Features I would like to see improved in Windows 8
- I think it would be great if the switcher interface had aero peek. Alt+Tab thumbnails have aero peek, so should Switcher, when in mouse mode. Switcher thumbnails should also show program icon, like alt+tab interface (making it much faster to find the window). Switcher should allow scrolling down, to allow more than seven thumbnails.
- Ability to open multiple apps, without leaving the start screen, by holding down shift while clicking app would be a useful function. Open all your apps first, at start of workflow. Thus less back and fourth with desktop and metro
- Add tile for "All Apps", because right clicking with mouse to access this important functionality is quite slow, and not very discoverable.
- Shutdown by right clicking start thumbnail, and also from Start screen, under user photo tile.
- Jumplists added to metro mode, so I can access them more easily, whether on not I have icons pinned to taskbar
- Aero snap still doesn't work in between monitors, this should be easy to fix
- Drag and drop on to sub folders on breadcrumb bar, would be nice. By dragging file to drop down arrow, then folder off this.
- Win+left and right, should also snap metro apps, not just desktop windows.
- When hovering with mouse over new UI elements, eg charms, add tool-tips for hot keys, making them very discoverable
- Add ability to right click alt+tab thumbnails, to close them (similar to how switcher currently allows this).
- Click and drag scrolling with mouse is also needed for the start screen (in empty regions)
- Scrolling on multi-monitor edge doesn't work, extend the area of influence to fix?
- left click in empty region to clear selection or close app bar in Start screen, to avoid mouse travel, and it would feel more natural than right click to dismiss (though keep this option also)
- Rename tile groups without needing to zoom out, by right clicking titles, or where title would be
- Rearrange tile groups without needing to zoom out, by selecting titles (or where title would be) and dragging
- Renaming applications, shortcuts, and folders should be allowed, otherwise another trip back to desktop
- Switcher should show desktop windows and apps, becoming a universal way to switch. It's weird having the desktop displayed as only one thumbnail. With some improvements Switcher could be great.
- Dragging metro apps down, or right click close on Switcher should completely close app immediately (gone in task manager)
- Add tooltips (name of open windows) to switcher thumbnails, like alt+tab interface
- Should be a way to check recent notifications (after they disappear)
- Pin folders to taskbar
- Changed type Arthur XieModerator Monday, March 5, 2012 7:07 AM
Reply:
Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. "
------------------------------------
Reply:
- Aero peek should preview pages when hovering mouse over page thumbnails in IE Metro
------------------------------------
Reply:
------------------------------------
Reply:
- Considering Windows 8 has native PDF reading, why can't they show up in Window Explorer's preview pane, it's a hassle having to switch to full screen
- Images shown in Windows Explorer also default to Metro Photos App, it should default to Preview, thus keeping you in desktop
------------------------------------
Reply:
- All metro apps should have a close button in app bar, for straight forward way to close (Less mouse travel for mouse users)
It's useless you close metro apps you know. They are suspended when not being used and stored into RAM. If the system needs more RAM, it will kill them for you.
------------------------------------
Reply:
Keeping the switcher (and alt+tab) interface relatively clean, is one reason I like to close apps. Also because:
I believe the implementation of switcher makes it difficult to close a series of apps, thus is why I suggested a close button in the app bar for every app. Because a user typically will:
1. Decide they have to many apps open, making it slow to find the right thumbnail on switcher. So they want to close an app
2. Thumbnails are small, and have no app icon (like alt+tab interface), or tooltip
3. Sometimes user is not sure which thumbnail, represents what app. Thus they click a thumbnail to check it
4. Switcher interface disappears. If this is correct app the only way they can close it is drag from top to bottom
5. So they cannot close many apps in one go.
Suggestions:
- If using a mouse on switcher thumbnails, the app window should be revealed as you hover over each thumbnail (like aero peek on taskbar icons). So user can find window, before committing to changing to it
- App icons and tooltips on switcher thumbnails
- By allowing peeking to preview app window on switcher, user can find window, then right click to close, in one action. Thus they can close a series of apps in a row.
------------------------------------
Secure in saying... <-- wee pun
Drew MS Partner / MS Beta Tester / Pres. Computer Issues Pres. Computer Issues www.drewsci.com
Found 1
Oh & allow me... Having MSE/Defender embedded & ON, by default... from an IT Pro YEA!!!!! Absolutely brilliant & fantastic to see!
Drew MS Partner / MS Beta Tester / Pres. Computer Issues Pres. Computer Issues www.drewsci.com
Can there be good news?
Drew MS Partner / MS Beta Tester / Pres. Computer Issues Pres. Computer Issues www.drewsci.com
Sure, I'll byte
Fast, smooth, so far problem-free. Amazing boot times!! No compatibility issues so far, except for an unnecessary, trivial TrendMicro BrowserGuard.
Dual-boot W7 & W8, both x64. Gauges on both. Readings significantly & substantially lower on W8 and activity (whilst doing much of the same stuff) is 'calmer' on W8.
This thing, especially being a fresh & early beta, is bloody impressive!! In terms of performance :)
Drew MS Partner / MS Beta Tester / Pres. Computer Issues Pres. Computer Issues www.drewsci.com
Windows authenticaion in Windows XP & IE8
Hello All,
I use SP object create asp.net 4.0 web site. The web site use Windows Authentication and support user upload file to Sharepoint. when I use Windows 7 & IE9 upload file, it's okay. but, if I use Windows XP & IE8, it not works. The IE show login popup again. I don't know why.
I hope get your help.
jingbo.yang
Reply:
I had a problem with XP and IE8 giving login pop ups....
see if this helps
http://sharepointsurfer.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/continual-login-prompts-on-xpie-8-clients/
http://sharepointsurfer.wordpress.com/.
- Edited by SharePointSurfer Thursday, February 16, 2012 12:55 AM
------------------------------------
Reply:
------------------------------------
Calendar App
Drew MS Partner / MS Beta Tester / Pres. Computer Issues Pres. Computer Issues www.drewsci.com
Issue discovered in FIM Update Rollup 2 tabular functions feature
FIM 2010 Update Rollup 2 (build 4.0.3606.2) contains a feature that is intended to improve Query performance in the case of certain complex queries. This "tabular functions" feature is turned off by default. The product team wanted to get experience among a controlled group of customers before announcing the feature for general use. However, we inadvertently included information about this feature in the original KB for Update Rollup 2 and have since removed it. However, we understand that information about how to turn on the feature is circulating among the FIM community. Once the feature is turned on it cannot be turned off.
The product team has discovered an issue in this feature that could return incorrect query results when the query includes at least two statements and the same attribute is referenced in the statements. For example:
/Person
[(AccountName='A' and JobTitle='Developer')
or (AccountName'='B' and JobTitle='Accountant')]
Since it is likely that typical installations will use this query pattern we strongly advise customers NOT to turn on the Set Partition feature. We will update the community as we understand the issue more completely and have developed a recommendation for addressing it.
Larry Buerk Senior Program Manager Forefront Identity Manager Team
- Changed type Markus VilcinskasMicrosoft employee Sunday, March 17, 2013 8:46 AM
SCHannel 36887, NAP 15 & 17 errors
- 1 event; SChannel 36887 The following fatal alert was received: 47
- 2 events; NAP 15 A malformed RADIUS message was received from client DC01. The data is the RADIUS message.
- 1 event; Then NAP 17 An Access-Request message was received from RADIUS client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX without a Message-Authenticator attribute when a Message-Authenticator attribute is required. Verify the configuration of the RADIUS client in the Network Policy Server snap-in (the "Client must always send the Message-Authenticator attribute in the request" checkbox) and the configuration of the network access server.
- 3 events; NAP 15 A malformed RADIUS message was received from client DC01. The data is the RADIUS message.
- 1 event; Then NAP 17 An Access-Request message was received from RADIUS client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX without a Message-Authenticator attribute when a Message-Authenticator attribute is required. Verify the configuration of the RADIUS client in the Network Policy Server snap-in (the "Client must always send the Message-Authenticator attribute in the request" checkbox) and the configuration of the network access server.
- 1 event; SChannel 36887 The following fatal alert was received: 47
The above all happens over 51 seconds and then there is a 23 minute and 58 second break and it repeats itself again. DC01 holds all the Operations Manager Roles and is also the Schema Manager. DC01 gets the same SChannel 36887 error but none of the rest.
I am running Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 all on virtual servers. NAP is installed on all of them for Wireless Authentication which is not . working because of the above errors I would guess. They are not running any other server software just LANDesk Client software and a virus scan application. This problem started about 2 months ago. Prior to that I had no problems at all.
I have looked all over the internet and have been unable to find a solution. Any help that can be provided will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
- Changed type Tiger LiMicrosoft employee Wednesday, March 7, 2012 2:20 AM
Reply:
Hi c5411,
Thanks for posting here.
>This problem started about 2 months ago.
Do you still remember what modification did we performed to our system before we encountered this issue ? have we modified the virtual network setting on virtual machine host? How many domain controller do we have ? have we check the replication status if we have multiply ones.
>2 events; NAP 15
>1 event; Then NAP 17
I suspect these are NPS related events not NAP, can you confirm that ?
Event ID 15 — NPS Server Communication
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc735403(WS.10).aspx
Event ID 17 — NPS Server Communication
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc735350(WS.10).aspx
I'd first like to check the connectivity between virtual NPS server and clients with following the procedure in the articles above .
Meanwhile , could we enable the audit feature for NPS and that should help us to verify the root cause of the connectivity issue :
NPS events and audit policy
Could also please post the full description (XML) of the error SChannel 36887 here ?
Regards,
Tiger Li
TechNet Subscriber Support in forum
If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tnmff@microsoft.com.
Tiger Li
TechNet Community Support
------------------------------------
Reply:
Hi c5411,
If there is any update on this issue, please feel free to let us know.
Regards,
Tiger Li
TechNet Subscriber Support in forum
If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tnmff@microsoft.com.
Tiger Li
TechNet Community Support
------------------------------------
Should remote management scipts be written to start with creating here-strings?
Using a remote session in Powershell means you are going to be dealing with deserialized objects, being created and passed to you from a constrained runspace at wire speed. In the local session you do not have any artifically imposed memory constraints, and objects are passed at memory-bus speed.
Working in Powershell you obviously want to work with objects, and many times will create custom objects for the task at hand.
You can easily create custom objects from hash tables, and you can easily create hash tables from a here-string of key/value pairs. In script that's intended to run locally this would be unnecessarily complicated, and you'd want to avoid doing it.
However, if you're designing a script that's going to be leveraging remote run spaces I'm starting to wonder if it might be something to consider. If you build it properly, the here-string will contain all the data necessary to ultimately consruct the object. But the here-string is a much simpler object than the custom psobject it will ultimately result in. It takes less memory to create, and serializes into a much smaller package than a hash table or custom object.
If you do this: here-string => hash table => object you can port the first step to the remote session and then do step 2 and 3 in the local session. You should ultimately end up with the same custom object, but you dramatically reduced the bandwidth it took between you and the computer that's hosting that remote session, and the time it took to get that information back to you.
Dealing with small returns, the difference would be trivial. If the script needs to be able to scale to handling thousands of objects the difference could get to be substantial.
Thoughts?
[string](0..33|%{[char][int](46+("686552495351636652556262185355647068516270555358646562655775 0645570").substring(($_*2),2))})-replace " "
- Edited by mjolinor Monday, March 5, 2012 5:16 PM
Reply:
Grant Ward, a.k.a. Bigteddy
------------------------------------
Reply:
[string](0..33|%{[char][int](46+("686552495351636652556262185355647068516270555358646562655775 0645570").substring(($_*2),2))})-replace " "
------------------------------------
Reply:
gwmi win32_logicaldisk | foreach-object{ $hs = @" Disk = $($_.deviceid) Size = $($_.freespace) FreeSpace = $($_.freespace) "@ $obj = new-object psobject -property (convertfrom-stringdata $hs) $hs | export-clixml here-string.xml $obj | export-clixml object.xml "Here-string size is: $((gci here-string.xml).length)" "Object size is: $((gci object.xml).length)" } Pass the here-string from the remote system, and wait to do the new-object until you get that home, and you should cut the bandwidth required to less than half.
[string](0..33|%{[char][int](46+("686552495351636652556262185355647068516270555358646562655775 0645570").substring(($_*2),2))})-replace " "
- Edited by mjolinor Monday, March 5, 2012 7:55 PM
------------------------------------
Reply:
Wow, that is a difference in the contents fo the xml file for the here-string vs the object:
here-string
gc .\here-string.xml
<Objs Version="1.1.0.1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/2004/04"> <S>Disk = C:_x000D__x000A_Size = 8981766144_x000D__x000A_FreeSpace = 8981766144</S> </Objs>
Object
gc .\object.xml
<Objs Version="1.1.0.1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/2004/04"> <Obj RefId="0"> <TN RefId="0"> <T>System.Management.Automation.PSCustomObject</T> <T>System.Object</T> </TN> <MS> <S N="FreeSpace">8981766144</S> <S N="Size">8981766144</S> <S N="Disk">C:</S> </MS> </Obj> </Objs>
Boe Prox
Please remember to mark the best solution as the answer using Mark as Answer. If you find a solution to be helpful, please use Vote as Helpful.
Looking for a script? Check out the Script Repository
Need a script written for you? Submit a request at the Script Request Page
------------------------------------
Reply:
And everything you get from that remote session gets serialized to xml and sent to you over the wire, and then de-serialized.
If that export-clixml is anywhere near an accurate representation of what that serialization looks like then it seems like building and passing that here string instead of the object could be a measurable advantage if you're needing to get a lot of objects from a remote session on a server at the end of a slow or congested WAN link.
It's obviously not as nice as just building the hash table and then creating and sending the object, but using that remote session may mean that what's tidy may have to take a back seat to what serializes efficiently.
[string](0..33|%{[char][int](46+("686552495351636652556262185355647068516270555358646562655775 0645570").substring(($_*2),2))})-replace " "
------------------------------------
CodeMeter Runtime
This is more of an FYI. I installed W8 over a W7 ultimate install. I am a traffic engineer and I use a program called VISSIM which utilizes a hardlock that is made by WIBU called Codemeter. It's a USB stick that W8 read as removable memory but did not pick up as a hardlock. I was directed to install the 4.4 version of the driver, but the installation failed. After some back and forth with their support staff, they put the following up on their website:
UPDATE:Creating a full system image in W7 before returning to W8. Will update once I can confirm whether or not this fix works.
2nd UPDATE:
Running version 4.4 of the CodeMeter runtime. It does not appear to make a difference. The codemeter event log keeps repeating this:
2012-03-02 15:50:10: Box Event HW410-535 (1587924) occurred.
2012-03-02 15:50:25: Box Event HW410-535 (1587924) occurred.
2012-03-02 15:50:25: Box Event HW70-536 (1587924) occurred.
- Edited by fuzzysmith Friday, March 2, 2012 11:50 PM
Reply:
------------------------------------
Systemwide spellchecker and hyphenation built directly into Windows instead into single applications
Instead of giving every application its own spellchecker and hyphenation, it would be better, more user-friendly and less redundant to have it integrated in Windows so that every application can use it.
That would be a big improvement for Windows 8 and a benefit for the whole Windows-platform.
SCOM 2012 RC and SCSM 2012 RC install on same server
Reply:
Hi,
It is not possible to run Operations Manager and Service Manager om the same servers, as they share components. They are both built on the same platform.
Anders Bengtsson | Microsoft PFE | blog at http://www.contoso.se
------------------------------------
Please Reply -Sync outlook with calendar view list for a group of people using sharepoint 2010
hii
I have created a Calendar view list in SP 2010 to keep track of meetings for my team. I want the meeting calendar to sync with each team member's outlook mail calendar so that they dont have to any extra work to do the same.
I have noticed that one way is each person in my team clicks sync with outlook in the calendar view list seperately. I want to sync the calendar for all my team members in their outlook mail from my side only without making them to do any extra work.
Reply Soon
thanks
sunny
Reply:
hii,
I would like to rephrase my question :
I have created a Calendar view list in SP 2010 to keep track of meetings for my team. Now i don't want my team members to use the sync to outlook option as I cannot give permission to each one of them as it is a huge team.
But i want that when a member schedules a meeting in the calendar he should get a mail in his outlook about the meeting or get the meeting updated in his outlook calendar.
Is it possible to get the meeting scheduler person information such as email id from his log in credentials.???
sunny
------------------------------------
Flash website issue with certin website(s) features
I have the Windows 8 Consumer build 8250 installed on my Toshiba NETBOOK. Everything is all dandy except certain features on certin websites.
I am unable to actually upload pictures to flickr. Like when I click the "Choose files to upload" nothing happens, no box allowing me to choose the files in explorer appears and nothing happens. I have tired with adblock on and adblock off and it makes no difference. Also when trying to play games within facebook. The games do not load or nothing appears.
Its like as if the adblock is on but there is no adblock on. When right clicking it shows that the flash plugin/extension is running but not the product. This only started when i installed windows 8 consumer. The developer build did not have the issue. I also have tried Chrome, Firefox, and Internet explorer and all errors/issues are reproduced.
Anyone have any ideas?
~Just a boy and blob in a small town world.
- Moved by Jie Bao Monday, March 5, 2012 3:46 AM (From:Application Compatibility for Windows Desktop Development)
Reply:
I think it is a Flash Player compatibility issue in Windows 8 Consumer Preview, not a software development compatibility issue. So could post it on the Microsoft Answers forum for Windows 8: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8. But suggest you consult this issue with Adobe http://forums.adobe.com/community/flash
Sincerely,
Bob Bao [MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us
------------------------------------
Reply:
~Just a boy and blob in a small town world.
------------------------------------
Lync Study Material
http://lync2010tips.blogspot.com - ucottonk@hotmail.com - If this post has been useful please click the green arrow to the left or click 'Propose as answer'
- Changed type Sharon.Shen Tuesday, March 6, 2012 2:15 AM Not a Tech issue
Reply:
Hi,
As per microsoft learning center there are no microsoft press books currently available to achieve your requirements. How ever i would suggest you to take the coruses from Microsoft learning partners find the following courses
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?id=70-665#tab3
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?id=70-664#tab3
Also you can purchase a book Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Unleashed which will help you alot about the Lync. There are some CBts out there but not sure about that.
If answer is helpful, please hit the green arrow on the left, or mark as answer. Salahuddin | Blogs:http://salahuddinkhatri.wordpress.com | MCITP Microsoft Lync
------------------------------------
FE server master and slave
Hi
I have a pool of FE, where I have two servers, both servers are currently labancel DNS load, I'm going to move a server to an alternate computer center, I need a server to continue operating as a master and I will move to work as slave, to do for this to work, because as I have dns load balancing, users are logged into both servers.
thanks
Alexander Rico Arias
Reply:
If you'd like to take one FE server in the pool offline and stop users using it so you can move it, you can achieve this using server draining. Users will have to reconnect to the other FE server, but their calls will remain active.
From the Lync Server Control Panel, select the FE server you'd like to move, click Actions and then click Prevent new sessions for all services.
For more information on server draining, check out Chris Norman's blog post on it here http://voipnorm.blogspot.com/2011/03/lync-server-draining.html
Justin Morris | Consultant | Modality Systems
Lync Blog - www.justin-morris.net
Twitter: @justimorris
If this post has been useful please click the green arrow to the left or click "Propose as answer"
------------------------------------
Reply:
ok, thanks, but this ismanually, There will be away to do thisautomatically. I need high availability and have two pools, one as master and one slave.
thanks
Alexander Rico Arias
------------------------------------
Reply:
Ok, I didn't understand your requirement completely. If you are using a combination of DNS load balancing and a backup registrar (with prioritised SRV records), this failover is automatic.
- If you remove a FE server from the primary pool, users signed into this FE will failover to the remaining FE server using DNS load balancing.
- If you remove the primary pool entirely and you have a backup registrar defined (and the clients can find it using prioritised SRV), Lync will sign into the backup registrar pool in Limited Functionality Mode. You will have voice resiliency but no contact list and limited IM and Presence in this scenario.
Hope this helps.
Justin Morris | Consultant | Modality Systems
Lync Blog - www.justin-morris.net
Twitter: @justimorris
If this post has been useful please click the green arrow to the left or click "Propose as answer"
------------------------------------
Reply:
ok, thank very much...
Currently, I have two servers, with load balancer for dns, the users are logged in the server 1 to server 2 and the traffic load is distributed in both; I need not balance the load, but all traffic will go to server 1 and server when this server 1 fails, the traffic go to server 2.
thanks muchs
Alexander Rico Arias
------------------------------------
Reply:
That high availability scenario is not supported I'm afraid.
There's no way to have an "active/passive" relationship with your Front End servers in a pool so users only ever use one server and then fail over to a second server automatically if the first server in the pool fails. All Front End servers in a pool are active at all times.
Justin Morris | Consultant | Modality Systems
Lync Blog - www.justin-morris.net
Twitter: @justimorris
If this post has been useful please click the green arrow to the left or click "Propose as answer"
------------------------------------
Discuss Planning Guide for Infrastructure as a Service
- Resource Pooling: Divides resources into partitions for management purposes.
- Physical Fault Domain: The group of physical resources dependent on a single point of failure such as an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS).
- Upgrade Domain: A group of resources upgraded as a single unit.
- Reserve Capacity: Unallocated resources, which take over service in the event of a failed Physical Fault Domain.
- Scale Unit: A collection of resources treated as a single unit of additional capacity.
- Capacity Plan: A model that enables a private cloud to deliver the perception of infinite capacity.
- Health Model: Defines how a service or system may remain healthy.
- Service Class: Defines services delivered by Infrastructure as a Service.
- Cost Model: The financial breakdown of a private cloud and its services.
Hope you enjoy the article and let's talk about it here!
Thanks!
Tom
Learn more about Private Cloud at the Private Cloud Solutions Hub
Thinking about working on an Office module for Codeplex (for backward compatability) - Anyone interested?
Reply:
If you don't know about PowerTools, you'll want to check this out first:
------------------------------------
Reply:
------------------------------------
Reply:
I have heard that some mvp has been at it for at least more than a year now. If I had more time I would have collaborated with you gladly, but my health has deteriorated and cannot dedicate as much time to the PowerShell community as before, but if you have any questions post them here, if the other luminaries cannot help I could give it a shot and try. I can only test on Outlook 2010 though…
------------------------------------
Reply:
------------------------------------
Reply:
I do not know the mvp's name, maybe Marco Shaw can help you find out. I was asked to join forces to write an Outlook module, but —soon after— was informed "an mvp" was at it already, I was not aware there were module claims to stake. If there is a public project already, and it is almost done, it makes sense not to start a new one; but maybe if the person who asked to join forces had not withdrawn the invitation, we could have finished it before my health regressed. I have lost ties with that person since.
Hopefully Marco can help you find out through his fellow mvps, maybe the person has stopped working, or would like your collaboration, on the project.
------------------------------------
Reply:
------------------------------------
Reply:
------------------------------------
Newer is NOT always better
I've just bought a brand new 18" LCD widescreen monitor.
I was using my at least 15 year old 17" square FST CRT monitor.
My old monitor gave a comfortable resolution of 1600w x 1200h x 100 Hz
My new LCD monitor at best only achieves a paltry 1366w x 768h x 60 Hz
The 'intensity" (i.e. mix of contrast & brightness) of the CRT outmatches the LCD.
The images are a tad more vibrant and clear on the CRT.
Even the colour saturation is better on the CRT (the LCDs look a bit washed out in comparison - kind of like a slightly over-exposed colour photograph.
The images on the CRT always look good no matter what the viewing angle is between the viewer and the screen - although I must say that LCD monitors have gotten better than they used to be - horizontally, it's good at any angle - but vertically the LCD angle viewing problems remain (though to a lesser degree than used to be the case with LCDs).
The 'response' time of the LCD is 5 ms - which is just about ok for movies. The CRT monitor's response times are waaaaay faster.
The real let-down for me is that sw I've developed on the old CRT just won't fit onto the LCD's screen (due to lower resolution) which is a real bummer - as it means that I would have to redesign all my Windows Forms grrrrrrrr
So, in effect I've just wasted £105.00 (roughly $200) o the new LCD mo9nitor but I can't really take the LCD back as it's working perfectly (as designed and detailed in the manuals) and I've opened all the packaging etc. I had hoped that being 20" (and the latest technology) it would perform at least as well as my old CRT - but it doesn't even come close really. The only good things about the LCD, in comparison, are a) it looks modern, shiny, sleek and sexy (kind of like black glass) - although that makes it a real dust magnet, b) it's very light in weight (less than 1/10th the weight of the CRT), c) it has the 16:9 letter-box aspect ratio d) is more 'intelligent'/automatic and e) uses a tiny fraction of power consumption compared to the old CRT, f) Can be easily wall mounted.
In contrast the CRT is a) much, much more solidly built, b) has a better image quality and specifications, c) is big enough to temporarily put things on top of - like say ashtrays, books and papers, cups of coffee etc. (very useful - you can't do any of that with the wafer thin LCD monitor), d) helps keep the room warm with the heat from its vents.
In short, I'm going back to using my old faithful CRT monitor on my new 64-bit PC (despite the CRT monitor looking 'out of place' visually - being a CRT and beige while the PC case, keyb and mouse are all black and new) - and I'll stck the new LCD monitor on an old 32-bit PC and just use it for watching movies (although the old 32-bit pc has an old 15" square CRT monitor). Again, the new LCD monitor kind of looks 'out of place' on an old 32-bit PC.
It seems again that when they have near perfected older technology it gets replaced with some new upstart technology with much inferior performance. It reminds me of when digital cameras first appeared. But at least DSLRs are [only] now as good [image wise] as SLR film cameras were at their peak. Digital cameras do have many advantages nowadays although there is I still I feel some sense of indefinable/elusive 'magic' with many of the old film SLRs (usage wise) that modern DSLRs still seem to kind of lack. But some/maybe many, DSLRs have a different kind of magic of their own. But some of the old SLR bodies still have an ace up their sleeve - namely, native purely manual 'mechanical/clockwork' modes - show me a modern DSLR or digital compact that can work without batteries lol
I guess I'm still feeling annoyed at 'wasting' a lot (to me) of money today on a still, imho, inferior technology - when I have perfectly good better old tehnology.
Ok rant over lol
Allan
Big Al
- Moved by Reed KimbleMVP Tuesday, February 21, 2012 5:53 PM (From:Visual Basic General)
Reply:
In contrast the CRT is a) much, much more solidly built, b) has a better image quality and specifications, c) is big enough to temporarily put things on top of - like say ashtrays, books and papers, cups of coffee etc. (very useful - you can't do any of that with the wafer thin LCD monitor), d) helps keep the room warm with the heat from its vents.
Hi,
WARNING: Doing the above is extremely hazardous even if 'temporary'.
I hope you never ever put any full cups of coffee or any liquid on top of any electrical equipment, especially a CRT monitor.
There are voltages in the region of thousands of volts on the tube itself in order to pull the electrons to the phosphor dots.
Apart from the above, a moderator may move this thread as it is 'off topic' in this VB.Net forum.
Regards,
Click this link to see the NEW way of how to insert a picture into a forum post.
Installing VB6 on Windows 7
App Hub for Windows Phone & XBOX 360 developers.
------------------------------------
Reply:
Hi John
Damn I meant 1900w x 1400h x 100 Hz for the CRT (the list of modes available and greyed out altered when I put the new LCD on). Which is why I can't fit many of my VB projects on when I tried them for size on the LCD. What surprised me is that w7 didn' automatically give some kind of scroll-bars for the screen (although it does for the drop-menus that don't fit within the screen area).
BTW I agree with the coffee cup thing - but my 17" CRT has a 4" wide (in the z-plane) flat sectioned-part of its case at the top-front of the case (which looks as though it was deliberately designed to be used as a shelf) before a little bit of a drop and then sharply tapering to the rear.
Allan
Big Al
------------------------------------
Reply:
Hi Al,
I moved this to the Off-Topic section. Its ok to continue the rant in here. =)
By the way... what did you pay for that CRT 25 years ago? Probably more than $200!
There is a huge variety in quality on LCD screens... I give about $400 a piece for Dell Ultrasharp 24" monitors and they are well worth it... anti-glare, wide viewing angles, and extremely bright and crisp.
Also, is the monitor using DVI or VGA? There can be quite a difference between feeding an LCD an analog signal versus a digtial one.
I guess my point is to be sure you are giving all LCD as a whole a fair shot - because it sounds like you may just be disappointed with that particular model.
I will say that if you happen to have a Trinitron CRT, that was some awesome technology and those images still look better today than most lower-end LCDs. But high-end LCD (especially stuff like Sharp Quattron) can produce bright images and vivid color beyond anything else so far. There can be a pretty good argument for doing away with the PC monitor entirely and just using an HD TV.
Reed Kimble - "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all"
------------------------------------
Reply:
Hi Reed
Hmmm I feel that we are being made even more of guinea pigs to try out new technologies and that social pressure & clever/cunning marketing is being used to drive new technologies down our throats before the new technologies are really mature enough to make the change to them really advantageous to us.
I've no doubt that eventually LCD technology may/will advance beyond CRT technology - but it's not there yet.
I have to say that I'm using the LCD monitor in order to give it fair assessment. It is better for watching movies on - if I sit around six feet/two metres away and watch movies in the dark (then even the colour saturation looks ok). BTW I have a 5.1 surround sound system attached to my PC - but I didn't think much of the 5.1 system's audio quality - so I removed all the satellite speakers and instead use three decent hi-fi systems connected to the sub-woofer's amplier giving me 8 full range high-powered speakers plus the sub-woofer (I could put out around 400w RMS per channel if I were to push the systems - but its not the power that matters, it's the sound quality). (My 'main' hi-fi is a set of technics separates and the technics amp itself drives 4 speakers). So sound wise, I can match/put to shame the going to the cinema experience. And the new letter-box 16:9 widescreen LCD monitor has the same aspect ratio as a cinema screen (though obviously way much smaller). I've already decided that I'm going to update my motherboard (processor, RAM, and hd are all fine) on the new 64-bit PC and then get and fit an additional graphics card so that I can use both the CRT and the LCD monitors simultaneously on my 64-bit PC and use the LCD for movies and the CRT for everything else. But the LCD monitor has made me think about how I'm going to write sw in future - I will determine before hand (in the 1st form's load event) what display(s) metrics that the user has available and modify the sw on-the-fly (i.e. in real-time) to match the metrics (if possible).
This 'complicates' the writing of the sw - but will give it more flexibility. I've been spoilt by having high-resolutions for so long that I assumed most people would have similar resolutions by now - but the LCD monitor has corrected me on that point. So now I have to think that most new users will be LCD based and have only fractionally the resolutions that I'm used to. It seems that paradigm shifts won't ever reduce much in the computer world.
Using the LCD monitor I do miss all the screen estate that I'm used to - it feels like I'm working with only half a screen. This will take some getting used to. For example, where I'd normaly be able to see this post in it's entirety, on the LCD I can see about half at a time.
Allan
Big Al
------------------------------------
Reply:
PS I can't remember what my CRT cost - but it was expensive (and quite a lot more than I paid for the LCD monitor). The price I paid for the LCD monitor was a bargain (it was going for less than 1/2 normal price in a sale - which is why I decided to take the plunge). At the moment I'm using VGA for the LCD monitor but when I get the new motherboard and graphics card I will make sure that the graphics card has VGA and DVI & HDMI ouputs. I'm also getting a LCD HD tv. (not for broadcast TV - but because it has a DVD player built in - so I'll use that as my main DVD disc movie player - freeing up the DVD on the PC).
Anyway, rant over for now.
Allan
Big Al
------------------------------------
Reply:
Hi Al,
That's kinda what I thought - you have what was once a high-end CRT monitor but you've replaced it with just a mid-range LCD, and the LCD isn't being given enough data to do its job to the fullest potential.
Using DVI or HDMI is critical to getting the full effect of the monitor's capability. The 1366x768 resolution is a mid-range value; full HD wide-format should be at least 1920x1080. Some manufacturers may not offer that resolution until you get sizes over 20".
Before LCD, I was a Trinitron user. I still have a few 20" Trinitron CRTs and a 13" Sony TV with Trinitron display. When LCD monitors first started to become mainstream, I was still using Trinitron for high quality/accurate color purposes. But over the last few years the display quality on the LCDs has gotten so good that they can exceed the quality of the Trinitron.
Take a look at these two for instance:
http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/sna.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~topic=monitor_gaming
Note that the second monitor is simply an Ultrasharp suggested for gaming rigs. You can browse to the Ultrasharp catagory and look at other WLED monitors. I promise that if you could see one of these in action, or the screen on one of the Alienware laptops, LCD would look much more mature than it currently appears.
I'm not sure what size TV you'll need, but take a peek at these:
http://www.sharpusa.com/ForHome/HomeEntertainment/LCDTVs/LC40LE835U.aspx
Anything in the LCxxLE835 series should make you very happy. Not only do these tvs have amazing pictures, but they have some cool features as well. The built-in Netflix and Vudu are great for content and the IP command ability is kinda fun too (you can control the entire tv - even stuff you can't control with the remote - by sending TCP/IP packets via the built-in WiFi =P).
On the subject of designing program windows to fit all these screens, it should be noted that there are a number of ways to handle this now. .Net applications have long offered us the ability to design our forms so that they scale with resolution and dpi changes, but now we can also design multiple GUIs targeting entirely different devices for a single application. SilverLight makes strong use of this concept. With the lines between desktop, web, and mobile computing being blurred, there are a number of solutions out there for providing your application with user interfaces for all three platforms.
So some of it will come down to changing the way we think about designing a window, but the more important change will be getting to know the new tools which are being created to address these issues directly.
Reed Kimble - "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all"
------------------------------------
Reply:
Hi Reed
As usual you are a voice of reason. I've been tweaking W7 quite a bit to get the colours 'acceptable' on the LCD. The main downside now is its lack of resolution - nothing I can do about that unfortunately. It's taking quite some getting used to having only about half the screen estate that I'm used to. Even my 'muscle memory' gets fooled :( - and I'm not used to the amount of scrolling needed when using the LCD.
But I've decided that asap I'm going to get a new motherboard, power supply and graphics card where I can use both moniors at once. I've already paid a deposit on a LCD tv - not that I'll use it as a tv (I don't bother with tv), but it has a built-in DVD player so I'll use that for playing DVD movies (in the proper aspect ratio) and free up the PC's DVD a bit.
Yeah handling different resolutions reminds of the bad 'old days' when the DOS programs I wrote had to test for what graphics card the user had and what modes it supported. I remember how glad I was when VGA, VESA, SuperVGA etc. finally become the norm and one could finally start to ignore CGA, EGA, Hercules etc.
Fortunately, Windows palette is also a LOT better and easier to handle nowadays than in the bad old days of 3.x
Allan
Big Al
------------------------------------
Reply:
Hi Reed
I've begun re-designing my big Vb.Net project - loads of Forms and 1000's lines of code. But, in dong so on the new LCD monitor, the lack of high resolution forces you to think more and reduce things (e.g. only a few items per drop-down menu instead of like 30-ish). One good thing is that by making it fit the LCD monitor I know it'll fit and look good on laptops too (an advantage that hadn't occurred to me before). I'm forced to use more 'groups' of menus than previously - but having started that it's actually a good thing - even if more mouse clicks/shortcut keys are involved. One thing I'm doing at the moment is determing the maximum size available - and setting the maximum and minimum size options for the forms.
I've also adjusted 'Clear text' for what's best for the LCD - and that, surprisngly, helps a lot with the display. I'm still missing the higher-res but getting slowly used to it. The colour tweaks I did for w7 help a lot too. The LCD display isn't that far behind the CRT now for 'quality' of display - the biggest issue will of course always be the [lack] of resolution. Both horizontally and especially vertically. I'm going to leave the LCD on the 64-bit PC for quite a bit until I've written a new version of the app (which will take quite a long while). Then the sw should (after the rewrite) run on anything from a 32-bit laptop/tablet upwards - and still look good and perform well.
Now that I've tweaked w7 a lot for the LCD the LCD's display is nice and clear and sharp and the colours ain't too bad now. The CRT is still better - but I'll stick with the LCD until the rewrites are done. I really do miss all the extra space in the IDE that the CRT gives me - but I'm coping with the LCD.
Allan
Big Al
- Edited by bigal69 Thursday, February 23, 2012 2:05 AM spelling
------------------------------------
Reply:
Hmmm It's damn hard re-designing the forms for the low(er) resolution. It's taking p to a day per Form grrrr - and often was easier to write from scratch. I've had to take a lot of stuff out but I've made an improvement here and there. Being much more constrained screen-wise, does kinda make you re-think and, in a few cases, improve your designs for the better, although most of the time it feels like programming in the dark ages when high-resolution was a 'holy grail'.
At the rate the re-designing is taking, it'll be months before KAOS10 is ready - but it should then fit on any netbooks, lap-tops, tablets and indeed most LCD screens and any modern CRT.
But it does entail a lot more scrolling around. For example I have around a million pixels on the LCD screen - but my DSLR produces pictures with more than six million pixels. Designing and programming for the LCD is a pain-in-the-a*s but gradually getting there. One thing, the 'objects' (e.g. text characters, icons, etc.) on the LCD are larger so should, in theory, aid my poor vision nowadays - but because the 'intensity' is less than the CRT I actually need my specs even more when working on the LCD. And light through 'real' glass still has that certain effect that LCDs just don't give - no wonder that churches have stained-glass windows - and cameras and refracting telescopes will probably always use glass lenses to focus light onto the film/sensor/mirror. It's also noticeable that eltronic viewfinders on cameras are inferior to optical viewfinders (especially on SLRs).
Allan
Big Al
------------------------------------
Reply:
After much tweaking I've got the LCD looking ok - even the colours aren't bad now. I do miss the [much] higher resolution of the CRT, but in redesigning for the LCD I've (amazingly) actually added more stuff to the multi-media suite - even though I've had to get rid of loads of buttons and use a lot more menus instead. But I've also taken the opportunity to improve the project and also add more features and actually improve the visual design. So the LCD (and it's smaller resolution) has actually helped a lot and the project should now run ok on almost anything from a netbook upwards - without requiring the user to have insanely high screen resolutions.
Allan
PS Reed can you send me an email as I've lost your email address.
Big Al
------------------------------------
Reply:
Always look on the sunny-side, eh? :)
The address is rkimble at the domain microplastics.com.
Cheers!
Reed Kimble - "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all"
------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment