Rumor - Microsoft to Release Windows Blue, the First Free Windows Ever

[chev65]

You can't read a blog or article that doesn't make this a valid point.

Opinions don't equate to valid points. There is no blunder with Windows 8. When you read the blogs and forums of people who actually are using Windows 8, you'll find that it's been pretty well accepted, especially in the enthusiasts crowd.

The only...and yes, only feature it is missing out of the box is a Start Menu...if we're going after that warm and fuzzy comfortable feeling. That can be added very easily, and for free. Should we have been given that option during the install? Yes, we should have. But it's far from a deal killer. The more I use it, the more I like it...and the more I'm blown away at it's performance.

I never said I don't like Windows 8, there are many features which are superior to Windows 7 and other features which were left out for no apparent reason, in fact anything to do with making PC users happy were left out for reasons nobody seems to understand.

It's not just the start menu dude, it's a million other PC options which were omitted for no apparent reason other than to glorify a tablet with better battery life.
http://social.technet.microsoft.com...l/thread/18b53644-6c6b-4d32-820a-53134a0913f3

This did in fact hurt the sales of Windows 8 because nobody with a PC has any good reason to upgrade, other than better security which can be added to Windows 7 by just installing IE10.

In case you haven't noticed I'm not the only person with this exact same opinion they are all over the internet and also in this same thread so I don't feel like I'm going out on a limb here.

There is a huge market for Op system upgrades on PC's, Windows blue may help Msoft tap into that market in ways that Windows 8 could not tap into as delivered. Maybe this was part of the original plan for all we know.

Msoft can either wake up to reality of suffer the consequences. And with Windows blue it looks like they have already woken up to reality.

 

[Dallas 7]

I never said I don't like Windows 8, there are many features which are superior to Windows 7 and other features which were left out for no apparent reason, in fact anything to do with making PC users happy were left out for reasons nobody seems to understand.

It's not just the start menu dude, it's a million other PC options which were omitted for no apparent reason other than to glorify a tablet with better battery life.
Features and configuration options removed in Windows 8

This did in fact hurt the sales of Windows 8 because nobody with a PC has any good reason to upgrade, other than better security which can be added to Windows 7 by just installing IE10.

In case you haven't noticed I'm not the only person with this exact same opinion they are all over the internet and also in this same thread so I don't feel like I'm going out on a limb here.

There is a huge market for Op system upgrades on PC's, Windows blue may help Msoft tap into that market in ways that Windows 8 could not tap into as delivered. Maybe this was part of the original plan for all we know.

Msoft can either wake up to reality of suffer the consequences. And with Windows blue it looks like they have already woken up to reality.

Lets hope so.

 

[JerometheGiraff]

Yeah, right - and if you don't like the taste of dog crap, simply means you haven't eaten enough of it.

Yes, that's a perfect analogy to describe a new OS. Many of those "features" in your link are nit-picking, at best. Oh no...no Free Cell! The Mayans were right!!!!

Like I said, "new" is not automatically better. The term "Better" has to be earned, it's not automatic.

The term different also doesn't automatically mean worse. It's faster and more secure. You can try as much as you want, you aren't going to convince me that Windows 8 isn't a good OS. I'm responding to this on my HP Envy ultrabook running Windows 8, and it's running far better than Windows 7 ever did on it.

I agree with your posts about Windows8. I love I can switch between "Tiles" (It's not called Metro, people) and the Desktop, really clever for how I work. I can have a tile app running along side the desktop, I like that as well.

I'm afraid because everyone dislikes Windows8, they screw it up with Blue, then I know where to point a finger at, it won't be Microsoft.

 

[Dave76]

Deacon, some people believe "new" automatically means "better".

Yes, and many people also assume new is "worse" or "scary" for various reasons.

W7 is a great OS. W8 is a downgrade

Exactly my point. Windows 8 is hardly a downgrade. To suggest that...well...simply means you haven't used it or given it a chance, going at it with the mindset above...that since it is a successor to a great product, it has to fail.

That's the issue I've been trying to point out. Far too many people on these boards are making comments such as yours because they didn't like the look of Metro, or some other small detail, and could turn back to Windows 7 to feel comfy and warm. On one hand, it's said to see so many people being closed-minded, but at the same time, it's a credit to how good Windows 7 is.

So, my final point is this. If you love 7, and you want to stay with it, go right ahead. I'm keeping some systems on 7, including all of my corporate systems for 2013 (aside from new purchases). But there's absolutely no reason or justifcation to sit and bash Windows 8, or the people who are really enjoying it. It's a great OS as well, because it's coming off of a great platform. It has a small learning curve, just as any new OS, but once you get passed that, it's really a nice OS to use.

Not liking it doesn't equate to "it's an awful product". Separate out fact and opinion. There are a lot of things on the market I don't like, but they can be a good product.

Agree, well stated.
Not liking it visually, doesn't mean it a bad OS, just different than the last one.
If it wasn't different then we would be hearing the just a SP comments.

I won't be surprised if Blue gives back the options many have missed, start button, disable the Start Screen, boot to desktop, etc. If for no other reason then to increase sales.
Then again, if they are feeling stubborn, they might go the other way.

 

[SIW2]

It is not about how it looks, tho that is an important consideration in selling any product.

It is much deeper than that.

I suspect those who claim to like it don't know what is going on.

 

[Dave76]

I think I know what you're referring to, and I agree, if they push too hard on forcing everything we do to their cloud, I'll be among the first to jump ship.
Finding another ship may be difficult as this seems to be the trend and won't be surprised if it becomes a standard, hopefully Linex will remain cloudless. Can't see it changing unless it is somehow bought out or silently invaded.

 

[SIW2]

Yes. MS want you to have everything online with them. Boot up the o/s online - store everything up there - pay storage fees, usage fees, rent all your programs/apps/services thru MS. All approved by MS of course. No side loading.

Win 8 is a big step in that direction.

That is why there are so many raising concerns - including game developers/distributors who can see the platform closing.

MS still have almost almost complete dominance of the consumer market for pc's. If you have $1200 or more, you can go Apple. Everybody else gets what they are given and puts up with it.

MS are using that dominance to push thru what they think is good for MS.

That is what metro/start screen/MS account is for.That is why they shove it at the user constantly.

Many will just go along with it. Sign up for MS account as exhorted,buy apps., sync devices, store stuff up there. A few bucks here and there. Another few bucks if you go over your 7gb limit.

Once the public is doing that - not difficult to persuade them to go subscription.

That is what win8 is about.

 

[Mual]

Wow, a free Windows? That is interesting

 

[Slartybart]

This is a good thing. Microsoft has been struggling for a long time trying to consolidate their assets (DOS, OS2/NT, Win, WinNT, etc). WinXP was the first consolidated OS - Vista, then Win7 finalized the remaining pieces. Win8 is a new venture moving away from the past and into the future (regardless of how anyone likes or dislikes it).

The new model "Blue" is great news. Less is More. The annual core updates means we won't have to wait 3 years for the next version of Windows. The low entry price is also great news... the annual update price concerns me though. What if you decide to skip a few years, are you then saddled with $20 x N, having to buy each annual update? I suspect that the model will be worked out so that you can buy the annual update or the Version update.

I also think that Windows Update will be around for security and hotfixes. So no one should should be too concerned about "annual updates" - they're two different animals.

This will allow MS to focus more on the here and now rather than the next 3 year cycle. I say it's a good thang!

Anyway..... this is my opinon of a rumor.

Sacre blue!

Before you get too excited about Windows Blue (or depressed, if you're a developer who was about to get started on a Windows 8 app), Rob Enderle brings up another important consideration. "The question is, is Windows Blue pre- or post-Sinofsky?" he asks. "A lot of this stuff is in flux given his sudden departure."

Windows Blue may or may not be real, but the ideas behind the alleged upgrade hold some real potential for Microsoft's future—if the company plays its cards right. The folks in Redmond need to prove they have the institutional flexibility to implement worthwhile yearly changes, and more importantly, Microsoft absolutely, positively, utterly, indubitably must implement any new SDK changes in such a way that doesn't alienate developers.

If Microsoft can manage that, and if the Windows Blue rumors prove true, a ubiquitous cross-platform SDK combined with yearly OS releases could just be the shot in the arm Microsoft needs to finally gain a foothold in the vaunted mobile market.

If the rumors are true, however, it's also another sign that Microsoft won't be turning away from the divisive modern UI, no matter how much desktop enthusiasts bemoan the finger-focused interface. Deepened ties between Windows 8 and Windows Phone no doubt rely on Live Tiles being universal.

 

[Pedroc1999]

Well be prepared for a peugeot or nike ad every 10 clicks!

 

[Slartybart]

I doubt MS is moving to an advertising revenue model, the annual update will normalize their cash flow and most likely increase their revenue.

It's more likely they're moving closer to a pure cloud computing model - what used to be called centralized computing. Ah well, things change and change again and again and again.

Well be prepared for a peugeot or nike ad every 10 clicks!

 

[M1GU31]

The thing is windows 8 doesn't give me enough of a reason to upgrade, very small changes and that's excluding the UI. Before anyone asked I used win 8 for about 4 months during beta. Not to impressed,only thing that was better was boot times and the time it took to transfer and copy files and liked how email was integrated into the os sort of like a microsoft outlook built in,was able to have my gmail account connected and see when I got emails. The UI I didn't care much for it,took me about 15 mins to understand how to use it after playing around with it and ended up getting a start menu for it.

In my opinion, it needs some more features and give a option on what type of UI I want it to default to. It's not horrible but not enough for me to say I need to upgrade. What they need to do is give some of the features from 7 back and they can leave the metro but give a option on what to default it to. Like I can choose to disable metro and just have a traditional layout. Also it doesn't bring something new like windows 7 did with direct x 11,heard it's going to have something like dx 11.1 which is probably going to be pretty gimmicky like direct x 10.1 was with vista.

Also most games don't even fully use dx11 yet,since i'm more of a pc gamer instead of just a regular user. Windows 8 isn't to attractive to my eyes because it doesn't bring anything new. I could also probably get faster boot speeds and copy/transfer just purchasing a ssd and would probably be continent with that. I will wait until they bring something big to the table,not these small changes that don't really interest me.

Anyways those are just my two cents on the ppl saying 8 is "worth" the upgrade.

 

[Dallas 7]

Yes. MS want you to have everything online with them. Boot up the o/s online - store everything up there - pay storage fees, usage fees, rent all your programs/apps/services thru MS. All approved by MS of course. No side loading.

Win 8 is a big step in that direction.

That is why there are so many raising concerns - including game developers/distributors who can see the platform closing.

MS still have almost almost complete dominance of the consumer market for pc's. If you have $1200 or more, you can go Apple. Everybody else gets what they are given and puts up with it.

MS are using that dominance to push thru what they think is good for MS.
That is what metro/start screen/MS account is for.That is why they shove it at the user constantly.

Many will just go along with it. Sign up for MS account as exhorted,buy apps., sync devices, store stuff up there. A few bucks here and there. Another few bucks if you go over your 7gb limit.

Once the public is doing that - not difficult to persuade them to go subscription.

That is what win8 is about.

I think you are exactly right. MS did not produce their "one size fit's all" for us, they did it for THEM.
That's why they're trying to cram it down our throats.

If they were concerned with public satisfaction, they would've included the start button/start menu
as an option for desktops.

 

[DeaconFrost]

I think you are exactly right. MS did not produce their "one size fit's all" for us, they did it for THEM.
That's why they're trying to cram it down our throats.

Speaking as a person in charge of all technology in a company, I can say for sure, it was done for me. We use computers, tablets, smartphones, etc...all form factors in my company...and being able to have one OS for them all, that I know our apps and services works on makes my life much much easier.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

Speaking as a person in charge of all technology in a company, I can say for sure, it was done for me. We use computers, tablets, smartphones, etc...all form factors in my company...and being able to have one OS for them all, that I know our apps and services works on makes my life much much easier.

What's the point for that anyway? Bulk of computers in most companies are cheap terminal-like affairs bought by the ton, and just need office-like applications or (much more commonly) a custom-designed single application for entering-retrieving data from a database in the company's servers.
It's hard to find someone who actually wants to place Win7 on them, go figure Win 8.

Tablets are far too easy to steal and resell to be stocked in numbers high enough to be used for common grunts, so are smartphones (besides, for most tasks the screen of a smartphone is too small). Win 8 won't change that.

Managers are a minority, but on average don't really need more than what is already there. Although they end up costing quite a bit as they MUST have the newest and bestest (intended) gimmick just to show off or whatever. And annoy the company's IT guys to learn how to use their new stuff.

 

[DeaconFrost]

What's the point for that anyway? Bulk of computers in most companies are cheap terminal-like affairs bought by the ton, and just need office-like applications or (much more commonly) a custom-designed single application for entering-retrieving data from a database in the company's servers.
It's hard to find someone who actually wants to place Win7 on them, go figure Win 8.

What's the point? I'm a one-man I.T. department, so any simplification I can find is a plus. My company computers are not dumb terminals pointing to servers. I have a lot of mobile employees who are out with customers and potential partners on a daily basis. Windows 7 is the standard now...so I have no idea how to even address your comment about people not wanting to even put Windows 7 on office computers. If that's how IT is going to handle company assets, I'd be looking for a new job ASAP.

Tablets are far too easy to steal and resell to be stocked in numbers high enough to be used for common grunts, so are smartphones (besides, for most tasks the screen of a smartphone is too small). Win 8 won't change that.

I have no idea how that relates to my topic, but here goes. Android tablets and iPads are good, but could never completely replace a computer. For many of my employees, a business laptop is too bulky to carry around all day. A tablet-type device, especially one that's fully functional, would fit their needs perfectly.

Again, I have no idea where you are going with your comments, but as the I.T. Manager, my job is to make sure my people have the tools they need to perform their jobs in the most effective manner. Some of these new form factors are going to be perfect fits for some of our needs.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

I'm adding another viewpoint. Both of us are correct.

The companies I see here (I know a lot of IT guys around) have vastly different needs than your company.

Windows 7 is the standard now...so I have no idea how to even address your comment about people not wanting to even put Windows 7 on office computers.

The standard for what? All programs that a company needs here can run on XP or have versions that run on XP and they worked fine before as they work fine nowadays (word 2007 or 2010 does not make you more productive). New companies don't have a lot of choice, but older ones that still have XP licences don't see the need to upgrade just to run Office 2012 or whatever.
The grunt's machines never have any kind of contact with the outside world anyway, so even "improved security" is irrelevant. Boot times and snappyness suck but they are irrelevant as well as it is going to run a single dumb program which isn't more heavy than excel. A lot use diskless systems that reset themselves at every reboot (the OS is on a server, and any modification on the terminal does not affect the server), again to cut corners and decrease the time IT guys have to spend on troubleshooting. Quite a few companies fired half or more of their IT staff after this was implemented.

The only computers that are going to be upgraded to 7 are servers, as they need the security, and even then it's something they aren't eager to do.

As a sidenote, there was a lot of crying out loud for the reskinned Office menu, I mean the ribbons of office 2007 and later. As people trained to use previous versions had issues and screwed up things requiring a lot more extra work from IT guys.

I have no idea how that relates to my topic, but here goes.

You said Win8 is cool for companies that want to use tablets, but I said that not a lot of companies here think using tablets is a good move. If to that hardware/software cost you have to add the cost and hassle of additional security to keep it safe, and likely losses every once in a while, the cost-effectiveness of the decision "let's use tablets because they are more portable" is too low.
The same conclusion was reached by bean counters in different small-to-mid-sized companies and a couple local branches of multinational ones (their IT guys told this to me when I asked if they were going to have used tablets to sell in the future). I see only professional-oriented PDAs, that while wildly expensive they still have a non-existant value for theft (and resale to my customers). They can survive dust and rain (and being dropped and kicked around for that matter), though.

Besides, to have full device interoperatibility, (that means they go on ARM devices as well), you need to convince the software's devs that make the company's own databases and data-insertion/retrieval programs to turn their programs into a Win 8 app, and add it to the marketplace. Which isn't going to happen for obvious reasons.

Most companies I am in contact with build something, do techsupport for various kinds of machinery or move something around the nation, marketing-oriented companies or the ones that must have a lot of contact with the people/customers and don't operate outside showroom-like environments need that stuff to make the right impression.
For example, all people that comes to your house/company to sell you solar panels has a tablet nowadays.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Based on what you've posted, I'm going to say that the I.T. world in Italy is far different from what it is here in the States. I work for a small dairy promotion company (far from bleeding edge of tech) and consult for a medium size energy management company (bleeding edge), and my wife works in the I.T. department of a county-run nursing home complex. I also came form one of the largest computer manufacturer's in the world, and none of those environments are anywhere close to what you describe.

The only computers that are going to be upgraded to 7 are servers, as they need the security, and even then it's something they aren't eager to do.

It seems to me, that the I.T. staffs you deal with aren't really up on anything current. They seem to fear tablets, still cling to a 12 year old OS, and plan on running a desktop OS on a server. I can easily see why they'd fear something new and unknown, such as Windows 8. If they needed added security on a server, why would they avoid a server OS?

I'm not directing any of this at you personally, but many of those I.T. staffs wouldn't cut it in the industries I've been involved in. The point of having a Windows tablet is that it can operate on a domain, with all of the same security a laptop computer would have, yet in a smaller, easier to carry around footprint. I also don't quite get their comments about needing to turn everything into an app. That would be true if RT was the only option, but it clearly shows they haven't done any research into the Windows 8 Pro tablets about to be released. Windows RT has little value in a business setting, to me personally. My comments above are about the Windows 8 Pro tablets. My company upgrades computers every three years. We're 25 people in total, and 20 of them are due this upcoming year. So, whatever I buy, I get cheap MAK licenses due to our non-profit status. My job as I.T. Manager is to find the solution that works best for each person, based on the role they fill and the work they do. My graphic designer has far different needs that our Office Manager, as an example. Someone who sits in a cubicle all day has far different needs than someone who's on the road 4-5 days a week.

If I closed my mind to new products and only looked backwards, I'd be failing myself and my company.

 

[lkgriffith]

DeaconFrost: "My job as I.T. Manager is to find the solution that works best for each person, based on the role they fill and the work they do. My graphic designer has far different needs that our Office Manager, as an example. Someone who sits in a cubicle all day has far different needs than someone who's on the road 4-5 days a week."

Just maybe those of us who so intensely dislike Windows 8 for the desktop have many very valid reasons for doing so. Our PERSONAL and PROFESSIONAL needs, wants, requirements, and situations are seriously impacted by the many missing elements that were taken out by Microsoft. They wanted Windows 8 to work on the grossly limited environments of smart phones and touch tablets. Its desktop capabilities was all but totally sacrificed for that goal. It is not that we fear something new, we want the new actually to be better for us than the old for OUR purposes. At least enough better that it is worth the cost of changing.

As it stands, Windows 8 fails to reach as good as crappy for use on the desktop. This includes what has been done to Visual Studio 2012 and that total abomination of Microsoft Office. Yes, they can be used but only with constant frustration and seriously reduced productivity IN OUR HANDS. They are not worth the effort to use.

How about live and let live as a general rule of social and professional interaction? You use what works for you and I will use what works for me. We each get to decide what works for ourselves. You are not evil for embracing Windows 8 and I am not evil for rejecting it. We are simply different. Why isn't that simply OK? You seem to embrace part of that approach. Why not go all the way and accept that the I.T. world in Italy is simply different from yours but is still workable for them even though it won't work for you?

 

[robinb9]

you know you are all speculating on something that has not even come out yet, why not wait till it comes out then rip it apart or not