Posts by Buck Futter
252 posts • joined Thursday 21st August 2008 11:29 GMT
Re: @ Butt Futter
Ahh.....no.... I find it too tiring already to post just under one name...
Re: Classic Coke
That attitude is the same for all tech companies. They all consider us utter nubbins who, only through herculean efforts on the part of the techies, can be made to use the wonderful stuff they have made.
The difference is, Microsoft has even less taste the most Android homescreen modders. Do you recall how enamoured they were with the introduction of Win7, harping on about how people would now be able to customise every part of the interface. Seems that plan didn't quite work for them.
Another year, another ill-founded direction.
Who though would want to step into Ballmer's shoes? AFAICT only stodgy business types are crazy about MS. Anyone with new and fresh ideas will most likely have started their own company, or is working for Face/oogle.
WMA
Just imagine what the state of music would be if Apple hadn't introduced the iPod. At that time, pretty much every mp3 player would do mp3 and wma. If Microsoft had cornered the market, we'd be looking at the same draconian DRM restrictions as they are now trying to foist on their game controllers. So kudos to Sony for sticking it to the (sweaty) Man.
Re: Mindbending
Oh good grief. If they had continued with the old design, you would have said "Apple is dead, they don't innovate, blah blah blah". Now they have a fresh coat of paint which follow Ive's design philosophy which, need I remind you, predates the designs you referenced, and you whine that "they don't innovate, blah blah blah". Why don't you crawl back under your Android rock...
Well
They must have figures that that market wasn't worth it for them. If it were, then they wouldn't have brought out this new Pro. I don't think there are enough 5k editors on the planet to make it worth Apple's while to develop a new system for them. If that means losing a few thousand people to Windows, then so be it.
OTOH, this might just force peripheral makers to come up with some TB devices.
Dear me, Trevor, no
Why is it that techies have such short memories. Surely the first law text ever recorded* is the one you should hold up as the single most important document ever written (granted, unlike the two other documents, this one is rather less portable).
* Code of Hammurabi
Nokia 501
Quite frankly, I think Nokia is the one with the better plan here. I can actually see the Asha 501 take off, and not just in India. Make it cheap and cheery, and people who aren't standard nerd will actually want to buy one. Remember the original iMac? That was the first computer people wanted to display around the house, because it was colourful and fun.
Re: Actually, LibreOffice sucks too.
Firstly, real writers use a Mac.
Secondly, there are a few use case-specific apps out there, such as Ulysses, that offer key features for developing characters and scenes. Other apps can assist you when you want to write a screenplay.
For me, the most useful feature is the fullscreen-with-no-distractions mode.
OneNote
If they were to sell a $200 tablet with a Metro-fied OneNote that can sync with my SharePoint server, that alone would be worth the price of admission, and I think for a lot of other companies as well.
Re: Profit?
They follow the same pattern: spend until the competitors run out of money or business, corner the market, become the dominant player, make money selling stuff that depends on the tech.
Microsoft is repositioning itself as a services company. It's not just Windows that's no longer needed. Most people seem to forget, that for Office there's not a lot of vertical space left for it to grow into (if you follow my drift). Apart from the ribbon, what exactly is the difference between Office 2003 and Office 2013? Not much, and for most people, a $10 iPad app will do just as well to write a letter. Yes, you would hardly do your research paper on an iPad, but think about what might become available two years down the line.
It's funny though. Microsoft is (still) a software company. Yet they are giving their core moneymaker away, in order to spur sales of hardware. I don't know what Steve Ballmer is smoking these days, but maybe he took the advice Jobs gave Gates about being a better person if only he'd have taken some LSD a bit too literal...
Maybe
If the prices come down. I would love to have a TB NAS, but not for the prices they're currently charging. $50 for one cable? Are you flippin serious?
Re: Out of the box
Ok, I'll bite. I have been using Win8 for a couple of months now on my work laptop, state of the art HP EliteBook. Apart from the wi-fi crapping out requiring me to get-netadapter|restart-netadapter, it's not been so bad. It it rather good, as long as you judge it in the Windows tradition.
But.
I use Start8. This means, for me I have a classical Windows environment. To me, the start screen doesn't offer any advantages. The programs I use the most are pinned, the ones I don't live in the start menu. I have no need for full-screen apps just to look up the weather or anything else. In fact, the only app I downloaded from the store is to read ePub books with.
So yes. People who say Win 8 sucks because fuck you, that's why, are obviously influenced by the bad rap it has been getting. OTOH if so many people are clamouring for a return to normalcy, why not cater to them? Honestly, I've never seen a company try so hard not to do what their customers want. At least it'll be all over for Microsoft in five years, as no one is likely to buy one of their tablets unless they were a fanboi before, and the money in the 'classic' computer market will be drying up...
Re: Start8
Unless they've made some tweaks preventing such programs from running... Wouldn't surprise me, but I use Start8 as well, and without all the Notro cruft, it's actually surprisingly good. Well. You know, for Windows....
Risky? Surely not
Where's the risk in opening some research project to a small number of people, who have to pay over the odds just to get a prototype which, really quite soon after a mass-market version is released, will stop being useful because of the newer hardware. Why these people don't understand that they've just parted with $1500 in order to buy a 2014 paperweight is beyond me.
There's no risk involved on the part of Google however. If the project fails, well, they've collected their data and are moving on. I will give credit for trying something new, and in specific fields I can see this becoming quite big.
Re: Caps Lock?
Clearly, you've never had an enlightened internet discussion before. I would suggest getting in touch with EADON; you'll be wearing out your caps lock in no time.
Re: Should work here too...
Filtering does work. As tech-savvy people, we know how to circumvent these measures, but for most ordinary people it's too hard. I remember a few years back, when my sister had finally discovered how to download music off of TPB. As soon as a technology becomes so easy that normal people can use it, that's when the government/big business wants to get involved. They just wouldn't care if a few hackers were to share some videos/albums.
Re: mmmmmmmmm..........
Ben & Jerry 'Magic Mountain Oysters' flavoured ice-cream, I can't wait!
It's not as bad as all that
I have it on a mobile workstation from HP, and an old Dell D630. Considering the variety of hardware it's running on, I have to say, it's not half bad. Of course, it will always be Windows, and therefore will always be a bag of hurt (you do get the impression that no-one at Microsoft cares about quality).
It's faster than 7 on old hardware. Once you have StartisBack, then you can pretty much get Metro out of your face, frankly, it takes a bit longer to set the system to your preferences, but frankly, didn't we always do that with a new computer? It takes me a day to get all the settings right, so this adds maybe a couple of more minutes.
Frankly, if anything, Microsoft haven't done enough to keep up with the times.
Nice
That's a really nice looking phone. I might want to go out to the shops and actually have a look at this. As a 'just-for-work' phone, this might be just perfect. Frankly, the iPhone is overkill for what I use my phone for day-to-day, and for this price, I'm really intrigued.
Really?
Oh come on Reg. You can do better than this. You SHOULD do better than this. Simply posting verbatim what some idiot is saying online is hardly 'biting the hand of IT', rather more 'slavishly copying what everyone else is saying in order to gain clicks'.
And I thought what with Anna Leach gone, the reporting on Apple might be a bit more based in reality.
That and the fact BOFH hasn't appeared in a long while means I'm getting rather disappointed in your formerly venerable rag. If things should continue along their present course, I shall feel entirely justified in canceling my subscription.
I have an idea for a third party add-on
It would be similar to the iRing, except a bit bigger... and you wouldn't wear it on your finger. With every thrust you gain extra points with Angry Birds Solo, for BDSM freaks there's Cut the Rope, and imagine the fun you'll have 'poking' that girl's profile what you saw at that party last night or whatever.
Specs
I've just looked over the specs of the 109, it's 14.9 mm thick! I remember a time when phone manufacturers would pride themselves on making small and thin phones, but this!? It's nearly as thick as two iPhones.
OTOH, I love the way the blurb says 'pages will blast onto the screen'. Yeah, right. Who in their right mind would use this phone for browsing the interwebs? Furthermore, who would use a phone like this to connect to FB or any other social network?
If they could have made a small affordable good-looking phone with a battery that would last for a week, I would buy one as a stand-by unit in case my iPhone fails, but this is just not on.
Title
Remember, you can't spell 'Team' without 'Tea'
Re: There's the Kool-aid...
yess.... clearly, one small difference, which only affects a few of the built-in apps. Obviously, people should avoid it like a swarm of bees.
I suppose if your friend were to ask your advice about a new car, you couldn't possibly recommend him anything other than *your_current_car* because:
a) it is the best. You are driving it, therefore, it is the best.
b) all other cars are stupid/complicated/inefficient. For instance, some might have GPS with a BLUE button, rather than a RED one as it is in your car. How will anyone will be able to comprehend this, when clearly RED is the only apt colour for GPS.
Also, I would shy away from people who regard me as being too stupid to understand how to use a Mac...
Really?
I am wondering, what exactly is it that you do with your phone or laptop, looping videos endlessly, constantly plugging and unplugging the phone? My iPhone 3G is now over four years old, and it is still working (slowly). As another poster said, its the advances in software that require fasted hardware that will force people to upgrade.
I also have a seven year old Dell d630 at home, and while that battery was never going to win any awards, it's still good enough to take with you if you need just a couple of hours...
Personally, I think the dea of handing in your old device to the manufacturer so they can discard it in a safe and less damaging to the environment way is all good.
Yeah, but
You can't use the Powershell 3 cmdlets with SharePoint 2010, so basically this version is useless for SP2010 until MS decide to bring out a new update.
Also, one of the other best new features is the ability to go back to a core or full version of the OS, or an intermediate 'minimal server interface' which will just give you a PS console, and the Server Manager interface. Additionally, you can now choose not just to remove roles and features, you can actually get rid of them altogether, meaning a reduced attack surface. As much as I hate Microsoft, I have to admit, Server 2012 is a great OS. Shame about the Metro though...
Re: Who's the Innovation Leader Now?
You're wrong, Apple does have touch-enabled laptops. And they put them in the spot where it makes the most sense: the trackpad.
Re: Peaks and Troughs
It's called the Law of Big Numbers, wherein Apple is now so large, they couldn't possibly continue their growth.
I agree thought that some of the exclusiveness has come off owning Apple products. I remember how people reacted when I showed them a titanium Powerbook, or the first iPod/iPhone. Minds were blown. Well, maybe not blown, but envy was certainly fanned. It's harder to do now, since the media will report every little titbit so that everyone already knows about the new iPhone months before it even comes out.
Maybe Apple should start a 'Vertu' line of premium kit, I'm sure all of the fashionistas will happily jump back on board.
Good
I guess there's no point in WinPho8 competing with the likes of iPhone, so the low end is where they should be. I expect that Nokia will come out with a whole barrage of low-cost phones to better do battle with Android. As such, I feel this development is positive.
Re: "the full office experience"
You do realise those are just some common examples. You could run SAP or Oracle on one of these things. Not that you'd want to...
I'm just a little unclear what the business justification for these might be? How would you convince your boss that you need a $1000 fondleslab, where a normal laptop will do just as well. If you need something to impress customers with, get an iPad or an even cheaper Android knock-off.
...
Simply hover your mouse over the intended portion of the info-bar, and it'll tell you how much data you're dealing with.
On a side note, I do wish these companies would design their products to fit in with the intended OS. It's a bit jarring to have a monochrome Win 8 and then suddenly all of these blue gradients...
I'm just glad Ctrl-S will allow you to have the sidebar open permanently.
Re: Remind me again
It's obvious. The iPhone came first. Microsoft couldn't have copied the iPad first, because it didn't yet exist then outside of an Apple lab.
Re: Was there a survey?
I've been using it for a few weeks now, and I never considered this. Anyway, the quick way of doing it simply going to the start screen, and type 'privacy'. Then, open both the Metro and Win32 programs and disable said functionality.
I know Microsoft are trying to get 'it' with the IT crowd of Zuckerberg & co, but did they have to copy their nefarious privacy policies as well?
ZFS
Probably because at the time when OSX first included some tentative ZFS functionality, Sun was in a death-spiral led by that pony haired-buffoon Schwartz. You wouldn't want to have your OS based on a filesystem that might soon end up being owned by someone else (it would have been deliciously ironic for Microsoft to have bought Sun just so they could spite Apple after the latter would have officialyy adopted ZFS as its primary FS).
Plus, there were probably too many compatibility problems with HFS-based software to make the venture worth their while.
Posted in Nokia Lumia 820 WinPho 8 review
Really?
Your're blaming the lack of browsing functionality on Apple? Isn't it the job of the phone manufacturer to provide said functionality? If the OS doesn't provide, you bring your own tools. What is it about Microsoft that has people making excuses for them all the time?
Posted in Nokia Lumia 820 WinPho 8 review
Apple
I wonder how big a cross-section there is between people wanting to try out new devices, and people who own an Apple computer. Either it's very small, or Microsoft doesn't want their business. Of course, with their luxurious marketshare, they can well afford to be haughty.
Re: Windows Explorer
Win + E works pretty well too.
But to show how much MS developers are clueless, try putting the task bar on either side of the Window, and watch how the UI struggles in pretending it's still at the bottom.
I always keep my task bar on the left side of the window, as this is the only way in which you can actually see more than four windows at a time.
Re: I'm sure it was his own idea....
Actually, there's a tool that might help, it's called Google, have you heard of it?
I too had problems trying to get a program to start at login. Using the Task Manager, you can see and deactivate the programs that have insinuated themselves into your system.
If you want to add a programm for launching automatically, open a command prompt and type:
shell:startup
This will open a window into which you can drag any shortcuts to apps that you want to start. I'll admit it's a bit complicated, but I guess Microsoft figured no one was using the old system anyway...
Well...
it nearly worked for Ghadaffi, didn't it...
Obviously
This is why they can never hope to beat Apple: they are trying to beat Apple. As such, they will never ever come up with something that is beyond Apple, like a new product or service. If all you're doing is copying your biggest competitor, then all you get to compete on is price, and Apple has that part locked down pretty good.
I'm sorry
But a somewhat better camera is hardly a 'game changer'. An incremental update to a poorly selling handset, if you ask me. Ask anyone to spot the differences between a 900 and a 920; I hardly think anyone will be able to tell them apart. Which then begs the question: if the first one sold so poorly, what makes Nokia think this one will do any better?
Win Pho 8? Anecdotally, the only people I know who might be interested in a Lumia base it on their past experience with Nokia, not Microsoft.
However, that Nokia Transport thing is something I think Nokia could really use in order to claw back some market share in Europe, as a lot more Europeans travel on buses &c. Tie that in with other data containers, and you might have a winner.
With friends like these
A well-reasoned argument, good sir, I shall replace my iPhone forthwith.
Posted in Surface more profitable than iPad
Why?
When it was rumoured that the Surface would sell for 199, I think even the most rabid anti-microsoft people were considering buying one. With the BoM at 271, they could easily have sold a few million for an 'introductory' price, and then later jack that up to 300.
Ballmer seems to think he's competing against the iPad. He's not. He's competing against every other Android tablet out there, and the two contenders in that space are the Nexus and the Kindle. Methinks having the name Microsoft on the cover is some sort of enticement for the customers. Maybe that's how it still works in the enterprise market, but in the consumer space there is only one name that sells, and it's fruity, so ffs don't try to emulate that.
Like so many others, I will be waiting for the Playbook-Moment. 200 for a OneNote appliance doesn't sound too bad. Unless Microsoft actually comes out with a OneNote app for the iPad (no, I don't mean that horribly crippled viewer they currently offer).
Tsk
"Developers go where the volume is" is clearly a falsehood, as
1. if this were true, Linux would not attract any developers at all, therefore there must be something else that draws them
2. developers go, like everyone else, to where the MONEY is. That is why iOS still comes first, despite Matt's insistence.
I read an articel today about how the new Nexus devices were supposedly an attack on Apple, but let's see, which other company has been trying to flog their new tablet-y devices this week?
Google are indeed going after Microsoft
Re: No start button... boo hoo
Agreed, but then it was so quickly subsumed by XP that most people wouldn't have had a chance to play with it. I actually keep a copy running in a VM for some old software titles. Frankly, if they could bring that system back with a nice Powershell GUI (akin to the OSX terminal), that would be marvellous.
I suppose I could install and run Windows Server 2012 with Minimal Server Interface to get the same feel, but that would be like shooting a fish in a barrel with a LOIC...
Re: Interesting as in the curse?
You do realise that Google and Amazon are selling their devices below cost? In order to lure people into their ecosystem, they've decided to sell their tablets for an incredibly low price, thereby screwing their OEM partners (in the case of Google, same as with Microsoft). Yes, Apple extracts a healthy profit from their devices, but then isn't that the mainstay of capitalism?
Re: Larger Display?
Only when you're watching movies; watching classic TV programmes such as the X-Files obviously has no problems. However, the reason I bought an iPad to begin with was reading ePub and PDFs, and for those formats the iPad has the best layout. It's interesting how every other manufacturer, from Microsoft to Samsung, present their tablets in landscape mode.
Re: Looks familiar
Given the stellar growth of the iPad I would say you might be a developer or something. If anything, people want an interface that is easier, more informative, and foolproof.
Making it so that most people will feel comfortable operating a computer might be the best thing MS will ever do. I remember the lashback Apple got when they introduced the iPad; everybody was saying how it wasn't innovative, didn't do anything new. Nobody got it, and apparantly the majority of Reg readers still doesn't.
yesssss.....
Except Outlook isn't part of the Surface environment, and it can't be managed with group policies or added to a domain, so that pretty much rules it our for enterprises.
Posted in Windows 8 and the ‘Dad test’ stunts
Re: Speaking as a Dad
Hmmm, well as a Mac enthusiast, I have to say Windows 8 isn't all that bad. Yes, it's annoying to get this annoying metro screen every time you press Cmd/Win, because it takes you out of your workflow. But in actual use, it's not all that different from Win7 if you keep away from the Metro stuff. It's quicker, there's Powershell 3 (ok, that also runs on Win7). Frankly, I thought it would be more of a hassle but so far I'm not disappointed (if you expect that Microsoft can' t design nice software that is, Windows will always be riddled with unhelpful dialogues, cryptic error messages, and a FS littered with unintelligible files and directories).
