Ex-Microsoft Employee Launches 'Fixing Windows 8' Initiative

Page 3 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Status
Not open for further replies.
yeah it was a horrid experience for me. despite the fact that it was slower and it did not let me connect to the internet [which will probably get fixed], the metro UI was disgusting. i don't think ill be upgrading to it, although idid like a few things. but those things were small, and just not worth it
 
Windows 8 has issues? Yes. But it's abeta version, not final.
Must have an "older gui" option to satisfy "i don't like changes" people? Yes.
 
I can't imagine using this on a desktop. I have been testing it on our company's tablets and it works really well, once you get used to using Windows as a tablet. It runs much better then Windows 7 but it would be a nightmare on a desktop. Opening the MMC, the system page, even control panel are huge pains in the ass compared to every proceeding OS. The one feature that was built to help PC users hurts the table IMHO. When opening lets say word it takes you to the "desktop" where as if I hit the internet explorer app it opens in the metro UI. On the tablet it would be great if everything opened in the MetroUI so everything was one seamless integrated feel.

With every recent OS release there has been more and more variation in the title. XP came with Home and Pro, Vista/7 came with basic, home, business, and ultimate. With Windows 8 there needs to be a tablet edition right out of the gate keeping the current design an UI. Leaving the other versions built around the desktop ideas of closing and minimizing/maximizing programs but within the Metro UI would take this product to the next level. MS has done a great job getting a tablet OS on the market bu they need to remember their audience is resistant to change.
 
I really don't understand the problem here. Win 8 can be used the same way as win 7. You never have to use metro if you don’t want. Just pin your programs to the task bar in desktop mode. A lot of people also complain that it is not possible to close programs in metro. Just grab on top of the app, and drag down. When people learn to use win 8 properly i think they will stop complaining.
 
it seems like they're trying to be like everyone else and failing at the same rate. if they want to push out this new tablet-viewing system of Metro, that's great for the newest users who are more likely to have windows tablets (or tablets in general), so they should have the option like in Linux to view KDE or GNOME Desktops.

that accommodate both new and old members of Windows and for those companies that normally sell computers to 'new users' (i.e. Dell) should enable Metro at the start, BUT leave the option for the original Desktop available. THAT'S what i think should happen.
 
I have to agree with others specially rpgplayer "Once I got used to how the Metro UI works it's not as bad as it first seemed. I still do not like it, but I can use it. Other than that so far Windows 8 seems to be stable"... I've installed developer preview and then consumer preview on different machines. For the most part, once you know where to look and where to click (and get more accustomed to "corners") then learning and navigating through the UI is not much of an issue. Granted, it's looks and behaves pretty much like Win7 anyway. On standard desktops and laptops, both 32 and 64 bit versions worked without any major issues. Hardware compatibility is sure to improve in time (specially after product release).

One feature I LIKE is the capability to save a file simultaneously on different destinations (like one can be on a local disc and another on a network or external drive). This makes sense for people who do not have any type of raid or redundancy setup on their machines.

One feature I DISLIKE is the 3 step click to shutdown a machine (mouse to lower right corner - gear icon - power - shutdown). Again, this probably makes assumptions that a user would generally allow a machine to sleep or hibernate and therefore has no need to shutdown.

One feature that CONCERNS me is app support for screens with less than 1024x768 resolutions. Most people will probably have little or no use for netbooks. I for one like to carry one around in my vehicle should I need to do some MSoft based documents. I still prefer a WindowsOS machine over a tablet/ipad. It still makes perfect sense over using a touchscreen keyboard (or even worse, carry a separate keyboard for the tablet). For me, a 10.1" netbook is just the right size. If I'm going for 12" screens then I might as well go for an actual laptop. Most netbooks in the 10.1" range run a resolution of 1024 x 600 and Win8 reports that app cannot run in such a low resolution.

One quirk or compatibility that I found when trying to install Win8 on a bare machine was that it was currently incompatible with MS Security essentials. Prior to installation, I figured that MSSE would have been a good basic security program so as not to bog down Win8 installation. As it turned out, Norton, Kaspersky and bitdefender all worked as opposed to MSSE. I'm pretty sure this will be resolved on actual release but just found it "funny" that it was incompatible at this point.

 
Been mega impressed with the consumer preview running on a dual screen desktop PC
Yes it is a bit different to Windows 7.
Its way faster

Metro is fantastic once you get used to it.
I work in a media intensive environment, building websites, editing videos and pro photography.
The Metro tile interface is so handy because it allows you to group your programs together and set the order they appear in too.
It loads in record time, just 5 seconds on an SSD drive, shutsdown in 3 seconds.
Apps and programs load faster than windows 7.
If you want the standard start menu from Win7 you can have it, Stardock have made one and its good.
For me I will be sticking with Metro.
I did find having to set up a Windows ID annoying at first, now its actually great as all your media feeds are kept up to date.

Give it a try, there is a learning curve, its worth it.
Extremely impressed with where Win8 is going.
It has sped up my workflow :)

 
yea.. the suckest about metro ui is you cant exit app without hitting keyboad nor just back to the menu without messing arround with screen edge. desktop and metro are like two different world, but they combine it with poor implementation. so it is better they provide option to just desktop or just metro.
 
[citation][nom]Mike-TH[/nom]No freaking edit button, really Toms?EDIT: AH-HAH!In order to edit, you need to be reading the comments in the forums, not under the article itself. At the top of the comments under the article is a link to read them on the forums.Hard to find, could be made easier, perhaps.[/citation]
Even worse it only does it on forum view of Toms Hardware, in forum view of Toms Guide articles the edit option is missing.

2 bit, second rate, candy ass - I could go on but I may need to edit out any swear words and it's just not worth the hassle
 
"Who puts this out," the dad says after four minutes. His son says it's by Microsoft.

"They trying to drive me to Mac?"

Basically what I jokingly referred to in early W8 post which got voted down. Whether you like W8 or not, as a long time Windows user, it is obvious MS is screwing up here.

W8 will hurt MS more than help them.
 
@fruitn

winkey + d to get to desktop ctrl+alt+del to get task manager, kill suspended process iexplorer

not saying it aint annoying,but as a power user it should have popped into your mind. If your are a regular IE user than launch it from the desktop, it behaves completely different and does not go into suspend mode. i predict just like on android, task killer/memory cleaner apps will be popular with win8

I dont see metro as such a big detractor (seriously think of it like a smart phone, you use the home key to move between apps, similarly the winkey does the same) but i'll agree there is a huge disconnect between desktop and metro, desktop is not touch optimized, your still relegated to trying to hit buttons and menu items too small for comfort (sure you can push the sizes up but then you sacrifice useable space). I am bemused by the idea of multi-touch, it would appear the only thing it gave us is pinch to zoom and rotate, why hasn't anyone implemented multi-touch gesture based interaction, get rid of the menus and buttons altogether and have context sensitive multi-touch gestures (one finger/thumb on top of window other finger draws an x shape to close the window) it would allow you to dedicate more space to the content
 
[citation][nom]noblerabbit[/nom]Here, here, sit right down, drink this glass of water, it's ok, son, it's ok. It was just a nightmare, luckily, your old software isn't going anywhere, you have Windows 7. It's ok, there..[/citation]

First, Did I say I was upgrading?

Second, I work in I.T, and will be most definitely dealing with this new OS and all its new "features", for years to come, so no its not OK
 
Not trying to start a fight here, but to me it seems that the biggest problem is simply the refusal of many to give the product a chance. They see things are different and the first reaction is "this is different, this is trash". You have people who are jumping into the beta as though it is a finished product and simply shouting condemnations rather than making suggestions or working with it. This is a beta, so criticism is important so that there is a nice finished product. But that criticism has to be constructive.

I'm testing Win8 on a relatively old laptop. It has a 1.9GHz AMD Turion 64 X2, 2GB of ram, and an integrated ATI Radeon X1200 GPU. In general Win8 runs well. Startup takes half as long as before, shut down takes average 30 seconds, and it even runs a little cooler. Also love the changes to Task Manager, though I know most people hardly interact with Task Manager at all. But, I have noticed a tendency for the system to suddenly lock up, or for Win Explorer to abruptly crash. I've all but certainly narrowed this down to an issue of not having enough memory (particularly video memory) as these problems always occur when navigating to web-pages with lots of visual elements that have to load at once.
 
I find it a lot easier to use. You log in with either a local or a cloud account into the start screen, then you just click on your applications you use. If it's a meto app it will open up in the new metro interface, if it's a desktop app it will open up on your desktop. I have the my start menu set up so all my desktop apps are all the way to left. Click on outlook 2010, it opens up outlook in the desktop. If something isn't pinned I just start typing it's name and it shows up in the list of applications from the start menu. I think it's very different and not everyone will like it, but I think it's a step in the right direction, especially the way the unified search works. Also for the people wondering how to close metro apps, you can close them by moving the mouse to the top left corner, then going down along the edge and will pop up with all your open metro apps. From there just right click close, you can also switch between multiple apps, as well as snapping them to left and right.
 
Microsoft made a mistake, Windows is ruined forever, no one will use it again! OR they just keep on using stable Win7 like everyone did with XP when Vista came out. The release cycle for Windows seems to be to release a new interface with one version, then get it right in the next version (ME/XP Vista/7).

What they aim to do here is a bit zealous, trying to make an interface that works well with two completely different control styles. There's a reason they had a separate mobile OS up until now. I'm not exactly sure if they will be able to bridge these two markets, or if it's really worth the effort of not developing two separate OS. Companies do have to move forward though, and not just use the old familiar product. For better or worse, if people who know Windows aren't comfortable using it, it could imply that the product is revolutionary. But if people who aren't familiar with Windows can't use it, then that implies a problem. Windows is positioned to be the easy to use OS. If people wanted to learn something different and more complicated, Linux would be much more widely used. Some people like things how they are, that's why Windows usually allows a lot of new features and interfaces to be disabled. If you force people to use something they aren't comfortable with, some will just refuse to learn.

Personally, I don't like the direction Windows 8 wants to take things. It's bad enough on a mobile OS to have to use an account with access to your email, credit card information, and personal information all in one. I don't recall ever asking to introduce this to PCs as well, or anyone have issues with the old user account. I can't imagine what's going to happen when the frequently exploited Windows somehow allows this vital information to be stolen. Stop trying to drag me into the clouds, I live on the ground.
 
The Hotmail/Windows Live ID is the worst stuff. It is like the attempt to integrate Internet Explorer on Windows: a monopolistic, Big Brother attempt. It should be illegal, and probably is.
 
The problem with windows, and it seems that most OS's are going down this path also, is that they are of the mindset that the OS should be treated as an app would, something the user should always be aware of, be interacting with.

The OS should be transparent and rock solid so that is allows the apps to shine, it should be the 'foundation' of the building not the curtains.

The OS should never outshine the programs that run on it.

Croc4
 
microsoft doesnt need to do much!just put left to left,right to right,up to up,down to down.this way if i want to go sideways i side push the mouse wheel wichever side,if i scroll up or down other function appear!everybody is used to the way actual movement are!side wheel function are less used but ms could add a first week warning ,like WINDOW 8 ALSO MAKE USE OF THIS:THEN YOU SHOW A A SMALL VIDEO OF THE POSSIBLE MOUSE MOVEMENT!

also one thing is sure!they need a tile saying live tile at classic view and a classic tile at live tile view!this way it would solve most of the issue!
 
[citation][nom]lexi94x[/nom]All these bloody idiots whining their butt off about something no one is forcing them to buy, not to mention is a consumer preview. a BETA. so shush, go home, do something useful with your life.[/citation]
Of course you don't have to buy it... yet. What happens when at some point this becomes the standard? Are we supposed to cling to an old (by then) windows 7 which is no longer supported and is getting no love from ms or vendors? People have a lot invested in windows for long haul. If people wait until it's too late to complain, then it will be just that... too late.
 


I love you 😍

It's also awesome that Chris Pirillo (well, his Dad) was featured on Toms, sure it's not the first time.

I really hope Microsoft pulls something out of their ass right at the last second before Windows 8 is actually released because things aren't looking good. Maybe give us the Start menu back? Looks like Windows 7 is going to be my XP. laptop before last had Vista, and promptly went out and bought XP (for the sole reason it cut 30% of the performance). But I am happy with Windows 7, and as long as 7 keeps getting DirectX updates, I have no reason to switch for quite a few years.
 
Problem is, going to Mac won't help. That OS is full of invisible menues, invisible window cycling commands, ctrl open apple shift p click hotkey nonsense just to navigate or arrange visual access to apps. And everyone says its so intuitive... yea right. If anything, Microsoft is taking one step toward the mac by assuming their user is a die hard fanatic that knows all the juicy secrets. Make it visual, make it transparent if you have to. Whatever, a user needs cues or they need the equivalent to a tutorial level and the ability to customize my HUD when they first use the OS.
 
I've been using Win 8 consumer preview since it was released Feb 29. At first I thought the Metro UI wasn't complete and appeared to leave critical desktop options such as ability to close an app or multi-task. However, in a short time I was able to find all the methods of controlling the Metro UI. Closing and app is as simple, if not simpler, than closing an app in the original desktop. To close an app with a mouse just point the cursor arrow at the top of the screen and the cursor turns into a hand allowing you to pull the app down which closes the app...nothing could be simpler. While in an app you can leave the app running by pressing the Windows key; which will leave the app running but will take you back to the Metro start screen. Another change is the omission of the start button on original desktop. The start button is now the Metro UI start screen. To use the Metro UI start screen as a replacement for the start button, just point the cursor arrow at the bottom of the screen and right click. An icon made up of little white square button appears, click on that button and all your Metro and legacy apps appear along with their icons. It's the same list as you would find using the original start button, but instead of a vertical list you are presented with a horizontal list that with the mouse you are able using the wheel to move back and forth to find your Metro and legacy apps. You than have the option of selecting all your most used apps write click on them and you have the option of pinning them to your Metro UI start screen. Also, remember the Metro apps I told you you could leave open? If you have one or more apps running (Metro or legacy) you can select and open them by, in Metro, pointing the arrow cursor at the top left corner of the screen and an icon of your open apps appears. With the arrow cursor pointing on the app icon pull the cursor straight down and a vertical row appears allowing you to select the app you want to re-open. I have to say the more I use Metro, even with a mouse and keyboard, the more I really like it. I believe you will find it fluid and easy and manage the more you use it.
 
I have used every version of windows ever produced since version 2.1 and ibm os/2 and nt 3.1 etc
and they were for the most easy to figure out, and after a few minutes you could be doing stuff.
Not so with windows 8 I have the latest beta just released, I was confused, and left me with the impression microsoft have lost the plot, that dog don't hunt. They have made some very bad choices. I use a desktop pc and it will never work under windows 8 and I thought that Vista was a Dog.

If microsoft continue with this folley, windows 7 will be the last version I will own and remmember the most important rule of business the customers is always right and seems microsoft has forgoten that. btw I was very ticked off when they dropped tape drive support and started this nonesense with this cloud crap I hope it rains on them, in my opion this is just as stupid,
enough for now.
 
I have been using Windows 8 since Build 2011, and its stable, boots fast and the tablet experience, while in Metro applications is fast, fluid and enjoyable but…. and this is a big but…

IMHO if Microsoft releases Windows 8 without making substantial changes to make the non-touch desktop intuitive to their existing customer base and the experience a joy to use, they will start losing desktop market share as quickly as they are losing IE market share.

On the other hand if they make the non-touch desktop experience a joy for the user to use and get a couple of compelling tablet hardware products from vendors like Nokia, HP and perhaps Samsung they will have a fighting chance to stay relevant in the consumer marketplace.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom