Has Microsoft stumbled?

[Mr.WorldWide]

What hierarchy is preferable over folders? For me, I have never been confused by the nesting ability of folders. I prefer folders over cloud tags.

 

[Zelig]

Can it not just filter by executable? Registered programmes?

p.s. tags > folders

That's the idea, the problem is keeping links to readmes, uninstallers and similar junk was chosen for the best backwards-compatibility. Situation should improve as developers update their programs.

What hierarchy is preferable over folders? For me, I have never been confused by the nesting ability of folders. I prefer folders over cloud tags.

Filtering via keyboard typing like Quicksilver does is awesome.

 

[Mr.WorldWide]

I'm talking about windows PCs, not macs.

If I wanted my Windows PC to behave like a mac I would own a mac. -_-

 

[Zelig]

Quicksilver isn't part of Mac OS, it's simply a program. I hear Alfred and Launchy are also good, but I don't have much experience beyond Quicksilver.

You should want your PC to behave in the best possible way regardless of OS.

 

[Mr.WorldWide]

I have tried Launchy, I attempted to launch any of the Civ 4 complete collection - it didn't work.
Terrible program, it constantly sucked resources in it's never-ending indexing process.

Yeah I know a lot of ppl like and use it but I don't have any faith in a launcher which fails to recognize a mainstream game like Civ 4 out of the box. Makes you wonder what other blind spots it has.

 

[Mise]

Presumably because it's a Steam game? I wouldn't expect it to launch Steam games.

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

Well as of today MSN seems to be dead.

RIP MSN Messenger you will be missed.

 

[God of Kings]

At least there is still Skype, which is owned by Microsoft.

 

[Mr.WorldWide]

Presumably because it's a Steam game? I wouldn't expect it to launch Steam games.

hoho, no. It's the 2009 DRM free DVD Civ 4 complete boxset.

Steam free FTW!

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

At least there is still Skype, which is owned by Microsoft.

I hate Skype. The IMing feature is just lacking in features that MSN had. I also do not care about voice or video chatting. Another mistake by Microsoft was to get rid of MSN because Skype sucks. If Microsoft has DRM on the Xbox 720 then I will not buy it. Microsoft is making one mistake after another. While they can still recover at this point they could be in trouble if they keep going down this road.

 

[Mr.WorldWide]

From a discussion I had on another forum about Windows 8...

I have over 100 programs installed on my Vista laptop, including several games ofc. Similar to what (another forum user) pointed out, I don't remember the names of each and every one of those programs, hence the type-to-launch doesn't work as well for me.

I can put up with the touch centric start screen, the thing I really do not like about Windows 8 is the direction MS is blatantly headed, in which we see far more closed PC environment. Sure the tech savvy user can easily break out of MS's walled garden, but your average user has essentially been boxed in by a cavalcade of MS services such as Xbox music/video/games, skydrive, Skype, bing, etc. All of which are screaming "buy now" at the user.

The only place to get 'apps' for the start screen are in the Windows Store which has the potential to be abused due to the fact that only the 'apps' MS okays appear in their store. Thanks in part to Windows 8 and the iPhone/Pad, I only see the internet becoming a less free and more expensive place to spend time in.

So can Win8 be saved? I honestly don't think it needs saving. History shows users don't mind giving away certain freedoms if they can get something for cheaper or faster. MS spotted a user trend and exploited it in a similar fashion to Valve did with Steam. In the end we have only ourselves to blame for this wreck, ppl need to stop encouraging online micro-transactions.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Im pretty good at remembering program names.

Once in a while I forget, so I end up resorting to this. (Note that I remove all the cruft like uninstallers and readmes, etc...)

Spoiler :

Its the times I forget the program name that would make the start screen clunky for me.

 

[Mr.WorldWide]

That is one well organized start menu.

But the only thing worse then my mess of folders in the start menu is the mess of folders + files in the start screen's 'all apps' page(?).

 

[Mise]

I often forget what programmes I have installed -- not their names, but actually whether I've installed the programme. Sometimes I wonder if I have a programme that converts sound files or creates animated gifs, but it's so damn hard to filter through 100 start menu folders that give me basically no clue as to what the program actually is or does (null soft? jasc? roxio?).

What I really want is to just never have to install software in the first place. This is why I like the idea of cloud-based software. I can just type into google "make an animated gif" and it takes me to a thing that allows me to snip video files into animated gifs. That's the dream. I just want a thing that does that, and right now, the closest thing to it is "type to search", not "hunt through folders".

The direction it's taking is certainly the right one, even though it's not 100% there yet.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

That is one well organized start menu.

But the only thing worse then my mess of folders in the start menu is the mess of folders + files in the start screen's 'all apps' page(?).

Almost second nature to me, at this point. The annoying thing is the all users/per-user thing, as you end up rearranging the icons twice. Also when some programs update they insist on replacing the start menu icons I'd already sorted.

I often forget what programmes I have installed -- not their names, but actually whether I've installed the programme. Sometimes I wonder if I have a programme that converts sound files or creates animated gifs, but it's so damn hard to filter through 100 start menu folders that give me basically no clue as to what the program actually is or does (null soft? jasc? roxio?).

What I really want is to just never have to install software in the first place. This is why I like the idea of cloud-based software. I can just type into google "make an animated gif" and it takes me to a thing that allows me to snip video files into animated gifs. That's the dream. I just want a thing that does that, and right now, the closest thing to it is "type to search", not "hunt through folders".

The direction it's taking is certainly the right one, even though it's not 100% there yet.

I'm not a fan of cloud-based software as ... well, if something goes wrong between here and there, or there, you're left stranded, and let me tell you, when internet goes wrong, doing something like converting binary by hand isn't much fun. As for the no-install, I'm a bit of a fan of portable software -- ones you can pack up and move to almost any compatible machine with all user settings and etc. intact.

 

[Mise]

Well I would be happy with, say, applet-based software. The heavy lifting doesn't have to be done server-side, nor does the storage.

 

[Mr.WorldWide]

Well I would be happy with, say, applet-based software. The heavy lifting doesn't have to be done server-side, nor does the storage.

That's very inefficient, why dl the same program every time you load it when instead you could have it installed locally on your super fast SSD? Wasting bandwidth and congesting the internet may be your dream user experience but it's sure not mine.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

For some people, bandwidth is cheap and quick. Not so much for other people.

 

[Mise]

Yes, I have a modern internet connection. I realise some people don't. I'm not worried about "congesting" the internet.

Sent from a phone, apols for any mistakes.

 

[Mr.WorldWide]

Yes, I have a modern internet connection. I realise some people don't. I'm not worried about "congesting" the internet.

Sent from a phone, apols for any mistakes.

Define modern. Satellite broadband isn't modern?

Internet congestion isn't currently a problem but could become one if ppl like you insist on using it for running every application or streaming games when you could very well instead run those programs locally.