thoughts on Windows 8 dev preview?

bear_lx

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what did you guys think of the new windows 8 developers preview? i watched the whole BUILD show and was blown away with all the new features !!! especially the new devices coming! particularly that samsung slate tablet! the ability to instantly awitch from classic win7 to win8 tiles, amazing... i have been waiting on buying a tablet just for this reason, i knew MS would release something that blew the ipad and android tablets away. this will certainly complete my eco system!
 

iCaptnSpaulding

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I just installed the Developer Preview on my laptop and love it!!

Not sure on not having a 'close' button on the apps/tiles though as I don't know how much memory they use in the background ie I opened around 4 inbuilt games then went to weather and IE10, and they were all still open when you press Alt+Tab or go to the left hand side of the screen and click on the previous screen.

It's really nice and fluid though and I especially like IE10 - reminds me a lot of IE on Windows Phone.

I can definitely see how Windows 8 will be synced/integrated with Windows Phone and Xbox Live's new dashboard. Glad I chose a Windows Phone now and you know it's going to be future proof alongside Windows 8 (sharing Apps, streaming, remote connection(?))

I don't want to remove it off my laptop now but it's quite limited and I need my Windows 7 back for work :(
 

monotok

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"I don't want to remove it off my laptop now but it's quite limited and I need my Windows 7 back for work"

How about installing it in a virtual machine?
 

Pronk

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I dunno. I like the tile interface a lot, but to have a traditional desktop as an app seems a bit schizophrenic. I'm not entirely convinced a variant of a desktop OS rather than a variant of a mobile OS is the way to go for a lightweight, battery friendly tablet OS. And some reports have said that the Samsung demo tablets were running with fans flat out. Unsurprising for an unoptimised OS, but that'll need tightening up or battery life will be abysmal, and it'll be interesting to see how it runs on more frugal ARM chips.

Certainly looking forward to seeing how it develops though!
 

ajmstilt

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Just wish I could get Zune to work on it.

Other than that... it's clearly a pre-beta build. I like the metro UI start screen for casual use, but I'm not sold on it's usefulness for heavy multi-window multi-app tasks.

Oh also, best feature: full OS spellcheck.
 

Exomondo

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How about installing it in a virtual machine?

You can't install the tools/extensions so you don't get the fluid performance as you have no hardware acceleration. You can dual boot though.

This is going to be amazing on a tablet, not sure about on a mouse/keyboard PC though.
 

Pronk

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Hmm. The more I look at this, the more I'm actually starting to think things might not be quite as rosy as they look. Apparently there'll be a split app store between ARM/x86 apps, rumours that the ARM versions won't be able to run the desktop OS properly because of limited horsepower, and the issue of cost. A full-on Windows 8 tablet is basically a small, portable PC with a lot more hardware than a normal slate (those fans, for instance - which themselves will need more juice, so more expensive, higher cacpacity batteries). More hardware means more cost, so non-ARM W8 tablets could be expensive, whereas the cheaper ARM tablets/netbooks might be hindered by performance issues (ARM W8 hardware has apparently been very locked down at BUILD).

And there's one big issue that I suspect a lot of people on here won't be bothered by as we're all quite tech savvy, but a lot of general users will be - confusion. I write a tech column for a newsletter for an organisation where a lot of the members aren't that tech savvy and/or are a bit older on average, and in my latest column I wrote about Windows 8. The response? A lot of people flat-out hated it. They hated the idea of touch being the default, hated the idea of essentially two faces for some programs and two ways to do everything, hated the idea of having to learn an entirely new way of interacting with a desktop. Hated the idea that so soon after Windows 7 (which was so soon after Vista) there was another major upheaval coming. And they REALLY hated the idea that if they owned a Windows PC they might have to buy the same apps again for a Windows 8 tablet if it was on the "wrong" architecture.

I'm seriously hoping MS has thought of concerns like these and has plans to tighten things up a *lot* - especially in the x86/ARM area. Because I have to admit one email I had from one reader summed it up pretty well "I don't get it. Why are they forcing full Windows on to a tablet? If I want a small computer I'll buy a laptop or a netbook. I can have one of those now, and very cheap. Having a full computer isn't what I want a tablet for. And if I have proper work to do, I don't want a desktop PC that thinks it's a tablet either."

I think that one phrase, "I don't get it", could come back to haunt them if they don't 100% nail this on price, performance, compatibility and most of all usability.
 

theefman

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Hmm. The more I look at this, the more I'm actually starting to think things might not be quite as rosy as they look. Apparently there'll be a split app store between ARM/x86 apps, rumours that the ARM versions won't be able to run the desktop OS properly because of limited horsepower, and the issue of cost. A full-on Windows 8 tablet is basically a small, portable PC with a lot more hardware than a normal slate (those fans, for instance - which themselves will need more juice, so more expensive, higher cacpacity batteries). More hardware means more cost, so non-ARM W8 tablets could be expensive, whereas the cheaper ARM tablets/netbooks might be hindered by performance issues (ARM W8 hardware has apparently been very locked down at BUILD).

And there's one big issue that I suspect a lot of people on here won't be bothered by as we're all quite tech savvy, but a lot of general users will be - confusion. I write a tech column for a newsletter for an organisation where a lot of the members aren't that tech savvy and/or are a bit older on average, and in my latest column I wrote about Windows 8. The response? A lot of people flat-out hated it. They hated the idea of touch being the default, hated the idea of essentially two faces for some programs and two ways to do everything, hated the idea of having to learn an entirely new way of interacting with a desktop. Hated the idea that so soon after Windows 7 (which was so soon after Vista) there was another major upheaval coming. And they REALLY hated the idea that if they owned a Windows PC they might have to buy the same apps again for a Windows 8 tablet if it was on the "wrong" architecture.

I'm seriously hoping MS has thought of concerns like these and has plans to tighten things up a *lot* - especially in the x86/ARM area. Because I have to admit one email I had from one reader summed it up pretty well "I don't get it. Why are they forcing full Windows on to a tablet? If I want a small computer I'll buy a laptop or a netbook. I can have one of those now, and very cheap. Having a full computer isn't what I want a tablet for. And if I have proper work to do, I don't want a desktop PC that thinks it's a tablet either."

I think that one phrase, "I don't get it", could come back to haunt them if they don't 100% nail this on price, performance, compatibility and most of all usability.

Let me guess: none of those people hated having an ipad that they had to learn to use and that does none of the things they did on their desktops, right? Or that the only way to use an ipad is through touch, while with W8 you can use a keyboard and can use the classic desktop and are not actually required to buy anything twice and most importantly are NOT required to upgrade to W8 if they dont want to?

Sounds like a classic case of lack of information all round and the typical resistance to change is whats going on here, especially since no one has used the final product yet.
 

jalb

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And there's one big issue that I suspect a lot of people on here won't be bothered by as I write a tech column for a newsletter for an organisation where a lot of the members aren't that tech savvy and/or are a bit older on average, and in my latest column I wrote about Windows 8. The response? A lot of people flat-out hated it.

In my experience, you could have written about *anything* regarding change of any sort, and a lot of people would flat out hate it.
 

Pronk

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Let me guess: none of those people hated having an ipad that they had to learn to use and that does none of the things they did on their desktops, right? Or that the only way to use an ipad is through touch, while with W8 you can use a keyboard and can use the classic desktop and are not actually required to buy anything twice and most importantly are NOT required to upgrade to W8 if they dont want to?

Sounds like a classic case of lack of information all round and the typical resistance to change is whats going on here, especially since no one has used the final product yet.

Absolutely wrong. These are all business users who've been windows users for many, many years. Most don't have tablets of any description, and many don't have smartphones either. These are ordinary people who just have a computer to do work on, who like to keep up to date but don't want or need to be bleeding edge - the sort of people that make up a large portion of the Windows user base. They don't need a touch/touch style interface, but W8 will have one whether they like it or not. The W8 interface drops back to the Metro UI on occasions automatically, and some programs will doubtless make use of it as default. And of course older W7 programs, though entirely compatible, when used on a touchscreen device will have no touch UI elements. It's not resistance to change so much as a straightforward lack of understanding as to why the change is even being made when it seems on face value to make things more confusing and awkward (and suspicion that one of the driving forces is the desire to sell new hardware and new versions of software - again).

This is precisely what I meant by people here not being bothered by this because we're all reasonably tech savvy, but regular joe users not getting it at all at this stage. The overwhelming response I got was "there's no need for this", so what I'm hoping is (because personally I can see the potential in W8 because it's new and interesting so I hope it succeeds - and I'm a die-hard Mac user) that MS aren't pushing a one OS ecosystem too hard for the sake of it. One thing I can see though is that they're going to have to get their marketing bang on for this, otherwise a lot of people will be very bewildered as to what it is they're buying, what will run on it and how it works.
 

Reflexx

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I just installed the Developer Preview on my laptop and love it!!

Not sure on not having a 'close' button on the apps/tiles though as I don't know how much memory they use in the background ie I opened around 4 inbuilt games then went to weather and IE10, and they were all still open when you press Alt+Tab or go to the left hand side of the screen and click on the previous screen.

Metro Style apps are automatically suspended when not in use.
And the OS itself, with no apps running, is using under 300 mb or RAM.
 

Reflexx

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I dunno. I like the tile interface a lot, but to have a traditional desktop as an app seems a bit schizophrenic. I'm not entirely convinced a variant of a desktop OS rather than a variant of a mobile OS is the way to go for a lightweight, battery friendly tablet OS.

I thought the same thing at first. Then later I understood why it was done.

Desktop = create
Metro = consume

The Desktop app is what it implies. It's for the Desktop and all of your traditional desktop applications would likely run inside this. It's basically your work computer. This is where you create data using all the programs that you're used to. These programs have access to core OS functions and can be very powerful.

Everything else is mainly focused on touch and likely targeted more towards consuming rather than creating. That's not to say that you can't create. But the apps on this side are much more limited than the ones on the Desktop side. But those limitations allow for snappy response time and a very integrated feel.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if Windows 8 on ARM doesn't have a Desktop mode at all.

And some reports have said that the Samsung demo tablets were running with fans flat out. Unsurprising for an unoptimised OS, but that'll need tightening up or battery life will be abysmal, and it'll be interesting to see how it runs on more frugal ARM chips.

Also keep in mind that these demo tablets weren't made for Windows 8. They are Windows 7 tablets that Samsung is going to be selling in a few weeks. They just happened to have all the sensors that would take advantage of Windows 8, so they were chosen as the dev demo device.

Another thing to note is that the Samsung tablets are full computers. They are laptops without a keyboard.
 

Reflexx

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Just wish I could get Zune to work on it.

Other than that... it's clearly a pre-beta build. I like the metro UI start screen for casual use, but I'm not sold on it's usefulness for heavy multi-window multi-app tasks.

Oh also, best feature: full OS spellcheck.

Metro UI is single screen.

For real work you'd use the Desktop application.
 

Reflexx

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Hmm. The more I look at this, the more I'm actually starting to think things might not be quite as rosy as they look. Apparently there'll be a split app store between ARM/x86 apps,

You're a little off. There will be 2 separate types of applications sold. But they aren't ARM/x86. But more Metro vs Desktop.

Desktop apps are the x86 apps. They are what you may be running on Windows 7 right now. They are sold in a traditional way, and with an option of an app store. In that app store, MS gets no % of revenue from the sale. The applications can be sold in an app store, 3rd party website, real life store, etc. Just like you traditionally buy computer programs. They cannot be run on ARM processors because they were specifically programmed for x86 chips.

The Metro apps are apps that are created using the WinRT API. That WinRT API allows any apps written in it to work on any Windows 8 compatible device running the Metro UI. This app store will be more like the "app stores" that you may be used to. With MS getting a % of revenue per sale.

rumours that the ARM versions won't be able to run the desktop OS properly because of limited horsepower, and the issue of cost.

It's not that. It's because ARM processor architecture is fundamentally different than x86/x64 architecture.

ARM likely won't have the Desktop app at all. Or if they do, it will be very limited since it won't be backwards compatible.

A full-on Windows 8 tablet is basically a small, portable PC with a lot more hardware than a normal slate (those fans, for instance - which themselves will need more juice, so more expensive, higher cacpacity batteries).

A "full on" Windows 8 tablet is basically a laptop without a keyboard attached. Heck, there will still be laptops sold too. Someone who buys one of these is the same person that would normally buy a laptop.

But not all tablets are "full on". Many will be ARM based. And these will be no different than any other ARM based tablets you see around.

More hardware means more cost, so non-ARM W8 tablets could be expensive, whereas the cheaper ARM tablets/netbooks might be hindered by performance issues (ARM W8 hardware has apparently been very locked down at BUILD).

They won't be any different in cost than any other ARM tablet you see with the required sensors. ARM tablets are already pretty expensive. Well, compared to cheap netbooks.

And btw... Windows 8 will run on a cheap Netbook with an Atom processor and 1 GB or RAM. The OS uses under 300 mb of RAM when on. Compare that to Windows 7 which uses around 400 mb.

And there's one big issue that I suspect a lot of people on here won't be bothered by as we're all quite tech savvy, but a lot of general users will be - confusion. I write a tech column for a newsletter for an organisation where a lot of the members aren't that tech savvy and/or are a bit older on average, and in my latest column I wrote about Windows 8. The response? A lot of people flat-out hated it. They hated the idea of touch being the default, hated the idea of essentially two faces for some programs and two ways to do everything, hated the idea of having to learn an entirely new way of interacting with a desktop. Hated the idea that so soon after Windows 7 (which was so soon after Vista) there was another major upheaval coming. And they REALLY hated the idea that if they owned a Windows PC they might have to buy the same apps again for a Windows 8 tablet if it was on the "wrong" architecture.

Desktop mode is almost the same as their current PCs. And all of their current programs will run on it.

They don't have to buy a tablet. And if they do choose to buy one, they can make a choice if they want one that can double as a full PC, or if they want something that is mainly a consumption device. Choice isn't bad.

These people just need to know that nothing is being forced on them. They can choose.

I'm seriously hoping MS has thought of concerns like these and has plans to tighten things up a *lot* - especially in the x86/ARM area. Because I have to admit one email I had from one reader summed it up pretty well "I don't get it. Why are they forcing full Windows on to a tablet? If I want a small computer I'll buy a laptop or a netbook. I can have one of those now, and very cheap. Having a full computer isn't what I want a tablet for. And if I have proper work to do, I don't want a desktop PC that thinks it's a tablet either."

As I said earlier... choice.

That person could buy an ARM tablet and won't have the full Desktop computer.

Or, if they don't want to own a laptop AND a tablet, they could just buy an x86 based slate. Then they have both.

It matters what they want. They can buy something that fits their own needs.

I think that one phrase, "I don't get it", could come back to haunt them if they don't 100% nail this on price, performance, compatibility and most of all usability.

There will be a wide range of devices spanning many price points. And there will be basically 2 kinds of Windows 8 devices.

1) Full computers
2) Slates

And for those 2 kinds, there will be many choices of each.
 
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Pronk

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But not all tablets are "full on". Many will be ARM based. And these will be no different than any other ARM based tablets you see around.

There will be a wide range of devices spanning many price points. And there will be basically 2 kinds of Windows 8 devices.

1) Full computers
2) Slates

And for those 2 kinds, there will be many choices of each.

Yeah, but you have kind of highlighted the probem I can see coming. Here's a scenario: I am an average guy. I own a desktop PC that I've recently bought and I upgrade it to Windows 8. I still use quite a few Windows 7 and older programs. Soon after I decide to buy a tablet pc. I buy a windows 8 tablet, as that's what I have on my desktop. But I buy an ARM one. And I then find out that apps I have on my desktop I can't have on my tabet because they don't work, and none of my old stuff works on the tablet either.

The average consumer isn't going to care about x86/ARM. They're going to see two devices running what is touted as the same OS that can't interchangeably use apps universally. And people are used to that being standard already - I buy an iPhone app, I get an optimised iPad app as well and vice versa. I buy an android app - I can run it on my phone or my Android tablet. Even WebOS can do that between phones/tablets. But I buy a Windows 8 app...and I can only run it on my desktop/tablet if I bought the right sort of Windows 8 tablet/desktop? And if I have a WP7 phone, neither the desktop OR the slate will run the same apps as the phone?

That is a recipe for major confusion. And that's why MS really do need to get their marketing absolutely right, because all the choice in the world won't help if consumers are bewildered what to buy at best, and annoyed because they feel like they've been on the end of a bait and switch at worst.

BUT...early days yet. I'm sure this sort of thing MUST be under consideration. I'm very interested to see how they tackle it though.
 

theefman

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Absolutely wrong. These are all business users who've been windows users for many, many years. Most don't have tablets of any description, and many don't have smartphones either. These are ordinary people who just have a computer to do work on, who like to keep up to date but don't want or need to be bleeding edge - the sort of people that make up a large portion of the Windows user base. They don't need a touch/touch style interface, but W8 will have one whether they like it or not. The W8 interface drops back to the Metro UI on occasions automatically, and some programs will doubtless make use of it as default. And of course older W7 programs, though entirely compatible, when used on a touchscreen device will have no touch UI elements. It's not resistance to change so much as a straightforward lack of understanding as to why the change is even being made when it seems on face value to make things more confusing and awkward (and suspicion that one of the driving forces is the desire to sell new hardware and new versions of software - again).

This is precisely what I meant by people here not being bothered by this because we're all reasonably tech savvy, but regular joe users not getting it at all at this stage. The overwhelming response I got was "there's no need for this", so what I'm hoping is (because personally I can see the potential in W8 because it's new and interesting so I hope it succeeds - and I'm a die-hard Mac user) that MS aren't pushing a one OS ecosystem too hard for the sake of it. One thing I can see though is that they're going to have to get their marketing bang on for this, otherwise a lot of people will be very bewildered as to what it is they're buying, what will run on it and how it works.

This is what I mean by lack of information. All we have now is a developer preview copy, not a beta, RC or final code. Things could change but even then I still dont see the problem.

On the one hand, if they are average consumers who dont want to be bleeding edge they should have no problem sticking with what they have. With full support for Windows 7 programs there is little chance of applications not being available for them, and historically legacy support has been one of MS's strengths.

If they do for some reason have to go to Windows 8 it takes one click to go into the Desktop experience. Is that really so hard for them? As for Metro elements popping up in classic mode, even if its intentional I find it hard to believe it will be that much of a problem. Judgement reserved till the final product ships.

It also seems as if their expectation is that all Windows 8 machines will come with a touchscreen or will require one. That is incorrect and MS claims whichever interface you use is fully keyboard and mouse compatible. That also remains to be seen. But condemning the OS based on Windows 7's lack of touch optimised programs is a bit unreasonable since you are never required to use touch in place of a KB & mouse.

And you mention their suspicion that this is all a ploy to sell more hardware (which MS doesnt make BTW) and/or software. But in todays world, selling bigger and better products is the very basis of commerce and unless they are content to see MS go out of business it's nothing out of the ordinary. By the time W8 launches it will be 3 years since the launch of Windows 7, standard period of time for a Windows refresh.

At the end of the day though, it still looks to me like a combination of lack of information - no one knows what the final product will look like so its really too early to judge how it will be like to use in everday situations. And ultimately, if these users dont want to upgrade, they are not forced to. XP users are still around today and are happily using their machines.

And I think there is a strong element of resistance to change as well, how do they know the Metro UI and its accompanying improvements wont make them more productive? Dont knock it till you try it.

At this point no one should be making any snap judgements about Windows 8. Seems people thing MS just slapped a touch UI shell on Windows 7 and are calling it a new OS, rather than recognising that this is a reimagining of how computing works today and trying to implement a more useful way of using personal computing.
 

Reflexx

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Yeah, but you have kind of highlighted the probem I can see coming. Here's a scenario: I am an average guy. I own a desktop PC that I've recently bought and I upgrade it to Windows 8. I still use quite a few Windows 7 and older programs. Soon after I decide to buy a tablet pc. I buy a windows 8 tablet, as that's what I have on my desktop. But I buy an ARM one. And I then find out that apps I have on my desktop I can't have on my tabet because they don't work, and none of my old stuff works on the tablet either.

It's a possible scenario, but I don't think it will be all that common.

I think anyone that isn't tech savvy will likely as someone a question about what they're about to spend several hundred dollars on. Because that is a MAJOR difference between ARM and x86, I would assume that any salesperson would be sure to point that out.

If they didn't ask anyone at all, they'll likely discover their mistake when they return the tablet.

I would guess that the people most susceptible to this mistake are the ones that THINK they're tech savvy and refuse to ask anyone for help.

The average consumer isn't going to care about x86/ARM. They're going to see two devices running what is touted as the same OS that can't interchangeably use apps universally. And people are used to that being standard already - I buy an iPhone app, I get an optimised iPad app as well and vice versa. I buy an android app - I can run it on my phone or my Android tablet. Even WebOS can do that between phones/tablets. But I buy a Windows 8 app...and I can only run it on my desktop/tablet if I bought the right sort of Windows 8 tablet/desktop? And if I have a WP7 phone, neither the desktop OR the slate will run the same apps as the phone?

That is a recipe for major confusion. And that's why MS really do need to get their marketing absolutely right, because all the choice in the world won't help if consumers are bewildered what to buy at best, and annoyed because they feel like they've been on the end of a bait and switch at worst.

BUT...early days yet. I'm sure this sort of thing MUST be under consideration. I'm very interested to see how they tackle it though.

I see some minor confusion, but I don't really see a major doom scenario.

The x86 devices and the ARM devices will likely be marketed and labeled differently.
One is a tablet/slate. (ARM)
The other is a PC. (x86)

There might be confusion at first. There will be growing pains. But people will figure it out.

People know that their Mac and their iPad don't run the same software.

The people that would be confused are likely not the ones that are going to go run out and upgrade right away. And as time goes on, people will start to understand the differences.

The key will likely be that x86 will be called PCs, not matter what the form factor. At least that's how they were referring to them at BUILD.
 

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