Windows 8 Consumer Preview Discussion

By Roger H.
in The Fast Ring (Insider Previews)

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Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

Is Media Center included this time?

Media Center is included - so is Media Player's functionality.

The Reader app does work with PDF documents - it can also be snapped to the desktop. I have a PDF open in it right now, and I snapped it to the right of this desktop IE window. (Adobe Reader - you are on notice.)

The right-click QuickTask menu is a slick piece of work - it includes most of the items that used to be in the Windows 7 Start menu - as well as a few items it lacked.

That pretty much sealed Windows 7's fate.

Grand Master

Brandon Live Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Just unbeliavable how many click and mouse movements you have to do to get to simple option as shut down.

Same number of clicks as before (and roughly the same movement, just on the other side of the screen) no matter where you are in the system.

Grand Master

.Neo

Posted
Posted

Stop reading posts from the same 4-5 people and it clears up bunches. :/

Funny though how this poll indicates quite a few more than the 4-5 people you're mentioning seem to be dissatisfied with the CP.

http://www.neowin.ne...nsumer-preview/

Neowinian

Jesper Nielsen

Posted
Posted

Installed it as a dual-boot on my Dell Studio XPS 13 and so far it's running like a dream (unfortunately, resolution does not support snapping of metro apps). It's incredibly fast, and I'm especially impressed with IE10 and its speed - no more slow sites, it's incredibly. Like both my hardware and internet speed was upgraded.

Yes, the UI requires you to learn some new methods for doing certain stuff (mostly mouse-based, keyboard commands are kept intact it seems), but I predict a week and then it's in my bones.

Installing this at work tomorrow as a dual-boot option.

Grand Master

Eric Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Funny though how this poll tells a different story compared to the 4-5 people you're mentioning.

http://www.neowin.ne...nsumer-preview/

Really? Those 34 votes certainly represent the majority of Windows users. I'm sorry you don't like it.

Grand Master

Vice

Posted
Posted

Same number of clicks as before (and roughly the same movement, just on the other side of the screen) no matter where you are in the system.

Finding the shutdown thing is a chore. It isn't intuitive I spent several minutes trying to find the shutdown thing and eventually I found it nested in a Settings menu inside the Metro interface under Logoff.

It's like Microsoft doesn't want us shutting our computers off any more. That is smart for Tablets that are expected to be always on (like the iPad) but stupid for a Desktop computer.

Grand Master

Hell-In-A-Handbasket

Posted
Posted

Personally i dont care about lack of start menu, i rarely use mine anyway due to jumplists on taskbar. Just dont care for its navigation on an Non-Touch imput ( mouse ). And see myself having to get the MS Multitouch mouse, or Logitech Multitouch trackpad to use Win8

Veteran

micro

Posted
Posted

Brandon Live, I love windows phone and i like the way metro flows and looks, but honestly. On my dual 24" monitors there is a massive waste of space. Also i am a little less productive than i was with windows 7. I used to be able to winkey and type a program name and hit enter to launch, now i have an extra step. Doesn't this seem a bit counter productive? Also it really feels as though metro was only designed for touch devices in mind. Overall windows 8 to me doesn't feel like a good union of both the desktop and the touch metro interface.

Community Regular

efjay

Posted
Posted

Installed it as a dual-boot on my Dell Studio XPS 13 and so far it's running like a dream (unfortunately, resolution does not support snapping of metro apps). It's incredibly fast, and I'm especially impressed with IE10 and its speed - no more slow sites, it's incredibly. Like both my hardware and internet speed was upgraded.

Yes, the UI requires you to learn some new methods for doing certain stuff (mostly mouse-based, keyboard commands are kept intact it seems), but I predict a week and then it's in my bones.

Installing this at work tomorrow as a dual-boot option.

There's a hack for enabling Metro snap, dont have the link but it was on a deviant site.

I used to be able to winkey and type a program name and hit enter to launch, now i have an extra step. Doesn't this seem a bit counter productive?

From start just start typing the program name and a search is automatically started, same number of steps.

Grand Master

.Neo

Posted
Posted

Really? Those 34 votes certainly represent the majority of Windows users. I'm sorry you don't like it.

Instead the 5 votes giving it a perfect score do represent the majority of Windows users? That's a very interesting view of things you've got going on there.

Grand Master

threetonesun

Posted
Posted

It's like Microsoft doesn't want us shutting our computers off any more. That is smart for Tablets that are expected to be always on (like the iPad) but stupid for a Desktop computer.

Most desktops are always on too. Decent power management and a good sleep mode and you'll never turn it off anyway.

Grand Master

Brandon Live Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Brandon Live, I love windows phone and i like the way metro flows and looks, but honestly. On my dual 24" monitors there is a massive waste of space. Also i am a little less productive than i was with windows 7. I used to be able to winkey and type a program name and hit enter to launch, now i have an extra step. Doesn't this seem a bit counter productive?

What extra step? We worked (very) hard to preserve that exact workflow.

Grand Master

+Zlip792 MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

Ahead of you at 45

On 36% now. Believe me, my Internet connection disconnected 6 to 7 times, DSL and Internet goes off. Gonna switch from this ****ty PeeTCL... You got what I mean.. Plus there was loadshedding on 8 PM to 10 PM.

Collaborator

Subhadip

Posted
Posted

Yet the 5 votes giving it a perfect score do represent the majority of Windows users? That's a very interesting view of things you've got going on there.

Point is you make it out to be that an extremely small minority doesn't seem to like Windows 8 CP, which apparently isn't the case.

34 people flippantly dishing out 1/10 on within a couple of hours of trying a radical new UI? Certainly doesn't sound like majority to me. 1/10 should be reserved for - atrocious, unusable, something that doesn't even boot up. Giving something 1/10 for replacing Start menu with Start screen (and this is what most complaints say) is a bit much.

I may be stupid, but it took me a month to rid of my preconceived notions and get used to Metro with the Dev Preview. Based on my experience, I can't take anyone who dismisses it within a few minutes of usage seriously.

Veteran

devBrian

Posted
Posted

Brandon Live, I love windows phone and i like the way metro flows and looks, but honestly. On my dual 24" monitors there is a massive waste of space. Also i am a little less productive than i was with windows 7. I used to be able to winkey and type a program name and hit enter to launch, now i have an extra step. Doesn't this seem a bit counter productive? Also it really feels as though metro was only designed for touch devices in mind. Overall windows 8 to me doesn't feel like a good union of both the desktop and the touch metro interface.

Um... nothing about it has changed from Windows 7. You press the WinKey and type in a program name, then press enter. It's exactly the same amount of steps.

Grand Master

George P Global Moderator

Posted
  • Global Moderator
Posted

Brandon Live, I love windows phone and i like the way metro flows and looks, but honestly. On my dual 24" monitors there is a massive waste of space. Also i am a little less productive than i was with windows 7. I used to be able to winkey and type a program name and hit enter to launch, now i have an extra step. Doesn't this seem a bit counter productive? Also it really feels as though metro was only designed for touch devices in mind. Overall windows 8 to me doesn't feel like a good union of both the desktop and the touch metro interface.

*sigh* Why do people keep saying the same thing over and over about hitting start and just typing? It's like no one even tried to do it in Win8 and they think it doesn't work the same when it does. You CAN just hit winkey and type a program name then hit enter to launch it!!!! What extra step are people talking about?

And in Win8 the taskbar now exteneds to multi-monitors, If you use 2 or 3 or w/e then extend it to all of them and pin apps to it then don't even use the start screen, lots of taskbar space to pin away right there imo.

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Grand Master

Brandon Live Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

I can't find where to print mail messages? Seriously? This will be a deal breaker for the wife. Am I just missing some key menu somewhere?

No print in the immersive IE either.

EDIT: Ok, printing in any Metro app in general right now seems to be non-existent. I'm not really sure how this got out the door as "Consumer Preview" without the ability to print anything. That seems... silly. Was really, really excited about this since we love our Windows Phones, but ... this is pretty bad. :(

Print is now exposed via the Devices charm. So you only have one place to look for all Metro apps (similar to how Search, Share, and Settings now have common entry points so you don't have to hunt around or remember where each app put them).

Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

Finding the shutdown thing is a chore. It isn't intuitive I spent several minutes trying to find the shutdown thing and eventually I found it nested in a Settings menu inside the Metro interface under Logoff.

It's like Microsoft doesn't want us shutting our computers off any more. That is smart for Tablets that are expected to be always on (like the iPad) but stupid for a Desktop computer.

Even running Windows 7, I had my desktop running mostly 24/7 (only full shutdowns were for hardware changes) - I had to adjust the Power options to reflect that.

Even a lot of Neowinians run their desktops (not portables) the same manner (home desktops - not corporate/enterprise desktops).

Grand Master

Vice

Posted
Posted

Most desktops are always on too. Decent power management and a good sleep mode and you'll never turn it off anyway.

That sounds like a "You're holding it wrong" solution. If I want to shut my computer off I should be able to and easily. It took way too long for me to find something so simple as a shutdown toggle and I'm a software developer what hope does the average joe have.

It seems so silly to me that something so basic as turning your computer off needs to be defended. It's like you're under a Microsoft spell or ... dare I say ... reality distortion field?

Grand Master

.Neo

Posted
Posted

34 people flippantly dishing out 1/10 on within a couple of hours of trying a radical new UI? Certainly doesn't sound like majority to me.

Uhm, in case you didn't know this isn't the first build released to the public that spots Metro. Many here have been using the Developer Preview long before today. In essence Metro hasn't changed in the CP. Refinements? Yes. Radically different? No.

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