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Thread: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

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    News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    Delivery of unifying 'Threshold' is planned for Spring 2015.
    Read more.

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    well i upgraded to windows 8.1 and it is awesome, i can barely see metro ****, i'm number one hater for metro and windows 8 metro style and sticked with windows 7. after trying windows 8.1, i advise every windows 7 user to upgrade, windows 8.1 UI is pretty much like windows 7 and when you get somehow used to metro ****, you can organize it same as start menu, still not a fan and liked start menu better, but bringing back start button with right click shortcuts is really good move from microsoft.

    try it on virtual machine and you will definitely upgrade. and sooner or later you will if you are a gamer as DX 11.2 will only be supported on windows 8.1

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    I don't want my PC interface to be more like a phone, i will get no real performance increases and i hate tiles. Its not selling particularly well for good reason and i will never be "upgrading" to it.

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    I tried upgrading to 8.1 and it failed alongside a generic error message like "Encountered an error and could not proceed. Your computer has been returned to its original status, no changes have been made."
    Really, really, useful - thanks for the advice on where to start fixing it, Microsoft.
    Think I'll stick with 8..

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    Ugh, I'm an ardent fan of Microsoft and hate the way they're going with this. Windows is the better OS platform mainly because of the way it is easy to use for desktop/laptop users. It also caters to the gamers by giving them a stable working platform where games can be developed for one PC platform without needing to worry about the minority. I hope they don't forget this and in the process of unifying the platforms, destroy everything all at once. As a gamer, I'd hate to have to move to another platform which just gives me headaches while gaming.

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    Being a software manufacturer it makes sense for Microsoft to travel this path as for most users unification thus working on any device has to be a benifit, so i like the idea subject to that you get all the good bits and less of the bad from a unification.
    Its a path Apple are unlikely to presently take as they are principally a hardware manufacturer so its in their interests to keep OS's diverse to sell more hardware.

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    Quote Originally Posted by YazX View Post
    try it on virtual machine and you will definitely upgrade. and sooner or later you will if you are a gamer as DX 11.2 will only be supported on windows 8.1
    Any games (that I'd want to play) that need DirectX 11.2, rather than whatever came with Windows7? Not as far as I know, so hence no pressure for me to move - won't say "upgrade" because I'm not convinced it is.
    Quote Originally Posted by KinTharEl View Post
    Windows is the better OS platform mainly because of the way it is easy to use for desktop/laptop users.
    Hmm, might have been true a couple of years ago, but the twin events of Metro on Windows and new UI's for Linux mean that Linux systems are just as easy to use as the latest Windows. Actually stuff like Unity might actually be easier, and more obvious, than Metro!
    Quote Originally Posted by KinTharEl View Post
    It also caters to the gamers by giving them a stable working platform where games can be developed for one PC platform without needing to worry about the minority.
    Never had a BSOD with Windows? Count yourself lucky then. Not sure what you mean by "without needing to worry about the minority" - care to expand on that?
    My Linux laptop gets used five days a week - even hosts Windows XP VM's (and others) - and has NEVER crashed. Oh, and it also boots up in less time than my corporate Windows7 running laptop takes to go from login screen to desktop available.

    Quote Originally Posted by KinTharEl View Post
    As a gamer, I'd hate to have to move to another platform which just gives me headaches while gaming.
    It's entirely possible that the upcoming SteamOS will be able to leverage Linux's stability AND offer stuff like a single updater for both OS and all apps that I'd pay for to have on Windows - rather than many different updaters using resources and generally being a nuisance.
    So if SteamOS is done properly then you may end up with a system that's better for gamers - apart from the lack of software support initially. But that latter point is also an issue for PS4/XBone users - and those also suffer from the issue of more expensive software.
    Quote Originally Posted by Myss_tree View Post
    Being a software manufacturer it makes sense for Microsoft to travel this path as for most users unification thus working on any device has to be a benifit, so i like the idea subject to that you get all the good bits and less of the bad from a unification.
    Yep, if "Threshold" gives standard, cross-platform API's across PC, tablet, phone and possible XBone then I'm all for it. On the other hand if it's an attempt to force a hybrid desktop/phone UI across all platforms then Microsoft deserve to be slapped upside the head with a two by four ... repeatedly.

    The requirements for phones and desktop are different, and the UI's must to reflect that, and the different resources and hardware available to each.

    Career status: still enjoying my new career in DevOps, but it's keeping me busy...

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    I agree that the new Modern/Metro UI is a pain to work around, but the comments that I've read on the Unity interface aren't all glorious. There have been people who haven't exactly warmed up to it, and Canonical haven't seemed to take their comments to heart, judging from their current releases.

    The minority is what being the Mac and Linux community. Most developers don't consider them as a platform to concentrate development on at all. What I meant by ease of use of the windows platform is how it's made. What do I mean? Take the way a program is installed. In windows, you start and finish it with a few clicks, regardless of whether or not you have a working internet connection. In Linux, if you want that, you need a working connection, as will be the norm for the upcoming SteamOS. Linux is an amazing operating system that I've had the pleasure of working with for quite some time now, but it's not ready for the masses until it figures out that not everyone is looking for complete control of every aspect, even if people like you and me love that. As for Valve's work with their new OS, from my experiences with them, I fear that it'll become a way for them to force their users to pay needlessly. That's why I would rather prefer that Microsoft stay in control of the desktop OS market, as well as try and refine their OS such that it caters to the masses well. If this is done, I believe that there is a chance a very possible and real chance that the dwindling PC market, of which I am a fan, will either stabilize, or rise back up.

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    YazX: I upgraded to windows 8.1 and immediately regretted it. The update decided the keyboard was US without telling me - which meant it thought I was mistyping the password. Then the update reset the desktop wallpaper to some incredibly lurid wallpaper (easy to change but why did it do that), then it reset the colour of all the tiles in the metro interface - most of which are now a horrible day glo orange. There is no current way of resetting the colour of the tiles.

    As an upgrade it gave me a start buttone, which I did not need, and a migraine from all the day glo colours.

    Windows 8.1 designed for people barely out of short trouser by people who are still in short trousers

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    Quote Originally Posted by cjs150 View Post
    YazX: I upgraded to windows 8.1 and immediately regretted it. The update decided the keyboard was US without telling me - which meant it thought I was mistyping the password. Then the update reset the desktop wallpaper to some incredibly lurid wallpaper (easy to change but why did it do that), then it reset the colour of all the tiles in the metro interface - most of which are now a horrible day glo orange. There is no current way of resetting the colour of the tiles.
    Your worst 2 criticisms are keyboard layout reset (probably because you selected it at sometime during installs in the past or are using a US edition) and a lurid wallpaper, both of which take ~10s to fix? If I was Microsoft I'd call that a big win...

    Quote Originally Posted by crossy View Post
    Never had a BSOD with Windows? Count yourself lucky then. Not sure what you mean by "without needing to worry about the minority" - care to expand on that?
    My Linux laptop gets used five days a week - even hosts Windows XP VM's (and others) - and has NEVER crashed. Oh, and it also boots up in less time than my corporate Windows7 running laptop takes to go from login screen to desktop available.
    Linux desktops (and OS-X as well actually) I've tried have been variously buggy, often slow, inconsistent and frequently frozen annoyance to me whereas my Windows 7/8/8.1 machines are stable, fast, fluid and only BSOD once in a blue moon (majority of causes are 3rd party drivers or hardware). Why? It's not the OS itself, it's probably because I'm more experienced with Windows and not so good at resolving Linux/Mac desktop issues (I spend all my Linux time on the command line of GUI-less servers) - my point is it's just as much (if not more so) about how skillful the user is with a particular OS than how well made that OS is.

    Your work laptop is probably slow because it's been overloaded with poorly optimised 3rd party software and is calling up a load of domain services and waiting or handling timeouts... blame your admins not the OS. I'm typing this from my domain joined Windows 8.1 PC that zooms to desktop even though it must load Sophos, check the domain, refresh the group policies etc etc. It's only really valid to compare a vanilla install to a vanilla install if you are assessing the OS quality alone, it's possible to turn Linux or OS-X into a slow and bogged down mess as well.

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    kingpotnoodle: the US keyboard is a known bug in the windows 8.1 process, and no I did not select US keyboard, I simply downloaded the upgrade from microsoft store - which is MS preferred method.

    Yes fixing the wallpaper took 10 secs, but it should not have been changed in the first place. Strangely you forget the resetting of the tile colours, which can now not be reset back.

    I am struggling to find a reason to upgrade the second windows 8 machine (which is an HTPC and w8 interface works really well on the TV). I will wait for w8.2

    I find the whole concept of a unified interface across multiple platforms to be fatally flawed. w8 works brilliantly on the HTPC, phone and probably on a tablet. On a work pc it is hopeless - I cannot use touch because I cannot reach the screen without stretching, and any one who puts greasy fingerprints on the screen will get their fingers broken.

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    Quote Originally Posted by cjs150 View Post
    kingpotnoodle: the US keyboard is a known bug in the windows 8.1 process, and no I did not select US keyboard, I simply downloaded the upgrade from microsoft store - which is MS preferred method.
    Maybe it's an issue, I don't find huge mention of it through Google though. The wallpaper and keyboard probably changes probably because it reverts to default certain things which change in the upgrade, it's a tiny issue to restore!

    Quote Originally Posted by cjs150 View Post
    I find the whole concept of a unified interface across multiple platforms to be fatally flawed. w8 works brilliantly on the HTPC, phone and probably on a tablet. On a work pc it is hopeless - I cannot use touch because I cannot reach the screen without stretching, and any one who puts greasy fingerprints on the screen will get their fingers broken.
    Just because you *can* touch it doesn't mean you *must*, why do people persist with that fallacy? On a workstation PC you use mouse and keyboard just like you always did, you're working on the desktop, you don't need the MUI apps because all the desktop stuff is just like it always was, fully working. The only thing that changes is the application launcher is now full screen rather than a menu, you still use the keyboard and mouse to find things. I actually find the start screen quicker than the start menu now I've spent time to get accustomed to it (hit start, type a few letters, hit enter) - it's certainly a country mile better than the old classic start menu from Windows XP before the search box was added (why the hell would you actually *want* that one back?). Windows 8/8.1 is fine for a work PC. You can still pin to taskbar (IMHO one of best additions in 7) still so how often do you really need the application launcher? I must use it a couple of times in an 8hr day...

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    kingpotnoodle: I think you have successfully summarised why work computers will not upgrade to w8. Why have a desktop and a metro interface. Work computers only need the desktop, so w7 is just what they need.

    But MS has frequently admitted that w8 with its metro/desktop is a fudge. The long term aim is to move everything to metro interface. At work I normally have 5+ windows open, sized to how I want them. If I want to close a window I clock on the x in the top right which I can do one handed whilst drinking coffee - w8 is just a faff to close a program (sorry, in kids speak "app").

    Sadly you keep ignoring that "feature" that upgrading to w8.1 changes the colours of the tiles and there is no way back.

    Of course I could go on, I deleted all the w8 apps for music, video etc - nothing more than MS advertising billboards with some functionality built in - windows media player is all I need

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    Spring 2015? We will all be running Android 6 by then.

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    Why can't Microsoft give us a dual boot option OS, call it 9 or whatever, incorporating the latest developments on both 8.1 and 7? I was an early experimenter with 8 including the pre release versions but it is not for me as a desktop user. Seems sensible to keep the customer onside and develop both together. It takes a long time to convince major organisation users to change--some are only giving up XP reluctantly even now.

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    Re: News - Plans for Microsoft’s ‘Threshold’ Windows update take shape

    I have to say I find 8 perfectly fine to use. But then I basically never use the start menu in 7 either. Icons are either on the desktop, on the bar, or win key + type hit enter. All of which are exactly replicated on 8. I could go on about people needing a mouse to find stuff being noobs, but I won't.

    8/8.1 also gets me better performance in BF4 at least (everything else seems about the same). Basically I just don't get the hate. And all the people saying linux has a great interface - what planet are you on? I'm a big linux user, but Unity is, being generous, a decent interface hidden under mountains of crap. As is the latest Gnome (I've not tried KDE in a long time).

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