Metro

[WPGenius]

Seriously, The OS is just wonderful, I know there's probably been a million threads on this, I've been a WP7 user for a little over a year and a half, and I can honestly say, that even still to this day, the OS never ceases to amaze me. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but I have never had an issue with my devices. The phone does what its supposed to do....WORK! Everything can be done on the fly, which is good for a fast paced guy like myself who produces music. I think Microsoft has the ability to takeover what Apple became King of, in which I feel they will. I own 2 Macbooks, 1 for school, and 1 for recreational, and I'm actually dying to get my hands on W8 for my PC. I could care-less about what people think Microsoft, but I Sincerely Feel METRO <--- is very easy on the eyes, and is simplistic enough to be something superior. I just think people are soooooo brainwashed to not give the devices a chance, UNTIL they see it live in action.

Oh yeah, Random thought, I've been using the white background with the default blue tiles, and just recently went back to the black background, and it just pops out even more...I Love WP..lol

 

[cdook]

I love Metro too. It's powerful and simple. Windows Phone is very personal too. The phone says "good bye" when you turn it off. There's friendly emoticons built in, plus you've got your pictures, Xbox Live avatar and friends photos on live tiles. I get more of a cold and businesslike when I see other phone OSes.

Android 4.0 and iOS have no builtin theme customization. Windows Phone does. The switch from black to white effects every part of the OS.

EDIT: Oh I totally forgot about the friendly messaging icon too .

 

[ashykat]

I love metro as well, but I'm still a bit worried about Windows 8. It just seems like Metro thrown on top of a Windows 7 desktop. I've used PC's for years, and actually used to work as an IT manager which of course involved fixing them as well as networking. For me coming home to my Mac was always so much nicer. Unless Windows 8 wows me I'll remain with OS X for some time, but I love me some Windows Phone!

 

[mhans311]

Android 4.0 and iOS have no builtin theme customization. Windows Phone does. The switch from black to white effects every part of the OS.

I think WP is great and everything, but I don't know how you can argue that it is more customizable than Android. Android is not as smooth and put together as WP, but it is definitely more customizable. The extent of customization on WP is a few different tile colors and either black or white background.

 

[WPGenius]

I think Metro is "JUST RIGHT" in terms of customization, I often find myself switching the colors to match my mood, sure their may be things that Android does that we cant, but i dont want all that extra HOOPLA!

 

[invisik]

Windows 8 really gives you the best of both systems, even if on a non-touch desktop computer. The flexibiliy of the Metro screen is a great dashboard and program launching improvement, while the Win 7-type desktop environment is still tops for running traditional programs. Windows 8 tablets are going to be great later this year along with your Windows Phone. There's more synergy between the phone and the desktop in Windows then there is with MacOS.. that will be a big positive.

-m

 

[skaltnerd]

I know what you mean. I recently got my Nokia Lumia 710 and coming from a Blackberry 9780, its a much welcome change. For the record, I've played around with Android for about six months last year and by wife's iPhone whenever I could. WP trumps them all in simplicity and workability without frills.

 

[dannejanne]

EDIT: Oh I totally forgot about the friendly messaging icon too .

It can be sad too! I noticed this yesterday when a MMS failed to send and was in queue. Than it was a =( face instead on the messaging tile! Small details like that make me happy while using the OS.

 

[darthhen]

Hello...

I posted a blurb about Win8 on Tablet PC Review's site:

Tablet PC Forums, Discussion and Support - View Single Post - Win8 Consumer Preview: Who's trying it?

I have a Lenovo X220T, tablet PC.

 

[paulm187]

I love metro as well, but I'm still a bit worried about Windows 8. It just seems like Metro thrown on top of a Windows 7 desktop. I've used PC's for years, and actually used to work as an IT manager which of course involved fixing them as well as networking. For me coming home to my Mac was always so much nicer. Unless Windows 8 wows me I'll remain with OS X for some time, but I love me some Windows Phone!

Metro is not thrown on top of Wndows 7 desktop, in fact the Windows 7 desktop is just another app thrown into Metro. The Metro is the real deal in Win8, the desktop is there to support legacy systems. Think of it as the command line which evolved from the old DOS system. Windows 1,2&3 sat on top of DOS, Windows 95 had its own shell and DOS evolved into the command shell. The same with Windows 8, the desktop is the legacy shell running on top of the Metro shell. I had some reservations when the Developer's preview came out but playing with the Consumer Preview on sold on WP8. Its so much quicker even with a mouse and keyboard. No more right clicking and endless menus. I only had to learn 5 things - the four corners of the screen and the Windows Key.

 

[Thuoudo]

The review on The Verge (or Endgaget?) makes me worried about Windows 8. Think of all the people who have difficulty working the basic Windows OS we've been using since 95, 17 years on? The fact that it has two desktops is going to be infuriating for lots of customers, I'm afraid.

There was a ton of negativity towards the Metro update on the 360 as well. I don't really like it. I love Metro on WP.

That said, if computers came with OEM OS reinstall discs anymore, I'd have installed the Consumer Preview on my second laptop. Since there's no going back to 7 without a disc, pass. Come on, Microsoft...

 

[jim_h]

Spent an hour with Win8 Consumer Preview today and I think it's great. Yes, it's a hybrid of Metro and the traditional desktop, but they're cleanly separated, or at least well on the way to that goal. You can use one or the other, or both. Many people will buy new Win8 systems - especially tablets - and never need to see the desktop at all. Others like myself, with serious Windows 'legacy' apps they need to run, will be able to do so with no problems and still enjoy a new Metro UI that matches the phone calender, email, people hub etc. and syncs with MS cloud services.

It's a bridge product. And what else could it be, at this point in time? This is the way forward and once the right tablet hardware hits the streets, MS will be back in the game big time.

 

[Bifurcated]

I haven't tried the CP yet, but I worry that the "legacy" desktop is there forever, and we will wind up with this weird hybrid stew indefinitely. There doesn't appear to be any decent way of organizing documents in the metro world, other than just dumping them all on the desktop. In Windows 7 and earlier, we all use folders to keep track of things. No folders in Metro. No obvious way of organizing things without folders.

 

[anodynamic]

I haven't tried the CP yet, but I worry that the "legacy" desktop is there forever, and we will wind up with this weird hybrid stew indefinitely. There doesn't appear to be any decent way of organizing documents in the metro world, other than just dumping them all on the desktop. In Windows 7 and earlier, we all use folders to keep track of things. No folders in Metro. No obvious way of organizing things without folders.

I've been using it for a few days now, and I don't mind the hybridness of it. On a desktop machine Metro is like a full screen start menu with built-in apps ? you won't do much work there, but it's still a good way to get away from the desktop business for a while.

But it still feels like mainly a tablet thing, and I don't think the lack of a "Metro Explorer" will be a big deal. On tablets and phones you usually have one app for each activity, and I think good design practice for that type of system is to have all the necessary organization within each app.

So, even though they are linked they are basically two user interfaces for different purposes. I suggested in another thread that docks could become popular, since tablets have enough power for most everyday office and web stuff. So, it would be easy to dock the tablet to a keyboard and screen and work comfortably at a desk in classic Windows, and have the Metro interface for easy access to web and media everywhere else.

 

[toasterthegamer]

Metro looks cool, right now I am using rainmeter with a metro styled look until I can snag a copy of win 8 to install on my PC, but I'm really interested in the new file system that's in windows 8. I'm hoping the sped up some things.

-Jon