Back on 8.1...

[David Horn]

Been a staunch supporter of Windows 10 on my 930 all through the tech preview to date, but finally put 8.1 back on yesterday.

The result? Wish I'd done it weeks ago.

Stuff that 8.1 does better than 10:

* Start up
* Loading apps
* The homescreen
* The lockscreen shows the right stuff without lagging or going blank
* Taking photos quickly from standby
* Editing photos
* Attaching photos to email / messaging etc
* Usability and speed in general
* The keyboard doesn't suck
* The phone app works again
* The battery doesn't die inside 12 hours
* Data roaming works properly (on 10 my operator thinks I'm tethering all the time)
* The mail and calendar apps don't crash 30% of the time
* The app store works
* The music player works
* Backup works
* Some of the Lumia specialities work (the motion sense thing for calls etc)
* Text is readable on pretty much everything
* No Edge

What's better in 10:

* I quite like the narrower gaps between tiles and the thinner font.
* Conversely, for some sites Edge is quite good...
* The message tone
* Flashlight from the lock screen.

So as someone who's relentlessly flogged WP to friends, family members and co-workers I'm more than a little cheesed off that MS has taken something fantastic and, frankly, broken it. And yes, I read Daniel's anti-doom-mongering article a few weeks ago. I think he's wrong and that we'll see the mobile side of things shuttered within a year.

Right now Windows 10 has all the usability problems of Android but none of the apps (I managed to get one Project Astoria converted app to load but it's pointless without Google services).

 

[jojoe42]

Been a staunch supporter of Windows 10 on my 930 all through the tech preview to date, but finally put 8.1 back on yesterday.

The result? Wish I'd done it weeks ago.

Stuff that 8.1 does better than 10:

* Start up
* Loading apps
* The homescreen
* The lockscreen shows the right stuff without lagging or going blank
* Taking photos quickly from standby
* Editing photos
* Attaching photos to email / messaging etc
* Usability and speed in general
* The keyboard doesn't suck
* The phone app works again
* The battery doesn't die inside 12 hours
* Data roaming works properly (on 10 my operator thinks I'm tethering all the time)
* The mail and calendar apps don't crash 30% of the time
* The app store works
* The music player works
* Backup works
* Some of the Lumia specialities work (the motion sense thing for calls etc)
* Text is readable on pretty much everything
* No Edge

What's better in 10:

* I quite like the narrower gaps between tiles and the thinner font.
* Conversely, for some sites Edge is quite good...
* The message tone
* Flashlight from the lock screen.

So as someone who's relentlessly flogged WP to friends, family members and co-workers I'm more than a little cheesed off that MS has taken something fantastic and, frankly, broken it. And yes, I read Daniel's anti-doom-mongering article a few weeks ago. I think he's wrong and that we'll see the mobile side of things shuttered within a year.

Right now Windows 10 has all the usability problems of Android but none of the apps (I managed to get one Project Astoria converted app to load but it's pointless without Google services).

Amen to that, I switched back months ago and it's like a new phone again

 

[Asskickulater]

You do realize you were using a pre release OS right? And that almost all the things you said were better in windows 8.1 are referring to performance right?

 

[ShaneRay]

You do realize you were using a pre release OS right? And that almost all the things you said were better in windows 8.1 are referring to performance right?

You do make a point. But, only to a degree. The fact is that "it's pre release" is quickly becoming a poor excuse. We're getting fairly close to release and the progress I'd expect just isn't there. Microsoft has a lot of work to do if they don't want W10 Mobile released in an unfinished state. A lot of work.

I'm not entirely pessimistic, and hold out hope MS will bring it together quickly, but I'm not entirely convinced they can do it. The next couple of months should be interesting.

 

[Rose640]

You do make a point. But, only to a degree. The fact is that "it's pre release" is quickly becoming a poor excuse. We're getting fairly close to release and the progress I'd expect just isn't there. Microsoft has a lot of work to do if they don't want W10 Mobile released in an unfinished state. A lot of work.

I'm not entirely pessimistic, and hold out hope MS will bring it together quickly, but I'm not entirely convinced they can do it. The next couple of months should be interesting.

I think we're gonna get the older build that's been polished and stuff and we'll have the same 'Treshold' stuff here, so, it's never going to be finished.

 

[michail71]

Also, a people app that actually has real features for communicating with people and no round photos that bounce around.

Who determined that a profile photo rolling around is more important than history, notifications and quick access to new messages? Seriously, it's a big WTF is going on over there.

 

[Mark F24]

I installed Windows 10 preview on my PC and I remember that there were problems with the pre-release software that annoyed me, Bluetooth was basically useless and the browsers were locking up randomly, then July 29th came and the release has not been a disappointment for me.

I have gone back to 10 as there is a lot I like:

I like the transparent tiles.
I like the Outlook email app.
I like the messaging app.

Yes I have battery issues, and a bit of lag. I have an HTC One M8 and I admit except for the camera and color of the display it smokes my Lumia 1020.

I am not experiencing the problems of the original poster. I am looking forward to the final release and maybe a 950

 

[amcluesent]

I didn't think much of 10 Preview 10512 on my 930 until I did a hard reset, afterwards that version and 10536 have been fine. Probably a bit harder than 8.1 on battery

 

[Steve Thackery]

Stuff that 8.1 does better than 10:

I know I'm getting boring about this, but to add to your list of stuff 8.1 does better than 10, I would add that I think the whole user experience is better. I loved WP8.1's innovative design language, with it's clever use of typography, animations and graphics. It was genuinely something new and fresh and instantly made Android and iOS look like klunky old duffers from the last century.

I am so sad that MS have deliberately abandoned it in order to make it easier to port iOS and Android apps to W10M. Now we've ended up with a OS that is just Android-with-live-tiles. What a damn shame.

 

[Asskickulater]

You do make a point. But, only to a degree. The fact is that "it's pre release" is quickly becoming a poor excuse. We're getting fairly close to release and the progress I'd expect just isn't there. Microsoft has a lot of work to do if they don't want W10 Mobile released in an unfinished state. A lot of work.

I'm not entirely pessimistic, and hold out hope MS will bring it together quickly, but I'm not entirely convinced they can do it. The next couple of months should be interesting.

... there is atleast 1 more month of development left, that is plenty of time for bug fixing, also keep in mind, we are not getting the cutting edge newest builds of 10, we are getting rather old builds that are stable.

 

[Kram Sacul]

Also, a people app that actually has real features for communicating with people and no round photos that bounce around.

Who determined that a profile photo rolling around is more important than history, notifications and quick access to new messages? Seriously, it's a big WTF is going on over there.

Probably the same poor MS schlub that said "people are not squares" and then defended all the lame design decisions that somehow made it into Windows 10. I blame whatever crack they're smoking over there.

It's a pre-release, beta, alpha, preview, unfinished, coming soon.

 

[Qtweeder]

agreed, went back a few months ago, will now await RTM + few months

 

[tut1234]

After running 10 for over a week, it started to lag and become unstable. I think the Outlook calendar/mail app update killed memory. So, the day when I tapped on phone and it did not respond. Then I tapped messaging and it did not respond. That was the day I went back to 8.1 and things work great now. Going to wait for RTM.

 

[michail71]

Probably the same poor MS schlub that said "people are not squares" and then defended all the lame design decisions that somehow made it into Windows 10. I blame whatever crack they're smoking over there.

It's a pre-release, beta, alpha, preview, unfinished, coming soon.

We have much shared code with the desktop now. So the whole "it's beta" argument isn't as valid. I think it's just the phone side of things have been a second thought. Universal apps and continuum are great ideas but they have been executed at the expense of a great smartphone experience.

All the lag, battery issues and stuff that are getting complained about most are what will probably be fixed. Those aren't the problems I'm worried about.

But I'm sure store problems and loading issues will continue on after we're out of preview. They have just become part of the platform.

 

[neodk]

We have to stop calling the Insider builds pre-release software. Eventually the builds are going to be near RTM with nary a difference between the final build and what is released through the Insider app. I think the OS still has some maturing to do, perhaps the final bread and butter that will make this whole thing work is on its way in a future build due in the next week or so. Windows 8.1 is fine. Windows 10, on paper, will bring much to the ecosystem and help bridge the gap between mobile and desktop. If Windows 10 doesn't run as fast or as well as Windows 8.1 on devices currently advertised to support it officially, it will be quite disappointing.

 

[wizbit]

That's it. I'm off back to 8.1. The battery drain is too much for me.

I would have thought being on the fast ring, there would be more updates than this.

But as it's very unlikely to get a new build this week, I just can't wait any longer.

 

[Dusan Randj]

That's why I got back to 8.1, heavy battery drain. I can stand lag amd slowness, but no battery sucking.
And it's dissapointing that they aren't launching build faster.

 

[Asskickulater]

We have to stop calling the Insider builds pre-release software. Eventually the builds are going to be near RTM with nary a difference between the final build and what is released through the Insider app. I think the OS still has some maturing to do, perhaps the final bread and butter that will make this whole thing work is on its way in a future build due in the next week or so. Windows 8.1 is fine. Windows 10, on paper, will bring much to the ecosystem and help bridge the gap between mobile and desktop. If Windows 10 doesn't run as fast or as well as Windows 8.1 on devices currently advertised to support it officially, it will be quite disappointing.

No actually we don't, because they are in fact still pre release software, "close to release" is not "released" and until it is "released" it is in fact "pre release software" I seriously don't understand how its so hard for people to grasp what "pre release" software means, its pretty damn self explanatory =/

 

[wizbit]

I understand that these are pre release builds and will have bugs, but I went on the fast ring thinking that these bugs would be ironed out quicker. Buy to have to wait 3-4 weeks between builds is no good if you're running it on your only phone.

I'm now back on 8.1 and can't believe how much better it is and start to realise how many bugs 10 currently has.

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

I think I am going to rollback to 8.1 today. The os is mostly stable with little bugs and little crashing. Which is good. But the mail app I tragic and annoying me greatly. Groove music sucks so bad. So I am going back fo windows phone 8.1 soon