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The De-Obfusc8r: Windows 8 Mail App

“Surprising revelation: While Mail only supports Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) accounts today, it will support ‘other protocols,’ including IMAP, in the future. I do not personally expect Mail to support POP3-type accounts, but I suppose anything is possible.”

Paul Thurrot – Winsupersite.com

Following RIMM footsteps and their tablet computer for enterprise users that didn’t had an email application, Microsoft releases an email application that doesn’t support the single most used email standard in the world. ((IMAP. I see POP as mainly legacy users or applications))

Where do they get these people?

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Microsoft way of feedback

Microsoft feedback interface

Imagem from Paul Thurrot – Winsupersite.com

“Here’s Windows 8. It’s totally different from everything you’ve used before, we’re sticking it down your throat either you want it or not, but please provide us with your feedback so that we can improve.

Do you think we’re great, wonderful or just Einstein/Tesla type of genius?” (( This text was obviously imagined but if you look at the picture i dare you to think that this didn’t happened.))

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Final thoughts on Windows 8: A design disaster

“I’ve been following Windows 8 closely over the past few months, spending a lot of time not only with the official releases but also with a number of leaked builds, and I’ve had the chance to install the operating system on a variety of hardware platforms, both old and new. However, since my primary working platform is a desktop system, this is where I’ve had the chance to spend the most time with Microsoft’s new operating system.

I’m now ready to sum up my Windows 8 experience with a single word: awful.

I could have chosen a number of other words — terrible, horrible, painful and execrable all spring to mind — but it doesn’t matter, the sentiment is the same.

And I don’t say this lightly. I want to like Windows 8. I really do. From a performance point of view, I’ve no complaints since it’s just as snappy and responsive as Windows 7, and will likely get a little better as drivers mature. Hardware support is also excellent; the platform able to handle effortlessly everything I threw at it.”

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes – ZDNet

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Stardock 2011 Report

Other Platforms

Stardock expects to make some announcements later this year in this area.

Windows 8 concerns

Stardock remains concerned about the direction of Windows 8. Since we are not currently a crossplatform development shop, our success relies heavily on the success of Windows.

It is our projection that if Microsoft does not address the following items in Windows 8, then that version of the OS will be considered a general failure:

  1. Allowing desktop users to use Windows 8 entirely as a desktop OS. Specifically, interface and experience changes are necessary to prevent users from being shifted back and forth between the desktop and “Metro”.

  2. A realistic way to organize programs on Metro. Currently, Microsoft has termed “Groups” as being columns of tiles with a column label. Users are expected to either show a tile or hide it. If they are hidden, they can only be found through searching (typing). There is no folder concept in Metro as there is on the desktop, Android, Mac, or iOS.

  3. A migration away from mouse-over discovery of features back to visual discovery features. In the present consumer beta, Windows 8 requires the user to move the mouse around the screen to discover new elements, which work inconsistently depending on the context or the application.

[…]

Stardock Customer Report 2011

The times, they are changing…

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Windows 8: New UI, but old-school Microsoft

“”Now, put the mouse pointer in the left corner of the computer screen. Now click. No, don’t click on the icon. Wait you launched what? What’s on your screen? Ok, wait, try again, go all the way to the left. Now down. Now click. No, don’t move the mouse. AAARGGH…”

But what’s even more frustrating? There’s simply no reason for this stupidity.”

Russell Beattie

I mentally pictured exactly the same thing… I wholeheartedly agree with the rest of Russel’s post.

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Getting to the Bottom of Windows 8 Is Nearly Impossible

“This is post-Gates, 21st-century Microsoft at its very worst. Oh, sure, Windows 8 ought to be a great OS. The Metro interface looks fantastic, truly revolutionary and extremely attractive. And we’re sure that Windows 8 classic will build on the stability and success of Windows 7. This isn’t Vista. Vista was a disaster of a product that actually had some half-decent marketing and crystal-clear messaging.

No, this is the opposite of Vista. Windows 8 is a great set of products with lots of potential that Microsoft is likely to tank because it’s trying to cram way too many disparate pieces into one box. Why not have a tablet OS, a PC OS and a smart phone OS? Or one that runs them all but comes in distinctly different flavors? Why try to cram two PC OSes and a tablet OS — all of which to pretty notably different things and have pretty serious restrictions — into one “product?” Software is supposed to be easy to use, not frustrating and confusing. This is slick 2010s software with overcomplicated 1980s marketing. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

Redmond Channel Partner

Decisions, decisions.. They’re so hard to make. Specially when the man in charge doesn’t really understands what he is supposed to sell.

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Windows 8 bet

After i finally installed Vmware Fusion 4 yesterday, today i installed another Windows 8 Developer Preview. (( previous was running on VirtualBox and VB really doesn’t work that well… ))

After a one hour tortuous labyrinthic experience with it, i can safely bet this with you. When it is launched it will come with so many user options to revert behaviour and appearance features to “classical mode – windows 7 style” that it might as well simply come with 2 options on the install screen:

  • windows 8 UI mess of 2 systems;
  • old, sane, “the one you’re accustomed to”, Windows 7 UI;

Yes. I know it’s a developer/alpha preview. And again, i just played with it for an hour, and i intend to try it out much longer during the forthcoming year. But if i think by the eyes of the “regular joe”, the folks around me that always ask me to install things like printer drivers or that really don’t understand the whole concept of a file system and user Home folders, then, by those eyes, it’s going to be a slaughter…

Prepare for another “Vista leap” kind of thing. The one where folks ask to downgrade to Windows7 even before leaving the store. Guess the pattern for Microsoft now is a nearly-a-decade dominating OS, with several aborted trials in between.

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Rounding error

“iOS powered devices generate more revenue than all of Microsoft’s products put together”

asymco

Microsoft Report

Apple Report

The charts above, from Horace Dediu at Asymco are amazing and pretty much a paper written proof of what everyone already feels instinctively. Microsoft is in deep trouble, their “evil empire” is crumbling and they haven’t manage to grow any enthusiasm or momentum (upwards i mean) in a long time. (( and no, i’m still playing with Windows 8 but i don’t think that it will save the ship. In fact i’m starting to think it will just sink it even more, because it tries to be everything to everyone while failing at it for every one. But let me play with it a little more… )) There is a lot more reflection on Asymcos original post so be sure to check it out.

The obvious joke at Steve Ballmer in the title of this post could have been forgotten or not used at all. But then again it’s just too easy to aim at him. That’s what you get for being a blind arrogant incompetent jerk most of your stage time.