Windows 8 was designed for "computer illiterates"

No wonder everybody but a few casual users and consumers hates Windows 8! -- Love Windows 8? Then Microsoft has you pegged as a casual user, content consumer, a computer illiterate. For those who actually use their computers to get real work done -- power users, content creators -- get a MacBook or Chromebook!

Windows 8 UX designer on Metro: "It is the antithesis of a power user" - Neowin: " . . . Miller continued on to explain that the [Microsoft Windows 8] design team split users into two groups: content creators and content consumers: Content creators were explained to be power users: they have multiple windows open across multiple monitors, they sometimes even have virtual machines that also have their own nested levels of complexity. Content consumers were explained to be casual users who just use basic social media platforms, view photos, and so on. They were described as the computer illiterate younger siblings, the older grandparents, or the mother "who just wants to look up apple pie recipes." Windows 8 was designed for the latter group: the content consumers. This is also where Metro stems from: it is a platform that is "simple, clear, and does one thing (and only one thing) relatively easily." Miller described Metro as the antithesis of a power user...."

Google strikes upfront deal with ad giant Magna Global
USA TODAY
A group of technology firms, including Google, Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft, created the NewFronts event a few years ago — a digital version of the TV industry's annual upfronts, where billions of dollars in ad slots for popular programming are purchased ...

Apple, Google cracking down on 'Flappy Bird' clones
CNN
(CNN) -- Your app store may be getting a lot less flappy. Both Apple and Googleappear to be cracking down on new apps taking advantage of the demise of "Flappy Bird," the addictively simple casual game that became an unlikely sensation before its ...

Microsoft makes Skype and Lync more compatible, adds Lync for Android tablets
PCWorld
After spending 2013 figuring out what to do with its various communication and collaboration tools, Microsoft's focus in 2014 is not unified communications, but “universal” communications, executives said. As the company opens its Lync Conference this ...

Microsoft: 'Remember, some XP-based embedded systems to get support to 2019'
ZDNet
As ZDNet has reported previously, Microsoft will continue making critical patches available for the embedded Windows XP systems running on ATMs until January 2016, compared with fulll Windows XP verions on desktops, for which there will be no more ...

Minyanville: Google, Microsoft make peace with partners
USA TODAY
That spring, Samsung Electronics released the first Galaxy S smartphone, which would later become the subject of a contentious legal battle with Apple. It was also in 2010 that the smartphone patent war went global, with the number of lawsuits ...

Apple Manager Mystique Tempts Google in Search for Talent: Tech
Bloomberg
Apple Inc. (AAPL) is known for producing great products, like the iPod. Now GoogleInc. (GOOG) with its acquisition of Nest Labs Inc. and its Apple alumni founder Tony Fadell, is hoping it produces great leaders who can replicate that success as well.

Microsoft marshals marketing, service, social for Dynamics CRM, aims anew at ...
PCWorld
Microsoft is about to make a fresh run at its CRM (customer relationship management) rival Salesforce.com with new capabilities for marketing automation, customer support and social media monitoring. The three components, which came about in part ...

Apple looking at cars, medical devices for growth: report
Chicago Tribune
Rival Google Inc. recently bought thermostat maker Nest Labs for $3.2 billion, robot maker Boston Dynamic and artificial intelligence startup DeepMind Technologies Ltd. The company has also been working on projects including Google Glass and self ...

Google Buys Israel's SlickLogin
Wall Street Journal (blog)
Google has acquired the Israeli startup SlickLogin, an apparent bet on a new way to more securely log into computer systems. Launched just a few months ago by veterans of the Israeli Defense Force's cybersecurity unit, SlickLogin had been working on a ...

Apple device sales have finally caught up with Windows
tuaw.com
And as John Gruber wrote in his short but astute summary of Microsoft's history, the amazing thing is that Gates actually realized this dream. By the mid-90s, if not a few years earlier even, we were living in a Windows world. At its peak, Windows ...

Elephants Comfort Each Other in Distress: Study
HealthDay
TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Asian elephants use touch and sound to console other elephants in distress, according to a new study. It's the first study to confirm that elephants comfort one another in difficult times, the researchers said....

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