Windows 8

[MessiaaH]

Here are a few advantages of Windows 8 over 7 that I upgrade for:

1.   Feed Reader / Next Gen Reader : This is a worthwhile feature for me, cause I use googlereader to sync my news across WP8/W8 between all my devices and phone. (When googlereader goes belly up, nextgen reader promises sync across all W8/WP8 devices using there own service)

2.   New Task Manager: there are a few new features of the new task manager that rel good.

3.   Storage Spaces: Software RAID done right, its fast, it’s easy, it’s expandable, and has been working without a hitch for months.

4.   Better multi-monitor support : Being able to set my taskbar to show the icon of opened apps only on the taskbar of the monitor in which the app is opened. (invaluable to me)

5.   Search: The new widows 8 universal search is quite epic. It’s the old start menu search on steroids. That’s the simplest way I can put it. I dosent even browse for settings or control panel applets or features again, I juss press Start->Type what I want-> Click Apps/Bing/Settings/Mail etc, and it find’s what  looking for based on what search charm I select.

[MessiaaH]

6.   Share: Another very useful charm that I find invaluable. Basically whatever app u in, u swipe from right (also works on Logitech T650), press share, and share the content u looking at with several other apps. I usually share to email, and Windows 8 kept a cached repository of the ppl I most frequently emailed, and populated that list with he Picture of said person pulled from fb, skype wahever. So if I reading a news article and I want to quickly share that article with all d men in d office, I juss do Share->Clicks on ITS->Send. It sounds simple, but makes for a very fast, efficient and nice workflow. In Windows 7 I’d have to ctrl+copy link, right click outlook icon in taskbar, press new email, start to type ITS, press tab to autofill address. Put in a manual subject, Paste the link, press send. The share charm auto populates the email with appropriate subject, link everythin. If u share the startsreen it sends a screenshot, if u share IE, it preps a sexy mail with embedded link, preview of article and image, etc etc etc.


7.   Windows+X menu : Self explanatory.

8.   Access to mobile games via store, things like radiant defense etc can be swiped from the Windows Store, all these games are unavailable in Windows 7.

9.   XBMC Remote App : Not really useful for desktop, but on my tablet is GG.

10.   Package Tracker App : I use this to track shipments, providing notifications of when the package change locations, when t delivered, etc ec. And it syncs across all my MS devices. i.e. Windows 8 / WP8

11.   Global syncing of settings across all Windows 8 Devices. I was so happily surprised when I went into various clients with my Surface Pro and realized all my Wifi Passwords for all various clients synced via the cloud to my surface. So when I enter d client with  brand new machine, it auto-connected to wifi my previous windows 8 sony laptop was connected too. Simply epic! And I hear in Windows 8 Blue more stuff going to be included in that sync. I.E. saved passwords, VPN connections etc. Switching out and setting up new machines on Windows 8 couldn’t be easier, between skydrive and windows 8 background syncing, I have 90% of the work done in swapping to  new machine, which I do frequently. The next 10% is games and apps. Also, Blue will also offer the ability to sync start screen and pinned items. IE tabs etc.

12.   People Hub: I hate opening a browser to view fb content, People Hub solves that.

13.   Messaging: The built in MSN/FB chat is epic and I use t all the time. Same goes for the Mail and Calendar apps. I aint even install Outlook on my Surface since I get it. And that’s a huge deal because im a heavy Outlook User. There are some features I miss from outlook though. Which is why im anxiously awaiting the Metroifiction of Outlook.


Those are the things I can think of off the top of my head, and im sure there are more, And one can argue that MS could have provided those things on windows 7, but if they keep adding new features to an old OS then we’d all be on XP SP8 now.

40$ to get all that is a worthwhile upgrade to me. O and for the comment about the "hassle" of upgrading. Upgrading to Windows 8 is so easy even a caveman can do it. Go to MS site, press upgrade, it download a web upgrader, press go, and it do everything for u. I upgraded my Windows 7 laptop to windows 8 beta and it couldn't be easier.

[Spazosaurus]

Oh yes, improved task manager and software raid are two other features I like.

[MessiaaH]

And coming to think about it, going from Vista to Windows 7 offered ah hella-of-a lot less features, also it was not as easy to upgrade from vista to win7 as it is to upgrade from win7 to win8. Also app/driver compatibility was a pain initially going from vista to 7. So it was harder, offered less, and I did that upgrade no problem.
All vista really offered was stability, but for me personally that was not an issue cause I had my vista machine running like oil. And I still made that upgrade. Windows 8 offers a lot more, at a lot less.

It's still worth while to upgrade, don't let that removal of start menu detract from the fact that at it's core, windows 8 is a very fast, fluid, and solid OS, with enough new features (more than vista->7) to warrant an upgrade, all techies and home users should be on Windows 8. (Coporate is a whole different can of worms, like u said wyatt, it have men still on xp. I was doing some upgrades in d power company over here, them dudes still have machines running windows 95, doing some old ass legacy app that cyah wok on anything else lol.)

[Spazosaurus]

I refer you to this old saying...

For Want of a Nail

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

For the want of just a few lacking features that you may find minor/no big deal, the entire OS could suffer, regardless of how good it is.

The history books is filled with great tech products that failed to make a significant impact on the world at large because of one or two "small" issues.

[MessiaaH]

Granted, but Windows 8 is not one of them, like I said many times before, MS Strangle hold too strong. Arcman himself point it out, for all the gripes of windows 8, you cant get a machine without it now. You know how long XP last before stores stop selling it. Any modern machine u try to buy now, it comes with windows 8 by default.

But at the same time MS not stupid, if sales suffering they go stick in said minor features to satisfy people.

When wp7 made the jump to wp8 I was rel happy, but MS drop d ball with 1 major feature. ZUNE! zune on wp7 was epic, Xbox Music is SHIT!, is shit on d xbox, is shit on windows 8 and is shit on wp8 I rel hate that thing. But the additional features of wp8 was worth giving it up. And zune is a rel hardcore feature I want.

Men bickering over ah start menu button dread? that u can add back with a 15 meg download. Geeze.
Is time u guys lay off the hatetorade. Windows 8 epic. But then again if alyuh want it so bad I guess yuh have no choice but to whine for MS to listen. So far they eh doing much of listeing, cuase they putting back d button not the original start. but we go see how it turns out. To each his own. I could care less.

I want Windows Blue for d many advancements it offers not for the inclusion of a button.

[MessiaaH]

http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/25/strategy-analytics-microsoft-tablets-q1-2013/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

Cant argue with facts. I doh know where this "I told you so" attitude alyuh men spouting coming from. things playing out juss fine for MS as far as I can see. All I said so many months ago was, ........Give the thing a chance, let devices and peripherals come out, then see how the market responds. That doom and gloom for MS alyuh was spouting simply don't exist. Lets stick to facts people.

And like I said, there are merits to both sides of the coins, no need to claw and scar at each other.

[Arcmanov]

No one is 'clawing and scarring' at anyone.  M$ is the one under the gun here.

It's funny.... in that entire list, is only two things that are important to me....the task manager and the Win+X menu.

Keep in mind that I liked the improvements enough to buy it eh...twice.

The point I continue to make (that you Messiaah seem to deliberately want to ignore), and what I will keep putting my proverbial boot in M$ ass for is the absence of choice...the absence of the kind of customisation that existed before.

...and it's not even just about the Start menu alone...it's about the insistence of forcing a particular UI design philosophy on desktop users where it clearly wasn't needed.

Again... I can look past enough of the flaws and proclaim it to be gobs faster and more stable than Windows 7, but only techies/power users will appreciate the improvements.  General users, not so much.

Unfortunately, this is where M$ is losing mindshare.  Most general users can't get past the jarring UI paradigm shift that is Modern UI, so all the 'under the hood' stuff is moot.




SwiftKey 3 | Samsung Galaxy Note 2 | Tapatalk 2 | Omega v16

[MessiaaH]

Arc, I not ignoring your point, I hear your point, im just saying I don't think its ah big of ah deal as you're making it out to be. I agree that ms could have easily given an option to re-enable start and disable metro start. and I'm guessing that would make you happy? I agree that ms could easily do that, and still have metro for who want it, and users that don't can disable it.

But there are merits to why they trying to bruteforce it on you as well. They vision of the 3 screens 1 OS thing kinda make them have to force feed ppl metro. Maybe the transition this time around was too sudden and not subtle enough for desktop users, but it has paid off in a big way for their tablet marketshare, which is what they design Metro for in the first place. MS vision is to really get rid of desktop all together. They no where near that now, but that is what they want and going to do.

So like I said, there are merits on both sides of the coins, and I get you point, I juss don't see t as a big deal. Companies over the years have done a lot worse. And tech and evolution still got along just fine. I just finish setup my first BB Z10, that phone is a hot pack of garbage. That is thing to cuss bout. But a start menu boy? I understand d frustration, but I just think the whole thing is being blown way out of proportion, especially given the advantages of windows 8.

MS doh deserve d amount of big stone alyuh pelting their way, at least not for Windows 8. For other things hell yea. but I think Windows 8 deserves praise, not cuss, well at least not d amount of cuss alyuh lobbying.

Also I think it underserved given he fact that users can easily change the behavior of Windows 8 if they want. At least they eh lockdown d thing like the iphone. Now if they did that, and 3rd parties couldn't give u options, then that is thing t get hysterical about.

[~*Ashiee*~]

anyone has a copy of windows 8 that I can get to play around with?

[Netizen1]

anyone has a copy of windows 8 that I can get to play around with?

http://www.labnol.org/software/windows-8-download-links/26380/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-in/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2016057/how-to-test-drive-windows-8-for-free-in-virtualbox.html

There ya go

[TriniXaeno]

Nicely done Netizen

[TriniXaeno]

Also I think it underserved given he fact that users can easily change the behavior of Windows 8 if they want. At least they eh lockdown d thing like the iphone. Now if they did that, and 3rd parties couldn't give u options, then that is thing t get hysterical about.

This is a big and salient point and the reason that I'm still very happy with Windows 8 at the moment.

3rd party solutions ftw!

[Arcmanov]

Well, with this new so-called 'Start button'...M$ has assured that Stardock will remain in business for quite some time. 

[TriniXaeno]

hahaha

[MessiaaH]

Windows 8 sells 100 million licenses, SkyDrive hits 250 million users, and more big Microsoft numbers



"It’s been a little over six month since Windows 8 launched for consumers. How’s it doing right now? If you listened to the critics and pundits you’d be under the impression that Windows 8 was a flop – another Vista most of them joke. Because we all know Microsoft can’t make two good operating systems in a row, right? I disagree! Today we learn that Windows 8 is on pace to catch up with Windows 7 sales-wise, plus more interesting facts and figures.
 
How has Windows 8 performed in 2013? Back in early January we learned that Microsoft had sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses. Now remember, everyone is comparing Windows 8 against Windows 7. It took 183 days for Windows 7 to get to the 100 million mark for licenses sold. Windows 8 has finally hit 100 million as well. It took 192 days to get there, which isn't too far off from its predecessor.

Tami Reller, Chief Marketing and Chief Financial Officer at Microsoft, shared some more stats and nuggets of information on Windows 8 in a Q&A for the Windows Blog. She went on the record acknowledging the existence of Windows ‘Blue’. This is the second time we’ve heard some info on the future update to all of the services and products from Microsoft. Tami didn’t really add anything new to information surrounding Blue - just the usual PR talk about the update incorporating customer feedback and the blood of virgins. Well, maybe not so much blood.

Some bulletin points to ponder:
• Windows Store has grown by a magnitude of six since launch
• 250 million Windows Store downloads in first six months
• Nearly 90 percent of the app catalog has been downloaded every month
• 250 million active SkyDrive users
• 400 million active Outlook.com accounts
• Over 700 million Microsoft accounts

We’re still in the middle of Microsoft executing their vision of three screens and a cloud. We’ve got the next Xbox right around the corner to tackle the living room. And //BUILD/ should give insight into future plans for both Windows Phone and Windows 8. Exciting times!

Six months after Windows 8 launched, Microsoft looks to be in a fairly solid position. If this is what the “post-PC” era looks like, I like it."

source
...

Haters gonna hate, but Microsoft still cutting ass.

Now for Surface 2 and Windows Blue!

[Arcmanov]

I was taking bets to see how long it woulda take for Messiaah to post that.   

How many of those licenses were sold to OEMs, and how many to end users who didn't have a choice when buying a new PC?

I notice they conveniently left those 'big numbers' out though. 

I say that to say: those 'big numbers' don't necessarily point to the merits of Windows 8.  :/

Propaganda can be a wonderful thing when used correctly, so take 'win' with that one. 




SwiftKey 3 | Samsung Galaxy Note 2 | Tapatalk 2 | Omega v16

[MessiaaH]

Doh matter if the user had a choice or not, ah sale is ah sale lol.

And from we own internal poll (although it consist of few votes) only 21% of ppl didn't go windows 8

And the fact that you can only buy windows 8 machines now adds to that as well. When vista hit, retail was refusing to sell vista cuase customers wasn't buying it. If you walk in retail now all u seeing is windows 8.

Collectively I draw the conclusion that windows 8 is not the doom and gloom plenty hoping it would be because of metro. But infact is on track to being a very successful OS.

So yes, I WILL take win with that one

[Spazosaurus]

The gatt poll tells me that over a third of votees show at least some degree of contempt for the interface eh. Its just either some choose to avoid it completely or use it but just dont like it.

Sure, people are buying it but the contempt level is  certainly much higher than normal. I find that point quite significant, one that Microsoft cannot afford to ignore.

[MessiaaH]

I fully agree with your analysis of the poll, but the point is, alyuh say windows 8 will buss because of it, I said it will succeed inspite of it. And so far that's exactly whats going on, regardless of all the metro hit, windows 8 still cutting ass.

And the OS is only going to get better moving forward. More so than windows 7 sp1.