win8 Rate the Windows 8 Consumer Preview

[rajputwarrior]

start screen is stupid. they are actually planning on releasing a desktop OS without a start menu?

also windows won't connect to our enterprise WPA wifi here at work...

[threetonesun]

I just keep the "Applications" shortcut as a grid in my dock and when I need an app it's usually 2 clicks away. For commonly used application (Chrome, Xcode, iTunes, etc etc) I just keep them locked in the dock so it's even easier

Spotlight is 0 clicks away :rofl:

But really, for most applications I'm opening a file, so I search for the file and go from there. That eliminates a number of steps.

[PyX]

Judging by the results, Apple couldn?t make a better move by releasing Mountain Lion so early.

[SoCalRox]

In the enterprise, this is dead. I can already imagine the users reacting. Win 7 will have a long life- which is why, I suspect, they extended the support. So far, Win8 is ugly and irritating. And yes, I have used it.

[johnporter29]

Still downloading here.

But I must say that I think it's too early for a poll like this! It's been less than 4 hours and already people are creating FUD and slating it what for many will be the first time using. If Win 8 fails it will be because all the FUD that is been created by people not liking change or giving themselve chance to use the new features correctly

[daz411]

I really like the concept of W8 but this metro theme is terrible. It looks dated with the current color selection. Why can't they make the tiles with nice colors and graphics. This would give it a more 3D look. Once again the concept is fantastic but it needs to look a whole like prettier...

[rajputwarrior]

In the enterprise, this is dead. I can already imagine the users reacting. Win 7 will have a long life- which is why, I suspect, they extended the support. So far, Win8 is ugly and irritating. And yes, I have used it.

yeah this has no hope in enterprise. like NONE.

[spudtrooper]

Said it before and I'll say it again, Windows 8 is going to fail on desktops.

They should have had it as an edition, i.e. "Windows 8 Touch"

Using it on my laptop and I'm honestly astounded that you can't even scroll through the "start page" with the touchpad by default.

Bad touchpad drivers then

yeah this has no hope in enterprise. like NONE.

it will have a lot of leverage in enterprise.. It will allow for deployments of tablets/docking stations and setups that embrace the technology already in place and allow people to be fully mobile or interactive.

just because the start bar has changed doesn't mean that corporations won't embrace it. it will just come in through different channels and 3rd party companies will fill in the gaps as they always do.

[Imani]

I enjoy Metro in the implementations of WP7 and Zune I have seen so far. However I'm sorely disappointed by the Metro/Aero hybrid monstrosity that is the desktop. Either remove Metro from the non-tablet devices or go full out and give the desktop a Metro makeover. In it's current state this just adds fuel to the argument that 8 is 7 with a tablet layer nailed on. Consistency for crying out loud, just do it. They gone this far to shove the start screen down our collective throats and then back away from doing anything logical with the desktop side. If this is how the final will look, I will just stay with 7 like a couple others. As for the "gradual change" bs, just stop it, they've already made several drastic changes when they killed the start orb and menu. Get the Zune UI team in there asap and fix the mess. And that's my two cents, I gave it a 6, out of pity for how sure they seem about the path down which they are going, which I have determined to be over a cliff UI-wise.

[PsYcHoKiLLa]

One of the most inexplicable omissions on the start screen is any power shortcuts, here's some help if you want shutdown/restart shortcuts...

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/quick-tip-create-shutdown-restart-lock-icons-in-windows-vista/

http://www.howtogeek.com/74331/how-to-create-your-own-windows-8-shortcuts-for-shutdown-perhaps/

[LightShadow]

I'd give it a 5/10. Nice UI but seems less stable than the WDP.

Apps keep force closing, the Messaging app won't show my Facebook friends, won't show them online and keeps disconnecting, the build seems slower etc.

[.Neo]

Which is simply idiotic. Just because a new market has emerged, doesn't mean you completely ignore the old one.

This is exactly what I don't get. When the iPad was released with its beefed up iOS apps OS X started to feel a little bit archaic. Especially the interface, animations, resume of apps, restoring your last sessions after a restart and features in general. I was extremely pleased that they finally gave OS X and Aqua an overhaul with Lion and are continuing to do so with Mountain Lion. But while OS X is definitely integrating a lot of iOS features it still remains very much a desktop OS at its core. Apple isn't doing a 1:1 copy, pretty much all iOS features are being tailored to match the desktop experience.

What Microsoft is doing is leaving the classic desktop experience largely as it is today while plastering Metro as the main interface on top of it. It's insane you're now pretty much forced to use full screen applications within and can't have more than two apps simultaneously in view. And even then you only see one partially. There is little point in owning a 27-inch screen with a native resolution of 2560 x 1440 with Windows 8.

I was truly thinking Metro would see an overhaul in the CP to become more desktop-friendly. Instead it remains tailored for tablets only. Beyond that I don't get the model of running traditional apps and Metro ones within the same OS.

One has to appreciate the irony of Windows fanboys constantly attacking Apple for dumbing everything down, yet Microsoft is taking it to a whole new level with Windows 8.

[PsYcHoKiLLa]

Bad touchpad drivers then

Care to elaborate?

I've installed the synaptics drivers for Windows 7

[Ricky65]

If this poll is anything to go by, MS are onto a loser with this one.

[mduren2445]

Well everyone do I trust the built in windows defender in win 8 to protect me on the internet or should I go hunting? On the upgrade it made me remove f secure

[br0adband]

I gave it a 3. I actually found the DP to be easier to navigate and more responsive. With Windows 7 some things are drop-dead stupid easy and more efficient, here's an example:

I hit the Windows key with my left thumb, type mouse in about one-half a second and hit Enter - that's it, and I get the Mouse properties so I can make adjustments. I do NOT have to wait for the options to appear on the Start Menu, typing mouse and hitting Enter brings up Mouse properties in about a half-second, it's done, no muss, no fuss.

Now, on Windows 8, I hit the Windows key (think they're now referring to that as the Start key, whatever), type mouse and hit Enter and... nothing. I get the search results on the right side of the screen but, nothing. What I want is not being provided to me, and I end up having to go at least two more clicks to get directly to the Mouse properties that I'm trying to get to - I learned this the hard way in the DP and hoped they'd improved it in the CP but they didn't: it's exactly the same.

I'm on a laptop with 1280x800 resolution so having a full screen app or display window isn't that big of a deal -disclaimer: even though I am at a somewhat "low" resolution these days, I do NOT run apps full screen, none of them. Firefox is set to 1070x800 using FireSizer (an addon that allows for custom Firefox window resolutions), my Explorer window is about 800x550 in size (enough to display everything necessary), and most of my apps don't get full screen maximizing either.

I get what they're moving towards, but my suggestion if they'd asked me is this:

They need two distinct versions of Windows 8: one with the original Windows Vista/7 styled Start Menu, and one with Metro for touch enabled devices, as well as ARM hardware that's coming.

Guess I'm old school. At first glance last year with the DP I was excited and used it but then stopped because of some issues that were not resolvable at the time (some apps that wouldn't work, etc). Now that they've fixed those problems I had, they changed things in other manners that now prompts me to say "Nope, nope, ain't going there, forget it..." and I'm back on Windows 7 Pro where I should be.

I fully expect to be running Windows 7 Pro for many years to come. If I get a tablet computer of some kind I may - that's I may give Windows 8 a chance because Metro is designed for that kind of control, but until then I'm sticking with what works and works very damned well.

Windows 7 is still the best OS Microsoft has ever created... that's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it. ;)

[+Heartripper Subscriber¹]

3. The grade you'd get writing a poem for a math test.

[a1ien]

^-- I dunno man, I think you'd get a zero.

It's nice to see that the 1s have it so far... Perhaps it's enough to get Microsoft's attention?

[Pygmy_Hippo]

There's a lot of nice things to play with here, but I've got a horrible feeling that this will bomb when released to the general public. At the moment there are too many things that feel "hidden" and even counter-intuitive - for people who have struggled all these years to get to grips with minimising or closing a program it may be a step too far. I do realise that these are the customers who are less likely to run out and buy a retail copy, but for the average bloke browsing in PC World I could easily imagine them choosing the perceived simplicity of the Mac.

PS - I have a WP7 Samsung Omnia and love the Metro interface, although i'm not quite as enamoured with the new Xbox dashboard

[.Neo]

^-- I dunno man, I think you'd get a zero.

If you write down your name you'll get at least a "1" as a grade. Microsoft wrote down their company name in Windows 8.

[Jan Veteran]

I like it, it's a huge improvement over the DP and a step in the right direction :)

One thing that does annoy me though is not being able to use XBL/Music/Etc because I live in the UK :(

[kawasabi]

Metro just breaks the whole thing for me.

[Colin McGregor]

Lovin it. Its easy to use, all my stuff is pinned where I want it. Don't even really use the old style desktop anymore. Took about an hour to go from wtf to glad I installed it as my sole OS. Even removed my Linux partitions to use for a backup drive in Windows 8.

[NEVER85]

Not a fan of the UI currently, but I've only played with it for an hour. When I have more free time, I'll try again, maybe it'll grow on me.

[greenwizard88]

One has to appreciate the irony of Windows fanboys constantly attacking Apple for dumbing everything down, yet Microsoft is taking it to a whole new level with Windows 8.

Hey now, the beta consumer preview just came out. Gimme time to adjust my anti-mac rhetoric before you start bashing me :p

Seriously though, I just finished downloading it. I'm kinda excited, but seeing so many 1's makes me pause... and then cry :cry: