sot. dumb windoz question...

ushere wrote on 4/17/2015, 11:54 PM
ok, i'm not completely computer illiterate, but...

i've just been reading about win 10, and it's wondrous new interface, cortana, spartan browser, etc., etc., in fact whatever i read about it revolves around it's gui, or security, or other 'obvious' attributes.

since i can pretty much run all my recent software (incl vegas) on any win os from say xp onwards, what's actually changing behind the scenes?

put more simply, is 10 going to make my software run faster? smoother? more reliably? or is it just another marketing ploy to get me to buy another os upgrade?

befuddled

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 4/18/2015, 6:27 AM
I'm no technical expert so I can't tell you what's going on behind the scenes -- but I've been using Windows 10 for about 6 months and, even though it's still in beta, I love its look and feel.

I can't honestly say that it will change your life. Like most operating systems, the best thing about it is that you don't think about it while you're using it. I mean, I also use a Mac, and OSX has been through a half dozen iterations in the past decade -- but aside from some aesthetic changes, it's all the same to me.

That said, I've got a really good feeling about W10. I think it's going to be the OS that finally gives Microsoft the cred it's been striving for since XP. Like the Mac OS, it just works --- and it's got some interesting new features too.

Just don't expect it to really be all that different from Windows 7, as far as your day to day experience. As I said, about the highest compliment you can give any operating system is that, once you launch a program, you don't think about it.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 4/18/2015, 6:54 AM
You're worrying about the wrong thing. Windows 8.x:
*made my software run faster
*made my software run smoother
*more reliable vs XP/Vista/7

The ONLY thing people complained about was the GUI (which I still say is AWESOME. Beats OSX & the iToy GUI hands down).

So, if MS took Win 8.x & changed the GUI to make the people who complained happy, then it's going to make everyone happy (except me. I like Metro Desktop. I want all my programs to open in Metro & not have the option of using the old GUI. THAT would be an improvement imho!). It should be no different then making a muscle car & putting a bug body on it & when people complain about the look putting a mustang body on it.
astar wrote on 4/18/2015, 2:10 PM
Faster boot times than NT3.5-Win7.

Can address more memory, and uses less memory than Win7.

Improved support for legacy application modes, and if that does not work you can run the app on an integrated VM.

Most of the improvements can be seen on the high-end server editions. The stock windows 8, Pro, and enterprise editions are limited in software so as not to compete with data center class editions. The EULA actually makes the low end version of 8 more like the last few version of x64 Windows.

I too have found win 8.1 to be the most reliable, quickest, and stable Windows so far. The Fast and Fluid GUI I liked, and am sorry to see it go away in Win10. The new Start menu in Windows 10 is a Frankenstein of Win7, 8, and phone. Uff da.
Kit wrote on 4/18/2015, 6:32 PM
For me Windows 8 has not be faster, smoother or more reliable than Windows 7. Just more cluttered/obtuse. My suspected worry/gripe with Windows 10 is the data collection, integration with Microsoft's cloud, erosion of privacy and pushing towards using Microsoft accounts. Windows 8 was bad enough and Windows 8.1 worse. As for GUI from 7 onwards I've only found it usable by installing Classic Shell. What advantages will Windows 10 bring? Will it have tabs for File Explorer? Willl copy/move be at all sensible (has got generally more verbose/confusing over time). Will file search be usable - I doubt it. Microsoft are tugging at the coat tails of Apple, sad but unsurprising.
astar wrote on 4/21/2015, 4:29 PM
"Microsoft are tugging at the coat tails of Apple, sad but unsurprising" If you believe this, then why are you posting in a PC only NLE editing application forum? You should just turn your PC off and sell it if it is so useless. craziness. There is nothing wrong with Final Cut, it will get the job done. Catalyst Edit for MAC will be out in a couple years.

An OS is not all GUI, in fact Win7 seems bloated in comparison to 8.1. I have been using 10 for the last few months and it seems fine. The Win 10 GUI is a very compromised hybrid of 7 and 8. Win 10 also less system requirements than 7.

http://netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0 - know the facts. Apple only has leadership in mobile markets, not back office, or business/user desktops. You can see this for yourself if you run websites of your own. The stats are all there in the logs.
pwppch wrote on 4/21/2015, 6:05 PM
"Catalyst Edit for MAC will be out in a couple years"

No, actually next month.

Peter
astar wrote on 4/22/2015, 8:50 PM
I guess what I meant by a couple years, was the stable versions. Most 1.0 software...in a production environment... I do not know maybe. We are talking about Sony Software Developers here, and the history of Vegas.
ushere wrote on 4/23/2015, 2:02 AM
and the facilities WE need, not those that marketing think we need... eg 3d ;-)
Kit wrote on 4/23/2015, 6:41 AM
Why should I switch my PC off. I'm running Windows 7 and it works with less hassle for me than Windows 8. I think you missed what I was getting at. I dislike Apple's business model and have never bought anything from them. Sadly I see Microsoft heading off in the same direction.
Hulk wrote on 4/23/2015, 6:58 AM
Besides paying for the upgrade of the OS we also have to eventually pay for the upgrade of the applications that at some point won't run in a new OS.

I agree that MS basically got things right with XP. All XP needed was some GUI tweaks, perhaps some additional user customization, and then if they wanted to go with Metro just make it so that you can select one GUI or the other.

Now that I think about it MS should be more focused on make the GUI more able to be customized rather than forcing what they think we want on us. If you get 10 windows users in a room each will have their own opinion on how Windows Explorer should work, or how files should be displayed, or the taskbar, or the start menu, start page, etc...

Make it all customizable and the bitching upon new OS releases will nearly disappear because users can set it up like their old OS and test/use the new features as they see fit.

Under the hood development should of course continue.

But MS needs something to sell and my model doesn't really give people a reason to upgrade. A lot of that is MS urging the developers to drop support for old OS's with new versions of their software.
Chienworks wrote on 4/23/2015, 7:00 AM
I kinda agree with Kit here. I used to love Apple stuff, until Windows 95 came out and was now faster, better, easier, and more powerful than Apple's UI. They've never caught up to Windows ease of use since. Apple's made a lot of really weird and strange decisions with their UI that degrade functionality rather than aid it.

Sadly, because of a small but very vocal segment touting what they believe to be Apple's superiority, Microsoft seems to be copying some of those bad decisions recently, all in the name of appearance rather than substance. Back in the Win95--WinXP days Microsoft was the world leader in UI streamlining. Their defining methodology was to watch how users interacted with a computer and strengthen those things that were obvious, and make more obvious those things that weren't. When they determined what worked well that style of simplicity got duplicated across other items that didn't present as well, thus unifying the experience for users to the point where the UI was simply a universal tool that let people work with the software they wanted to use. Pretty much anyone could sit down at any Windows computer and use any software because we all knew where all the buttons and menus were and what they would look like.

Starting with Vista and culminating with Metro, they've now tossed that entire philosophy in the pot. Appearance and 'coolness' are now more important to them than ease functionality. Sadly, marketing makes these things sell now, which just accelerates the degradation.
JJKizak wrote on 4/23/2015, 8:01 AM
I would like to see them employ a password protected checkbox that would enable you to use or not to use "permissions" which drive me nuts in Windows 7. Other than that the stuff works just fine with me.
JJK
Byron K wrote on 4/23/2015, 2:07 PM
Posted by: Hulk, Date: 4/23/2015 1:58:50 AM
But MS needs something to sell and my model doesn't really give people a reason to upgrade. A lot of that is MS urging the developers to drop support for old OS's with new versions of their software.
To a certain extent that's true, but I feel M$ is justified to have consumers pay for upgrades for their newer OS' that are written to support newer technologies and processors. I.e. XP 3 gig limit of RAM.

Hulk you're right developers tend to drop support for newer OS, but not just because M$ forces them to but on their own too. I still have a lot of excellent recording and synth hardware that won't run on Win 7/8 because the vendor did not write the program drivers.. why? because they want the consumers to purchase the newer model, so It's not just M$ that urges developers to drop support for newer OSes it's the vendors and developers themselves. So this hardware is tethered to old XP PC desktop and laptop which are taking up space in my studio. It would have been nice to have dumped these XP boxes and consolidated everything to one PC. I've also had to purchase another recording interface to work w/ Windows 8.1, while the original still working recording interface is in another rack collecting dust.

..and don't get me started on 8.1. What !d!0+ developer thought it was a great idea to splatter every app and ALL it's associated files on the screen, w/ no way to copy a short cut to desktop but only pin it to task bar and start window? As an experiment I just gave my dad windows 8 and said here's your new PC. He was totally lost and couldn't do anything. So much for M$ redesign for the average user theory..
Hulk wrote on 4/23/2015, 9:52 PM
Byron K,

I agree Windows 8.1 is a little convoluted. I went from XP to 7 and finally had to go with 8.1 with my new Lenovo t450s. I've learned to get around on it just fine but 7 feels better.

And you're right about developers having to drop support for old architectures to implement new features. It's the price of progress and I can accept that.

One thing that bugs me to this day and I miss every time I use Windows explorer is the way that when you clicked once on a folder on the left side of the screen in Windows explorer in XP it would open that file. It takes two clicks in 7 and 8.1, unless you click that little triangle next to the folder which in my opinion is a PITA. Yes it's a minor thing but something I still miss from XP to this day. Actually the ONLY thing I miss.

As for Apple. My mom has one and that thing confounds me. I can't do anything with it. Perhaps because I "came up" with and Atari 800 and then DOS to Windows but I don't get the Mac OS at all. I'm glad other people do and it's thriving because the competition is good. I'm not knocking Apple, they have amazing stuff, it's just not a good fit for me.