Windows 8 Consumer Preview to be released 02/29/2012

ds9voy said:
You know, I was a business minor in college. Don't have a BBA or MBA like the people at Microsoft pushing this. Just a simple social science major.
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You should read up on Metro, this wasn't at all pushed by MBAs, it's based on some very old and interesting design concepts that actually have proven to me successful for many purposes over the years.

The disaster talk is simply hype, Windows 8 is well past that. Yes, its controversial, some people are going to no like it simply because of the change and the idea that the desktop and keyboards and mice and tablets and touch screens and pens cannot co-exist. I'm biased in that I think that not only that they can co-exist in an single OS, they absolutely must for Microsoft's sake and indeed Metro might very well be the best thing that's happened to the desktop in many years as interest in the classic desktop stagnates in the eyes of the general consumer that's increasingly moving away from keyboard and mouse only computing devices.
 
ds9voy said:
I forced myself to use this "consumer preview" on my desktop all day. I will say it now - it is nearly unusable. No, not because of bugs. In fact, I was pleased with the stability. It is simply not a viable UI for a desktop computer. It does not help me do more, it does not help me work faster.... It has impeded me all day. And yes, I know how to use it.
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Same here. It was the most frustrating experience I've ever had with any OS. I feel so much of this would be mitigated if they would just add the f*#cking Start menu button back. Forcing me to make round trips through Metro, clicking on Windows key combinations, or mousing all over the screen to activate hidden hot spots to get anything done just seems like deliberate road blocks to being productive.

This is going to be worse that Vista and ME combined, this is Microsoft Bob territory.
 
magoo said:
I think this thing is fucked up, period.

Everything is hidden in some secret place and you have to wave the mouse around like an idiot to try and find it.

I don't give one shit about these "apps", if I want something I'll put it on my desktop.

What if I load a game? Will the shortcut be on the desktop?

How about the simple mechanics of the OS like settings, control panel, system manager? Or are people so fucking stupid now they don't want to know "how" their computer runs as long as it looks more like a mac interface.
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Lower right corner of your desktop, right click, the menu has just about everything in it you could want to configure your system. If you install your software you'll get icons on your desktop just like before.
 
I'm not sure. I think consumers will be captivated by the animations and the easy path to Angry Birds. We may not be easily pleased, but typical consumers will like Windows 8.

The question is how businesses will react. Not favorably, in my opinion, but we'll see.
 
Archer75 said:
Lower right corner of your desktop, right click, the menu has just about everything in it you could want to configure your system. If you install your software you'll get icons on your desktop just like before.
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See, I don't understand the point of hiding this in a teeny, tiny corner of the screen, why not just have a button there?
 
maw said:
See, I don't understand the point of hiding this in a teeny, tiny corner of the screen, why not just have a button there?
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Sinceall of the corners are hot it is simply more consistent and the corner is actually easier to target with a mouse than a button.
 
I still can't believe I'm reading all of this. Why are some of you in metro so much if you're so worried about it? You can still pin to the task bar. You still get icons. The metro ui to me is nothing but a fancy start menu that I've used about 5% of the time. Its really not hard to navigate. right click and open all Apps and you get everything from apps to control panel to every program available or just type what you want. Close apps by dragging them down. Multi task apps from the upper left. Seriously, are we making this way too hard? The desktop environment is virtually unchanged. The whole system seems to run smoother than 7. And you get a big fancy start menu.
 
magoo said:
I think this thing is fucked up, period.

Everything is hidden in some secret place and you have to wave the mouse around like an idiot to try and find it.

I don't give one shit about these "apps", if I want something I'll put it on my desktop.

What if I load a game? Will the shortcut be on the desktop?

How about the simple mechanics of the OS like settings, control panel, system manager? Or are people so fucking stupid now they don't want to know "how" their computer runs as long as it looks more like a mac interface.

This is just a big step backwards from the basics of W7 which is smooth and clean, basic and just runs intuitively.

This #8 just sucks.....I do like the fish.;)
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Its not hidden, you just aren't used to it so its not second nature yet. If you don't want to use these "apps" you DON'T HAVE TO. Everything in the history of the world than you ran on your Windows 7 desktop you can run on your Windows 8 desktop. If you install a game, YES the shortcut will be on the desktop if you want it there. EVERYTHING about the settings/control panel still exist exactly as it did it Windows 7, and there are many, many ways to access it. 1. You could right click where the start button would be, you could press Win + X, you could pin Control Panel to your task bar or put a shortcut on your desktop, you cut pin Control Panel to be the first item on your start screen, or you could simple press the windows key start typing control panel and hit enter. Voila, you are now in the DESKTOP control panel.

And how in the hell does Metro look anything like OSX? Hint: It doesn't.

maw said:
Same here. It was the most frustrating experience I've ever had with any OS. I feel so much of this would be mitigated if they would just add the f*#cking Start menu button back. Forcing me to make round trips through Metro, clicking on Windows key combinations, or mousing all over the screen to activate hidden hot spots to get anything done just seems like deliberate road blocks to being productive.

This is going to be worse that Vista and ME combined, this is Microsoft Bob territory.
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Nobody is forcing you to make round trips through Metro. And seriously...a start BUTTON complaint? Also, I could use Windows 8 for the rest of my life and never be "required" to use the mouse hotspots.

rantanamo said:
I still can't believe I'm reading all of this. Why are some of you in metro so much if you're so worried about it? You can still pin to the task bar. You still get icons. The metro ui to me is nothing but a fancy start menu that I've used about 5% of the time. Its really not hard to navigate. right click and open all Apps and you get everything from apps to control panel to every program available or just type what you want. Close apps by dragging them down. Multi task apps from the upper left. Seriously, are we making this way too hard? The desktop environment is virtually unchanged. The whole system seems to run smoother than 7. And you get a big fancy start menu.
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I have been asking this since the Developer Preview. Nobody can answer.
 
Once you're on the desktop, can you launch another app by doing the old "Win Key > Type first few letters > Enter" without it going to the Metro screen? Still got a while before I can download and try it out.
 
RealityCrunch said:
Once you're on the desktop, can you launch another app by doing the old "Win Key > Type first few letters > Enter" without it going to the Metro screen? Still got a while before I can download and try it out.
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This is the way it still works.
 
RealityCrunch said:
Once you're on the desktop, can you launch another app by doing the old "Win Key > Type first few letters > Enter" without it going to the Metro screen? Still got a while before I can download and try it out.
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No. The Win key brings up Metro.
 
RealityCrunch said:
Once you're on the desktop, can you launch another app by doing the old "Win Key > Type first few letters > Enter" without it going to the Metro screen? Still got a while before I can download and try it out.
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wonderfield said:
No. The Win key brings up Metro.
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Yes, you can. Exactly the same as the Start Menu. Just hit the Win key (It will bring up Metro) and start typing, just as you normally would.
 
But just Win Key + Typing will bring up Metro? Oh well, just a minor inefficiency (and in time there will probably be a haxzor to get around it :)).
 
RealityCrunch said:
But just Win Key + Typing will bring up Metro? Oh well, just a minor inefficiency.
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Yes, it will bring up Metro, but when you start typing it will do the same thing as the Start Menu. Just think of Metro as a fullscreen Start Menu.
 
Are there any Win 8 compatible graphics drivers for ATI workstation cards, like the FirePro V3800 series? Will Catalyst drivers in compatibility mode work? And is it actually faster than Win 7 in daily use? (I know its a lot faster to boot/shutdown, except for the 10min spent looking for the shutdown option in the 1st place :) )

edit - I found the answer to the 1st qn - http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalystDriverWin8CPreleasenotes.aspx
 
So I just tried to install the preview build on a spare drive I had... yeah that was a bad plan. Killed the drive dead, thing now prevents the machine from getting through the SATA device detection after POST.
 
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Kor said:
So I just tried to install the preview build on a spare drive I had... yeah that was a bad plan. Killed the drive dead, thing now prevents the machine from getting through the SATA device detection on POST.
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Software installed on a storage device shouldn't have any affect on POST...
 
The install no, however if the Windows installer was doing something that was keeping the drive active when the things powered off during reboot that would account for it.
 
heatlesssun said:
Sinceall of the corners are hot it is simply more consistent and the corner is actually easier to target with a mouse than a button.
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Bullschizzle.

It is the most fucking frustrating, counterproductive thing I've ever seen.
Why cover it up, when you need the functions anyway?:rolleyes: I have to do two manuvers to do the same thing the start button does.....first find the damn "hot spot" then right click, while hoping I still have the mouse on the right spot, then click again for the function I want........dumb.

I'm with the guy who said the average joe will drool over the cute animations and having an "app" on his computer "just like them guys with iphones.....yar,yar,yar"

This interface is dumb.

call me microsoft, I have some suggestions for you.:eek:
 
magoo said:
Bullschizzle.

It is the most fucking frustrating, counterproductive thing I've ever seen.
Why cover it up, when you need the functions anyway?:rolleyes: I have to do two manuvers to do the same thing the start button does.....first find the damn "hot spot" then right click, while hoping I still have the mouse on the right spot, then click again for the function I want........dumb.

I'm with the guy who said the average joe will drool over the cute animations and having an "app" on his computer "just like them guys with iphones.....yar,yar,yar"

This interface is dumb.

call me microsoft, I have some suggestions for you.:eek:
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No you don't, the start button functionality is 100% the same as it was in Windows 7.

RealityCrunch said:
But just Win Key + Typing will bring up Metro? Oh well, just a minor inefficiency (and in time there will probably be a haxzor to get around it :)).
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The only way it could be argued that it is less efficient is that while typing the name of the app you can no longer see items on your desktop. I could think of a couple instances that could be annoying, but outside of those edge cases the efficiency is the same as in Windows 7.
 
My general feeling is that Metro is a PoS UI from the the standpoint as touchscreen mobile device user & a desktop PC user. I've always felt it looked ugly & despite its supposed intuitiveness, I couldn't care any less about its innovation of the century for UIs.

I would've preferred a much more robust desktop UI that takes risks than a platform specific one that focuses on tablets & phones. I'd call this the consolitis of the desktop OS since MS is pushing me to accept the change when the PC has always had a larger set of options to choose from. I want the ability to switch from Metro (w/o start menu) to Aero Glass (w/ start menu) without having a requirement of advanced DLL/Registry/Memory/Resource hacks that will likely be released in the next few months.
 
CrimsonKnight13 said:
My general feeling is that Metro is a PoS UI from the the standpoint as touchscreen mobile device user & a desktop PC user. I've always felt it looked ugly & despite its supposed intuitiveness, I couldn't care any less about its innovation of the century for UIs.

I would've preferred a much more robust desktop UI that takes risks than a platform specific one that focuses on tablets & phones. I'd call this the consolitis of the desktop OS since MS is pushing me to accept the change when the PC has always had a larger set of options to choose from. I want the ability to switch from Metro (w/o start menu) to Aero Glass (w/ start menu) without having a requirement of advanced DLL/Registry/Memory/Resource hacks that will likely be released in the next few months.
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Other than being ugly, which is subjective (and I strongly disagree with) how exactly is it a "PoS"?
 
chinesepiratefood said:
Other than being ugly, which is subjective (and I strongly disagree with) how exactly is it a "PoS"?
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One size fits all is not what I call a good UI. Even with the foreseeable customization of Metro, it is not the aesthetic platform that I want utilize for daily usage. I still prefer the Gnome/KDE/Aero-type UIs & Metro doesn't come close to any of those.

For instance, I use Rocket Dock for all of the games I play & the tools I use. Metro completely cover the desktop, which isn't cool at all. I may not always use the start menu but I still prefer an open desktop to have sidebar gadgets & docks. I also like the introduction of the taskbar tiles that 7 introduced. Metro won't be fitting in with my vision of preference when 8 is released. I may have to utilize WindowBlinds (when its updated) to make the theming work.
 
I think it's a good thing they are forcing me to use Metro at the moment. They are somewhat making sure I at least try it before never using it again.

And it might work. I'm getting used to it and it's not a bad UI at all.

Hopefully they still have an easy switch for the retail version where you can choose between Metro and a start menu (maybe just have the start button there... and the Hot spot active. and keep windows key going to Metro)
 
Metro only covers up your dock when you have to access the start screen, which for most people is a small fraction of their total usage. It doesn't change anything about the usability of the taskbar or a dock, because you are never required to open a metro app. An open desktop and sidebar dock works identical in Windows 8 and Windows 7.
 
heatlesssun said:
Since all of the corners are hot it is simply more consistent and the corner is actually easier to target with a mouse than a button.
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No, it is not. Look, when you use a PC all day long, every little thing adds up. The less you have to think about something, the more efficient your time is spent.

Moving a mouse to hidden 1-pixel hot spots located at each corner of the screen is inefficient. I'm already frustrated with accidentally hitting the IE icon and launching the browser when I'm really trying to get the start menu in the lower left corner. I've done it many times already.

Hitting Windows Key + [letter] means you have to move your hand out of position to do so, then place it back, inefficient.

Completely changing the look, feel and functionality of some aspects of the OS while leaving others intact is disjointed and inefficient.
 
chinesepiratefood said:
Metro only covers up your dock when you have to access the start screen, which for most people is a small fraction of their total usage. It doesn't change anything about the usability of the taskbar or a dock, because you are never required to open a metro app. An open desktop and sidebar dock works identical in Windows 8 and Windows 7.
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Opening the start menu took way less space when shown than the full size Metro screen. It feels clunky from that aspect, which is irksome. I don't care if its a system default, but MS shouldn't force me to have it as MY default home screen & start menu replacement. :rolleyes:
 
maw said:
No, it is not. Look, when you use a PC all day long, every little thing adds up. The less you have to think about something, the more efficient your time is spent.

Moving a mouse to hidden 1-pixel hot spots located at each corner of the screen is inefficient. I'm already frustrated with accidentally hitting the IE icon and launching the browser when I'm really trying to get the start menu in the lower left corner. I've done it many times already.

Hitting Windows Key + [letter] means you have to move your hand out of position to do so, then place it back, inefficient.

Completely changing the look, feel and functionality of some aspects of the OS while leaving others intact is disjointed and inefficient.
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I'm sorry, but not being able to click the start button is mind boggling. I could do it with 100% accuracy with my eyes closed.
 
CrimsonKnight13 said:
Opening the start menu took way less space when shown than the full size Metro screen. It feels clunky from that aspect, which is irksome. I don't care if its a system default, but MS shouldn't force me to have it as MY default home screen & start menu replacement. :rolleyes:
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Your desktop is your home screen on a non-touch based system. The start screen is a better use of screen space because depending on your resolution (2560x1600 for me) you can fit FAR more items on the start screen.
 
chinesepiratefood said:
Your desktop is your home screen on a non-touch based system. The start screen is a better use of screen space because depending on your resolution (2560x1600 for me) you can fit FAR more items on the start screen.
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Unless the start screen has a flyout grid dock function for multiple apps, its not going to be a favorable choice. I'm not seeing the "pros" of this complete UI change.
 
chinesepiratefood said:
Its not a complete UI change, the start menu is now full screen, thats it...
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But I don't want it to be full screen... I want the option to change it back or have something completely bat-shit crazy different that doesn't take up every native pixel of my monitor's real estate.
 
chinesepiratefood said:
The only way it could be argued that it is less efficient is that while typing the name of the app you can no longer see items on your desktop. I could think of a couple instances that could be annoying, but outside of those edge cases the efficiency is the same as in Windows 7.
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The problem comes in when you're going for some sort of control panel option or searching for a file. Typing in "resolution", for instance, will yield no results until you arrow over to the Settings tab (two arrow key presses) and hit enter. In Windows 7, the Start menu results list displays matching applications, control panel options and files.

For those who might ordinarily just use the mouse to click on a result, this adds an additional step. For keyboard users, this can end up resulting in two or three additional key presses.
 
chinesepiratefood said:
I'm sorry, but not being able to click the start button is mind boggling. I could do it with 100% accuracy with my eyes closed.
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and exactly what "start button" are you referring to? The teeny tiny 1-pixel hidden hot spot in the lower left corner that I have to hunt for? And you wonder why this is mind-boggling?
 
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