Sony knows.

  • fuzzyfuzzyfungus

    You know you have a problem when Sony starts calling you out on your software…

  • http://evilbobdayjob.blogspot.com/ Deidzoeb

    You sure this isn’t another of the year-end “Best of” lists from David Rees’ blog?

    http://www.mnftiu.cc/2012/12/31/best-of-2012-cars-and-trucks/

  • Nash Rambler

    As usual, the best of everything is priced out of my reach.

  • http://twitter.com/SiegfriedEhret Siegfried Ehret

    Just bought a Sony S 13″ with full options… Got a damn matshita blu-ray combo… Hardware blocked in RPC2. Thanks you sony. NOT.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZH5LQHHJPERMWNVHCR2Y5GRHHE Jose

    Last Friday, I got an email from Newegg that started with “If you still haven’t experienced the defining UI experience that is Windows 7, now is the time to try it out yourself. Windows 7 is frequently touted by users as the smoothest, most user-friendly Windows operating system thus far.”

    Didn’t Microsoft recently release a newer version of Windows?  It seems like I’ve seen some commercials for it, but I haven’t been able to figure out from those commercials what it is that makes the newer version better, other than a touch screen interface which is useless to me and most of the people that I work with.

    • bkad

      I purchased a new laptop this season, and it came with Windows 8 pre-installed. It can be used without a touch screen, but doing so feels inefficient and absurd, like eating a cheeseburger with a knife and fork. (The new laptop does have a touch screen.) Touch interfaces are nice and I find myself using an absent-minded arbitrary mix of screen touching, trackpad use, and external mouse use to navigate the system. 

      My current view is little value is added over Windows 7 but also that the new system is ‘not as bad’ as I was expecting. It feels a little bit like two operating systems running at the same time (touch applications have their own task switcher, for example) but once I got over the ‘no start menu’ — which frankly wasn’t that great an interface either, just familiar — I was able to get my work done just as efficiently as before. And I am not a visual person.

      • Damian Barajas

        This reads like astroturfing :|

        • bkad

          How so? My comment is hardly pro-windows 8.

        • dnebdal

          TBH, it matches my experience. Win8 is fairly easy to ignore, which is reasonable praise for a windows version. I completely ignore the metro side myself except as a start menu replacement, and then it’s effectively a modestly reskinned win7 where some of the popups look weird.

        • Hanglyman

           And this reads like witch hunting.

      • atlouiedog

        I have no issues with the start screen replacement being touch optimized because I use it the same way as I did the start menu in Windows 7. That means not much. When I want to launch a program I hit the windows key, type the name (or partial name) of the application, and hit enter. I did the same in Windows 7 and the same previously in other versions of Windows with a launcher. Hunting for something that I know is there by clicking and moving around a cursor feels, as you said, inefficient and absurd.

        Some of the less noticeable stuff is pretty nice as well. I like the changes to windows explorer. It feels snappier on both machines. Overall I’m happy with it.

        That said, I’ve told everyone who has asked me if they should upgrade that there’s really no reason to. It’s a good OS, but there’s no must have new features for people who use their computers to access the web and store photographs. We’re at a point where I could give my mom a laptop loaded with Linux that boots directly into Chrome and she’d be happy.

        • ocker3

          I agree, I think Searching for things is going to be very powerful for people who are comfortable with it. Our All Programs list at work is Very long, but we have a lot of software installed as standard.

    • RitaMarieM

       [Windows Key] + W, then typing in what program you want, replaces the Start Button.

      • Voon YP

        Just hit windows key and start typing. Works in win7 as well.

  • http://jimbeach.net mindfu

    No Windows OS should be used until it’s been released for at least a year. This rule of thumb has saved me many headaches.

  • Ryan Lenethen

    This is what I call being ”accidentally honest”

  • Brad

    Windows 8, the Metro or RT portion, is a consumption tool. I got one of the Acer 10 point multi touch monitors and am planning on hanging it on the wall. I don’t see why anyone needs Metro for work though. Not quite sure where they are going with this.

    • WinstonSmith2012

      Simple, they are forcing a smart phone/tablet OS onto the desktop so users, when seeing smart phones and tablets using Win8, will buy them rather than Android or iOS devices because they’re already familiar with the UI.  That’s the plan, anyway.

  • teapot

    I think the reason they list Win7 as the OS is because the laptop in question does not come with a touch screen – thereby making Win8 basically useless.

    Also, you’d have to be a freaking idiot to drop that much $ on the 13″ Z series, when you can get the 14″ E series spec’d BETTER than the Z for over $400 LESS.

    If anyone can drive a win8 machine faster than I drive a win7/osx machine I’d be very surprised.