Windows 8 Consumer Preview Feedback Thread

[Infraction Jack]

I enjoyed the developer preview but do not like the consumer preview. I started with Windows XP and enjoyed it tremendously. I tried out Windows 7 for a month and pretty much had to google most of what I wanted to do since everything is in a different place. I like the start panel of Windows 8 but I really wish they let me have the option of using a start menu.

 

[QueBert]

I had a bitch of a time getting it to install, I ended up having to unplug all my HD's except the one I installed it on *WTF?* but since it's a public beta I'll let that slide. Been using it for a few hours.

Metro looks alright, but I don't like using it, it doesn't feel right. And my guts telling me even if I spend the time to re-learn how to do shit in it, it's still going to be meh to me. I need to read up on if I can make custom panels or whatever they're called, I installed Chrome and want it to look similar to the system ones. I DON'T like the full full screen app thing. It's suppose to be touch screen but I'm finding myself hitting alt-f4 because I don't see a way to close without leaving it open. I only have 2gb of memory so I don't think leaving every thing running would get me very far. I also don't like how it jumps in and out of Metro, I understand the Flash & Chrome installers weren't written for 8. It's a bit jarring, although I'm not sure I want installers to look like Metro and be full screen. So I really don't know about this...

One thing I like a lot, the included Pinball game's pretty bad ass I played it quite a bit and according to Xbox Live, at least as of 2 hours ago. I had the high score. But they kind of even messed it up as the physics of the ball make it seem like it weighs a ton. If I can buy more tables for the game in the app store thingy I'll like Win 8 even more

I have no doubt I'll adjust (if I stick with using it) but I don't see it being something I grow to like. It's not that this is too big of a change from every previous Windows. To me, it's that it doesn't feel well thought out. It's too different without any real reason for being so.

 

[StinkyPinky]

I'm going to try and sneak it on to my wife's laptop this weekend. (backing up first, of course ) She's hardly a power user. Im sure she doesn't even know windows 8 even exists yet. Anyone really think she's going to be pleasantly surprised?

Ha! Already ahead of you. I did it on my wifes laptop. She HATES it.

 

[LR6]

I have tried it on my old laptop and I do not like it. It really does seem like two interfaces tacked together and it is always switching between the two. I think that it would be great on a tablet, but not on the desktop.

I do not see myself has someone who hates change because in the past I have been quick to upgrade. I even liked vista(after SP1 or so). I like the ribbon. I think that it might be good for the masses that do little more than run one application at a time, but not for power users.

I really hope that this is not the future of computer interfaces.

 

[bdunosk]

When you have to follow up the word Vista with "yeah, but it wasn't *that* bad...", well...

The easiest fix I can think of is to let the user default programs to either launch in the desktop or as a Metro-full-screen (when available). This could be accomplished system-wide or on a program-by-program basis. Then put a 4th button in the top-right-corner of our windows to "Metro" that program, and have those 4 buttons re-appear with a mouse over.

I'm not in the market for a 2560x1600 to browse the internet full-screen at that resolution. Yes, I can launch things to the desktop as has been suggested here -- but if I have to jump through hoops to do it, I think Win8 will be received as well as Vista's interrogation every time you wanted to install a program or perform some other perceived security risk.

And in terms of "power users," my parents (who are borderline clueless with computers) activities include web browsing, performing basic Office-type functions and instant messenging. I shudder to think how often my phone is going to ring when they can't figure out how to see their instant messenger window because a Metro'd browser obscures it.

 

[Sheep]

I pulled an epic fail and installed it over my laptop's main OS. I thought I followed all the instructions to put it on a USB drive for installation on a new partition but I obviously missed something along the way. Fortunately I use my laptop as a dumb terminal and all my important data is stored elsewhere AND I have a Win7 disk image I can restore. Ugh.

I was hoping the new Metro stuff and the traditional interface would be integrated a little better, but it really does feel like two separate OSes bolted together. I agree with all the comments that Microsoft should have introduced Metro as a tablet-specific OS and THEN integrated the two together in the next iterations of Windows. Metro seems like it would be quite good for tablets, but it's not very user-friendly in its current form for a non-touch laptop or desktop.

 

[Deeko]

Hot corners. But realistically, if you're on a desktop with a decent monitor and lack a trackpad, fullscreen apps aren't really what you'll be using, so its kind of a moot point. Thats the other core problem with metro - its forcing full screen apps for systems that it isn't appropriate for.

You know that Metro supports snap, where you can have more than one app on the screen at once, right? I wouldn't be surprised to see that functionality expanded, either.

Anyway, of course a non-power-user isn't going to like it when you install it - they like change even less than you do. The thing is, people adapt to change faster than they'd like to admit. If everyone quite Facebook every time they said they would (which is basically every update), their subscription numbers would make MySpace look impressive.

 

[Annon2255]

I'm still on the fence. I'm getting used to everything, but I feel like they took too much away. On several apps I have problems finding how to change settings, or add more e-mail accounts to the mail app. Maybe I just need to mess around with it more, but I feel like it is too simplified. I'm going to try and keep using it, just so I can get used to all the changes.

 

[antef]

To those who have said that the Start menu search functionality is retained perfectly well in Windows 8, this is not true. In Win7 I can search "power options" and it will be the first result and I just hit Enter. In Win8, this returns No results because it defaults to only showing Apps results. I have to first hit Settings, and then choose Power Options. This takes at least two clicks, or on the keyboard hitting down-down-Enter, then Enter again. This is really a step backwards and I'm not sure why more people aren't mentioning it.

Overall, I get what they're trying to do here - leverage the Windows brand and OS across all devices and get a consistent look and feel going for all of them. Typically a single UI for several form factors doesn't work, but this could one day mostly work with a number of tweaks.

Other things that need attention: The hot-corners are very bad when using multiple monitors. Metro apps and desktop apps needs to live side-by-side in the multitasking sidebar. There needs to be quicker ways to get to Control Panel. Metro apps should not have their "app bars" hidden by default when I have a 24" screen with tons of empty space. This is just a sample of things.

 

[BD2003]

You know that Metro supports snap, where you can have more than one app on the screen at once, right? I wouldn't be surprised to see that functionality expanded, either.

Sure, but it's still a dumbed down version of what we've had for decades with windows. It's probably great for a tablet but its still a joke on a desktop.

Are we really setting the bar this low for a "power user"? A teenager who has two IM windows open, a music player and a browser at the same time already far surpasses what metro can handle at once. Its just such an incredible reduction in functionality, and to foist that onto desktops and laptops is just bananas. They're also doing a disservice to their tablet interface by even considering how to make it work with a keyboard and mouse.

There are plenty of cynical reasons to believe why they're doing this...I just think its a massive miscalculation to think they can actually get away with it.

 

[Deeko]

What teenager actually has all of those things visible at once? You can still run all of those applications at the same time. Facebook chat is built into Win8, and I think that's what the kids use these days (god I'm getting old). So your scenario could work just fine. Have the music player snapped to the left, browser as the main window. Notification pops up that you have an IM - click it, you're in messages. Send your message, mouse to the left, click your browser (or windows + Tab, or I think there's a metro-specific keyboard shortcut to go back a step, not unlike hitting the back button on your phone), and you're back to browsing.

 

[Global688]

A few things I've noticed over playing with this release for a few days. It took an hour to figure out where the shutdown button was. (hidden menu off to the right) Also they took away one of my most powerful tools (or hid it). I use the run commands quite a bit so getting used to not hitting <Windows Key> "Command" <Enter> is really bugging me.

One interesting thing I've come across is once I'm in the Metro menu I have to open up a menu like <windows + f> then it will allow you to reach the "desktop" otherwise your stuck on the Metro UI.

I've worked as a lan admin over the years and now do .net software development and one thing I can say is if I can't find it or figure it out the average user doesn't have a chance.

 

[BD2003]

What teenager actually has all of those things visible at once? You can still run all of those applications at the same time. Facebook chat is built into Win8, and I think that's what the kids use these days (god I'm getting old). So your scenario could work just fine. Have the music player snapped to the left, browser as the main window. Notification pops up that you have an IM - click it, you're in messages. Send your message, mouse to the left, click your browser (or windows + Tab, or I think there's a metro-specific keyboard shortcut to go back a step, not unlike hitting the back button on your phone), and you're back to browsing.

Me. In 1997. On a 133mhz pentium and 15 inch monitor, I could do that painlessly, all on one screen.

 

[Deeko]

Windws + D takes you to your desktop (same as before). Or there's a desktop icon on the Start menu. Windows + R opens a run menu. And you can still do Windows + type to open programs. Its not quite as in depth as it was in Win7, but that could still be coming....remember, this is a beta version after all.

So I've had it running on one of my personal laptops for the last few days, I'm installing it on one of my work desktops now. So that will be a bigger test of how functional it is.

 

[Deeko]

Me. In 1997. On a 133mhz pentium and 15 inch monitor, I could do that painlessly, all on one screen.

I thought we were talking about the average teenager, not an Anandtech user. And either way, I described a way that it will still work just fine. You could alternately snap messages to the left if you want your IMs to be visible all the time, and just windows + tab to music when you need to change songs. I know personally, when I'm listening to music on my computer, I don't feel it necessary to have the player visible at all times - I rarely interact with it.

 

[BD2003]

I thought we were talking about the average teenager, not an Anandtech user. And either way, I described a way that it will still work just fine. You could alternately snap messages to the left if you want your IMs to be visible all the time, and just windows + tab to music when you need to change songs. I know personally, when I'm listening to music on my computer, I don't feel it necessary to have the player visible at all times - I rarely interact with it.

You really think having two chat windows, a music player and a browser isn't something an average teenager would have? That's a super light usage scenario for a desktop.

Besides, even if you *could* make it work and get used to it...why would you want to? What advantage are you getting from this reduced functionality?

 

[Termie]

I installed Win8 CE on my circa-2004 WinXP laptop (Pentium M 1.73, 2GB, 120GB), and it's brought new life to the computer. The laptop had become barely usable with WinXP, taking forever to boot up and even to load web pages. I don't do anything important on my laptop (heck, it barely worked anyway), but now I can say it's actually fun to use. It's just so quick - clearly, MS was aware that they needed to make the interface snappy given that it would be used on low-power tablets.

I have to say that for a simple "consumer" experience, Win8 really clicks, and I would absolutely love it on a touchscreen laptop. All that being said, I just don't think this works for power users. It takes forever to find certain administrator functions, and the buried shut down button is just laughable. And the desktop is still a necessary evil - for instance, the computer switches to the desktop when loading an application downloaded from within metro IE. To me this is an obvious sign that there are two interfaces embedded in one here - the desktop, and Metro.

Honestly, I want this to work. We all love the desktop and all, but does anyone actually realize how useless it is? I mean, why is it that we think it's ok to boot up a computer and get basically a blank screen? Desktop gadgets were a first step in the right direction, but I really like what MS is trying to do here. They didn't remove the start menu - they made the whole desktop the start menu.

By the way, two observations:

(1) does anyone see the similarity between this and "Active Desktop", Microsoft's failed attempt at an interactive desktop back in 1997? Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Desktop




(2) does anyone see the irony in that Metro actually looks more like Windows 3.1 than Win7?

 

[reallyscrued]

All I wanted was flat thumbnails.

 

[arod]

You really think having two chat windows, a music player and a browser isn't something an average teenager would have? That's a super light usage scenario for a desktop.

Besides, even if you *could* make it work and get used to it...why would you want to? What advantage are you getting from this reduced functionality?

How is it reduced? Just because you can't see it doesn't mean its not working and when you need to be notified something you get the notification (or hit the volume button in the case of music playback to get the transport controls). It all still works you just aren't overloaded with information when you don't need to see it.

To those who have said that the Start menu search functionality is retained perfectly well in Windows 8, this is not true. In Win7 I can search "power options" and it will be the first result and I just hit Enter. In Win8, this returns No results because it defaults to only showing Apps results. I have to first hit Settings, and then choose Power Options. This takes at least two clicks, or on the keyboard hitting down-down-Enter, then Enter again. This is really a step backwards and I'm not sure why more people aren't mentioning it.

They have made it slightly harder to search but the amount of searching you can do there now more than makes up for it imo.... the reason they made the search granular is so they can allow apps to be searchable as well from that same menu (I think will be more apparent when more apps are there and searchable how powerful this will be... if they really let you have a universal search and bring the apps in it would be information overload to the extreme). Its 1 step backwards in ease of use and 100 steps forward being useful.

 

[BD2003]

How is it reduced? Just because you can't see it doesn't mean its not working and when you need to be notified something you get the notification (or hit the volume button in the case of music playback to get the transport controls). It all still works you just aren't overloaded with information when you don't need to see it.

Its reduced because I cant see it and have to fiddle around to do what I need to do. Don't take my example too literally. Substitute a calculator, notepad and word processor then. Now I've got to do ridiculous amounts of switching just to do really, really basic stuff.

 

[Deeko]

Its reduced because I cant see it and have to fiddle around to do what I need to do. Don't take my example too literally. Substitute a calculator, notepad and word processor then. Now I've got to do ridiculous amounts of switching just to do really, really basic stuff.

Those are all desktop apps in Win8, so it will be exactly the same as it is now. I know you're arguing for the future, when everything is a Metro app, but that won't be until future versions of Windows anyway - there's not much point in debating that landscape, because we have no idea what it will be.

 

[QueBert]

So pretty much the power users aren't liking it, and it's too confusing for a n00b to use. Looks like they hit the ball out of the park with this one. I tried to use it last night thinking like a person who doesn't know much about computers. Nothing seems intuitive, my music isn't in the "my music" directory, so maybe this made a difference. But there's no way in hell a person like my mom would have figured out how to add her music to the media player. I ended up having to go into explorer, right clicking on my music folder & selecting a "add to library" then I had to reboot for it to actually come up. There are quite a few programs that don't put your music in My Music. The fact someone who's been on computers since TRS-80's couldn't figure out how too (is it even possible?) add my music directly in the media player isn't a good sign. Had to do the same with my movies. Now if there is a way to add it directly from the app, I couldn't figure it out so I'd say they made it way difficult to accomplish. WAY TO GO MICROSOFT.

Nothing seems intuitive, nothing seems thought out. I'm not use to it so there's the learning curve, but things aren't just coming to me. In the past I could always figure out something new just based off being technical, even if it was different. I also don't like the live email tile as it was just scrolling my emails for all to see like it's the thing to do. I see this feature leading to a bad end for some cheating husbands lol.

 

[BD2003]

Those are all desktop apps in Win8, so it will be exactly the same as it is now. I know you're arguing for the future, when everything is a Metro app, but that won't be until future versions of Windows anyway - there's not much point in debating that landscape, because we have no idea what it will be.

So who is this for then? If its just a half assed attempt at the future, why screw things up now, instead of working at it until they have something that makes more sense for a PC? Aren't they doing a disservice to their future plans by putting out this poorly integrated hybrid?

 

[Deeko]

So who is this for then? If its just a half assed attempt at the future, why screw things up now, instead of working at it until they have something that makes more sense for a PC? Aren't they doing a disservice to their future plans by putting out this poorly integrated hybrid?

Did you use the developer preview? It has gotten considerably more keyboard/mouse friendly since then. I know its cool to say that they don't listen to users and are just doing whatever they feel like, but its obvious that they incorporated user feedback into this version - and this is still just the beta version. One can only imagine that this will continue to improve before its released. And even as it stands, its really not as bad as you make it out to be - it just takes getting used to. And also, if they think metro is the future, I don't see how integrating metro at a high level is doing a disservice to that plan.

 

[BD2003]

Did you use the developer preview? It has gotten considerably more keyboard/mouse friendly since then. I know its cool to say that they don't listen to users and are just doing whatever they feel like, but its obvious that they incorporated user feedback into this version - and this is still just the beta version. One can only imagine that this will continue to improve before its released. And even as it stands, its really not as bad as you make it out to be - it just takes getting used to. And also, if they think metro is the future, I don't see how integrating metro at a high level is doing a disservice to that plan.

No, I didn't use the dev preview. If this isnt the near final interface, they've got a lot of work ahead of them. But my misgivings about it go way, way deeper than any specific UI choice. I'm just not on board with their vision of the future of the desktop. I can see this being really fantastic on a tablet, but as far as the desktop goes, the most anyone has really said in favor of it is "it isn't that bad once you get used to it". That's been repeated over and over. I'm failing to see the reason *why* this is something I should get used to. No one had to say that about the taskbar. What's the upside? Where does this interface excel, what does it do better than a standard desktop?