Windows 8 - The Bear and Badger

WorKid

Handy.

dynamiteReady

AJ_ wrote:

Copy off the files you want

Boot off Windows disc

Format HDD

Install Linux

Install apps

Copy files back

Umm... Fixed.

Mod74

I prefer paid software not adware.

ho ho.

Mod74

Noticed something odd just now. I've got a 1920x1080 24" screen, whilst it isn't the highest resolution in the world it's still on the larger end. The problem as I'm sure we all know is the further the screen gets from the native resolution of the source the worse it looks. You either watch in a window for quality or full screen with jaggies.

As mentioned elsewhere I've prated The Killing S2 like a dirty hypocrite.

Opening the file (.avi native 720x406) in Windows Media Player (and Center) gives a fullscreen image like this.

Opening it in the built in Video app produces this

Possibly not the best examples but these are very clearly pronounced (native 624x352)

Anyone else noticed this? I'm not sure if it's WMP doing a shit job or Video doing a great one. Bit of both probably. Click to embiggen, sorry about the embiggenedness.

Frosty

It'll be WMP being WMP.

How does VLC compare to the video app thing?

Mod74

It's not installed. Will try it later.

Thing is, the WMP images are what I'd expect from one blown up 300%, the Video ones aren't.

LazyGunn

When video is blown up, the codec should resample/interpolate the image to lower aliasing (cause you're increasing the area the original pixel in the image covers). It seems wmp ismt doing this and 'video' is. You should should stick it to the man and get vlc however imo, its grand and has all the things.

Mod74

I don't use VLC because it's one of the ugliest programs I've had the misfortune to see, and balls to having traffic cones as icons.

Anyway, here's the VLC screen shots

Much better than WMP but not quite as good as Video. Especially the washed out colours.

LazyGunn

If you dont mind getting your hands dirty you can prob improve that but hey if video works, use it!

n0face

Am I right on believing that there is nowhere outside of London to get hands on with a surface?

Mod74

n0face wrote:

Am I right on believing that there is nowhere outside of London to get hands on with a surface?

Apparently. 30 odd temp locations in London and not one outside the capital. Ridonkulous.

n0face

Might have to scratch that off the Christmas list then.

Mod74

The look and feel has been almost universally praised so I wouldn't worry about that half. My nagging doubt is the processor keeping up with the action. If it weren't for the fact I'm waiting to find out what price the Pro versions comes in at I'd have got one already. Taken as a whole I think I prefer the MS styling over anything I've seen from others.

n0face

I'd quite happily jump in, but its for the missus and if it doesnt look right in the handbag shes not having one even though it fills her remote desktop/office needs almost completely.

Frosty

New DirectX is going to be only on win8.

seems a bit of a dick move to force people into an upgrade.

dynamiteReady

Mod74 wrote:

I prefer paid software not adware. ho ho.

Meh.Â

I suppose I don't care about Windows 8, because I know the big developers will soon make the switch to
Open GL. When the switch happens, I'd rather be on Linux than OSX.

Afterall, Apple will be the real reason why such a switch takes place at all.
Valve's Linux Steam effort is just a very cool sideline.

I mean aside from the Metro UI and the rather silly Direct X 11 lock out (which I seriously doubt won't stick... There'll be a concession) what does 8 offer over 7?

Mod74

Not a massive amount, if you only have a desktop PC, but then Â£25 to have it isn't a massive amount either.

If you have or want a touchscreen laptop/PC Tablet it's huge.

hunk

So, how well does this work with a trackpad?
Might consider installing this over windows7 if the experience is okish...

Roujin

Is there a Kinect option for Win8 or what? I mean the thing is crying out for it (fuck the haters, etc) srsly.

Mod74

I don't think so. Take up of the Windows version of Kinect must be tiny, but I wouldn't be surprised if the community hasn't come up with a hack.

I've been monitoring for a few days now and noticed Firefox doesn't leak memory like a bastard any more, so that's one bonus.

AJ

Mod74 wrote:

Thing is, the WMP images are what I'd expect from one blown up 300%, the Video ones aren't.

That's what you expect? Really? That is definitely something wrong with WMP, I got better quality upscaling from it back on XP; I can't remember last time I saw aliasing that bad on a videoÂ enlargement.

Mod74

It flickers between really bad and not quite as bad. The first shot is about what I'd expect yes, not the second.

AJ

Is it affected by the codec the video's encoded with? Could be MS optimising their scaler for WMV-type streams withÂ detrimentÂ to other styles.

The flickering suggests, to me, that you're hitting a bottleneck somewhere, but my knowledge of video stuff is relatively basic, so I could be wrong. Have you tried the same files on another computer?

Going on my past experience of Microsoft stuff, it could well be possible to make WMP/C use different codecs and stuff, but it might take some effort.

Mod74

So Sinofsky is gone gone gone. Without my conspiracy hat on it seems a reasonable time for change if a bit sudden. Surprised he didn't hold out for the big job, guessing Ballmer is keeping his feet well under the table.

http://www.zdnet.com/who-is-julie-larson-green-meet-the-new-head-of-windows-7000007292/

beano

Why does the music metro stop music when I change focus to anything else?

google

I like the Windows 8 installed on my SSD takes approximately 10 seconds to go from boot screen to desktop.

I dislike that searching for shit requires me to navigate to the right hand side of my 27'' monitor, wait for the shitty menu to appear, hit the search button and figure out if what I'm searching for is in apps, documents, store, etc.

Is there anyway to bring back the old start menu search bar thing?

Mod74

You don't need to bring the search box up to search, just start typing.

google

Where would I be doing the typing?

Mod74

On the Start screen.

google

But that requires me bringing up the start screen.

I'm pretty exclusively working in desktop mode.

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