http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/08/07/the-end-times-achievements-for-minesweeper/
QuoteUntil today, I've been of the opinion that anyone proclaiming the Mayan apocalypse will strike in 2012 was a half-witted knobhead, but now I too have the incontrovertible proof of impending doom for all humanity.
Windows 8 is odious for many reasons – specifically because it's an inept mangling-together of three different interfaces, a disturbing attempt to turn the PC into a walled garden and it stealths a shopping channel into the heart of the OS – but hearing that PC game stalwarts Minesweeper, Solitaire and Majong will be re-released and infected with Achievements as part of it drove to me true despair. All hope is lost. The Earth will burn.
'Xbox Windows' is a title Microsoft's hoping we'll see a lot more of, as it tries to mash its two most famous brands into one in the hoping of direct-selling games on Windows 8 PCs and tablets. Under this new banner come Win, Minesweeper becomes the Metro-styled Microsoft Minesweeper and offers Achievements and Gamerscore points for such highly tactical endeavours as losing the game. Solitaire and Majong (that latter admittedly not much of a PC staple) will similar treatment, report the strange scientists on Xbox360Achievements.org.
It is the modern age. Such things are unavoidable. I am simply a grumpy old man, I realise this. But I do agree with the prevailing industry fear that Windows 8 is an attempt to restrict the freedom of the PC, and stuff like this only cements my ill-feeling about Microsoft's upcoming OS refresh.
I'm in strong agreement.
The Gaben will save us with Steam for Linux.
Or people with desktops (especially gamers) could just skip this impending abortion of an OS and wait for a new true desktop OS to come out.
windows 8 = Vista: the sequel?
I obsessively have to get all the records on minesweeper on any computer I use.
Vista?
It's ME the sequel or Windows 98 first edition disaster.
Quote from: sbr on August 07, 2012, 12:12:19 PM
Or people with desktops (especially gamers) could just skip this impending abortion of an OS and wait for a new true desktop OS to come out.
:yes:
I guess they are continuing the pattern:
Windows 98 (up)
Windows ME (down)
Windows XP (up)
Windows Vista (down)
Windows 7 (up)
Windows 8 (down)
What isn't good though is how many businesses still were using XP during the Vista and 7 era.
Quote from: garbon on August 07, 2012, 12:27:01 PM
Quote from: sbr on August 07, 2012, 12:12:19 PM
Or people with desktops (especially gamers) could just skip this impending abortion of an OS and wait for a new true desktop OS to come out.
:yes:
I guess they are continuing the pattern:
Windows 98 (up)
Windows ME (down)
Windows XP (up)
Windows Vista (down)
Windows 7 (up)
Windows 8 (down)
What isn't good though is how many businesses still were using XP during the Vista and 7 era.
I wish I had XP now. There is too much junk on the post XP-SP2 versions of widows. I haven't had a single hard disk survive a post XP version of windows for long. I've hooked up the present one and the graphics card with external cooling.
Quote from: garbon on August 07, 2012, 12:27:01 PM
What isn't good though is how many businesses still were using XP during the Vista and 7 era.
Why would they want to change? :huh:
It's good as long as you don't use Win7 or 64bit specific apps.
Quote from: szmik on August 07, 2012, 02:07:04 PM
Quote from: garbon on August 07, 2012, 12:27:01 PM
What isn't good though is how many businesses still were using XP during the Vista and 7 era.
Why would they want to change? :huh:
It's good as long as you don't use Win7 or 64bit specific apps.
I was thinking for Microsoft. They keep putting out version that no one seems to want as they either are sticking with an older version or fleeing to OS.
Windows 8 is apparently so much worse than vista. The way they've totally changed the interface in a horrible, new direction....hmm.....
I'm quite happy with my Win 7.
Gabe Newell from Valve chimes in:
http://venturebeat.com/2012/07/25/valves-gabe-newell-talks/
Quote[...]
Valve wouldn't exist if it weren't for the PC. Id Software, Epic, Zynga, Facebook, and Google wouldn't have existed without the openness of the platform. I think there's a strong temptation to close the platform. If people look at what they can accomplish when they can limit competitors' access to their platform, they say, "Wow, that's really exciting." Even some of the people who have open platforms, like Microsoft, get really excited by the idea that Netflix has to pay them rent in order to be on the Internet.
That's not how we got here, and I don't think that's a very attractive future. So we're looking at the platform, and up until now we've been a free rider. We've been able to benefit from everything that's gone into the PC and the Internet. Now we have to start finding ways that we can continue to make sure there are open platforms. So that involves a couple of different things.
One, we're trying to make sure that Linux thrives. Our perception is that one of the big problems holding Linux back is the absence of games. I think that a lot of people — in their thinking about platforms — don't realize how critical games are as a consumer driver of purchases and usage. So we're going to continue working with the Linux distribution guys, shipping Steam, shipping our games, and making it as easy as possible for anybody who's engaged with us — putting their games on Steam and getting those running on Linux, as well. It's a hedging strategy.
I think that Windows 8 is kind of a catastrophe for everybody in the PC space. I think that we're going to lose some of the top-tier PC [original equipment manufacturers]. They'll exit the market. I think margins are going to be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, it's going to be a good idea to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality. But when you start thinking about a platform, you have to address it. You have to address mobile. You have to look at what's going to happen post-tablet. If you look at the mouse and keyboard, it was stable for about 25 years. I think touch will be stable for about 10 years. I think post-touch, and we'll be stable for a really long time — for another 25 years.
[...]
Quote from: Solmyr on August 08, 2012, 01:16:01 AM
I'm quite happy with my Win 7.
I am as well. I can upgrade to Windows 8 if I want for small fee, but I don't think I will.