Are we simply smarter or are Win 8 reviewers...

[AngryNil]

"Power user" is usually code for "stubborn old fart who sticks to crappy methods and complains about change". Reviewers are typically of that sort, and in the case of many of these reviews, they just can't wait to get back to their beloved OS X. I would not be surprised if a large majority of these reviews come from diehard Mac users.

And this is why I think it would be fantastic if we could get impressions from anyone here who has used a Surface. I'm not interested in Joshua Topolsky's opinion of a Windows product. I'm interested in a Windows user's opinion of a Windows product.

And to be fair, I used to be one of those power users. I'd do things in mindbogglingly stupid ways because I didn't bother to learn about this feature or click on that button. But I think it's important for those who consider themselves technologically literate to constantly reassess their usage scenarios and be open to new things.

From the communities I frequent, a lot of Windows 8 criticism comes from the Android camp. I don't think it's surprising that the people who have the mobile OS closest to a desktop OS are the ones complaining. They just can't accept change.

That's multiple reviewers saying that the cameras are awful, the apps crash, the OS is laggy when you open a lot of apps and the app selection is pitiful. Aren't those facts? Yeah let's call Josh Topolsky a liar when he said the kickstand scratched his wooden table. Yeah maybe a hard metal kickstand wasn't the best idea ever.

Enjoy your ban.

 

[squire777]

The majority of complainers are as you said, those picky people that don't like any sort of change. Just because it takes an extra click to get to the desktop everyone started flipping out when the preview versions came out. I personally don't see what is so hard about the OS considering everything is in big bright coloured tiles. The gestures to open and close things, and to jump back and forth to the desktop might take a day or two to get a hang of, but it's not really as hard as some are making it out to be.

I don't mean to be sexist, but I installed a pre-release version on my ladyfriend's desktop a while ago since she wanted to see what the fuss about Win 8 was. She isn't exactly too tech savvy (i mean she can use a Mac or Windows, iphone etc) and she liked the interface and had no issues aside from the fact that it was different. I think the average user will learn to love it when they get a hang of it.

 

[manicottiK]

WP7 user/developer review of Surface

it would be fantastic if we could get impressions from anyone here who has used a Surface.

OK, here's mine. Note, most of this was written last night in response to a question from our Microsoft rep. I've had the Surface since about 9am on Friday, but spent most of Friday doing the same 10-minute demo for a stream of people who kept walking in to my office to see the device. Here's what I told MS:

Surface is well built, except for the power connector. The reviewers complaining about this are right. The power connected magnets are too weak and the 22 degree side bezel makes it awkward to attach the connected because people expect sides of things to be perpendicular to the front. (Of course, the latter will get better with user experience, as I think it already is with me.)

Most of the kickstand complaints that I’ve read seem off-base. I have been able to open it from the left, right, and bottom and I don’t have big fingernails; obviously its easiest to open from the left, where the case has a cutout. I do wonder if the 78 degree tilt from horizontal makes this device seem to laptop-ish compared to the nearly flat angle iPad users can get from their covers. In meetings at the office, iPads are unobtrusive and don't block views; Surface will.

The device is unacceptably slow. It takes seconds (2-5) to open most apps, which is slower than on my Windows Phone. In some apps (or under some circumstances, I’m not really sure which), some UI elements don't always visibly react instantly (like the tilt effect on WP7) when touched, leading you to tap or pull them again, only to have both actions eventually take place (like selecting and then unselecting an item in a list).

The touch keyboard is far better than I expected. It worked well very quickly for me. The keyboard connection is amazing – it seats well every time with little effort to position it and it holds on for dear life. I enjoyed giving some colleagues worried looks when I held the keyboard, dangled the Surface, and tried to shake it loose. (My other hand was ready to catch it, just in case.)

Unless there’s some magic setting that I’ve missed, the cameras are the worst low resolution devices that I’ve seen in years. Both top out at 1.0 mega pixels. What was MS thinking here!?

Positioning cursor is much harder than on phone. The tap-and-hold to get the I-beam cursor is not available and tapping seems to only place the cursor at word boundaries, forcing the use of arrow keys. Handling auto-correct is also harder than on the phones as I haven’t yet seen a way to tap on a word after the fact to change which auto-correct suggestion I really want.

Some of the apps are gorgeous, other exploit the UI and layout less well, and some were clearly rushed for opening day. I expect app quality to go up as developers get a bit more time and experience under their belts. Those who executed well, really took advantage of the 16:9 aspect ratio and made reading work well. One colleague suggested that widescreen with horizontal scrolling was a more natural way to read than what we do now with long vertical pages on computers. I consider that high praise.

There’s no street view in the maps app. (Apple must be thrilled.)

I don’t like having a non-USB charger, but understand and agree with the logic behind the decision. Still, I wish there were a way to do a slow, overnight recharge via USB, if that's all I wanted.

Finally, whoever suggested and whoever greenlighted the name “RT” should be terminated. It just doesn't give any sense of what it's about. Why not something like Windows Light? Then, they could call the UI “Lightweight Design” (since they need to replace "Metro") and call the programs “Lightweight apps” instead of “Windows Store apps.” Light (or ”Lite”) gives the sense of less complicated apps, more content and less chrome, and lighter-weight devices.

I want to like it more, but it’s currently just a curiosity object. [It was bought for testing our app with a live ARM device.] I am looking forward to Surface Pro and to seeing some of the Atom-powered devices.

 

[Winterfang]

Metro is a very confusing interface. Even a seasoned Windows Phone user like me, had a hard time using the new outlook layout.

 

[cgk]

Metro is a very confusing interface. Even a seasoned Windows Phone user like me, had a hard time using the new outlook layout.

Metro makes sense but it makes more sense on a touch device. The most jarring thing for me is when you drop out to the desktop - I can see the enterprise benefits of this but to a general consumer it's just plain odd.

 

[brmiller1976]

I'm not interested in Joshua Topolsky's opinion of a Windows product. I'm interested in a Windows user's opinion of a Windows product.

That is a HUGE point and a big sticking point for me.

Why would I care about what a die-hard Apple fan thinks of Windows? It's as irrelevant as Paul Thurrot's take on Mac OS X is to a Mac guy. Yet Topolsky is presented as some "god of tech" rather than someone who is qualified to cover only Apple's part of the tech space (which really is the situation).

 

[sanien]

Much easier

I would be ashamed to call myself a power user if not finding a start button frustrates me. Or finding control panel without using brain by just starting to type "C.O.N.T.R.... " on the tiles hub will automagically show me CONTROL PANEL in the list of apps!

Just go to the bottom where the start-botton used to be and right click. All you advanced functions are there much easier than ever b4 :-D

 

[GreenScrew]

Talk about learning curve, you should see me trying to get around on a Mac which everyone claims to be so friendly and easy to use. Anything different has a learning curve, but I can guarantee the learning curve going from XP/Vista/7 to Windows 8 is nothing compared to the curve going from any of those to Mac O/S X.

I've been using 8 for over a year now, so I don't recall how much of a challenge it was originally. But it doesn't seem very drastic to me. I'm not sure if they have it or not, but a very short tutorial from MS at start up that covers the basic changes would go a long way to help new adopters transition. Wouldn't take much, just explaining the Start Screen use, and new navigation (touch and conventional). Seems like a 5 minute tutorial and anyone could be using it efficiently.

 

[graigsmith]

the part that's weird is that there's a desktop side and a metro side. that's what gets a little odd. and having to right click so I can see the search bar in the metro internet explorer.

 

[JKing106]

It's hilarious that anyone using a point and click UI would call themselves a "power user." What does that even mean? That you're not a 69 year old grandma that's confused by a dumb cell phone? That you know how to use uTorrent to get 'GAEMZ" and unreleased movies? A ******** blind chimp can use any current GUI.

 

[snowmutt]

We are smarter. Period, end of story.

In two years, with 90% of PC's/laptops being Win 8, tablets selling at about 50% with Win RT and Pro, and WP8 being accepted and growing, this conversation will seem silly.

 

[alaskanjackson]

OK, here's mine. Note, most of this was written last night in response to a question from our Microsoft rep. I've had the Surface since about 9am on Friday, but spent most of Friday doing the same 10-minute demo for a stream of people who kept walking in to my office to see the device. Here's what I told MS:

Surface is well built, except for the power connector. The reviewers complaining about this are right. The power connected magnets are too weak and the 22 degree side bezel makes it awkward to attach the connected because people expect sides of things to be perpendicular to the front. (Of course, the latter will get better with user experience, as I think it already is with me.)

Most of the kickstand complaints that I’ve read seem off-base. I have been able to open it from the left, right, and bottom and I don’t have big fingernails; obviously its easiest to open from the left, where the case has a cutout. I do wonder if the 78 degree tilt from horizontal makes this device seem to laptop-ish compared to the nearly flat angle iPad users can get from their covers. In meetings at the office, iPads are unobtrusive and don't block views; Surface will.

The device is unacceptably slow. It takes seconds (2-5) to open most apps, which is slower than on my Windows Phone. In some apps (or under some circumstances, I’m not really sure which), some UI elements don't always visibly react instantly (like the tilt effect on WP7) when touched, leading you to tap or pull them again, only to have both actions eventually take place (like selecting and then unselecting an item in a list).

The touch keyboard is far better than I expected. It worked well very quickly for me. The keyboard connection is amazing – it seats well every time with little effort to position it and it holds on for dear life. I enjoyed giving some colleagues worried looks when I held the keyboard, dangled the Surface, and tried to shake it loose. (My other hand was ready to catch it, just in case.)

Unless there’s some magic setting that I’ve missed, the cameras are the worst low resolution devices that I’ve seen in years. Both top out at 1.0 mega pixels. What was MS thinking here!?

Positioning cursor is much harder than on phone. The tap-and-hold to get the I-beam cursor is not available and tapping seems to only place the cursor at word boundaries, forcing the use of arrow keys. Handling auto-correct is also harder than on the phones as I haven’t yet seen a way to tap on a word after the fact to change which auto-correct suggestion I really want.

Some of the apps are gorgeous, other exploit the UI and layout less well, and some were clearly rushed for opening day. I expect app quality to go up as developers get a bit more time and experience under their belts. Those who executed well, really took advantage of the 16:9 aspect ratio and made reading work well. One colleague suggested that widescreen with horizontal scrolling was a more natural way to read than what we do now with long vertical pages on computers. I consider that high praise.

There’s no street view in the maps app. (Apple must be thrilled.)

I don’t like having a non-USB charger, but understand and agree with the logic behind the decision. Still, I wish there were a way to do a slow, overnight recharge via USB, if that's all I wanted.

Finally, whoever suggested and whoever greenlighted the name “RT” should be terminated. It just doesn't give any sense of what it's about. Why not something like Windows Light? Then, they could call the UI “Lightweight Design” (since they need to replace "Metro") and call the programs “Lightweight apps” instead of “Windows Store apps.” Light (or ”Lite”) gives the sense of less complicated apps, more content and less chrome, and lighter-weight devices.

I want to like it more, but it’s currently just a curiosity object. [It was bought for testing our app with a live ARM device.] I am looking forward to Surface Pro and to seeing some of the Atom-powered devices.

Wow! An articulate, objective review? After what seems to be a avalanche of half-baked reviews yours was a refreshing read. I purchased the RT version for my wife and I to play with then pass on to the kids when the pro version is available. It would be nice if you could post your thoughts in a few weeks? Thanks!

 

[JKing106]

Microsoft will release a service pack enabling an option to disable Metro, and re-enabling the old "Start" menu within 6 months. Guaranteed. Metro is great on phones and tablets, where it belongs. On the desktop, it's a an annoyance.

 

[JKing106]

Finally, whoever suggested and whoever greenlighted the name “RT” should be terminated. It just doesn't give any sense of what it's about. Why not something like Windows Light? Then, they could call the UI “Lightweight Design” (since they need to replace "Metro") and call the programs “Lightweight apps” instead of “Windows Store apps.” Light (or ”Lite”) gives the sense of less complicated apps, more content and less chrome, and lighter-weight devices

+10

Microsoft should name the different versions of Windows 8 according to what device they're intended to live on, and stop this "unified Windows" nonsense. Separate the mobile and desktop OS, as Apple had the foresight to do.

My suggestion?

1) Windows 8 Touch - ARM tablet and phone apps, obviously.
2) Windows 8 Desktop - Everything else. None of the "Premium, Pro, Ultimate" money grubbing crap they've been pulling for years. Stop it. Make "Ultimate" the standard consumer OS. Offer the option to disable Metro, and re-enable the classic "Start" menu.
3) Windows 8 Server - No explanation needed.

 

[sconrad308]

Microsoft will release a service pack enabling an option to disable Metro, and re-enabling the old "Start" menu within 6 months. Guaranteed. Metro is great on phones and tablets, where it belongs. On the desktop, it's a an annoyance.

I disagree with this. I love the Metro on the start screen. Live tiles automatically updated and am easy way to launch all the apps.

 

[blehblehbleh]

the part that's weird is that there's a desktop side and a metro side. that's what gets a little odd. and having to right click so I can see the search bar in the metro internet explorer.

Out of curiosity would you mind explaining your thought process on this? I always read comments from some about Win 8 on how, like you said, weird it is having a desktop side and a Start screen. Some even call it "jarring." I'd like to understand the thinking behind this, like how do you or people with similar comments see this conceptually?

Thanks.

 

[JKing106]

Every idiosyncrasy and annoyance with Windows 8 explained, in detail:

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0fsyb-ttcw&feature=watch-vrec[/YT]

 

[blehblehbleh]

Every idiosyncrasy and annoyance with Windows 8 explained, in detail:

I honestly hope you weren't dead serious in posting that. I understand things being confusing if one were a user with absolutely no background knowledge, so some of their gripes have some merit, but other than that I feel dumber for watching it.

It also doesn't really explain why it's so conceptually weird. I get the idea how it may feel weird because there isn't any kind of application persistence such as between browsers open in both the desktop and start screen. But if a person knows before hand that windows 8 has live tiles and the functionality live tiles present, I don't see how it can be all that weird. I suppose in the absence of such knowledge I can get a slight understanding, though I don't think I fully grasp it.

 

[sconrad308]

Every idiosyncrasy and annoyance with Windows 8 explained, in detail:

Click to view quoted video

I watched just the first little bit and realized they are just going to hate so I turned it off. Seriously, it isn't that hard to use and I can't believe they can't even figure out how to close apps. Guess they aren't as smart as they would like people to believe.

 

[seanpr]

Right. "Mac Power User" or "iOS Power User" is a downright oxymoron.

This.


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