MS to scrap Windows 8 (rumour)

Jivesinger

brightonman123 wrote: »

what happens to my windows mobile? preloaded with W8..

Presumably it's Windows Phone 8 which isn't the same thing as Windows 8.

My mobile came with Windows Phone 7.5, and it's since had an upgrade to version 7.8, but I can't access Windows Phone 8-only stuff.

Support for versions of mobile operating systems seems to be a lot shorter than the similarly named systems on PCs.

Jivesinger

MercilessKiller wrote: »

If you read all the negative press about Win 8, it's the metro UI. Now, you're not forced to use it.

I agree with what you say, but it also means that developers are less likely to develop Metro applications for the Windows Store, which Microsoft can't be happy with.

I've seen rumours that Windows 9 will allow Metro apps to be shown in re-sizeable windows on the Desktop, which would be a big step forward.

Apart from that, I like Windows 8; it was a big step forward from XP which was what I had before.

Gyro

If you use Start8 the Metro windows ARE resizable NOW.

EDIT

My apologies - I meant 'Modern Mix' from the same people - I've got both, and mixed them up.

JasonLVC

Jivesinger wrote: »

Presumably it's Windows Phone 8 which isn't the same thing as Windows 8.

My mobile came with Windows Phone 7.5, and it's since had an upgrade to version 7.8, but I can't access Windows Phone 8-only stuff.

Support for versions of mobile operating systems seems to be a lot shorter than the similarly named systems on PCs.

On my 2nd windows phone now. first was 7.0/7.5 then upgraded to 8, using a Nokia on Lumia Black update, very swish. MS did state they'd lengthen the Win8 product cycle longer.


I really like my Nokia Win phone, its a great OS for a phone. I'm not a major user of apps for everything so the lack of a fart sound app or Candy Crush do not bother me.

Lum

ianders wrote: »

Normal cycle for recent OS's

Vista - 2006
7 - 2009
8 - 2012
9 - 2015

It's the normal cycle for Microsoft OSs in general. XP was the exception, due to a combination of Vista being both delayed and also badly received.

Win2.1 - 1988
Win3.0 - 1990
Win3.1 - 1993
Win95 - 1995
Win98 - 1998
Win98SE - 1999
WinME - 2000 (Anyone who moans about Vista should be made to use this for a month!)
WinXP - 2002

tom15387202

Follow this simple reference for when to buy a MS OS

Windows 98 - Poop
Windows 98SE - Good!
Windows ME - Poop
Windows XP - Good!
Windows Vista - Poop
Windows 7 - Good!
Windows 8/8.1 -Poop
Windows 9 - Buy
Windows 10 - Dont buy
Windows 11 - Buy
and so on...

Lum

The amusing thing about that guide is that all the ones that are marked Poop are the ones that brought in changes, and the ones marked Good offered only incremental enhancements.

Win 2000 - Major upgrade from NT4
Win XP - Mild upgrade to Win 2000
Vista - Major changes
7 - Minor upgrade to Vista
8.0 - Major changes

People just don't like sudden change, but they get used to it by the time the next one comes along.

8.0 is a perfectly capable OS with significant benefits over 7, just saddled with a crappy new interface that nobody likes and ends up getting replaced.

Vista eventually became a perfectly capable OS but it took two service packs and a lot of patching.

Win 2000 eventually became a perfectly capable OS but it took three service packs (they also put out a fourth, but it was pretty good by SP3)

Win ME is the exception. That thing was a complete disaster and the only one that MS completely gave up upon without fixing. Back in the day I'd generally advise anyone with ME to upgrade to Windows 98SE.

Of course a lot of this is relative. The reliability of the much hailed 98SE is going to be laughable compared to even a modern Vista machine. It's just a combination of rose tinted glasses and the fact that people were prepared to put up with a fair bit more crap back in those days. Most folk have forgotten how bad Windows Rot used to be, or the need to re-install twice a year to properly sort it.

Bantex_2

Still got XP on a couple of desktops. Seems bulletproof.

Lum

XP these days is like owning a Mk2 VW Golf.

Yes it's reliable, yes it will run forever. It may be a little outdated and inefficient, what with the carburettor and everything but that's ok. Problem is any scrote with a screwdriver and a hammer will be able to break into it in about 30 seconds.

So long as that doesn't happen to you, you're golden.

WTFH

NT4 was the best, but then it wasn't marketed at consumers. In fact, if you look at it from that point of view, the versions which have had the longest life and best reception have been the ones with a strong business side to them...
3.11, NT4 (3.51 was quite good), XP, 7.