Last year when I did a week with Win7 and proprietary software, I noted that for the disk size and the cost, you don’t really get much with Windows. If you wanted more functionality, you needed to download Windows Live Essentials – which at the time was only available with certain kinds of Win7, such as Ultimate and Professional – or you would have to buy MS Office, which came in various flavors with differing functionality.
What is the situation like with Win8?
Days Three and Four where on a Saturday and a Sunday, and since I really did not get a lot done on the laptop I decided to make them and today (Monday) to be my Day Three. This means that I would have some extra time on Win8 and provide a more fair assessment of how it is to use it.
Very busy today, so a quick note on a few things before I do a more complete write-up later this evening.
Day 2 was Friday 9 March, I am only putting it up this morning because Friday was a nightmare of a day.
Anyhow, I was able to work in Win8 all day without needing to switch over to Ubuntu or Win7. Since I was able to spend a whole day with Win8 I decided to list some stuff I like about it.
So I installed Win8 last night in a bid to sus out the user experience of the new Metro interface.
Long story short I am back in Ubuntu at the moment, I haven’t given up, mind, but I needed something to work and could not get Windows to co-operate. I will write it off to me not being as familiar with the platform as with Ubuntu and try it again later.
I haven’t blogged in a very long time, and since I have to evaluate Windows8 for work in order to get the tech team up to speed on it I thought it would be a great opportunity to get back into blogging by doing a 7Day Challenge where Windows8 is my default “office”.
Previously I did a 7Day Challenge with Windows7 and proprietary software, and remember those frustrations well. This will be a good opportunity not only to sus out Win8, but also get a feel for what improvements have been made in the world of Proprietary software.
So far the verdict is not too good, IE is being mean to me. I might have to install Chrome or Firefox before too long because IE does not play well with Wordpress on Win8, I have to write in HTML mode to make sure my changes get recorded.
I got a laptop from work to use. A very pretty Sony Vaio VGN-FW45GJ, I decided to dual boot. I installed Windows7 and Ubuntu 11.10.
Installing Windows7 was a HUGE mistake, but it did allow me to discover what an absolute scam the Windows ecosystem is. And to make matters worse, I decided to write this post from my Windows7 boot while installing a load of Windows updates. In writing these short sentences, I have been interrupted by FOUR popups, one to reminde me to install IE9, one to inform me that some of the updates did not install and two from the two Driver Downloaders that I tried to get Windows working on this machine.
I haven’t blogged in a while, mainly because work has been busy and I have been administering new servers for a project going live soon.
Those servers have led to this quick blog entry, if you enjoy a good rant, read on.
The mobile device revolution is in full swing. From Smartphones and Superphones that changed the mobile device game to Tablets that are threatening to effectively put Netbooks out of business save for a few niche applications, our mobile world is changing. This is having an impact on less than mobile computing – your large Laptops and also your venerable Desktop Computer.
Are we moving toward the death of the computer and laptop as we know it today?
continue reading…
I thought I’d regale you with a tale of three hours spent sorting out a client’s home network.
One of the techs was sick this week, so I inherited this callout. I have been to this client before, and his printing has been an issue before – more on that later on. continue reading…
I love operating systems. They are the most wonderful pieces of software that has ever been put together. What you use daily interfaces with your hardware. Every button press causes the OS to send a message to the hardware, and then to read the response from the hardware to provide you with the correct feedback.
Most Operating systems are very good these days. A modern OS can do most of the things its direct competitor does, some do certain things better than others, and some are very specified in their use.
Where the largest focus is today, is the Desktop Computer. Primary focus for the Desktop Computer should be ease of use, or so you’d hope. I take five Operating Systems and compare them using six tasks that most users will need to do at least once a week. Here is how they did.
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