Windows Blue Build 9364 Leaks

First pre preview build has leaked to The Internet.

A Rose By Any Other Name....

 

And what an update that will be! Ooh, there's now more desktop colors! Aah, there will will be two more tile sizes! But wait, there's more: Microsoft has even thrown in a calculator app!

Sheesh... More significantly, none of the things that people have really asked for seems to be there (boot to the desktop, tile containers, Start Menu, etc., etc.). So what we really see here is, as I expected, Microsoft doubling down on ramming this crap down people's throats. Well, good luck to them. Can't say they're not making an effort. Now that growth of their app store is stalling, too, they have started paying people to develop apps for Windows 8. Things are going well for Windows 8, yessire, they are...

 

Thanks but no thanks I keep my Windows7x64 and they have to pry it from my dead hands. Keep at it M$ and you will drive away users in droves as it has already. Alot of people even IT I talk to don't like the W8 Metro setup and ask me where do I find W7 copies for sale. That in itself should tell one that W8 was a prime failure in any instances. Ballmer needs to be suspended and told to put his head from where the sun don't shine and to where he should do some real thinking.

 

Actually, the one thing that is mildly interesting, and surprising, is that this "refresh" of Windows 8 comes with a new kernel, that has its minor version bumped up to 6.3. This is a fairly big deal considering that Vista was Microsoft's last Windows OS that had seen a major new kernel (6.0). Both Windows 7 (kernel 6.1) and Windows 8 (kernel 6.2) represented just minor tweaks in that regard. Apparently, on the level of kernel upgrades, Blue is equal to those major new OS versions.

 

Microsoft never learned that sometimes there are problems you can't just throw cash at.

 

Eh, if I ever get around to learning C#, I might write a program or two for kicks. Wondering how much they're paying...

But back on topic, this is sad. Does Microsoft really think that everything should act like a tablet or smartphone? If that's what they want, I'll make sure to stock up on Windows 7 licenses and / or lean more towards Linux / OSX.

 

/me throws fuel on the fire: Classic Microsoft: We're Dumping Windows Phone 8 In 16 Months – ReadWrite

[Un]related but curious whether it ties in with Blue at all.

 

From comments:

 

Now that I recall, I first came across this on PCWorld. No comments on the journalism on either, though. But the PCWorld article is the one I was initially looking for to post.

 

I think it's two grand, but I haven't looked up the specifics. Just like most everybody else, I'm really not interested. The reason most developers are not interested is, of course, because just about nobody is using Metro apps...

 

Setting aside the debate of whether people like the overall concept of Metro (seriously, I think that's been beaten to death by now), all of these incremental improvements are very welcome for people using touchscreen devices. The change to inadvertent tile movement is a big deal. Additional flexibility of Metro Snap is handy for touchscreen devices. One movement instead of two to pull up "all apps" is nice. And the addition of small tiles to medium and large should be handy on 11.6" screens, where you only get three rows of tiles on the Start Screen.

I would like to see Xbox Music and the Pictures and Video apps get a new layout much like Zune PC. Still very Metro, but with a far better layout IMO.

 

Well, to be fair it is worth pointing out that what we are talking about here is a leaked early version of Blue, that was never intended for release anyway. I would expect that there's quite a good chance that a number of the things that people (who like Metro) want, may well ultimately be included with Blue. On the other hand, I have given up hope that a number of things that those people who do not like Metro would like to see will show up. But I may be wrong.

 

Good point.

Remember the hullabaloo about the Ribbon in Office 2007? Well Microsoft never added a "revert to Office 2003 UI" option, but it DID add a "customize ribbon" option in Office 2010 that made the Ribbon pretty much the functional equivalent of an Office 2003 toolbar.

I don't expect Microsoft will ever add a "use Windows 7 UI" option. But I could very easily see them adding folders to Start (remember both iOS and Android have folders; it's not anti-touch to have folders). And I could see them adding an option to have a translucent background to Start (showing the Desktop underneath) instead of an opaque background. With small tiles, folders, and a translucent background, it seems to me it'd be the equivalent of the customizable ribbon in Office 2010: not "the old interface," but the functional equivalent for those who don't like the new interface.

 

For some reason, that sounds more like the Omnimo theme for Rainmeter. At least the last bit of that description.

 

I agree, this is not even close to a release preview, RTM or whatever they'll call it this time. I wouldn't hold my breath for the return of the more classic UI for those who want that, but at least MS seems to be trying to make things better. Trying isn't the same as succeeding, but at least they're trying.

 

I was hoping x86 would die and be gone and it would be X64 ans x128 in 2013 but that's not the case.

Well I've had this W8 Pro x86 leaked service pack up and running for about 24 hours.

The Start8 and Classic Shell apps don't install correctly.

The 9364 build seems a bit faster in Windows Explorer than W8 Pro 9200

My Internet is even snappier connecting to sites.

Since it's x86 Cyberfox browser was a no go so I installed Firefox 19.0.2.

No longer a big fan of IE but did give IE11 some time.

The screenshot of IE11 info shows it as RTM.

As far as I can see it's a W8 service pack.

BTW,there's now a 9364 x86 Enterprise version leak.

 

x86 won't die. Even Intel tried killing it off once or twice. It'll just "be there", I guess :rollseyes:

 

here's a subtle but extremely notable tweak that Microsoft has conducted with Internet Explorer 11.

IE 11 in Windows Blue impersonates Firefox. By doing this, a website using IE-related CSS(Cascading Style Sheets) workarounds wouldn't deliver these workarounds at all, but instead the page as it would be delivered to Firefox.



With this move, it's clear that Microsoft is tired of hearing about users who are having a difficult time viewing a webpage in its IE browser.

For Microsoft to actually impersonate a competitor's browser is really strange and it'll be interesting to see what Mozilla has to say about it.

Read Full Article :
Internet Explorer 11 to Impersonate as Firefox in User Agent To Avert CSS Issues - HotHardware

 

From what I've seen, there's some more custom options for colors (rather than preselected color combinations) and tiles, which is one thing people asked for. We'll see what other changes trickle out before official announcements come.

 

And x128 won't happen anytime soon. There's really no good reason for it, either.
Most people simply have no clue how exponential functions work.

 

Update (somewhat): Microsoft officially acknowledges Windows Blue | PCWorld

 

Dah boo dee dah boo dah?

 

Damn you! Now I have to listen it !

 

M$ most likely had something to do with the leaks. This especially since it is being touted the new start menu is being improved for better usage. Not too sure if this means an improvement for desktop users but I will believe that when I see it

I am pretty sure M$ though is trying to quiet the surge of criticisms as of late of Windows 8 on desktop machines. Also I am sure it is hoping this will delay some of those purchasing new hardware to downgrade windows version or maybe even get some on the fence to purchase a system. Again I'll believe the fix's when I see them and not until then. I just do not trust M$ any further, it is amazing how quickly they have killed it too.

Edit; I have seen where the MODs here hate M$ and Windows 8 bashing but this is the trend. the majority of users hate it not just because of change but the fact it is a change for the worse. Most users could care less about 10 seconds or so for the boot where it then takes them way more than 10 seconds more to get common tasks done. Again we are talking average users not us techies.

On that note a lot of techies are not upgrading. A lot of mom and pops are then stuck when their family friend is not there to help them with the new computers. I know quite a few people who want to buy a new machine but can no longer rely on my help. I can't even advise them on purchasing a new PC because of M$ other than to be sure they get Win 8 pro incase they want to downgrade to Win 7................

 

No Aero glass, I'm disappointed...

 

Its obvious W8 is a money grab for the consumer OS market. If MS were truly serious to push W8 on enterprise then we would have seen the toggle switch for the start button already. And lets face it, enterprise probably won't have a need for the modern UI for a very long, long time. Seven is not going away any time soon. Not until W8 evolves considerably from where its at today to something that can be used productively at the workplace. The problem is the consumer market is moving towards more portable android/ios devices by the tens of millions every quarter. Windows is and has not been part of that. W8 will evolve just like Vista did, and ME etc.. I think MS may actually pull this off only because they seem very committed to it and they have a ton of money. The UI will get better and billions of dollars guarantee that good apps will get developed. But the market will get shared by Google and Apple now. MS really needs to get their W8 phones in sync with W8 PC's as well. From what I've heard, they don't sync all that well. And this is crucial if they want any success. I remember Android tabs were a joke back in the gingerbread days. Now with JB, its offering IOS a real run for their money. Same can happen with W8. It take longer since the work environment at MS is more top/down listen later when the numbers go flat. But MS eventually gets it in the end when the stock holders start dumping.

 

Update (again): Even more secretive Windows Blue features revealed | PCWorld

 

To do a simplified explanation: 32 bit can specify 2^32 or 4GiB locations, 33 bit can specify 2^33 or 8GiB locations. For each additional bit the addressable space doubles so 64 bit can specify 2^32 times 2^32 locations. Another way to express it: for every addressable byte in 32 bit mode one can have 4GiB in 64 bit mode.

Now I don't necessarily agree that 128 bit pointers have no good reason for existence but it being supported in the near future is extremely unlikely as performance of pointer-heavy code/data would take a huge hit. But 128 bit or even more could be useful for randomized protection, capability pointers (where each pointer consist of base, length, current position and control flags) or even just as pure pointers - there are many things that could be improved by sparse 128 bit pointers.

(current AMD64 processors are in reality 48 bit - the virtual address space is limited to 2^48 locations and yes, there are things that needs a bigger address space. I have to hack around this in my hobby OS)

 

- Explorer 11 : I have not yet used any Explorer since 1999 ... great update bro !
- Shinny task manager ... because I don't have the IQ to read the current one.
- Tile thing ... because I want my Laptop to look like my damn Android phone ?

I am sticking with Windows 7 and will only get a UEFI machine when the dudes at Debian manage to figure out how to go around it better.

 

Swiping horizontally to go back and forward in IE11 desktop is great. I love that feature in IE10 Metro. Syncing bookmarks is also nice; I like that about Chrome.

 

Windows Blue is the first part of a new marketing strategy / business model in M$. BTW I like how people are abbreviating Microsoft as M$. Dollar sign to represent how M$ does anything for money and is cheap. Anyways... The new strategy has been referred to previously with the release of Windows 8. Basically M$ wants to compete with Apple, and release smaller but more frequent updates to its OS. Just like with the upgrade from Lion to Mountain Lion in OSX or the changes iwth iOS. This strategy seems good because it keeps the brand out there, and keeps people cognitive of M$'s existance and gives the feel that M$ is being active rather than passive to the rest of the market. However, is this really a new strategy and how effective will it be? No it is not new. Windows XP had 3 service pack updates and Windows 7 had 1 service pack with a 2nd unofficial update. Blue is basically a service pack, however unlike previous service packs which were used to bundle hotfixes and security solutions, Blue is the first time an update pack will mean bringing in new features to the GUI. Hopefully this will mean that in the future M$ will be more willing to make changes in response to users' complaints about the OS. For example, the windows notepad.exe program has a bug since as far back as Windows XP, in which if you have word wraping on, and type a line, hit enter and type a new line, then use Ctrl+S to save the docuement, then the cursor jumps back a few characters. There are a ton of posts about it in threads on the MS support forums and as a matter of fact, some people have compiled a fix in the code of the notepad.exe executable but M$ has never fixed it yet! But I digress.... I look forward to getting Windows Blue, but let's all just be aware that it is just a new strategy to continue branding, and force integration in the Cloud. Blue doesn't offer any major security or performance enhancements. The only big thing about it is the release of IE 11, and with that, all I can say is that it is a major version change in terms of the fact that you are going from a whole version number to the next rather than a minor version change. But I don't know of any actual important differences between IE 10 and 11.

Blue is predicted to release in June. I suspect this will occur in conjunction with the release of Intel's 4th generation line-up of processors code-named Haswell, which btw will only bring energy efficiency enhancements and 20% faster integrated Intel HD Graphics performance as they move from Intel HD 4000 graphics to Intel HD 4600. Just from the numbering of 4000 to 4600 this hints that the new generation processors are not as big of a leap as the change from 2nd gens (Sandy Bridge) to 3rd gens (Ivy Bridge). But since there is a movement towards ubiquitous computing, these enhancements should serve mobile and ultrabook laptops well. However, in terms of performance, those of us computer geeks that want the fastest i7s, should not feel pressured to udpate to the next gen i7 desktop or laptop processors. I just hope they will put that popular i7-3517U or the 4th gen equivalent version of it, into the Surface and sell it at the same price. That might be worth buying. Switching from laptops to ultrabooks and tablets will be the future, but only if M$ does it right and doesn't try to feed us i5 crap in the Surface as they are currently doing. Not that the i5 is bad. But for someone looking to replace my laptop with a tablet, I would like at least the option of an i7. The i7-3517U is only a two core, four thread processor but I would still be willing to accept that because expecting a 4 core i7 is a bit ridiculous right now because of the heating and power requirements. My guess is that M$ will refresh the Surface tablet in June, along with Windows Blue, and Haswell. Together that should provide adequate momentum in the market to get them some more marketshare and also help Intel stay on top of things. Plus June is the perfect time, because it marks the begining of the electronics buying season, as discounts and deals from major retailers like HP and Dell give promotions are early as June and running through July and August. For example the free XBOX 360 for students that buy laptops over $699 was given years ago around that time and then revived again during the same period in the following years. So if you are thinking of upgrading soon, and can wait a month or two, you may want to, so that you can get the latest tech, but not necessarily the best.

I might have wrote too much, and gotten off topic. Forgive me.

 

Breaking-news: for-profit corporations are profit-driven. Full story at 11.

 

Windows Blue is Windows 8.1 insider claims.



Windows Blue is Windows 8.1 insider claims (and expect it in a few months time) - SlashGear

 

This is outrageous! I'm tuning in for this, no questions asked. Fox News I imagine?
But honestly, let's drop the dollar sign. We get it -_-.

Looking forward to see what Blue has to offer.

 

Thanks for posting that article WhatsThePoint!
The article did pose an intriguing question, and that is, will MS (notice I dropped the dollar sign Oogar ), be charging for the update? If it is an update to Windows 8 it would seem like Windows 8 users have a right to update for free. However, who knows, they may be like Apple, and start to charge like $15 bucks for OS updates, and they would do this because then they can drop the price of their main OS releases as they already began doing with the release of Windows 8, since they can rely on revenue from those minor updates. But then we have to ask ourselves it is it really fair or legal for them to be charging for updates? Afterall I'm pretty sure, when we pay for OS licenses, we get guaranteed software updates within the same main version. Just something to contemplate.

Furthermore, the article made mention of an August release date? August would be typical, however, if Haswell releases in June, I might think MS would release Blue at the same time, unless they fear that Intel might steal the spotlight, so then it would make sense for them to wait, because they obvisouly can't release Blue earlier otherwise they'll risk ending up in another Vista predicament, where they hash out a buggy release. Anyways, Blue doesn't seem anything to get overly excited about, but it does keep us users from getting bored. I personally enjoy Windows 8, and think since most users that complain about it, say it is difficult to use and make other GUI related issues, that it is simply a matter of getting over that learning curve and being willing to adapt. It is certainly worth it. Windows 8 is noticeably faster than its predecessors. And lastly as a side note, no, not having a touch screen does not at all detract from the usability or use of the OS. Sony is selling its VAIO's and HP it's Pavilions with touchscreen in certain models, and I have to say, if I am using a keyboard to type, it is much faster to stay on the keyboard or mouse, than lift my hands up and smudge my screen with fingers, so I wouldn't use the touch capabilities even if it was there. So just for clarification sake, any options that can be accessed with touch, are accessible through the keyboard or mouse.

 

I have been using M$ for a LONG time, Microsoft to me has only as of late proven more than ever they deserve the moniker. So no I will not loose it yet, maybe someday. I doubt that will ever happen though........................

 

Eh, I don't think that Microsoft as a company is the problem. Just Ballmer.

 

With an estimated personal wealth of $15.7 billion, ranking at number 19 on the Forbes 400? Rubbish.

Related-but-somewhat-not-related update

 

OMG money is involved in the tech industry!!!!!!!111 Shocking. I'm glad we have the internet to expose such scandal.

FYI, I pulled up that Forbes 400 richest Americans, and the Oracle CEO is #3, the Amazon CEO is #11, and two Google execs are tied at #13. Better find ways to work dollar signs into the names of Oracle, Amazon, Google, Apple...

 

Will euro sign work? Oracl€, Googl€, Appl€

 

Actually it is the early days of M$ that made them earn it. I was around when they forced OEM's to still pay them even if the PC didn't have their software and another OS. M$ has been involved in several severely underhanded and even antitrust behaviors but since the latest is against their very own user base I have lost total (that is the little I did have) respect for them....................

Up until I had to I used GeoWorks Ensemble as a GUI instead of M$ Windows 3.10. That fell victim to the before mentioned tactic. So I will say my distaste for M$ has been well aged, not something that has just popped up.......................

 

Can somebody help me? I seem to have pulled a Bill-and-Ted and found myself twenty years in the past, in the early 1990s.

On the plus side, the music on the radio is AMAZING...

 

You are out of luck dude we are drawn back to the time where I had to ask friends for VHS t8 with adult only videos ... and getting busted for it

 

LOL, guess I have dated myself a bit.............

 

It doesn't matter what rank Steve Balmer is on Forbes, what matters is the organizational culture that he creates from his leadership. Look at the Apple Cult..ure. We can't attribute a companies success to the richness of the CEO, especially since the richness of the CEO might be a result of the success rather than a causal factor. Steve Balmer, if you've ever watched interviews of him, is a stubborn over-confident, blindly ignorant, person publically. He wants things his way because he is so confident he is right. That is a problem. It is a problem of leadership style, a didactic authoritarian leadership style, which doesn't necessarily cultivated a good culture from top-down. This can hurt both consumers and producers, and company employees.

 

Based on some of the links you guys provided, is WB a service pack for W8?

 

That's officially still up in the air, but I'm thinking it is.

 

I can guarantee you that it will not be released as a service pack in the traditional sense such that Windows 8 would become Windows 8 SP1 once it is applied. MS may want to move away from that model of releasing service packs which are no different that taking all of the previous patches up to that point and bundeling them into one downloadable installer.

Rather Blue will be more of a software update. So it is also technically different than a service pack. The other thing we have yet to know, is if we will have to pay for it.

Thanks for the question!

 

First of all, the Service Packs of old were more than just bundles of previously available patches, and some of them did include additional functionality. Second, from all I have seen, Blue will be free. In other words, as far as I can tell Blue is exactly like a Service Pack, it's just not called a Service Pack.

 

Okay, you are correct so let me make clarification. Previously as in Windows 7 service packs, a service pack did include all the functionality that could have simply be acheived by downloading individual software patches. Only rarely did a service pack add something that wasn't already available. In addition, service packs and MS updates in general invovle security updates, virus definitions, and certain hotfixes. As I noted previously however, Windows Blue is the first time we see the introduction of changes that are introduced simply to add extra functionality. This is a new philosophy from MS because for the first time, it isn't all about waiting for a problem to occur like a hacked certificate and then patching it, but now is about gauging the user experiences and playing an active and proactive as opposed to retrospective approach where they provide updates that don't fix anything but simply add to the OS. No mainstream producers simply throw in extras for the fun of it because of the cost, and the risk of needlessly introducing bugs, as they held to the philosophy of "If it works, don't fix it." But now, MS could be begining to be more proactive, which could be a smart move publically.

Thanks!