Windows 8 Consumer Preview Thread

bulb66 said:
Well after my stupid mistake yesterday of closing chrome before it had finished downloading (having waited over an hour to download it) I've now had fibre installed downloaded the iso in 14 min and i'm running Windows 8 now :-)
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Thoughts?
 
JamesM said:
Thoughts?
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Going to give it a few more days but i like it.

If you have an Xbox 360 the UI works, one thing i miss from the metro UI is having 2 windows the same size next to each.

And the default music tile doesn't sort the music as i like it, when viewing Artist it tells you how many albums you have but just lists all the tracks together and not by album?

But like i say give a few more days, there might even be ways around the 2 things above.
 
You can't have two apps equally sized, you always get roughly a 75% 25% split on the primary/secondary app. Could do with more options for desktop users.

On the Music app you can choose a sub filter, so main filter select "artist", sub filter "album" (underneath) might give you what you want?
 
ChileanLlama said:
You can't have two apps equally sized, you always get roughly a 75% 25% split on the primary/secondary app. Could do with more options for desktop users.

On the Music app you can choose a sub filter, so main filter select "artist", sub filter "album" (underneath) might give you what you want?
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That's what I'm after, thanks.
 
I'm trying it again on my work laptop and I think somethings are great but others not so great.

Metro style looks fine, I can live with that and I can also live without the start menu BUT everything just seems so random and messy, like there is no consistency.

I hate to bring up the dreaded start menu debate again but the reason we loved it was because if you wanted to find something, there was one place to go and you found it, no matter if it was a program, document, system setting, etc.

Internet Explorer is a good example to what I mean.. why are there two ways to browse the internet? One though Metro and the other by going to explorer and doing it that way instead. Also system settings - I hover on the right corner to bring up the 'bar', settings and then Change PC Settings. Then I find out this doesn't let you adjust everything so I then need to go out of that and instead go to the Control Panel.

I agree with what someone else posted earlier in this thread, they should have kept the two separate like Apple has done with iOS.

I'm not going to give up on it as I do think it's the future and people will need to learn to adapt but it's a funny way of going about things.
 
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JamesM said:
I'm trying it again on my work laptop and I think somethings are great but others not so great.

Metro style looks fine, I can live with that and I can also live without the start menu BUT everything just seems so random and messy, like there is no consistency.

I hate to bring up the dreaded start menu debate again but the reason we loved it was because if you wanted to find something, there was one place to go and you found it, no matter if it was a program, document, system setting, etc.

Internet Explorer is a good example to what I mean.. why are there two ways to browse the internet? One though Metro and the other by going to explorer and doing it that way instead. Also system settings - I hover on the right corner to bring up the 'bar', settings and then Change PC Settings. Then I find out this doesn't let you adjust everything so I then need to go out of that and instead go to the Control Panel.

I agree with what someone else posted earlier in this thread, they should have kept the two separate like Apple has done with iOS.

I'm not going to give up on it as I do think it's the future and people will need to learn to adapt but it's a funny way of going about things.
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Because it wouldn't have worked for MS. They need the leverage of instantly having millions of users on the platform. No matter how good WP7 was, it wasn't a marketshare success.

There was moaning with the changes to the start menu in XP, Vista and 7. Pure and simple a lot of people don't like change. So they've forced it. MS giving people the choice just wouldn't have worked, it would have been used by a few % like Media Center. It's not necessarily for the users benefit, but for MS's balance sheet.

Anyway, don't get too hung up on trying to use Metro/Metro apps. I rarely use any, rarely see the Start Screen. The key is refining your workflow to the apps that you use/prefer, for me that's 99% desktop apps. So for example I never use Metro IE. Prefer my desktop browser.

At this stage the apps are very lacklustre, but I'm hoping this will explode and we'll see some really good stuff, it's just not there yet so don't try to force yourself into using second rate apps if you have better ones on the desktop.
 
Yes, the apps are so far really not that good. I would consider trying out the mail app to see how it goes but it isn't as flexible as the Thunderbird I use. Likewise, the calendar app is fine - if one uses a Microsoft Calendar but we use Google and, as far as I can see, one cannot get the calendar app to use Google. Maybe Google will come up with its own calendar app in due course. Meanwhile, Thunderbird does the calendar as well as mail and seems much easier to use.

I quite like the various recipe / cocktail apps but they are going to need a lot of work to make them really useful - I like the idea of a tablet in the kitchen instead of a recipe book for example.

I will be updating, though, as I want to get the better performance for the desktop which is where, for the time being, I will be be staying.
 
I can see what your saying, I doubt I'll ever use any of the Metro stuff because as soon as the system boots i'll be heading straight to desktop. Then i'll just have a screen full of short cuts to avoid using metro =/

Performance is brilliant, my laptop even with it's AMD E2-3000M APU really flys through everything but I suppose it's helped that I have an SSD installed.

Some parts are fantastic and I really welcome them but I still think that for a regular user who will upgrade, the jump will turn into a bit of a leap.

Really looking forward to showing this to my mum. She has used a laptop for a good number of years and still asks me how to move stuff from folder to folder or "go slower so I can see what your doing". The lack of a start menu button at least would confuse her for hours, maybe even days.

Why couldn't they just include an icon which would take you back to Metro? Why the secrecy of having to hide it in the corner?

Commenting on your thoughts about giving the user the choice, yes I agree but also don't to a certain extent. Windows 8 suits phones and tablets down to the ground all because of the way Metro works and looks. PCs and laptops however are work horses, you use them to do jobs that would take much longer or jobs which phones/tablets just cannot do, as such there is no need to force the user to see the Metro screen at login everytime.

The same goes for Windows Media Centre. If you turned on your system to watch a movie, you'd simply navigate to it and watch it. If on the other hand you had a HTPC setup in the living room then there's more of a chance you'd use Media Centre to browse and watch films.
 
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JamesM said:
I can see what your saying, I doubt I'll ever use any of the Metro stuff because as soon as the system boots i'll be heading straight to desktop. Then i'll just have a screen full of short cuts to avoid using metro =/

Performance is brilliant, my laptop even with it's AMD E2-3000M APU really flys through everything but I suppose it's helped that I have an SSD installed.

Some parts are fantastic and I really welcome them but I still think that for a regular user who will upgrade, the jump will turn into a bit of a leap.

Really looking forward to showing this to my mum. She has used a laptop for a good number of years and still asks me how to move stuff from folder to folder or "go slower so I can see what your doing". The lack of a start menu button at least would confuse her for hours, maybe even days.

Why couldn't they just include an icon which would take you back to Metro? Why the secrecy of having to hide it in the corner?

Commenting on your thoughts about giving the user the choice, yes I agree but also don't to a certain extent. Windows 8 suits phones and tablets down to the ground all because of the way Metro works and looks. PCs and laptops however are work horses, you use them to do jobs that would take much longer or jobs which phones/tablets just cannot do, as such there is no need to force the user to see the Metro screen at login everytime.

The same goes for Windows Media Centre. If you turned on your system to watch a movie, you'd simply navigate to it and watch it. If on the other hand you had a HTPC setup in the living room then there's more of a chance you'd use Media Centre to browse and watch films.
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Absolutely from a user perspective, but MS are using the popularity of Windows to give their mobile OS a head start which is why it's not an option.

Media Center, which MS claim they gave a lot of publicity, has just not been taken up by the numbers they wanted - and in reality most people don't know it exists, let alone how it can be used. Something like 6% of the user base IIRC.

On the positive side, if they get it right and good apps are forthcoming then over time they will replace desktop apps and more users will use the Metro OS. That's what MS are gambling on.

In the meantime, the desktop works pretty much the same as Windows 7 so other than a change to the Start Menu to Start Screen which isn't the most elegant transition, but that's more subjective when you actually get used to it very little has changed.
 
I've been using it for about 2 months now. The start screen never gets a look in unless I search for something or fancy a quick game of Minesweeper or Mahjong.
 
I will end up getting it and upgrading but only because of the performance, behind the screen changes.

I just think Metro on the PC is a waste. Why do I need to install the Wikipedia app when I can simply just browse to Wikipedia? :p Why do I need to use the eBay app when if I want to say, contact the buyer of an item i'm selling, it sends me off to Chrome and the full ebay site to do so?

It's stuff like that which seems a bit pointless to me but obviously they are aiming for the 'One OS' so I can understand the functionality being there.
 
I'm not sure they will manage to replace the desktop application with 'Metro' ones altogether. Plenty of people like multiple windows open together which is something 'Metro' can't do and, presumably, won't ever do. I have thought of using the 'Metro' equivalents of the mail and browser programmes but the way I use Office would make using it in Metro quite awkward as I like to see more than one application open at once to copy data etc.

I would suggest that the first version of Windows without a desktop will also be the last.
 
JamesM said:
I will end up getting it and upgrading but only because of the performance, behind the screen changes.

I just think Metro on the PC is a waste. Why do I need to install the Wikipedia app when I can simply just browse to Wikipedia? :p Why do I need to use the eBay app when if I want to say, contact the buyer of an item i'm selling, it sends me off to Chrome and the full ebay site to do so?

It's stuff like that which seems a bit pointless to me but obviously they are aiming for the 'One OS' so I can understand the functionality being there.
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Exactly read my first reply to you. You don't need it today.

When there is a metro app that does that whole eBay workflow for you really simply, better than the desktop apps that will be the time to use it.

That's where you have to look to the future and the possibilities, rather than what's available as Metro apps today.
 
ChileanLlama said:
Exactly read my first reply to you. You don't need it today.

When there is a metro app that does that whole eBay workflow for you really simply, better than the desktop apps that will be the time to use it.

That's where you have to look to the future and the possibilities, rather than what's available as Metro apps today.
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Yeah i'm sure with time things will get better and better as with anything. If they had progressed slowly to this style/design then I don't think there would be as many people complaining.
 
JamesM said:
Yeah i'm sure with time things will get better and better as with anything. If they had progressed slowly to this style/design then I don't think there would be as many people complaining.
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Don't forget it's not publically released yet. I'll be extremely disappointed come 26/10 if there's not some good apps released to the store.

I know what you're saying about a slow progression, but it wouldn't have worked for MS as a business, and in any event it would be a long drawn out series of complaints. They've decided, in their wisdom, for a short sharp shock.

I'm not saying I agree with MS, or defending them, just can understand why they may have decided to do it this way.
 
ChileanLlama said:
Don't forget it's not publically released yet. I'll be extremely disappointed come 26/10 if there's not some good apps released to the store.

I know what you're saying about a slow progression, but it wouldn't have worked for MS as a business, and in any event it would be a long drawn out series of complaints. They've decided, in their wisdom, for a short sharp shock.

I'm not saying I agree with MS, or defending them, just can understand why they may have decided to do it this way.
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Yeah i'm certainly not slating them and as far as system stability goes, this preview is pretty good. I just hope that, like you said, come full release some of the annoying things will have changed, some of the apps will be better and people aren't expected to guess at how to use it.
 
Out of interest, is there a way to connect to multiple machines through remote desktop over the internet?

Local network is fine but say I wanted to connect to 2 PCs behind an IP address, can I still only access the one which forwards the remote desktop port (3389) to?

This bugged me in Windows 7 and i'm hoping they sorted it in Windows 8
 
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