
Microsoft begins work on its 2020 Windows releases in new preview - rbanffy
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/02/latest-windows-preview-build-skips-all-the-way-to-a-2020-release/
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fxfan
The biggest problem with Microsoft is them not sticking to their strength. I
was an avid fanboy till Windows 7. This was an OS that could cater to power
users- keyboard shortcuts, powershell (shitty console but anyway).

They started running after the touch segment and deliberately removed the
keyboard interface. They didn't get the app-buyers and the keyboard people
(like me) probably left them.

Linux is mature now, onedrive has replacements and I can use the web-interface
of onenote or the full interface with dual-booting. So I don't need Windows as
a developer anymore.

I know Satya Nadella directly or indirectly monitors this board and I know
this wasn't his doing but remember when Mr ballmer (the same guy who let this
stupidity happen) chanted developers, it was for a reason- if you don't cater
to power users and developers your platform will not see apps and then you
lose regular users too.

I say this personally too- I had a Windows specific app Idea that I had to
drop because Windows was unusable for me. I know MS gets a lot of 'hate' and
irresponsible advice so they probably just ignore most so called suggestions
but I am being honest, I really want to use Windows, I genuinely think that
Macs are overrated and Linux has an app problem- but I cannot. I can offer one
terse advice- don't force stuff on people. Give them options. That was
Windows's biggest strenght

~~~
mehrdadn
> They started running after the touch segment and deliberately removed the
> keyboard interface. They didn't get the app-buyers and the keyboard people
> (like me) probably left them.

I get that for ordinary users it's a dealbreaker, but I never understood this
complaint about the Windows 8 touch UI from power users or developers. It
takes maybe 5 minutes to download and install Classic Shell and suddenly you
have a classic UI that lets you forget the new Windows 8 UI ever existed.
Otherwise the OS itself was quite better than Windows 7. How that UI change
makes it such a dealbreaker just makes no sense to me. If you'd complained
about your Linux kernel they'd have just said boo-hoo and told you to go
compile your kernel to your liking... but now when it's Windows's turn
suddenly the start screen is a showstopper for the whole OS you were such a
fan of?

~~~
r3bl
To shutdown Windows 8 (not 8.1), you had to swipe from the right to bring up
the "charms" thing and that's where the shutdown option was.

I remember myself having to search for "how to shutdown Windows 8" and feeling
like a moron because I really couldn't figure it out on my own.

~~~
sbr464
I agree. It’s been a while, but using OG Windows, you’d open start, then ctrl
+ u or similar (it’s been a while), and you could restart without touching the
mouse. I couldn’t figure how to do it (if possible) in win 10.

~~~
emptyfile
Alt + F4 ... been the same for a long time

~~~
sbr464
Oh, I remember what it was:

On newer laptops, you typically have to press a function key to activate f4
(by default). On a thinkpad carbon/dell xps 13 those keys are a bit finicky,
especially if used to a mac key layout.

In previous windows versions you could press the dedicated windows button then
press "u" and the shutdown dialog would open.

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ascar
The single biggest change I hope for, is Windows not forcing my computer to
reboot for an update. It's kind of acceptable forcing me to update when I
reboot myself, but rebooting for me is just a no-go. Especially as it just
gets stuck at my BIOS password and keeps the computer on all night.

I know I won't get that wish fulfilled.

~~~
GordonS
I don't know if this is perhaps different for the Enterprise edition?

I use the Enterprise edition, and while it asks me if I want to reboot to
update from time to time, I don't remember it ever _forcing_ a reboot - which
is just as well, as I tend to go weeks without rebooting (I just put it to
sleep when I'm done, so I can resume the next day).

BTW, if anyone reading this thinks Enterprise edition is only available for
large corporations, it's not - you get something like 5 licenses with the
Microsoft Action Pack, which is _incredible_ value for what you get.

~~~
Macha
Yes, on Home you have to pick a (12 now? Used to be 16) hour window as not
being your active time during which time the OS will just inform you it's
rebooting for updates and you don't get a choice. Pro used to be the same, but
it hasn't bothered me about in a while so it may have been removed

~~~
GordonS
Hmm, you get to pick a window on Enterprise too, but while it will remind you
from time to time, I haven't had it force a reboot.

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PunksATawnyFill
Great. Did they bring back the color-scheme editor?

Now that everyone is (30+ years later) finally realizing that inverse-video
color schemes are dumb... Microsoft REMOVED the color-scheme editor from
Windows. WTF?

~~~
vezycash
I work using a TV screen from a distance to protect my eyes.

Microsoft pissed me off when they removed the ability to selectively increase
font-size of elements like context menus, labels, content / message boxes...
Without this, I'd have to zoom everything - font, and icons - pixelated and
ugly!

Now I'm forced to use winaero tweaker which doesn't allow all the changes I
could in Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and earlier versions of Win 10.

~~~
craftyguy
> I work using a TV screen from a distance to protect my eyes.

Out of pure curiosity, how does that protect your eyes? And from what?

~~~
bicubic
It doesn't. Eye fatigue is caused by being focused on the same depth for
prolonged periods of time. That fixed depth being slightly closer or further
away changes very little.

Having a habit of regularly looking away from your monitor and focusing on a
distant object negates it. When doing prolonged microscopy work, we were
trained to take a break every 30 min and focus on something very close, then
focus on something far, back and forth, several times.

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Dahoon
Unless I can install a tiny core and decide myself what modules I need I'm not
at all interested in a new Windows. Look at that huge list of services it
installs (and often runs!).

Bloaty McBloatface.

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antisthenes
I'll stick with Windows 7, thanks.

The last OS that doesn't try to babysit me.

~~~
stewbrew
I get this argument from my father in law too so I don't take it as a joke. He
had used XP until 1-2 years ago and doesn't care about the security risks of
an unmaintained os.

~~~
Jonnax
Some people only learn through consequence.

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Theodores
Windows was once quite exciting, it punched above its weight and enabled
people to do stuff that they didn't know they wanted to do but were grateful
for it.

This energy is now in the browser with Chrome being where the innovation is
at.

Microsoft can do whatever they like with their venerable operating system but
the days of it being exciting and newsworthy are over. The fun is elsewhere
and they have missed the boat with mobile and the internet browser.

I know you can do development on Windows but I only see Apple things at those
conferences and in meeting rooms.

Personally I prefer linux and will never believe that the Windows file system
will be performant enough to be better than linux, not that this matters for
everything but it does if dealing with data. And there is no way for them to
fix that due to legacy issues. Decades ago they were going to make a file
system more like a cool relational database, that dream died too.

~~~
jayd16
>I know you can do development on Windows but I only see Apple things at those
conferences and in meeting rooms.

That's just biased to macbook pros. I might be biased because I work in gaming
but windows workstations are pretty great and getting better. Meanwhile,
dealing with Apple's increasing anti-professional hardware offering is getting
worse every year.

~~~
ascar
I thought the same thing. It's also very biased towards developers.

The biggest market is not developers and power users. It's office workers,
which need email and office, and it's PC gamers and VR enthusiasts that need
powerful hardware. Both of these markets are heavily Windows dominated,
because it just works better than Linux and Apple. (because Apple has shitty
hardware for games and is way more expensive for office usecases)

The casual market is already in the hands of smartphones and maybe tablets.
They don't need a laptop to surf the internet, write emails and play casual
games.

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jinushaun
Don’t bother reading TFA. It’s spends a thousand words to tell you that Skip
Ahead users are surprisingly getting 2020 H1 Windows, instead of 2019 H2
Windows as expected.

No mention of what those features are.

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craigsmansion
"Windows 20-20, codenamed "hindsight", will be the first truly open-sourced
release of the Windows operating system.

According to the company's CEO Nadella: "Ads and telemetry? Forced upgrades?
In an OS? I really don't know what we were thinking at that time. We're
sorry." and proceeded to add "Except for candy crush. The bright colors really
soothe my nerves when I'm coming down from, uhm, executive decision making."

