Discussions

Microsoft is killing the following editions of VS Express:    
  - Visual C#
  - Visual Basic  
  - Visual C++  

They will still be available but won't be updated beyond the current version 10. 

They will instead only be offering the following three products: 
  - Express for Windows Phone
  - Express for WIndows 8 (Metro only: supports C#, VB, C++, and Javascript)      
  - Express for Web    

At this point it isn't clear from Microsoft's blog post if you'll be able to produce "forms" or console applications in the "Windows 8" edition (but I suspect not).    

Why is anyone interested at buying Facebook @ $40? Anyone with a clue knows they have no working revenue streams and even if all of their potential is realised they would only be worth around $40 at that point - it is a huge gamble. 

I think it will go steady around $35 and then gradually drop down to closer to the high $20s or low $30s.   

@spivonious: There are few to no advantages; plus the one advantage - organisation: isn't very often true these days as having two or more drives in your system is fairly common.   

I haven't partitioned my drives in over ten years. I just have a dedicated physical drive for the OS/user context. These days that drive is an SSD and then I shove all of my "long term storage" data on to a 2 TB HDD which is rarely spinning.   

I can see, to a point, the advantage of doing it on a laptop where you WILL have only one drive - but what I typically do is backup my laptop's drive often and therefore am able to safely wipe out the whole drive without batting an eyelid.   

@magicalclick: By "BIOS" I assume you mean MBR. I would recommend MBR right now unless you have a very specific use-case for GPT. The only use case that I am aware of is 3 TB hard drives (which also aren't cost effective).   

UEFI its self is fine. It is an improvement over BIOS. So if you're shopping for a motherboard do not fear UEFI based systems (plus most of them are UEFI now anyway!).    

GPT will, one day, be useful. But Microsoft has a heck of a lot of work to do. That work is needed on Windows Setup, Utilities (diskpart, Disk Manager, etc), Windows Boot Menu, and even system repair tools like the Boot Repair which is REALLY confused by a hybrid MBR/GPT system. 

As I said - a LOT of work to do. Windows 8 CP is identical to Windows 7 in its handling of GPT and that is extremely disappointing. 

To be honest I would like to see Microsoft "re-think" how they do booting. I realise Microsoft wants to be anti-competitive but it is, and has always been, a PITA to get Windows to multi-boot with its self. Their shoddy GPT implementation just breaks even that.   

@magicalclick: In theory GPT should allow you to multi-boot operating systems without a third party boot menu/system. In practice Microsoft is working very hard to screw that up. 

Other than that GPT is really about >2.2 TB storage and making it easier to write disk management utilities. There are a few more theoretical benefits like a larger number of partitions but most systems, even enterprise systems, won't ever see those benefits.  

Keep in mind that once an Operating System is running neither GPT nor MBR is ever really used - so you'd never expect to see true performance increases beyond 1~2ms at boot.   

@figuerres: In order to install in GPT you have to run Windows Setup in GPT mode. On my system I press F11 for the "boot menu" and if a DVD is inserted it brings up two options: 
  - DVD ROM: Windows Setup 
  - Windows Setup (GPT)    

If you select the former you get the normal MBR installation. If you select the latter you get your system totally screwed up by GPT. As I said, would NOT recommend.   

UEFI "BIOS"-s are fine, but do NOT (and I cannot stress this enough) format your hard drive as GPT/GUID. It is nothing but trouble, either on Windows 7 nor on Windows 8.  

Windows is NOT ready for GPT - none of the MBR tools work on GPT systems (even if they think they are - due to the "fake" MBR). Windows also handles GPT entries in the uEFI boot menu incorrectly. 

As I said, the new BIOSes (UEFI) with better mouse support and a few more toys are just fine even if they are a tiny bit more buggy on average than traditional BIOS-based systems. 

GPT/GUID is NOT fine. It means you'll have 4x different ways to install Windows: 
 - 64x MBR
 - 64x GPT
 - 32x MBR
 - 32x GPT

None of which are interoperable. So if you have a mix of MBR and GPT on one system then you're screwed. If you have a mix of 32x and 64x then you're screwed. If you try to install Windows twice and have any GPT partitions then you're screwed.

Also Windows will refuse to remove GPT once it is on a partition. Many of the tools which are meant to wipe a drive instead just wipe the new "simulated" drive without touching the fake MBR or the reserved space (including Disk Manager).

Honestly GPT is a giant clusterfuck. The second >2.2 TB drives become popular there is going to be masses of confused people complaining about it on every outlet available. Windows 8 does not improve the situation. 

Forbes has published an article calling Steve Ballmer the worst CEO of the year.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2012/05/12/oops-5-ceos-that-should-have-already-been-fired-cisco-ge-walmart-sears-microsoft/3/     

I have no particular love loss for Steve Ballmer and he has made a lot of mistakes but the things this article cites are just stupid and aren't even borderline things he should be upset about. Examples:
 - Windows 7 and Office 2010 did nothing to excite tech users    

Windows 7 didn't excite users? What? Wake up Forbes...  

 - Apple took the leadership position in personal technology    

Neither office nor Windows 7 are competing in "personal technology."

 -  after dumping Zune   

Right decision. Zune was a money-pit. It was never going to succeed. Looking back that is only more clear with the strong move to smart-phone-as-the-MP3 player-killer.   

 -  dumping Windows CE   

He didn't "dump CE" he replaced an uncompetitive product (Windows Mobile 6.xx) with a highly competitive one (Windows Phone 7).   

Maybe Forbes writers should stop attempting to write about technology - it is fair to say this Forbes writer doesn't know what the heck he or she is talking about, and would really look smarter if they just kept their mouth closed.   

As I said Steve has made tons of errors along the way, most of which I can name, Forbes just managed to focus on a lot of the riskier but better decisions he has taken.  

@Maddus Mattus: Setting up automatic monitoring and then leaving children on the open internet makes you a bad parent. No child (aged 1 to 10~) should ever been unsupervised while using the internet. 

Everything in that blog post is part of Windows 7 with the Live Essentials suite installed.    

So instead of buying Windows 8 - just learn how to use the software you have correctly.    

On a related note: Software isn't a replacement for good parenting. If you let your kids do whatever they want on the internet then you only have your self to blame when meatspin melts their eyes.