I read online there is a developer’s beta version out. Has anyone used it yet? What’s new in the world of Win8. The online reviews aren’t too good, but I thought I’d ask here.
I’m running it as my primary OS on my laptop. it’s stable but definitely unfinished. The Start screen is going to be a shock, but once you get the “hot corners” figured out it’s easy to use. The biggest issues I can see is:
- The “Metro” experience isn’t quite friendly to multiple monitors. The “Hot corners” are hard to hit when the pointer goes off the primary display
- “Metro” apps are mostly full screen, so if you have a large monitor there’s a waste of space.
However, if most of your stuff is normal desktop apps, then using the Desktop in Windows 8 is hardly different from Windows 7. Except of course, how the start screen replaces the start menu.
A co-worker installed the “Consumer preview” then spent several hours trying to figure out where the strt button went; then how to get to the control panel.
then I found the Windows FAQ for him that told him the only way to uninstall it was to re-format the machine.
Finally, he downloaded an app that simulates Start menu so he’s basically back to Windows 7. We sent him the you-tube video where the old guy spends 4 minutes being taunted by his son while tryng to find the Start button.
Basically, we’ve seen with previous versions of Windows and Offce, if there’s something convenient, useful, easy to use, and familiar, Microsoft will remove it or hide it. If they hide it, you will find once you click on it that it’s the same panel from way back in Windows 95 but you had to jump through hidden hoops to get to it.
Macs are looking better every day. I can’t wait until the real Win8 arrives and we have the same “no printer driver” issue all over again.
except that things got more discoverable with Office 2007/2010, not less.
Was just talking to our CNA about it and he basically says it’s junk. He says it’s designed more for the touch screen tablet market than a desktop or laptop.
Not for me. 
Remember that Microsoft makes quite a pot of money from running training courses on the new versions, and on charging others to become ‘certified’ trainers, who then go out and charge businesses & consumers to train them.
Likewise all the computer magazines & websites love new versions from Microsoft – it gives them something to write about. Free content! How many pages can they get about “Tips & Tricks of Windows 8”? (Many of which are just telling you how to find the control you used in the previous versions.) So they are always enthusiastic about new releases, with very biased ‘reviews’. (Plus they get the new version for free.) Even the horrendous Windows ME and Vista started out with good reviews from the magazines, until the backlash from real consumers started.
Unless you knew where everything was already. Face it, the Office ribbon was an epic fail for upgraders.
I think the ribbon interface was a huge improvement. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
It was time to reorganize into something that makes more sense objectively, and it honestly does, if you look at it fresh.
I manage a 50 user network. When I moved everyone over from Office 2003 to 2010, I made sure everyone had the MS-provided transition guides in their quick-launch before they switched. (Provides a dummy 2003 interface. You go through the motions of doing something the old way, and it displays an animation showing you where to look in 2010.)
Out of fifty users, only one grumbled about the switch - and she is a cranky old lady that bitches about absolutely everything.
Ask her if she’ll marry me. I still hate the stupid ribbons in Office. Even if I am not sure where something is I can scan through menus a lot faster than figuring out how to do what I want on ribbons.
Problem is, people in general didn’t know where everything was already.
“A study had shown that about 90% of the feature requests for Microsoft Office were for features already in the product. People just didn’t know what was already there.”
Apparently this is the new start screen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Windows_8_Consumer_Preview_Start_Screen.png
That’s an improvement? Seriously? Sure, it makes some sense for a tablet, but not everyone is always using a tablet. If you have lots of apps, you’re going to be doing a lot of scrolling.
Constantly screwing with the interface makes no sense to me. Don’t fix it if it isn’t broken.
I think marketing is driving it. They need a visible excuse for each new version. So actual usability is secondary to dramatic eye catching change.
On edit: And yes, I hate that ribbon. Everyone I work with hates that ribbon. Half the time I don’t even try to find a feature on my own. It’s quicker to Google it.
I’m still sorry I ever left XP. Windows 7 hasn’t been a picnic (better than Vista, but still a PITA), and Office 2010 has to be the slowest-loading software ever. Now I’m getting nonsense messages from Outlook that I don’t understand. You’d think they’d provide a link to something that can translate their programmer-generated techno-babble.
People who grouse about Windows changes confuse me. Seriously? A basically stable environment for over a decade and then a major revamp that will make phone/tablet/desktop computer experiences nearly identical is a) constantly screwing with the interface and b) a decrease in usability
Are you confused when cars add air conditioning, MP3 access and power seats? Microsoft has made things easier and better over the years and yet you constantly hear complaints.
I blame this on a massive user base that has 1% of the users unhappy rather than a constant movement towards a worse product.
I’m a moderate computer user who has used Windows as my operating system since it was introduced and I have found it to be excellent.
(I give the ribbon a pass. Neither better nor worse than the old way.)
No, I’m not confused about anything. Just annoyed. I do tech support, among other things, and my users are both confused and annoyed.
And no, I am not confused by the additions of accessories to cars. The question doesn’t even make sense in this context. I suppose you think it’s a clever analogy, but it’s not. A better analogy would be if they switched the positions of the accelerator and the brake and put the steering wheel in the back seat.
Why is it necessary to make desktops and phones / pads identical? They’re different tools with different uses. Phones and pads have a limited number of apps and limited screen space. Desktops (and laptops) are more general purpose and can have large numbers of apps and lots of screen space.
If the ribbon is neither better nor worse, then what’s the point of it? If it adds nothing then all it does is make people waste time learning something new that wasn’t even necessary.
Surely a self-fulling prophecy, here.
No doubt it was clear to all the other users from your attitude that nothing would be done about their complaints (except that you would label them complainers), so they didn’t bother to complain to you.
Unfortunately shooting the messenger fixes nothing
Two words sum up life in the world of computers “embrace change”. Doesent matter what OS you use, what hardware you like, upgrades and changes happen all the time on all platforms.
So if the printer manufacturers dont bother do put out a windows8 driver in a timely manner, somehow Microsoft is at fault?
Remember, there are working copies of the OS kicking around for quite a while before public release just so the various hardware and software vendors can test, patch, modify, rewrite, whatever so that it will run in 8
since when will Windows 8 require new printer drivers? Windows 7 drivers work fine.