Windows 8 Teaser (with tablet implications)

[kindlekitten]

here

[ardeegee]

After years of sticking with Windows XP (set to the "classic" UI) this demo reeeeally makes me want to continue sticking with Windows XP.

[wyndslash]

I want to go back to XP myself. That was so much better!

[boswd]

ok I wanted an HP Touchsmart before, now I NEED an HP Touchsmart, I'm floored.

[Giggleton]

lol, xp is dinosaur comparatively now. The user configurable startup page is nice but I often wonder how many people are going to configure it? Also, I think android might be better on principle.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

lol, xp is dinosaur comparatively now.

If by "dinosaur" you mean "made it at least relatively easy for a user to actually access his files," then give me the dinosaurs. I recently was asked to check someone's notebook for viruses and therefore actually used Vista for the first time-- and it was like attempting to use a computer with one hand tied behind my back, and a mitten on my hand. It was the most claustrophobic, user-unfriendly attempt at hiding the underlying file system from me that I had ever experienced. It was absolute and utter garbage.

Window 8 looks an order of magnitude worse than Vista.

[Nexutix]

This system can beat iPad and Honeycomb, because you can do "anything" on windows; unless it has head-start with crappy, bulky, weighty hardware and frustrating battery life.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

If by "dinosaur" you mean "made it at least relatively easy for a user to actually access his files," then give me the dinosaurs. I recently was asked to check someone's notebook for viruses and therefore actually used Vista for the first time-- and it was like attempting to use a computer with one hand tied behind my back, and a mitten on my hand. It was the most claustrophobic, user-unfriendly attempt at hiding the underlying file system from me that I had ever experienced. It was absolute and utter garbage.

Window 8 looks an order of magnitude worse than Vista.

Ah well, Windows is not really designed for the power user, it is designed so that two year olds can watch movies and play games on it.

[Nexutix]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Ah well, Windows is not really designed for the power user, it is designed so that two year olds can watch movies and play games on it.

What our operating systems are evolving towards are a reflection of what is "sold most" and not what is "liked most".
Windows 8 has tried to encompass a routine user as well as media consumer by one grasp. It would rather have been better to keep a tablet version of windows (e.g. Windows 8 Touch)separate from routine versions of Windows (Home premium, Business, Ultimate etc.). Having single best way to access the files is better than multiple ways to access the files.

Conclusively, Microsoft could keep the UI for windows same with optimization which fit both touch and mouse input. But truly, I expected more in windows 8 than just bunch of touch components and few improvements over windows 7.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by patilsaurabhr

What our operating systems are evolving towards are a reflection of what is "sold most" and not what is "liked most".

How do you make that distinction? I like the ios UI but I have not bought an ios device. I would say that every tool tends towards ease of use at the expense of ease of configurability, convenience comes at a cost.

I don't think Windows 8 UI is finalized yet, but I seem to recall something about transparent computing, maybe for Windows 14.

[emellaich]

I have to see more to judge this. There are a few more details at pcmag.

I can see ms's thought process, but I don't know if it will work. The basic is that their goal is a no compromise touch-oriented interface that will work the same on all devices. You can go to tablet or a desktop and still know how to use the system. It works on all form factors including processors from qualcomm and Nvidia. This also overcomes some of the biggest problems with the current stuff. True multitasking means that you can more easily run and move between multiple applications Than with current systems. And built-in interprocess communications allow (as the example they used) twitter or flicker to access a photo stored in another app. I also assume these are live tiles such as on wp7. This means you can see information without ever opening the app. All of this and power users can quickly jump to a win7 style interface with one or two buttons.

... But, I'm not sure they can pull it off. To me, the secret sauce for the tablet form factor includes instant-on, lightweight and long battery life. This leads to several constraints that I hope ms has figured out how to overcome, but I'm skeptical. Multi-tasking requires much beefier processors and it really chews up the battery. Bigger batteries mess with the lightweight goals. And let's not forget the screen size tradeoff. Lightweight and portable equal smaller screens, but smaller screens aren't good for multi-app, multi-processing. It just seems to me that small screens and battery limitations force you into compromises that you don't want or need for full blown computers. So why would you force yourself to use the same interface for both?

I'm also not a fan of dumbed down interfaces. I've never used windows media center because I'd rather navigate myself, but maybe that's just becaUse I'm an old dog that can't learn new tricks. The one backup is that the old style interface is still there underneath it all.

On the other hand, on Monday, Apple announces their next version of OSX, and one of the biggest design changes is that it is shifting closer to IOS. Apps get installed as tiles on the desktop and of course there is the new Mac AppStore. It may be that this unified interface is the direction that everything is headed.

P.s. Ardeegee, next time you hit up a win7 computer try holding down the windows key and typing an e (for windows explorer). You should get a file navigation window similar to what you are used to using. The biggest problem will be that they've moved the locations of some of the folders, but they are all still there.

[RainingLemur]

Looks intriguing.

[Ken Maltby]

So NewEgg sends me an offer for the Eee Transformer with Flash 10 enabled Honeycomb,
as an early adopter spotlight, how long after Win8 comes out do you think it will take
before these devices can be flashed to that OS?

Aren't they still selling XP Pro, long after they wanted it over? I still run XP Pro x64, in
preference to Win7.

My Eee PC 900A came with Linux, but I quickly changed it to XP Home. It could be that
with the touch features of Win8, it will end up on this new generation of Honycomb
capable touchscreen tablets.

(Now I just have to decide on the tradeoffs between The Asus Slate and the
Eee Transformer.)

Luck;
Ken

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

Aren't they still selling XP Pro, long after they wanted it over? I still run XP Pro x64, in
preference to Win7.

I have to laugh every time I hear "we're still running XP". I work in a high-performance computer architectural design world, and we wouldn't get caught dead with XP anymore. Windows 7 64bit is lightyears ahead of that old beast with stability, speed, and usability unsurpassed. To each his own, I guess.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

I have to laugh every time I hear "we're still running XP". I work in a high-performance computer architectural design world, and we wouldn't get caught dead with XP anymore. Windows 7 64bit is lightyears ahead of that old beast with stability, speed, and usability unsurpassed. To each his own, I guess.

Yes, Windows 7 works fine (I use both Ultimate and Professional). I cannot think of any rational argument for XP over Windows 7. Let us hope that Windows 8 will be a real Windows, not another giant phone OS --- two of those are more than enough.