windows 8 – The Official Mike Williams Club

Change or Get Out of Way

From an article in Engadget…

Microsoft is trying to nudge more people toward newer Windows versions. As Thurott reports, Microsoft has warned that the OneDrive desktop app will stop syncing with personal Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 computers on March 1st, 2022. The software will no longer receive updates from January 1st onward. You can still use the web to manually transfer files, but that’s clearly a hassle if you routinely access cloud files from an older PC.

Microsoft wants to move people away from their older operating systems. I get that. Doing something like this isn’t a gentle persuasion or even a soft nudge if those folks rely on One Drive. This is a shove.

The basic human reaction when someone is “told” to do something is to rebel against it. People don’t like being forced to do anything.

I completely understand that users need to keep moving forward and Microsoft wants to get out of the business of supporting unsafe legacy applications.

Someone at Microsoft probably looked at how many users were on version 7 or 8 and using On Drive and thought this would be a significant chunk of users to “nudge.”

This could also backfire. There are other storage options out there and all one needs to do is to set up a Dropbox account. They don’t care what version of Windows you are running.

I applaud Microsoft for shedding the idea that “you must support legacy software until your dying breath.” This is a big step away from that position.

November 7, 2021 by Mike Microsoft 0

Instapaper Dump: Some Good Reading

Here are some stories worth reading via Instapaper.

1. The Surface. Great product? Poor Execution?

2. A few books that Bill Gates think are worth reading from 2012.

3. Five planets found around Tau Ceti. One may be habitable.

4. Short battery life plagues Windows 8 tablets.

5. Fake Morgan Freeman statement on Sandy Hook killings.

December 22, 2012 by Mike General Musings 0

Windows 8 Versus Mac OS X Thought

Macintosh OS 9

The Mac operating system has changed over the years but not in very dramatic ways. In fact, anyone who has used OS 9 will know exactly how to use OS X. If you have used Tiger (10.4) then you can use Mountain Lion (10.8) without much todo or fanfare.

Steve Jobs knew that tablets were the future of computing and built the entire Mac eco-system around that idea. The features you find in iOS are readily becoming available in Mac OS X. This is deliberate.

What Microsoft is doing with Windows 8 is try to bridge a gap that has been building over a period of years. They are trying to jump ahead to a point that they were not preparing for. While Windows dabbled in touch screen interfaces, they saw something that was really “cool” but didn't really know how to apply it and use it to their advantage. I remember seeing Vista for the first time and listening to Microsoft tell me how awesome it was and was going to become. I also remember yawning and noting that all of those “cool new features” had been in Mac OS X for months or even years.

I am willing to bet (without having read the entire Steve Jobs biography) that Steve saw an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation's use of the PADD and snapped his fingers. I don't doubt that for a second because after watching the show, I myself wanted such a device. Man, the things you could do with a tablet computer! Steve Jobs did the same thing with the Xerox interface. While Xerox may not have fully understood what they had, Steve Jobs did. That is vision.

That is what Microsoft doesn't have.

This version of Windows is such a big jump from Windows 7 and so confusing to such a large base of users that this whole thing simply “smells” bad. Big jumps in OS are usually bad for consumers. I haven't even mentioned IT folks that may end up abandoning Windows in the workplace all together. They will have to weigh training hours, troubleshooting time, and costs against other alternatives that are much cheaper and offer less of a shock to their users. Let's face it. Windows in the workplace is expensive.

Windows 8 is such a big jump that it would be like paying someone to shoot you in the face if you are an IT guy.

Just. Sayin'

August 29, 2012 by Mike Apple News mac os 9 mac os x Microsoft windows 8 0