Poll: Windows 8.1 Preview Experience (How do you like it?)



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DIE START, DIE!!!!! - Steve Ballmer

 

Inspired by the Windows 8 experience thread, we have put together a Windows 8.1 satisfactory poll.

Vote!

Leave your comments below.

Some facts:

  • Windows 8.1 Preview version 6.3 (9431) Released June 26 2013
  • Signed off RTM - not yet
  • Handed to OEMs - not yet
  • Released to MSDN/TechNet - not yet
  • Released to Retail - not yet

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Over here, installation went great on al my devices (pc, laptop and tablet). No issues seen. As far as I've tried, everything I normaly use works (Office 2013, Adobe CS6, WinRAR, FileZilla, etc.). Yep, I'm prety happy.

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Not going to use a preview build on my main system (on one of my test systems) so didn't throw everything and the kitchen sink at it, but all in all pretty decent for a preview release.  Tried a few applications, a couple games, etc, ran as expected with no problems.  Shaping up to be a pretty nice update once it's finished.

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I like it a lot, actually. There are small refinements here and there and I'm not even going to install a start screen replacement I think.

 

Sorry if this is common knowledge, but has anyone noticed the introduction of animated wallpapers in the start screen?

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I like it a lot, actually. There are small refinements here and there and I'm not even going to install a start screen replacement I think.

 

Sorry if this is common knowledge, but has anyone noticed the introduction of animated wallpapers in the start screen?

 

 

Yeah I noticed those a while back in one of the preview videos they posted.   What I want to know though, and since I haven't installed it yet to try, how does the start screen work when you have it set to use your desktop wallpaper but you also have the desktop set to slideshow mode where it cycles between different wallpapers on a set timer?  Does the start screen update as well?  I hope it does since I have some 140 wallpapers I cycle through on my desktop.  

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I find it very strange that gtalk is not functioning. Other than that I don't find it compelling to remove Pokki, the new start button isn't what it used to be.

Anybody knows why gtalk is non functional?

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I installed the preview as upgrade over the existing Windows 8 installation. Graphical glitches in the Windows Store aside this worked fine.

 

Compatibility: Most apps worked, MetroTwit crashing upon launch being the exception.

 

Features: It's what I expected it to be - a refined version of Windows 8. Is it good enough to wean skeptical users from earlier versions of Windows and bring them to 8.1? I'm not sure. On a non-touchscreen PC/Laptop 8.1 still feels kludgy, with two entirely different UX concepts shoehorned into one product. The changes in the preview bridge the gap between Metro and desktop to a degree, but still.. it all feels awkward.

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I am really sad that they screwed up the unified Search Charms experience that was introduced in 8 in favour for the Search Hero. Though. Annoyed me most in 8.1. Another thing is customising the Start Screen. You tap+hold for picking a title, rather than slight swipe, which is a defined experienced.

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I have to be able to finish the download.  Before it'd go to 44% or so and switch to Pending... forever.

 

Now I *think* I fixed it, but it's still stuck at 44% (still says Downloading though, so I figure it just went over 1GB and isn't smart enough to figure out that that's supposed to happen heh.)

 

So yeah, I'll get back to you once it actually installs, which should've been over six hours ago heh.

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I like it a lot, actually. There are small refinements here and there and I'm not even going to install a start screen replacement I think.

 

Sorry if this is common knowledge, but has anyone noticed the introduction of animated wallpapers in the start screen?

 

I can't see any animated wallpapers in the Personalize menu and I've tried to select all of them,

Also, the boot screen which shows betta fish is supposed to be animated but mine isn't. Any ideas?

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I'm pretty disappointed with the wait for the ISO files!!

 

I'm not really sure why they've delayed the release of those.

 

I don't want to install it as my main OS until RTM - I finally have Windows 8 running smoothly :) .

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I'm pretty disappointed with the wait for the ISO files!!

 

I'm not really sure why they've delayed the release of those.

 

I don't want to install it as my main OS until RTM - I finally have Windows 8 running smoothly :) .

 

 

The 24hr delay, which is pretty minor, is so they can get people to test the newer store upgrade system first which is how most Windows 8 users will upgrade to 8.1 when the final hits.  It's important to get feedback and people testing it that way instead of just doing a clean ISO install which should work regardless.

I can't see any animated wallpapers in the Personalize menu and I've tried to select all of them,

Also, the boot screen which shows betta fish is supposed to be animated but mine isn't. Any ideas?

 

 

The animated stat screen wallpapers move when you scroll the tiles left and right, they don't move if the start screen is just sitting there.   If even when scrolling they still don't move then I dunno, maybe it's a gfx driver issue?

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Just read some reports of lag in DWM. Are window animations laggy like the ones in previous leaked builds?

They may have delayed the ISO release to save some bandwidth. The early downloaders will hammer each other in torrents.

/conspiracy theory.

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The animated stat screen wallpapers move when you scroll the tiles left and right, they don't move if the start screen is just sitting there.   If even when scrolling they still don't move then I dunno, maybe it's a gfx driver issue?

 

I still can't see any animations. It's probably due to my legacy graphics card and outdated drivers.

 

Also, dragging apps from top to bottom no longer closes them like it did in Windows 8, they still remain running which can be checked in Task Manager.

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Installed to my Surface RT yesterday. Installation went smoothy, and took may upward of an hour to complete. Search is a little slow at times, but other than that, everything still works, and works great!

 

Also, Buendia, I don't have any of the animated tattoos either, after tweeting Brandon LeBlanc, he got back to me indicating that the animated backgrounds are NOT included in the preview build.

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The 24hr delay, which is pretty minor, is so they can get people to test the newer store upgrade system first which is how most Windows 8 users will upgrade to 8.1 when the final hits.  It's important to get feedback and people testing it that way instead of just doing a clean ISO install which should work regardless.

 

 

Unfortunately for that plan, I'm too patient for this to work. If I could I would put Windows 8 in a VM then go through the Store update, but I've made the assumption it won't work if it's not activated (which it wouldn't be because my license is activated on the host).

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Is it just me, or does it suck that they removed the option to create and sign on with a local account during the installation?

 Just disconnect from internet during OOBE (or go back when asked to provide MS account during OOBE) and disconnect network cable or whatever. Then you will be able to log in with a local account.

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8.1 is horrible. I had to do a clean install twice, but that's not the problem I have with it. I know it's a beta and I'm used to all kinds of problems.

 

The main problem with 8.1 are separate search fields. App list has one, metro control panel has one, xbox music, etc.

 

I mean, seriously? WTF are they thinking? I understand a search icon (like in the mail app), it's there as a shortcut or a visual clue.

 

To me, the search experience in 8.1 is completely broken. When you open the store, you can't just start typing anymore. You have to click that ugly search field first.

 

Tiles for desktop apps are ugly as hell and I really hope they'll fix them in the final build.

 

I assume they'll also fix how start screen customization works. Right now, you choose a background and set a color scheme. When you pick another background, the color scheme resets to default.

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So far... pretty impressed! 16 minutes install time till i was on the desktop... needed to kick off a windows update to get graphics sorted... but so far.. i like! personally.... classic shell installed first thing! really dont enjoy the modern ui! but its something thats overcome so easily... :)

 

I look forward to final release! 

 

new fish is a little girly tho! :P

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Installation went great. I enjoy the new features. The only thing is, I had to reinstall a few programs like PerfectDisk, j.river media center, an encoder, my Ceton InfiniTV app/drivers, as-well-as my HP printer/scanner. Digital Cable Advisor doesn't work in Media Center. IE11 is a little glitchy. I get screen flicker only in YouTube on IE11. Also I cannot turn off the Charms Bar (Hot Corners). I check the boxes to disable but nothing happens. Graphics can be jerky at times.

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Getting the store to display the update was troublesome. After a lot of messing around and installing the US language pack, it allowed me to install the update meaning I finally got the Preview. :D

 

Most of the changes are welcome expect libaraies being hidden by default and the removal of system images. 

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Does anybody know where the animated dragon and robot tattoos that they showed off are? Are they not releasing those for us right away? Other than that, I am very happy with this release.

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Just found that there's a setting to permanently display the address bar and tabs in Modern IE. Actually doesn't look too bad, but doesn't that break the chromeless UX Microsoft was going for?

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If only the poll had the important question: do you like it and plan to use it?

 

I swear, I've been a "loyal" Microsoft Windows user for 2+ decades now and their progression through all the versions (I used a pre-alpha Windows 1.0 a very very long time ago and absolutely everything since) has been a logical one for the most part. When the very first beta of Windows 7 came out within 15 minutes of installing it and booting the first time I was "Ok, this is what I've been waiting for, this is how to make an OS that works" and I still feel that way even at this moment. That was in October of 2008 and I was running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition since the day that OS became available - I never used Windows Vista as my own day to day OS, couldn't stand it so I went from XP to XP Pro x64 directly.

 

But then the first preview of 8 came along last year and I checked it out, saw a little promise perhaps but I knew from the gitgo where Microsoft was going - or so I thought because those really early betas and previews were still somewhat useful to me to a degree.

 

And then 8 actually came out and I've still yet to use it because I simply can't tolerate it at all - and I say that as a guy that's used touch or pressure sensitive devices for almost 20 years solid: I've been using tablet PCs since before day 1, basically, and all sorts of other tablet style hardware that is just now becoming popular.

 

And then yesterday I snagged the 8.1 ISO off Technet and installed it and... all that I keep wanting to scream out as loudly as possible is "Microsoft, what the hell are you people doing?!?!" because it's just utterly disgusting to me, even more so than 8 is (RTM). I know it's considered a preview and that things will change in some ways but, I can't even get the words to say just how completely totally crappy I felt as I was staring at this laptop of mine as it booted the final time and got to the Start screen.

 

I have been saying that with 8 out I'll be running Windows 7 for a long long time to come, and now with this preview of what 8.1 is going to offer in the next few months, I'm very glad that I haven't shelled out a dime (aside from my Technet membership) for Windows 8 - I even use the Enterprise trial edition for testing Windows 8 so I don't have to waste one of my rather precious Technet Product Keys (things were nice years ago but then idiots realized they could get a Technet sub for $250, get 10 Product Keys for everything Microsoft sells for the most part then they'd dump those keys on eBay or craigslist and use the proceeds to buy another Technet sub, get more keys, repeat the process and finally Microsoft caught on so now we only get 2 Product Keys per product).

 

Once again the few screw things up for the majority.

 

Regardless, I'll be using Windows 7 for an even longer period of time now. Can't tolerate Linux at all in any distribution, and while I have a very checkered and somewhat public past with OSx86 as one of the first people to actually make it work on a regular old PC, I wouldn't use that OS if Apple paid me and gave me free MacBooks.

 

I'm just saddened to see what Microsoft is doing with this OS, I really am. I know it's just one opinion and many many people love Windows 8 - I won't fault them if it's what they like and it serves their needs.

 

But damn... Microsoft, seriously, what the hell are you people doing?!?! :argh:

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