)

      1. MrT

        Blimey...

        ... no Solitaire? That's a proper paradigm shift... :-(

      2. Andy 36
        Unhappy

        Re: It depends...

        Not only is it a Metro Modern UI app, its not installed by default (even on the professional edition) and its a whopping 140mb download from the Windows Marketplace.

  4. Khaptain Silver badge
    Unhappy

    What's not ready

    If anything I believe that it is the Public that is not ready. MS have been trying hard to sell a new paradigm but they appear to be struggling. I ddont seem to see an wild Fanbois desperately panting its release.

    If the market is not ready then that becomes a problem for Intel as much as MS. Intel knows that Xmas is a favorable peroid for PC Sales, ( although things are changing), so they need W8 to come out anyway.

    Ballmer should be shot for this move, I believe that they should have have TIFKAM on the tablets, normal start menu for the PCs and then wait a little to see of the public/business really wanted TIFKAM on the desktop.

    MS have the monopoly, Ballmers knows this only too well, they will still sell W8 whether people want it or not.

    I had W8 as a secondary machine for a couple of weeks on my desktop at work. Yesterday, I went back to W7, for me Metro does not belong in the workplace. It is extremely annoying trying to find applications. I work in a Multi Language envirnoment and I do not always know the name of applications in each of the languages which means I have to "visually" search for them.........

    PS : Like one of the other commentards I had to Google for demos of the new features in order to find them. If I had problem finding things I can't imagine how Joe Public is going to manage.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "miss a corporate refresh cycle"

    Surely that's "miss *yet another* corporate refresh cycle"?

    How many corporates are still on XP? Why might that be, other than because Vista was a disaster and there's insufficient business justification for a move to Windows 7 let alone 8?

    How many home (and indeed SoHo) users have recently realised that courtesy of Mac and Android they can do pretty much everything they need without needing a Wintel box of any kind?

    Interesting times ahead for the certified MS-dependent.

    1. Hooksie

      Re: "miss a corporate refresh cycle"

      The problem on that front is not down to the OS, it's down to third party apps that are so old that they don't work on a modern, more secure platform like the Vista based Win 7 or Win 8. XP mode was there for that reason but firms just don't want to spend the money either testing it properly or upgrading the apps. We have to remember just how old XP is now. Windows 7 is THE most stable operating system I've ever used and so far with Win 8 I haven't had any issues other than, as I said before, learning how to use it. What I loved was having it on my work pc then installing it on my home desktop and finding all my settings and preferences synced. There are some really nice touches here and people are not stupid, they will get used to it.

      More Metro apps and better marketing/use education is all that's required. Once people buy the Windows RT tablet and get used to it as a mobile OS all the FUD will disappear.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        FAIL

        Re: (hooksie) "miss a corporate refresh cycle"

        Please call the network security group where you work and tell them that Windows 8 syncs to non-company machines. I'm sure they and others will be pleased-as-punch that Microsoft has taken the guesswork out of corporate espionage.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "miss a corporate refresh cycle"

        For corporates XP is the new NT4...

  6. Clyde

    What's the point of Windows 8 ?

    Got a new PC yesterday, installed Windows 8, and took it home last night.

    First hour spent looking at it, trying to figure out what to do next.

    Slowly got to grips with the easy stuff like loading in software, Internet Explorer, etc.

    This Metro - sorry what's the new name again ? - desktop sort of stuff - what in God's own name is that about ? Huge chunky icons, overloading the screen, scroll to the right to find anything. First part of the screen is full of MSN type shite, even the Games shortcut goes to online - WTF ? .

    OK, so I found out that to do anything you need to bring up a proper desktop - so that's us now in Windows 7 mode then, eh ? That's fine, now where's "All Programs" ? Thanks to google I could build my own Programs list. So, maybe I'm just old-fashioned, stick in the mud, too old to change ? But at least in W7 you could navigate, use "My Computer", "Network Places", and get work done.

    Certainly Windows 8 is fast, loaded up before I realised it. And I'm sure it must have some good points, I'll just need to find them.

    But it looks for all the world like it has been designed for a 14 year old schoolgirl, all looks and no functionality. What's the point of trying to pretend that a PC is a mobile phone ? This is going to be a very hard sell putting Windows 8 into your typical small office.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What's the point of Windows 8 ? @Clyde

      "This Metro - sorry what's the new name again ?"

      Tifkam, like wot Khaptain said earlier.

      "What's the point of trying to pretend that a PC is a mobile phone ?"

      How long before the processor and storage are? A modern smartphone has the processing power of Pentium 3, and they're getting faster with each new version. Soon all you'll need is a keyboard and screen plus a decent smartphone.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: What's the point of Windows 8 ? @Clyde

        So, what you're saying is that I need to buy a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse for my phone?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: What's the point of Windows 8 ? @Clyde

          "what you're saying is that I need to buy a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse for my phone?"

          That may well be the case, especially if your mobile device already has HDMI out.

          Is authentication against the domain sorted for non-Wintel boxes yet, and if not, does it matter?

      2. Tim Brown 1
        Pint

        @Ledswinger

        "Soon all you'll need is a keyboard and screen plus a decent smartphone."

        And with that I point you at the new ASUS padphone - http://uk.asus.com/Mobile/PadFone/

  7. Jay Holmes

    Why even bring other OS's into this?

    For once I would like to see a comment section stay on topic instead of bringing Mac/Android/Linux of many flavours into it! But hey ho thats the wishful thinking out of the way.

    I agree that it is a massive paradigm shift for the average user on the desktop platform, for those without touchscreen even more so. Wouldnt it make sense to have both options available ie the standard desktop (with every application available) and the Metro (for lack of a better name) desktop for those that want to use it. Instead of switching back and forth between native and non native apps??

    This would give people a chance to play about with it and decide if they like it or indeed if they even want to use it. This would give MS a lot of time to tweak it with user feedback to maybe bring in Metro over time and later releases. Getting people used to things is the hardest job, forcing people to use things they are unsure of is just bad business as they will find alternatives like previous releases of an OS that do what they want and are happy with no matter how insecure or unsupported.

    As for the comments that were (allegedly) made, maybe he did say those things, maybe he didnt. Maybe what he said was similar to what I have said and somebody paraphrased it down to what was reported so his comments were taken all out of context. The fact there hasnt been a straight up denial points to this. Maybe there will be peace on earth come Christmas and maybe the world will end. Who knows???

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The point of bringing other OSes into this is that

    Microsoft are where they are because they have a monopoly.

    Or at least, they had a monopoly, and now it's at risk, and if they are not careful, so are lots of things.

    To many people, the UI in Windows 8 looks like an ill-advised decision in that light.

    Clearer now?

    1. Jay Holmes
      Meh

      Re: The point of bringing other OSes into this is that

      I see where you are going with that analogy, but MS have survived bigger issues ME, Vista!!

      So just because at the moment it seems like parts of the new OS are not as intuitive as they could be, doesnt make it a failure just yet.

      As for corporations, I cant see them jumping to Win8 straight away as a replacement for XP, if anything they will probably go to Win7 which is proving to be stable and secure and use it until the end of its life span. So its not only MS that do "good OS, crap OS, good OS, crap OS" it is also corporations (IMO, bare in mind I am typing this from my works computer running XP and IE6. Modern armed forces my arse lol)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The point of bringing other OSes into this is that

        Re: "MS have survived bigger issues ME, Vista!!"

        and also re

        "down to third party apps that are so old that they don't work"

        Courtesu of Vista and Office 10 and a few other things, substantial quantities of corporate former believers have started to see that there is no pressing need to upgrade if there is no demonstrable business benefit, especially if there is a demonstrable cost (which there always is, otherwise "the channel" wouldn't be interested). This makes IT just the same as in every other part of the business apart from the historically Wintel-dependent ones with an "estate" to grow and a never-ending budget to match.

        Substantial quantities of home users reach the same conclusion a different way.

  9. Nigel 11
    Black Helicopters

    Never believe anything in politics until it is officially denied

    Otto von Bismarck apparently said this first. I tend to remember the "Yes Minister" formulation, which I think was Sir Humphrey observing "on the other hand, it hasn't yet been officially denied ...".

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "With over 16 million active preview participants, Windows 8 is the most tested, reviewed and ready operating system in Microsoft's history."

    I think I've heard this before ( apart from 8 & 16) It was cr*p before and it's cr*p now

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Of course it won't be ready for the big time

    That's why a lot of savvy techies wait until SP1.

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