Summer Windows 'Blue' Test Build Will Be Public Preview

[exfileme]

One of this summer's "Blue" milestones for Windows 8.1 will be a public milestone preview.

Summer Windows 'Blue' Test Build Will Be Public Preview : Read more

 

[wildkitten]

I hope Win 8.1 brings back the start button. The firing of the person who made the decision to eliminate it is a good sign that may very well happen.

Also, allowing someone to choose during install if they wish to have the Metro UI or the normal desktop as their default would also be good. I don't think people hated Metro so much because of what it was, but because it was being forced on users as the default, and coupled with the loss of the Start button in desktop mode it gave people legitimate reason to complain as loud as they have.

 

[super d spamalot]

[citation][nom]wildkitten[/nom]Also, allowing someone to choose during install if they wish to have the Metro UI or the normal desktop as their default would also be good. I don't think people hated Metro so much because of what it was, but because it was being forced on users as the default, and coupled with the loss of the Start button in desktop mode it gave people legitimate reason to complain as loud as they have.[/citation]

They didn't give the choice to default to a DOS prompt when Windows 95 came out, and now you all can't live without a start menu. They have no reason in the world to put the start button back, because in 2 years everyone will adapt and it won't even be an issue anymore. The Internet idiot parade will have latched on to something new and inconsequential to hate for no good reason.

If you stop focusing on the past and just learn to use Metro and get to know it, you'll likely find that it's not as bad as you seem to think it is. And even if Metro is that bad (Which it's not) putting up with it would be a tiny, tiny, tiny price to pay for all the other shit that make Windows 8 great.

Here is a hint: Those of us who say it's awesome don't feel that way because of Metro. We feel that way about the OS in general. I mean, hating Windows 8 because of Metro is like hating Android because the calculator, or the default browser sucks. It's such a tiny part of the whole that you're doing yourself a dis-service by not just getting over it.

Let the Tom's Hate Machine (TM) downvoting parade begin.

 

[livebriand]

Honestly, I hope that, after looking at all the lukewarm reviews, they decided to bring back the start button. (or at the very least, make the metro start menu more intuitive - hidden controls aren't obvious by any stretch of imagination) If they've fixed it, I just might upgrade. Otherwise, I'll be on Windows 7 for a VERY long time...

Note: I don't hate the idea of a fullscreen start menu. I DO, however, hate unnecessarily hidden controls (start screen, shutdown, search - I know you can just start typing at the start screen, etc). Heck, after using 8 on a desktop/laptop for a while (just testing it, still using 7 otherwise), when I used it on a tablet in a store, I couldn't get things like the charms bar to work. I later found out that on a touchscreen, it's a different gesture. So much for being uniform across platforms... The other issue is that I don't want it suggesting ANY tablet things when I search on a desktop. Period. (for instance, search 'windows update') Metro adds NOTHING (aside from a few sorting features on the start screen) for desktops and laptops, and purely gets in the way. Had Microsoft put in a simple option to disable metro, I (and plenty of other people) likely would've upgraded by now. That's all revenue Microsoft chose to throw away for the sake of needlessly shooting themselves in the foot...

 

[dimar]

MS needs to allow straight boot to the desktop, and release a highly customizable Start Menu.

 

[vmem]

[citation][nom]dimar[/nom]MS needs to allow straight boot to the desktop, and release a highly customizable Start Menu.[/citation]

that is easily doable by changing a few settings

 

[abbadon_34]

So instead of free updates there are paid updates? How is this good for the consumer?

 

[lpedraja2002]

So its official now, Microsoft have become Apple. Charging for incremental updates was the last thing missing. I've been using Metro on my laptop a month before it came out and I still think they didn't manage to fully integrate it with Windows 8. Startmenu or not, Metro has a lot of flaws which shouldn't have been present in the final version but still Microsoft decides to keep pushing forward. People's OS choice (according to stats) is making it clear that they need to re-design Windows 8 completely.

 

[tokencode]

[citation][nom]abbadon_34[/nom]So instead of free updates there are paid updates? How is this good for the consumer?[/citation]

It's a free update from Windows 8, it costs money from Windows 7 or earlier. It is the same (actually better since its a newer version) that they offered for Windows 8.

 

[huggles12]

I want, and believe, the start menu should be brought back. However, with such a focus on touch orientated devices, especially notebooks/ultrabooks with touch screens, I do not see it happening. Also, removing Metro UI(or whatever they insist you call it) will be prove that Microsoft was wrong removing the start menu, something Steve Ballmer, being CEO, would never admit to. Interesting time Microsoft in at the moment.

 

[lradunovic77]

Windows 8 is unusable meaning you can't get work done. It is operating system which fails four basic principles and that is Control, Context, Continuity and Conveyance. Even Windows 3.1 is better in these areas. No service pack or Windows Blue will fix it unless MS forgets about Windows 8 GUI and goes back to Windows 7 design and rethink whole deal around Metro.

 

[bison88]

Played with Windows 8 in VMWare while listening to my Server+ instructor. Got pissed off that I couldn't figure out how to close a damn metro app. Found out dragging mouse to the bottom left hand corner, waiting for the pop up to show and then scrolling up GENTLY gives you the choice to right click and close it.

Oh yeah, not at all less productive. Found out the only realistic way to work within the thing is to go back to learning keyboard commands for every task you used to do with the click of a button. Ridiculous.

 

[danwat1234]

I wonder if Windows Blue will have the same problem that XP, Vista, 7 and 8 have; Explorer.exe does not officially support file path lengths larger than 255 characters. This is highly annoying when dealing with nested folders in My Documents and other situations. I use Total Commander to take care of business.
NTFS supports file path lengths of up to around 30,000 characters so why is explorer.exe use/have APIs that are back in the stone age of computing?

 

[falchard]

Win 8.x anyone?

 

[danny2000]

I hope Win 8.1 brings back the start button. The firing of the person who made the decision to eliminate it is a good sign that may very well happen.

Also, allowing someone to choose during install if they wish to have the Metro UI or the normal desktop as their default would also be good. I don't think people hated Metro so much because of what it was, but because it was being forced on users as the default, and coupled with the loss of the Start button in desktop mode it gave people legitimate reason to complain as loud as they have.

If you install Bing.com's Desktop application, it boots Windows 8 to the Desktop, and not to the Modern Start Menu; I have not tried it, but it might happen also if you put anything to start-up.

 

[johnnyevil]

aaaaaaand my start button?

 

[livebriand]

[citation][nom]danny2000[/nom]If you install Bing.com's Desktop application, it boots Windows 8 to the Desktop, and not to the Modern Start Menu; I have not tried it, but it might happen also if you put anything to start-up.[/citation]
I've heard of people putting the Task Manager in the startup folder, set to minimize (so you get a little icon in the system tray with the CPU usage), and achieving the same result. Looks like any desktop app that's set to run automatically will do that.

 

[killerclick]

Yeah, not only they should bring booting to desktop and some kind of non-fullscreen Start Menu functionality, they should also allow Metro apps to be run windowed in desktop mode.

 

[dimar]

[citation][nom]killerclick[/nom]Yeah, not only they should bring booting to desktop and some kind of non-fullscreen Start Menu functionality, they should also allow Metro apps to be run windowed in desktop mode.[/citation]

What is exactly the point of having metro apps as a separate interface on a desktop PC?? How would it be different to have those same apps act like the usual desktop programs? What was Microsoft thinking?

 

[Caffeinecarl]

[citation][nom]super d spamalot[/nom]They didn't give the choice to default to a DOS prompt when Windows 95 came out, and now you all can't live without a start menu. They have no reason in the world to put the start button back, because in 2 years everyone will adapt and it won't even be an issue anymore. The Internet idiot parade will have latched on to something new and inconsequential to hate for no good reason.If you stop focusing on the past and just learn to use Metro and get to know it, you'll likely find that it's not as bad as you seem to think it is. And even if Metro is that bad (Which it's not) putting up with it would be a tiny, tiny, tiny price to pay for all the other shit that make Windows 8 great.Here is a hint: Those of us who say it's awesome don't feel that way because of Metro. We feel that way about the OS in general. I mean, hating Windows 8 because of Metro is like hating Android because the calculator, or the default browser sucks. It's such a tiny part of the whole that you're doing yourself a dis-service by not just getting over it.Let the Tom's Hate Machine (TM) downvoting parade begin.[/citation]
It wasn't as bad as I was expecting, so you were right about that... as a matter of fact, it was WORSE!

 

[apache_lives]

[citation][nom]super d spamalot[/nom]They didn't give the choice to default to a DOS prompt when Windows 95 came out, and now you all can't live without a start menu. They have no reason in the world to put the start button back, because in 2 years everyone will adapt and it won't even be an issue anymore. The Internet idiot parade will have latched on to something new and inconsequential to hate for no good reason.If you stop focusing on the past and just learn to use Metro and get to know it, you'll likely find that it's not as bad as you seem to think it is. And even if Metro is that bad (Which it's not) putting up with it would be a tiny, tiny, tiny price to pay for all the other shit that make Windows 8 great.Here is a hint: Those of us who say it's awesome don't feel that way because of Metro. We feel that way about the OS in general. I mean, hating Windows 8 because of Metro is like hating Android because the calculator, or the default browser sucks. It's such a tiny part of the whole that you're doing yourself a dis-service by not just getting over it.Let the Tom's Hate Machine (TM) downvoting parade begin.[/citation]

Totally agree mate.

Tomshardware is just filled with brainless haters now, its sad.

 

[apache_lives]

[citation][nom]johnnyevil[/nom]aaaaaaand my start button?[/citation]

Theres multiple -- cant you find them? One on the right, bottom left, keyboard.

Do you need more help? Do you need lessons on how to use a computer?

 

[blazorthon]

[citation][nom]lradunovic77[/nom]Windows 8 is unusable meaning you can't get work done. It is operating system which fails four basic principles and that is Control, Context, Continuity and Conveyance. Even Windows 3.1 is better in these areas. No service pack or Windows Blue will fix it unless MS forgets about Windows 8 GUI and goes back to Windows 7 design and rethink whole deal around Metro.[/citation]

I watched that guy's Youtube video too. The animation was good, but that doesn't make up for the fact that if his touch pad wasn't malfunctioning, he would have had a much better experience. Really, most of what he said was at best only partially correct anyway. Windows 8 already has a desktop that's nearly identical to Windows 7's desktop and the guy didn't even troubleshoot is one major issue until he was far into his *review*.

He had control and was too ignorant of what Windows 8 was to even know it (that's his screw-up at least as much as Microsoft's).

Context is fine if you simply give it a few minutes. It has a lot of room for improvement, but it's not a total failure.

Conveyance is easy. 8 is only marginally worse than 7 in this. It could do better, but then again, so could 7.

Continuity isn't a big issue either. Metro isn't difficult to use nor is it a huge radical change from everything we know. Sure, it's different from the Windows desktop, but it's not like we can't understand the concept of "look at the buttons and see what they do before freaking out over it" and you don't even need to use Metro anyway. If it really is that distressful, just don't use it. If you truly outright hate it, then spend the two minutes that it takes to ditch it or don't bother with 8 because you're too irrational to be a new OS early-adopter anyway.

 

[nikolajj]

I like Windows 8!
I like the clean and simple look, and how i now can costumize my start menu to my likeing.
Remember the old days when explorer crashing was a problem? Now i just reopen it, no reboot.

And ofc dont forget the many new and neat features!

 

[susyque747]

"Like the recent Windows 8 upgrade promotion, this update is expected to cost around $40, offering enhancements and fixes to the current Windows 8 platform."
A page beyond Apple, MS is now into the micro-transactions for their crappy OS. aka Pay for Service Packs.
Release and force a piece of crap on everyone then get them to pay to fix the crap that came with their new PC.
Long Live Linux.