Enjoy OSDev? Stay the hell away from Win8 if you do.

[JAAman]

... but that is what they are doing with win8 -- its GUI interface is designed for smart-phones and tablets, and is completely useless for traditional desktop usage (imho) -- and cannot be disabled or changed without 3rd-party software

no, you are right, nobody will use a smart-phone for word processing... they will use tablets, or special-purpose terminals that run only a web browser, and will use the internet/intranet to provide productivity applications

[NickJohnson]

Use a tablet for word processing? Or even worse, for writing code?

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

[Casm]

Use a tablet for word processing? Or even worse, for writing code?

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

Fear not, businesses live in the real world, even it the gurus don't - and you can bet your bottom dollar that it was the gurus who were behind the Windows 8 GUI.

[OSwhatever]

truth is, i would not be the least bit surprised if win9 didnt even support any of these 'legacy' interfaces anymore (nor would i be surprised if it didnt support running on traditional computers (desktops/laptops) at all) -- but then, perhaps im just being a little overly pessimistic

Desktops are not going any place soon - if ever. You do not do word processing on a smart phone. I doubt if Microsoft are in the business of cutting off their nose to spite their own face, and if they think they can sell an operating system with a smart phone GUI to businesses, or other desktop users, they might be in for a rude awakening.

I think there will more intermediary steps when it comes to making computers smaller. I can probably speak for many people when I say I don't buy desktops any more, meaning mini towers. I only buy laptops now and it was several years ago laptops went past desktops in terms of sales. Laptops are fast enough for almost everything and why have a huge 20+KG tower when you can have a small laptop, much lighter and you can easily move it. I remembered when I had towers and I think for my self "hell they were big and heavy". My previous job had no desktops, they all had laptops that sat in a dock on the table connected to an external monitor together with an external keyboard. You could take the laptop and go, to a meeting or whatever. This trend in computer will probably continue and the actual computers will get smaller and at some point your computer will be your cell phone. You probably have an external keyboard, but it will be wireless connected and I'm not sure how they will solve the monitor cable, perhaps optical, maybe an optical cable to a hub where you connect all your peripherals. Expect computer to get smaller, this has been the trend for like 60+ years now.

[Combuster]

Expect computer to get smaller, this has been the trend for like 60+ years now.

You do know that screen sizes have been doing the exact opposite over the same 60 years?

[OSwhatever]

Expect computer to get smaller, this has been the trend for like 60+ years now.

You do know that screen sizes have been doing the exact opposite over the same 60 years?

screen != computer, in most cases. You can have the monitor size you want in the future too.

[NickJohnson]

The problem is that what a desktop is to a laptop is not at all what a laptop is to a tablet or smartphone. Laptops are basically desktops in terms of user interface (minus the mouse, usually), and what we're discussing here is user interface. Sure, things have moved from desktops to laptops for obvious reasons, but tablets aren't the next step in that progression. You can't really get any smaller than a laptop if you want to still have both a screen and keyboard, both being limiting factors because of human eyesight and the size of human hands. The screen/keyboard combination is absolutely required for typing-based activities, i.e. all serious business that is not visual art, most notably programming.

[ACcurrent]

I've tried the dev preview. MS does not seem to know whether they want tablets to live or not. Maybe we will all be forced to buy linux computers or macs. Eventhough macs only have UEFI they still have the bootcamp option. Maybe it is time for Armv8 to rule the world.

[Casm]

Sure, things have moved from desktops to laptops for obvious reasons, but tablets aren't the next step in that progression.

No they are not, but Microsoft seems to have traded in its brains for the advice of some "consultants" wearing shart suits, possessing all the lingo, and having empty heads. Nobody could think that you put a palm top operating system onto a desk top otherwise.

[Solar]

You can't really get any smaller than a laptop if you want to still have both a screen and keyboard...

I beg to differ. I still think the HP Jornada 720 was a cool device. Hours of activity on the road, very easy to put away and pick up again compared with a clunky laptop. (To use a laptop on your lap today requires something like this these days if you don't want to broil your n**s. The Jornada 720 did fit into a jacket pocket - admittedly leaving a sizeable bulge - and didn't get more than lukewarm.)

The Jornada 720 was only hampered by the sh*tty preinstalled operating system (WinCE), and that retrofitting it with a proper OS (NetBSD being the only option at the time) wasn't that easy (basically a *BSD-from-scratch install).

Such a device, with an Atom CPU and prepared for Linux (i.e., proper driver support with distro of my choice) - I'd buy it at once. The perfect mobile companion for the high-powered workstation at home.

(And yes, I own a JayBook 9901, and no, it's not the same (just that bit too big, and not having a proper battery lifetime) and still doesn't come with a proper Linux option.)

[Combuster]

You're forgetting that practically every ARM program out there has an i386 counterpart, while the reverse does not hold (Thanks to Simulator > Device development )

[SDS]

You can't really get any smaller than a laptop if you want to still have both a screen and keyboard...

I beg to differ. I still think the HP Jornada 720 was a cool device. Hours of activity on the road, very easy to put away and pick up again compared with a clunky laptop...

The psion 3/5 series also spring to mind.

[NickJohnson]

You can't really get any smaller than a laptop if you want to still have both a screen and keyboard...

I beg to differ. I still think the HP Jornada 720 was a cool device. Hours of activity on the road, very easy to put away and pick up again compared with a clunky laptop...

The psion 3/5 series also spring to mind.

Okay, okay, counterexamples acknowledged. My main point, however -- that you need a real keyboard for anything serious (that isn't visual art) on a computer -- still holds, and that's the issue with tablets. That said, portability is pretty much always a plus: I loved my Eee 900 before it died, and my Kindle 3 is very handy in a pinch (it has a 3 week battery life and 3G) even though I wouldn't try to type anything on it.

[SDS]

That said, portability is pretty much always a plus: I loved my Eee 900 before it died...

Agreed up to a point. My Eee 901 accompanies me on the train on a very regular basis. I wouldn't give up my desktop development machines for a laptop, however.

[melgmry0101b]

Many computers provide a way to turn off the UEFI . so you can do what you want after that.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011 ... -uefi.aspx