Windows 8: Clarifying Codecs, Compiling, And Compatibility

[boletus]

I picked up a Win 7 family upgrade pack (3 licenses) for < $100 just the other week. All of the folks that think they are getting a great deal with Win 8 will be slowly nickled and dimed to death every time they turn around.

No thank you ma'am! The day I get a Live account is the day... um, no, it's just not going to happen. Gadgets, anyone? Windows Messenger? Active desktop? Microsoft has been trying to do this since Windows 98, and it's been a disaster every time. Oh sure, this time is different, they really did it right this time! Could I interest you in a nice bridge?

 

[Supertrek32]

I followed the link in the article and got a media center product key (just in case I decide to upgrade to Windows 8).

I got the email.

It was in Hebrew...

Ok then...

 

[pushanthegreat]

Nice

 

[demonhorde665]

you can beat around all the words , and reviews you want , F--K MS. i'll not be going windows 8 PERIOD. every thing i hear about it says "stay away".

 

[diddo]

"In fact, you can have a copy of an app in Windows 8 and be forced to buy it a second time for your Windows RT-based devices."
Another ones bites the dust... another nail in the RT coffin.

 

[knott00]

[citation][nom]diddo[/nom]"In fact, you can have a copy of an app in Windows 8 and be forced to buy it a second time for your Windows RT-based devices."Another ones bites the dust... another nail in the RT coffin.[/citation]
Sorry, this is simply not true. As long as you're signed into the same ID on both devices, you don't have to buy the app again... Please stop spreading this bunk

 

[PudgyChicken]

The clarification in this article was fantastic. Thanks, Tom's, for giving me some peace of mind. Now I know that all the applications I've written in C# leveraging the Windows Presentation Framework will work if I get a Win RT tab This makes me oh-so happy.

 

[diddo]

[citation][nom]knott00[/nom]Sorry, this is simply not true. As long as you're signed into the same ID on both devices, you don't have to buy the app again... Please stop spreading this bunk[/citation]
"In fact, you can have a copy of an app in Windows 8 and be forced to buy it a second time for your Windows RT-based devices."
Ipse dixit, your argument is invalid.
Please stop climbing mirrors, Bob 8 commercial crash will be harsh anyway.

 

[marthisdil]

[citation][nom]Marcus52[/nom]It might well be judged illegal; certainly I think Microsoft is in danger of getting a fine from the European community, judging from past rulings.What about Apple? Don't you have to buy apps through their store for their portable devices? Don't they tightly control who can create an app? Seems to me that Microsoft might just be following in the footsteps of Apple here - but it also seems to me that Windows 8 RT is a real operating system, while iOS is more of a device manager, and there is a difference. Whether or not that translates to a legal difference, I don't know.Not being able to use Firefox on the Surface seems like an extraordinary limitation, whatever the case. I'm not sure that would be a deal-breaker - but I'm not in the market for something in between the size of a full-size notebook and a smart phone anyway, so it's just discussion in my case.[/citation]

Hmm - If the EU decides to do their typical EU thing and "tax" Microsoft more money, I think MS should just pull all licenses from the EU and tell them all to go screw themselves.

Ultimately, I don't think it'll matter. IOS, by the OS, means Apple even considers it an OS.

 

[alextheblue]

[citation][nom]Kodiack[/nom]Would be nice to have BRD support in Windows by default. Third-party Blu-ray playback software is atrocious.[/citation]Licensing DVD costs money. Hence why the pack is going to cost $10 once the free promo is over. Licensing Bluray costs even more. Which is why they said screw it, especially given the relatively low % of PCs with Bluray drives. Heck the skinny laptops often come without any optical drive at all. Tablets? Yeah no optical media there either.

You can just nab a third party player though, and avoid all the licensing woes. Microsoft knows this, so rather than charge 100% of their customers for something 20% want, they just let you grab something on your own if you really need it.

 

[alextheblue]

[citation][nom]Achoo22[/nom]Seems to me that you're clueless, since iOS very much has a UNIX-like core. The same is true for nearly all tablets and nearly all smartphones. Where do you think the term "rooted" comes from?[/citation]XNU/Darwin. But it doesn't really matter what the core components are, from an end user's perspective. What you can and can not do with the OS is not entirely determined by choice of core. iOS is all locked up, maybe that's why rooting iOS is nicknamed jailbreaking. So it could be using the NT kernel as part of the core for all I care. It doesn't matter. What makes iOS devices toys is the complete Apple lockdown on every aspect imaginable. [citation][nom]diddo[/nom]"In fact, you can have a copy of an app in Windows 8 and be forced to buy it a second time for your Windows RT-based devices."Ipse dixit, your argument is invalid.Please stop climbing mirrors, Bob 8 commercial crash will be harsh anyway.[/citation]That was debunked. By this very THG article, for one. If you bothered to read the text BELOW that quote you keep throwing around, you'd know this.

 

[ceh4702]

Just dont purchase Windows 8. This sends a message to Microsoft. Now if Microsoft truly put some better compatability and usability in their Media Center, people might not mind paying a small fee like $10 or $20 for it. However, if this is something that Microsoft plans on not supplying this with their Operating System, then maybe they should not be allowed to charge $99.00 for it. The public is Losing functionality and then still paying the same premium price for an inferior product.

 

[ceh4702]

Can you say this is an abuse of monopoly power???

 

[Guest]

[only Microsoft applications will run on the Windows RT Desktop. No third-party apps allowed. No Chrome, no Firefox, no VLC, no WinAmp. Nothing that doesn't come from Microsoft, period.]

Once again Microsoft has managed to confuse lots of people. When they said Firefox cannot run on Windows RT Desktop, they refer to the "useless" desktop mode in Windows RT which looks like desktop mode in x86 Windows but run nothing except Microsoft software. Firefox can still run in the Metro environment on the RT platform. What this means is just that Microsoft does not intend to open up and support "desktop mode" in RT platform because it is merely a transitional stage for Microsoft to quickly roll out Office on the RT platform. Once they have managed to properly create Office that runs in Metro environment, I am sure Microsoft will ditch the desktop mode in RT.

So there is nothing anti-competitive about this. Microsoft does not even intend to support that mode in the long run anyway.

Frankly, I do not think Windows 8 is currently selling well, and there must be lots of returns from the early adopters who has thought Windows RT is just the tablet form of Windows that can do everything x86 Windows can do. There is so many posts from all over the website that shows lots of misconceptions of what RT really is. Microsoft would have done much better if they roll out Surface Pro 3 months before Surface RT, instead of the other way around. The negative word of mouth is going to affect Windows 8 sales.

 

[soundping]

Can K-Lite Codec Pack install on Win Ate?

 

[Christopher1]

I have the Windows 8 Pro version and I just gave up on Media Center on my PC's. Removed it, deleted it, whatever in all but one computer that my father insists keeps it on (until I find a replacement) because he uses it as a TV recorder.

 

[Christopher1]

[citation][nom]alextheblue[/nom]You can just nab a third party player though, and avoid all the licensing woes. Microsoft knows this, so rather than charge 100% of their customers for something 20% want, they just let you grab something on your own if you really need it.[/citation]

Right in one. Third party players, unless they are used in commercial settings, can be used for free. They don't have to pay the DVD licensing fees and Blu-Ray licensing fees.

This was just a smart idea for Microsoft and anyone except the most anti-Microsoft zealot knows it. I wouldn't be surprised if other companies do something similar.

 

[hipshot]

so no JAVA APPS at all on a RT /Surface device?