My first impression is that everything is slow. I am hoping that the final software running on newer hardware will take care of that. This gets mentioned up front because the slowness was frustrating enough that I did not go real in depth with the software. The other frustration I will mention is that it had on optional pen. Unfortunately, the pen seemed to work slightly different than just touching the screen with my finger and had issues dealing with the slowness.
The first thing I noticed was that someone was definitely trying to make an interface that is not just a tweaked copy of what came before. This something to be encouraged and followed closely. However the differences between iOS and Windows 8 Metro seem fairly cosmetic on the surface. The one thing that becomes clear with use is that MS is trying to be more flexible on screen size, shape etc. the execution, so far, tells me to withold judgement until the final version is released.
The one down side I will mention is that MS is still unwilling to commit to anything completely. A version of the classic interface is still present, useable and as best I could tell, necessary. I was hoping that MS would be able support legacy apps within the new interface. I personally found switching between the two a bit jarring. I'd expect to either stick with classic or avoid non-Metro software. This kinda reminds me of the issues we have had mixing 64-bit and 32-bit on our Windows 7 machines which caused us no end of grief.
The apps are little better than demos so I will not comment much. A few show some promise. The features are lacking in most though and what is there now shows little thought has been given to the finer details.
In the end, this version of the software and hardware killed an hour but that is it. It is certainly not going to replace any of my machines. I would also be loathe to do any long term evaluation based on this combo. I would like try out a newer build on newer hardware this summer when I have more time and the product is more fully baked.
]]>I dug around a little bit and ended up looking at Serendipity. It has a few things going for it. First, it looks pretty simple to install, maintain and operate. A feature that I particularly like is that when I am logged into the blog I see little edit buttons next to each item. I do not have to go to the admin side and relocate an item when I want to make an edit. It also has theme that matches my desires fairly closely. I think I will have to tweak it slightly but nothing drastic. There's also the added bonus that it is BSD licensed. I prefer license that I can easily understand and the BSD license, in its various incarnations, covers that rather well.
I've installed it on a test site and if things go well, I will move this blog over to it. After that, I have some stuff to consider. I have a couple of domains and a few different blogs. I have been thinking about consolidating them a bit. I am the only one who ever posts or visits the sites so making my life easier is really the only concern. It might also help me get back on track with a few of my goals. One of which is to simply post more stuff here. You'd finding time to do something you enjoy would not be so much work. :)
]]>The real challenge now is to come up with something worth writing about.
]]>Their dominance in the office suite, desktop operating system, and server operating system markets gives them a huge advantage over their competition. They have the resources to commit to a project and see it through regardless of early success or failures. However, Microsoft has proven itself unable to capture and exploit new markets. They had some success in the console market. However, it is considered an open secret that their profit from the original Xbox has been wiped out by their current Xbox 360.
Their original attempt at MP3 players PlaysforSure was a reasonable first effort at creating a digital music market. The problem it ran into was people didn't see the digital music market the same way as the offline world. This included not only consumers but also music executives. The advantages of the Playsforsure ecosystem made it more complex. The advantages of the iPod were rooted in its simplicity. These hurdles were difficult by not insurmountable. In retrospect, Microsoft would have been well served by creating a better iTunes for its hardware partners to work with. Any possibility of this was eliminated when Microsoft turned itself into a competitor to its partners. The Zune was by most measures a good product. However, it has failed so far because it has little to differentiate itself from the iPod. Potential partners are wary of being abandoned in the same way Microsoft's Playsforsure partner's were abandoned. It also gave Apple far more time since Microsoft was starting over in the market from scratch.. Time to solidify its place in the market, expand the number of people reliant on Apple, eliminate competitors and time to make it the *standard*. A standard Apple can use to invade other markets.
They have done the same thing with phones. They were too complex too soon and are now are starting over twice. Giving Apple and other competitors time to solidify their lead.
Microsoft's inability to focus has caused it to blow billions of dollars over the last decade or two. This kind of incompetence was forgiven for a long time because of the constant rise in stock prices. However, new markets, open source and good old fashion competition have been slowly eroding their position. Microsoft so far seems unable to drop its dead weight and focus on its strengths.
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