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Been testing Win8 builds at work to test some software compatibilities, drivers etc.
My thoughts on it so far:
- Forcing the complete removal of the start button will confuse the hell out of many users. Hell, I and a few colleagues had to search around for several minutes to actually find our way into the printer manager and a few other old control panel areas. Changes like these, if forced, are really scary to old users and I hope that an option will be given to enable to "old" Win7 style start menu at some point, so that less-experienced (read: elderly) users can also make the transition to Win8.
- Win Vista and Win7 came with thousands of drivers preinstalled, Win8 has, for example, one and only one printer driver preinstalled. In our tests, the driver has worked with every printer and software we've thrown at it. I like this, and I like this alot.
- The new user interface is a step towards touch-screen oriented devices. While I personally dislike it, a lot of businesses are moving away from workstations and laptops, and trying out touchpad-devices as replacements. Microsoft is jumping onto this wagon hard, time will tell what comes of that.
- Win8 makes some interesting requirements on future software. For example: when the user minimizes a program in the new UI, that program has 10 seconds to shut itself down and release resources, or it's process is killed off. No exceptions. This means that there will be no more application hangs visible to the user, no situations in which a device runs out of memory due to too many programs open in the background etc. It will require a lot from software devs, though.

All in all, Microsoft is trying to improve, evolve and change, and to abandon some old traditions that are no longer valing and practical considering the new hardware being used. As can be seen in this thread and in the words of many old-time PC hardliners, many users will find this change as scary and painful and strange as the WinVista/Win7 change was to users who were accustomer to Win2k/WinXP environments. However, there will be change, there will be evolution, and I see no reason Microsoft will lose its station as the leading PC OS manufacturer on all fronts. We got over the last changes, and I myself would not go back to using WinXP over my current Win7 operating system, and I believe I will gladly move onto Win8 when it becomes available, for my work and for practical reasons.

[> Check surveillance monitors]

> Check surveillance monitors

You skim through the surveillance monitors. A few are black expect for the label "NO SIGNAL", while others show different rooms and corridors. You recognize the image of at least two, as one shows the corridor just outside the room you are in, and another shows the staircase you have been running up and down like a madman in the last hour or so. Two of the screens show long corridors with smoke floating in the air, and you think you can see a body lying down in the distance. One of the pictures appears to be underwater and is suffering of heavy static.

Below the monitors are controls, which allow you to switch between cameras in different areas, by entering the level number and room number of the area you want to view, though you are not sure how the room numbers are determined.

[> Go back to Emma's room and replace the burnt fuse.]

> Go back to Emma's room and replace the burnt fuse.

You climb back up the stairs, yet again, and enter the control room to find Emma still hard at work at the computers.
You discard the broken fuse in the fusebox and replace it with the working fuse you uncovered. Despite the wailing sirens still echoing in the corridor outside the door, you can hear the surveillance monitors beeping and crackling to life.



Emma: "Great job! Now we should be able to get a better idea of what's happening elsewhere in the facility, maybe even find other survivors! Oh, I also found a note that we did receive more standard fuses in our last supply shipment a few months ago, and according to maintenance reports, only a few of those have been used up. There should be at least an entire box left somewhere."

[> Say "screw you, computer" and take the one working fuse with you to power something more important and accessible...]

> Say "screw you, computer" and take the one working fuse with you to power something more important and accessible...

You utter curses at the computer, which fails to defend it's innosence completely.
Without pity or remorse you snatch the only working fuse from the fusebox. As the computer powers down, leaving the room in darkness, you wonder what you could use the fuse for to maximize it's effectiveness? Coffee machine?

[> Take personnel list]

> Take personnel list

You grab the latest monthly report, consisting of a few sheets of paper stapled together at the corner, from it's plastic folder.

[> Get monthly report from drawer, and read personnel names.]

> Get monthly report from drawer, and read personnel names. 

You grab the latest of the monthly reports and skim it. The report appears to list dwindling supplies, spare parts and other issues, requesting more from "primary site" and "EUF-01-A". Near the end of the report are extensive lists of people working in the main facility, divided into a few categories:

Administrative
Emma Watkins
Mika Alatalo
Kalev Grigorin
Gregory Watkins

Security
Jake Henderson
Chris Waterson
Gaston Loubet
Miguel Thatcher
Jukka Halonen

Technical
Andrei Winogradski
Michael Rake
Michael Owen
Émile Doumergue
Félix Thiers
Andrea Merkel

Scientific
Pierre
Terry Johnson
Alex Kurchatov
Jose Lopez
Elena Lopez
Carmen Pujol

Other
Björn Kowalski
Stephen Evans
Adolphe Faure
Oswald Richthofen
Markus Meckel

[> Open fuse box and take all the good fuses except the one running the active PC]

> Open fuse box and take all the good fuses except the one running the active PC

You open up the fuse box and remove all working fuses that are not currently powering the PC.
You have gained zero (0) fuses.

[> Remove family photo from wall, and look at back of it.]

> Remove family photo from wall, and look at back of it.

You pluck up the photo and examine it's backside.
The words "04.07.2068 - You, Eric and Ellen near Münster, love, Tanja" are hand-written on the back.
You gently place the photo back on the wall, wondering what significance the words might have.

[> Examine posters and drawers more closely]

> Examine posters and drawers more closely

You start by examining the photo closest to the door. It appears to be taped to the wall, and represents a family; father, mother and son, posing for the camera on an idyllic beach.



The poster appears to be a colour-print of some kind of children's cartoon characters. Having seen no sign of children so far, you wonder what this is doing here.



Lastly you rifle through the drawers of the filing cabinet. The bottom three drawers seem to be empty, save for a set of five empty plastic folders each.
The top drawer contains a set of similiar folders, but three of these folders contain papers labelled "weekly report" or "monthly report". It appears that weekly reports haven't been made in a long time, but the latest monthly report dates back to "01.Jun.2112" and appears to be a listing of personnel, duties, general health conditions and supply status of the facilities.

The only jokes I would think can be thought of as truly inappropriate are those that are purposefully directed at a person.
To use the Norway island shooting as an example, I would think the joke to be inappropriate and perhaps mean-spirited if told in a room with a survivor, or a family member of a survivor of the incident present.

Then again, a place like the internet is too wide to take such things into consideration, especially with anonymity involved, and thus I believe the internet should be open for all content, viewer beware.

[> Check the computer at the third workspace]

> Check the computer at the third workspace

You sit down at the third workstation from the door and tap the keyboard, causing the monitor to flicker into life.



As the screen comes on, you are greeted with a dull error message.



You tap the keyboard again and the message disappears, and the password and username prompt appears. Looks like there are no free lunches around these parts.

[Go to Office 1 on level 2 and examine the room.]

Go to Office 1 on level 2 and examine the room.

You stomp back downstairs and enter the room labelled "OFFI". The room appears to be a fairly plain office workspace with four workstations.
Other than that the room seems as standard and unremarkable as they come.

[> go to the control room on level 1> Search room]

> go to the control room on level 1
> Search room

You stand up and exit the control room on level 1, and immediately enter the control room on level 1. A strange sense of deja-vu comes over you.
You are not sure where to search this room, perhaps you should be a bit more specific?

[> Eat a quick bite and log in as Newell using "marblehornets" as the password.]

> Eat a quick bite and log in as Newell using "marblehornets" as the password.

You only now realize how hungry you were. You happily scarf down you meal and burp, content at last. Hell, you feel pretty good, too.



Trying to follow up on the logic of the usernames, you enter username "gregnew@euf02.gov" and password "marblehornets".



Well, looks like that wasn't the right password after all.

[> Ask Emma if she has any idea what the username and password could be.]

> Ask Emma if she has any idea what the username and password could be.

Realizing you have no recollection of your username or password, you decide to ask Emma, who has now replaced her oxygen mask after finishing her meal.

Emma: "Well, you username is probably just 'andreiwin@EUF02.gov', the username part is standard, but I have no idea what your password might be. My password is 'Groke15', but if you login with my account, I'll get thrown out. There's a limit to one login session at a time, per username. I have no idea what anyone else's password might be, either."

[> Help Emma on the other computer]

> Help Emma on the other computer

As Emma begins to concentrate on working on the computer, you pull up a chair and decide to try helping her out.



The computer has booted up to a login window, requesting a username as well as a password.

[> Take fuses]

> Take fuses

You unceremoniously snatch the two working fuses. The conference room falls dark and silent once more.



> Go to Emma's room and replace the top-left fuse that Emma moved and one of the burnt fuses.

You walk back to the control room, and find Emma enjoying her cold meal. She has removed her oxygen mask for the moment. You snap the two fuses you now have into the fuse box, one replacing the lighting fuse Emma moved, and another randomly replacing one of the burnt-out fuses. The fluorescent lighting in the ceiling flickers to life, illuminating the room, adn you can hear the two computer workstations whirr to life. Emma smiles as the lights come back on.

Emma: "Good find! As soon as the computer's are up, I'll try to find some information on how the air recycling systems work and see if I can give us any ideas on how to restore the atmosphere down here."

Instead of the conference room on Level 1, I'm assuming Ponch meant level 2.
As there appears to be 2 conference rooms and an office we haven't been to.

Darn these text-parsers. You tell them "enter room" and they get confused as to what room you meant! I'll try and upgrade the software to better understand command inputs, but it also helps if the players give commands as clear as possible, so that silly old-fashioned parser won't make so many mistakes from now on.

[> try this key on a locker I saw earlier.]

> try this key on a locker I saw earlier.

You decide you're not hungry, and beat a hasty retreat, still a bit uncomfortable at the idea of Emma sitting here, alone in the dark, possibly crying...
You march back downstairs, to try to key to the cabinet in the maintenance room. The key does not fit.



> Go to the conference room and look for fuses

You climb back up the stairs and head to the conference room, wondering why you have to run up and down so many goddamn stairs. All this physical effort is beginning to take a toll on you.
The conference room still has the two functional fuses you saw here earlier, powering the lighting as well as one of the air conditioning units.

My web-host seems to be down altogether, so no update tonight.