Windows 10: Anticipation of 9 compared to 8

Although I always anticipated the "next OS" since 95, I wasn't around online for the 7 to 8 anticipation for I was busy with life and a business using 7. I ran into an article that 8RP was available, so I got curious and went to the Windows site. There it was. Next question was to make sure about dual booting, so I searched online and found a few sites, but Brink's tutorial was the most comprehensive. It wasn't too long afterwards that I joined 8F. The rest is history.

Windows 9 has got to be the most anticipated OS yet because of the vast changes of 8 and 8.1. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm really wondering which direction MS is going to take > Desktop vs Modern/Metro. I'm thinking everything will be ported to Modern/Metro except for the Desktop app/portal. We shall see.

We will either scream or jump for joy. *Biggrin

 

Whether I decide to upgrade to W9 will depend on two factors: do I really like the preview and how much will it cost me. Otherwise, I will wait until it's time to update my computer, which I usually do every 5 years or so. Like you, if I do decide to upgrade I will definitely keep my W8.1 SSD as well. It would be a real bugger to re-install everything from my original W8 disk.

 

I think that MS realizes that 8 was not that well received and that 9 will be more l ike 7.

 

This...

... and this.

After Vista I was anxious to get a modern working OS from Microsoft. These days, while I'm very keen to see what Windows Nine will look like, I find myself drifting more and more towards Mint.

 

I agree that Windows XP x64 Edition was a dream OS if you had the right hardware. My HP xw8200 was supported perfectly. I have no issue with your saying Vista was a disappointment with the RTM release, but those issues (mostly I/O access speed issues/impedance and WDM driver issues) were sorted out in the service packs. Today Vista x64 SP2 runs every bit as good as Windows 7.

Now how can Vista be a disappointment when Windows 7 is awesome? They are so similar that it's not funny. Had Windows 7 seen the light of day back in January 2007, it would have been hated too. Take away Libraries, Aero Snap, and the new Pin-Style Taskbar, and you have Vista. Moreover, I am running the Windows 8.1 Eval Edition in a VMWare session. It runs QUITE well. Metro has been eradicated from my desktop. And with IOBit Start Menu 8, I have that "choice" you mention below.

I wonder about this one. I see the benefit of choice, but I think product focus is a good thing too. Had the Surface (ARM/RT version) been just released with the Metro interface as a tablet that lets you use your Microsoft Office files and data, without the Explorer interface, I think it would have still won over its supporters. Whereas, Metro has no place on the desktop. I know, I know there are touch screens, yada yada, and the Metro Start Screen works well, but the presentation is jarring going between both. Even when you change themes on the Explorer interface, a "metro styled 'Please Wait'" screen appears. Sheesh, just show a progress window or something. It's a case of pushing the Metro interface, just for the sake of it.

I say, put Metro on the Surface/RT stuff, and leave Explorer for desktops and notebooks. Yes there are some that stubbornly want both on each, but they just shouldn't have let that happen because it just leads to a disorganized product. Now, those that want Explorer on Windows RT, and want Metro on the desktop are going to make it hard to put the Genie back in the bottle. Whereas if Metro fans had never been exposed to Metro on the PC platform in the first place, I don't think they would have missed it.

Microsoft has had this insatiable need to have Windows on all devices with a common interface, because they think users want that consistency. It's time that they learn: they don't! A user may have Android on his phone, a ChromeBook and Windows on his desktop. Or maybe they have an iPad, Windows on a notebook, and a Mac desktop. Users are more flexible than we give them credit for.

In fact, Apple has figured this out. Even if you were to shell out for an entire lineup of Apple products, it's not like its OS X everywhere. iOS is for mobile devices, and OS X for Intel devices. They realize different products are suited to different things.

 

You remind me of how I anticipated each new OS release since the mid 90s, and it's fun to stroll down memory lane.

My first real anticipated release was OS/2 Warp 3.0. I was already running v2.1 and heard that v3.0 was going to drop memory requirements and snazz up the interface. 1994 and 1995 were good years for OS/2, and I was even excited about the Merlin Beta. But the requirements for the finished OS/2 Warp 4.0 were more inline with NT, and you couldn't run the new Win32 apps. So I bailed and moved over to Windows.

I anticipated Windows 95 throughout the Chicago project, and really liked the look of the interface. I finally switched over to Windows 95 in mid 1996, and I admit that it ran really well. Mind you, I was still running 16-bit apps for the most part, so I wasn't really putting the system through it's paces. I also really like Windows NT 4.0 as a server platform, but no USB provisions made it hard to use by the late 90s.

At first I thought I was going to hate Windows 98 because of the new Active Desktop update. But hardware improved and kept up with its heavy requirements. But it did run most apps better than Windows 95 SR2 (especially multimedia).

My favourite version of Windows though was Windows 2000 Professional. It was soooooooo stable. I only moved over to Windows XP in 2007, because I bought a used HP xw6000 machine, which I was going to format and install Windows 2000 on. But XP ran so well with it, that I stayed. I wish I had adopted the x64 version of XP sooner than 2011, because it was also a dream to run on HP Workstations.

I initally was excited about Longhorn because of the journalized file system. It sounded cool (but to be honest, I usually disable indexing since I don't search intensively so I would likely have hated it). Anyway, Vista ran horribly on 512 mb notebooks coming out then, so I avoided. Post April of this year, I now run Vista, and I love it.

So I am looking forward to what Windows 9 will bring. I think my interests around this have more to do with the path that Microsoft takes as a corporation to try and recover from Windows 8. So I'm interested to see what Windows 9 will include. If I try the Preview Release and it doesn't bring that much to the desktop world though, I'll move to Windows 8.1 when Vista support runs out.

 

Hey neighbor, I'm in Thornhill, too. Dufferin and Steeles. *Smile

 

This is the same technique I've been using since Windows 7. I set it up. Install everything I want. Then clone it to SSD. I just use the hard drive with backup OS as data drive. When I get into problems, I just re-clone it and I am done in 15mins like nothing happened.

 

Cool. We're just northeast of Yonge and Steeles (near Bayview and Proctor). I'm doing traffic this afternoon on Newstalk 1010.

 

I perhaps might have pointed out that my 8.1 setup runs entirely in desktop mode, looking and behaving pretty much the way 7 did...

 

Yeah me too. Even my win 8 10inch tablet is running like 7. I never bothered with modern crap.

 

I suppose the way you followed a release and how important it was to you depends on when you started with your first pc/laptop.

Windows 95.

a real biggie for me, I was using windows 3.11 and I was a happy bunny as it did what I needed but changes were afoot, what was all the fuss with the new multimedia kits, a cdrom and soundcards, pah, if I wanted a stereo I would buy one not build it into my pc. Anyhow, said pc went tits up so off I went and purchaced one of the new windows 95 machines that were popping up all over the place...bloody hell.. where is everything, I was shocked, and also very excited, I went desktop crazy in a flash adding wallpapers daily and splashing shortcuts all over the place, I even had a new massive 15" monitor to display it all on, this was just the start.

Windows 98.

what!!, already??.... off to the local pc show as by now building a half decent set up was so cheap compared to a few years earlier it was rude not too.
I really didn't get it, ok it looked very slightly nicer and I had yet to dig deeper into it, now I had 2 pc's my first networking days were born, yup, win98 soon went on the win95 pc as well and lan gaming was in the house with win98 at the helm.

WinME.

oooooooooooohh it was sooooooooo pretty.
and that was about as exciting as it ever got for me, sure it had a restore built in but it was never going to come close to "ghost" and yes, for me at least it didn't crash half as much as 98 or 98se, but maybe it should have been called win98 3rd edition.

windowsXP.

Ahh, the one people just wont let go of.
Prob the one I used for the longest period, not because I thought it was great, just that it seemed to always be around, forever.....and ever.....and ever.
even when I had moved on to newer op systems my 1st netbook had xp, laptop had xp, it just never wanted to die.
to be honest it did do its job well and this is the point I started leaving my pc on 24/7 as it just seemed to keep going, but.. after time it became unstable and nothing ever seemed to repair it other than a re-install.

Vista/longhorn.

jeez, how many betas, leaked versions, early builds, etc...
Now wait for it......wait...... I loved it, oh yeah baby, this was made for me....lol.
it was shiny, sparkly, good looking baby and unlike everyone around me it ran like a dream although I did build a new pc just to put this on. I was an instant lover of the gadgets and still today I need to use them, I will always remember vista and all the haters can go and jump. bearing in mind by this time I had had a few years under my belt and was using the pc for everything from gaming to paintshop with (dare I say it) filesharing and torrents running all the time, burning cd/dvds with live wallpapers running and it just handled it all in its stride.

windows 7

the new cling on on the block, yes the one millions are never going to leave, vista service pack 3 ..
I cant call it I suppose but I cant bring myself to hail it either, really.. move along as there is nothing more to see here.
before you all start flaming me I think it was born out of the hate for vista, another service pack or 2 and vista would have been what win 7 is now.

windows 8.

aaahh, the haters are back, lets all relive that vista era.
funny thing is when folks start banging on about haw bad it is I always ask why, the same answers are always given and the results are often maddening,"well I havnt tried it, a mate told me" or "i just don't like it", pathetic answers or reasons from morons, I wouldn't mind if they fessed up that they had essential or important software that would not run or that the pc they had was a little old for it to be beneficial, but back to my thoughts.

i really had no idea how much i was going to like this, it was way better than i expected.
no start menu, really, you miss that little navigation box that it 10% of your screen in the lower left corner and hate it because its now a big full page that is actually useful, i don't. i do however like almost everything about it, i got a Logitech touchpad just so i could take advantage of the swipes and really get a feel for it, after using it for all this time i may actually struggle to let it go, yes a few things were in the wrong place and still are in some respect, power off/restart was/is a pain but simple 8 added that to my taskbar and getting the gadgets back was not too hard, all in all its now a beauty.
i also liked the fact that i tested the release preview and after purchasing the pro upgrade it went straight over the top so i got win8pro with media centre for a mere 25 notes direct from Microsoft with no other op sys licence required, i do hope we can get away with that on win9 lol.

all in all a great experience over the years for me, yes i have had my problems here and there but backups are the key, looking forward to 9 and will chuck all my usual prgms at it and leave it on 24/7, i intend on doing it on a slightly older pc and i will do my best to crash it and see how easy it is to break.

 

For me, I was really looking forward to xp, vista, and 7. At this point I was hesitant on W8. When I did go to it, I never looked back..I love 8.1. I am looking forward to W9, I am ready for it *Smile

 

Windows 8 veteran here. I followed literally every single development of Windows 8 since WELL before an alpha build was leaked, like around late 2010. So that means I know some details many don't realize Microsoft has been and will be doing with Windows, like running your Desktop as a Group Policy service (that obviously will never happen anytime soon), the Xbox code that was found in a .dll, MinWin expansion, this feature that never made it but instead of booting to Windows to play a DVD you could start your PC and the DVD would automatically play, oh and even the speculation that you could hypothetically one day install Windows and choose whether or not to install Desktop code or live purely in the modern realm of Windows.

When the Developer Preview was officially launched, I obviously installed that the following day and since then, ran each consecutive build of Windows 8 as my main OS over 7; even to the point of using a Windows 8 To Go drive almost daily at my workplace. And unfortunately, I may end up doing the same with 9.....such beta fatigue...

Anyways, I remember that week in October 2012 when the Developer Preview was launched. There was SO much media coverage online about it and SO much hype and anticipation over Windows 8 because finally, for once, a software giant like Microsoft is making an operating system to combat the ipad and android tablets. Windows 8 was offering so much improvement over 7 and such new features and the new WinRT coding environment and even a new Windows Store. That in itself was a big deal because for once, there is now a central place to get apps and run these modern apps that use modern functions that look modern and can be used modernally with touch input. Some parallels were drawn that it was "Longhorn Reborn" because before vista, it was Longhorn and it was to have a HUGE focus on like C++ programming than before.

There was an image of a Samsung tablet running the preview build that Microsoft gave attendees the day of launch that were in the audience. I think it was a tech news writer that took the picture of his ipad hooked up to this tablet...



This right here was the zeitgeist of Windows 8's initial launch.

It was the platform that was to end all other tablet operating systems, it's full fledged Windows in a tablet designed with tablets and touch in mind. Not only was it Microsoft's official stance against the ipad, but the utterly dramatic redesign of Windows. It's not a menu anymore, it's was intended to be the modern Desktop of sorts as everything you care about has a place to be on Start, whether it's your news or Desktop programs. It also was the start of Microsoft's epic turnaround as "One Microsoft" versus several major development teams pointing a gun at each other and not working together pushing out disparate technologies that at times didn't even work together nicely. Everything about Windows 8 was to be huge, not only for Windows itself, but the WHOLE company altogether. Windows 8 was the final domino to fall over for all of this happen, Windows Phone was the first that started this all.

Then came using Windows 8 on every other PC... That was mixed. Some people loved it, some people hated it, very little in between. Some didn't like all the animations and movement and moving your mouse around to navigate around the UI when the start menu was easy and simply for them. Believe you me, the Developer Preview is SUCH a far cry from what Windows 8 ended up being, especially compared to 8.1.1. Once everyone used it, the media attention went to immediately about usability concerns on desktop PCs, or anything nontouch. On touch screens and tablets, 8 was fantastic. On nontouch PCs, that experience was iffy. For me, it was fantastic as I had no bugs or issues and used my old nontouch mouse with it. Only problem I had was the Hybrid Boot feature and moving files from my PC to a target hard drive that had the DP on it. The hibernate function and adding files to the hard drive caused file system corruption on that drive...

As time went on, the Consumer Preview was released and THAT was more of a controversial release because that removed the Start button from the Taskbar and introduced the sidebar Charms that we know today. In the DP, the Start button was there and was basically a flat version of 7's Start flag on a blackish square. That caused the obvious issue of not knowing where to go for some people. In this build, the Desktop was regarded like an app unlike the DP where the Start Screen was just more overlaid on the Desktop. You can close out the UI but it doesn't close out anything on the Desktop which seems counterproductive. I bet the thinking there was that the new apps still kind of run in the background, so it seems fitting for the Desktop to kind of act like that.

The Charms bar and hot corners were also controversial because with a mouse, that isn't so obvious to do isn't as easy if you're a first time user. I was rather against those two moves at the time, because I knew that was going to be an issue for usability, but made sense once you figured it out. They were trying to get ONE single interaction method to work across the mouse and touch inputs versus making it two distinct input methods as they are going to be with 9. The reason being is because on PCs like the Surface Pro, you have both input methods so you have now two interaction models and two UI models you would have to work with. I'm still kind of wondering how PCs like that are going to work with 9.

But as the year progressed, all sorts of videos were being made primarily by everyone that didn't like 8 that showed it's too hard to figure out. It's kind of an oxymoron because the UI of Windows 8 is so simple but so tricky to figure out if you don't know what you're doing. I was rather upset they didn't have an initial how-to interactive guide in the RTM build that showed the user how to ACTUALLY use Windows 8's new UI. The updated drivers for my Microsoft Touch Mouse went over better how to use Windows 8 than Windows 8 itself. When you first booted 8, it was just, "Check out how to use the new Windows, move your mouse to the corner." with an animation doing just that and that's it. Ok. That's not how you use the new Windows AT ALL. There's SO much more that needed to have been covered, especially on new PCs that had touchpad gesturing, when are you supposed to use the gestures and how? No answer to be shown or said of. So that obviously caused a LOT of frustration for new users that were completely unaware of Windows 8, hence why there is a tutorial thread over on Eight Forums I and HippsieGippsie co-authored to set up and use 8 because it's so new and different.

I find if Microsoft had set Windows 8 up like it is in 8.1.1 and had File Explorer locations from the old start menu onto the Start Screen in view with the Desktop wallpaper as the background along with the navigation tips, all of this would have been avoided. There would have been no, "Where's My Computer at? Where's the Start button at? How do I do this? Where do I go?!" It would have been, "Oh, here's My Computer. Documents are all right there. Shutdown button is here. Ok, cool, I just need to move my mouse pointer here." Every single time I've deployed Windows 8 to someone's PC, I ALWAYS give them a tutorial/run down/explanation of Windows 8. In about half an hour, they know how to use Windows 8 properly, questions are answered, and they go on using their PCs quite happily. Out of literally over 50 people I've done this for, I've only come across like three people who don't want any part of this. So something I'm doing is right.