Thursday, April 11, 2013

Windows 8... is it a flop? is it a changer? what the hell is it?

Some months past Microsoft Windows 8 launch (and I've been trying it from beta versions) a question is pooping in everyone's head: Am I the only one hating this interface? 
And when that is not the question, there is always it's twin sister question: Am I the only one liking this interface?

Let's face it - a phone is a phone, a pad is a pad and a desktop productivity computer is a desktop productivity computer.

For some reason everyone else out there understands that a desktop PC is meant for productivity and work, in exception for Gnome team on Linux (they managed to screw an otherwise brilliant accession of the gnome desktop when they turned Gnome3 into a tablet like thing) and apparently Microsoft with Windows8.

I've tried lots of Operating Systems lately, so I taught myself to separate Kernel and Core quality with the Graphic User Interface Quality.
AND this just turns this article a bit more bittersweet. You see I've talking for years that Microsoft should increase product embedded security and efficiency...I even told time-over that if had Microsoft done the same Apple did, by choosing a light Linux based kernel (like Debian) and built their brilliant GUI on top of it, they would be unbeatable.
Then this! Windows 7 Kernel (thought far from perfect) was really good when compared to it's predecessors (and no, I'm not talking Vista, as it's basically the same Kernel, the problem with Vista was bad Project Management and even worse GUI implementation)...Windows 8 Kernel is so much better that, if they managed to maintain the GUI, it would be a real improvement.
HOWEVER, this time, it seams they just decided to get the kernel right, and kill the GUI... I just don't understand.

I guess the PAD and Smartphone world is growing so much, classic software manufacturers are getting nervous and doing all kinds of mistakes....since even Gnome made-it and they don't have the same market as Microsoft to protect, it seams to me that they are getting confused.

As a PC, smartphone and PAD user let-me just tell you guys what I think;
Phonewise, for pure productivity as a unified communications device, a cheap blackberry with OS5 or 6 is THE THING. For graphic complex apps and specific apps (designed by me for instance)  I use an GalaxyS Duos running Android 4.
My PAD is also an Android 4 (an ASUS TF101), but the version running in the PAD takes advantage of the screen and allows for more complex usage of it. It is the same basic code, just better tuned to the device and screen size.
My computers run different versions of Linux (the laptop runs Gnome2 Ubuntu Studio 10.10, the workstation runs Xfce Ubuntu Studio 12.10).
My virtual Machines run Windows 7 X64 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

So lets make conclusions, I've been running from desktop operating systems that try to play PAD, because for that I HAVE A PAD!!! and I use my phones because none of them tries to BE THE PAD...and believe-me one of them is pretty close to the PAD running the same OS.

Microsoft made ONE smart move thought, they allowed the real desktop behind the crazy "wannabe a pad experience" stuff. So apart from the user not being able to enjoy the new Kernel efficiency because they can't close apps and this eats up memory, they at least can switch to a desktop they almost know from Windows 7.
I find urgent that Microsoft does with 8 the same thing they've done with Vista: quickly release 9 as this being the same 8 with a normally working and efficient GUI.
On the Linux side and Gnome, I honestly think they've lost the edge and XFce was paying attention.

So to close... It's not as it is bad... it is just a bad experience due to that GUI. And this could be just my opinion however I've been seeking everyone else opinion on this, and apart from fanboys, the pure lovers of this interface (from kids to corporate users) are less than my worse predictions indicated.

----------------------------------------------------------UPDATE-----------------------------------------------------------
Just learned that Microsoft is releasing an upgrade to windows 8 called 8.1. Here, you will be able to choose the interface you want to use: metro or that normal productivity desktop you've always had.
I'm having that feeling that, for some reason, I should have gone to the horse races and bet it all on a horse instead of loosing my "fortune-teller" drift on an article...but hey, nothing's perfect...

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Iphone vs Android...errr is that Iphone vs Samsung Galaxy or Samsung vs LG Maximus or is it IOS vs Android...turnips vs mango-fruits?!?!?!!?

These are my thought NOT about an article that talks about the iphone market share, but rather the comments i've read about that article .

The article - http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130405133714-19021-reasons-for-ios-outperformance-in-the-us


My thoughts -
I honestly can't understand most comments I've read... especially the ones from so called "tech people".


IOS (the iPhone operating system) is based on MacOSX, which in turn is based on FreeBSD (yes it is based on Darwin...the former NeXT machine operating system that in turn is mostly FreeBSD), which in turn is a unix-linux hybrid thing....Android is based on Debian which is probably the best Linux out there. In simple terms these are hybrid-made-monolithic kernels and that is why they mach the hardware perfectly and with big cohesion, stability and performance. Windows on the other hand is based on microsoft own kernels that are hybrid kernels, meaning they have a hard compiled core that loads modules as needed on the fly. So comparing the Droid to Microsoft and saying iphone is different is, for lack of a better word, nonsense... both the droid and the iphone are similar and they have nothing in common with microsoft.


Second thing is the constant reboots and crashes... what are you talking about?

I've had 1 Samsung Galaxy y Duos, and the only problems it had was the battery assembly that would miss-connection if the phone hit a table hard enough..this is hardware design, not the O.S. fault!

My current droid is a Galaxy S Duos and works flawlessly. There is one huge difference between the iphone and the droid. You see iphone admits you are stupid and know nothing about the software and hardware you use on your phone (a good assumption because 99% of users do know nothing about the internals of what they use...as shown here); while the droid lets you do pretty much what you like with it...and if you know nothing about it, you'll have performance problems and with some badly built apps, crashes.


There is another thing about the droid... it runs on zillion different devices, meaning that an app will have better chance of not working properly...while the iphone is a controlled hardware environment.


One could argue that I use my droid out of the box and don't push-it by adding apps, but you would be wrong...in fact I have so many apps that I partitioned the SD card with to have an extra 2gb partition (now filled with apps). However I also use 2 VERY important apps every droid user should know: "Advanced Task Killer" and "Performance Tool". Reboots? crashes? Complaining about this on an GalaxyS running droid is the same thing as saying your car is bad because it stalled that other time you decided to fuel-it with mud instead of regular Gas!!!


There is one thing about the iphone (and all other apple hardware for that matter) that I think no one really cares: it's priced twice of what it is worth.


A droid costing half the iphone value will have better or equivalent hardware...ohh and at least you'll have an sd card slot to expand at will.

Today streamline droid is the GalaxyS3 (S4 comming up)...it is so much better than any iphone out there that I find chocking when people still compare them. It's like entering a BMW stand and compare its best 3series with the fiat in the stand across the road, just because it has 4 wheels and it's called a car.

Just because you don't know how to drive the bmw right, it doesn't mean the fiat is better!!!


Several people from my family own iphones, honestly I think it is a stupid buy (and proved that time and time over...especially then they run out of memory and I lend them a spare sd card just for the fun of seeing them reject because they have no way of using it)..that doesn't mean it is bad; its just TOO damn expensive for what it delivers.


I suggest you appreciate the fact that droid phones allow you to actually own them and do whatever you like with them... and if you make bad decisions, live with them or just clean some bad apps or memory. I would never EVER buy a phone that costs twice as much and then behaves as I'm not actually owning it, but rather some company...jailbreak is probably the most pathetic thing on the iphone! It's just like buying a car with a locked trunk that will only unlock when you go to the ONE supermarket the car brand owns :S weird to say the least