Everything You Need To Know About Windows 8.1

Courtesy of Beta News/Wayne Williams:

Most memorable part for me at least:

A Start Button
Microsoft hasn’t yet confirmed the return of the Start button in Windows 8.1 and there’s been no sign of it in any of the leaked builds. There have been lots of rumors about it though, with some people claiming it will be a traditional Start button with a Start menu, and others just that it will be there purely to open the Start screen.
In an interview with The Verge last week, Tami Reller, Windows division CFO, admitted Microsoft was aware of the outcry for a Start button. "We have heard that, we definitely have heard that and taken that into account," she said, before adding: "We've really also tried to understand what people are really asking for when they're asking for that".

Oh dear. Has Microsoft really not grasped what people have been requesting since before Windows 8 even launched? A Start button, Tami, with a Start menu attached.

Everything you need to know about Windows 8.1

 

[SIW2]

most people hate windows 8.

I am not sure most people hate 8. That is a strong word. Certainly there are some who dislike it very strongly and have gone to the effort and expense of returning the machines or upgrading to 7.

Put simply, people will buy something either because they need it ( e.g. water ), or because they like it.

It is pretty clear a significant number of potential customers do not like 8.

One might leave the sludgy green jumper on the shelf at Marks and Spencer - because one does not like it. Does that qualify as hate?

A distant aunt might give you the sludgy green jumper as a present. You might say to yourself/your friend - yuck - I will take that back and get something else. Does that qualify as hate?

As a result, the sludgy green jumpers do not sell very well.

There are other factors , of course. The green jumper doesn't sell at $39.99. But it may if they reduced it to $9.99.

Would that mean everybody has suddenly started liking the sludgy green colour?

 

[turbofish]

I like the idea of a windows store very much, though I have not found a whole lot of good apps within it to date. The start menu was just good to have, and based on the way she used her desktop, the start screen might wind up being redundant for her. To each there own, as the saying goes.

Personally, I haven't found one app in the app store that there isn't a better experience by just going to the web page or having the full windows app. Seriously, I just can't see the need for any of it when you are on a PC.

Plus, just attempting to work on a modern UI app is frustrating. No close button, can't have two of them on the screen at the same time and the only way to really close a metro app is to kill it off by using the task manager.

 

[SIW2]

I believe the next os (8.1) will let you have more than one open.

I don't know if that is enough to make any real difference to the acceptance of the metro annoyance for pc users , I doubt it.

Very funny remark I saw recently:

..they avoid the Start Screen like a leper wearing a loud shirt

http://www.eightforums.com/windows-...-windows-8-users-just-treat-like-win-7-a.html

 

[Mustang]

Been using W8 on flagship since February. Overall good. A few glitches with USB3 ports and optical drives because Intel don't support W8 on my mobo. So limited to W8 generic drivers.

Use "Start is Back", with Modern Start Menu totally and permanently turned off. Have absolutely no use for it.

..they avoid the Start Screen like a leper wearing a loud shirt

Good one SIW2 :thumb:

 

[Ex_Brit]

Some may benefit from this training brochure put out in .pdf format by Microsoft.

Download Windows 8 End User Training Brochure from Official Microsoft Download Center

 

[SIW2]

Mustang
Use "Start is Back", with Modern Start Menu totally and permanently turned off. Have absolutely no use for it.

Sorry to tell you this.

In the leaked versions, MS have prevented startisback from working. 8.1 release will probably be the same.

Tihiy will have to make something else. He has made an absolute fortune in a few months. Good luck to him.

 

[Mustang]

If M$ are so arrogant as to not only fail to provide a legacy Start Menu; but also block all third party ones ... then I will be going back to Win7. Or ... and it's becoming more and more a strong probable ... go to Mac.

It's bad enough to have Modern shoved down your throat, but to block third party apps to fix it is too much. Enough is enough. I personally know two members of Win7 Forums who have been very big contributors to that forum and they have both gone over to Mac. They both said they were not coming back.

It seems M$ are hell bent on putting many customers off side.

 

[DavidY]

Some may benefit from this training brochure put out in .pdf format by Microsoft.

Download Windows 8 End User Training Brochure from Official Microsoft Download Center

That looks like a very useful document.

I think it would benefit new users who come to the Forum seeking support - I wonder if this should be re-posted as a "Sticky" in the General Support section?

 

[Ray8]

I just love this comment from the link:

Windows has been reimagined to be all about you and your style of working.

Who is this 'you' that Microsoft is talking about?

And from the PDF (page 14):

Make the taskbar your own.

On the desktop, you can enjoy the traditional work style you’re used to. The taskbar is a big part of that, and you can customize it to work like you do.

But they don't show anything of the desktop, anywhere!

 

[SIW2]

At least one oem says MS are driving millions into the arms of Apple and Google.

MS are removing their own code which the shell/start menu replacements might use. There will still be start menu replacements. Those which run their own services will be able to work around what MS are up to.

If M$ are so arrogant as to not only fail to provide a legacy Start Menu; but also block all third party ones ... then I will be going back to Win7. Or ... and it's becoming more and more a strong probable ... go to Mac.

It's bad enough to have Modern shoved down your throat, but to block third party apps to fix it is too much. Enough is enough. I personally know two members of Win7 Forums who have been very big contributors to that forum and they have both gone over to Mac. They both said they were not coming back.

It seems M$ are hell bent on putting many customers off side.

 

[SIW2]

LOL.

They don't want you to use the desktop. But they have to keep it in for a while, because they haven't yet been able to get the users into the clouds.

That is what metro is for. That is why they keep ramming it at you. It will take a while and there will be interim steps.

The desktop programs will be in the clouds. There is no actual desktop on your machine.

They have turned the laptop into a phone. The user can make calls, video calls even. The user can swipe across a few icons, jab one and the MS cloud server does the rest. It might be quite small - credit card size, for example.

That would be fitting considering how much the users will be paying. It is all controlled by MS of course. You can only do/run what they allow. Lots of privacy issues as well.

I just love this comment from the link:

Windows has been reimagined to be all about you and your style of working.

Who is this 'you' that Microsoft is talking about?

And from the PDF (page 14):

Make the taskbar your own.

On the desktop, you can enjoy the traditional work style you’re used to. The taskbar is a big part of that, and you can customize it to work like you do.

But they don't show anything of the desktop, anywhere!

 

[HippsieGypsie]

LOL.

They don't want you to use the desktop. But they have to keep it in for a while, because they haven't yet been able to get the users into the clouds.

That is what metro is for. That is why they keep ramming it at you. It will take a while and there will be interim steps.

The desktop programs will be in the clouds. There is no actual desktop on your machine.

They have turned the laptop into a phone. The user can make calls, video calls even. The user can swipe across a few icons, jab one and the MS cloud server does the rest. It might be quite small - credit card size, for example.

That would be fitting considering how much the users will be paying. It is all controlled by MS of course. You can only do/run what they allow. Lots of privacy issues as well.

You are using the cloud reading and posting on this forum.

 

[SIW2]

I still have my own files and folders and programs under my own control on my own local storage. I don't pay a subscription to use them.

 

[Ray8]

And that's the big difference, what's yours is yours, not something for others to poke and prod.

 

[McRuff]

You are using the cloud reading and posting on this forum.

Cloud Computing for Dummies.

What Is Cloud Computing? - For Dummies

 

[HippsieGypsie]

And so do I. My Windows 8 is native. Although I use my MS account to sign into my Windows (which personally I find convenient), I can choose a local account never to share anything. If (and that's a big IF) and when I cannot I'll have a problem. Until then it's more or less a conspiracy theory.

 

[SIW2]

Who are the parties conspiring ?

 

[Ray8]

Anything that is stored on someone else's hard drive is accessible by someone else, unless the data is securely encrypted. That is unlikely unless the services are provided specifically under such requirements. It doesn't mean that anything nefarious will happen, it might simply involve some 'analysis' or the like, but what you store in the cloud is only technically your own.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

You are using the cloud reading and posting on this forum.

Cloud Computing for Dummies.

What Is Cloud Computing? - For Dummies

Thanks for the link, Mr. (Mrs., Ms., or whatever) McRuff, but I very well know what cloud computing is.

We are accessing Windows EightForums' servers here by posting (storing) or retrieving stored data (reading) via the internet as members given that privilege via a free membership. Technically it is a "cloud service".

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Who are the parties conspiring ?

That's what I'd like to know. Seems to me you keep posting that MS is pushing everyone to the cloud.

LOL.

They don't want you to use the desktop. But they have to keep it in for a while, because they haven't yet been able to get the users into the clouds.