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This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
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Author
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Topic: Microsoft rumored to be preparing to make Windows 8.1 freeware
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Justin Silverstein
Film Handler
Posts: 10
From: Northport, NY, USA
Registered: Feb 2014
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posted 03-02-2014 12:32 AM
Hmm, that's odd. I run lots of old software on Win8 and I've never had a problem. Old versions of Adobe CS and such certainly work. My guess is, whatever the culprit of your compatibility issues may be, it's not the actual Windows 8 kernel. Perhaps you were running Win7 Ultimate 32-bit, and you've upgraded to Win8 64-bit? The transition from 32-bit to 64-bit can certainly hurt compatibility, but in that case you could just use Win8 32-bit and everything you have should run as it did before. Otherwise, if you were in fact on Win7 Ultimate 64-bit, my guess is you've got some driver conflict somewhere which is preventing the 32-bit subsystem from working, so that only recent 64-bit software will run. I sympathize, as these kinds of things happen and are nightmarish to figure out, but it's definitely a problem specific to your own setup, not Win8 per se.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 03-02-2014 02:32 AM
quote: Justin Silverstein
Hmm, that's odd. I run lots of old software on Win8 and I've never had a problem. Old versions of Adobe CS and such certainly work. My guess is, whatever the culprit of your compatibility issues may be, it's not the actual Windows 8 kernel.
No, it's only Windows. I haven't been doing anything to modify Windows. With Win8 if you want to run Adobe Creative Suite you have only two choices: run CS6 or Creative Cloud. There is no other alternative. Corel only works on Win8 at version X6. Our other apps, like Flexi, only work at their latest levels on Win8.
Microsoft changes up enough shit in their OS to force customers to buy upgrades to various 3rd party software suites they already own. Honestly, I feel Microsoft is doing this in some part to get customers on the hook with fucking Microsoft Office 365 subscriptions.
quote: Joe Redifer
Why aren't ALL versions of Windows 7 the "ultimate" edition? This just makes no sense and only complicates their market.
I couldn't answer that question. I am completely all in agreement that Microsoft should be selling only one "ultimate" version of the Windows OS. But knowing what sons of bitches MS can be, I figured getting their top end OS available at the time for my then new notebook computer would be the best thing for my interests. I don't regret my decision. Win 7 Ultimate on my Core i7 notebook has been working like a charm. No complaints. Very reliable. I just don't feel like spending money on a PC upgrade anytime soon.
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 03-02-2014 08:24 AM
For whatever it's worth, the boxed copy of Win7 ("Professional" version) is (was?) about $250. The $150 version is the "OEM" version, which is only supposed to be sold along with a newly built computer. In practice, most people just buy that with a hard disk or something that is sufficient for the retailer to call it a "computer." But, last time I looked, it was not legal to run the OEM version as a VM.
Agreed with Joe that there is little justification for having so many different versions of Windows. No one else does this. There really should just be one version or, at most, a desktop version and a server version (but, even then, the only justification for making the distinction is to charge more for the "server" version).
Agreed with Leo that making Windows "free" is sort of pointless, since relatively few people buy it off the shelf. If they do it, then it is probably a scheme to discourage large companies and government agencies from looking to other options (Linux, Mac, etc.).
At my current job (in the publishing industry) we have a bunch of Mac users. The operating system itself is fine (I am not hugely fond of the GUI shell). Apple is a miserable company to deal with from a corprate IT point of view, however. They are pretty much user-hostile as far as making it possible for people to repair their own computers (non-removable batteries, weird tri-wing or pentalobe screws, etc.). Worse, there is no public product "roadmap" and old products are discontinued when new products are announced (which is something that happens with no advance notice). The new products typically have no backwards compatibility with their old ones; this is not a problem for Aunt Millie at home, but is a major issue in a standardized corprate environment. Furthermore, it is difficult to order individual parts for Apple hardware and, unlike PC equivalents, most parts are nonstandard. Proprietary systems that are better than commodity systems are fine, but proprietary parts that are made that way for the sake of being proprietary is just silly. I can go out today and buy a quality ATX power supply that will work in pretty much any desktop PC for about $50-150. Good luck finding any such Mac equivalent locally.
Linux is great for certain applications (typically either simple single-purpose uses or for advanced users or for servers or embedded systems), but does not suit the typical semi-knowledgeable user well. The fragmentation among distributions and UIs does not help, nor does the historically limited hardware compability (no longer really an issue, but still a problem of perception). And I agree with Steve that software ported to Linux from other platforms is typically poorly QC'd before being released.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 03-02-2014 12:11 PM
quote: Steve Guttag
Bobby, while Win 7 Pro is about $25 more than Home...Ultimate is nearly double. What is so much better in Ultimate (as in I think I've seen maybe one or two PCs with Ultimate on it ever) as to be worth nearly double?
As far as I am aware, there are only two substantial functions that W7 Ultimate has but Professional does not: Bitlocker encryption (unnecessary, because if you want encryption, TrueCrypt is free and IMO better) and the ability to install multiple languages for the front end and swap between them quickly and easily.
I have only been in one situation in which that feature had any real-world use, which was when a German manufacturer of film scanners which are supplied bundled with a PC to receive the captured video sold one to a US customer. As delivered, Windows was set up in German (i.e. the button in the bottom left was "Eingang" instead of "Start", etc.), and because the version of Windows on it wsa Ultimate, we were able to change it to English quickly and easily. So I suppose Ultimate makes sense if you're in the business of selling computers with pre-installed Windows images to customers in different countries and with different language requirements. But I can't imagine any other situation in which you'd need it. Even if you can speak two languages, why would you want to keep changing the language of your operating system between them? As a private customer, I can't think of any situation in which I'd be willing to pay an extra $100 for this functionality.
quote: Chris Slycord
All of that is false. With 8.1, it introduces a start button (a windows icon/logo button where the old start menu button was). Clicking on said button brings up the metro screen.
I know that is the case at present, which is why I'm not interested in W8. My point is that if MS introduces a fully "classic" W8 front end for WIMP, i.e. non-touchscreen users (i.e. no need to install third-party software to get W8 to mimic previous versions), then my resistance to it would be lowered.
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