Oooooooh, are they going to force us to use their SWELL Metro UI that everyone loves so much?

I wonder what Microsoft pays for an article like this?

Also, of course I "remember" the netbook. Out here in the real world where we're not tech reviewers who get handed new hardware like it's farking candy, I see them all the time.

Actually, the Metro interface has some real advantages I'm discovering as a developer. Not sure what Subby's all on about.

You'll get over it.

Interesting article but how can i trust anything CNET says? How can i be sure CBS isn't taking money for articles in addition to dictating what products they give award to?

I recently purchased the largest phone known to man (At least since Zach Morris was cool) and with the addition of a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, this has been the easiest navigating web appliance i've ever had. I haven't opened my laptop in a week. When my HDMI-out cable gets here next week to plug this into my 26" monitor, it will be an AWESOME computing platform. I can really see this mobile computing thing taking off even in the home, its seriously easy, and super lazy.

Left click to open, right click to go back, center click to go home, long center click for task manager. Even the standard multimedia controls on the keyboard work without any configuration. I'm seriously blown away. And it assumes i'm a retard on an on-screen keyboard and still capitalizes for me, autocompletes like crazy, etc. This is sweet!

Because every other OS out there lets you re-size icons... oh wait...

One of our admins at work had Win 8 on his comp. I do t know for how long, but I walked by his desk on Friday and noticed he had put 7 back on it.

Yeah.

Sony Vaio Duo 11 convertible.
It looks like the polaroid swinger and will last as long.

Flint Ironstag: Marine1: Actually, the Metro interface has some real advantages I'm discovering as a developer. Not sure what Subby's all on about.

Such as? Not snarking, curious. I love W8 but use Classic Shell to minimise using Metro as much as possible.

Well, if you program like me, you spend a lot of time switching back and forth between your IDE and looking at websites with documentation. What if that documentation were put into app form? Then you can dock it to the side and have an unobtrusive way to look at the information without losing your place in your code or breaking your train of thought switching between windows.

I'm trying to more or less accomplish this by making a guide on the C Standard Library. I need to develop a better understanding of the subject matter before releasing the app for certification, though.

Dude, I'm no fan of Microsoft, and especially not Windows 8, but isn't invoking the Trail of Tears kind of a sideways Godwin?

oh_please: TFA got one thing right...MS is smart for ditching the Atom. That processor pretty much single-handedly killed off netbooks. I got really tired of having this conversation:

"Can you make my netbook any faster?"

"Nope."

/but the Atom did teach you patience, and patience is a virtue.

I actually think they should move away from ARM to the new generation of Atom processors. They're actually pretty good, and can even beat ARM chips in battery benchmarks.

Nothin' screams MODERN like a VGA port sticking out the side.

It's hysterical that Microsoft seriously thinks they are going to convince businesses to buy a "tablet" with a four hour battery life and no cellular connectivity.

The whole point of tablets in the enterprise was to have a thin, light device with an all day battery life which could access your network from anywhere.

Flint Ironstag: Marine1: Flint Ironstag: Marine1: Actually, the Metro interface has some real advantages I'm discovering as a developer. Not sure what Subby's all on about.

Such as? Not snarking, curious. I love W8 but use Classic Shell to minimise using Metro as much as possible.

Well, if you program like me, you spend a lot of time switching back and forth between your IDE and looking at websites with documentation. What if that documentation were put into app form? Then you can dock it to the side and have an unobtrusive way to look at the information without losing your place in your code or breaking your train of thought switching between windows.

I'm trying to more or less accomplish this by making a guide on the C Standard Library. I need to develop a better understanding of the subject matter before releasing the app for certification, though.

Wouldn't that be the same as having two XP/W7 windows open side by side? Or with XP/7 you could also choose to have one above the other so each would be full width.

Not exactly. This affords you more space for your IDE (it more or less gives you a 4:3 aspect ratio area to work with instead of the 16:9) because it uses less space. Instead of splitting the screen in half, you get more dedicated to what you need. The information is also more cleanly presented and you don't have to worry about how the windows on the desktop are layered on top of each other, which I find sometimes with the Aero Metro Modern Snap.

When Apple releases the same product, but with faux-hipster marketing, it will be seen as revolutionary.

So "tiles" are just big brightly colored buttons so windows users can easily click on them with their oversized fingers? What if your desktop icons exceed the space of your screen are you expected to flip past many screens just to open an App?

LasersHurt: Again, you are not forced to use Metro, or trapped in it in any way. I spend 99.9% of my time on the desktop in Windows 8.

You have said that before, but it is not entirely true. I was hanging out with a friend last night and he was Skyping his gf. He had to leave the Desktop UI to go to the Metro UI to get back to the Skype program. Could he have done it another way? Maybe, but it sure looked like he was trapped into using the Metro UI.

WhippingBoy: East Avenue Arse: LasersHurt: Again, you are not forced to use Metro, or trapped in it in any way. I spend 99.9% of my time on the desktop in Windows 8.

You have said that before, but it is not entirely true. I was hanging out with a friend last night and he was Skyping his gf. He had to leave the Desktop UI to go to the Metro UI to get back to the Skype program. Could he have done it another way? Maybe, but it sure looked like he was trapped into using the Metro UI.

He could have installed the desktop (regular) version of Skype. It sounds like he had the Skype app installed instead.

Sooooo...he should have removed the Skype app that came pre-installed on his new Windows 8 laptop and installed a different version of the same application?

I totally get why he hates Windows 8 now.

I didn't really want to believe it, but I now think LasersHurt really must be a paid MS shill who cries himself to sleep each night, drinking a quart of vodka to help him forget the horrible lies he is forced to tell.

LasersHurt: Flint Ironstag: Ahh, I see. Can you have a Metro app taking up half of one of your monitors? Since I can't I assumed that when W8 runs two screens it treats it as one desktop and all Metro apps are by default running on half the screen, so making them half a monitor would be a quarter of the screen, if that makes sense. I've never managed to do that so I assume it can't.

Metro goes full-monitor on whatever monitor you've got it set on. When you snap an app, it takes about 20% - whatever else is on that monitor, be it desktop or metro, fills that space. There is no way to make it use more than 20%, which is a shame - I'd like to be able to snap several apps, in 20% increments. 40-40-20 with 3 apps, for example, would be nice.

WhippingBoy: East Avenue Arse: LasersHurt: Again, you are not forced to use Metro, or trapped in it in any way. I spend 99.9% of my time on the desktop in Windows 8.

You have said that before, but it is not entirely true. I was hanging out with a friend last night and he was Skyping his gf. He had to leave the Desktop UI to go to the Metro UI to get back to the Skype program. Could he have done it another way? Maybe, but it sure looked like he was trapped into using the Metro UI.

He could have installed the desktop (regular) version of Skype. It sounds like he had the Skype app installed instead.

Correct. Metro skype is a pain in the ass. Install desktop.

"40-40-20 with 3 apps, for example, would be nice."

You know what would be really nice? Some kind of "window" that could be resized to whatever percent I wanted, both horizontally and vertically. Maybe one day, we will have that technology.

HOMER_THATS_SARCASM.jpg

LasersHurt: . I have an entire monitor devoted to assorted small windows.

security guard, huh?

LasersHurt: East Avenue Arse: I didn't really want to believe it, but I now think LasersHurt really must be a paid MS shill who cries himself to sleep each night, drinking a quart of vodka to help him forget the horrible lies he is forced to tell.

Ah, we finally got there. Every thread about every technology that anyone says anything good about = accusations of being a paid shill. Took long enough.

I have read most of the Win8 threads with interest. I develop both Android and iOS apps, been in the industry long enough to know the difference between Windows 3.1 and 3.11 (Windows for Workgroups), have a bit of experience in the tech space, if you know what I mean.

I totally don't get your adamant defense of Win8, unless it is financially motivated. You still seem confused as to why people hate it, and constantly say it is because they have only used it for 5 minutes. This despite all of the people in these threads who say why they hate it.

I have held back my judgement, as I haven't used it yet, and so, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt. You seem like a smart guy. But after seeing how my friend absolutely hated having to switch between the two UIs, can you not see how Metro actually is a problem???

If you can't see that, then either you are being paid, or something else is clouding your vision... I just don't get it.

Anonymous Bosch: I wonder what Microsoft pays for an article like this?

Also, of course I "remember" the netbook. Out here in the real world where we're not tech reviewers who get handed new hardware like it's farking candy, I see them all the time.

This. I've bought three of the damned things in the last two years, two for my use (work, home) and one for my grandmother (along with a keyboard, and wired the display output to her TV). They are, so far as I can tell, still more popular among people that actually _use_ computers (as opposed to dicking around with them) than tablets or full-screen laptops.

Then, I also work in a lab. Ever tried to use a touch-screen with gloves on?