Windows 8 - Looks really awsome

I'm not panicking. All I'm saying is I won't be buying a new computer just to use Windows 8, and just because it may not support XPDM. Long live Windows 7.

 

It was meant in general, for example, half the things listed in the forum post look like bugs. Others are obvious like "removed start menu" (orly?).

 

I haven't tried Windows 8 and the reason is that i found Metro so disturbing that i didn't find the courage to try. From what i 've seen in videos in youtube, i won't be using this thing. I don't like having stuff all over the place, nor hitting the windows key and i like a clean desktop. I didn't collect over years new HD wallpapers only to have them covered by MS' tiles. Change for the sake of change isn't progress nor is "making one to suit all". You can't put the steering wheel of a car into the cockpit of an airliner just because it would be common solution and call that progress.

Also, i agree with those who say that a business will never adopt that thing. My brother is a province lawyer, most adults aren't very tech savvy, many are farmers that hardly know to use a computer. If my brother puts that thing and a client walks in and sees all that colour tiles and scrolling stuff he 'll think "wow, this lawyer plays videogames at work, he just hid his game like a kid but i saw he was playing, i am out of here". Besides, my brother would kill me if i attempted to install him an OS that he doesn't recognize anymore. He only knows how to go to Word and type, save to Documents folder and print. Beyond that, even replying to a Zone Alarm prompt is too much for him. He doesn't care and doesn't want to learn. That's why he is still with XP... No chance in hell that he 'd accept that thing.

Mrkvonic, thanks for the preview!


I will join Bellgamin in the "die hard" club. Bellgamin stuck with XP and me stuck with Win7.

 

I couldn't agree more. I 've been a power user for years, but as this gentleman here says:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyc1RVCXvAk&feature=related

"I am too old and life is too short".

Some things work fine and if you insist on changing them, then at least you should maintain a sense of continuity.

Imagine what would happen if every 3 years, car manufacturers came out with a completely new way to drive your car. Replacing the form and position of the steering wheel, the position of the pedals, the clutch, the position of the mirrors.

MS must understand that computers aren't addressed only to geeks anymore. They are supposed to be common appliances. They are used by ordinary men for ordinary tasks, running shops and businesses. You can't change upside down the OS and expect the non geeks to follow you. Or even the tired ex-geeks that don't see this as positive change.

Because, life is too short to waste it to meaningless changes that ruin the things you liked and you had spent time to learn.

 

I dont get why people are being so negative on something that is only a beta and they have not even used. Whatever happened to not judging a book by its cover?

 

You do realize that if people aren't negative about something, this something probably won't change?

I'm not talking about Windows 8, but everything in general. If people don't show their negativity, then changes won't be made.

Hopefully, due to the negativity Windows 8 Consumer Preview is getting, Microsoft will change it, so that it gets better. Isn't that the purpose?

If somebody presents me with a sample of how something may look as a final product, I'll show my disapproval, if I happen not to like it.

 

The problem is that Metro isn't a book. It's a GUI. You get what you see on the cover.

I find the whole concept wrong. It's designed for touchscreen tablets, i don't have touchscreen monitor and even if i did, i wouldn't use it, because i think it would be a bit tiring. To me, it's not "tidy" enough what i see and hides too much for little reason the wallpaper. I 've seen dozen youtube videos. Will i see another GUI if i install it myself?

I may try it when it comes final, but i doubt i will like it like that. Why didn't they do something really useful instead of killing what was working right? How about multiple desktops in a Linux-like manner? How about incorporating a software that translates into human language what a BSOD was about instead of using 3rd party programs? How about making improvements to the WMP, like running multiple instances and more format support? Did they do anything like that? I don't know but i fear not, judging by the MS mentality. I think people would really appreciate such simple things.

Why is it always that GUI that has to suffer the "change"? What's the point in making basic operations more complicated (like the start button or shutting off?)? How's that progress?

It could have been another 98SE, instead looks more like "Caution, Windows Me ahead".

 

If i was MS, i would look at my past versions and see what i can improve from the half-baked solutions i was giving.

ex.:

1) Multiple desktops (you want to do it like a linux cube? you want to do it in a more traditional way with 1,2,3,4 in systray? Whatever).

2) Make a burning software that actually is worth to use (what's the point in claiming to provide a feature that nobody wants to use because it's insufficient to an average user?)

3) Update the graphics in my traditional games (like Solitair,chess etc).

4) Correct the image viewer bug in 7, where if you see a picture in whole screen, it gets stretched to fit the page instead of showing the actual size. Was good in XP, broken in 7, i have high hopes this may have been fixed in 8.

5) Make the WMP capable of playing multiple instances and give it the codecs to run all modern formats. Enough with the "WMP doesn't recognize this format, do you want to access the internet to search?"

6) Translate the 0x00001111 BSOD PFN FIle corruption into "A Crash has occured, caused by abcde.exe, this is likely a software issue",like Nirsoft's BlueScreen Viewer does.

7) Improve the disk cleaner feature.

Improve the defragmentator.

9) Improve the backup (incremental, differential). They 've put auto i think, the only one i don't want...

10) Include a registry cleaner (nobody knows how to clean best than the one who made it).

11) More UI customization options, instead of going to 3rd party software since the days of XP to hack the files and run another bar or gadget.

12) Optimize data HDD and USB data transfer. There are 3rd party apps that greatly improve these basic things. Wouldn't it be better if the OS itself had made this useless? In my PC, if i try to copy a 10GB file through USB to SATA2 external disk, standard windows speed was i think about 16 mb/s. Using 3rd party driver, from my motherboard's manufacturer, it's double. If i were MS i 'd regard this as my first priority.

13) Include a new application, i don't know, an email notifier would be nice.

EDIT: Oh and make the firewall easier to control outbounds. Not much point in having a bidirectional capable firewall that needs the various "Firewall controls" to function like a normal firewall.

Since everyone talks about Metro, i fear little of it was done.


I did like "Cut the Rope" in Windows 8 videos i saw, but i wouldn't call it killer application. The whole tile thing for me is plain confusion. On my desktop i have only the trash bin. All that is only clutter in my eyes and i don't like the horizontal scrolling either. Maybe i am getting old, but i am used to opening windows, to vertical scrolling, horizontal seems just yet another weird, unnecessary thing.

 

Since this is a tablet/touch screen OS, maybe Microsoft determined that swiping with a finger was easier horizontally than vertically.

 

Yes, apparently. That's why the whole OS seems weird for a desktop. That's why they don't put car-type steering wheel in aircrafts and aircraft type in cars. Microsoft doesn't get it, but i think after the first sales numbers come out, she ll get it. I can get a license for free, but the only way i am seeing this running that thing, is if i get bored with 7 and want to change "ambient" for a week. Although, i will probably be better off trying like something Rainmeter in 7.

I am geek enough to learn it if i 'd want to, but i don't see anything that appeals to me. But the problem is, the big number of people out there, are the non geeks. And these, the first thing that will say is "where the hell did the start button go"? This is SO basic. Once i even convinced my brother to run Mandriva Linux, thanks to the fact that it was somewhat Windows-like. I told him "Do you see the star in the corner? It's the same as start button in Windows, same place, different icon. There you go and here's your "Documents" folder". People get that. If you start with hidden start buttons, tiles that have their documents, hidden shut off buttons, they will freak out in 5 minutes and that's it.

I gladly paid for 98SE and XP for retail copies. I 'd gladly pay for 7 too if i hadn't got it for free. I can get 8 for free too (if MSDNAA keeps up the policy), but at this pace, just like Vista, i will install it once out of curiocity and then format it once and for all. I hope they change their mind before the new Windows Millennium disaster hits them. Their main userbase with this one, will be teenagers that will believe it's "fashionable" to have your PC look like your tablet and the latest stuff.

 

@ Fuzzfas,
some of those things have been improved in windows 8.
1. windows 8 has a taskbar per monitor. I dont really miss linux style multiple desktops when using windows.
5. I would like better codec support in WMP.
6. hmm this is a good one. the only time ive seen bsod on my current machines was when I done beta testing thou.
7.It is not Mcrosoft's fault if third party software doesnt clean up after itself.
9. I would like to see a better backup application but then again there are plenty of third party applications available.
10. Registry cleans do more harm than good in most cases so i personally stay clear of them. once again its up to the developer of an application to create a decent uninstaller.
11. what sort of customizations?
12. have you even read the windows 8 team blog?

I would like the firewall to be easier to control for outbound.

btw how comes you have no problem with 7 but didnt like vista? I only had a few minor problems with vista pre service pack 1 and once SP1 was out vista was a solid OS.

 

Yeah, but since there are still folks that don't use Eyeinfinity because they have 1 monitor, having multiple desktops is something i 've always liked in Linux. I often would like to have more than 1 desktops to put different stuff and wallpapers. Or 1 for main, clean desktop and 1 for depositing temporarily downloads or folders.

I don't disagree, but CCleaner cleans more MS stuff than MS's own disk cleaner. That's what i am saying. In particular, i think MS should have made it easy to clear the tray icons cache.

Yes there are, but at this point, it's back to the initial question about the burning ability. What's the point giving a feature that is obsolete? Ok, this is less obsolete compared to the burning ability of 7 for example, but anyway, since you release a new version, why not add something more instead of trying to sell Metro?

Even more a reason to give a more "safe" cleaner since MS knows best her creation. They could make it an advanced option, so that newbies don't mess with it easily. The dev should create a decent uninstaller, but they usually don't, so why not giving the option to someone who likes using registry cleaners...

I will answer that one for you. There are already 3rd party programs that do that, so why include them (Rainmeter, Stardock and the likes). After all, there is Metro, yay!

No. Should i understand that now they 've doubled the speed and 3rd party USB driver won't be needed? Cause by reading a bit quickly, i don't see it. Resuming isn't my problem. I often want to move 50GB from internal HDD to external through USB. That's my problem. Without 3rd party driver, Win7 uses double the time. Gigabyte and Asrocks boards from what i remember both give their own application that speeds this process.

 

I wish Microsoft would completely eliminate the registry and come up with something like configuration files installed in the program's own directory.

 

Yes, but this would cause havoc to older applications that need to write to the registry. So MS would have to either cut all ties with her past or find a way to make coexist older applications that need registry with newers that don't.

 

Don't you mean configuration files in folders in the user profile? Otherwise, one may just as well run as naked administrators, so we can change configurations without needing administrator privileges.

Or, have Windows running full of services, one for each application.

-edit-

By the way, software developers don't need to add entries in the registry (with a few/some exceptions). For instance, Chromium has no configuration settings in the registry. The configuration settings are all in its own profile folder.

 

you mean like they used to with .ini files?
I do wish they would really. would make backing up settings easier. just copy the config files before a reinstall.

 

Yes, such applications are great. Unfortunately several developers love the registry. Comodo was once saving all settings and rules in registry. Don't know if they still do. Sphinx Firewall Control also saves the settings in the registry and restoring them is a bit of a pain. You need to stop the control panel, the firewall service, then restore 2 reg files, restart the services.

 

Thanks for correcting me on this m00nbl00d.

@lodore, that was what I was trying to get across. Something like the old ini files.

 

It's 100% stupid we cannot use Windows Media Player as our only media player. And, if we think about it, it does come in a paid... actually well paid operating system. So, it should work!

And, if we happen to need to watch some .wmv video, we may actually need to keep Windows Media Player installed in our system. It happened to be sometime ago. Unfortunately, VLC couldn't play it.

Instead of coming with crap like this Metro crap (sorry for the redundancy), they should actually improve what's already in the damn system.

For instance, can anyone tell me if Windows 8 Consumer Preview Paint has a snapshot tool? The one in Windows 7 doesn't. So, that's something that could be added in Windows 8 as well.

Another one - tabbed Windows Explorer. As far as I know, Windows 8 Explorer has no such functionality. Does it?

Another one - Internet Explorer multiple profiles in the same user account! It never implements this!!! Why not?!! You can have with every other decent and top web browser!!

Yes, Metro crap is the future...

-edit-

By the way, does Windows 8 Consumer Preview still hide the file types by default?

 

nope.
how hard could it be to add tabs?

but at least there's a new ribbon.

 

Tabbed explorer? While I like the Linux versions better you basically have that in Windows - go down to your taskbar and hover over the explorer to view tabs.

 

It simply isn't the same. Imagine going down to the taskbar hovering over IE6 (or any other non-tabbed browser) with multiple windows open (and with previews)....would you call that 'tabbed browsing'? I know for sure I wouldn't.

 

i totally agree with that.
it's not tabbed, it is still different windows.

the only way to get a tabbed Windows Explorer is by adding Qttabbar which is highly worth it, imo.
http://qttabbar.sourceforge.net/

 

Wow! Thanks moontan for pointing out Qttabbar.