Microsoft's 'Blue' not just for Windows

As we've known for a few months, the Windows client team at Microsoft is working on its first "feature pack" update for Windows 8, supposedly due this summer/fall, which is code-named Blue.

But it turns out Blue isn't a Windows thing only, according to one very accurate tipster of mine who doesn't want to be identified.

Blue also is the way Microsoft is referring to the next substantial platform update for Windows Phone, the Windows Services (like SkyDrive, Hotmail, etc.), and Windows Server, according to my source. In other words, Blue is a wave of product refreshes which are not expected to arrive exactly all on the same day, but which are meant to be released more or less around the same time.

Read more at source:
Microsoft's 'Blue' not just for Windows | Microsoft - CNET News

 

[BillWindows]

You've sort of jumped from $10 to $20 a month Jimbo, that's a bit of a leap and looks a bit unreal to me. Like I said, lets wait and see before we say the Sky is Falling.

Hi there
Monthly cost :

10 USD for Windows 365 (Guestimate), 8.50 USD for Office 365 basic -- Ms'es ACTUAL pricing so that's as near as matters to the 20 USD.
I'm sure a huge majority of Windows users have Office in some form on their machines either for use at home or work or both.

(Both Excluding any taxes). After taxes if this type of pricing is maintained will surely be over 20 USD.

If you look at RETAIL costs of Windows compared with RETAIL costs of Office (basic editions - not the full blown enterprise versions) you'll see that Office / Windows pricings are roughly the same -- what did W7 Ultimate full retail cost at the time -- wasn't cheap from what I remember - especially if it wasn't an upgrade. So I think my "Guestimate" of a "Windows 365" would be fairly near the mark.

In fact the Windows subscription may be significantly higher than the office one and finally - most finance depts. of large corporations don't want to deal with loads of separate tiny payments of a few dollars a month flooding their "Accounts Receivable" systems.

Cheers
jimbo

Sorry didn't know you were adding the two together, but there are other options for Office. I suppose it's up to the individual to weigh up what's best for them. I've heard some say its cheap, others expensive, so like I said its up to the individual.I don't use the full Office that much anymore so the subscription model wouldn't be any good to me, but in the past I would have readily paid that.

 

[Wenda]

Ah, sorry Jimbo, but I just couldn't resist......it's not, by the way.

Wenda.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
Nicely done

Wonder if I can get that desktop onto the I.T managers desktop - just in time for the company wide "Software Audit".

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Tepid]

I agree with Jimbo on the pricing, Yeah, it will be a downward slide for MS if they ever go that route.
I will definitely jump ship for Ubuntu to start, simply for the their Phone adventure, which I am already going to keep an eye on.
It is far too intriguing to not keep a watch on and take a serious look at. I am not MS loyal to my own detriment.
Plenty of things I don't like about MS, but I would like to see a nice cross platform system be put in place.
And the fact Ubuntu and possibly other Linux distros if Ubuntu pulls this off, we could see a whole new paradigm in OS's.
MS very well could be in trouble on the consumer side of things. And I say that only IF Ubuntu can pull off a real cross platform system.

Ubuntu, while still not perfectly suited for all people will start looking better and better to promote and teach to all, by those of us in the know.

BTW, just downloaded Ubuntu 12.10 and will load it in a VM to play with, it's been a while.

 

[whs]

Ubuntu, while still not perfectly suited for all people will start looking better and better to promote and teach to all, by those of us in the know.

You are right if you take Ubuntu in it's raw form - especially with this Unity interface. But a derivative like Zorin my well fit the bill. I found Zorin to be quite amusing. Having fun with Zorin - Windows 7 Support Forums

 

[Ray8]

Yeah once I have to pay for my, Electricity, Gas, Phone Bills, Broadband, Car Payments, Mortgage, Foxtel and mobile data plan every month, I'm outa here.

The main difference is that with utilities etc, we (at least in Australia) can change service providers at a whim. Also, utilities are essential services; whereas, Microsoft Windows is not. And you don't have to make monthly payments for many of the listed products. You can buy a car outright, you can do without Foxtel (it's all rubbish anyway), you don't have to have monthly mobile plans.

Is that where Microsoft is going? If so, it will most definitely increase the viability of Linux and other existing systems like Chrome and even Apple. Subscription systems often become very costly, as they are basically a lease agreement with no choice of owning the product. Loans are something different, as at the end of the day, you at least own the product.

So yes, people will consider other systems and I can guarantee that advertising will become intense and take serious account of the differences.

 

[SIW2]

I don't advocate piracy, but what do you mean by this:

Bill

this subscription scheme would be beneficial to MS, but also to us, as piracy will go down, hopefully.

Exactly how do you imagine a reduction in piracy would be beneficial to us - other than morally, perhaps.

Ray8

Is that where Microsoft is going?

Yes. They might change their minds if there is enough resistance. They are doing it gradually hoping people will not notice where it is headed - until it is too late. W8 is a big step in that direction.

 

[geeve420]

If it went to subscription based I would be on the Linux train. Especially with Steam starting the rollout for Ubuntu (Not a huge fan of Ubuntu but...) To be honest, I like W8, but I like Linux too, the only things keeping me on the MS ride is Home recording with out having to spend weeks getting Pulse to play nice with ALSA and real time kernels and the few games I play.

As far as office goes, I am not a power user and I find LibreOffice does everything I need. I wouldn't even consider paying monthly for MS office. I use it at work, but if I type something up at work then email it to myself and open it at home, I have no problem with compatability at all.

To many free options to pay more than I paid for my car over a few years LOL!

Geeve

 

[Fredledingue]

I read that they are going to start that blue stuff in Office too. With Office 2013 and Office 365 that is going to get really confusing.

Not only do they change the font, the style, the colors, the icons, the system folder names and the document folder names at every version... they also change the way they name and count the version at every version. LOL!

---

I can just imagine ad driven software. Halfway through a Word document, you get interrupted by an ad for printer ink for your specific printer (which is identified through your device manager) and you can't get out of it until it's played completely through.

+ It hijack tyour laptop webcam (which cannot be turned off) with a special eye detection software which pause the add as long as your eyes are not oriented toward the screen to make sure you are realy watching it.

 

[robinb9]

i am really confused, i thought Blue was suppose to be an open source Free OS that you can upgrade your Windows 7 to get a taste of Windows 8. What happened to that idea?

 

[robinb9]

I agree with Jimbo on the pricing, Yeah, it will be a downward slide for MS if they ever go that route.
I will definitely jump ship for Ubuntu to start, simply for the their Phone adventure, which I am already going to keep an eye on.
It is far too intriguing to not keep a watch on and take a serious look at. I am not MS loyal to my own detriment.
Plenty of things I don't like about MS, but I would like to see a nice cross platform system be put in place.
And the fact Ubuntu and possibly other Linux distros if Ubuntu pulls this off, we could see a whole new paradigm in OS's.
MS very well could be in trouble on the consumer side of things. And I say that only IF Ubuntu can pull off a real cross platform system.

Ubuntu, while still not perfectly suited for all people will start looking better and better to promote and teach to all, by those of us in the know.

BTW, just downloaded Ubuntu 12.10 and will load it in a VM to play with, it's been a while.

It is amazing how Ubuntu 12.10 is, I downloaded it on a test machine running windows 7 pro. I used their windows installer to do it and it took 18gigs of the HD and Partitioned it so now I have a dual boot for both.
the whole process took 15 minutes

I wanted to test it for a client who wants to put it on his old XP Machines, as the main OS. These machines are used in a community center and right now they cannot afford to put new ones in so wiping XP will get rid of all the junk and make the machines look almost new at least for another year until they can purchase new ones.
I was amazed by it. It looks similar to Windows OS, now it has a software updater manager so you do not have to use DOS commands to do an update on a program. The last time I installed and used Linux was about 10 years ago.
I am really impressed with the Ubuntu 12.10. Libre Office is installed in it and so is Firefox. I installed Dropbox on it and it was quite easy to do
I can see if this keeps improving more and more users will go to it since you do not need security on it and it is not hard to learn

 

[whs]

i am really confused, i thought Blue was suppose to be an open source Free OS that you can upgrade your Windows 7 to get a taste of Windows 8. What happened to that idea?

Did you ever see anything for free from M$.

 

[whs]

I agree with Jimbo on the pricing, Yeah, it will be a downward slide for MS if they ever go that route.
I will definitely jump ship for Ubuntu to start, simply for the their Phone adventure, which I am already going to keep an eye on.
It is far too intriguing to not keep a watch on and take a serious look at. I am not MS loyal to my own detriment.
Plenty of things I don't like about MS, but I would like to see a nice cross platform system be put in place.
And the fact Ubuntu and possibly other Linux distros if Ubuntu pulls this off, we could see a whole new paradigm in OS's.
MS very well could be in trouble on the consumer side of things. And I say that only IF Ubuntu can pull off a real cross platform system.

Ubuntu, while still not perfectly suited for all people will start looking better and better to promote and teach to all, by those of us in the know.

BTW, just downloaded Ubuntu 12.10 and will load it in a VM to play with, it's been a while.

It is amazing how Ubuntu 12.10 is, I downloaded it on a test machine running windows 7 pro. I used their windows installer to do it and it took 18gigs of the HD and Partitioned it so now I have a dual boot for both.
the whole process took 15 minutes

I wanted to test it for a client who wants to put it on his old XP Machines, as the main OS. These machines are used in a community center and right now they cannot afford to put new ones in so wiping XP will get rid of all the junk and make the machines look almost new at least for another year until they can purchase new ones.
I was amazed by it. It looks similar to Windows OS, now it has a software updater manager so you do not have to use DOS commands to do an update on a program. The last time I installed and used Linux was about 10 years ago.
I am really impressed with the Ubuntu 12.10. Libre Office is installed in it and so is Firefox. I installed Dropbox on it and it was quite easy to do
I can see if this keeps improving more and more users will go to it since you do not need security on it and it is not hard to learn

May I suggest you have a look at Zorin. It is based on Ubuntu but with a Windows 7 or XP UI. Here is a little demo I made: Having fun with Zorin - Windows 7 Support Forums

 

[Coke Robot]

i am really confused, i thought Blue was suppose to be an open source Free OS that you can upgrade your Windows 7 to get a taste of Windows 8. What happened to that idea?

Did you ever see anything for free from M$.

I'm going to be that guy...

-Internet Explorer
-Windows Updates
-Bing apps
-SkyDrive
-Office Web Apps
-Windows Defender/Security Essentials
-Windows Essentials
-Zune Software
-Six months of free, no-adverts Xbox Music streaming
-Personalization gallery

 

[whs]

All of that you only get because there are other equivalent free options and M$ wants to keep you in their corral. But if it is something really new and exclusive, you pay.

 

[Coke Robot]

All of that you only get because there are other equivalent free options and M$ wants to keep you in their corral. But if it is something really new and exclusive, you pay.

Usually if something from Microsoft is new and exclusive, it's generally hardware; like the Xbox, Windows Phone, Surface, ect.

But regardless, yeah you do pay for other things. Why? Thousands of people spent hundreds of hours developing and writing code so you can use it however you want over the other options out there.

 

[robinb9]

I agree with Jimbo on the pricing, Yeah, it will be a downward slide for MS if they ever go that route.
I will definitely jump ship for Ubuntu to start, simply for the their Phone adventure, which I am already going to keep an eye on.
It is far too intriguing to not keep a watch on and take a serious look at. I am not MS loyal to my own detriment.
Plenty of things I don't like about MS, but I would like to see a nice cross platform system be put in place.
And the fact Ubuntu and possibly other Linux distros if Ubuntu pulls this off, we could see a whole new paradigm in OS's.
MS very well could be in trouble on the consumer side of things. And I say that only IF Ubuntu can pull off a real cross platform system.

Ubuntu, while still not perfectly suited for all people will start looking better and better to promote and teach to all, by those of us in the know.

BTW, just downloaded Ubuntu 12.10 and will load it in a VM to play with, it's been a while.

It is amazing how Ubuntu 12.10 is, I downloaded it on a test machine running windows 7 pro. I used their windows installer to do it and it took 18gigs of the HD and Partitioned it so now I have a dual boot for both.
the whole process took 15 minutes

I wanted to test it for a client who wants to put it on his old XP Machines, as the main OS. These machines are used in a community center and right now they cannot afford to put new ones in so wiping XP will get rid of all the junk and make the machines look almost new at least for another year until they can purchase new ones.
I was amazed by it. It looks similar to Windows OS, now it has a software updater manager so you do not have to use DOS commands to do an update on a program. The last time I installed and used Linux was about 10 years ago.
I am really impressed with the Ubuntu 12.10. Libre Office is installed in it and so is Firefox. I installed Dropbox on it and it was quite easy to do
I can see if this keeps improving more and more users will go to it since you do not need security on it and it is not hard to learn

May I suggest you have a look at Zorin. It is based on Ubuntu but with a Windows 7 or XP UI. Here is a little demo I made: Having fun with Zorin - Windows 7 Support Forums

thank you, I will go take a look

 

[lehnerus2000]

Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit)

I was amazed by it. It looks similar to Windows OS, now it has a software updater manager so you do not have to use DOS commands to do an update on a program. The last time I installed and used Linux was about 10 years ago.

Linux Distros have had GUI software managers/updaters for a few years.
If you want to install something that isn't in the repository, you still have to use the Terminal.

I've got Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) installed on my PC.
IMO, it's better than Ubuntu (no awful Unity GUI).

All of my hardware worked straight out ot the box (ATI Radeon HD6450, Network, Sound and USB TV dongle).
It even runs my personalised theme (from Ubuntu 10).

I haven't experienced any glitches.

The installed size (OS + programs) is ~6GB.

It took ~30 minutes to install and tweak:

• ~12 mins - OS
• ~10 mins - Updates
• ~03 mins - Install GParted and Wireshark
• ~03 mins - Copy and tweak my personal theme from Ubuntu 10
• ~02 mins - Edit "fstab" to auto-load my Windows data partitions

 

[SIW2]

Hi WHS,

I am just going to give Zorin a go.

Bit short of space atm .

Will get rid of w8 and install Zorin there.

 

[whs]

Hi WHS,

I am just going to give Zorin a go.

Bit short of space atm .

Will get rid of w8 and install Zorin there.

Install it on an external drive like I did. Portable OS - Carry your OS on an External Drive - Windows 7 Support Forums