Sluggish Windows 8 Raising It's Price...Really!?

Windows 8 upgrade price is set to go up starting February 1st. Really? Does Microsoft think that that it's, "slow to move off the shelves new operating system", is going to move any faster at $119 than it has been at $39.99? I don't think so. If anything, I think Microsoft will let it's upgrade price go up so that they can blame the slow adoption rate of Windows 8 on price, rather than quality.

By now, even Microsoft surely has to admit that with their Windows 8 user interface they've left desktop users behind. I've had the RC build of windows 8 on an old PC since it came out. It was a horrible experience which is why I've never even considered purchasing it. Now the RC build has entered it's phase where it shuts the PC down every hour and re-starts it, to basically make you upgrade or remove it from the PC. I'll be removing it and putting a Linux build back on it, thank you very much Microsoft! I have no interest in keeping a "touchscreen dependent" operating system on a desktop computer that has no touchscreen capabilities. All that Microsoft has to do to salvage Windows 8 is to make it a hybrid OS that will cater to both touchscreen devices and non-touchscreen devices. It would surely not be too hard to have the OS detect whether or not a touchscreen is available or not, and tailor the interface to match the capabilities of the machine it's installed on.

Beneath the hood, Windows 8 is little more than Windows 7 with a few new dressings. Unfortunately, it's those very "dressings" that make it such a horrible experience on a traditional desktop. The next iteration of Windows is going to have to address this problem, or there will be a very big reason for computer users to start adopting Linux. One of the main reasons keeping Linux from being adopted widely by computer users is the fact that gamers have needed a windows operating system to enjoy playing games. That may be changing soon though since Steam, a game store/service, provided by Valve is pushing it's service now on Linux. They are also actively encouraging game developers to port their existing games to Linux and to begin developing new games exclusively for the Linux operating system.

As long as the base of Linux users keeps growing, developing games for Linux could actually be a boon to game developers as there would be fewer licensing fees involved. The open source operating system may yet prove to be the underdog that swoops in and claims the huge desktop market that Microsoft seems so ready to drop like a hot potato!

Gamers need to take a stand...

Apparently, Capcom is releasing a new Resident Evil title for the Nintendo 3DS that will have a non-resettable save game function. They're claiming that it should be a non-issue for gamers, but I believe that gamers everywhere need to take a stand and let game publishers know how they feel about this by boycotting this game to it's death! I'd love to see this game come out and have absolutely no sales at all. I truly doubt that will happen though simply because there are those out there who don't care about the future of gaming, only what they can get their hands on at the moment. Apparently the whole point behind this is to try and squash the re-sale of used video games.

If this game sells well with this kind of limiting technology built into it, what's to stop game publishers from doing this with every game they make...then when you want to replay an old favorite that you've already beaten (and all real gamers do this many times) you won't be able to start a new game and replay it. I guess they just expect you to go out and buy another brand new copy, increasing their profits at your expense.

So do everyone a favor and don't buy this game, "Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D"

Here's a LINK to the original story on DVICE

Minecraft!

I've finally managed to make my first "slipgate" in Minecraft! It took forever, and once I finally got it finished, it only took me about two minutes to die in the the "Nether"! I lost a crap-ton of stuff in there too, so I kept re-spawning and going back in trying to get it back. I had pig-men attacking me and killing me, fire killing me and about the sixth or seventh time of going back in there were at least five "Ghasts" hanging around the area shooting fireballs at me! I did eventually get most of my stuff back, though certainly not all of it. I'm going to have to stay away from the Nether now for a few "game days" and hope that things will quiet down on the other side of the gate so that I'll eventually be able to go back.

Damn! I love Minecraft! LOL