[propeller10]

Microsoft makes Windows free on phones, small tablets, and gizmos - but not PCs | PCWorld

So Microsoft is making Windows 8.1 free for device manufacturers. Microsoft is doing so many things to increase the adoption rate while blackberry is doing the exact opposite. (breaking up with t-mobile, focusing on OS7, etc). The 8.1 update is massive/feature-rich and Microsoft has solid hardware partners to back them up. So looks like BB has a lot of catching up to do.

[Clanked]

Dude I have a 1000 laptop with windows 8.1 and its awful. I always never wanted a mac, but I can totally see the appeal.....the new windows is pretty poor, and is coded terribly imho.

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[propeller10]

Dude I have a 1000 laptip with windows 8.1 and its awful. I always never wanted a mac, but I can totally see the appeal.....the new windows is pretty poor, and is coded terribly imho.

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Well the user experience may vary but I really don't think it's coded terribly. Windows 8 is one of the most stable, well-built Operating systems in the market right now.
Or are you talking about the new interface? Because that I can understand. It's still pretty basic.

[Clanked]

Well the user experience may vary but I really don't think it's coded terribly. Windows 8 is one of the most stable, well-built Operating systems in the market right now.
Or are you talking about the new interface? Because that I can understand. It's still pretty basic.

Im talking basic tasks on 8.1 for laptop....like right clicking a file for options takes much longer then it ever did on windows 7. Honestly I find the OS extremely disappointing if im being honest. I'll still stay windows over mac because Macs are waaaay over priced for what u get, an i'm not drinking that kool-aid....but I feel regret upgrading to windows 8.

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[propeller10]

Im talking basic tasks on 8.1 for laptop....like right clicking a file for options takes much longer then it ever did on windows 7. Honestly I find the OS extremely disappointing if im being honest. I'll still stay windows over mac because Macs are waaaay over priced for what u get, an i'm not drinking that kool-aid....but I feel regret upgrading to windows 8.

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Windows 8 is extremely snappy especially compared to windows 7 and most people would agree with that. I would run diagnostics on the computer to see if the hard drive is faulty. If all else fails, I would do a factory reset.

[grover5]

Windows 8 is extremely snappy especially compared to windows 7 and most people would agree with that. I would run diagnostics on the computer to see if the hard drive is faulty. If all else fails, I would do a factory reset.

Actually most people I know don't like windows 8 at all and I don't find the change log for 8.1 to be that massive. Whenever it finally is released we'll see how significant it is.

[trsbbs]

Big ouch to BlackBerry thinking they could license BB10.

Time for BlackBerry to step up and match the competition!

BB10 free. Make money via BBM, back end systems (BES Cloud), sales via BlackBerry World and a focus on mobile Enterprise solutions. .


Posted via Verizon Z10 - OS v10.1.2.2174

[propeller10]

Actually most people I know don't like windows 8 at all and I don't find the change log for 8.1 to be that massive. Whenever it finally is released we'll see how significant it is.

Yeah I was only talking about speed. Not popularity. Anyways let's try to limit the discussion to smartphones before we make a mod angry.

[Tre Lawrence]

Interesting move.

TRSBB, I would suspect that BBRY has been tacitly open to licensing for a long time. It's all conjecture on my part, but I suspect that OEMs would wonder what they'd get out of it.

[DenverRalphy]

Im talking basic tasks on 8.1 for laptop....like right clicking a file for options takes much longer then it ever did on windows 7. Honestly I find the OS extremely disappointing if im being honest. I'll still stay windows over mac because Macs are waaaay over priced for what u get, an i'm not drinking that kool-aid....but I feel regret upgrading to windows 8.

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I've had the opposite experience. If you're experiencing lag or slow response times, I'd venture a guess that there's some other underlying cause to it. That being said, my only gripe is the UI. It's actually very very nice on a tablet or smartphone, but sux rocks for mouse/keyboard setups (horrible for desktops, less so for touchscreen laptops but still irritating).


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[felixweber]

Dude I have a 1000 laptop with windows 8.1 and its awful. I always never wanted a mac, but I can totally see the appeal.....the new windows is pretty poor, and is coded terribly imho.

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To be honest I was an apple hater all my life and used Linux and windows (work apps and so on) for 15 years.

Now Windows 8 got me to switch to mac with my laptop and pc.
Sorry, but an OS where you cannot find the "shutdown" function is simply useless.

Yes, W8 is more stable than W7, but I am not sure if this is simply because it is lagging so many software and OS functions...

Windows and Windows Phone on mobile is only about the hardware price and not about functionality.
See the big failure of the Surface line.

Preisente Preisvergleich -BBworld-> https://forums.crackberry.com/e?link...token=bAMq-zDO

[abwan11]

Microsoft is the one who is in trouble. I have held out 2 years (so far) waiting on the next thing in computers, and it ain't going to be by Microsoft, that's forsure, not for me anyway. Apples overpriced and windows is directionless.

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[stickyiki]

I've tried to give Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8 a chance, but one of the biggest drawbacks was the browser. IE is a piece of ****. It doesn't hold a candle to the BB10 Browser, Safari or Chrome.

Windows 8.1, on the other hand, is pretty decent. I use it as my main OS and I have been liking the updates. They have announced they will be bringing back the start menu, which never should have been removed in the first place!

[Clanked]

Windows 8 is extremely snappy especially compared to windows 7 and most people would agree with that. I would run diagnostics on the computer to see if the hard drive is faulty. If all else fails, I would do a factory reset.

Well some stuff is snappy for sure, but other stuff isnt. I know its the OS because my girls windows 8 lappy is the same....when in desktop mode the OS seems to be sluggish in certain tasks. not everything, but some.

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[machzk]

Well the user experience may vary but I really don't think it's coded terribly. Windows 8 is one of the most stable, well-built Operating systems in the market right now.
Or are you talking about the new interface? Because that I can understand. It's still pretty basic.

There aren�t that many OSs to choose from especially in the mainstream market. I was a stanch windows user until I upgraded 8. I subsequently bought a Mac.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

There is a learning curve to Windows 8.1.... but our office converted and after a few weeks everyone is fine with it.

Navigation was an issue, but giving everyone a chart with the Windows Logo Keyboard Shortcuts really helped. And yes we had some issue with some older OS based printers, but with a few updates to those machines and some time, Windows 8.1 is working well for us. We were using Windows XP and everyone told us to go to Windows 7.... but I didn't see the need to have everyone learn Windows 7 and then in a couple of years have to start all over again. All of our programs were certified to work with Windows 8 so we did it.

Compared to Windows XP (and the older machines it was installed on), Windows 8.1 Pro is a very fast and easy to use OS. And much easier to setup for users!




And all those that left windows and went to a MAC.... ??? Was it because the MAC OS is SOOOOO easy to get use to after using a Windows PC? Was it because moving around in the OS and finding properties and tools for files is so easy? Maybe it was because suddenly so many other application work on MACs. I know the cost of a MAC has dropped where it is now on par with a Windows PC with the same hardware?

Don't get me wrong I like Apple computers, but their pricing and compatibility with most business type software means they aren't even a choice for "our" business.

[adrenaline_x]

Wtf are u talking about windows 8.1 being slow? I'm a senior network admin in. 100 person company and I hated windows 8.0 when I first installed it and went back to Windows 7 quickly. But 8.1 was a huge difference and I'm running it on my laptops and server 2012 on most of out servers. The ui took a bit to get used to but the os is Sooooo much faster and memory management is far superior

My precision laptop with quad core i7 and 8 Gbs of ram with ssd drive was fast with windows 7 but I would run out of ram. I put in 8 more and used alot of it. With windows 8 the os takes maybe 15 seconds to boot and login after posting and only consumes 5 Gbs of ram.

Metro ui is silly for non touch device but with 8.1 u got a quasi start menu back which was a huge improvement but still hard to find things unless u customize it. Searching is sometimes faster.

But the os is faster and does not have programming issues like the poster above said.



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[adrenaline_x]

Ohh. And windows 8.1 was out months ago... or it was in corporate chsnnels

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[DenverRalphy]

I'm really curious to see how this plays out.

On the surface, a free to distribute license is enticing. What is yet to be seen though is licensing to edit and modify.

Yes, Android is free. But it's also open (to what degree can be debated, but for this topic it's moot). So while WP8.x may be free, how much leverage do the OEMs have to make their custom changes?

I'm sure many OEMs will take a serious look at revisiting WP devices. I'm just curious as to how quickly they will adopt if they can't differentiate their devices from other competitors.

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[badiyee]

At this rate, I think BlackBerry welcomes it MORE than Microsoft would. The way I see it, if I'm part of the newer BlackBerry, this announcement literally just made my day. Its a gold mine rush.

Lots of easy money to be made there.

[co4nd]

Microsoft makes Windows free on phones, small tablets, and gizmos - but not PCs | PCWorld

So Microsoft is making Windows 8.1 free for device manufacturers. Microsoft is doing so many things to increase the adoption rate while blackberry is doing the exact opposite. (breaking up with t-mobile, focusing on OS7, etc). The 8.1 update is massive/feature-rich and Microsoft has solid hardware partners to back them up. So looks like BB has a lot of catching up to do.

The two have different goals. Microsoft needs adoption to justify it's platform, Blackberry needs to make money to stay in business. Microsoft has other lines of business to fund it's mobile hobby. If BB were to give it's OS away to increase adoption, where are they going to make money?

[DenverRalphy]

The two have different goals. Microsoft needs adoption to justify it's platform, Blackberry needs to make money to stay in business. Microsoft has other lines of business to fund it's mobile hobby. If BB were to give it's OS away to increase adoption, where are they going to make money?

If Chen's motivations prove to be true, and migrating BB to a software/services instead of hardware business... it could prove to be a profitable move. Chen's opinion is just that. Sure he's giving hardware a chance, and despite what some people interpret with recent hardware moves, Chen is only giving it a chance but not counting or gambling on it.

[Jas00555]

Actually, this move has got a lot of people very excited. See, there are a lot of OEMs around the world who are basically in a race to the bottom and will sacrifice a lot if it saves them money. Well, now that Windows Phone is cheaper than Android, it could save these OEMs a lot of money.

Wait, what? Android is cheaper than Windows Phone? Actually, yes it is. You see, since Android uses a lot of patented technology that Microsoft uses in Windows, OEMs have to pay Microsoft for the right to use Android to the tune of Microsoft gaining $2 billion a year just from these deals. So while it seems counter-intuitive, using Microsoft's software means you pay them less. So OEMs are expected to look at the spreadsheets and go "you know... if we can transfer our current user base to Windows Phone, we could save $5 million a year (made up number, but you get the idea) which means that they'll start pushing Windows Phone over Android, which in turn is expected double Windows Phone's market share, maybe even more that double. At Microsoft's BUILD conference, two phones from Prestigio and Marathon (which has 22% of the Indian market ) have already announced phones and the phone (which are obviously still in development) were shown off onstage. Blackberry could learn a lot from Microsoft.

See the big failure of the Surface line

You mean the business that is worth more revenue than all of Blackberry combined? Yeah, such a failure

[homl]

No thanks, even if it is free. The same old MS. I have many Win 8 installs. Riddle with install, update, account, etc, issues. Maybe I just have bad luck with Win 8. I am not new to MS OS, used it since the very beginning, I hate to see newbies fix some of the issues. However, I have very few problems with iOS, Android and BB10. Unless MS is trouble free as the other OS, no thanks.
Also, just hate the identity crisis with Win8. Tablet or PC? Apps or Programs? You know where Win 7 is coming from and what to expect.

[GooberNS]

Windows 8 is good a pushing people towards other OSes.

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