It was my friends laptop, so I couldn't put a lot of time in it. I didn't know you could download Skype for desktop. I think that's exactly the problem with Windows 8 you can make it like windows 7 after going through the hassle of figuring it out and downloading some custom shells. At that point I'd rather just use Windows 7.
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DirectX 12 is on the way
- Thread starter Tyrax
- Start date
Solid Samus
Banned
Where can I find this thing
I like Windows 8 for its performance boosts but I can't stand Metro and every single time I've ever used a program that defaults to a Metro app I've pledge to never ever support it with my time and money again. I really detest its design and its propensity to throw you out of desktop just when you're trying to do something fucking productive, I detest it that much. (but for real no I don't boycott Metro programs but pulling up a browser or program at work, at a friend's computer, wherever and being put into Metro mode just immediately puts me off to whatever the fuck it is)
Also I really don't like Metro's spotty search system? but i've gotten over that and have learned what works and what doesn't
BECAUSE TABLETS BRO
it's called 'usability', it only makes perfect sense that something that has taken up less than a quarter of any monitor's viewing space for over a decade should encapsulate your entire desktop monitor. Or else how will you even see all those numbers
I don't understand why Metro isn't something you can toggle
Vista was decent enough after some updates afaik.
One time I opened the Windows 8 version of calculator, and it blew up to fullscreen, with no option to make it a window like a any sane user would. I sat there, at the terminal, staring at that app for 10 minutes trying to make sense of it. Why is this calculator spread across a 21-inch monitor? My mind tore itself in two.
Erm, you can literally just download Skype off the website in exactly the same way you could with Windows 7 and install it exactly as normal. The process is absolutely no different at all from Windows 7.
VisceralBowl
Member
Because you used the metro app. The desktop app is the same old one.
Yes, but I was talking in general. All this work to make it work like Windows 7. For casual users it's confusing as hell. It even confused me as is apparent from this thread.
Which raises a second question without answering the first. Why are there two versions of the same program pre-installed? And why are the metro apps fullscreen only? It's a design error which Microsoft will be correcting in the next Win8 interface update.
Because it had apparently took them a year to realize that people expect Windows programs to use....windows.
AMD wanted something like this to happen. MS would never create something like this if they did not feel pressured. Developers begged them to do something for years, and they did almost nothing.
Just as a reminder, DX11 appeared in late 2009. 4.5 FUCKING YEARS ago.
And mantle was ~2 year project. DX12 will not come anytime soon. It's a year away at least.
you dont have to use it fullscreen, you can snap it next to the desktop or other apps if you want
VisceralBowl
Member
This. And they included two versions because not everybody wants to use the metro apps, and some do.
Mr. Wonderful
Member
It was still incredibly slow and heavy feeling compared to 7. Plus the 7 Task bar is the other real differentiator besides speed for why 7 is better than Vista.
Regarding all those "Better not be Windows 8+ exclusive" people:
Two year or faster release cycles, guys. Get used to it. Windows 7 isn't another XP, and it's against all of our interests in Microsoft letting it become one.
Demigod Mac
Member
Pretty much this. Microsoft tends to stagnate if not challenged in a market they dominate. Khronos has been working diligently on expanding OpenGL past DX11 and AMD's Mantle has turned up the heat.
For a parallel history, see: Internet Explorer 6. Five year gap between IE6 and IE7 when MS was virtually unchallenged in the browser market.
Windows 9 will be Windows 8.2 (april 2014) with really one key difference, ability to run metro apps in actual windows, other than that I don't see it being a radical difference that people are hoping for, Windows is on a yearly schedule now. Windows 9 has not even begun development yet. They are just rebranding 8.3 to 9 to get people to look at the OS again.
updated the OP
found Dictator93's post about the sessions at GDC
well atleast now we have an announcement and a date
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=77521
found Dictator93's post about the sessions at GDC
well atleast now we have an announcement and a date
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=77521
Just like I can in Windows 7, great.
Minus the actual "windows" feature, the ability to shrink it down to a size of my choosing and dragging it to any unoccupied plot of screen real estate. Please understand, I work as a coder and have at least a half a dozen programs open at any given time, all having to share screen space.
nikos
Member
There is no work. If your PC boots into metro, you click the "Desktop" icon and never have to see metro until the next time you boot it.
thehunter01
Banned
Not on my PC. The only thing it adds is the metro layout.
I only upgrade windows if it improves on performance without horrible trade off's like a scrambled OS for the sake of being different.
Or when i need it in order to put my new hardware to full use. But dx11 is still the norm in PC land and console land now, which makes windows 8 a useless OS to have in my opinion, as it adds nothing towards the mix on this department in comparison towards windows 7.
Unless windows 9 adds something drastically visually through dx12 like dx11 did in comparison towards dx9 i will upgrade. But even then, SP1 and second generation dx12 video cards will have to be released. As most of the time the OS and Cards are garbage in it's first revision.
If it adds nothing, windows 9 have to improve my performance in comparison towards windows 7 and not mess around with interfaces. Or i will be happily ignoring entire windows 9 and wait on what windows 10 will bring me.
AyaisMUsikWhore
Member
Isn't the Xbox on Direct X11.2? Who's using OpenGL?
nikos
Member
There is a option to boot to desktop in 8.1.
Even better.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
Xbox One uses DirectX too, correct? Already obsolete?
I think PS4 uses modified DirectX too. So much for "next gen" if these can't be firmware updated.
I think PS4 uses modified DirectX too. So much for "next gen" if these can't be firmware updated.
Amentallica
Unconfirmed Member
Okay, so pardon my ignorance, because I don't know shit about this, but does this affect console gaming at all?
Sure you do, if you need change settings and if you are looking for a program for example. I don't even really have problem with Metro conceptually, I just find the whole notion of apps on a desktop odd and unintuitive. The same can be said for options being in the control panels and in the settings menu that is accessed with the charm bar. It's 2 OSes in one and it makes no sense for a desktop.
'
Nope not at all.
Amentallica
Unconfirmed Member
God damn it, and here I thought it would make games run and look better on consoles. The life of a console gamer who is both too lazy and cheap to get a PC. Ah fuck it.
Actually part of the strength of consoles is that they don't have bother with Direct X, since they can just code to the metal. The consoles do have their own custom API. Direct X and Open GL exist so games can be played on a wide range of machines afaik.
dragonbane
Member
We believe in the cycle. It holds true since forever.
Depends how forward thinking they were. You would think they put some dx12 hooks in there to plan ahead like they did with the 360 but its impossible to say.
I'm sure misterxmedia is typing a stereo dx12 dgpu driver that unlocks 16 gigachips of esram right about now.
Amentallica
Unconfirmed Member
And I am proved even dumber! lol Good to know, thanks!
People don't want to pay $200 for a slightly faster OS that you can use "just like Windows 7" if you put in the effort and ignore some bullshit tablet interface every time you boot your computer. DX12 won't save Win8, but it might drum up interest for Windows 9 if they don't screw it up.
For most people it seems to be absolute indifference.
For most people it seems to be absolute indifference.
Punjabi_Hitman
Banned
Actually welcome to Microsoft's monopoly.
Woo-Fu
Banned
It isn't Windows 8 hate it is Metro hate. People can't differentiate between the OS and the default GUI. I fiddled around with Metro the first day, then switched to the desktop and setup everything there. Now it just feels like a faster version of Windows 7 and who doesn't want that?
It's not just about boot times. OS stability, drivers, ssd support, multi monitor support, touch support, overall OS speed. The interface is very polarizing, yes, but in every measurable way, it's a more stable, faster OS. It even runs better on slower hardware than win7.
The windows 8 boot times are not faster than Windows 7...
All Microsoft did was diguse the default shutdown behavior to that of hibernating (with a hint of logging out) that's it....
Turn off hybrid shutdown or run from admin cmd
See how fast windows 8 takes to load up properly...
They don't even try to hide the fact that they are hibernating the system with the connection uptimes not being reset upon "shutting down"
TL;DR Windows 8 start up times = Windows 7 hibenation resume time.....
All Microsoft did was diguse the default shutdown behavior to that of hibernating (with a hint of logging out) that's it....
Turn off hybrid shutdown or run from admin cmd
Code:
shutdown /s /t 0See how fast windows 8 takes to load up properly...
They don't even try to hide the fact that they are hibernating the system with the connection uptimes not being reset upon "shutting down"
TL;DR Windows 8 start up times = Windows 7 hibenation resume time.....
Kabuki Quantum Lover
Member
I have Windows 8.1 and I would agree with the sentiment that Microsoft should have DX12 for Windows 7 in addition to its latest one. Windows 8's desktop improvements are marginal at best, boot time improvements are debatable (same for me and my SSDs) and the start screen is a downgrade, no matter how you slice. 8.1 works well enough, but I'd probably jump back to 7 if I had the capability to.
And no, you don't need to post screenshots of start menu worst-case scenarios, because that's entirely unrealistic.
And no, you don't need to post screenshots of start menu worst-case scenarios, because that's entirely unrealistic.
It's 11.X, the X standing for Xbox. It has some DX12 features in it I believe but is mostly based on 11.
NJDEN
Member
Im sure by the time its in use we will be on Windows 9 which will be the new Windows 7... provided Microsoft learned from its Windows 8 mistakes.
Kabuki Quantum Lover
Member
Well duh, that's why they haven't activated the dGPU yet.