Editorial

Big Box

Article from Issue 150/2013

Author(s): Joe Casad

Like any self-respecting Linux journalist, I’m often predisposed to take Microsoft to task. For the record, I do manage to spread it around, with occasional reflections on Apple and Google, because I truly believe our universe has room for more than one evil empire. But Microsoft is still the easiest mark. It used to be easy to make fun of Microsoft because they were so formidable and vast. Now it is easy to make fun of them because they get it wrong so often, and it is downright amusing to see so much hype and media attention going to such inelegant products.

The latest of those products is Windows 8. I won’t embark upon a full review of Windows 8 in this setting, but suffice it to say, I fall in with the legions of unimpressed users, reviewers, and shareholders who have already made their voices known.The vaunted new Start Screen looks like a sea of billboards to me, with no escape for the weary eye save to find the billboard you need and dive through it. It is hard to figure out how to even shut the system down, and the task of switching the default browser from Bing to Google requires several obscure steps through unnecessary dialogs. Even Microsoft doesn’t seem to have high hopes for Windows 8. Despite the short time the new Windows has been on the market, Redmond recently announced that they are already working on a system to replace it.

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF

Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Print Subs

Digisubs

TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS

US / Canada

UK / Australia

Related content

Editorial

A Linux distro for the XP user?

more »
Microsoft and EU Resolve Browser Argument

Following the legal action taken by Opera, Microsoft and the EU have agreed that a separate dialogue offering a choice of alternative browsers will appear by the installation of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

more »
Welcome

A little over a year ago, I wrote a column about a Nokia memo that appeared a little over a year ago. The famous “Burning Platform” memo made the case for Nokia bailing out of the open source MeeGo project as a last-ditch effort to save the company.

more »
Sony Adopts Google Chrome as Default Browser

A report on The Register has revealed that Google and Sony have closed a deal to make Chrome the standard browser on all Vaio models.

more »
So what? Windows 7: 7 Reasons Not to Get too Excited (Update)

It’s official: Windows 7 will be on the shelves just in time for the Christmas season. From an Open Source perspective, this is nothing ground-breaking: It’s just the same old Windows.

more »

comments powered by Disqus

Visit Our Shop

Trial Subscription

Digital Subscription

Subscribe

Direct Download

Read full article as PDF:

003-003_comment.pdf (127.30 kB)

News

Trojan Turns Raspberry Pi into a Cryptocurrency Mining Device

Two trojans in the wild are targeting Linux machines.
Fedora 26 Beta Comes with New Features

The workstation comes with the latest Gnome desktop environment and support for many application build systems.
Raspberry Pi Foundation Merges with CoderDojo Foundation

The two foundations join forces to expand their efforts to reach young people.
Samba Security Hole Patched but Risk is Bigger

Millions of devices that use Samba Server are vulnerable to attacks.
Red Hat Announces OpenShift.io

Red Hat takes its IDE online.
Microsoft Bakes Linux into Windows Server

Microsoft is slowly becoming a Linux vendor.
Fearless Coyote, Linux Kernel 4.11 is Out

The new kernel makes swap implementation more scalable, which will help cloud providers.
Docker Appoints Steve Singh CEO

The new CEO comes from a very strong SaaS background.
Docker Announces Linux Kit and Moby Project

Both projects help organizations build their own containerized systems.
Ubuntu Returns to Gnome as Its Mobile Plans Shatter

Mark Shuttleworth has resumed the position of CEO of Canonical.