Anybody else having a go?

 

A few things for me.

 

- IE10 is fast. Really fast. Insanely fast. You click a link and there is virtually no noticeable loading time at all. It blows Chrome and FF and IE9 and Safari completely out the water in this regard.

 

- The Metro interface definitely favours touch screens. For desktop users, it can be a little fiddly, but taking a short while to learn a few handy keyboard shortcuts actually for me leads to a fairly refined experience.

 

- I'm not convinced the traditional start menu should be removed from the desktop view. I do miss it - but maybe you just get used to it. The reason I think it should be kept is that removing it has blurred the lines between the Metro UI and the Desktop UI. I feel keeping the two UIs separate, but also making it easy to flick between the two, is pivotal. Having the Metro UI start menu when you're using the Desktop just isn't ideal IMHO.

 

- Performance generally seems very good. I can have many, many apps open and there's no noticeable slowdown. My PC hardware is a good 3 years old, I only have 2GB of Ram, and I'm having no problems.

 

- I really like the People app. I think it still needs a lot of work, but generally speaking I quite like it.

 

- The Mail app is a good start but needs a lot more features.

 

- The "OK" buttons are hideous. I really hope they change them because they are butt ugly. However, most of the rest of the Metro UI is quite nice.

 

- I personally think that there should be some way to scale the Metro UI. It's not that it's bad on desktops, it's just that some elements are so...big. They could be reduced in size. I'm not sure how they could achieve this but some way to seamlessly and instantly increase/decrease the size of the UI elements would make the whole experience so much better for desktop users.

 

 

To summarise, I think this is a great start. There is a lot of room for improvement and I am wondering if it will really be Windows 9 when we see everything truly come together. I think the idea of having two separate UIs is excellent, it brings us a step closer to a true convergence device. The Metro UI does work surprisingly well on desktops, but I think it could do with scaling down somewhat. The apps are also a good start, but I do see a lot of room for further improvements, and the App Store is seriously sparse.

 

Now, if they can make the changes I'd like, the improvements I'd like, and if I could buy a tablet that can also function as my full PC by plugging in a screen, keyboard and mouse, then I would be very interested.

 

 

So, has anybody else used the Release Preview? And if you have, what are your thoughts?

I have only used the first development release... and that one was horrible. I still have yet to install the release preview on my VM though. Soon.

- The Metro interface definitely favours touch screens. For desktop users, it can be a little fiddly, but taking a short while to learn a few handy keyboard shortcuts actually for me leads to a fairly refined experience.

Cue multi-touch trackpad lawsuits

I quite liked certain aspects of the first release, but it does need to be improved greatly before releasing.

 

I just hope they listen to the public :/

So....anyone used the Release Preview?

 

I believe it does fix a lot of the issues from previous releases.

Not yet but I'll have a look.

 

Maybe microsoft are finally getting something right, whether I'll be reverting back to IE10 is another matter. I've been won over by Chrome.

Been using it since it was released and I think Microsoft are almost there with it. Im used to hovering on the bottom left for the metro interface (which lets face it is actually a better start menu).

 

Im yet to use it on a tablet but can imagine it will be awesome!

 

Matt

It's quick... in fact, it's bloody fast. A huge speed and fluidity improvement over the CP.

I was using the DP then CP for my main work machine since release and moved over to the RP on Friday and it's become second nature. The improvement in the apps is starting to show what could be possible very soon and i like the way it is going.

 

My major plus is the quality of search results and the speed at which you get those results.

When opening programmes i rarely actually look at the screen so the 'jump' in styles that has been the jarring bug bear of many testers out there, hasn't affected me in the slightest, i find the start menu a much more accurate and useful version of the old start menu and i won't be going back to using a start menu.

 

It's also the first OS that allows my laptop to successfully go to sleep and wake up in perfect working order!

I rarely browse the Windows 7 Start menu - I tend to just hit the Windows key and type what I want. Is that still available? I haven't got around to checking any of the previews yet.

Absolutely. The results are extremely fast too.

It's really hard for me to differentiate between degrees of fast because both my main machines boot from SSD.

Well...all I can say is when I look up from typing "Int", Internet Explorer is already there. If I touch type, it's basically there the second you lift your fingers off the keys - there is no delay whatsoever.

 

Edit.

 

I suspect W8 is pretty much as fast as an OS can be. Honestly, it blitzes anything else, my girlfriends MacBook is an absolute pig in comparison, as is W7, and W8's multi-tasking is far, far superior to either OSX or W7. I would imagine, that any "slow downs" or "lag" or waiting around, is more likely to be caused by the software itself, slow net connection, slow server response etc etc - rather than the OS.

Edited June 5, 201214 yr by brightonmike

^^^ Vouch for this.

Unfortunately though, i can imagine it's going to go the way of Vista and ME purely because the whiny media shouts the loudest.

I think MS are damned to be honest. It wouldn't matter how good something they make is, people hate MS because it's cool and trendy to do so. There's always some problem people can find with it, always something wrong, that would make it such a terrible product in their eyes.

 

Haters gonna hate, and an awful lot of people hate MS.

I think MS are damned to be honest. It wouldn't matter how good something they make is, people hate MS because it's cool and trendy to do so. There's always some problem people can find with it, always something wrong, that would make it such a terrible product in their eyes.

 

Haters gonna hate, and an awful lot of people hate MS.

 

Maybe so.

 

I find that to be the case with 90% of tech guys. It's far easier to discredit something than it is to make something. Maybe it gives their ego a boost?

Yup.

Also it's become the bait for the media to slag off every other release and then praise the alternate ones. So much so that we don't ever get a proper well rounded view of anything unless we actually get in there and try it.

 

I'm loving the Start Screen on Win8 but it only takes a quick Google to find reams and reams of campaigns and MS bashing calling for the re-introduction of the Start Menu.

 

People don't like change, if the internet was invented when we were cavemen (somehow?) we'd still be using flint and rock. The internet is great and all, but it does the give the nay sayers and un-educated a voice they shouldn't have because they haven't earned it

They don't like change, but they complain that what's current isn't good enough either!

 

I am just waiting for the day when I can get a powerful Windows 8 tablet. I can then take the tablet to work, plug it into my screen and mouse/keyboard, and use it exactly as I would a normal Windows machine.

 

Then, when I'm on a train or whatever, it can function as well as any bespoke tablet device.

 

Having a true all in one device for me would be the absolute killer which is why I am so in favour of this approach. It gives me the possibility that I can completely ditch having separate work and home computers as well as needing a separate laptop/tablet for travel.

 

Excited is not the word!

Totally agree.

I do something similar at the moment using a combination of Google Drive and Dropbox but it would be awesome to have the one machine at the heart of it all.

 

Currently Google Drive syncs both my client folder (all available assets, contracts etc) and my Localhost across several different machines, Two laptops, a desktop and a tablet while Dropbox takes care of personal stuff including being synced to my phone to automatically drop all photos and videos straight on to my Dropbox folder meaning i can take photos and then browse them on my computer or tablet as soon as i am home.

 

The draw of having one machine to do it all would be amazing and even if you wanted to work in the whole cloud thing, it would still factor as an amazingly simple yet extendible idea.

Edited June 5, 201214 yr by MikeChipshop

Just updated the old laptop from CP to RP. Nice. Fast especially with a 6 year old Toshiba but with a 40mb wireless connection.

 

The start menu. Might as well add it to when you go to Desktop mode. The new tarty buttons just seem to be a skin anyway ?

I suspect W8 is pretty much as fast as an OS can be.

*at the moment needs to be added to that statement! I'd be horrified if we'd peaked in terms of performance after ~30 years of Windows! Performance should improve, always (we'll ignore Vista).

 

I'm conscious that the primary bit of functionality people are impressed by is instant search results. I hate to be that guy, but that has been around in most *nix OS' for several, several years - we're talking over 6 years now (at least). I mean instant, literally onkeydown = results.

 

I definitely want to give it a go if it's as fast as everyone is claiming. I still won't be able to multi-task on it as fast as I can with my trackpad set up with OS X - I'm just used to the tablet/desktop now, as will you Windows users be very soon by the sounds of it!

 

I'm conscious that the primary bit of functionality people are impressed by is instant search results. I hate to be that guy, but that has been around in most *nix OS' for several, several years - we're talking over 6 years now (at least). I mean instant, literally onkeydown =

 

I don't think anyone is saying it's a new thing. I personally am talking about how improved it is over 7

I don't think anyone is saying it's a new thing. I personally am talking about how improved it is over 7

That's what I mean - it's instant at last!

To be honest, it's not that slow in Windows 7, unless you've allowed your machine to become bloated. It's not instant, but it's not really slow enough either that I'd consider it to be a major flaw.

 

However, if it is part of your workflow, I can definitely see how it being instant is an improvement.

 

Aside from the search, there's just a general "snappiness" about it that you can't fail to be impressed by. I just can't say the same for W7/OSX/any other OS.

That's what I mean - it's instant at last!

 

At last?

I've been using Windows instant search for over a decade, it just wasn't built in to the core but available as an extra downloadable programme like all non-necessity features should be. At tht time it was a non-necessary bit of kit.

 

Then Vista came along and had the ability to do it, just many users thought they knew better and turned the indexing off.

I've been using Windows instant search for over a decade

Well now I'm truly confused about why this is all people are fussed about in this thread

Well now I'm truly confused about why this is all people are fussed about in this thread

 

Because the improvements to it obviously.

No one said it was new, all we've said is it's vastly improved.

Well now I'm truly confused about why this is all people are fussed about in this thread

 

 

I'm fussed about everything to do with Windows 8. It's not just the search. In every respect, it's performance blitzes everything else I've ever used.

 

Even more impressive is its memory usage. I had many apps open, but most were using just a few MB each.

Because the improvements to it obviously.

No one said it was new, all we've said is it's vastly improved.

Ok, ok. Jeez - I didn't say it was new either. I was questioning if the 'instant' part of it was new. This forum is incredibly defensive of Windows, especially for a development/design forum!

 

I'm fussed about everything to do with Windows 8. It's not just the search. In every respect, it's performance blitzes everything else I've ever used.

 

Even more impressive is its memory usage. I had many apps open, but most were using just a few MB each.

I'll have to download this tonight and give it a go, sounds good. It looks nice, from the videos I've seen. What's the Windows mobile integration/sync like? They're going to need something special for that, otherwise Win mobile really will flop to Android in my opinion.

Ok, ok. Jeez - I didn't say it was new either. I was questioning if the 'instant' part of it was new. This forum is incredibly defensive of Windows, especially for a development/design forum!

 

Haha sorry mate. I was getting a little suspicious of any Mac fanboi-isms creeping in. I do apologise old chap!

 

I'll have to download this tonight and give it a go, sounds good. It looks nice, from the videos I've seen. What's the Windows mobile integration/sync like? They're going to need something special for that, otherwise Win mobile really will flop to Android in my opinion.

 

Not tried it myself but the idea of Win8 is a system thats instantly connectable with the entire Windows eco-system. The XBOX connectivity is perfect so i can only assume the WP7 will be too. If not they've made a big booboo

Not tried it myself but the idea of Win8 is a system thats instantly connectable with the entire Windows eco-system. The XBOX connectivity is perfect so i can only assume the WP7 will be too. If not they've made a big booboo

 

 

This. I don't have Windows Mobile myself so haven't tried but I strongly suspect it will be good. The very fact they're both Metro would suggest so.