Microsoft BUILD: Windows 8, A Pre-Beta Preview
by Brian Klug & Ryan Smith on September 13, 2011 12:05 PM EST- Posted in
- BUILD
- Windows
- Microsoft
- Windows 8
- Trade Shows
First Thoughts
With under a day to see, play with, and write about the Windows 8 pre-beta it’s hard to fully digest what we’ve seen and to come up with a meaningful opinion. With Microsoft it’s a safe bet that there’s more to be seen when they’re still this far away from shipping the final product.
For a tablet-focused event I don’t think you will find much disagreement that Microsoft has hit the mark with Metro. Metro feels like it belongs when used with a tablet – it’s smooth, it’s easy to use, it’s gesture-driven, and it’s finger-friendly. Virtually everything Windows Phone 7 did well as a touch screen OS has been ported over to Metro and it shows.
The converse of that is that Metro feels awkward and out of place when used with a mouse and keyboard as a laptop/desktop. It fails to take advantage of the precision of the mouse or the fact that not everything needs to be in size 28 font when sitting down to use a computer. At this moment it feels like trying to use a tablet with a mouse and keyboard, which isn’t far off from what it really is in the first place.
The underpinnings look interesting, but there’s still a great deal left to see such as DirectX 11.1 and WDDM 1.2. I believe that in the long run the class driver additions will help further simplify using Windows, and integrating Microsoft Security Essentials into the OS is a long overdue change. At the same time if nothing else Metro will go even farther to improve security thanks to the fine grained permissions system.
Ultimately this is just the beginning, in fact it’s the beginning of a beginning. Windows 8 is still at least a year off – Microsoft isn’t even close to committing to a date – and the pre-beta is pre-beta in every sense of the word. The real fight starts today when Microsoft pitches it to developers. Because so much rides on Metro, Microsoft needs to convince developers to start writing Metro applications, otherwise most of the work Microsoft has put into Windows 8 will languish. Microsoft looks to have the tools their developers need, but will it be enough? Perhaps this is what BUILD is meant to find out.
Stay tuned as we’ll have more from BUILD this week, including coverage of today’s opening keynote.
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MGSsancho - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
If we can not run explorer on out desktops then we will see the return of desktop shells ala lightstep, anston shell etcAdronson - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
At about 6:20 in the video: "One big thing in Widows 8 is going to be the store."That about sums it up. Looks to me like all these active buttons will be there using system resources to get your attention. Little spam generators whose ultimate goal is to keep the user online so that it is easier to spend money.
PolarisOrbit - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
Windows 8 looks like the best tablet OS by a tremendous margin.As a desktop OS, it looks terrible.
TEAMSWITCHER - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
That's the problem. Tablet users will likely run ARM processors, and using an ARM processor the METRO GUI will be the only GUI on the system. And you can't run *ANY* existing windows apps, it must be a METRO app. I predict failure!BioTurboNick - Thursday, September 15, 2011 - link
Is that so different than current Tablet OSes? So you can get high-powered full Windows classic/Metro-capable tablets or a limited Metro-only ARM tablet.versesuvius - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
On Windows 7, the single click option, just selected a file and executed it at the same time, in the windows explorer file manager. There was no clear space in the file manager windows to click in and set the focus to. It was the same with every other file manager I could find. It then just became useless to me. I reverted back to XP and am quite happy with it. It was the most ridiculous thing about Windows 7. I suppose usability now, three decade after the first PC or Mac is defined a bit differently. People now, know what computers and GUIs are. And most importantly they have a prior understanding of what a GUI should behave like. I hope that they have fixed that in Windows 8, although I am at no rate going to use it before the first service pack is released.piroroadkill - Thursday, September 15, 2011 - link
I use single click, have done for years, even on XP, but I never noticed this issue. I tend to use middle click to switch focus, especially when doing file operations.saganhill - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
I love reading everyone’s comments how they hate the new GUI. Its reminiscence of the WinXP release and only now are users abandoning that OS for a new version.I have a premonition that all the people who "hate" the new GUI in windows 8 will in 5 years hate to give it up for the new one that MS will release. Very ironic.
UMADBRO - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
All too true. Everytime something gets changed in a newer version of Windows, people piss and moan and act like they are going to pick up the pitchforks and torches and go raze Microsoft for their Blasphomy. Then after it comes out and people actually try it, theyre mostly like "Hey, thats not that bad after all! HERP!"I just wish all these complaining jackasses would go and give it a shot before whining and proclaiming their utter hate for it, without having ever tried it out. Wishful thinking, I guess.
Shinya - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
most people have tried it ( like myself) and simply don't like it. i don't like have 20 FAT icons on my "desktop" that eat the entire landscape of my monitor. i want small icons. i want to be able to have 2 or more windows side by side while i multitask. As it stands right now (until other or myself figure it out) you cannot do such things with the Metro UI.working in the IT industry it is a must to have web and email side by side LIVE on the screen. not switching back n forth between the two.
but you're a troll (going just by you name), or a macf*g (in which case go back to engadget) so you wouldn't understand the words 'Computer" and 'Real Work'