Oof
Comment on [deleted]
magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 1 month agoCounter counterpoint: Windows back then was Windows 8.
TachyonTele@piefed.social 1 month ago
protist@mander.xyz 1 month ago
Counter counter counterpoint: Nothing stopped anyone from continuing to use Windows 7
Scubus@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Counter point: uh, yeah they did? A couple years after windows 8 came out they stopped supporting windows xp and 7. Afaik they dont support the latest versions of directx either, so there is literally no way way to run a modern game on anything prior to windows 8. Even windows 8 is no longer supported, meaning it doesnt get new antivirus updates and merely connecting it to the internet is a security risk for the device and the home network. Theres a reason you can right click on any program and select “run in compatibility mode” for legacy systems. And most of the time that compatability mode doesnt work either.
Could be wrong on any of this, im on a computer scientist as a hobby. Feel free to correct me and ill update or delete the post.
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Support for Windows 7 (SP1) was not pulled until January of 2020 for ordinary users. Extended support contracts ran until 2023.
For reference, Windows 10 came out in 2015. Users could, and absolutely did, completely skip Windows 8 entirely. Windows 7 was supported throughout essentially all of 8’s viable lifecycle because nobody wanted to use 8, and five additional years into Win10’s lifecycle.
Fedizen@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I think windows 8 got more hate than it deserved. Having cross platform metro apps was a genuinely good idea. Smaller OS size was a genuinely good idea.
Windows store and a bunch of changes to settings menus fucked it up along with questionable aesthetic changes.
magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 1 month ago
Removing the start button was a bad idea.
It had an interface that was supposed to be compatible with desktop and tablets at the same time, and as a result it wasn’t good at either.
The power off button was hidden behind the settings menu, which in turn was hidden behind some corner gesture menu. They seem to have taken the wrong lessons from Vim.
Eventually the worst things were fixed with 8.1, but that was too late to repair the reputation.
Asetru@feddit.org 1 month ago
Actually, the first iteration of that interface was Windows Phone 7 and it was pretty terrific.
AnarchoSnowPlow@midwest.social 1 month ago
The problem with windows 8 is that with the initial release they wanted everything to be a mobile OS, even your desktop.
“Metro Design” lol
But it seemed decent for tablets and phones.
CIA_chatbot@lemmy.world 1 month ago
It was actually pretty great for phones, but in true MS fashion they fucked that all up
altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
The idea of unified interface layout itself wasn’t bad, that’s the implementation. It felt like they both didn’t have people testing desktop UI at all and didn’t have any idea how to leverage that idea on a desktop.
Things they could do:
Let it be an ecosystem where every new Windows device can be an opportunity multiplier. Like how KDE Connect makes my phone a media remote or a mouse+kb, and my PC a handler of recent photos I took with my phone today, no cloud involved. With their huge marketshare they could’ve pushed anything they wanted onto hardware producers as a demand and put Apple out of game entirely.
Instead, we had horizontal scroll in Start menu, fullscreen Calc app, no third party desktop app bothering with Metro interface, everything being like a worse Win7 and the only living reminder of Metro phase ever existing being rectangular squares in w10 Start, now retired for MacOS copycat. GG WP M$. It could’ve been your turning point going into smartphone age, but you had too much money and yesmen to care.