Windows 8, Flash and Silverlight: some very bad news

Monday, September 19th, 2011

In amongst the flood of details emerging about Windows 8 is the news that the IE 10 browser in the lightweight Metro front-end won’t support plugins. In the scheme of things this might sound pretty small beer, but it’s hugely significant for the long term future of Rich Internet Application (RIA) development and for the web in general.

Most immediately it’s another kick in the teeth for Flash, still reeling from Apple’s iOS ban. It’s not exactly a death blow, as the Windows 8 desktop version of IE will still support the player, but it’s clearly another major disincentive for developers who believed Flash was as universal as HTML.

Understandably all the focus has been on Flash, but even more telling and extraordinary is the realisation that the new no-plugin policy means that the Metro browser won’t even support Microsoft’s own cross-platform RIA technology, Silverlight!

So just what is going on?

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Four things Microsoft must do to make Windows 8 work

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

As I said in my 10 best features of Windows 8 blog, there’s much to admire about Microsoft’s new operating system. But, as David Bayon rightly notes in his first look at Windows 8 on a laptop, there’s plenty of problems too: some of them potential showstoppers.

Microsoft simply cannot afford to screw up Windows 8.  This is a massive, brave gamble by a traditionally conservative company. Here, in my opinion, is what the company has to do to ensure Windows 8 has the best possible chance of success:

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Windows 8 on a laptop: first look

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

All the talk so far has centred around the wonderful new Metro UI, and how it could well be the nicest touch interface yet – but what of the vast majority of PCs and laptops that don’t have a touchscreen? Does Windows 8 relegate them to an afterthought, or can you carry on with mouse and keyboard as if touch never existed? To find out, I installed the developer preview on a 15in Core i5 laptop and plugged in a mouse.

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The 10 best new features of Windows 8

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

I’ve only had a short time to play with Windows 8, but it’s already apparent there are plenty of excellent new features in the next-gen operating system. There are several not so hot features, too, but I’ll deal with those in a separate blog post. In the meantime, here’s my pick of what I’ve seen so far.

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Windows 8: apps and the Store

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

As we discussed in the new interface section, Windows 8 now supports two different kind of applications: the new Metro Style apps and conventional desktop software. What’s more, Microsoft is launching its own Store to sell them both from.

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Windows 8: the new interface

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

The new Metro interface for Windows 8 is one of the most significant – and riskiest – decisions in Microsoft’s history. The familiar desktop that has been the cornerstone of the operating system since Windows 95 has been elbowed out of the way in favour of a touch interface. On this there is no compromise: even if you intend to run Windows 8 on a desktop PC with a conventional monitor, the Metro interface remains the default, with the traditional Windows Desktop relegated to mere “app” status.

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Windows 8: performance

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

With Microsoft deciding to push “full fat” Windows onto tablets, the operating system’s performance is going to be critical.

The company had already stated that the system requirements for Windows 8 would be no greater than those of Windows 7. Now it claims to have improved on the performance of its predecessor.

“We’re using considerably less memory in Windows 8,” claimed Gabriel Aul, director of project management for Windows fundamentals, who showed the Task Manager for Windows 7 and Windows 8 machines running side-by-side, with the latter using between 10-20% less RAM with the operating system sat idle.

Aul also claims CPU optimisations allow the processor to stay in “a lower power state for much longer”. So what does this mean for Windows 8 battery life?

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Windows 8 on ARM

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Despite making a huge song and dance about ARM support when Windows 8 was first announced back at CES in January (pictured above), ARM-based devices were almost conspicuous by their absence at the official unveiling of the OS here in Los Angeles.

All of the Microsoft stage demonstrations were conducted using Intel-based x86 devices – the only time we saw an ARM device in the all-day press presentation was a quick glimpse of an Nvidia-branded tablet showing nothing but the Start Screen.

So what’s the story with Windows 8’s ARM support?

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Google Chromebook and Office 2010? Thanks a bundle, Currys

Monday, July 25th, 2011

Have you seen those new Google Chromebooks? You know, the ones with the cloud-based Chrome OS operating system, where all your apps are run over the internet? It seems some people just can’t get their head around the concept. Including high-street retailer and Chromebook seller, Currys.

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How developers game search results in the Android Market

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Android’s Market is one of the most open and accessible software stores around. While that sounds great on paper, this unregulated approach inevitably comes with its own pros and cons.

In some instances, con is the right word. Take Spider Wars, an unremarkable game that’s getting a leg up the Market’s search results by piggy-backing on a host of other popular titles and companies.

The scam – if it can even be called that – is simple keyword stuffing. Head to the game’s page and, after a description of its mechanics, there’s a list of words. A lot of them are familiar: the first block lists top games and franchises such as Star Wars (itself, evidently, a great inspiration for the game), Worms, Minesweeper and Dune.

The second block is potentially more useful to developer No Sushi Prod, and starts with a who’s who of top Android and iOS titles: Gameloft, Angry Birds, Doodle Jump, Cut the Rope, Tiny Wings, Polarbit and Kairosoft, with the latter the search term that brought Spider Wars to my attention.

There’s also a list of popular social networks and services, including Twitter, Facebook and Gmail. (more…)