Re: ten comments all downvoted (at time of writing)

I was wondering about the Downbotes myself. It's hardly as if there's anything contentious to all of this - two sides came out winners and science should do well. Could it be someone doesn't like science?

Re: The Aero about-turn is an Apple-bashing exercise, perhaps

Indeed. The problem with Aero isn't that faux materials is now out of fashion, it's that Aero was never a very good implementation of faux materials in the first place, and microsoft seem to have trouble hiring good icon artists. It looked cheap, it felt cheap and it ate more screen estate than it should have. I guess Metro is the best answer for MS after all, since you don't need an artist to draw an orange square.

On the question of screen estate, I see with the new file explorer Windows 8 has taken another step towards leaving us with as little space as possible for...well...file listings. Is there any decent way of making an explorer window show ONLY the path and folder contents (and maybe the status bar)? It's bloody annoying when trying to manage lots of directories without resorting to 3rd party software.

metacritic bonuses

I've not seen this before myself, but I'm told it's becoming increasingly common. I guess this is just the modern equivalent of chart fixing.

Re: Sounds to me like...

Well it depends what you do with it. I don't do text effects, I do pretty complicated texture artwork and painting.

Of course I make money from it so cost isn't the issue; it's the principles. If someone makes a commercial photoshop app that can beat it at it's own game, I'll be the first in line if they can restrain themselves from taking the piss every 12 months.

Re: $199 != £124 in Adobe Land

Yeah, they're not alone either - Autodesk have the same strategy of setting "market-bearing" pricing.

There's a few (but not nearly enough) disgruntled users on the Creative Cloud forum bitching about this, and Adobe's official response is that we're paying for the additional out-reach needed to do business "over here". Apparently that includes seminars and such - funny, because I've never been to and never want to go to an Adobe seminar, and the thought that I'm paying for them pisses me off even more. They're liars, plain and simple.

Re: It's time

I have to say, I've tried Gimp, and tried it again several times over the years hoping it would get better, and it just can't match the productivity of Photoshop. It's not just the UI, it's speed and workflow. Gimp in that respect is sadly aptly named. But there is a huge hole just sitting there for someone to make a real contender to Photoshop; not just for geeks, but for the Pro world in general.

Re: Lousy way to treat customers

I've had similar experiences with Pixologic and ZBrush I bought ZBrush 3 back in 2006, and they've not charged any of their users for a single upgrade (Zbrush 4R3 was released this year).

The net effect? They continue to sell new seats (the price is excellent value), they have no piracy issues, and their community forums are bustling with activity rather than angry people - their users absolutely love them.

Sure you can't expect a huge company like Adobe to give their software versions away for free, they have massive overheads in comparison, but they can at least afford to be honest and if anything give their users great value. Adobe are complete and utter knob heads, they really are, if they think being scrooges is better for business than being generous and respectful.

Re: @voland

Pretty extreme views :p

There comes a point when you just have to do something, even if it's not the "best" thing to do.

I'd have probably called to cops too if he whittled down my patience. Share some of the responsibility with the authorities. Caring is sharing, after all.

Re: Hackintosh

Well, yeah granted, and I'd probably feel differently if I'd had any problems (haven't so far, touch wood). Probably Dell are a better bet in that outlook, at least they handle enterprise at the enterprise level (whereas Apple has...the genius bar?)

Re: Hackintosh

Or get a 3XS system from Scan. I've a couple of i7 systems from them, their Xeon builds are a fraction of the cost of Dell & Apple.

Extras are discounted from their retail prices too (instead of bloated) - i.e. 64GB EEC RAM in a 3XS E5 build is £454+VAT, whereas Apple will happily make you pay £2840+VAT.

That said, I've also got a 2006 Mac Pro here that runs as smoothly as the day I bought it. Got to hand it to Apple, they may charge over the odds but they sure as hell know how to build solid workstations.

Re: How much more annoying does it get?

How about putting yourself in your own movies?

M Night Shyamalan, you're fired. (although all the more amusing because he gave himself a front role in his crappest movie, The Last Careerbender)

Re: Ring ring...

You don't have to make a joke about the old days to get an Apple reference in there - Apple recently started sucking the colour out of their applications starting with iTunes. Perhaps MS noticed and took it as the next big thing.

Personally I like minimalism, but this is retarded. Nothing wrong with the current MSStudio icons. They could be better drawn maybe, but at least you know what they are.

Marketing

Marketing is where the problem lies. Look at our own toothless ASA .. just when you think they actually do stuff, they rule that Siri works in the UK because "it can tell you the weather". Welcome to the future.

I should complain to the ASA about SyFy channel advertising "the greatest movies of all time" (none of which you'll have heard of).

Simple policy of course is to not believe anything you see, hear, or read in a commercial.

Steam / Origin

Last I heard, EA titles you bought through Steam will be honoured by Origin (you can download them from Origin), but like heck can I find the article again. Worth looking into though.

Re: 2011/2012

Yep well, a quiet period will be a nice opportunity for devs to catch up. iPad 2 & iPhone 4S are still way ahead of the curve compared to what people are creating for them... I think it's fair to say having to create double size assets is enough for this cycle (and now we have to upgrade everybody's damned monitors so they can work with them!).

No haptics was a definitely a shame, unlike Apple to miss out on something good, so maybe it's just bad timing or not quite ready yet. Or maybe we'll be reading "Apple buys Senseg" stories on Friday. :-p

say it's not so :(

22 cans of beer on the wall...

I can but agree.

We don't have many famous 'Designers' in the UK, so I guess you have to prop someone tall on center stage to parade around. Jeff Minter is more creative by far, and he can do more than talk the talk.

Re: another poor offering from wacom

I agree with the resolution comments - it's irritating but then these were being put together probably just before everything jumped up to 2500+. The contrast ratio probably has a lot to do with the coating on the screen - it's actually has a very fine texture. Feels nice when drawing on it, but you pay for that in gamut.

Can't agree with your closing lines though :) Just because it's not as good as a new monitor doesn't mean it sucks, because it doesn't. If you make money as an artist and you don't have one, you're cutting off an arm to spite a leg.

Wacom have zero competition in this market. Until someone brings something else along that's better (hell, not even cheaper - I'll pay for results), there's nothing better (or nothing else).

Re: Not a hope

"Time to put the popcorn on. "

Is it just me, or does this sentence exist in every single patent-spat related article?

At least popcorn has a good long sell-by date I guess.

Re: resolution

These aren't even in the same universe as Tablet PCs, it's completely different technology. I don't even consider the resolution of the tablet, I've never thought about it. Specs are usually just marketing anyway BS anyway...how many people can 'feel' all 2048 levels of pressure? :p

Needless to say, I get really bored when using my old Intuos wacom tablets now...they just feel so clumsy and backwards. If you draw or sculpt (i.e. Zbrush) for a living, Cintiqs are the business.

Re: HD?

It's not a resistive panel. All Wacom tablets use the same technology (patented of course :p), based around electromagnetic resonance.

Re: I really hate Metro

Where's the right mouse button on a tablet again?

Re: looked pretty damn explicit to me

Well, this is what happens when you advertise beta software. Based on the fact that Apple openly state and re-iterate that Siri is Beta (on their own website no less), and it's not inferred in the advertising, the ASA should have ruled against Vodafone/Apple. IMO.