http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18996377



Not that I had much intention of getting Win 8 anyway.

i never buy OS systems any ways, at least, i never upgrade my computers to new OS'. by time i buy a new computer im sure that there will be a generation of windows proceeding windows 8

A few people have suggested that it may have more than a little to do with him not wanting the competition that Xbox Live integration would provide... Cynical, but I suspect there's at least some truth to it.

Competition is fine, the problem is the terms "close the platform" and "only way to get downloadable software such as games."

Windows 8 shall be the new Windows Vista.

I can't wait for WIndows 9.

Gabe is pissed because he can't eat Windows 8.

Let us not forget that he said roughly the same thing about the PS3 in 2007.


He changed his mind three years later.

I think he was pretty clear he means he is mainly worried about the future of Steam, but that is what he gets paid to do. People who dislike closed commercial "ecosystems" will be sympathetic.

It is amazing what Apple has been able to get away with while avoiding anti-trust action. So from Microsoft's point of view, why not do the same? That is probably commercially smart. They would make more money from that than from Internet Explorer integration, which they got spanked for by the courts. If the courts are lenient about leveraging OS into application sales in this way, then go for it.

But, Ubuntu will be the winner. Valve will get the video card manufacturers to finally start producing drivers. Ubuntu is better than Windows, it's just that software selection is limited in some ways. Hopefully Ubuntu will make some serious progress thanks to Valve.

I have to admit I am not keen on the look of Windows 8 but I shall reserve judgement until it is released and there are plenty of reviews. In the meantime win 7 is going to be supported until 2020 or thereabouts so I have plenty of time. Gabe did sound a little bitter in his speech, understandable really.

In all honesty I am not surprised by this in the slightest. With most PCs out there you run windows or nothing at all. Having a competitor is a big issue and removes your money. Wouldn't be surprised in the least if someone filed a lawsuit for Windows trying to play monopoly again.

Would be interesting is steam came out with their own operating system.

Ok, on a more serious note, I've not seen anything from Windows 8 but from the description Newell gave of it I can say that it honestly doesn't sound like Microsoft is going to make out good with it. As for my initial post, I just like poking a bit of fun at Gabe.

*Goes to Google Windows 8*

oh god

mean while I will be using win 7 and waiting for win 9

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

He's former Microsoft, shouldn't he have expected Win 8's style and mechanics?

There is a charming irony over complaints that Win 8 could be a step towards making the PC a closed platform. What does he suppose Steam/works is...

It's only bad when someone else does it.

The threat of being eaten... Powerful motivation.

Has there been much comment from other "industry leaders" on Win 8?

I must admit, I was thinking the same thing

Valve are great when it comes to interaction with their customers. They listen.

Microsoft, however, purposefully sabotaged any attempt to modify the new UI. [censored]s

I loved the consumer preview (ran it as my primary OS for two months), so I'm actually going to be buying and installing Windows 8 on day one. Besides it's only like $30 to upgrade from Windows 7, which I think is an amazing move on Microsoft's part.

I just watched the video for Windows 8. I'm not so sure how I feel about it. Seems like it's made with touch screens in mind. I'm not so sure how well that's going to translate to mouse and keyboard. I think I'm going to hold off on it for a good while.

It actually works quite well with mouse and keyboard. If you can, try booting the consumer preview on another partition or something and give it a spin. It's free and doesn't take long to download. If you're using a laptop with a touchpad you can use the touchpad to make touch screen gestures such as swiping. Otherwise it's just as easy to navigate with a mouse. It actually makes Windows less of a jumbled mess. Everything is organized and looks sleek. It runs really fast as well. It boots faster than 7 (in my experience) and everything runs smoother in 8 than in 7.

Windows 8 most certainly does not work well with a mouse + keyboard, at least not nearly as well as its predecessors did.

case-and-point: a simple shutdown initiation

Windows 7: windows key followed by a left arrow followed by the enter key. Successfully completed shutdown process

Windows 8: involves jumping through numerous hidden menus, and I don't think can be completed using just the keyboard short of launching cmd and entering in shutdown /s

Windows 8 does countless things like this: makes it take longer and involve a convoluted process to do simple tasks all in the name of "user friendliness". There's absolutely no reason launching any arbitrary application should involve first going through a paradigm shift in the user interface.

To clarify: On an ARM tablet, where all you have is the Metro interface, I think Windows 8 will be decent. It's mixing of the interfaces on x86 that causes all the problems. To say nothing of http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/gorilla-arm-multitouch/ when using a desktop or laptop with touch display. Apple, which, for all the flaws I see in that company, realizes how horrible it is from an ergonomic standpoint to use touch devices on vertical screens for prolonged periods. Microsoft is the only company stupid enough to consider it.

Or the new Millennium Edition. Or the new 95.


Or 7. Or XP. Or 98.

Seeing a pattern?