News from Charles Petzold

[Theo Gottwald]

I've found some News from Charles Petzold. As i know that he has some fans in here, i want to share it with you.

You can see it yourself here:

Charles Petzolds Page

First you can learn something about programming windows phone 7.
Does it make sens?

I don't know at least the book as well as the code for it is free.
Looks like it doesn't make much sense anymore?

Programming Windows Phone 7 free

Then the book "Programming Windows" goes into the 6'th Edition.
Its about "Windows 8 Apps".

And finally, if you are really a fan of Charles - add him as friend to your facebook:

Charles Petzolds Facebook Fan Page

[Frederick J. Harris]

Thanks for posting that Theo.  I'd call myself a Petzold fan.  Occasionally I check his site, but haven't for awhile. 

When and if I ever get Windows 8 I'll likely get his book.  Why is it I just can't seem to work up any enthusiasm for Windows 8?  Must be my age or something.

[Christopher Boss]

I purchased his latest Windows 8 programming book. Thanks to Paul Thurotts winsupersite web site I was able to purchase it while he was writing it and could get it for $10 (preorder). As it got closer to being finished the price went up and now I think it is $40.

I am still playing with Visual Studio Express to grasp it first and then I can dig into his book.

[Theo Gottwald]

This time with windows 8 MS has overdone it with customers.
Sales are so bad that the chief designer had to go.

The first ... leaves the sinking ship

Of course they say its because he was so uncooperative.
And they had to ask Bill Gates first because they were so close friends.

Billy and his mathematics

Persons who work for several years in a company,beeing fired so soon after they released a new product (that noone wants).
I think its not just by accident.

Or let me say it like this:
If the person is good for the company - why should you fire him?

[Christopher Boss]

Windows 8 is not as bad as they say. Also the issue with that guy leaving Microsoft most likely has nothing to do with Windows 8, but has more to do with the internal workings of Microsoft and problems there.

Windows 8 really shines on tablets. I have been using the Preview versions since build last year and now that Windows 8 has been released, upgraded my tablet to Windows 8 and bought a new laptop with Windows 8. On the tablet, not so good, but I think it is a poor touchpad driver. On the desktop not too bad (tested it on a desktop too).

Mobile is where it really matters right now. The PC market is decreasing significantly, with many companies sticking with Windows XP and Windows 7. Personally I think a poor worldwide economy has a lot to do with this because when money is tight, people hold on to what they have.

Windows 8 though deals with the issues of mobile devices and this is where you will likely see changes in the market. The one big mistake I think a lot of companies (manufacturers of PCs) are making is the price point. Everybody wants to make a dollar, so they like the higher priced models which likely have a larger profit margin. The problem is the economy and price matters now.

For example, there are a lot of really nice Windows 8 tablets and Ultrabooks for sale, but for me personally they are all too expensive. The recent laptop I got was made by Lenovo and is really nice and I got it for $299 from bestbuy. Now that was just right. Now this laptop is bigger and heavier, but I didn't get it for being mobile (thats whats the tablet is for).

I can really see why a lower price point makes a big difference.

So if some Windows 8 PC's, tablets, laptops don't sell well it will be more because of the price point than Windows 8, IMO.

So what is good about Windows 8 ?

I like the Windows Store. Selecting, downloading and installing apps is so easy and clean. In time the store will likely improve too as far as navigation.

The Windows 8 touch keyboard is so much better than the one in Windows 7. It is like night and day.

Windows 8 boots much faster.

Navigation in the start screen, switching between apps, etc is very nice when using touch.

If you haven't used Windows 8 with touch, then you haven't really used Windows 8.

[Theo Gottwald]

If you haven't used Windows 8 with touch, then you haven't really used Windows 8.

Chris, i am not an ape that need to show pictures to make an computer understand what i want.
Maybe it is because i am also not buying their music.

It makes you as stupid as it is.

The idea behind this "touch screen" is that people get more and more stupid.
At the end, they are like apes.
They can not more read, they only show you what they want "to buy" with their ape-finger.

Its not going to sell.

The idea to put a professional user into the same box like a stupid tablett user ist just as stupid as it can be.

Of course i am not going to buy a new touchscreen for windows 8.
And then its not faster for me to move icons around, instead of using a keyboard.

Do you think you can make EZGUI faster with a touchscreen?
Or Jose can make his contributions faster on a touchscreen?

But this is the direction these people want/think us to go.
They believe western people are getting more and more stupid, with each new year they use these culture that comes from USA.

Windows 8 will sell on some tabletts.
But they will never beat apple with it and they will loose many of their original professional users.

They try to get other companies customers (apple, android) at the price of the customers they already have.
Its in line with all these large US companies that have monopoles and think they can do whatever they want.

This time its not going to work out. People want get respected, they do not (yet) feel like apes.

[Carlo Pagani]

Hey Theo - Time to relax a bit.

Windows 8 is good. It is more resource friendly than Windows 7 and faster on same hardware. The problem is Microsoft forcing Non Gesture based hardware to load the touch interface (Metro). I'm not sure where RT Api is going to go, but here is an excellent background article.
http://arstechnica.com/features/2012/10/windows-8-and-winrt-everything-old-is-new-again/

[Theo Gottwald]

Don't worry, i am relaxed  .
And i have a testing system with windows 8 and the "Classic Shell" here.

While i would not use it for my daily work ...

[Patrice Terrier]

What are you doing with Windows 8, when you want to display two or more windows altogether and make comparisons or drag and drop, as you could not display them where you want, only 2/3-1/3 of the screen.

I found Windows 8, only acceptable when used in dual display mode, one for the desktop and the other for the "metro" interface that is silly on a PC without touch screen.

Attached is a screen shot of the W7 dual display config i am using only to check the compatibility of my softwares, for everythings else i keep using Windows 7.

[Theo Gottwald]

I only use it for testing. I do not use it for real work, because thats not what it was made for :-) .