Wiktor
Member
I don't know about most people, but pc gamers definitlely won't.
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Building Windows 8: An inside look from the Windows engineering team
- Thread starter Vanillalite
- Start date
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Windows 7 will get support for a number of years to come and there's no reason to change to 8 if you don't specifically want some of the things it will offer. Personally the refresh PC and reset PC options in Win 8 are almost worth the price of admission alone.
I also feel that convergence with touch devices is an important part of the OS. Even if Win 8 had little to offer me in a plain desktop environment, the ability to use it with Win 8 mobile devices makes it a bit more compelling.
I also feel that convergence with touch devices is an important part of the OS. Even if Win 8 had little to offer me in a plain desktop environment, the ability to use it with Win 8 mobile devices makes it a bit more compelling.
Why not?
Wiktor
Member
Lack of browser games, having to constantly switch to desktop mode for many games, ability to only use buy apps fom Windows Store etc. Not to mention the whole UI just isn't working as good for mouse-KB set up as desktop mode is.
Damon Bennet
Member
say that again after the beta is out
like I said, most people.
Wiktor
Member
brotkasten
Member
I don't get this "constantly switching to desktop mode for many games".
You launch the game from the start screen, the game loads, you play your hello kitty game, quit the game and you're back to the start screen. There's no desktop involved in that.
You should really wait for the consumer preview.
Well, there are more pcgamer than tablet users, so I wouldn't dismiss that group
Really? Apple already sold over 50 million iPads.
Well, there are more pcgamer than tablet users, so I wouldn't dismiss that group
The tablet market is far larger than pc gamers. Tablets will be selling more than notebooks and desktops combined in a matter of years. It already outsells desktops.
Good Job Bob
Member
Well, there are more pcgamer than tablet users, so I wouldn't dismiss that group
Massive SkyDrive update:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/...to-the-cloud-with-skydrive-and-windows-8.aspx
Main Points:
*There will be a metro app (with integrated share and file picker functionality) - beta to be included in CP
*Desktop app for Vista, 7 and 8 to have dropbox like SkyDrive folder
*Confirmation of secure entire hard drive access across the internet from the web/other devices
*Mention of per folder syncing across devices+the cloud
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/...to-the-cloud-with-skydrive-and-windows-8.aspx
Building Windows 8 Blog said:
Main Points:
*There will be a metro app (with integrated share and file picker functionality) - beta to be included in CP
*Desktop app for Vista, 7 and 8 to have dropbox like SkyDrive folder
*Confirmation of secure entire hard drive access across the internet from the web/other devices
*Mention of per folder syncing across devices+the cloud
Liu Kang Baking A Pie
Member
LOL, I love it when people think gaming is bigger than it is.Well, there are more pcgamer than tablet users, so I wouldn't dismiss that group
Steam just hit 40 million users. Apple has sold over 55 million iPads in two years.
Well, Dropbox had a good run.
edit. SkyDrive is going to take over since it will be so easily accessed from within the OS
The following quote from the post hints at future pricing tiers.
Building Windows 8 Blog said:
I also think there is more to come, especially when Windows Phone 8 becomes more clear.
brotkasten
Member
The apps are also available on OS X, iOS and Android.
Depends how you see it really.
If playing solitaire or minesweeper makes you a PC gamer...
Then Windows is the most successful gaming platform ever devised, its only rival is a deck of cards.
These updates make the andorid/ios apps make more sense.
I am going to be very curious to see how the rumored gdrive will work too.... I think this kills dropbox for most people (the ones who will stick around are those who can't live with the single file limit in skydrive which is rumored to be 300 megs now). Gdrive could match or beat skydrive in the size/price but their big question will be integration.
Wiktor
Member
There are more pcgamers in China alone than there are iPads sold till now. And we all know a large portion of iPad 1 users upgraded to iPad 2.
Heck, Bigpoint alone has over 200 mln registered users. So no, tablet market is still pretty small compared to pcgamign one.
I honestly don't have a clue where people get this idea that pc gaming user base is small. It's ridiculously big.
Also...we don't know if tablets actually outsell desktops, because the only data that shows such doesn't count in the computers people build themselves. And good luck with tablets outselling notebooks and desktops combined in matter of years.
52 million tablets sold in 2011. Over 70 million projected to be sold this year. Tablet sales will rocket past that 200 million number in 2013.
Tablets are the future of the home computer. Both Apple and Microsoft know this.
Wiktor
Member
52 million tablets sold in 2011. Over 70 million projected to be sold this year. Tablet sales will rocket past that 200 million number in no time
So? For now they're still small compared to pcgaming market and for many years to come they will remain small compared to whole pc market.
What's more, majority of those tablets sales will be either iPads or Kindles. So while I understand push for tablets in W8 making it bring zero improvements for pcgamers ,only possible grievances seem pretty weird move, considering that Windows 8 tablet userbase is unlikely to ever come close to Windows gamers userbase.
If you count Apple as a "PC" maker, and only consider the ipad. They hold the biggest percentage of PC sales.
Tablets are going to outpace PCs in 3-5 years, if not sooner.
In terms of sales? Not at all. It will be easily within 5 years to where tablet sales will be higher than all other PC sales combined.
Yep, exactly.
Wiktor
Member
Personally I very much doubt that. But that's besides the point, which is lack of improvements for pcgaming in Windows 8. I mean, heck, even you, a tablet enthusiast predict it will take 5 years to outspace pc sales and by that time Windows 8 will already be replaced by next OS version.
Oh well, it's not like I put any hope into Microsoft doing anything for pcgaming market. I'm not that naive anymore. As always pcgamers and pc devs will just have to do everything on their own.
Meus Renaissance
Member
New SkyDrive app looks amazing. The remote connection functionality will come in very handy
radioheadrule83
Banned
I wonder if we'll hear any moaning about SkyDrive effectively being marketed with pre-baked functionality in the OS? Obviously, it threatens to hurt cloud storage providers a little -- but I do hope that people remember Apple have been doing similar with their Me accounts.
The consumer preview for this starts next week right?
Anything I need to do to be sure I can get my hands on it?
The consumer preview for this starts next week right?
Anything I need to do to be sure I can get my hands on it?
there are so many other options today than 14 years ago that i find it hard to think that Windows could be considered a monopoly. I guess you might say they are still a monopoly of x86/x64 pcs but overall when you account for the entire pc market (smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops) Microsoft probably has something like 50% market share.
It was that plus:
1. Great web interface with easy access to previous versions of a file, public links, and folder sharing
2. Equally good native interface as well (with the same access to previous versions, copying public links, etc)
The new 2GB limit is more flexible now, but they still don't seem to care much about direct links to files that I can share anywhere. I don't want my files embedded in some page.
Windows 8 isn't a system design solely for tablets. With or without tablets, the redesign would come sooner or later anyway because WIMP interface is old and, for many, undesirable/uncomfortable. Nowadays computer and Internet are parts of all lives, they surround us; no matter your education and age you are expected to use it. However, try to put a 50+ year old person in front of computer and start to explain her how to use mouse and keyboard; what all those icons, folders, windows, menus are all about; what program does what, what she should install and what not, what she should not remove etc; and then look how the fear grows in her eyes and how eventually she ends the conversation with quick "you know what, whatever. I don't need to know this, just write me this letter/find me this or that/print me this document". Or fucks something up and lefts you with broken system.
My mother uses PC for several years and she still has problems with such a simple task like selecting several icons and moving/copying them over to another location; for her it's just something too abstract. And don't get me even started on how many times I had to fix my parents'/family members'/friends' computer (and I think everyone share this issue) because they install some shit, remove an important windows file or just freaked up because they don't have a recycle bin on the desktop anymore.
iOS and Metro UI (and, to some degree, Android) are introducing easy to use systems with natural interface (my 89-year-old grandma who had never used a computer in her whole life, when given an iPad, was browsing through photo gallery without difficulties, because the idea of finger sweep = move photo was easy to understand for her), apps that are tightly focused on specific functionality and enclosed environment (in theory you can't accidentally destroy the system, you can't download malware or virus from the shop, installing and uninstalling apps are easy, configuring system is just a few clicks away etc.).
If Microsoft wouldn't introduce Metro UI now, the company would be fucked. Like it or not, casual (and not only casual) PC users love iOS for a reason; they love the ease of use, the simplicity. This is why iPad is selling so well; this is why even some Linux distributions are moving towards tablet-like simple interfaces. Yes, for PC gamers Windows 8 doesn't bring anything important to the table, but PC gamers are only a small percent of overall PC users and if Microsoft wants to stay in OS business they need to think about those other users too.
Wiktor
Member
"they need to think about those other users too." Except that's wrong, because they think solely abou those users, completely ignoring pcgamers, as they have been for since xbox launched. The only PC-gaming related moves MS did in almost a decade has brought negative consequences for pcgamers and I'm afraid Windows 8 will be another one of those.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about Windows 8 itself. I think the OS looks glorious and I have high hopes for it. It's a great forward-thinking move that if successful will completely reshape the way we interact with personal computing devices.
So I'm no bashing the whole OS, just complaing about it's lack of any pcgaming related improvements.
brotkasten
Member
Have there ever been any real PC gaming related improvements in Windows? Besides the obligatory DX update and gimmicks like the games explorer.
You're right, MS isn't hot on PC gaming right now but you can't really blame them. PC gamers aren't going anywhere anyway and Xbox is much more profitable for the company so why should it support this rival "platform"? However, MS is supporting it, poorly, but still. New DX versions are still being released; the X360 gamepad and the ease of implementing its use in games is one of the better things that happened in recent years PC gaming wise. New MS games are released (late ports and f2p games, though) and there's still GfWL (some developers, like Capcom, like it for some reason), there was GfWL marketplace with its crazy sales, there's Gameroom etc.
They also want to reintroduce Live again with Windows 8 and lets hope that this time they do this properly (integrate the shit with XBL and Windows Phone, release a proper client, fix the patching system).
Guess I glossed over that part.... very good to know large files will be accepted now.
also this basically confirms the larger paid versions.... screen capture from the video.
Wiktor
Member
DirectX 12, fixing Game for Windows Live, not going retarded way of subcriptions (I hope that's just big misunderstanding), full compatibility with Windows Phone 7 games, promise of cross platform compatibility with Xbox 3 games, push for Kinect games on Windows 8. Native support for airplay-like functionality, makin playin pc games on tvs a breeze. Just some examples.
Wiktor
Member
I think that's example of the biggest failure of MS' strategy in recent years and one of the main reason why they're in risk of being left behind - MS divisions seem to be completely incapable of cooperating with eachother and instead often treat themselves as rivals.
This makes it impossible to fully leverage the unique position MS ha on the market. They're the only company that has foothold in pretty much every tech market, but they just can't seem to be capable of making any use of it.
Thanks to the "console first, PC port later" development strategy games barely use DX11 nowadays so introducing DX12 now would be useless.
Isn't it already a breeze? Just hook up a HDMI cable, hook up a gamepad and that's it - you can play your games on TV without any trouble.
Wiktor
Member
It's not a breeze untll you don't need any cables at all
Bluetooth + wifi direct.
Do hardcore PC gamers really spend much time playing browser games?
This makes as much sense as saying you have to switch from the start menu to the desktop on Windows 7.
A Windows Store which doesn't operate yet, and is an incremental service?
Desktop mode is in Windows 8. The UI is just a mechanism to get to the game, and it looks like the new Metro interface would make getting into games as quick as, if not quicker than Windows 7.
I think you have something of a point with the flash-games issue, but really the way of the future is not flash.
I've said this before, and I still think it's true. You need to get over the idea that you're "switching to desktop mode" or that Metro is something that should be useful on desktops/laptops.
If you're using a desktop or laptop, the Start Screen is simply a replacement for the start menu and desktop gadgets. It's a launcher, and it doesn't matter whether those applications come from the store or were installed for the Desktop.
If you're using a mouse and keyboard on a laptop or desktop, why would you use the metro-style IE? Why not just use IE or Chrome or Firefox on the desktop if you actually care about sites that require plugins? You're forcing a dichotomy where none exists. The Desktop and Start Screen work just as well together as the Desktop and Start Menu does in Windows 7.
ChoklitReign
Member
Skydrive is gonna suck with a 2GB limit. It should be something more than a virtual flash drive. My music and picture folders are fucking huge and complicated, which is exactly why I want to use a syncing service for them. A rough estimate of their combined size is 100GBs. So should I pay the equivalent of a phone bill to sync them with something like Dropbox?
Edit: I'm a dumbass, it's the file size limit. I don't need to sync my videos so I hope it will work well.
Edit: I'm a dumbass, it's the file size limit. I don't need to sync my videos so I hope it will work well.
2GB limit is per file.
You really didn't read the artilce did you.... the 2 gig limit is for a single file. You get 25 gigs for free and will be able to pay for more space.
Steelyuhas
Member
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