The Four-eyed Journal » Microsoft

Windows 8: Ribbon UI to replace menu and tool bars

jhay — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 02:43:52 +0000

Do you like the Ribbon UI that was first introduced in Microsoft Office 2007? Well at the moment it seems that you’ll be seeing more of it in the upcoming Windows 8, the successor to Windows 7.

The early builds of Microsoft Windows 8 have been leaked and the tech community has already started to reveal some of its features. Most notable is the implementation of the Ribbon UI or toolbars in tabs in almost all the programs that ship with the OS like Windows Explorer.

Check out the screen shots below:

With the new Ribbon UI replacing the menu and toolbar, comes the so-called dynamic ribbons that changes depending on the type of file being viewed like Library Tools, Picture Tools, Disk Tools, etc.

Tech pundits are cautioning that this may not be what the final build of Windows 8 would look like but it does provide great insight into how the new OS from Microsoft will turn out to be.

Just like when it first appeared in MS Office 2007, Windows users are torn between loving or hating the Ribbon UI and now that it’s most likely to be seen everywhere inside WIndows 8, the divide and debate would just widen and escalate.

Frankly, I myself am torn between loving the Ribbon UI or not. There are times that I love the way it speeds up the work flow but there are also times that it does the opposite, as when trying to figure out how to do something in Word that I could have easily done with the old menu and toolbar UI.

Either way, it seems that Microsoft seems to be stepping up to Ubuntu’s switch to the new Unity UI with Ubuntu 11.04 which despite the controversy, is intended to work on touch devices as well. And this is where the Ribbon UI comes in more handy, on touch screens of smart phones and tablet devices.

And now on to yo, how do you find the Ribbon UI replacing the menu and toolbars in Windows 8?

Via Within Windows

A lucrative market for IPv4 addresses emerge

jhay — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:00:14 +0000

It’s the law of supply and demand, now that IPv4 addresses have virtually ran out, it has become a valuable asset. Though I never thought companies today would treat it as a commodity which is something to sell and buy. My understanding is that we’re all being weaned away from IPv4 so that IPv6 adoption would be sped up, and since IPv4 is incompatible with IPv6, dumping the former is the way to go.

Microsoft though has taken an enterprising look at it as it plans to buy 470,016 IPv4 addresses from bankrupt telecoms firm Nortel for $7.5m. Those addresses were part of the 666,624 IPv4 addresses put up for sale by the Canadian telecoms firm in order to pay off its creditors.

What would Microsoft do with all these IPv4 addresses now that we’re all moving to the new IPv6 protocol? Its vice president of global foundation services, Dayne Sampson hinted that it was part of Microsoft’s cloud strategy:

Microsoft continues to assess opportunities to acquire useful assets, whether they are from Nortel or other sources to support the tremendous growth of our online services, particularly enterprise cloud services.

Well now that IPv4 addresses can be transferred or sold from one organization to another, many more companies would most likely follow suit, especially if it suits their interests.

Though the guys from the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) has cautioned that such transfers must first comply with its established policies, so as to avoid hoarding of IPv4 addresses or it being allocated to organizations who have no immediate use for it.

Either way, I’m beginning to wonder if this will create a lucrative market for IPv4 addresses now that supplies have virtually ran out.

Image by Ramberg Media Images

A Microsoft Coup inside Nokia

jhay — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 04:03:54 +0000

Was it any wonder why former Microsoft executives were moving to Nokia and taking up high positions?

Now that tech pundits and analysts are speculating that Nokia is about to dump Symbian and switch to either Windows Phone 7 or Google’s Android OS, the picture is getting clearer.

Though Windows Phone 7 debuted with good reviews and feedback, analysts have said that Microsoft still has a long way to go before it can go head to head with Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and RIM’s BlackBerry OS in the growing smart phone market.

With Nokia’s poor performance in this market which is attributed to its non-competitive Symbian platform which in turn has been aptly described by no less than its CEO Stephen Elop as a “burning platform” it only makes sense that company would switch to Windows Phone 7.

It would be a win-win solution for both Nokia and Microsoft. Windows Phone 7 with its steep hardware requirements would be perfect for Nokia’s hi-end handsets. Though one must not discount the fact that Nokia could mix in Android for its mid-range models, it’s most likely that Nokia’s upcoming hi-end models would be optimized to run WP 7.

It’s a tough call for Nokia, but it has to be done for the company to survive and regain its leadership in the smart phone market. Either way, there’s something to look out for on February 11th.

Image by nechbi, under Creative Commons License

Bing takes #2 spot from Yahoo! in US Search Engine Wars - Google remains on the number one spot

jhay — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 15:37:46 +0000

New data from Nielsen says that Microsoft’s Bing/Live search has overtaken Yahoo! as the #2 search engine in the United States.

For the first time, MSN/Windows Live/Bing Search overtook Yahoo! as the #2 search engine in the U.S. with a 13.9% share of search volume in August 2010, a 0.25% delta increase from the previous month. Although Google saw little change in its month-over-month search volume, it still dominates the search market, accounting for 65% of all U.S. searches.

And it’s not because Google had suffered a decline when it has stayed put with 65.1% of the US search market. Simply because Yahoo! has been on a decline as a search engine in recent years. Yuga has taken notice too, commenting that Yahoo! has started to focus on being an internet portal rather than a search engine with its recent activities.

Recall that Microsoft and Yahoo! had a deal in 2009 where Microsoft would power Yahoo! search and this has started just last month. Does the future mean that Yahoo!’s search engine will be absorbed or sold off to Microsoft? They tried back in 2008 but things fell apart between the two companies, much to the jubilation of Google. But they can always try again right?

Apple strikes back: PCs give up Megan to a Mac

jhay — Wed, 13 May 2009 23:26:16 +0000

Those Microsoft ads about Megan opting for Windows-powered laptop instead of a Mac certainly brought the ad wars between Windows users and Mac fanboys to a new level.

Now, Apple hits back at the same ad using age-old criticisms about PCs and using Megan herself.

“I’m just not cool enough to be a Mac person“

The ad completely ignores the price difference argument which was one of the certain points of the earlier “Laptop hunters” ads by Microsoft. And now that Macs are becoming vulnerable to hacks, attacks, worms and viruses, people are starting to really question why Macs are priced so stiff as to compared to PCs.

Maybe Apple should start to do some serious soul-searching on this or perhaps Megan should try Ubuntu? ^_^