Will Windows Blue Be The End Of The Desktop?

[engine]

Windows Blue has triggered a spate of doomsaying about the end of the Windows desktop.

Today there has been no shortage of articles claiming that Blue portends the end of Windows 8 desktop mode. Will Windows Blue Be The End Of The Desktop? [news.cnet.com]

Build 9364's (Windows Blue) tablet-centricism is so pervasive...the ability to modify Control Panel settings -- which previously required that users shift to the desktop side of the OS -- from within the Modern UI. Indeed, with a Modern-flavored File Manager rumored to be in the cards, Microsoft seems keen to translate many legacy activities to its new touch-centered world. The changes can certainly be justified in the name of convenience but they will also wean users off the more familiar Explorer environment by encouraging them to conduct more of their business in the tablet UI.

Here's Microsoft's announcement, "Looking Back and Springing Ahead" [blogs.technet.com]

[jecasc]

First thing I did when updating my home computer to windows 8 was getting rid of all apps and installing "Classic Start Menu".

I mean WTF? If anything they should make tablets more like desktops. If anything the current tablet OS are a huge step back, closer to good old DOS than to a modern operating system.

[Leosghost]

Will Windows Blue Be The End Of The Desktop?

Not this one ..it isn't windows..nor any of the others I have, even those which run windows ( none run , nor will run win8 )..

If you run windows ..better W849

[edwardsgs]

I concur - Windows 8 is crap - Seems stable, but I hate using it; and I have given it a chance. MS definitely needs to continue building standard desktop OS. Windows 7 is great for me. I don't know what's next. I can't afford to be a Mac guy. I'd use Linux, but I always end up with high blood pressure after trying to get drivers to work.

[swa66]

I can't afford to be a Mac guy

I think that's a myth. Sure macs are expensive, but if you look at top of the line machines running windows or OS X makes little to no difference in price. Granted apple doesn't sell new low end models.

But there's an easy fix: Get a used one. e.g. a 3 to 4 year old macbook pro is cheap to buy second hand by now and runs the latest OS X version (Mountain Lion) like a champ.
Right now: make sure it has at least a core 2 duo CPU and it'll run anything. That's e.g. a mid 2009 MBP: it has a unibody (solid piece of aluminium housing the computer), they are sturdy and can take a beating.
Pay a bit more and you can get an core i5 cpu and 4G RAM and it'll be a good machine for years to come.

None of those older macs have "gamer" performances, but they all can run Mountian Lion and anything else you might throw at them - even windows (I'd suggest parallels)

[edwardsgs]

I didn't say I didn't like Mac's or OSX. But the iMacs and MacBooks I've had have been no more dependable than Dells. I've had multiple motherboards die, laptop cases crack, power supplys fail, et cetera. Granted, I've never owned a macbook PRO as you suggest. My new plan is to go cheap. Any laptop you can find today for $400 is sufficient for my needs. Nearly everything I do runs in a browser and I don't play computer games. Plus it doesn't hurt so bad when something breaks. But back to the main point, the software on those $400 laptops is Windows and it has suited my needs lately.

[swa66]

From reading up on this a bit it seems like the thing to read between the lines is not that "blue" will become a more tablet minded evolution of 8, but that they are getting rid of the troublesome RT version.

That would make sense but they'll hide in a convoluted way to not let us say "told you".

Now even then - despite all talk of sales figures of 8 ... it's not used out there.
My biggest site: of the windows using visitors (about 3/4 of them all), only a measly 4.7% used 8. It doesn't even beat the "failed" Vista adoption rate by a long shot (at 10.72%).
[data from google analytics - so it's biased to not include those blocking javascript]

Hence I expect this "blue" version to be out soon enough to replace "8" and "RT" and be marketed as what we always wanted.