Cave News

Bill Gates: Ctrl-Alt-Del was a mistake

A brief history of how Control-Alt-Delete came to be:

Microsoft’s Bill Gates (pictured) claims that an IBM keyboard designer created the function and wouldn't allow a single button to access the login screen.

Gates has admitted what quite a few Windows users have been thinking for a long time that pressing these three keys simultaneously, rather than a single key, has been an unnecessary mechanism all these years.

He said that pressing these keys, which allows users to log in to Windows and access the task manager (you may be most familiar with it as the first step in rebooting), was conceived after an IBM keyboard designer wouldn't give him a single button to perform the same chore.

Mr. Gates said “we could have had a single button, but the guy who did the IBM keyboard design didn't want to give us our single button" Gates said.

So Gates blames an IBM keyboard designer for this unnecessary mechanism that lived on through generation after generation of Windows.

Who does Gates blame for the numerous bugs that infected generation after generation of Windows operating systems? He can’t blame that on an IBM keyboard designer!

Link

Report: the Windows XP death watch begins

Microsoft will officially end support for the thirteen-year-old Windows XP just about one year from now on April 8, 2014.

That means no more service packs, no more updates and no more security patches.

XP users are, of course, welcome to continue using their OS of choice after April 2014, but this behavior entails a number of risks.

Market research indicates that Windows XP still accounts for approximately one-third of all desktop operating systems, despite the fact that three subsequent Windows systems have been introduced: Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Windows Vista was poorly received - most users hated it. Next came Windows 7 which most users loved.

Windows 8 was hated even more than Vista by many users.

For business users and others with lots of sensitive data, general caution and hoping for the best is probably not the best strategy. It may be time to invest in a new operating system.

If your desktop can't run it, then it's time to save up for a new computer. You've got a year.

Link

How we the put the Start button and start menu back in Windows 8

The first thing we noticed when using Windows 8 for the first time this week is that Microsoft killed the Start menu button. In its place is the Metro Start screen loaded with tiles as shown in the first graphic.

I couldn’t resist putting a big red X in the center to show what we think of the Metro Start screen.

After nearly 20 years at the bottom left corner of the desktop, Microsoft has decided that the Start menu is dead and that the somewhat irksome Metro Start screen is the future of Windows.

We wanted the old Start button and menu so we tried some third-party replacements and settled on a nifty program called StartIsBack.

The Start menu using StartIsBack

A closeup of the menu

The menu after clicking "All Programs"

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One thing to consider when using StartIsBack is that the Windows key on the keyboard (below left) will invoke the StartIsBack menu screen.

To get to the Metro start screen, bring up the "charms bar" and click on the “Windows” icon (above right).

note: we started a new "Windows 8" category on this blog

MIT professor: give Windows 8 to someone you hate

Someone else hates 8. This time it is a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as reported at the link below.

Professor Philip Greenspun said last December, Windows 8 is a Christmas gift for 'someone you hate'.

The ZDNet article, however, says that not all of the professors critiques are valid. In some cases he's just screaming into the wind.

More here.

Are you ready to join the "Hate 8" club?

There isn’t actually a “Hate 8 club” - not yet anyway. There may be one soon judging from articles in computer magazines saying that Windows 8 is not the best Microsoft operating system.

We couldn’t resist drawing up this “Hate 8” t-shirt.

There is a link here to three negative Win 8 reviews by experts.

Just in time for Halloween - a scary preview of Windows 8

Can reports in InfoWorld, ZDNet and Market Watch be wrong or is Windows 8 really scary?

If you are using Windows 8 with no problems maybe you aren’t asking Windows 8 to do very much. ‘Soft usage’ never puts software to the test.

It reminds me of the early 1980’s when we all learned to hate the CP/M operating system and switched to MSDOS as soon as it was available.

Will Windows 8 be the CP/M of the next decade?

I know, Windows 8 and the diabolical old CP/M of 30 years ago are worlds apart but there seems to be a definite parallel here.

Check out the Windows 8 reviews here, here and here.

Microsoft is betting you will upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39

A Time Techland report says Microsoft is gambling that you will upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for only $39.99.

Microsoft says it will make it as easy as possible for everyone to upgrade to Windows 8.

If your PC is running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 you will qualify to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99.

The report says by comparison, the Windows 7 Pro upgrade is $199.99; even the less full-featured Windows 7 Home Premium sells for $119.99.

By Microsoft standards the $39.99 upgrade to Windows 8 Pro is exceptionally cheap.

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However, before you jump in with both feet and buy the attractively priced Windows 8 Pro upgrade, check out the Windows 8 review by John C. Dvorak at the second link below.

Dvorak (pictured) is a technical writer for various publications including PC Magazine and InfoWorld.

It’s a pretty scary review as Dvorak does not mince words in voicing his dislike for Windows 8.

Link here and here.

A Widows 8 review - its pretty scary!

John C. Dvorak (pictured) wrote a Windows 8 review for Market Watch found at the link below.

If you’re squeamish about reading scathing reviews it may be wise to wait until next Halloween to read the full report.

Mr. Dvorak is a technical writer for various publications including PC Magazine and InfoWorld.

Dvorak does not mince words in voicing his dislike for Windows 8.

It’s not that Mr. Dvorak hates Microsoft. In fact, he even supported the idea that Microsoft’s Bob interface was mismarketed and actually was unique and interesting.

Bob was intended to be an interface for Windows 95 replacing 95‘s program manager. It was a specacular flop. Even Bob’s logo was creepy.

A sample of Dvorak’s Windows 8 critique:

It is refreshingly slick-looking and modern, albeit without any charm whatsoever.

The real problem is that it is both unusable and annoying. It makes your teeth itch as you keep asking, “Why are they doing this!?”

First of all, the system-software product is mostly divorced from all the thought and trends developed by Windows over the years, as if to say that they were wrong the whole time, so let’s try something altogether new.

No business will tolerate this software, let me assure you. As a productivity tool, it is unusable.

Link

Report: Microsoft betting big on Windows 8

A Market Watch report says Microsoft is betting big on Windows 8.

Windows 8, which is expected to launch later this year, is supposed to offer dramatically enhanced features, including capabilities commonly found in smartphones and tablets — like being able to boot up instantly or navigating a screen with the touch of a finger.

It’s expected to give a much-needed lift to the sluggish personal-computer market. The industry is always excited about a new operating system. The excitement is more pronounced this time partly because of changes in the market, highlighted by the rise of tablets and other mobile devices.

Microsoft has been viewed as sitting on the sidelines in this revolution. But that could change with Windows 8.

Many businesses are still upgrading to Windows 7 on their desktop and laptop fleets, so the Windows 8 launch will not be a factor when it comes to those machines.

But it is when it comes to tablets.

The report says there’s significant interest in Windows 8 tablets only because enterprises assume they will be compatible with existing Windows applications.

More here.

Going backwards using Windows 7

We began using Windows Vista in February, 2007, the first week it was available on new computers. We liked Vista and considered it a welcome step up from Windows XP. I work with a lot of graphic images and would never want to return to XP.

Several weeks ago, we purchased a laptop loaded with Windows 7. Things have been going downhill since.

We can’t blame Windows 7, however. The problem is we can no longer use some of our favorite programs such as an early version of Paint Shop Pro by JASC.

We just can’t justify the pricey Photoshop, so have been using Paint Shop Pro v5 for the last twelve years but it won’t work on Windows 7.

By upgrading to Windows 7 Professional, we could run programs in XP mode but then we would lose the advanced graphics handling capabilities found in the latest windows and the move would be counter productive.

The problem was solved by purchasing a used copy of Paint Shop Pro v7 CD and manuals (this version does work on Windows 7) on eBay (auction # 110516020267) for $9.99 plus shipping. For our purpose this was a better choice than any other lower price graphics program available.