Firefox Metro version delayed to January next year

The Metro version of the Firefox browser is supposed to be released sometime in December this year for Windows 8 and above but due to the decrease of the average team velocity, it seems that the amount of time taken to work will be longer than usual. For the Metro version, the interface may look comparable to the Android version I’m using except that it is much more solid than ever. For the mobile version, the tabs bar can be toggled with the button on the top-left so if you’re in Vertical orientation mode, the tabs bar will be on top for example. It may look comparable to the one in IE metro version although you still can’t move the tabs for whatever reasons, I don’t know. The good thing about Firefox Mobile version is that you can still synchronize your stuffs from your computer to your mobile devices although it can’t be the same for the addons and other stuffs. For Windows 8 tablet users, you can still use Firefox desktop edition with addons and stuffs for price sake or something but the desktop interface doesn’t seem to be touch-friendly so you may need some mouse for that.

Windows 8 RTM Aftermath

The days before the release in October 26th last year, it seemed that the developers still had to improve the quality of the product by issuing the updates to the Metro apps and the operating system itself. For the OS itself, there was a GA cumulative update for both Windows 8 and its server variant. It brought the improvements to power efficiency, audio and video playback as well as application and driver capability and applications and the start screen. Perhaps the computers in the shop running Windows 8 should already be patched with these improvements when you're going to buy one of these.
Also, the Metro apps would be updated before the release in October 26th last year to ensure smooth shipping as well. Perhaps, it was a good time that the developers checked their work before releasing their product to the market.
I remembered that I discovered certain third-party tablet computers running Windows 8 or perhaps RT and it seemed that Windows 8 was more of a recommended choice than RT for extended capabilities as most of the Windows tablet devices come with the laptop sized keyboard with the touchpad as the workaround probably due to the unacceptable existence of the desktop mode whose interface is still as small as ever and things are still not touch-friendly that way. Also, where the hell was the Microsoft Surface tablet the last time, huh? I expected it to be released in addition to Windows 8 itself but all I saw was the third-party ones. Lastly, Microsoft Surface Pro will be released sometime this year and it may look even better than Surface RT by the way but the thing is, there was a claim that Surface Pro is for business use while Surface RT is for consumer use. It doesn't matter anyway as the customers are likely to be aiming for the third-party Windows 8 tablet devices or perhaps the Windows 8 desktops/laptops.

VLC for Windows 8

In case certain file formats are not available in Windows 8 or something, well I don't know, there's VLC Windows 8 Metro edition. Currently, it has been installed on about 0.1 billion devices globally but that is the desktop-mode application that is running on the Windows PCs, the standard computers powered by Intel or AMD processors. This edition will support ARM-based tablets in the subsequent release in addition to other devices and other architectures. Like the desktop version of the media player from VLC, you have the access to the files, discs and the network streams but do you probably want the portable DVD/BD player just for your tablet devices? Well, nobody makes this kind of purpose like that but if you don't have the Blue-Ray technology at your home at all, you may want to buy a BR player, the PS3 or perhaps the USB BD-RW drive for your computer. It may be good if your computer comes with the Blue Ray drive but the games are obviously run from DVD-ROMs as that format isn't the most popular one.

This fundraiser from VLC is run to allowed experienced VideoLAN core team members to work on this Metro port. They expect the release three months after this campaign.

During the development, they had created prototype versions of the software with working and audio playback of local files to make sure that this project is actually feasible as part of their development challenge. The prototype versions were easier to interleave than they anticipated. The first release of VLC for Windows 8 Metro edition will run on x86-based devices, followed by the ARM based support that will be added in a subsequent release.

SITEX in Singapore Expo this year (Updated)

Note: During the time I’m blogging this, it seems that I’m already feeling sick maybe due to the noisy rain that happened in the early afternoon. First, there was some runny n***, then there was some headache due to the rain.
OK, let’s have details on what was inside the SITEX area. It was taking 2.5 halls and that took me one to two hours in exploration. The interesting stuffs in technology were the Android TV which allowed you to turn the TV into the Smart TV, the portable projectors, computers and tablets running Windows 8 and RT as well as Windows 8 Pro itself that allows you to upgrade your computer to Windows 8. Well, is that all the kids have got when playing casual games? No, of course not. The first game played there was Angry Birds Space on the Android TV and then I realized that the game was already in the first set. And of course, since it’s an Android TV, there’s no way you can play the games that which require the multi-touch feature. The OS can work like what a normal computer can do so it works with the mouse and keyboard in addition to the touch. However, you’re going to need the USB mouse and keyboard for that device and for internet access, you’re going to need the Ethernet cable or the USB Wireless Adapter. Damn to that device for having the grainy color palette. There was a gaming corner which displayed the popular console and computer games and there was an area where the people were watching the screen of the game the players were playing. How cool is that and especially for the new technology used to power up the games with newer CPUs and GPUs.
For Windows 8 and RT devices, so far, I could see the third-party Windows RT tablets but like I already said in the previous blog posts, it was already bitchy to use Desktop mode on the tablets as things are already way too small to tap ever since Windows 7 tablets. There were also laptops, desktops, ultrabooks, 3-in-1 desktops and so on running Windows 8 in which there was not much to say.
Meanwhile at the console gaming area where you can buy games for seventh generation consoles as well as to play the games which are currently inserted in the respective consoles, I started off with the song the promoters were in in DJ Hero. The gameplay may seem easy . The normal notes are where you can tap the respective keys on the turntable while the hold notes may require that you scratch the turntable. However, the tricky part was having to move the f*****g slider part and I couldn’t figure things out like that. Maybe I prefer Beatmania or DJ Max franchise over this but either way, you’ll have to learn how to figure out the other parts in rhythm games.
About the portable projector thing, I hooked up my Ipod Touch to that projector and holy shit, the sound from the projector was seriously distorted but that’s because the projector is designed to display image as the main core concept so if you want the better sound, you may need the external speakers for that. Remember, that projector allows the Iphone or Ipod Touch to be hooked in. Sampled contents were Hello Planet Remastered version and Little Star Piano Arrange taken from YouTube.
Last but not least, there were Windows Phone 8 and 7.5 devices from Nokia Booth at SITEX as well and from what I knew after asking various questions, there wasn't much difference between Windows Phone 7 and 8 other than the changes in the interface, improvements to the existing apps and services as well as the new ones.

Speaking of Little Star from IIDX Tricoro, I already had made the 16-Bit arrangement of it. However, due to how the original version sounded, I decided to add in the non-retro type musical instruments in the arrangement and they some parts sounded kind of noisy like that like trying to play all the fast notes. Also, the arrangement is available at my Nico Nico Douga account.

Reimagined Windows.com

The day before Windows 8’s release, they might have reimagined the entire website of Windows to coincide with the release of Windows 8 and RT.

From the new design they had planned, it featured the simple look and feel that expressed the new Windows brand as well as the one-stop shop if you’re looking to buy a new device. There are also how-to-videos that will get you started fast but due to how too simple the interface it looks like some parts may be confusing or perhaps the text is gonna be way too small to tap on the table in which the same kind of problem may be the same for some parts of the smartphone apps, it may seem that every how-to-video for every product can’t be the easiest. You can also preview the themes before you download which may be good enough but weeks after the operating system’s release, I don’t know if the no-frills support will help you solve the problems easily. This is probably because the Surface users had some kind of audio issues and the developers were trying to get the problem solved after their awareness.

Sure, the new design is touch-friendly and easy to navigate but do you probably want to tap on the box which is not quite thick and large enough? What about the rows of links? Do you also want to tap on the links which have like thinner spacing vertically?

At the Download & Shop section, you can find a wide selection of Windows 8 and RT devices for you to take a look at the system specifications and decide which one to buy. However, what’s absurd is that you’re asked a bunch of factorized questions to decide which kinds of devices you want to buy.

Another painful stuff is the desktop theme. In the RTM version of Windows 8, the entire interface is completely simplified like there’s no transparency and glass whatsoever but the glassy stuff is still there for the icons and the third-party applications so it’s not perfectly fast and battery saving for Windows RT tablets compared to their OS rival tablets. Wallpapers and sound-sets are fine but I bet that you’re better off with Windows 7 and below for ultimate theme setup because right now, there’s no patch for Windows 8 that will allow you to have the customized desktop interface like you can do with the previous Windows OSes. There’s also the improved multi-monitor support for Windows 8 but the modern UI navigation can be annoyingly inaccurate in navigating.

Lastly, the event was launched in October 25th in the respective countries starting from Singapore, Tokyo, London and so on, all the way to New York where the big day was there.

Office for Windows RT Update

Office 15 for Windows RT had recently hit RTM stage but it’s a huge shame for Surface users to get the prototype version instead when it’s going to be launched in October 26th. And having to upgrade through Windows Update in the desktop way is a son of a butt for tablet users. This is stupidly tedious compared to updating Office for IOS, Android and Windows Phone devices. There will be signs of restarting the tablets which may be bullshit but hopefully, there shouldn’t be any restart requirement anyway. And speaking of patches for the OSes, Windows RT should be updated in the similar way its rival operating systems do. It should be patched with like version updates with all the planned patches in there instead. Even service packs have to go for tablet users but I doubt that they should be replaced in anyway. OK, there can be alternatives for service packs but that doesn’t mean the tablet has to keep on updating itself with every patch. The service pack alternative patches can include the patches for other Microsoft products which may be neater for tablets.

Office for Windows RT

What do you get when you use Office Desktop edition on the tablets? You get a the fully functional but with un-friendly touch interface. Even worse is that the Desktop app is still un-friendly to the tablet devices no matter how clean and simple the interface is. So, to get around the problem for using Office on tablets, you’re going to need the external keyboard and the mouse as long as they are USB compatible devices. That’s what you can get when using Desktop app because it’s difficult to tap on things like that. Once you’re finished, simply drag from top to bottom of the screen to close the Desktop app so that you can continue to use other Metro apps. Other than Office 15 and Internet Explorer 10, other desktop apps are not allowed so Windows RT may seem to be suitable for Metro apps which may be useful for tablets. In fact, having the Microsoft Surface device that runs Windows 8 Pro is kind of unacceptable to exist because the Desktop app is quite difficult to use with touch.

Last year, there was a question on whether the developers could develop the ARM version of Office and they did. So this led to Steve Ballmer to do the demo on Word and PowerPoint on ARM devices during the Consumer Electronics Show.

Office for Windows RT will be optimized to be Touch-Enabled, Portable with the ability to run on battery for long periods of time, having memory capabilities to start at 2GB and so on. Wow, 2GB of memory capabilities? Does it mean that 2GB of RAM and above is required on tablets? Perhaps you can to buy Asus Vivo Tab and its RT counterpart tablets for maximum performance.

For the new Office to take less energy of the CPU, Windows 8 adds the new coalescable timers which allow programs to be more battery-life friendly by specifying a range of time to wake up rather than an absolute interval to save battery life, compared to Windows 7 and below which was still ticking that you were guaranteed to wake up every ~16ms. Also, for Office 2k10, there were some situations where applications would wake up the CPU more than 1000 per minutes when the system goes idle but with the new Office, the developers have reduced that by 95% when the user isn’t interacting with the program. To save the battery life even more, the blinking cursor where you type in the text stops blinking after a few seconds if the user stops interacting with the application. However, this can get you lost on where you are in if you drift too far away from editing your documents so this one is kind of flawed in saving battery life.

For Windows Update in Windows 8, I bet that this is suitable for normal computers, not tablets because this is not how you update your tablets running Windows like that. Having to patch Windows RT with a bunch of updates is a huge no-no to us which may cause delays like that and multi-language support in Windows RT is kind of flawed as you may end up using the desktop Control Panel to do the installation which can also cause delays like spending time in doing the installation. THAT IS ANOTHER FLAW IN USING WINDOWS RT IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES, EVEN WITH SSD, IT TAKES TIME TO INSTALL! But, can they find a way to save time from doing that stupid installation?

For Office 15 as well as Windows RT combined, things may be extra costly with Mobile Network enabled so it’s best to use cloud technology by Wi-Fi only and thankfully, Office for Windows RT is able to warn you about this.

And lastly, how the hell can you import stuffs onto your documents as well as open and save documents in Office for Windows RT? Will that open up that freaking Open/Save As dialog box in desktop form for example?

Final flaw will include confusing Metro interface in Office 15 for tablets. When the buttons are not hovered, they remain button-less and become the links made of icons and texts compared to the interface of the past. Perhaps Office 15 for Windows RT is overall okay to use so be glad that they didn’t screw this up.