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Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

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Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#141

Post by ChrisNorstrom »

huggyface wrote: post #97
ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #3

Competition from Apple and Linux (but mostly Apple) is the best thing to happen to Microsoft in a long time. No, the UI isn't perfect yet, the design decisions (for this beta) not always logical, but Windows is finally going somewhere amazing after many years of going no where. Because some of Microsoft's best products were great but went no where. Take the Zune and Windows Phone 7. People who own them love them, esp…

but Windows is finally going somewhere amazing after many years of going no where Windows 7 is an excellent operating system. It is secure. It is very robust. It is easy to use. It is feature rich. It connects to everything and uses everything. In what way is that going nowhere? Same on the server side with Windows Server 2008 R2. I think the competition provided by Apple is proving terrible for Microsoft. They are a…

A very good counter argument.

Windows 7 is awesome, but it wasn't going anywhere NEW. And that's something consumers want. A constantly moving product. Constantly evolving. Not just build it once and sit on it for a decade. But something that has life.

"They are abandoning their core strengths while poorly trying to duplicate what led to Apple's recent success"

But so is Ubuntu. They're just starting to realize that there's a huge demographic out there that they can make money off of and are adjusting their assets to compete for it, I think. A lot of the doom and gloom "desktops are dying" are because of mobile but also because of the stagnation and lack of 'ease of use' of desktop operating systems. Mobile's great but lets not bullshit ourselves, you can only stare at that little screen for so long before you hop on your laptop and do everything you wanted to do 10 times faster.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#142

Post by freehunter »

pilgrim689 wrote: post #73
recoiledsnake wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Same goes for Windows Phone 7, it is failing because people don't like it. Really? How do you know this? Have you gone door to door asking people? You couldn't be wronger. In fact, it is ahead of Android. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/wp7-ahead-of-android-and-... http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-Phone-Leads-in-Custom... Windows phones have some of the best ratings on carrier websites and Amazon. There is…

"It is also failing because of carrier stores and salesmen, who seem to be steering people away from Windows Phones to Android LTE devices." There's truth to that. When I asked what Windows Phones the store had, the sales clerk gave me a surprised look and asked "Are you sure you want that?".

When I bought a Windows Phone, the salesman tried very hard to steer me away. I asked about the Samsung Focus, and he showed me the Samsung Galaxy S instead. In the end I had to just say "is there someone else I can talk to who won't let me walk out the door right now?"

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#143

Post by freehunter »

ebbv wrote: post #16
ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #3

Competition from Apple and Linux (but mostly Apple) is the best thing to happen to Microsoft in a long time. No, the UI isn't perfect yet, the design decisions (for this beta) not always logical, but Windows is finally going somewhere amazing after many years of going no where. Because some of Microsoft's best products were great but went no where. Take the Zune and Windows Phone 7. People who own them love them, esp…

Your theory is ridiculous. The Xbox 360 was a major success. The Zune failed because people didn't like it. Not because it's a Microsoft product. Same goes for Windows Phone 7, it is failing because people don't like it. Now whether it's a better product or not is a subjective debate that isn't worth having, IMHO (better for whom?) But to say that they failed because of the Microsoft stigma is absurd.

I would wager that Zune and WP7 struggle not due to consumers not liking it, but due to the people the consumers get their information from not liking the idea of it.

When someone I know goes to buy a piece of hardware, generally they'll ask me or someone else what they should get. It's up to me/other people to understand what they need before giving them advice. Telling them " don't buy a Windows Phone" without understanding them or clarifying why (and telling the truth) is just being an asshole. The question should be "if they use a PC, why should they get an iPhone (and vice versa)".

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#144

Post by jakeonthemove »

marcocampos wrote: post #126
jakeonthemove wrote: post #98

Just tried it - it's pretty much as I expected... awesome! It's like Windows 7, only more polished. Metro UI is quite cool, but you can spend most your time in the desktop mode if you wish (you'll have to use Metro to search for stuff and open apps). One big drawback is that my favorite tool, Dexpot (virtual desktops manager) does not work - I hope it's not because they removed VD support, that would seriously suck..…

You have to switch to Metro mode to open regular apps? That's... well, I'm speechless.

Well, you can avoid Metro if you use desktop icons or pin your favorite apps to the taskbar. I always used the start menu for opening apps, so now I have to go through Metro. It's pretty good, actually...

Even if you put all your icons on the desktop, you'll have to use Metro for search, settings, shutting down the PC, etc.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#145

Post by jakeonthemove »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #136
jakeonthemove wrote: post #131

OK, the latest beta version of Dexpot works - I'm good! Metro is also surprisingly intuitive - I've picked up everything on the first try (the corner actions are cool, too). Now, what I don't like: - All of the advanced settings (Control Panel and everything) are hard to access; - WIN-TAB shows only Metro apps, but ALT-TAB shows Metro and the normal apps, cluttering the interface. - While I like the Metro apps and wi…

>I had to register a LIVE account to login to the OS - what if I don't have an Internet connection? I believe there's way to create a normal user account as well. Also your live credentials are cached for use when the PC is offline. >I still don't get why Microsoft had to make it an all-in-one OS for tablets and desktops when they could've packed Metro only for a tablet edition, but whatever.. Because you'd be able t…

That makes sense... I'm not really complaining, but I can already see myself using desktop most of the time and rarely going into Metro on my laptop... that's exactly why I won't be upgrading anytime soon :-)

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#147

Post by paulovsk »

dylanpyle wrote: post #55
paulovsk wrote: post #50

How much time I'll be able to use this version? Does it expire?

I'm wondering the same thing - I assume it does expire, but there's no indication of when. For what it's worth, the FAQ does instruct you to use the product key "NF32V-Q9P3W-7DR7Y-JGWRW-JFCK8".

Thanks!

The setup gave me one, too. I'll save both, just in case.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#148

Post by leviathant »

greedo wrote: post #112
leviathant wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got my first iPod around the time Zune launched, and my wife ended up doing some promo jobs for the Zune - and at the end of that summer, got a Zune out of it as a bonus. To rank my experience between portable music playback devices: iPhone > Zune > iPod She swears by her Zune, and having used both it and the iPod, the Zune is far and away a better device on every front. Having said that, the iPhone's interface is…

You're contradicting yourself: "the Zune is far and away a better device on every front" followed by: "the iPhone's interface is just that much better - and has the benefit of in-depth integration with third party devices." Which is it?

Either your reading comprehension is terrible, or your selective quoting is intentional and your motives ethically ambiguous. The full quote you are referring to is this: "She swears by her Zune, and having used both it and the iPod, the Zune is far and away a better device on every front. Having said that, the iPhone's interface is just that much better - and has the benefit of in-depth integration with third party devices."

Within that quote, I say that the Zune is better than the iPod, and the iPhone better than the Zune. I illustrated this very simply just two lines before that one. There is no contradiction at all. By asking which is it, you are intimating a dichotomy where a trichotomy was actually in play.

I'll restate more clearly, and in greater detail: For playing music from my library, I believe the Zune is a superior device when compared to the iPod, however having come to own an iPhone, I prefer the iPhone to the Zune - with respect to playing music from my library.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#149

Post by Someone »

I hope they will improve the installation experience for the real thing. The product key we are used to, but the rest is more horrible. Do they really _have_ to have my email address? Mobile phone number? Country info? Zip code? Birth date? Am I getting old, or is that CAPTCHA system incredibly hard? Why have on, in the first place? Or does that stuff only turn up when one makes semi-random selections elsewhere?

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#150

Post by tjoff »

Lewisham wrote: post #102
tjoff wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry, I don't get what everyone is on about. The first thing a power user will do is to go to the old-desktop and stay there, basically not interacting with metro at all. There is no point, it's about as useful as the winkey+tab is on Vista/W7. "Cool" but useless for real work. And there seems to have been numerous improvements to the windows experience (outside metro), the ability to pause file-copying etc. pro…

The first thing a power user will do is to go to the old-desktop and stay there, basically not interacting with metro at all. There is no point, it's about as useful as the winkey+tab is on Vista/W7. I don't know if you're trying to troll or you're just incredibly short-sighted, but I'll bite. Windows 8 is clearly designed as a hybrid OS, in the same vein that Ubuntu on Android is, even if Microsoft's marketing team…

I don't see how that goes against what I said.

Of course the metro UI has advantages on a tablet, my post was mainly centered around the workstation. Whether you take your workstation with you at the end of the day or not is irrelevant for the work you do on it when it is being used as workstation.

If you feel the transition between the two isn't smooth enough that's another point but my first reaction to this is positive. I do not want that transition to be smooth, to me that's like trying to mimic the feel of a nice heated leather car seat while skydiving. If either was any like the other at least one of them would be worthless (probably both).

Realizing that that is impossible and separating them is the key to my heart and both windows 8 and unbuntu for android seems promising in that regard (but since I haven't used any of them that is just my initial impression). Apple on the other hand seems to be taking small steps in the opposite direction with mountain lion, which is of course fine for most but I don't think that that will cut it in the long run.

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