My impressions on this successful Operating System at the intersection of Open Source and mobile systems. New York, and life, as well. Windows 7 is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Yesterday, in LA, Microsoft launched new devices to go with the upcoming iteration of the Windows 8 operating system frenzy in the form of a new tablet, called Surface, and with Microsoft hardware. It happened during a secretive gathering of selected media representatives who never knew exactly what they were going to cover up until the last minute. There are two products that were introduced: Surface for Windows RT and the Surface for Windows 8 Pro with an Intel microprocessor, full HD display, both having specs that rival the finest ultrabooks. The live coverage was really poor and did not do justice to what was introduced, not because of lack of information, but I would say because of the preconceived notions about Microsoft products coming from die-hard Apple and Linux (Android) followers, some of them among the press corps. I was able to see the entire launch show late last night (length: 47 minutes) thanks to my Nokia Lumia and the super useful and fun app called I am a WP7, though I could not find it today. I was really astonished by the coolness of the product and the perfect coreography that started with a Steve Ballmer more focused than ever, almost as a real guru, followed by the rest of the team, including a trip down memory lane through 30 years of Microsoft hardware innovation and some actual pictures of the Surface being designed and built in a sophisticated environment. What the media saw in LA was not reflected in what I have read so far on the Web. When the show started with Ballmer, practically nobody gave him a welcome, but as the show rolled down, you could hear the audience more enthusiastic, cheering. No doubt. Surface is a compelling and impressive product.
I have discovered on my desktop a shortcut icon to something called GameXN, a program which was installed unbeknownst to me. After some research I found out that this is the "game go organizer" or whatever that is called, a software product coming from Easybits (there is no link here, therefore no free publicity), a Norwegian Company based in Oslo, developing the "Skype game channel". What in the world?! Who asked for games? This might have happened while I opened Skype the last time. Can we trust any messages or prompts that pop up in familiar applications any longer. No wonder Skype users are or were riled. My installation took place only a week ago. Look and see if you have a folder called C:\ProgramData\GameXN, then uninstall it, if you did not request that installation.
Apparently, many a vendor just test their software applications only in the Windows XP and below operating systems, leaving the Windows 7 users under the "buyer beware" policy and in the process they stick the product with the "Windows 7 compatible" label, regardless. Case in point, the T-Mobile webConnect Manager software installation. This particular installation process decides that in addition to unzipping the necessary files to a temp directory (C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Temp, which is normal, though not necessarily into the Administrator folders) it also unzips them into the path shown in the attached picture above. After much tweaking, I was able to solve this problem but only after performing the installation logged in as Administrator, since the simple "run as" won't work, and the .inf file shown in the path above does not even exist. Only logged in as Administrator, and having started the installation process, you will be able to see that directory and that particularly file, BUT you still need to modify the access rights by giving all access to "Everyone" not just the Administrators group. Once I did that the installation continued and it was successful, both in Windows 7 and in the newest Windows 8 Release Preview. However, the whole process went not as smooth as it appears to be. Previously, I had to call T-Mobile tech support only to hear that they (three differents customer reps) don't know about "Error 1310" (but are they supposed to know about it?) and that this error was a problem with my computer, and (perhaps understandably so?) they also did not even care to hear what the message read. The only "solution" they offered was that I have to get a wi-fi connection in order to set up my Internet connection with my broadband modem and that only under those circumstances it will work. It wouldn't. However, the actual problem ("error 1310") was "access rights" within a folder the installer has no business dealing with, in the first place. Who should we blame? Software vendors for substandard software? Tech support for not offering at least some hints? This situation of not well documented, at least consistently, error messages is what goes against a brand name and contributes to popular perceptions or misconceptions of a product (whether software application and/or operating system).
