Windows 8

GatInDaHat · 2013-12-27T21:26:48.000Z

Yeah I don’t get the Windows app store, it’s just chock full of suspicious software… It’s like quantity is the driver, it’s definitely not quality.

stusser · 2013-12-28T08:15:25.000Z

They’re taking the google route of allowing every applicant in without review. You write a metro app, you submit it, it’s not obviously illegal in any way, and it gets listed, period.

Chris_Nahr · 2013-12-28T10:29:23.000Z

Microsoft has also incentivized throwaway junk apps by offering $100 per app and allowed obvious guideline-breaking junk, some of which was encouraged by a Microsoft employee.

Razgon · 2013-12-28T12:14:56.000Z

This isn’t a snark, but does anyone use anything but the desktop part of Windows 8, and thereby see the Store? I havent been in the store since I got this laptop that can’t use windows 7 and had to upgrade some stuff.

stusser · 2013-12-28T13:58:56.000Z

Nah. That stuff is only useful if you own a windows tablet.

Touch on the windows desktop is actually kinda neat if you have a laptop, though. “Gorilla arm” doesn’t apply with a laptop, and it’s a much larger target than the terrible touchpads on most laptops.

wumpus · 2013-12-28T18:48:52.000Z

Yeah, touch laptops are great. But it will take a bit for touch to become standard, counterbalanced by the decisive victory of tablets in the market herding things along.

(This is also the “final solution” to permanently shit PC touchpads. Touchscreens cannot be fucked up.)

Calelari · 2013-12-29T09:59:22.000Z

wumpus:

(This is also the “final solution” to permanently shit PC touchpads. Touchscreens cannot be fucked up.)

I disagree. We got a couple Dell touch laptop/tablets and the touchscreens are in fact shit, frequently failing to notice they’ve actually been touched. Of course, the touchpads are even shittier. The machines fairly often seem to forget that one is even present.

stusser · 2013-12-29T11:06:32.000Z

Obviously implementation matters there too. If it’s shit, it’s shit. Usually that’s not a problem though, as MS has strict standards for win8 touchscreen certification.

Destarius · 2013-12-29T11:32:17.000Z

Chris Nahr:

Microsoft has also incentivized throwaway junk apps by offering $100 per app and allowed obvious guideline-breaking junk, some of which was encouraged by a Microsoft employee.

Maybe it was the brilliant plan of a former RIM employee, now working to unintentionally destroy Microsoft from within.

Pyperkub · 2013-12-29T14:02:39.000Z

wumpus:

Yeah, touch laptops are great. But it will take a bit for touch to become standard, counterbalanced by the decisive victory of tablets in the market herding things along.

(This is also the “final solution” to permanently shit PC touchpads. Touchscreens cannot be fucked up.)

Can you elaborate on this? I still don’t understand the benefits of touch on any laptop that doesn’t convert into a tablet.

nKoan · 2013-12-29T17:00:57.000Z

Touch would be a nice complement for everything else. It won’t replace any other input devices yet on a laptop, but it sure would be nice. For example: launching apps by touching them, moving your cursor immediately to where you touch, multi-finger swipe gestures for switching virtual desktops (or, for that matter any of the OS X touchpad gestures that already exist).

And yes, these are features we can already do with touchpads/mice/keyboards, but I bet a lot of people will get really used to touchscreens if/when laptops start coming with them standard. It will begin to feel natural almost immediately, I think.

Editer · 2013-12-29T17:10:17.000Z

Yeah, it’s one of those things I never felt I needed, but I find very frustrating now when it’s not there.

I still need a precision pointer – I use a Bluetooth mouse with my touchscreen notebook – but it’s great for quick scrolling, acknowledging dialog boxes, moving through slideshows, and so on.

sharaleo · 2013-12-29T19:35:17.000Z

I hate to say it, but I am guilty of attempting a swipe action on a macbook air while in an Apple store.

Gus_Smedstad1 · 2013-12-29T19:42:54.000Z

It was my constant attempts to use touch controls on my old laptop that convinced me I wanted a Windows laptop with a touchscreen. Then I discovered how poorly touch is supported by just about anything other than apps. And I don’t want apps.

Ginger_Yellow · 2013-12-30T04:11:16.000Z

I still need a precision pointer – I use a Bluetooth mouse with my touchscreen notebook – but it’s great for quick scrolling, acknowledging dialog boxes, moving through slideshows, and so on.

If you’re using a mouse anyway, how is touch better than mouse button/wheel for any of those?

TimElhajj · 2013-12-30T05:55:22.000Z

Depends on the context. Sometimes the mouse is away or at least not in my hand. With a laptop or any kind of mobile device, it’s good to have a touch screen.

CharlesC · 2013-12-30T08:43:24.000Z

Ginger Yellow:

If you’re using a mouse anyway, how is touch better than mouse button/wheel for any of those?

If your hands are on the keyboard it can actually be quicker to reach up to the screen than move your hand to the mouse/touchpad.

nKoan · 2013-12-30T10:14:59.000Z

Ginger Yellow:

If you’re using a mouse anyway, how is touch better than mouse button/wheel for any of those?

Why wouldn’t you just use the keyboard shortcut?

Zylon · 2013-12-30T12:11:39.000Z

Ginger Yellow:

If you’re using a mouse anyway, how is touch better than mouse button/wheel for any of those?

It saves people from being embarrassed when they try to touch their laptop’s screen.

That’s pretty much it.

RickH · 2013-12-30T15:48:26.000Z

nKoan:

Why wouldn’t you just use the keyboard shortcut?

Dark room, no backlit keyboard?

Backlit laptop keyboards are actually pretty hard to find.