Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

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ChaosBringer
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by ChaosBringer »

OpenSuse 11. Look at the screenies for this month :)
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AdamR
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by AdamR »

ChaosBringer wrote:To me, W7 looks a lot like KDE and Macintosh....They should innovate, not copy.
You should really follow the work of Microsoft Research, sometime. ;)

You're looking only at the taskbar. It's a little thicker. Icons are a bit larger. It copied KDE and OS X, therefore. That's your argument. If you want to be technical, it went all the way back to 1987 on RISC based systems. But Microsoft pioneered the taskbar in Windows 95, a fantastic method of mulitasking and task switching, and truely made it what it's become today.

Did you ever consider the fact that GNOME and KDE have actually copied Microsoft for years? Apple copied Microsoft with application stacking in the dock. It's more "sophisticated" since it fans out in a beautifully animated curve fashion, but it's exactly the same idea. ;)

The taskbar has already been innovated. Everything from that innovation on forward is simply a variation and improvement on the same idea.

My overall argument, however, is that innovation is subjective. There's very few "new" ideas left out there and most new features will simply be variations on old ideas and concepts. Apple innovates. The Linux community innovates. Microsoft innovates. On the other side of the coin, Apple copies, the Linux community copies, and Microsoft copies. But the key factor here is that typically when someone copies, an addition to the feature which increases functionality is also present, thus evolving technology.

It's a key part of technology progression. And it's also one of the reasons software patents are evil because it causes too many people to start pointing fingers screaming "you copied my idea" rather than, "yes, I innovated this idea, but good gosh you added some pretty nice features to it."
Windows 7 will probably be looked at as a God-sent because of the low expectations Vista set. If you release something very sh*tty and the next thing you release is better than it will look MUCH better when you compare it.
I'll be the first to admit Vista had its problems. That being said, the overwhelming majority of bad reputation that it's received is undeserved. Most of these "problems" everyone hears about are actually a result of horrible OEM programs pre-installed with machines, or Vista being installed on sub-par hardware, or old hardware that was designed with XP in mind, and Vista drivers were just a second thought.

Microsoft has been forced into a position where they have to "admit" that Vista was a mistake. They can't explain to people about audio, network, graphics, and security stacks built into the kernel which provide significantly more compatibility, stability, and security, because the average user won't understand what you're saying halfway into a sentence. It's too technical. As soon as they start passing the blame to OEMs like HP, Sony, and Dell (which is, in truth, where most of the problems have come from), they start looking like they're just making excuses and lose even more reputation because the public has convinced themselves (with the help of the popular commercials from a competitor which spread even more fears and lies) that Vista is a horrible product.

So they're forced into a situation where they have to admit defeat, eat the cost, apologize for a ton of crap that really isn't their fault (again, don't get me wrong, there were a lot of issues with Vista), and tell the public "We'll do better next time."

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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by 3Di »

AdamR wrote:But Microsoft pioneered the taskbar in Windows 95, a fantastic method of mulitasking and task switching
If my memory serves well Commodore Amiga TM it was the first implemented a multi-tasking & task-switching environment (see: OS) for end users, using a poor Motorola 68000 with only 256kb RAM (Amiga 1000) and 4096 colors.
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AdamR
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by AdamR »

3Di wrote:
AdamR wrote:But Microsoft pioneered the taskbar in Windows 95, a fantastic method of mulitasking and task switching
If my memory serves well Commodore Amiga TM it was the first implemented a multi-tasking & task-switching environment (see: OS) for end users, using a poor Motorola 68000 with only 256kb RAM (Amiga 1000) and 4096 colors.
In reference to an actual taskbar:
AdamR wrote:If you want to be technical, it went all the way back to 1987 on RISC based systems.
I wasn't talking about the whole concept of multitasking. Command line OS's going all the way back into the 60's incorporated ideas of multitasking.
AdamR wrote:But Microsoft pioneered the taskbar in Windows 95, a fantastic method of mulitasking and task switching, and truely made it what it's become today.
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by 3Di »

That's ok now, I mis-read those bits. Thx. :)
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by SamG »

AdamR wrote:But Microsoft pioneered the taskbar in Windows 95, a fantastic method of mulitasking and task switching, and truely made it what it's become today.
It would have been interesting to see what would have happened to OS/2 had Windows 3 sales/OEM installations taken a different course than they did. Windows 95 might never have existed, and a Microsoft/IBM alliance could have done some very interesting things -- if OS/2 itself was any indication.
We should talk less, and say more.
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by symbolicpixel »

I noticed on Microsoft's website that they completely changed the look of the taskbar - like most Linux builds almost. At least one thing I did notice was the time and date, and the way it was laid out.
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DarkGod
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by DarkGod »

symbolicpixel wrote:I noticed on Microsoft's website that they completely changed the look of the taskbar - like most Linux builds almost. At least one thing I did notice was the time and date, and the way it was laid out.
I just looked at their site but couldn't find any recent pics. Could you post them, please?
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by symbolicpixel »

That link.
drugs wrote:I think they're still trying too hard on the looks.

http://windows7news.com/windows-7-screenshots/
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by DarkGod »

Oh, yes.

The taskbar is a bit too high in my opinion. I liked it where it was just a bit below the level of the Windows start button. And the Quick Launch icons are huge. I hope they change those things. It looks like a new Media Player might come out for it too. The calculator looks better. Paint and WordPad will be prettier as well.

Does anyone know if it's going to be sold with Internet Explorer 8 built in?

... looks like a possible no: http://windows7news.com/windows-7-scree ... chment/69/

Looks like a yes.
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by Double_J »

DarkGod wrote:And the Quick Launch icons are huge. I hope they change those things.
Windows 7 will not feature a quicklaunch.

Rather then that you can attach shortcuts to your entire taskbar which operate the same as as the active applications.

This youtube movie illustrates how the shortcuts and applications now work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipg6ltIZRw0
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Nicholas the Italian
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by Nicholas the Italian »

Wow... if they don't mess things up now, Windows 7 is going to be a damn good O/S.
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by god0fgod »

I hope they fail and fall into a black hole they have steped towards since vista. To see Microsoft make a devastating fall would put a smile on my face.
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by 3Di »

god0fgod wrote:I hope they fail and fall into a black hole they have steped towards since vista. To see Microsoft make a devastating fall would put a smile on my face.
:lol: thanks for the laugh.. 8-)
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god0fgod
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Re: Windows 7 is behind you! Yawnn...

Post by god0fgod »

Don't laugh. It was a serious comment. :D
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