win8 Is it just me or those Metro apps really sucks so bad?

[zhangm Supervisor]

Is there any way to add an LDAP account to any of these bundled apps?

[McKay]

Most of them are crap yes, the mail one is just about usable however it's still annoying.

[Denis W. Veteran]

Another point: can't seem to remove Mail, Messaging, Calendar, and People individually. They're all either there or they're all gone.

Which is annoying as I would like to use all but Messaging, but it keeps insisting on signing me into Messaging when I want to use another IM client.

[TruckWEB]

The Marketplace is home for Metro and Desktop apps (I don't know why Desktop, especially since you can't buy them from the store, they redirect you to the company website). And like the iOS Apps Store and Google Play store, many of the apps are crap or useless, but sometime, you find a gem that's worth it.

The included Metro Apps in Win8 are going to get better with further update. Should be better than waiting for a Service Pack...

I think we have to give it some time.

[zhangm Supervisor]

The Marketplace is home for Metro and Desktop apps (I don't know why Desktop, especially since you can't buy them from the store, they redirect you to the company website). And like the iOS Apps Store and Google Play store, many of the apps are crap or useless, but sometime, you find a gem that's worth it.

The included Metro Apps in Win8 are going to get better with further update. Should be better than waiting for a Service Pack...

I think we have to give it some time.

For the sake of W8 adoption, I sure hope that the majority of app issues are addressed in this next set of updates scheduled to hit before GA. It seems that a lot of early adopters have been left with a bad taste in their mouths over the general reliability and usability of the apps, and if the status quo persists, the general consumer is not going to develop any better an impression.

[xendrome]

I really want to use the Metro apps. I've even connected my Blackberry (without Data) to MS Office Outlook to Microsoft Account to Facebook in a kind of sync-loop, because I want to be able to make changes in one and have them propagate to the built-in apps. But they have so many quirks that make them hard to use!

Messaging:

- Half the messages from Facebook don't appear

- Shows FB contacts as offline (and won't receive messages from them) even if they are online on the main site and sending messages

Mail:

- Won't notify of new messages in folders other than Inbox

- Refused to download the attachment in a mail. Office Outlook downloaded it fine.

Music:

- No autoplaylists (my biggest issue, this was how I organized music)

- No independent volume control. It's either loud music or quiet system sounds.

Reader:

- Font rendering isn't as crisp as Adobe Reader

- No fit-to-screen option?

People:

- Reads information about me from the Microsoft Account instead of Facebook account and my contact card in Office Outlook

- FB feed late to update

Video:

- Seriously? No Custom filters? No MKV?

- <see Music>

Windows 8

- Half half snap please

I've brought up the complaints with the music app before, and I've gotten that it's 'by design'. Simplified by design I can accept. Crippled by design? Not so much. It seems that Microsoft is being lazy, thinking that if we don't like the Metro, we can just use desktop apps. This is creating experience segregation, which I thought they didn't want with Windows 8.

I don't think ANY of these Modern UI apps are meant to replace their big brother Desktop Versions.. only supply a touchscreen/tablet PC or user that has simple needs with a means to do something quickly and efficiently with the hardware. So by all means, you should continue to use the desktop version of the apps that do exactly all of those things they already do that you use...

TLDR: Don't try to replace your desktops apps with Modern UI apps.

[TruckWEB]

I don't think ANY of these Modern UI apps are meant to replace their big brother Desktop Versions.. only supply a touchscreen/tablet PC or user that has simple needs with a means to do something quickly and efficiently with the hardware. So by all means, you should continue to use the desktop version of the apps that do exactly all of those things they already do that you use...

TLDR: Don't try to replace your desktops apps with Modern UI apps.

Why? If the Metro Apps were as good and complete as the desktop apps, we would no longer need to live in both world. And Metro Apps NEED to get better, remember Windows RT? Those tablet are not going to be able to run Desktop Apps (except for Office).

If Microsoft plan on just making "barely useful" Metro Apps, well, I don't see Surface RT having much chance in the market. Apple (iOS dev) and Google (Android devs) are not aiming for low quality simple apps on their tablet.

[xendrome]

Why? If the Metro Apps were as good and complete as the desktop apps, we would no longer need to live in both world. And Metro Apps NEED to get better, remember Windows RT? Those tablet are not going to be able to run Desktop Apps (except for Office).

If Microsoft plan on just making "barely useful" Metro Apps, well, I don't see Surface RT having much chance in the market. Apple (iOS dev) and Google (Android devs) are not aiming for low quality simple apps on their tablet.

1: Window RT isn't meant to be a standard Laptop replacement

2: Surface RT isn't in the "market" of competing with full fledged x86 apps, hence why MS is releasing a Windows Surface and Windows Surface Pro.. MS recognized this and acted accordingly.

[zhangm Supervisor]

The apps are not good enough to stand alone at this point, whether you're on a tablet or the desktop. Gotta e-mail someone in your org whose e-mail address you need to look up? If you're on the desktop, sigh and fire up Outlook to perform the LDAP search. On Windows RT? Whoops, guess you don't need that feature.

If Microsoft is looking at apps as supplements to desktop applications rather than standalone, fully functional programs, then they're going to be feeling a world of hurt as Windows RT tablets face off against more mature platforms like iPads and Android tablets.

[xendrome]

The apps are not good enough to stand alone at this point, whether you're on a tablet or the desktop. Gotta e-mail someone in your org whose e-mail address you need to look up? If you're on the desktop, sigh and fire up Outlook to perform the LDAP search. On Windows RT? Whoops, guess you don't need that feature.

If Microsoft is looking at apps as supplements to desktop applications rather than standalone, fully functional programs, then they're going to be feeling a world of hurt as Windows RT tablets face off against more mature platforms like iPads and Android tablets.

In Mail, I have my Exchange account setup.... I start typing a name, and it says "Search blahblah Directory" with my exchange address below it, I click that and bam, it shows all the contacts in our Exchange OAB/GAL. Just FYI.

And I wouldn't compare ANY of the iPad and Android apps to Desktop apps either.. Plus these are default apps that come with the system, there will be plenty of 3rd party alternatives with more features.. It's like when Windows shipped with Wordpad.. well you don't have to use it, you can buy/download any of the other various other Word Processors/Suites out there that are better.

[argonite]

I don't think ANY of these Modern UI apps are meant to replace their big brother Desktop Versions.. only supply a touchscreen/tablet PC or user that has simple needs with a means to do something quickly and efficiently with the hardware. So by all means, you should continue to use the desktop version of the apps that do exactly all of those things they already do that you use...

TLDR: Don't try to replace your desktops apps with Modern UI apps.

The point of Microsoft creating Windows 8 in the first place is to unify the interface of desktop and mobile users so that it could leverage its desktop power in the tablet space. That means we all get the start screen. We all get the same apps that sync to our data over the cloud. We get the same experience across all our devices.

People hated the fact that we got a tablet interface shoved onto our desktops. Me? I don't mind. I just don't want a half-baked any-sort-of-interface. Why should I have to use Outlook to receive attachments if the Mail app worked properly at all? What if I'm on an RT tablet and I have to use this broken Mail app? Wouldn't it be better if I could just use the Mail app on both my desktop and tablet so I can get used to an interface?

Microsoft wants us to use Metro apps in order to create this unified experience. The desktop is for backwards compatibility, not for the future. By forcing me to look at the desktop for things that Metro should provide, they are defeating this goal of unification.

[Dot Matrix]

Power user and tech geek are two different things. Power user's need things to work and work well without tweaking things or "working around" functionality. If you're used to doing things a way it's hard to change, and you have to be able to justify that change. For some people Win 8 will disrupt their workflow.

In this field, change happens whether you want it to or not. It's not something you can justify on your own, unless you wish to remain behind, and eventually forgotten.

[TruckWEB]

I don't know the future and I don't know what Microsoft is planning, but if the future include the removal of the "Desktop mode", well, Metro Apps will have to get much better.

After all, is it just what Microsoft wants? Unified experience on all device? So why would we still need a "Desktop", do we have one on a phone?

Consistency is something MS would want to reach.

Let's talk about Apple iOS and OSX, the included apps are getting as powerful on iOS as they are on OSX. That's what MS should be aiming at.

[remixedcat]

I don't know the future and I don't know what Microsoft is planning, but if the future include the removal of the "Desktop mode", well, Metro Apps will have to get much better.

After all, is it just what Microsoft wants? Unified experience on all device? So why would we still need a "Desktop", do we have one on a phone?

Consistency is something MS would want to reach.

Let's talk about Apple iOS and OSX, the included apps are getting as powerful on iOS as they are on OSX. That's what MS should be aiming at.

This... I want a media player I can do full ID3 tag editing ( I'm completely OCD about tags!!!) EQ, can play .mkv videos, proper playlist support, supports .flac files, headphone DSP, queue next, show real time bitrates, etc....

[neo1911]

This... I want a media player I can do full ID3 tag editing ( I'm completely OCD about tags!!!) EQ, can play .mkv videos, proper playlist support, supports .flac files, headphone DSP, queue next, show real time bitrates, etc....

These are the last things the media player devs have on their mind. :(

[remixedcat]

These are the last things the media player devs have on their mind. :(

They wouldnt know a proper media player if it smacked them upside the head and "never gonna give you up" started playing out of thier ears....

[theyarecomingforyou]

I don't think ANY of these Modern UI apps are meant to replace their big brother Desktop Versions.. only supply a touchscreen/tablet PC or user that has simple needs with a means to do something quickly and efficiently with the hardware. So by all means, you should continue to use the desktop version of the apps that do exactly all of those things they already do that you use...

TLDR: Don't try to replace your desktops apps with Modern UI apps.

But that's exactly the issue - if they're not better then why do we need them? If Microsoft is going to put so much effort into a new design philosophy for applications then it should at least be better than what we had before, at least in some meaningful ways. On the desktop that just isn't true, as functionality is limited, multi-tasking is limited, the use of the screen is inefficient and requiring you to use the Windows Store is restrictive and has anti-competitive implications. I can certainly understand their appeal on tablets/laptops with touch screens but they are poorly suited to a desktop environment.

The Music app is the best example of how infuriating, poorly featured and poorly designed Metro apps are. When you open a music file you entire screen turns bright orange for the intro screen, before filling your screen with a giant pause button and album art for random artists. Say I want to now add a second track to the playlist from the folder I was just in, I switch to the desktop via the top left corner and then my music drops to a virtually inaudible level. Great. Then you realise you can't actually add a song from your folder into a Metro app - you can't right click to add it (no option); you can't click and drag onto a Metro app. From a usability perspective it's an unmitigated disaster. So, now I'm in the Music app and trying to add a song to the playlist... but I can't find any option for it. I right-click to bring up the menu but there's nothing there about a playlist - perhaps opening a file will give you an option to add it to the playlist? Nope. Maybe it's in the charm bar? I had a look... nope, can't see anything there.

I've been using computers for over twenty years and I have absolutely no idea how to use playlists with the built-in Music app. Even if the functionality is there - which I have to assume it is - it's presented to the user in a thoroughly unhelpful way. The interaction with the desktop is appalling, as there pretty much isn't any. On the desktop I can easily drag files from one app to another. Metro? Ha! There's share functionality but it's greatly restricted. How about changing an ID3 tag? Nope. In iTunes it's easy to do. How about opening a music video while I'm in Music? Nope, even though iTunes plays them; Music doesn't even present you with an option to open a video with the Video app. I've been using Windows 8 as my primary operating system for over 6 months, so this isn't just about learning new systems - this is about them being obtuse and poorly designed.

[zhangm Supervisor]

The Music app is the best example of how infuriating, poorly featured and poorly designed Metro apps are. When you open a music file you entire screen turns bright orange for the intro screen, before filling your screen with a giant pause button and album art for random artists. Say I want to now add a second track to the playlist from the folder I was just in, I switch to the desktop via the top left corner and then my music drops to a virtually inaudible level. Great. Then you realise you can't actually add a song from your folder into a Metro app - you can't right click to add it (no option); you can't click and drag onto a Metro app. From a usability perspective it's an unmitigated disaster. So, now I'm in the Music app and trying to add a song to the playlist... but I can't find any option for it. I right-click to bring up the menu but there's nothing there about a playlist - perhaps opening a file will give you an option to add it to the playlist? Nope. Maybe it's in the charm bar? I had a look... nope, can't see anything there.

Open Music app. Scroll to the left and click the My Music header (Ctrl C, Preferences allows you to open your music collection by default). Select desired songs by normal means or by sequential right-clicking. This will also cue the menu, which allows you to select Play, add to Now Playing, or add to existing/create a new playlist.

I think the major mistake here is that the Music app doesn't immediately take you to your music. The splash screen yields to...ads. Microsoft, HELLO? You're presenting a method to BUY content when the user wants to PLAY content. By default. What other application dumps you into the middle of a scrollable page to in order to hide the content that the user first wants to get to? How much sense is there in loading up Neowin and having your browser default-jump you to the middle of the page? Ever open a book to find that the first printed page is number 173? Do you ever open your fridge and want to dig through a pile of coupon books in order to get to your food?

Yes, Metro is neat. I like Live Tiles and the clean design philosophy. It can go far. Some design choices are, however, clearly hostile to the consumer. That's my feedback.

[x-byte]

Metro multiasking? lolol

Didn't you know? Now you have learned something I guess.

[contextfree]

I like a lot of the apps, but I've definitely had reliability issues, not so much with crashing (that does happen, but mostly with third-party apps), but with notifications and tile number badges getting out of sync (WTF is with the Store telling me about updates that don't exist?) Performance used to be pretty bad, but they've gradually gotten faster over time and mostly start up pretty quick now. I've definitely never had Mail take anywhere near half a minute. Though it does bug me in the Picker control when something like SkyDrive, or the People contact picker, has to put up a splash screen when you switch to it ... it's only a couple seconds, but having a splash screen and having it take any noticeable time at all breaks the flow in that situation, makes the picker system feel a lot less "magical" than it might otherwise feel ...

[neo1911]

Has anyone purchased a Metro app from Windows 8 app store? Is payment getting accepted now?

I liked that element mixing and matching to create the world game Doodle God.

[-Himanshu-]

Has anyone purchased a Metro app from Windows 8 app store? Is payment getting accepted now?

I liked that element mixing and matching to create the world game Doodle God.

I tried a few days ago and it didn't went along.

[CronicHazel]

It does if you're not an idiot and are technically savvy. My machines work top notch because I know how to take care of them and I know how to optimize them to utilize their full potential. So yes, if a particular software (or OS in this case) doesn't function properly, chances are it has nothing to do with my machine as surprise, the only thing that's changed is said software ;)

That being said, that doesn't mean something wasn't changed in the OS to force me to have to tweak and optimize everything all over again...but that's really besides the point.

Ideally, that is how it should work, but things like bad drivers tend to bring good hardware down a notch lol

Nothing works always these days ;p

[nekkidtruth]

Ideally, that is how it should work, but things like bad drivers tend to bring good hardware down a notch lol

Nothing works always these days ;p

Absolutely. Drivers are never ruled out, however that is still related to something that has nothing to do with the machine. Which seems to be running theory on nearly all Windows 8 issues according to the fanboys. The "you're doing it wrong" era...thanks Steve Jobs!

[remixedcat]

how are creative's drivers in windows 8?