This could be the SHOW STOPPER or Achilles Heel of W8

Hi everyone
I like W8 -- make no mistake -- even though I wish something could be done to "de-uglify" the standard metro tiles which are created when installing standard applications such as Ms Office etc.

What worries me is that there is increasing talk of the traditional desktop being phased out.

Now this per se doesn't bother me -- but what does is the fact that Metro will only run ONE application on a tile click.

What happens then say if I want to compare the values in two documents / lists etc on two screens (or even on the same screen) and also have two or 3 emails open and visible at the same time..

If I can't do those sort of things (and in the workplace that type of stuff is being done constantly) then this will be a NO GO.

At the moment it's fine because you've still got the traditional desktop where your two instances of excel say are running.

A PC / Laptop isn't a Mobile phone where clicking on an app will use the whole screen which is fine for a phone.

Cheers
jimbo

i seriously doubt they will get rid of the desktop.

microsoft would be committing corporate suicide if they did, and even they know that.

if however, they get really silly and decide windows 9 will be metro only (unlikely, next to impossible, i hope), then our windows 7 will still work, and microsoft would lose millions of sales and maybe linux will finally get its day.

mickey megabyte said:

i seriously doubt they will get rid of the desktop.

microsoft would be committing corporate suicide if they did, and even they know that.

if however, they get really silly and decide windows 9 will be metro only (unlikely, next to impossible, i hope), then our windows 7 will still work, and microsoft would lose millions of sales and maybe linux will finally get its day.

Click to expand...

Or even vmware will get a HUGE sales boost ( I am still using XP as a VM for some old hardware I need and it's too expensive to replace -- Glass etching machine for example ) .

Cheers
jimbo

Good point - which is why I'm staying on Win7 on my main m/c for now (even though I have 3 monitors) - can't see that working and I had 2 instances of Excel running this a.m.

Applies to Tablets with Android etc too.

If you like multitasking, the Metro Remote Desktop may be for you. You can have several connections running concurrently. So you don't have to change to a different monitor and keyboard to work on your number 2 machine, your laptop and your old workhorse - all from your netbook in the summerhouse, or wherever.

http://www.eightforums.com/general-discussion/4499-windows-8-tips-tricks-2.html#post74243

What I want though, is multiple desktops on my main machine, and whereas Mark Russinovich's desktops.exe worked fine on Win7, It does not work properly on Windows 8.

http://www.eightforums.com/software-apps/5275-multiple-desktops.html#post78621

fafhrd said:

If you like multitasking, the Metro Remote Desktop may be for you. You can have several connections running concurrently. So you don't have to change to a different monitor and keyboard to work on your number 2 machine, your laptop and your old workhorse - all from your netbook in the summerhouse, or wherever.

http://www.eightforums.com/general-discussion/4499-windows-8-tips-tricks-2.html#post74243
What I want though, is multiple desktops on my main machine, and whereas Mark Russinovich's desktops.exe worked fine on Win7, It does not work properly on Windows 8.

http://www.eightforums.com/software-apps/5275-multiple-desktops.html#post78621

Click to expand...

Hi there
good suggestion -- but that wasn't what I was trying to say-- I am saying say I'm on a SINGLE LOCAL machine with Internet NOT connected and want to run 2 or 3 instances of EXCEL, a power point presentation and 3 or 4 emails all visible at the same time be it on a single screen or multiple monitors the current Metro setup won't do it because if it can Metro will switch to Full screen INVASIVE mode --for example running IE from Metro rather than the desktop.

Pretty well any business user I've ever seen often wants to compare documents and look at emails at the same time -- for example you might get an email saying why in spread sheet one have you multiplied a cell by 2 and in the other version multiplied the same cell by 1.5. You want to access the email AND have both spread sheets visible.


Cheers
jimbo

I am a very light user of the desktop. even so, I often find the need to have at least two windows open at the same time. In order to keep progressing with Windows 8, I have installed the Vista start Menu, which allows me to kepp on doing just that. Not a good answer, though. If the RTM does not allow total access to the old menu, I will be forced to continue to use it as a standby, and keep windows 7 as my primary boot OS.

I don't think Microsoft is suggesting that the metro interface is a desktop replacement, but an extension of the pc that can be equally available, familiar, linked and accessible on small portable devices, anywhere. Apps that present the same data as familiar desktop applications for quick reference perhaps, so that no-one who needs current information need say "I don't have the figures to hand now!" Nobody will have the excuse: "Our computers are down, I can't check your credit rating at present."

From Microsoft's POV, a Windows license on everybody's phone would be a great source of micro revenue. Moreover, if there is just a single codebase, that reduces Microsoft's investment on personnel, despite increased productivity and profitability.