Preview for Developers same as final WP8.1 for general public ?

[MikeSo]

I remember telling all my friends at work the day WP8.1 dev preview released, now you guys can take your Android phones and throw them out cause they would be no match to my WP. Then as I kept browsing WPCentral and saw the number of bugs being reported I said to my self I'm gonna get beaten up badly now for issuing that statement.I myself didn't install the dev preview and told my friends who have a WP not to install it too as it isn't stable at the moment. I hope fixing the bugs doesn't take long or else we are heading in for a seriously delay for the final or GA release.

Right, Android has no bugs and no stability issues...
Really, this is a stable release. It has issues, like WP8 does and all OSs do. The new functions far outweigh the issues, except for Xbox Music. The main reason to hold off is Xbox Music, other than that, you're much better off with 8.1 than 8.0. IMO - and I DID install it.

 

[Marlon Bu]

which is supposed to be stable and reliable

WP 8.1 is stable and reliable. What are you talking about?

 

[meddyrainzo]

Installed WP8.1 DP as soon as it released and found it wonderful for a while. However, the more I use it, the more problems I find. Some of them are listed below:

1. Phone restarts itself, several times a day, without any apparent reason. I had this problem earlier, but GDR3 corrected it. Now it's back again. (My app list is the same as what it was before 8.1, so none of the apps are causing this)
2. Proximity sensor stops working frequently, and I have to restart the device to make it start working again. As in point 1, I had this problem earlier too, but GDR3 corrected it. Now it's back again.
3. I do some heavy work for like a minute, and then I go back to the start screen to find that the icons on the tiles are missing. It 2-3 seconds for them to appear again (as if they are refreshing).
4. Icons on the app list disappear frequently and take a second or two to reappear.
5. Photo hub is slow now. It always takes a second or two to load my albums (feels like I'm using a website, that takes a moment to download a page - doesn't feel like I'm accessing a local gallery). This was never an issue before WP8.1.
6. Updated XBox music is poor. It keeps on loading my collection endlessly. The experience seems so .. "restless". It feels as if I'm accessing music on the internet and not my locally stored collection. 3rd party apps no more show up in the music app. This music experience is way poorer that what we had on WP8. Video app isn't good either.
7. Phone hangs up a lot.
8. Cortana has suddenly started crashing. It now crashes, every single time, within a few seconds of starting.
9. My phone lies with a blank black screen as I write this. It's unresponsive and only a soft reset will get it to restart. I've already done a soft reset at least 5 times and a hard reset twice, since April 14, 2014.
10. Phone takes forever to restart.
11. Whatsapp works fine when I open it by tapping on the app icon, but it ALWAYS crashes when I open it from a toast notification.

I'm an avid fan of WP, and I know this is only a developer's preview, but what scares me is that it's the "almost final" release of WP8.1. I just hope Microsoft realizes these issues and irons all glitches out, and MS and Nokia bring out the remaining portion of the update soon. But it'll seem to be a long long wait, even longer and more tiring that my initial wait for WP8.1, 'coz for now, I'm stuck with this piece of BS.

I think why you're having these problems is because you don't have the Nokia firmware update to accompany the 8.1 update. I don't know but that's my guess. Things might get better as Joe said there would be a weekly update to the preview(maybe he meant the apps related to it)

 

[Euell Gibbons]

I think you guys may be missing an important point here. This release IS the final release, in the sense that at some point all (non-developer) WP8 phones will get this exact release pushed down through carriers. However, 2 important things to remember about this:

1. The preview for developers gives the app writers a chance to modify/optimize their apps to work better/more seamlessy with WP8.1. A lot of the complaints coming from people are due to to app issues, not OS issues. The general public will already have apps updated with these changes when WP8.1 goes live through the carriers.

2. Even though this is a finalized release, there is nothing to stop MS and the carriers from including a subsequent bug-fix release along with the current release. (Or very soon thereafter.) Plus, there will almost certainly be firmware updates that go along with the OS update that will also improve the user experience.

So let's not get our panties in too much of a bunch over the minor issues we are seeing. They are normal, and to be expected.

 

[TheRotfler]

wp 8.1 is stable and reliable. What are you talking about?

rotfl

 

[tk-093]

rotfl

Nope, he's correct. I'm actually happy to use my 928 again. Prior to that I had to be miserable with a 5S or a MotoX. Didn't really like either one, but more feature complete then 8.0.

 

[DaT Franchise]

What I find absolutely funny is alot of the people running around on here screaming its beta its beta were the same ones for months leading up to the preview release saying "its pretty much what you will see on the RMT it a finished product released early for developers to work on there apps" please by all means go back and look through all the questions people were asking about preview for developers.

 

[tk-093]

I feel like screaming reading this thread. THIS IS THE RELEASE VERSION OF WINDOWS PHONE 8.1!!!!

Update 3 was the same when it came out as Developer Preview was.
This is not a beta.
This is not a test version.

THIS IS THE VERSION OF WINDOWS PHONE 8.1 THAT IS INTENDED FOR THE PUBLIC AND THAT WILL BE ON THE FIRST 630/635/930 PHONES THAT COME OUT SHORTLY.

First off, if chatting about phones wants to make you scream you might want to unplug for a while and take a break from tech....

Secondly. You might be right, you might not. Just because some minor GDR update that was part of the last dev preview was the final version does not automatically make this the case. Either way, I could care less. Other then, I guess, the Xbox Music app having issues. (I scrapped the crappy music+video hub months ago with that app came out) I've enjoyed the hell out of this preview.

 

[tk-093]

What I find absolutely funny is alot of the people running around on here screaming its beta its beta were the same ones for months leading up to the preview release saying "its pretty much what you will see on the RMT it a finished product released early for developers to work on there apps" please by all means go back and look through all the questions people were asking about preview for developers.

Links?

 

[DaT Franchise]

As far as an official release I dont see that for some time. Idk about the rest of the world but here in the US att and Verizon aren't going to release an Ota of 8.1 till after the new Windows phones with 8.1 out of the box sit on the shelves for a while.

 

[DaT Franchise]

Links?

Search??

 

[tk-093]

Search??

I'm not the one making the silly claims. Figured you must have had proof and would like to share it. I'm just going to assume you don't. No worries.

 

[TheRotfler]

Nope, he's correct. I'm actually happy to use my 928 again.

ROTFL! Your WP8.1 experience is YOUR. Don't try to make it a worldwide valid rule.
Do you wanna try my L920? Or are you meaning I'm a liar?

 

[tk-093]

ROTFL! Your WP8.1 experience is YOUR. Don't try to make it a worldwide valid rule.
Do you wanna try my L920? Or are you meaning I'm a liar?

Are you really rolling on the floor laughing? Off topic, but that is probably one of the most abused terms on the 'net. It lost it's meaning about 20 years ago.

Anyway, yep. It's my experience, never said otherwise. Just like your experience is just yours and is not a "worldwide valid rule." Sorry your phone doesn't seem to be working.

 

[Lance_WPCentral]

Why do the OEM's take forever for the firmware....I think MS should have pressed the OEM's for a firmware update along with the release of WP8.1 Dev preview. In that way there wouldn't have been this much of a chaos like there is at the moment. It would have been much easier for MS to track issues that were not firmware related.

Also the final release will have to sit on the table until the firmware gets ready so all in all the firmware plays a big roll in the success of WP8.1

 

[Jaskys]

Why do the OEM's take forever for the firmware....I think MS should have pressed the OEM's for a firmware update along with the release of WP8.1 Dev preview. In that way there wouldn't have been this much of a chaos like there is at the moment. It would have been much easier for MS to track issues that were not firmware related.

Also the final release will have to sit on the table until the firmware gets ready so all in all the firmware plays a big roll in the success of WP8.1

They don't take forever, Nokia should have firmware ready by now for mid-high end phones, now they're waiting for full official release

 

[DaT Franchise]

I'm not the one making the silly claims. Figured you must have had proof and would like to share it. I'm just going to assume you don't. No worries.

Is this a beta program? Am I going to get beta bits that are full of bugs?
No. This is not a beta program. It is a way to get the same bits that the manufacturers get, ahead of whenever your carrier decides to release them. As was demonstrated when this program started, there were those who claimed it was not going to be the final release, and those who claimed it was. As it turned out, those who believed it to be the final release were correct. The build that was given to the Preview for Developers participants was the same build that the manufacturers got from Microsoft. There is no guarantee that this will always be the case, as it is always possible to find a bug and issue a late release, but this definitely is not a beta program. The software being delivered is meant to be ready for prime time.

 

[SpaceyO]

Are you really rolling on the floor laughing?

Of course he is. He's TheROTFLER. It's what he does. :smile:

 

[TheRotfler]

Are you really rolling on the floor laughing?

Check my nickname,

Off topic, but that is probably one of the most abused terms on the 'net. It lost it's meaning about 20 years ago.

Totally disagree. But I'm living an Eternal September, so...

 

[wuiyang]

no... there will be update soon