The biggest feature missing from Windows 10 [Could be a deal breaker]

[Lumious]

Placeholders for Onedrive are gone!

When I bought the Surface Pro 2 it came with 200GB of Onedrive (then Skydrive) space and two years free. Now I can't live without it. I have a laptop, desktop, Surface, and two windows phones all synced with Onedrive. All my documents, music, pictures, and videos are synced with all these devices. With some devices, like the Surface, I don't have everything available offline. So when I'm using my Surface (with 8.1 pro) I can see all the files that are available offline and available online only. Then by right clicking I can choose individual files to make available offline (download them) or entire folders.

With Windows 10 TP 10130 I cant do that at all. All I have is a place for Onedrive and nothing is visible. If I open Onedrive through the PC (and its not incredibly obvious) I can choose to sync folders. But the problem is I cant see individual files in those folders nor can I choose to download just one or multiple files. So if I want to have a file I have to download the ENTIRE folder which could contain hundreds of songs or files AND I wouldn't even be sure the file I was looking for was in THAT folder. Of course I could go to Onedrive.com and manually go through the folders and download files but that isn't as convenient and I want an option right in PC to do it.

If this is how the final version of Windows 10 is going to be It may be a very good reason to stay behind to windows 8.1 pro. I don't even mind 8.1, in fact I like it. It's faster, more stable, and easier to use (for me) than 7. I read the reason Microsoft is doing this, is because it was "confusing" to people not knowing what files/folders they actually had on their PC and which were only online. C'mon, really? It says right next to each file/folder available offline/online. Do they really have to dumb everything down to the point were it's almost patronizing? Same with the "full screen button" for the start menu. I thought that was a nice option to quickly toggle between the traditional start menu and full screen. But now they have removed that, reportedly because people were getting confused and thought they were entering tablet mode when clicking on the full screen button. Seriously? Tablet mode is right in the notifications area. So once again they removed a nice feature for the sake of "keeping it simple" and "not confusing people" I really don't want Microsoft to become apple and take away so much customization and modification possibilities.

Sorry for the rant but it is frustrating and if anyone knows something I don't about onedrive or what the final version will entail please share it. I love Microsoft and Win10 looks promising but I don't want to have to stay with 8.1 because some very important functionality was removed.

 

[ven07]

I don't think this is how the final version will be MS did say that they will make option available to mobile users to access onedrive files offline, of course that means downloading them to the phone or just the ones you need and knowing that they will sync. A date for this option wasn't given, but it would coincide with w10

 

[QuentinJ]

Missing placeholders is one of the main reason why I won't upgrade my Surface Pro on launch day. I have been an insider since the program was announced and will keep testing build on a second machine; but I feel that Windows 8.1 is the quickest OS for my Surface.
I will upgrade to W10 during the free upgrade period but I'll wait until the next major feature release (in the fall?). Windows 10 is great already but here are a few things I preferred in W8:
- Placeholders of course - I have >200GB on OneDrive, I may use only a few folders everyday, but it is very convenient to have access to everything if I am online (it is rare that I am not nowadays)
- The charms bar and charms on the type cover made everything much faster, it's a shame other OEM didn't integrate the charms to their keyboards
- The edge gestures are great to switch apps or quickly see the clock from anywhere (closing apps by swiping from the top is present in W10 but the app switcher isn't as smooth and I'd like the notification centre to display the time like W8)
- I like full screen apps - maybe I got used to them, but I like not having the taskbar on every screen as it feels no space is wasted
- Swipe/gesture navigation in IE - I hope this comes to Edge, I am now swiping on all browsers to try and go back or forward
- Corner navigation - made using a mouse instead of touch very fast

But I also like W10 and many of the new functions such as:
- Cortana - it'll be great to have her on my PC as well as my phone - she's a very good assistant and is great to help me stay organise and remember what I need to do
- Multiple desktops - easier to separate work and relaxation
- I don't miss the start menu but its return is appreciated for the majority of users out there who can't imagine a world without it (when W8 came out I compared it with when Facebook used to change layouts, everyone complained for a week and then they were over it and would actually miss the new layout once it was changed again) but I like that it includes live tiles - the ability o pin some tiles to the desktop would be great since the gadgets from W7 (esp weather for some people I know) have been discontinued
- Windows hello - great to see native support for fingerprint readers, and I can't wait to use new hardware for face detection or iris scanner (some people might find it creepy but I love signing into my Xbox One just by stepping in front of it and having it recognise me or other users)
- Xbox app - very well made, streaming games is awesome!
- insider program - I love testing features early

Anyways, back to the main topic of placeholders, I remember reading about the timeline for OneDrive and Windows 10 and that it would include another option for placeholders but that it wouldn't be ready in time for general availability.
I hope it comes soon and I'd also like to see a touch friendly version of File Explorer!

As for the full screen start menu button that was moved to settings, I liked it to easily switch between the two version of the start menu. However, I agree that this would likely lead to confusion with the majority of users, and I also appreciate the move to make the interface simpler and cleaner.

 

[DavidinCT]

My biggest missing feature from Windows 10 is Windows Media Center.... I use it every day to watch TV and movies.

Microsoft says that Windows 10 has all the same features as WIndows 7 and Windows 8.1, because of this I call it a lie...and BS