Personalisation may be useful for WP8 as well..when are they planning to update WP8?
Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1
21–30 of 85 posts
Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1
#22This may be a bit facetious but it seems like Windows 8 might have been the biggest beta testing project ever. But on a serious note I'm glad they're focusing on improving usability.
I don't understand why people keeping getting up in arms about Windows releases, it's like they keep forgetting their M.O. Microsoft's releases have always been like this, release something that changes things drastically (either under the hood or visually), and often breaks things or makes people mad because they don't like change. Then spend an enormous amount of time refining it in a subsequent release until every…
Just because Microsoft releases have been like this, doesn't mean they should! Having users up in arms is a bad sign. It means you have managed change badly. Others do this much better, incrementally and in bits that are manageable by users. Its something Microsoft fundamentally doesn't understand. Completely unlike Amazon, Google or Apple. When is the last time they released something where people were up in arms?! Even with drastic changes such as in Android 4!
Microsoft just doesn't care about its users. But it should!
Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1
#23One welcome change is the "PC settings" one - sounds like all settings are "metrofied", which will help the reduce the jarring flip to desktop mode when you're not expecting it.
Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1
#24[deleted]
Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1
#25This may be a bit facetious but it seems like Windows 8 might have been the biggest beta testing project ever. But on a serious note I'm glad they're focusing on improving usability.
“seems like Windows 8 might have been the biggest beta testing project ever” Gmail, Facebook, iCloud and Siri have way more users than Windows 8 does. The last two are in their entirety beta products. The first two have introduced major changes that didn’t turn out great. Even when Google rolls out a new version of Gmail in phases, it easily covers more users than Windows 8 (which has about 60 million users).
Largest doesn't always mean largest user base. I'm sure a lot more money, people and other resources went into Windows 8 than the re-skinning of Gmail.
Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1
#26Search: "It is the modern version of the command line!" While the search feature they're describing sounds cool, I'm curious as to what they mean by a "modern command line".
They might mean for launching apps by typing and using auto-completion.
Here's my personal story with Windows 8. I built a PC about a month ago after using macs for several years. I'd heard all the horror stories about Win8 and was going to get Windows 7, but someone recommended that I get 8 instead, saying that it wasn't anywhere near as bad as people were saying.
They were right, it's not, though it does have more of a learning curve than it should.
I missed having a start menu at first, but that went away when I discovered I could easily launch apps or control panels in a similar way to how I did it on the mac. On the mac I used Quicksilver - I'd hit ctrl-space type a few letters of the name and hit enter to launch the app. On windows 8 you can do the same by hitting the windows key, typing a few letters and hitting enter. In addition, I have the applications I use most pinned to the taskbar.
I'd originally planned to install one of the 3rd party start menus, but ended up not needing to.
Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1
#27This may be a bit facetious but it seems like Windows 8 might have been the biggest beta testing project ever. But on a serious note I'm glad they're focusing on improving usability.
I don't understand why people keeping getting up in arms about Windows releases, it's like they keep forgetting their M.O. Microsoft's releases have always been like this, release something that changes things drastically (either under the hood or visually), and often breaks things or makes people mad because they don't like change. Then spend an enormous amount of time refining it in a subsequent release until every…
It has nothing to do with hating change -- which is a pretty condescending thing to say -- but rather with disagreeing with the UI decisions made. By and large the reaction to Metro has been negative for numerous reasons, the important part being that these objections are reasonable.
Such grandiose shifts also smack of hubris: "Users be damned, we know what's best for them! Apple did it! So can we!" The problem with this is that Microsoft has always suffered a lack of holding design up to primary importance, and this is again the case here.
Enjoying OS X Snow Leopard on my rMBP where I have zero issues with the OS getting in the way of my daily activities. Had to deal with Win7 and then -- briefly -- Win8 for the first few months of this year, and I was positively floored by how much the OS got in the way of doing things. I am skeptical that simply making refinements will fix what appears to be a fundamental problem.
Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1
#28For me, personally, none of these changes interest me, perhaps with the exception of IE11. I've had Windows 8 installed on my desktop PC since it came out as I took advantage of their cheap upgrade offer from Windows 7 (I'd not of paid full price for it). So here are my thoughts on the improvements in Windows 8.1 as someone who uses it on a desktop, with a keyboard and mouse. Personalization: The only time I ever see…
They have made it very clear that they are doubling down on a touch-first vision they started with Windows 8.
Just out of curiosity, have you tried Windows 8 on a touch-based device(Laptop or Tablet)?
Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1
#29I had to get a new laptop for my wife, and I had no interest in educating her how to use Windows 8 (or figuring it out myself). The only way it's been usable for her was to install Start8. ( http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/ ). It's what MSFT should be adding into 8.1 I have no financial interest in StarDock.
The absence of a start menu was confusing to me for about three minutes, and then I figured out that the Metro screen is the start menu, just full size. Ever since you've been able to pin programs to the taskbar at the bottom (or side if you prefer) of the screen, my usage of the start menu fell to pressing start, and typing the name of the program I hadn't pinned to the taskbar.
The start screen's the same for me, mostly, except I also click on "Weather" and occasionally use the Trackage app.
While I don't think the Metro interface is the solution for everything or even a primary direction to go in (I'm in desktop mode 98% of the time) I also think putting a start menu back in is a step in the wrong direction.
Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand why people keeping getting up in arms about Windows releases, it's like they keep forgetting their M.O. Microsoft's releases have always been like this, release something that changes things drastically (either under the hood or visually), and often breaks things or makes people mad because they don't like change. Then spend an enormous amount of time refining it in a subsequent release until every…
Just because Microsoft releases have been like this, doesn't mean they should! Having users up in arms is a bad sign. It means you have managed change badly. Others do this much better, incrementally and in bits that are manageable by users. Its something Microsoft fundamentally doesn't understand. Completely unlike Amazon, Google or Apple. When is the last time they released something where people were up in arms?!…
If they've always been like this, shouldn't people expect it by now?