Windows 8 preview now available...

[wodin]

The US Federal Government (at least the DoD) banned all forms of non-encrypted removable media years ago, citing security considerations and they’re being a vector for malware. A great deal of wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued, saying “We can’t live without our thumb drives!”

Guess what, we adapted. Much can be done with email attachments, SharePoint, cloud storage and shared folders; but it all depends on Ethernet. No network, no work! Very little happens on the local machine.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by wodin

The US Federal Government (at least the DoD) banned all forms of non-encrypted removable media years ago, citing security considerations and they’re being a vector for malware. A great deal of wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued, saying “We can’t live without our thumb drives!”

Guess what, we adapted. Much can be done with email attachments, SharePoint, cloud storage and shared folders; but it all depends on Ethernet. No network, no work! Very little happens on the local machine.

And the point I was trying to make is that solution doesn't work for everyone. It's all well and good in an environment that has been deliberately designed for working without removable media. A single home user who does all their work on a local machine and relies on removable media for backup and file transport, still needs support for that removable media.

I would hardly call the US Department of Defense a normal/average computer user.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by AndrewH

Windows 7 only came out three years ago. Why do we need a new version already?

If I didn't have to use Windows for certain applications, I'd toss it in a second and use some flavor of Linux or BSD.

Well, I did it, 4 years ago.

I only use Ubuntu or Mac at home. The only time I use Windows is at work because Ironically, I am a MS-SQL DBA, which only runs on Windows Os.

If you don't play games, there is little or no reason to keep using Windows, trust me.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

And the point I was trying to make is that solution doesn't work for everyone. It's all well and good in an environment that has been deliberately designed for working without removable media. A single home user who does all their work on a local machine and relies on removable media for backup and file transport, still needs support for that removable media.

I would hardly call the US Department of Defense a normal/average computer user.

And the point I was trying to make is that there are nearly always workarounds; but I do agree, removable media support is an important feature for nearly all consumer computing devices. To the point of being a deal breaker most of the time; I can live without it, but I chose not to!

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by wodin

And the point I was trying to make is that there are nearly always workarounds

And we're in full agreement on that. I suspect we also agree that using workarounds unless we absolutely have to is more of a hassle than it's worth.

[hn333]

Originally Posted by wodin

The US Federal Government (at least the DoD) banned all forms of non-encrypted removable media years ago, citing security considerations and they’re being a vector for malware. A great deal of wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued, saying “We can’t live without our thumb drives!”

Guess what, we adapted. Much can be done with email attachments, SharePoint, cloud storage and shared folders; but it all depends on Ethernet. No network, no work! Very little happens on the local machine.

[VaporPunk]

Some more "news" concerning Win 8.

Speaking for myself, I'm with Belfaborac here, I would never use an OS at home that didn't allow for removable storage.

Since JoCampo mantioned games, do any of you all who've played with Win8 have any experiences to share re: gaming on the new OS?

[ebusinesstutor]

Originally Posted by AndrewH

Windows 7 only came out three years ago. Why do we need a new version already?

If I didn't have to use Windows for certain applications, I'd toss it in a second and use some flavor of Linux or BSD.

3 years is about the norm for windows:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/history

MS-DOS: 1975 (7 years)
Windows 1.0 - 1982 (4 years)
Windows 2.0-2.11: 1987 (3 years)
Windows 3.0/NT: 1990 (4 years)
Windows 95: 1995 (5 years)
Windows 98: 1998 (3 years)
Windows ME: 1 year
Windows 2000: 2 years
Windows XP: 2001 (1 year)
Windows Vista: 2006 (5 years)
Windows 7: 2009 (3 years)

They always need something new for us to buy!

[Belfaborac]

Originally Posted by VaporPunk

Since JoCampo mantioned games, do any of you all who've played with Win8 have any experiences to share re: gaming on the new OS?

Obviously I've no direct experience, but from what's been mentioned about gaming in the tests I've read of Win8 it seems to perform as well or perhaps even better. I've yet to come across any horror stories, but then my readings on the subject are anything but exhaustive. That said, I can't see Microsoft not doing their damnedest to make sure 8 does games as well as, or better than 7.

[David Munch]

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

3 years is about the norm for windows:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/history

*Snip*

They always need something new for us to buy!

One could assume that Microsoft is going to go for smaller time windows, in order to come around the behemoth projects that each Windows version is. The development of Windows Vista was a project that got out of hand, hence the 5 years of development and they definitely don't want that again. The small time frames with smaller updates seems to work okay for Apple.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Windows 9 after 2 years.

[teh603]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

Of course you do. There's no way in hell that I would rely on cloud storage of anything, nor would I ever consider buying an OS or a device which doesn't support removable media.

Cloud storage is only as good as your provider's TOS. How many of them have a clause buried in there that says, "Its your data until we can make a profit off of it, then it becomes our data"? Or how many of them could hold your data hostage if you try to migrate to a different cloud provider?

Cloud computing isn't the future unless your idea of the future is Neuromancer.

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

.................................................. ...They always need something new for us to buy!

They haven't had much success in geting my hard-earned mazooma - we're still running XP3 !

[VaporPunk]

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

They haven't had much success in geting my hard-earned mazooma - we're still running XP3 !

You and a lot of others, as in gazillions. XP is/was a good OS and while I like 7, the first thing I did was make it look as much as possible like XP.

[VaporPunk]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

Obviously I've no direct experience, but from what's been mentioned about gaming in the tests I've read of Win8 it seems to perform as well or perhaps even better. I've yet to come across any horror stories, but then my readings on the subject are anything but exhaustive. That said, I can't see Microsoft not doing their damnedest to make sure 8 does games as well as, or better than 7.

I had a mixed experience trying to run legacy games on 7, something I rarely encountered with XP. Still, games designed for 7 run well, no complaints and far less time spent getting things to run properly/optimized.

[Belfaborac]

Mixed experience here too. I have a few golden oldies I'd love to be able to run under Win7, but which plain refuses either to run, or to run with any kind of stability. Still, if I was really bothered I could dual boot with WinXP, but I'm not, so I don't. Too much hassle for a couple of games, even if I loved them dearly back then.