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Windows XP screen dimming question.

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computerdude92

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Not all that important, but why does Windows XP dim the screen to grayscale when you get the 3 button image to let you click to turn off the PC, standby, or restart? I never noticed any reason behind it myself.
 
I suppose they were (justifiably) afraid that nobody would even notice the dialog under the neon blue-and-green attack of the 'Luna' interface all around it.
 
To make it function like a Mac. More people are familiar with WindowsXP than any MacOS, so when most see an Apple do it, they assume Apple copied Microsoft. That's what Microsoft has always done: stolen credit. Always.
 
KC9UDX said:
To make it function like a Mac. More people are familiar with WindowsXP than any MacOS, so when most see an Apple do it, they assume Apple copied Microsoft. That's what Microsoft has always done: stolen credit. Always.
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To me, you are coming across as biased, or possibly trolling.

Are you saying that somewhere in recorded literature, or verbal history, is Microsoft claiming credit for the idea/invention of screen dimming ?

Microsoft, like Apple, like Samsung, like Westinghouse, like Ford, like ACME, ........, copy/adopt ideas from others. If it's a good idea, and not patented, why not? It makes business sense. But I do not see them claiming credit.
 
Microsoft has always stolen credit. It's Bill Gates' genius, if he's responsible.

Every product they've ever had has been this way.

Maybe stolen credit isn't the right term. But they've sure taken away credit by overshadowing the competition at every opportunity.
 
Apple, when it released its first product with a mouse, didn't publicly state that it wasn't the inventor of the mouse. But I'm sure that Apple was happy to take credit if someone thought that Apple did.

Dyson, when it released its bladeless fan, didn't publicly state that it wasn't the inventor of the bladeless fan. But I'm sure that Dyson was happy to take credit if someone thought that Dyson did.

There will be lots of examples like that out there.

For all we know, the company that came up the idea of screen dimming was Bob's Computer Bargains Pty Ltd in Utah, and they licenced use of the idea to others.
 
I always interpreted it as a way to say "hold up, from what you just did you now have these three options and ONLY these three options (plus click Cancel). Don't look at anything else but what is still in color."
It worked pretty well. I've had it catch me a few times.

I have not experienced similar on a mac, unless OS X did something for a while but do not anymore that I have seen, but last I saw either you pressed the button on the keyboard and you got a beep and "Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now?" and your options but no gradual loss of color.
 
NeXT said:
I have not experienced similar on a mac, unless OS X did something for a while but do not anymore that I have seen, but last I saw either you pressed the button on the keyboard and you got a beep and "Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now?" and your options but no gradual loss of color.
Click to expand...

Mac OS's shutdown timer does not fade to black & white, but it does have a timer that automatically shuts down the computer if you don't respond to it:

osx13shutdown.png
 
rittwage said:
Who shuts down computers? Is that a thing? I haven't shut off a computer as long as I can remember.

:)
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Windows 10 shuts down and restarts after updates doesn't it?

It use to be common practice back in the win9x days to restart regularly because the system would slow down over time. It wasn't uncommon for folk to recommend a fresh install yearly in the 2k/XP era.
 
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Although Micro$oft stole Apple's ideas, they made their version better in my opinion. Nothing beats Windows XP.
 
computerdude92 said:
Although Micro$oft stole Apple's ideas, they made their version better in my opinion. Nothing beats Windows XP.
Click to expand...
Both Apple and Microsoft got their ideas from Xerox PARC who developed the Alto personal computer. It had a bitmapped screen, and was the first computer to demonstrate the desktop metaphor and graphical user interface (GUI)
 
Caluser2000 said:
Turning a computer on and off all the time can wear out hardware worse than leaving it on.
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I wonder how much worse... It seems the answer depends on who you ask, and how you use your PC...

Sometimes I leave my PC on for a few days. Other times I turn it off for the night or I turn it off a few times a day. So I don't know.
 
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Mine just go to sleep after a while and wake up when I open the screen (or press a key if it's a desktop). This has worked fine since Windows 98 I think...
 
computerdude92 said:
Although Micro$oft stole Apple's ideas, they made their version better in my opinion. Nothing beats Windows XP.
Click to expand...

Caluser2000 said:
Both Apple and Microsoft got their ideas from Xerox PARC who developed the Alto personal computer. It had a bitmapped screen, and was the first computer to demonstrate the desktop metaphor and graphical user interface (GUI)
Click to expand...

Did you both seriously just try and nail the existence of an exit notification window on someone stealing from another? What the hell is wrong with you guys??
 
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