i think the plan is to abandon office thick app for office 365

2/29/2012 9:17:47 PM

^I think you're completely wrong.

Going to install it tonight

More excited about the Visual Studio 11 Beta honestly

2/29/2012 10:29:16 PM

yeah i'm looking forward to checking that out too. especially with all the noise about the glyphs

2/29/2012 10:35:40 PM

Installed it in a VM ... I like it. But then, it's only in a VM and I can return to Windows 7 when I'm done.

2/29/2012 10:56:07 PM

I might install this on my netbook this weekend. I am anxious to try it out. I REALLY want the Windows 8 tablets to come out already. I am slowing thinking about abandoning Windows all together since they take so long to bring the good products to the table and get the dev support. Maybe this will rekindle my inner love for Windows.

2/29/2012 10:59:04 PM

I just don't get these comments...

"Its just so confusing! *scratches head* durr...how do they expect me to multitask or use a keyboard and mouse?"

Its day one....learn it and get used to it and stop admitting you're retarded. You want to use a keyboard and mouse and not Metro? Don't use Metro apps and STFU already!

MS gave us options. I guess people are just too stupid to handle actual multitasking or understand two paradigms existing in parallel.

Want to use your old programs the way you used to? Then use them the way you used to! The only difference is the goddamn shortcut was moved to the new start screen. Hide the ones you don't need and group the ones you do in logical groups. Its not fucking rocket surgery. Give the damn OS a chance before you beat the sumbitch to death with your ignorant first impression bullshit!

By the way....this was FREE. Thanks MS!

[Edited on February 29, 2012 at 11:03 PM. Reason : I actually like where this is all heading and am using it on both my Acer W500 tablet and laptop. A+]

2/29/2012 11:01:24 PM

So I can install this on my Iconia Tab 200?

2/29/2012 11:09:21 PM

If its an Android tablet, no. My Acer Iconia W500 is a Windows tablet.

2/29/2012 11:20:23 PM

Oh you got the baller ass laptop tablet. I thought about getting one but it cost to much for how much I would use it. I just hope the W8 tablets be out in 6-8 months, its driving me nuts.

2/29/2012 11:22:36 PM

Nah...this one was only around 500. The baller one is the one with dual screens. That Samsung tablet is the hotness too.

2/29/2012 11:38:14 PM

When I boot off of the disc I burned the iso to, it shows the fish and box picture, then goes to a blank teal screen and doesn't seem to go any further... any ideas? :-(

3/1/2012 12:10:22 AM

nevermind, installed on a VM.

Don't like it on a desktop. I can see where this might be a decent alternative to running android on a tablet pc... but with keyboard and mouse, eh

3/1/2012 12:47:02 AM

yeah, on a desktop, i'm not quite feelin it yet. i like the fancy lockscreen and the auto border color.

add: anyone else noticed they backdoored IE10 on this? i don't recall seeing an option to decline it. (i use it for my work gmail)

[Edited on March 1, 2012 at 8:39 AM. Reason : Ø]

3/1/2012 8:35:47 AM

if ms isn't pushing to office 360, how do they anticipate transitioning to thin clients, cloud computing, and a SaaS revenue model? obviously they'll be making money on MS office (thick app) 10 years from today, but it would seem to make sense to transition the dev efforts away. eh.. it'll be 15 years before gov't trusts cloud, so maybe parallel effort

3/1/2012 8:45:02 AM

Ah, this is helpful to learn how to use my keyboard and mouse properly...

Old dogs, get ready for new tricks: how to use the Windows 8 Consumer Preview
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2012/02/getting-started-with-the-windows-8-consumer-preview.ars

3/1/2012 11:29:33 AM

^thanks for posting that. i'm going to install 8 on a spare computer here at work this afternoon to play around with it some.

3/1/2012 11:47:02 AM

"backdoored"?

3/1/2012 12:09:21 PM

For the people who are complaining about Keyboard + Mouse usage...

Windows + D = Desktop View (Hey look! I'm not in Metro!)

Windows + Tab = Sidebar Task Switcher

Alt + Tab = Classic Task Switcher

Alt + F4 = Close the app / program

Windows Key...then start typing = search for your application (be it metro or not)
**You can even search for documents this way too

Page Up / Page Down on Start Screen = Faster maneuvering on the Start Screen

You can even pin desktop applications to your Taskbar (on Desktop View)!

3/1/2012 12:39:45 PM

damn you windows 8, how dare you make me agree with shaggy in the slightest

3/1/2012 1:29:03 PM

It's seriously taken me 15 minutes to discover and get used to the new mouse gestures.

Click at the top of the screen and drag down = close.
Top left corner of the screen to switch apps.
Bottom left corner + click for start menu.

Mouse wheel = horizontal scroll (which is fucking weird, but I'm already used to it).

So far this is pretty enjoyable on a laptop trackpad.

Not seeing the "hot mess" Shaggy described at all. Just more screen space, and a half dozen new gestures. The USA Today app fucked up the scrolling implementation, and the Music app doesn't want to recognize my Zune Pass. Neither issue is a deal breaker at all.

[Edited on March 1, 2012 at 2:43 PM. Reason : .]

3/1/2012 2:40:41 PM

Yeah...I'm going to need my Zune Pass to work on the new music app. I don't want to go back to the classic Zune program.

[Edited on March 1, 2012 at 2:53 PM. Reason : Also, plz to integrate a WP7 device manager (metroactive sync?)]

3/1/2012 2:52:12 PM

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/iso

3/1/2012 6:36:34 PM

Quote :

" Windows logo key+Shift+. Moves the gutter to the left (snaps an application) Windows logo key+. Moves the gutter to the right (snaps an application) Windows logo key+Q Opens Search pane Windows logo key+Z Opens App Bar Windows logo key+J Swaps foreground between the snapped and filled apps "

these are the ones it's probably going to take me forever to muscle memorize. i'll probably have to look them up a dozen times before i remember them

i'm looking forward to using the snap left/right functionality. i use win+left/right in desktop mode all the freaking time.

[Edited on March 1, 2012 at 9:40 PM. Reason : .]

3/1/2012 9:40:19 PM

Windows + X brings up an admin menu
Windows + I brings in the right side (swipe) Settings menu
Windows + L is still lock screen
Windows + H is the Share charm shortcut
Windows + F does a file search
Windows + C brings in the charms menu
Windows + 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, or 0 opens the programs pinned to your taskbar in numeric order from left to right



[Edited on March 2, 2012 at 8:16 AM. Reason : ]

3/2/2012 8:09:24 AM

okay well turns out the spare computer is a super old POS & doesn't have enough RAM (768k). we have lots of spare sticks but none that fit that computer. oh well

3/2/2012 9:13:00 AM

i think my favorite gesture is the close one. especially on a touchpad.

tap and hold at the top, start dragging down... oh, heh, hit the bottom of the pad. thats ok i'll just lift my finger and.. whoops my window snapped back up.

ok fine i'll use the touchpad button. at the top, click and hold, now lets move the cursor down *swipes the length of the pad 2 or 3 times*. and there. wow yah this is way way better than just clicking an x

3/2/2012 9:53:26 AM

tap and hold at the top, start dragging down... oh, heh, hit the bottom of the pad. thats ok i'll just lift my finger and.. whoops my window snapped back up.

ok fine i'll use the touchpad button. at the top, click and hold, now lets move the cursor down *swipes the length of the pad 2 or 3 times*. and there. wow yah this is way way better than just clicking an x


press windows key

3/2/2012 10:08:18 AM

by far the worst part of the metro shit on a desktop/laptop is that stupid fucking app bar. it fucking blows so goddamn hard because all the menu items are invisible until you bring it up which means your cursor is never near the option you wanted before. also, in the metro version of ie10 if a website captures right click it means you cant access any of the menus. lol.

metro is a single window system and thats great for tables and phones. its fucking awful for platforms that can take advantage of multiple windows (desktops + laptops).

you shouldnt need to spend time discovering awkward mouse gestures when the shit we had before was both better and obvious.

keep metro on touch devices only. keep the desktop on mouse devices only. use winrt to deliver the same core code to all windows platforms and use xaml and the input device handling stuff already built into .net to differentiate input and UI based on device type.

This way you get all the benefits of the store and winrt (central application management, cross device app deployment, cross device user prefs syncing) and you dont create a headache for users.

If you dont split metro and desktop then people are gonna skip this like they skipped vista. I'd say you could even hold off on releasing win8 for desktops/laptops in the near future. people are happy with windows 7 and windows 8 is gonna be "same as win7 but with that annoying icon page you have to turn off with a registry hack".

focus on metro only tablets. get the app store up and running. then have developers add mouse friendly UIs to their existing apps and release win8 for desktops with the store and apps that arent a horror to use.

3/2/2012 10:11:28 AM

Quote :

"press windows key"

then why even have that gesture? i think it supposed to go back to a different app you had open, but thats really dumb too.

its just another symptom of metro not belonging on a mouse driven platform

3/2/2012 10:13:26 AM

maybe if you adjust your trackpad sensitivity so that you can move the cursor from the top to the bottom in one gesture, it would be more to your expectations.

[Edited on March 2, 2012 at 10:51 AM. Reason : otherwise, just do the easy thing and press winkey]

3/2/2012 10:51:14 AM

or Alt + F4 like it's always been

3/2/2012 11:08:58 AM

yeah let me fuck up my touchpad so i can use a shitty pointless gesture.

[Edited on March 2, 2012 at 11:15 AM. Reason : k]

3/2/2012 11:14:25 AM

step back and take a look at metro and ask yourself "what does this add to my experience?"

for a desktop user it is nothing. theres no benefit to metro on desktops.

[Edited on March 2, 2012 at 11:19 AM. Reason : a]

3/2/2012 11:19:30 AM

why wouldn't you want your trackpad to move the cursor from the top to the bottom in one gesture anyways? that's one of the first things i do on a new install anyways. i hate how the default driver settings for most touchpads make you have to swipe the touchpad more than once to move the cursor all the way across the screen

now, i agree that the metro gesture would be more useful if it understood a full single swipe from top to bottom indicates close (this gesture works pretty nicely on os x for expose or something), and doesn't require you to move the screen representation of the app all the way to the bottom...but the point is, there's more than one way to accomplish a task so if you don't like the way one works, use a different way

3/2/2012 11:30:23 AM

Anything other than Metro? What's the draw?

About the only thing that would make me consider moving from Win 7 at this point would be if that rumor/lie/troll someone started a year ago about being able to put 360 discs in your optical drive and playing 360 games were true.

3/2/2012 2:06:42 PM

Quote :

"also, in the metro version of ie10 if a website captures right click it means you cant access any of the menus. lol."

This is QUITE irritating. Good thing I'm already using Chrome

Seriously almost all of your points just dont make sense to me. After a full day of use, I'm spending 85% of my time in the classic desktop where none of your complaints work, and the bit of the Mosh shell I've used has worked very well. If you do the pull-down close from the top as a swipe instead of a slow drag, it works 1000x better for me, and IS much easier than getting to the close button.

The app switcher in Mosh is fine too, because most of my app switching has just been going back to the start screen (but again most of my time is in the classic desktop)

3/2/2012 2:10:09 PM

Quote :

". After a full day of use, I'm spending 85% of my time in the classic desktop "

right. theres no reason for metro to be part of a mouse driven environment.

3/2/2012 2:19:17 PM

it works pretty nicely as in a mouse driven environment. just for different apps

3/2/2012 3:01:46 PM

we get it Shaggy you hate it. you've hated it since june of last year, well before it was even in preview stages. isn't it about time to get a new hobby? or are there no interesting apps on iOS or Android or Linux or OSX to occupy your time?

[Edited on March 2, 2012 at 8:46 PM. Reason : I know...should not feed troll...]

3/2/2012 8:45:37 PM

I just installed it on my netbook, and I'm really starting to agree with Shaggy. This 2 desktop crap is just obnoxious to use.

I wouldn't mind the inclusion of Metro if it wasn't for the fact that I am literally forced to use it, as it replaces previously easy to use and intuitive features of Windows.

Someone explain to me the advantage of the start screen on a laptop/desktop? Please. Someone try.

I get access to real time information that I can open up into a fullscreen app? Why couldn't Windows Vista's/7's gadgets be expanded upon so that I can click the Weather Gadget and it open up into a weather program? Same with the stocks, or anything else?

What about the previous functionality of the start menu? It's now a pain in the ass to access. I have to click the bottom left hand corner of the screen which brings me to the Start Screen. Ok, where the fuck are my programs? Oh, I have to now right click on the start screen and go down and click "All Apps." From here I can access "Control Panel" and get all of the functionality the start menu used to serve. And anything I pretty much open from here, will bring me right back into the classic desktop. What the fuck is the point of that?

Control panel used to be accessible to me in 2 clicks. Now it takes me 4 and it's more "hidden." Accessing all of my programs now takes me an additional click. So what's the advantage?

I now have to move my mouse further to open shit, it takes me more clicks to do so, I'm flip flopping between two completely different desktop environments, where one is optimized for touch and one for a keyboard and mouse.

I can only desktop Windows 8 as cumbersome. On a tablet, I'm sure it will be good to use. But on a desktop/laptop, fuck no. Unless MS does some serious changes to the classic desktop, I really can't see myself using Windows 8 until I have to. They have done some good things with the classic desktop, like the task manager. But they have fucked over basic functionality to the point that it is just cumbersome to use.

3/3/2012 9:42:25 PM

you can pin the control panel to your start screen. then it's two clicks.

[Edited on March 3, 2012 at 9:48 PM. Reason : or press the winkey and type "con"]

3/3/2012 9:45:06 PM

Why should I have to do that? Why should I, as a user, have to work to restore basic functionality I once had? If I have to through all of that, then what's the gain in the changes MS has made?

3/3/2012 9:48:54 PM

dp refer to \/

[Edited on March 3, 2012 at 9:54 PM. Reason : ]

3/3/2012 9:53:09 PM

probably to allow you to customize it as you see fit. if you never used the control panel (like the average "dumb user") you probably don't need to see it. but if you're a power user, you'll find it and put it where it's convenient.

people spend hours / days / weeks customizing their android phone home screen and can't spend a few seconds customizing their start screen? please...give me a break.

3/3/2012 9:53:58 PM

Well, I needed to fucking find the control panel so I could adjust my mouse sensitivity, something the "average dumb user" needs to do to easily use some of the gestures.

And android is a fucking mess. I don't mind the customization. But they did it in a cumbersome manner for mouse users, and your explanation is to add it to the start screen? I didn't need to do this with the start menu, but now I do?

[Edited on March 3, 2012 at 9:57 PM. Reason : .]

3/3/2012 9:55:53 PM

and you found it.

[Edited on March 3, 2012 at 9:57 PM. Reason : average dumb users don't know mouse sensitivity settings exist.]

3/3/2012 9:56:50 PM

It's a step back when it's more hidden in the OS. Sorry. You haven't told me how MS has made it better.

3/3/2012 9:58:50 PM

ok. the explanation is that there's no right answer. either there's too many options and it's confusing or there's too few options and it's too simple or it's exactly the same and they haven't made any progress at all at making the OS better.

i'm not defending nor promoting windows 8. just giving you an opportunity to try it some more after offering suggestions on how I overcame the same frustrations you experienced.

3/3/2012 10:02:10 PM

Quote :

"it replaces previously easy to use and intuitive features of Windows."

it was only easy to use and intuitive because you already knew how to do it

the start screen is easier because you can just start typing and find whatever you want. you don't need to go looking around for settings in the control panel or browsing through a list of the installed applications b/c we have easier (read better) ways of finding information now.


[Edited on March 3, 2012 at 10:18 PM. Reason : .]

3/3/2012 10:13:35 PM

How you get to control panel in Win8:

Press Windows Key, type "C" and hit enter. 0 mouse clicks. Easy as shit. Much less hassle than Win7.

Want to get to your mouse settings?

Press Windows Key, type "M" "O" "U", arrow down to settings results, and WHAM there's EVERY DAMN MOUSE setting submenu right at your finger tips. No digging through control panel at all.

There are some very legitimate gripes with the new start screen and metro in general. Your refusal to learn a new, more efficient, easier way to navigate isn't one of them.

[Edited on March 3, 2012 at 10:48 PM. Reason : ']

3/3/2012 10:47:59 PM