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michieru
Premium Member
join:2009-07-25
Denver, CO

michieru

Premium Member

[WIN8] Thoughts

After using Windows 8 for about a week I have been finding myself using the Windows key quite often on the keyboard to get access towards all my applications.

The same process I did in Windows 7 I do in Windows 8 by hitting Windows key and typing the application, hitting enter and jumping right into work. Even though it bothered me at first that the start menu was not available in desktop mode, I found myself just using the keyboard to achieve the same result. After I got over that fact I started cruising at normal speeds.

Metro Apps although basic allow me to customize the tiles that are most important to me. So the moment I load up my computer I can see all the relevant information I care about in one screen and this is very useful when it comes to certain live tiles. As more tile apps becomes available I can see myself using it more just like I do on my Android device but on the big screen. No need to open the Outlook window and check emails, and go to weather.com to check the weather, see stocks by going towards my banks website, logging in or searching the info, etc. Start up music on Tunein radio with just a click. In short, the Metro interface saves me the hassle of my daily morning routine and shaves off time.

I do however sometimes find Metro becoming intrusive when under desktop mode. For example, if I were to select the Network to see properties or connect to a VPN. The Metro app is very basic and forces you to go into Network and Sharing Center to add for example a VPN or get more advanced settings and even deleting profiles. Another example of this intrusion is how certain applications open when in desktop mode. Before I ran a windows update, I had the issue of opening a PDF and instead of Adobe opening I would have the Metro App opening up that file. My desktop no longer performs this behavior and I am glad they fixed it because it was starting to get real annoying. The last example is Device and Printers. If I want to see devices, it throws me back into the Metro UI when under desktop mode I would prefer the traditional view.

Besides productivity, I find myself at home like I did in Windows 7 and although some things have changed around I don't find them intrusive, and the extra snappy interface is welcomed. I would say however that Windows 8 is not for the enthusiast who likes to change every single setting under the sun. Windows 8 caters towards the average joe by introducing them towards a similar system of apps that they are accustomed on Android, iPhone devices and most users will be satisfied with the Metro system alone but also know that they have a fully functional Windows box when it's available, so it's not as useless as a nexus or ipad tablet when it comes towards migrating legacy applications that require windows support.

As for the Microsoft surface, well they should of learned from Apple with Rosetta Stone to have the ability to run PPC applications on Intel platforms during that transition. Correct me if I am wrong though on that assumption.

Cheers,

-michieru
BlitzenZeus
Burnt Out Cynic
Premium Member
join:2000-01-13

BlitzenZeus

Premium Member

What bugs me the most is metro apps always run fullscreen so I don't plan on using them, and live tiles were supposed to replace gadgets, yet you can't see them from the desktop. Since they only appear on metro I won't use any live tiles, and at least on the beta they still had a handfull of basic gadgets so you should still be able to use the same gadgets if you can still find them.

I can deal with the auto-hide start button, and the charms bar even if the menu selection isn't logical where they put things like the shutdown button.

They should have allowed you to turn the metro desktop into a smaller start menu, run metro apps windowed, and put live tiles on the desktop as that seemed the logical desktop evolution to me. They however were in love with the unified fullscreen interface originally designed for single screen phones which is not optimal for those with large desktop monitors. I should add metro will not work on more than one monitor at a time for those of us with multiple monitors also. It wasn't so well thought out to begin with. I'm interested if they will even keep this interface for their upcoming annual license version.

Metro might be fine for their phones, and tablets, however it's more of a compromise for desktops and laptops. At least you can setup the desktop so you rarely have to use the metro interface. I really didn't want my desktop looking like an ipad, or andriod device.

Better yet skip it if possible for now, however this unfortunately might be the future of windows, and Apple will be happy to see Microsoft shoot themselves in the foot.

JohnInSJ
Premium Member
join:2003-09-22
Aptos, CA

JohnInSJ to michieru

Premium Member

to michieru
You can drag a metro app to the left or right side and it will stick there, the remaining 1/3-2/3rds of that screen can be the desktop. This works really well if you have two or three monitors.

michieru
Premium Member
join:2009-07-25
Denver, CO

michieru

Premium Member

Click for full size
You mean this?

JohnInSJ
Premium Member
join:2003-09-22
Aptos, CA

JohnInSJ

Premium Member

Yep.

tonyram57
join:2001-11-08
Brooklyn, NY

tonyram57

Member

I dragged it to the left but I could not get it back to full screen again without closing and reopening the app again.

JohnInSJ
Premium Member
join:2003-09-22
Aptos, CA

JohnInSJ

Premium Member

said by tonyram57:

I dragged it to the left but I could not get it back to full screen again without closing and reopening the app again.

the bar between the snapped app and the desktop is dragable. Drag it to one side to close the metro app, or drag it to make the metro app fill the screen.