review Windows 8 CP on a Tablet Review

[giantpotato]

Now you should do a review of windows 7 on a tablet. It will have none of the positives and all of the negatives of Windows 8. Proof that windows 8 is a step forward for tablets at least, despite your biased review.

[bt0wnsfin3st]

Video Response

Yes I know I accidentally opened up movie maker instead, I was actually behind the camera reaching at the screen, off center.

I've been coming to neowin for last few years now but never really felt the need to get involved until I watched this video.

You do make some valid points and we all can agree to a certain extent that W8 is not perfect....yet. However, you made a basic fundamental mistake during demonstration. You were in the desktop mode to begin with when, in reality, you are supposed to be in Start Screen. Of course, it will require more touches if you're not in the right location to begin with.

Let's use your example of Photo Gallery. If you were in Start Screen like you were supposed to, then you would simply type and hit enter which would be much faster than touching/clicking desktop>Start Menu>Programs>Photo Gallery.

Once again, I do not believe W8 is perfect at this point but if you're gonna review a product, at least use it the way it is intended to do so.

[migo]

The Windows 8 OSK has a split mode, yes.

Excellent, that's about my only major complaint about the PlayBook keyboard.

[excalpius]

Let's use your example of Photo Gallery. If you were in Start Screen like you were supposed to, then you would simply type and hit enter which would be much faster than touching/clicking desktop>Start Menu>Programs>Photo Gallery.

TYPE?! It's a GRAPHIC USER INTERFACE on a TOUCH tablet screen. Are you seriously proposing that the proper way to use Windows 8 to run any application is to bring up the touch keyboard from the start screen and TYPE the name of your application until you find the right one and then run that?!

The hoops the Metro defenders have to jump through to sell this dog are just mindnumbingly unbelievable...

[Fraud OS 11]

@Warwagon, you can go to Classic Shell Start Menu settings -> Menu Look tab and change the "Small icon size" from 16 to any size you want. If you set it to 32 or 48, the icons in the Start Menu will be just as large as the Tiles on the Start screen, so they should be easier to touch than tiny 16 x 16 sized icons. After you change the size, exit and restart the Start Menu once for the size settings to take effect.

[dafin0]

TYPE?! It's a GRAPHIC USER INTERFACE on a TOUCH tablet screen. Are you seriously proposing that the proper way to use Windows 8 to run any application is to bring up the touch keyboard from the start screen and TYPE the name of your application until you find the right one and then run that?!

The hoops the Metro defenders have to jump through to sell this dog are just mindnumbingly unbelievable...

seams like you are overreacting (hard to tell on the internet), he didnt say it was the "proper way" but just a way. another way with out keyboard is to right click and go all apps. select photo gallery from there. or you can hover over the charm bar and click search, you will see all your programs/apps there. or you can just have it as a pinned program on the start screen. what ever floats your boat. iv never understood this yelling from both sides of the party... CANT WE ALL GET ALONG :D

[rfirth]

TYPE?! It's a GRAPHIC USER INTERFACE on a TOUCH tablet screen. Are you seriously proposing that the proper way to use Windows 8 to run any application is to bring up the touch keyboard from the start screen and TYPE the name of your application until you find the right one and then run that?!

The hoops the Metro defenders have to jump through to sell this dog are just mindnumbingly unbelievable...

He's talking about keyboard/mouse systems. On touch systems, you slide up from the bottom and click "All Programs". Easy. Keyboard input and search is unnecessary [and counterproductive] for the task in question.

[articuno1au]

I have to say, this still wasn't a very funny joke Warwagon :\ ;)

I am a bit confused as to why you felt the need to type to open things. Did you try pinning the stuff you wanted onto the Metro interface?

[Pikey]

The old style on screen keyboard is still there (not the new touch keyboard) - it's in All Apps, Windows Ease of Access, On-Screen Keyboard.

Hey johnny! No, it's not that one I'm talking about!

I'm almost certain there was a different one in the Win 7 installation that was on the Acer when I bought it! I could be mistaken of course!

Edit .. found it on a youtube video ... have a look around about the 4:40 mark ...

[Dot Matrix]

TYPE?! It's a GRAPHIC USER INTERFACE on a TOUCH tablet screen. Are you seriously proposing that the proper way to use Windows 8 to run any application is to bring up the touch keyboard from the start screen and TYPE the name of your application until you find the right one and then run that?!

The hoops the Metro defenders have to jump through to sell this dog are just mindnumbingly unbelievable...

###### are you on about? There are many different ways to search or pin apps to the desktop or start screen.

Pin an application to the Start Screen and be done with it.

If you're on a desktop, just type for the OS to go and find it.

Right click/swipe up from the bottom bezel, and click on "All Apps".

Or just click on the "Search" Charm to bring up a list.

Quit being so angry at all these changes and maybe you'll find that once you drop your old habits, these can work better for you. They won't until you drop the 9x mentality.

[bt0wnsfin3st]

TYPE?! It's a GRAPHIC USER INTERFACE on a TOUCH tablet screen. Are you seriously proposing that the proper way to use Windows 8 to run any application is to bring up the touch keyboard from the start screen and TYPE the name of your application until you find the right one and then run that?!

The hoops the Metro defenders have to jump through to sell this dog are just mindnumbingly unbelievable...

I was simply pointing out that he made a fundamental mistake in a sense that he wasn't reviewing the product the way it was meant to be. As many others pointed out, there are multiple ways to accomplish what he was trying to do in Windows 8. In fact, he took the "longest" possible way to his destination just to prove his point.

Anyways, your arrogance is exactly the reason why I never really got involved in these forums. There's better things in life than W8 to enjoy.

PS: The hoops the Metro HATERS have to jump through to hate on this dog are just mindnumbingly unbelievable.....See what I just did? Seriously, how old are you? Grow up.

[ahhell]

I stopped reading right here. Sorry. Credibility lost.

I was going to post this exact thing.

[Motoko.]

An excellent review warwagon, Your last words were exactly whats been running through my head when using the CP.

[c3ntury]

Video Response

Yes I know I accidentally opened up movie maker instead, I was actually behind the camera reaching at the screen, off center.

As much as I'm impressed by the fact you made a video response to demonstrate your point, you actually proved the point I was going to make. You clicked the wrong button.

The start menu icons are excessively small for a tablet-factor, and if they made it hilariously big, it'd just look out of place and stupid.

And what about people with sausage fingers?! :p

[Anthonyd]

This thread/review is BS.

Your tablet doesn't meet the requirement for Windows 8 OEM (you know, the kind of products that people will actually buy instead of installing in on crap tablet like you did).

For example, you want a start button like it is on Windows 7, but Windows 8 tablets will have an hardware Windows key. Wasting on screen space with such an useless button isn't relevant.

Come back with a real tablet next time plz :)

[still1]

Video Response

Yes I know I accidentally opened up movie maker instead, I was actually behind the camera reaching at the screen, off center.

Nice video response... I think It shut many people up!!

Having a classic menu is much easier to use than a metro and i really want MS to not abandon it.

Having both will satisfy both users.

[123456789A]

Oh no! An honest and unbiased review from an average user! :-)

Huh? Where?

I'd hate to sound like Steve Jobs, but he was using it wrong.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Nice video response... I think It shut many people up!!

Having a classic menu is much easier to use than a metro and i really want MS to not abandon it.

Having both will satisfy both users.

Thanks but will will admit I used the search wrong. It was a only a slide tap type. Although the video is still correct for the ease of accessing the control panel.

[+Warwagon MVC]

This thread/review is BS.

Your tablet doesn't meet the requirement for Windows 8 OEM (you know, the kind of products that people will actually buy instead of installing in on crap tablet like you did).

For example, you want a start button like it is on Windows 7, but Windows 8 tablets will have an hardware Windows key. Wasting on screen space with such an useless button isn't relevant.

Come back with a real tablet next time plz :)

Actually mine does have a hardware windows key. In fact that's the only button on the front of it.

[PGHammer]

Actually I dissed Metro with a mouse and keyboard. I had high hopes for Metro with using touch and it does work MUCH better and feels much better with a finger than it does with a mouse and keyboard. Plus I can always install Android on the tablet if I get bored with windows 8. The tablet is also great for looking at photos when I'm out taking pictures. It has an SD card slot. Already tried that and it works great. So I will defiantly be using this tablet for that.

In short, your bias is not for or against Windows 8 on a tablet per se, but you want lightweight in terms of form-factor (which a 10.1" tablet is) and a lightweight OS to run on it.

However, there are two major issues with that sort of thinking - a lightweight OS (such as Android) will - not merely possibly, but certainly - be crippled and held back compared to a heavier operating system (such as Windows - either 8 or 7 - or OS X or even a Linux distribution) simply due to lack of solid and capable content-creation applications. The other issue is the number of hoops you will have to jump through to replace the operating system with a lighter one - and especially Android. First off, has Ice Cream Sandwich - the current version of Android - been ported to the architecture of your tablet? (That is a major issue for x86 tablets and slates - and even Ultrabooks and netbooks.)

The issue basically is not what you want from your operating system - but what do you want your hardware to do.

Your own thinking - in terms of tablets - is that they are plain and simply content-consumption devices - not content-creation devices. In terms of a pure content-consumption OS, Windows 8 is, to put it plainly, overkill. (Windows 7 would also be overkill - so it's not a dig at Windows 8 per se.) Both Android and iOS are tightly-focussed content-consumption-targeted operating systems - while both are capable of LIMITED content-creation, there are limits. Neither is designed to compete with Windows, or OS X, or even a Linux distribution - they are aiming for the niche where any of the three is overkill.

WindowsRT (AKA Windows on ARM) is aiming at *graduates* form Android and iOS - they want more from an OS than is available from Android or iOS - however, they don't need a full-fledged *heavy* OS, such as Windows (again, 7 or 8) or OS X. Backward-compatibility (except the UI, to an extent) is also not a major concern.

Windows 8 itself (in both 32-bit and 64-bit) is, to put it simply, the "no-limits" operating system. (That is, in fact, one reason why the number of SKUs has taken a major slicing compared to Windows 7.) The only real limits to what Windows 8 can do are those we, as users, impose on it.

[Subhadip]

Thanks but will will admit I used the search wrong. It was a only a slide tap type. Although the video is still correct for the ease of accessing the control panel.

I would like to challenge that as well. Control Panel is clearly pinned on the start menu, which makes it an unfair comparison. To make it fair, you need to pin Control Panel to the Metro start screen as well. If you do that, it becomes:

1) Classic: Tap small start button > tap small control panel icon. As your video demonstrates, it is very easy to mistap small icons, I think you brought up Movie Maker instead of Photo Gallery without realizing your mistake until after it had launched.

2) Metro: Hit the Windows hardware button > tap Control Panel tile. Very difficult to miss either.

I would say the Metro way definitely seems to be better and at worst no worse off. The chromeless nature of the Metro also saves valuable real-estate space by doing away with the taskbar, which makes a big difference for small 10 inch screens. There are just many details which make Metro a pretty awesome experience. You just need to embrace its different way of doing things. Judging by your small demo, you weren't familiar with Metro just yet and it is good to know that you have learned a better way to search.

[The_Decimator]

I've been using the CP on this: www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=qdwslBLhhfuw43HS & I actually really like it. & that's even with the fact that the T91 has a native screen resolution of 800x600 & in order to use Metro apps, I had to increase it all the way to 1024x768, giving an example of why Steve Jobs said we need sand paper for doing stuff like this...

[Motoko.]

Why we hate Windows 8? Because you sit there with a Desktop Operating System, being forced to use a UI designed for a phone/tablet, but at the same time you cannot just slap it onto a tablet and use it there, because then you realize tablets are incapable of running x86 software (which constitutes about 99.9% of all the software you WANT to use) and that the desktop functionality is nothing but a fancy prelude to the startup of "Microsoft Office for ARM" or Angry Birds.

Basically Windows 8 is the equivalent of being invited over to your dad and his new Asian wife. She serves you this really strange Asian dish involving raw fish that while probably being really good for you, just doesn't taste very appealing at all, especially not compared to that wonderful steak you had last time you visited. To add to the issue you also have to eat with chopsticks. It's not that there's anything wrong with chopsticks, but since you're not born in Asia, you'd rather use a fork. So you excuse yourself and go to the kitchen to fetch a fork, however when you return, your dad slaps you on the hand and tells you to stop being so rude to your new stepmother and use the goddamn chopsticks.

Thus you're forced to sit there, clumsily plucking up grains of rice and trying to make the best of the distasteful raw fish, while of course making a mess all over yourself in the process. Silently you cast angry glances at your father, hoping he will notice your dissatisfaction, but he just proceeds to completely ignore you while talking about how wonderful his wife's cooking is and how everybody should be eating this each every day. And at that moment you realize there's nothing you can do but pray that next time you visit, your dad will be the one doing the cooking, reminiscing about those delicious meals he made in the past as well as that wonderful steak he cooked last time.

P.S. I love Asian food and chopsticks but not Windows 8

[+Warwagon MVC]

Why we hate Windows 8? Because you sit there with a Desktop Operating System, being forced to use a UI designed for a phone/tablet, but at the same time you cannot just slap it onto a tablet and use it there, because then you realize tablets are incapable of running x86 software (which constitutes about 99.9% of all the software you WANT to use) and that the desktop functionality is nothing but a fancy prelude to the startup of "Microsoft Office for ARM" or Angry Birds.

Basically Windows 8 is the equivalent of being invited over to your dad and his new Asian wife. She serves you this really strange Asian dish involving raw fish that while probably being really good for you, just doesn't taste very appealing at all, especially not compared to that wonderful steak you had last time you visited. To add to the issue you also have to eat with chopsticks. It's not that there's anything wrong with chopsticks, but since you're not born in Asia, you'd rather use a fork. So you excuse yourself and go to the kitchen to fetch a fork, however when you return, your dad slaps you on the hand and tells you to stop being so rude to your new stepmother and use the goddamn chopsticks.

Thus you're forced to sit there, clumsily plucking up grains of rice and trying to make the best of the distasteful raw fish, while of course making a mess all over yourself in the process. Silently you cast angry glances at your father, hoping he will notice your dissatisfaction, but he just proceeds to completely ignore you while talking about how wonderful his wife's cooking is and how everybody should be eating this each every day. And at that moment you realize there's nothing you can do but pray that next time you visit, your dad will be the one doing the cooking, reminiscing about those delicious meals he made in the past as well as that wonderful steak he cooked last time.

P.S. I love Asian food and chopsticks but not Windows 8

That was so well written!

[Motoko.]

That was so well written!

Thanks I'm just tired of these squares here thinking one size can fit everyone and that we should get use to it, well I don't have to.