10166: Tablet Mode still not good enough.

[Paolo Cardelli]

Things that must still improve / are still missing:

?Full Screen/Immersive Edge (auto-hiding and animated menu bar / address / favourites bar + Swipe Back/Forward, like Metro.IE11);
?Official support of TPLs (Tracking Protection Lists) inside Edge settings pane (no need for manual hack);
?More customization options both for Desktop Mode and Tablet Mode (independent auto-hide taskbar and Sync between devices for example);
?Better Multi-Display support (Tablet Mode on one, Desktop on one other for example);
?3+ Snappable Apps in Tablet mode.

Plus:

?Make "Auto-Hide Taskbar" setting independent between Tablet Mode and Desktop mode (with independent Sync between devices);
?Bring back gestures from the left and from the top by swiping between app or clossing in task manager by swiping and not only by X;
?Give the option to disable the hamburger menu at start screen in tablet mode;
?In notification/action center give the option to adjust brightness level from 0-100% just like charm bar;
?Give the option completely disable the taskbar at start screen in tablet mode;
?Fix the switching language on touch keyboard just like ios/android keyboard behavior;
?Enable Swipe Virtual Keyboard like Windows Mobile 10
?Enable interactive Live Tiles
?Import Metro.IE Web Live Tiles into Edge Web Live Tiles
?Improve snapping with mouse while in Tablet Mode.

Plus
?8.1 Start Screen will not transfer over to Windows 10. Not only does 10 make no effort to import my Start Screen, it no longer supports key features of it:
* Tile sets are limited to 1 large and 1 medium tile wide. Some of my groups are 3 large tiles wide
* Web site live tiles no longer show live RSS content consistently - some sites work, others don't
* Start backgrounds are no longer supported
* Start colors are not customizable -- they follow the accent color
?In tablet mode, opening a new app when two others are snapped erases the snap relationship requiring the user to re-snap apps (i.e. the app opens full screen instead of asking for a target pane like in 8.1).
?Resizable snap is only available in tablet mode, and tablet mode is not available when using multiple monitors
?Resizable snap and resizable desktop windows are now mutually exclusive. Allow option to resize desktop apps in tablet mode.
?8.1 allowed snapping from the task list but the task view that replaces it does not allow snapping. Snapping is also impossible from the task bar.
?In tablet mode, snap is limited to two panes per monitor -- down from four in 8.1.


Here's the official discussion thread on Microsoft Insiders forum: Windows 10 "Tablet Mode" Experience is much WORSE than Windows - Microsoft Community

10 is not bad, but right now 8.1 is still far superior for Tablet/Touch usage (for example: on Surfaces) for those reasons.
What do you think?
Have you tried 10 on Tablets? Are you going to upgrade yours on Day1?

 

[n7slc]

Re: 10166:Tablet Mode still not good enough.

You're spot on. I have a DV8P that I've tried the last several TPs on and until some MAJOR changes get made, it will remain on 8.1. That said, I am enjoying W10 on the desktop and using it exclusively on my work laptop.

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

Re: 10166:Tablet Mode still not good enough.

A few of the things you say are wrong with tablet mode aren't things OS level. :|

Until the fan issue with my MacBook Pro gets fixed, I'm using my Surface Pro 3 again and it has Windows 10 latest build and will be upgraded on day one if any other build or updates come out on the 29th.

 

[Angel Hernandez3]

I love Windows 10. I have had it in my main computer for months now. I installed it on my Surface 3 and wow! Did I hate it? I went back to Windows 8.1 and I hate Windows 8/8.1. The start screen is just awful on Windows 10. When holding the Surface 3 in portrait there are only 3 medium size tile columns. The snapping motions are not as smooth as Windows 8.1. They just ruined the experience for Surface.

*Single clap* Good job, Microsoft, only you can ruin things this way. Stupid me I keep being loyal.

 

[JamesDax]

Like what see. Looks great on my Omni 10.

 

[AndyCalling]

Lots of good points you have there, OP. W10 still needs a lot of work to reach W8 levels of touch capability, and Edge is still just a basic shell of a browser. It seems very much like W10 is being pushed out way too early. MS should have waited another year to give themselves chance to finish it off before release.

 

[Zapella Tiago]

I have been using the tablet mode on a Acer (10166) and I had no problems at all.

When I use as a "touch tablet" normally it's for quick tasks, social thing, emails and music. Barely snap two apps at the screen. If I need a lot of windows opened, heavy work, I use the keyboard/mouse and Windows 10 automatically switch to Desktop mode.

 

[anon(5327127)]

MS should have waited another year to give themselves chance to finish it off before release.

It's free. It's FREE. IT'S DARN WELL FREE! MS themselves have stated that it's a work in progress as Windows 10 is the last main version etc.

P.s. It's FREE and NO-ONE is forcing anyone to update.

 

[jhoff80]

Omg it's still a preview why are you complaining when this isn't the final product?!?!?! /s

I've said it many times before, in detailed feedback on many sites and most importantly in the feedback app, but Windows 10 is a downgrade in nearly every single aspect of tablet interaction. The start screen, snap, the app switcher, action center's quick actions vs charms, the taskbar, the handwriting input panel, Onedrive, Skype​, Edge, and worst of all the file picker. Worse is that it's clear that Microsoft just doesn't care. People have been complaining about tablet mode being terrible in these areas since we first saw Continuum. The top rated Continuum feedback has hundreds of votes and has been there for 6 months, and Microsoft has done nothing to improve in the areas mentioned. The way I like to describe it is that it feels like a whole bunch of new people came in for Windows 10 (because clearly anyone involved in 8 is long gone), and they tried to imitate the results without actually understanding the underlying logic.

Even in general though, ​it really feels like Microsoft's designers aren't paying attention to feedback at all. There are some major (and some of them would be simple to change) design/UI flaws in Windows 10, even unrelated to tablets. These things have been posted about since the beginning of the preview program... and yet they still exist today. It really feels like the designers are completely ignoring the feedback and doing their own thing.

 

[AndyCalling]

It's free. It's FREE. IT'S DARN WELL FREE! MS themselves have stated that it's a work in progress as Windows 10 is the last main version etc.

P.s. It's FREE and NO-ONE is forcing anyone to update.

But I want to update, I really do. The problem is W10 is such a Delorean.

 

[jhoff80]

But I want to update, I really do.

Have to agree entirely. I love so much about what they're doing. The Xbox streaming, desktop apps in the Store, DirectX 12, the improvements to recovery/restore, and so on and so forth. It's just the UI that I disagree with a lot of the changes to.​

 

[Zapella Tiago]

Omg it's still a preview why are you complaining when this isn't the final product?!?!?! /s

I've said it many times before, in detailed feedback on many sites and most importantly in the feedback app, but Windows 10 is a downgrade in nearly every single aspect of tablet interaction. The start screen, snap, the app switcher, action center's quick actions vs charms, the taskbar, the handwriting input panel, Onedrive, Skype​, Edge, and worst of all the file picker. Worse is that it's clear that Microsoft just doesn't care. People have been complaining about tablet mode being terrible in these areas since we first saw Continuum. The top rated Continuum feedback has hundreds of votes and has been there for 6 months, and Microsoft has done nothing to improve in the areas mentioned. The way I like to describe it is that it feels like a whole bunch of new people came in for Windows 10 (because clearly anyone involved in 8 is long gone), and they tried to imitate the results without actually understanding the underlying logic.

Even in general though, ​it really feels like Microsoft's designers aren't paying attention to feedback at all. There are some major (and some of them would be simple to change) design/UI flaws in Windows 10, even unrelated to tablets. These things have been posted about since the beginning of the preview program... and yet they still exist today. It really feels like the designers are completely ignoring the feedback and doing their own thing.

Well, most of the people are skipping Windows 8.1 because that interface sucks. I can't see a reason to use the same thing if nobody approved.

I really like Win8.1 though, but its suffering to snag Windows 7 average users. Even some OEM are still selling Win7 devices.

There's a reason we don't have a Windows 9. Definitely to move on, as far way as they can.

 

[jhoff80]

Well, most of the people are skipping Windows 8.1 because that interface sucks. I can't see a reason to use the same thing if nobody approved.

I really like Win8.1 though, but its suffering to snag Windows 7 average users. Even some OEM are still selling Win7 devices.

There's a reason we don't have a Windows 9. Definitely to move on, as far way as they can.

Of course, many people dislike Windows 8. Those who have tablets though are one group that decidedly does not. Seeing as Windows 10 has a dedicated tablet mode, most of us just want to see a good experience when tablet mode is enabled. I fully understand that the desktop needed to change for mass-acceptance, even if I disagree that it was necessary. When tablet mode is enabled, however, there is no reason that the experience couldn't work as well as Windows 8 did.​

 

[swanlee]

After all the feedback Tablet users have given over the last year I still can't believe MS is going to push Win 10 in the shape it is currently in for Tablets.

If you showed me Win 10 AND Win 8 on a tablet and I didn't know when each OS came out I would think Win 8 came out years after Win 10 and further refined the Tablet Experience that Win 10 started. It is completely backwards how MS scrapped all the good things Win 8 did on Tablets.

 

[AndyCalling]

What I can't understand is why MS are so tight lipped about their touch plans. It is easy to compile a basic list of the key things messed up re. touch use in W10 compared to W8. MS could simply let us know which things they intend to address with patches and which they are going to ignore so we can tell if it is best (according to personal usage patterns) to switch to W10 and expect it will get sorted or to skip W10 and stick with W8. We know where our red lines are, why can't MS tell us where theirs are?

All we can do is guess. If we have to guess, and we have a number of devices to commit, many of us will have to act conservatively and assume touch devices (and by extension even non-touch devices in the same personal ecosystem, to avoid fragmentation) are just not suited to W10.

That is hugely annoying as I'd love to switch to the latest OS with its back end improvements but I'm being stymied by MS's silence over their touch plans. As always, MS need a serious lesson in basic marketing.

 

[swanlee]

What I can't understand is why MS are so tight lipped about their touch plans. It is easy to compile a basic list of the key things messed up re. touch use in W10 compared to W8. MS could simply let us know which things they intend to address with patches and which they are going to ignore so we can tell if it is best (according to personal usage patterns) to switch to W10 and expect it will get sorted or to skip W10 and stick with W8. We know where our red lines are, why can't MS tell us where theirs are?

All we can do is guess. If we have to guess, and we have a number of devices to commit, many of us will have to act conservatively and assume touch devices (and by extension even non-touch devices in the same personal ecosystem, to avoid fragmentation) are just not suited to W10.

That is hugely annoying as I'd love to switch to the latest OS with its back end improvements but I'm being stymied by MS's silence over their touch plans. As always, MS need a serious lesson in basic marketing.

Yep it is frustrating to go through the official MS forms of feedback, Win 10 feedback app, user voice, Win insiders forum and get nothing but silence on Tablet mode future.

I got a reply from one of the of devs after I blasted every MS exec I could think of on Twitter about Tablet mode, it's just a shame to be punished cause you actually liked and learned how to use Win 8 just to have it all yanked away from you with a glorified Win 7 touch enabled OS.

https://twitter.com/Giffdev/status/621360861077090309

Devin Sinha ‏@Giffdev 37m37 minutes ago

@Silaslang @nvtweak I can't discuss any feature plans, but I'm assuring you that your feedback (and all insiders using the app) is received
View conversation
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[Joe920]

Yep it is frustrating to go through the official MS forms of feedback, Win 10 feedback app, user voice, Win insiders forum and get nothing but silence on Tablet mode future.

Right? Very disappointing. How hard would it be to just say 'hey guys, we're listening, stay tuned'. For now I'm going to sit back and see if they adapt the interaction modes in the coming year. That's right, I'm going to try to resist installing Windows 10! Wish me luck.