Microsoft Plans Windows 8.1 Public Preview, Hints at Start Button Discussion

Microsoft will release a public preview of Windows 8.1 on June 26, said a Microsoft official. Windows 8.1 will be a free upgrade for Windows 8 and Windows RT.

Read the full content of this Article: Microsoft Plans Windows 8.1 Public Preview, Hints at Start Button

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A start button would be nice. I do so much enjoy the public relations disaster management. A very large segment of media/users do have issues with what is basically a touch screen designed OS without a real hardware injection to match. MS refuses to openly acknowledge a mistake was made. No this 8.1 is just a standard ordinary update? Sure it is.

I think Windows 8 could be 100% fine. I just find MS lack of openness and acknowledgement to be less than productive. I hope they do adjust. Those that buy new units deserve a well adapted OS. I don't want to see another XP/Vista with W7/W8. No reason for that if MS gets it together.

Real world market stresses on the PC do not need to be compounded by over paid executives making bad decisions. Failing to recognize their bad decisions and righting the ship. The potential layoffs and downsizing will as always affect the mainstream workers disproportionally vs the executives who while getting the sword will leave with compensation packages likely equal to the lifetime wages of middle class workers. For doing an incompetent job.

 

I find searching for apps to run with windows+Q much more effective than the start menu ever was. All I really wanted is "boot to desktop", though that's not a huge deal, I only need to pin it to the start screen and click it, and then only have to do that once per cold boot, resume from standby goes straight back to the desktop after login.

WIndows 8 is much better than Windows 7 ever was. People are just too resistant to change.

 

Its very divided. Many don't like the new UI and don't like the switching back and forth from Metro and Desktop. Elements of the control panel are in both UI's. Some apps are in one and not the other, like PDF. Imagine a user working in desktop and opening a PDF file only to be thrown into a metro full screen app.. (epic W8 failure). Sometimes people do not want the distraction of being thrown in metro and only want to work in desktop. Enterprise, which controls over half the desktop market wants nothing to do with W8 if it does not provide an OFF switch for the modern UI. So in the end, if MS decides to put a smart button back, but not a start menu and only a link to the metro start page, then its going to get ugly for MS. I mean really ugly.

Ironically the whole purpose of modern is the apps and even the ones that are there, are poorly written and oftentimes inferior to the IOS/Android equivalents. If MS leaves out the start menu and a functional control panel within the desktop its going to be bad. It does not matter that some may disagree and like the modern UI. The fact remains that over half the cash buyers of windows (enterprise) and probably over half of consumers hate it. That's a real problem for MS.. Not just imagined.

 

I do not have any experience with Windows 8. That said I did watch my brother set his new bought notebook. The level of information he had to input to activate was to say the least exceeding. It was pushing any limit of what we might call privacy. I do know MS has a very large interest in protecting their property but at what point does it cross the line? I do not know but if they over do and fail I will shed no tears.

You guys can talk how great it is but the activation is far from good. I will take Windows 7 any day.

 

You don't HAVE to input any of that stuff. It's completely optional for people who want twitter and facebook via the "people" app, their email via the "mail" app, etc.

 

If true great as I said I watched my brother. He has none of those accounts as he does not have them. So I don't really know and not trying to pretend I do. I do highly suspect you have a much greater trust in the powers that be than I.

 

This isn't about whether you "trust the powers that be." You don't have to enter social network and email information if you don't want to, and if you don't, they don't have it. And even if you believe they're going to use your facebook information for evil, they can't use information they don't have. So what's the concern?