Features - QOTW: What do you think of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview?

[HEXUS]

Your chance to share your first impressions of Microsoft's upcoming OS.

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[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

http://forums.hexus.net/2334165-post40.html

[brasco]

Love it, will be getting it I was sceptical that metro might not translate to a PC, but it does, and really well. All the shortcuts I use feel very direct and identical to 7 so it's not a big jump tbh. Of course it'll excel on the tablet form factor but I'm really enjoying it on my dtop so far. Had a couple of connection issues but 99% has exceeded my expectations. Can't wait to get hold of a decent tablet

cheers
brasc

[Platinum]

My only gripe is the lack of a start menu, I don't like that ill have to go to a early learning windows screen every time I want to do something.
Metro may be fine for Tablets but not looking that great for desktops / Laptops imo.

[Clydonian]

I like it but I won't be rushing out to buy it at release like with windows 7, the only thing holding me back is the fact there are no decent touch screens out there in my eyes, ideally I would love to use the surface thing from microsoft/samsung as my desk with a multi-monitor setup in the traditional manner...

[tickleonthetum]

I can't see us getting Windows 8.

We bought a Touchscreen monitor for Windows 7 but find it too annoying to use as it involves reaching out over your desk! So we've disabled it. We don't own a touch/smart phone or a tablet and never will.

We don't like the Metro flat look at all, we prefer out icons and everything to have a nice colourful 3D look. The Start button is perfect for our needs, the new 'thing' would take us longer to do anything!

We have no use for Social Networking of any kind. None! That's right we don't use Facebook, Twitter, et al.

We use Firefox/Thunderbird not IE/Outlook. We mainly use out PC for running web browsing, Word typing, DrawPlus Vector drawing, PhotoPlus & PSP pho work, 3D Studio Max, AutoCAD, Songbird and other powerful programs. Also for playing FPS games and Simulation games. We have no use for gimmicky Apps, like weather apps, etc. We use our PC for several hours a day and we push it hard.

We are happy with our level of security, we use Avira, Comodo Firewall and no cloud services at all. We don't have separate User Accounts in Win7 why bother when we both use the same programs and have no secrets?! It means we switch on our PC and it loads straight to the Desktop every time!

It seems to us that Windows 8 has nothing new for us, and if anything is less suitable to our needs!

Oh and the video ad seems aimed at teenagers who just want a glorified smart phone rather than 'real' people who work and play on their PC in any serious capacity. Bling over function is Windows 8...

[this_is_gav]

I don't mind Metro in itself so much as what's underneath (or lack, in the shape of a Start button).

They had a perfect opportunity to completely revamp the desktop side of things at the same time, making the desktop interactive, giving it Metro-style tiles for non-tablet users while retaining functionality, and keeping Metro itself for tablet users, yet they've completely fluffed it. It'd be far better than those bloody widgets we saw introduced with Vista, and could share code with Metro itself.

I like that most of the stock Windows applications now use the ribbon interface, and I'm relieved that in Metro you can still just press the start key, start typing, hit enter, and the program of your choice appears, but it's the little things missing for the 'power user' - the recently introduced recent documents for individual programs (or even just a recent documents list full stop!) - the shutdown options buried away (though I could just use the power button) - the fact that, without really playing, IE 10 seems to be just a standard desktop browser, so you've got this slick tablet interface (it's slick, but without a tablet I still hate it) which just links to a standard browser - there doesn't appear to be anything touchy about it. It's basically Windows 7 with a layer on top.

Dig any deeper, and I feel that it's still unusable without dedicated tablet apps or app functionality. To me, without further work, it seems like another half-arsed attempt at a touch experience in Windows. They need to do more and offer options - heck, they could have set it to automatically switch between laptop and tablet mode if a tablet such as a Transformer is docked. They've got all the right ingredients, yet for me it's all too much of a mush at the moment.

I'm also worried about what Metro will become. Will users who inadvertently install Norton Security Scan get a tile that as standard advertises that there's a new version of NAV? I suspect that companies are going to want to place tiles for every product, whether they're needed or not - most will just be icons and serve little interactive or informative use at all, yet try to be flashy and interesting, and that's going to piss me right off. If I used McAfee, I really wouldn't want McAfee thinking I need some random tile telling me that it's updating definitions.

Unless things change before launch (which seems highly unlikely ), this will be the first Windows version I haven't bought since Windows 95 (though I did, rather stupidly in retrospect, pass on the desktop version of Windows 2000 in favour of Windows ME.... what was I thinking?).

[lkarunan]

I can see this doing well for the home market (single platform for pc, phone tablet is compelling). Keyboard shortcuts are a bonus for serious work but changes to multi-tasking will be a big pain. Businesses probably won't touch this because (despite hardware requirements) because of the massive paradigm shift, so Windows 7 will probably get prolonged life like XP.

[alpha channel]

As lkarunan If they keep it the way it is I can't see it doing well in the business arena either, the leap from a desktop interface that's been used for the past thirty odd years is certainly going to cause a heck of a lot of trouble (and I dare say a hefty loss of sales, you never know, Win7 could be the XP to Win8).

I found the metro interface jarring to use when coming from the desktop (did not like at all). While on the desktop the lack of a start button was flaming annoying (I inadvertently clicked on IE icon out of plain habit on more than a few occasions).

Overall I found using it an incredibly frustrating experience, god knows what the metro interface will look like when there's a full compliment of software installed on a W8 system (but I'm thinking cluttered and hard to find anything that I want to find).

Not a fan (and no sale from me).

[TheAnimus]

Love it, will be getting it I was sceptical that metro might not translate to a PC, but it does, and really well. All the shortcuts I use feel very direct and identical to 7 so it's not a big jump tbh. Of course it'll excel on the tablet form factor but I'm really enjoying it on my dtop so far. Had a couple of connection issues but 99% has exceeded my expectations. Can't wait to get hold of a decent tablet

I was honestly expecting this to be sarcasam....

For me I need a good device that fits the form factor, windows 8 offers no incentive for me to spend money for a desktop / my current laptops OS.

[brasco]

I was honestly expecting this to be sarcasam....

For me I need a good device that fits the form factor, windows 8 offers no incentive for me to spend money for a desktop / my current laptops OS.

Nope sorry, genuinely like it! Definitely the odd one out it seems!

cheers
brasc

[andrewuk]

For tablet devices this is probably a win
For anyone who wants to do more than look at facebook, play mafia wars and tweet it's a fail. I have a smartphone for this kind of thing, for my desktop OS I want functionality. I can sort of see why MS are trying to cover all bases with Windows 8 but I don't think it works very well right now. I think the metro UI would be better launched as a stand-alone program like Windows Media Centre - automatically enabled for tablet installs but left off for desktops unless you specifically want to use it.

Tablets are for casual use and dossing around on IMO and it's perfectly suited to this, but for a power user such as myself it's a big no-no. I will probably use Windows 8 at some point, but it won't be on a traditional desktop PC with a keyboard and mouse...

[Whiternoise]

Everyone knows the drill, this will one of the bad Windows cycles. 9 should be excellent, if the trend continues.

Clearly this is made for tablets - which I don't own. I'm thinking about going hard Linux on the laptop (maybe even desktop) next time, Windows only has gaming for me now.

[cheesemp]

I don't like it. Metro just feels really hard to use with a mouse. I might well get it though if someone works out how to get it running with a standard start bar though as I like the ribbon etc. I think someone at Microsoft needs to look at what Windows 8 is for - For tablets its probably great but for desktop I don't see why anyone would bother. This really is shaping up to be Vista2.

[deadstoned]

I certainly don't like Metro, it adds to many steps to completing the simplest tasks and everything now seems to be hidden in a sub-menu. If Microsoft shipped Windows 8 with the Classic Start menu for Desktop and Laptop users to optionally choose. I'd get it, but right now I can't see myself switching from Windows 7.

[mark_a_scott]

It took a day for me to install it, use it then remove it. The Metro interface looks terrible at high resolutions, and newly installed programs have tiles which look rubbish.

There are a lot of good things in Win8 such as the new task manager, the ribbons on the Explorer window and the comprehensive weather widget but having to manage two web browsers (Metro and IE10) and to drag up the login screen to turn off the Computer made me realise that it was going nowhere.

Hopefully they will change things for RTM but I seriously doubt it. I can see this as the first Windows version since ME that I will not be upgrading to......