Must Read: Sorry, but bringing back the Start menu won't help Windows 8

Topic: Operating Systems

Windows 8 Consumer Preview: a fresh start

Summary: A close-up look at the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

Ed Bott

By |

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From the Photos app, click Settings to connect web-based photo libraries and albums to a Windows 8 device.

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Topics: Operating Systems, Microsoft, Software, Windows

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85 comments
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  • Image 9

    Looks like Tetris......
    gary@...
    Reply Vote

    • LOL

      Agree, this brought back memories of my old atari 2800
      allspammailhere
      Reply Vote

  • Looks Promising

    My wife and I have Windows phones and like them a lot. But I was initially very very skeptical of Metro on the desktop. Looking at it here I have to say while I'm not convinced, it looks like something I could get used to quickly and maybe even enjoy using *gasp*.
    R.L. Parson
    Reply Vote

  • God Damn that's FUGLY

    I Can see another Windows ME or Vista here. That UI is a mess!!!
    itguy10
    Reply Vote

    • No sir. I cannot agree.

      I kept wondering and wondering exactly how the new UI would really look. Up until now all the pic's I seen of the Windows 8 UI were a little distant looking and I was really unsure if this was a workable idea.

      Now that I have seen these particular pic's...well. I for one am convinced. Far far from "FUGLY", it gives me a feeling of serious control just looking at it. Its one of those things where someone who dosnt have a clue looks at a Marussia B1 and because they have no way of putting performance and looks together in their mind says the Marussia B1 is "FUGLY". Well, its not and neither is Windows 8. Windows 8 looks like the Marussia B1 of OS's.

      http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=russian+sports+car&view=detail&id=32F15565511834901A534FC934DFE3B5D99FF70E&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

      If Windows 8 performs like it looks, it will be a sweet ride.
      Cayble
      Reply Vote

    • @agree with you

      @agree with you
      shellcodes_coder
      Reply Vote

  • Slide 14...

    Is that Matt Lauer (of Today Show fame) holding the weapon?
    WozNotWoz
    Reply Vote

  • Funny - the one tweak that looked useful pertains to the virtual keyboard

    I thought incorporating a center-of-the-screen numeric keypad in the spilt keyboard mode was clever and useful.

    Except this is the desktop version of Win 8 and a virtual keyboard will encounter extremely limited use in that envirnoment.
    kenosha77a
    Reply Vote

    • You're confused, I think

      There is no such thing as a tablet and desktop version. There is one version of Windows 8. The only way you will see that keyboard is if you activate it on a touchscreen-enabled device.

      But you already knew that, didn't you?
      Ed Bott
      Reply Vote

      • as if you were taken more seriously than another

        Microsoft sales guy :)
        allspammailhere
        Reply Vote

      • I was thinking about WOA tablets.

        Ed, I just didn't wish to play semantics. Doesn't the "same" version of Windows 8 that is installed on WOA tablets require a different SKU?

        Irregardless, my original comment was in error. I meant to differentiate between using this version of Windows 8 (as opposed to the version installed on WOA machines or the Windows 8 server version of the OS) on a traditional desktop system having a separate keyboard, mouse and non-touch enabled monitor and on slate, tablet and hybrid tablet/laptop convertible systems.
        kenosha77a
        Reply Vote

  • Windows 8 Looks cool, but...

    I installed Windows CP few hours ago... everything look cool... but I think I am getting frustrated on not being able to quickly find the programs the way I could find in the past. May be I should get used to the new UI.
    SkyDrive
    Reply Vote

    • How?

      How are you having a hard time?

      Its the Start Menu enlarged to full screen! That makes it easier. And search is right there just like on the old Start Menu. The old one you have to hit start, move up to all programs, then carefully move over to the long list, then, once you found it, click on what is usually a folder that its in, then launch the application.

      The new Start Menu is like the old Start Menu and Desktop Icons combined into one.
      spaulagain
      Reply Vote

      • Why would I want the menu on the desktop

        If I wanted to put all my programs on the desktop I would have done so, and then would have had a desktop that was not visible due to all of the icons on it like some of my co-workers. I prefer to keep a nice clean desktop with a few key programs pinned to the start menu and all the others hidden behind the All Programs. This idea of no start menu strikes me as abhorant.

        My wife is still a Windows XP user and refuses to even look at Windows 7. She will never go for this. I have barely accomodated myself to the irritations of Windows 7, and I am a programmer by occupation. My co-workers have invented new curse words for Windows 7. These additional changes are NOT going to go over well.

        I have always been a big windows fan but now it looks like to get a windows desktop I am going to have to use linux.
        joeller
        Reply Vote

  • Windows 8 is cool......

    Downloaded 32 and 64 bit ISO's this morning, loaded them on several devices...I think it has potential (sure a lot of bellyaching whiners on this website) i'm going to give Win 8 a chance. so keep the kvetching to yourselves for a little while. ;)
    straycat5678
    Reply Vote

  • I've loved Windows since 3.1

    But this looks like a horrible gimmicky mess. Is the business version going to be a little more conventional?
    Bill4
    Reply Vote

    • I seriously beg your pardon.

      "a horrible gimmicky mess"?

      Come on, If there is one thing this dosnt look like is a gimmick. It looks like an OS that means serious business. If anything that should be cut and dried. It screams serious user interface. What I would be far far more worried about is the sheer lack of gimmickyness to it that made Windows a Joe Average pleaser in the past as opposed to the "power user" look it clearly has now.
      Cayble
      Reply Vote

      • Serious business? Are you kidding?

        This looks like the UI of the LeapFrog platform (gadget toy for toddlers).

        There is nothing serious or business in that horrible L&F. It looks like it was created by the imagination of somebody's 3 year old kid.
        wackoae
        Reply Vote

      • @Cayble: Serious business?

        As in what type of business, what would make it serious business? You're wonderfully vague and frankly useless with your comment.

        Do elaborate, and keep it simple, use simple words, avoiding glossy adjectivals such as "serious business".
        ego.sum.stig
        Reply Vote

      • Serious Business?!! Seriously???

        Serious business if your business is the circus. Looks like the UI of a toddlers toy.
        joeller
        Reply Vote
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