Month: August 2012

.. it will be a real game changer for me.. Microsoft blocks Windows 8 Start button, boot-to-desktop hacks: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9230024/Microsoft_blocks_Windows_8_Start_button_boot_to_desktop_hacks?source=rss_latest_content&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+computerworld%2Fnews%2Ffeed+%28Latest+from+Computerworld%29 A short while back, I wrote that as long as there were 3rd party ‘fixes’ for the lack of a Start button and traditional menu system, Windows 8 would be ok, and most desktop users would be able to work with it. Microsoft are not seeing it that way. The company seems to be hell bent on making us work with a full screen menu system which does not allow for easy multi-tasking. If when I do the upgrade to Windows … Continue reading If this is true..

I was going to write about this yesterday, but the Euro reason for having to drop the name was not clear, so I deleted what I had written. My first thought was a clash with the Paris Metro. This is a stylish rapid transit underground system in Paris, but ‘stylish’ is not exactly a strongpoint of Microsoft’s Metro rapid access front end. Then I thought of the Austin Metro, a British car designed for rapid access around a city, not 100% reliable and prone to falling apart, so more than enough in common with Windows. I would never have considered … Continue reading No more Metro..

I was at a birthday dinner last week. Throughout the meal, there was healthy conversation back and forth across the table, but there was another conversation going on underneath the table too. No, it wasn’t the toddlers who could no longer sit still. Two of the younger adults were texting to each other, but surreptitiously. I didn’t agree with what they were doing, but was too fascinated at the speed of messages back and forth. Yes, I know that the language typed is a kind of shorthand, but to see thumbs moving so adeptly from one tiny key to another … Continue reading Mavis, we need a new tutor..

That is ‘Released To Manufacturing’ if you didn’t already know. A master of the complete Windows 8 is made and from that originates the DVD’s and  ISO’s. MSDN and TechNet will release the ISO’s on August 15th, and the OEM manufacturers will be busy customising their versions to include drivers and the usual mass of support material that you see these days for inclusion in new systems to go on sale from October 26th. It is going to be a busy time for many people. From June 21st, assuming that you bought a NEW computer from one of the major … Continue reading Windows 8 is RTM as Hotmail sings it’s swan song..