Did Microsoft put the nail in the consumer grade desktop coffin?

I'm willing to bet Money that Windows 9, will go back to real windows. I don't know ANYONE that likes Windows 8. I'm perfectly fine with my 4 year old Windows 7 laptop running as good as better than it did when I bought it.

 

It's amazing, though you know you can still use Gnome desktop in Ubuntu right? You don't have to use Unity if you don't want to. It's just the desktop it comes installed with that's all.

I've actually got Linux mint setup to look like OSX on my laptop with a launcher across the bottom with all my handy shortcuts and a similar blue theme for the icons ect, though I haven't gone as far as to clone the look of the windows ect from OSX, just added some OSX tinsel since I've always liked the look of it, just never liked the locked up "do it our way or not at all, we know what's best for you" mentality of apple. Though I have to hand it to them, if anything ever goes wrong with an apple product it's usually the hardware since the software us UNIX based similar to Linux (for those who didn't know).

I've also got it on my main rig as well with the standard green theme and it really is a gorgeous OS, never skipped a beat or crashed on me. On the other hand windows (7) blue screens daily on the same rig.

I would say it's about preference since Linux Mint is just Ubuntu simplified and customised to look nice. I've got them both running side by side (Ubuntu on my netbook, Mint on my stack and laptop) and I prefer Mint.

The main annoyance with Linux is there are 50 million different versions of it, and 10 million different variances of each version. I'm using Mint 14 Nadia (MATE desktop).

 

ontop of this there's the other varients of ubuntu without unity preinstalled. eg Kubuntu - KDE, Xubuntu - XFCE, Lubuntu - LXDE etc

i prefer KDE and XFCE.

 

I might be weird, but I like unity now (used not ot like it). With some shortcuts to swivel windows and change workspace, it's acutally pretty efficient! Hit widows button, type gi<enter> and you're into gimp!

 

I never liked KDE since when I first tried it in 2003 and it ran like shit compared to gnome on my old laptop, though I'm sure it's come on in leaps and bounds since then. I just can't be arsed trying it at the moment because gnome suits my needs perfectly and I don't want to have to get used to all it's little nuances and quirks.

As for Unity, yeah I'm actually quite partial to it myself now as well, I hated the look of it at first but it's really grown on me now and that's what I use. As family guy said, I use the exact same method he does for opening and finding stuff and it's all there when you hit the windows key. Though the exact same method can be used with Mint, hit the windows key and type then the program will pop up - same method I use in windows as well.

 

i liked gnome 2 but don't like the current incarnation something just not right with it, unity is usable but has some of the issues windows 8 has with productivity, multi tasking and window managment, especially in applications that use multiple windows.

im not a fan of keyboard shortcuts, and dont like unity's search function eg having to type to find an application or file.

some people like it though. i'd like it to be there as an option but not be forced to use it. preferring start menu / gnome 2 style menu system and traditional desktop and taskbar

 

I can see where you're coming from definitely. I've installed Gnome Classic desktop on Ubuntu and can boot into that whenever in a seperate or individual session, and that provides the task bar and start menu style as before Unity came along.

I use Unity 2D mostly because it's a more gentle on the Atom processor, I also have a slightly customised Kernel with Atom optimisations and some of the other extra fat cut out of the system - again, to make it lighter. And it really does run like a treat on a system with 1.6Ghz processor and 1GB of RAM, surprisingly nimble.

 

How much money? I'm running Windows 8 on my 5 year old laptop that came with Vista. I ran Windows 7 for years and 8 is no worse. I don't miss the start menu & wouldn't install one of those start menu replacements. If I don't have the app on the task bar or desktop then I use Windows-Q to find it.

Windows 8 is real windows. If you just mean the removal of the Start Menu, it took them 10 years to add it and then 17 years to remove it. So if Microsoft don't add it back for another 8 years then versions with the Start Menu will be in the minority. If the Windows Blue leaked screenshots have anything to go by then it seems very likely to happen.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57576008-75/windows-blue-leak-shows-changes-large-and-small/

 

i have had windows 8 on my laptop for a few weeks now and i quite like it, pretty much the same as Windows 7 but the start menu is replaced with the titles, each tile is a shortcut, once i accepted that i have had no problems, you can also drop back to the original desktop environment any time you want with the click of a button so you are back in a familiar setting again but lacking the start menu, but really its not a problem as the start menu only used to get cluttered up anyway, its very straight forward to pin and unpin apps from the new tile interface

its not great but its not the worst thing i have used, i imagine its much easier on a touch screen device which my laptop definitely isnt

 

I wouldn't say they put the nail in the coffin just yet, they always tend to make a mess of things now again only to correct them later. And if they want to keep their customers, they must! Instead of doing away with the start button/menu completely, they should have made it optional. Especially for those of us that spend far more time with desktops than tablets. Thank goodness for Classic Shell, it's the only reason why I haven't replaced Win8 with Linux just yet.

 

I like how SuperGrafx was all... "Nobody uses Linux apart from schools and hackers.", yet almost everyone here has used or is currently using Linux in some manner. Despite the classic stereotype, Linux has come a long way for desktop users. Heck, even Steam is available now for Linux.

And this is totally ignoring the fact that the lion share of all smartphones are currently running Linux.

 

Android is Linux based but I wouldn't say I'm a Linux user because of my phone. I have used Linux but typically I use it strictly to do data recovery/testing or using a few tools that aren't available elsewhere. I can't justify the time spent on the learning curve and I'd have to dual boot with reboots at least once a day at this point.

 

my desktop is running ubuntu 13.04(dev) with unity i really like it now, it's very easy to use. i had windows 8 running on it for a period of time,
i didint like it really but, i liked the desktop theme way more then the boring vista like theme from windows 7.
i'm also no "hacker" or "programmer", i just like ubuntu because it's way more faster then windows.

my laptop is running windows 7 mainly for skype, as the linux version isnt really good(no libapp-indicator support), but also if i need windows in the future for something.

 

Unity and windows 8 are trying to be like mac OS and Facebook, they want you to like "their basic" setup, with very little options on customization right out of the box. I removed unity, buy using the get to install gnome. Set the "close, minimize maximize" buttons to Redmond(Microsoft style) , and everything worked a treat. I also made an image of my install that I can install on any of my computers. So I keep all of my personalized settings. I might convert my normal win7 PC over if Star craft 2 comes out for Linux.

 

The irony of unity was that the canonical idiots said its meant to make ubuntu more accessible, with the founder saying they dont want to please power users

Fucking idiot, who he thinks install ubuntu if not power users? the guy who is still using IE6? and besides unity is way more difficult for non-pros since they are used to icons and a taskbar, while unity has the worst launcher in history combined with as slow as frozen shit "dash", really user friendly...

I would rip MS a new one but I think what ubuntu is doing is an even bigger fuckup than Win8.

I think tablets and all the idiots trying to get into the goldrush killed desktops. We have gone backwards in terms of usability since tablets are extremely limited compared to PCs. My dad isnt a power user but he needs a PC for work and not for dicking around in youtube so for him tablets suck since he can't do any actual work in them without big compromises to functionality.

 

Tablets will never replace full-fledged desktops/laptops. Period.

 

More money than I have. Microsoft is in alot of Trouble. Windows 8, is failing. You can't deny it's failing NOBODY outside of maybe you likes Windows 8. Microsoft will do well to listen to the consumers they're alienating by making changes that nobody wants. That goes for windows, tablets, asking inventors to make better condoms, XBOX Ect.

Start Button will return, or Linux will be on an upswing.

 

I already have lots of things in my house running Linux or Linux/UNIX derivatives:
2 asus transformers
both mine and my wife's cell
daughter's Nabi 2 tablet and old Samsung Galaxy phone(great for portable gaming)
JXD s601 and 602
3 raspberry pis
My linux rig for programming(an old dell mini 9 with ubuntu 12)
Daughters PC (a locked down pentium dual core that can only access disney JR)
Boxee Box
ROKU?
Old HTC G2 phone running as a media server in my car

Windows:
My fileserver/multitasking machine/gaming rig/dev machine
My wifes laptop for school(academia cannot help making websites only compatible with IE)


Only a few years back I had more windows machines ffended:

 

i wouldnt say Microsoft are in trouble really, Windows 8 is selling (OEM ensures this) just maybe not at the rate they would like

people are going for tablets rather than laptops these days and MS knows this, hence the surface tablets they have been marketing (which arent half bad)

Most of Microsoft's money is made by selling Windows and Office to business users and not your general home user, as long as they keep them happy then i cant see them getting into too much trouble

I allow people to pick what OS they want if i order them new equipment at work, i couldnt care less what they use as my job requires me to support them all anyway, I can setup a Windows 8 machine in roughly the same time as a Windows 7 machine and apart from the first 30 second shock at no start menu they soon get to grips with it

 

I really don't think Microsoft are in danger of killing their business any time soon, as was the case with Vista, people will probably stick with 7 until a better version of 8 comes along, I can't see the vast majority of their customers switching to Linux at all, most people whom I've spoken to who use a computer but aren't geeks have never heard of Linux. The ones that have heard about Linux have this idea it's some uber nerd/hacker OS which would be impossible to learn.

Ironic since most of them are already using it pretty much in the form of OSX, and seem genuinely shocked when I mention that OSX is "made from the same stuff"...