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Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

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Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#181

Post by watty »

notatoad wrote: post #79
nextparadigms wrote: post #17

Engadget's conclusion: "We really liked Windows 7 when it launched. It felt like a big step forward in the short time that had passed since Vista. Now, as we creep closer to a likely release near the end of this year, we can't shake a sense of doubt. Windows 8 still feels like two very different operating systems trying to be one. The potential is hugely alluring -- a single OS to rule both the tablet and the desktop…

i feel like microsoft shouldn't have tried to include the classic/desktop mode. Metro is cool, commit to it. re-work office to exist solely in the metro interface, add a launcher to make AAA PC gaming titles compatible with metro. then, refuse to continue selling windows 7 to laptop OEMs. enterprise is going to hate metro anyways, keep selling win7 to them, but commit to metro as the way forward for consumers.

This would be a great way to kill windows. Microsoft Office, IDEs, Photoshop, etc. simply wouldn't work as well in metro. Having separate windows allows drag and drop between applications and is a huge boost to productivity. Not to mention you can have several windows open and tiled appropriately so you aren't stuck in fullscreen mode all the time.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#182

Post by megablast »

untog wrote: post #43
stonemetal wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ZuneHD released September 2009, pronounced dead October 2011. Then there is the aforementioned Kin. WP7 devices will be shortly. No WP7 device is capable of running WP8(or at least that is the rumor.)

The ZuneHD released September 2009, pronounced dead October 2011. I don't know what you mean by that exactly- have all the ZuneHD devices out there stopped working? No. Is the Zune desktop software still being updated? Yes. And 'Zune' wasn't killed, it was integrated into Windows Phone. MS are just responding to the market in that regard- no-one wants to carry around a dedicated media player any more- they use their…

I guess Next is still going for the same reason. And I guess standard oil is still pumping away.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#183

Post by robgough »

tjoff wrote: post #99
nextparadigms wrote: post #17

Engadget's conclusion: "We really liked Windows 7 when it launched. It felt like a big step forward in the short time that had passed since Vista. Now, as we creep closer to a likely release near the end of this year, we can't shake a sense of doubt. Windows 8 still feels like two very different operating systems trying to be one. The potential is hugely alluring -- a single OS to rule both the tablet and the desktop…

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…

I'm wondering if you've tried this new OS out yet.

The "Start-Menu" has now gone, no button - nothing. Metro is the start menu. That means to launch apps you've not created desktop shortcuts for yet, or pinned to the taskbar, you need to launch Metro. I find it quite jarring switching between the two, but I could get used to it.

Also, to bring up things like "settings" for a given item, you need to hover over the top-right corner and then move your cursor directly down. This is just plain weird for me, and I fear what a less confident computer user would make of this. Effectively things they may need are completely invisible, unless they know where to look.

My biggest concern is that sometimes you can be using a screen in the old way, e.g. network preferences - select an option, and then a completely different style of screen appears out of the right hand side for you to action on. It's just plain weird and confusing, and needs to be sorted before launch.

It seems to me that in an effort to simplify the OS they've made it way more confusing.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#184

Post by freehunter »

huggyface wrote: post #153
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…

You couldn't be wronger. In fact, it is ahead of Android. People don't like == miserable sales numbers. The narrative for Windows Phone 7 is so bad that naturally the only people who buy it are generally going to automatically like the platform -- they had some ulterior motive, generally, for selecting it. Windows Phone is evolving quickly and is turning credible, but that satisfaction survey is complete discardable…

How can you not like something if you've never used it? Android and iOS are the safe bet, but might not be the best fit for every use case. You'll never know with a closed mind and preconceived notions.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#185

Post by freehunter »

roadnottaken wrote: post #53
ebbv wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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, for one, would love to get my hands on a good Nokia Lumia 800 running Windows Phone 7, but despite reading about them for months-to-years, they're never available when I go to the store. MSFT could learn a lot from Apple about not making announcements until products are ready. It's very frustrating.

Apple is a US based company. They release their products in the US. If you're outside of the US, you're waiting months or years to get your hands on the new iPhone.

Nokia is a Finnish based company. They release their products globally, and generally the US is lower on that list. Nokia treats the US how Apple treats other countries. It's not that different.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#186

Post by freehunter »

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…

When I first installed Win8, I didn't have a network connection. It completely skipped logging into a Microsoft Account and walked me through creating a local account.

If you try to log on without networking, I would imagine it caches your last used login information as a local account. I haven't tried it, but this is how previous Windows versions worked when you were using a domain login.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#187

Post by freehunter »

ConstantineXVI wrote: post #28
nextparadigms wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will Chrome or Firefox even work in the "tile interface"? My guess is it won't.

Native code is still allowed, so it's technically possible provided they write new UI code for Metro. The main issue is "will Microsoft let other browsers in the store?"

There are already apps in the store that replicate built-in features. Windows Phone Marketplace has other browsers available. There's no reason Firefox couldn't show up in the store.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#188

Post by freehunter »

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.

"Switch to" is kind of a misnomer. It's kind of like how you have to "switch to" having the start menu open or you have to "switch to" having the window minimized to see your desktop.

It's not a big ordeal to open the start menu.

Re: Windows 8 Consumer Preview released.

#189

Post by freehunter »

kijin wrote: post #6

Anyone tried this on VirtualBox? How well does it work?

I kept getting crashes when I was installing it in VBox, latest version. YMMV, some people seem to have had better luck.

I installed it in VMWare 8, just had to update VMWare before installing and it worked fine.

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