• Windows 8 - "8" because cats were taken and dog races don't sound as intimidating
    1,617 replies, posted
[QUOTE=LegndNikko;44436755]"Windows 9" is never even mentioned in the article.[/QUOTE] It does have it in the URL. but it turned out to be false information anyway.
[QUOTE=kaukassus;44438796]It does have it in the URL. but it turned out to be false information anyway.[/QUOTE] Got a source on somewhere where it says that the new menu will be in an 8.x update? Just wondering.
In the presentation he stated it'll be an update for Windows 8.1 users.
msdn and technet members can get the update now [editline]4th April 2014[/editline] Oh, found the links for them. Don't know how long they will last: [CODE] 64-bit: http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/02/windows8.1-kb2919442-x64_f97d8290d9d75d96f163095c4cb05e1b9f6986e0.msu KB2919442 http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/02/windows8.1-kb2919355-x64_e6f4da4d33564419065a7370865faacf9b40ff72.msu KB2919355 http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/02/windows8.1-kb2932046-x64_6aee5fda6e2a6729d1fbae6eac08693acd70d985.msu KB2932046 http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/02/windows8.1-kb2937592-x64_4abc0a39c9e500c0fbe9c41282169c92315cafc2.msu KB2937592 http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/03/windows8.1-kb2938439-x64_3ed1574369e36b11f37af41aa3a875a115a3eac1.msu KB2938439 http://hotfixv4.microsoft.com/Windows%208.1/Windows%20Server%202012%20R2/sp1/Fix501784/9600/free/473786_intl_x64_zip.exe KB2949621 (EXTRACTABLE ARCHIVE, EXTRACT ELSEWHERE BESIDES C) 32-bit: http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/02/windows8.1-kb2919442-x86_94ee3d715e732ed28c64b8096327375a35f5d211.msu KB2919442 http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/02/windows8.1-kb2919355-x86_de9df31e42fe034c9a763328326e5852c2b4963d.msu KB2919355 http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/02/windows8.1-kb2932046-x86_bfd8ca4c683ccec26355afc1f2e677f3809cb3d6.msu KB2932046 http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/02/windows8.1-kb2937592-x86_96a3416d480bd2b54803df26b8e76cd1d0008d43.msu KB2937592 http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/03/windows8.1-kb2938439-x86_ac9aca7e41c8e818edbea0a8026189ee086f7aa2.msu KB2938439 http://hotfixv4.microsoft.com/Windows%208.1/Windows%20Server%202012%20R2/sp1/Fix501784/9600/free/473788_intl_i386_zip.exe KB2949621 (EXTRACTABLE ARCHIVE, EXTRACT ELSEWHERE BESIDES C) ARM: http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/02/windows8.1-kb2919442-arm_506ed7113697c597c2859d295d562fa4311834ec.msu KB2919442 http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/02/windows8.1-kb2919355-arm_a6119d3e5ddd1a233a09dd79d91067de7b826f85.msu KB2919355 http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/02/windows8.1-kb2932046-arm_fe6acf558880d127aef1a759a8c2539afc67b5fb.msu KB2932046 http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/02/windows8.1-kb2937592-arm_860c83a0cccc0519111f57a679ae9f9d071315e5.msu KB2937592 http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/03/windows8.1-kb2938439-arm_4a536d9ddcd9993cbe4fbc309ebd50a18d65f954.msu KB2938439 http://hotfixv4.microsoft.com/Windows%208.1/Windows%20Server%202012%20R2/sp1/Fix501784/9600/free/473787_intl_ARM_zip.exe KB2949621 (EXTRACTABLE ARCHIVE, EXTRACT ELSEWHERE BESIDES C) [/CODE] It looks like this update was done for about a month and up on the server for awhile but they disabled them until after the announcement.
is the update stable?
[QUOTE=redBadger;44450579]is the update stable?[/QUOTE] Yes. Just takes 30 minutes to a hour to fully install. [editline]4th April 2014[/editline] THE NEW START MENU IS NOT IN UPDATE 1
When are they going to update those desktop icons. With the new start menu, they just look bad.
[QUOTE=Jmax;44461101]When are they going to update those desktop icons. With the new start menu, they just look bad.[/QUOTE] I think we just discovered the big feature of Windows 9.
Anyone who's got the update already, is there some way of making the taskbar and the minimize/close bar at the top just stay there. The whole 'hold the cursor at the top or bottom' thing just seems really messy and unnecessary? If there's not an option for it in settings, is there at least some hack you can do?
Is it possible to increase the time after which Windows starts the automatic maintenance? This is very infuriating to hear my notebook going loud after being afk for a while.
So I've been using Windows 8 for a month now. At first, it was fine. It was fun exploring a new environment again and finding out how to do things. I mostly ignored the "start" screen as it served no purpose to me - the full screen apps and all that sort of thing just did nothing for me, so I had it disabled pretty much since day 1. Today I decided I wanted to make use of the screen, sort of as a glorified app launcher with pretty icons and so forth... What a fucking ordeal that was. Simply trying to find a workaround to let me customise my tiles opened up a slew of shitty design decisions. Why can't I add shortcuts to the screen? Where is the normal windows search?? I have "Steam" installed on my computer, why won't the search bring it up? Oh there it is - no, wait that's a "bing" search for Steam. Do I need to manually copy a shortcut of each program into the hidden program data folder? Guess so! No, wait, that looks like shit. Ok then. Manually download a program that creates tiles, manually hunt down the icon and directories of every tile I want, and that's one job done! I want some nice, wide tiles for my Steam games though. Oh, there's this app "Steam tile" that makes it easy! I'll just download tha- What, no, I don't want a Microsoft account. No, I said when I installed I just want a LOCAL account. Oh, I don't get a choice to install this particular app... well, shit, OK then. Alright, finally got a nice bunch of tiles ready to go. I'll just uninstall these stupid pre-installed apps and make some room to shuffle my new ones around. Oh, what do you mean I can only 'stack' them in pre-determined vertical columns... Guess I'll spend another half an hour Googling for a reliable 3rd party application to fix that little issue as well! Are there seriously no options to customise how these icons can be laid out? Here's what I've got so far. Not completely finished but I guess I'll have to keep working on it. [thumb]http://i.imgur.com/yVbw0Ahl.jpg[/thumb] That being said, I like Windows 8; I like how fast it is, I don't mind the UI. But that whole mess of the new Start screen is ridiculously stupid. It's as if they never got feedback from regular PC users who would most likely have an issue with it. Buuut I guess this is all old news to you guys by now.
[QUOTE=Jebus;44496584]rabble rabble rabble[/QUOTE] What do you mean why won't it let you pin shortcuts to start? There's a pin to start option under the context menu for all executables and some other stuff like the recycle bin or my computer - that's exactly how it worked before. You can even pin folders to start. There's also an arrow at the bottom of the start screen that takes you to a list of all applications on your system, similar to the 'all programs' button on the old start menu, right click on any of these icons and you get an option to pin to start. Changing icons is a tiny visual difference. Maybe you see it as a necessary thing but, frankly, when you're designing an interface to be simple and minimal, adding in loads of options that don't have much necessity makes things over complicated. There used to be a way of changing icons, sure, but it was a total ball ache. The other problem is, if they let people change their start screen icons at will, they'll end up looking horrible. They want to provide a consistently good looking approach. The new Start Screen is designed to be crazy simple. Then of course there are programs available to change the tiles and they do so with ease. Why would there be options to change how the icons are laid out? It's a scrolling home screen for tiles, they've made it the simplest way possible. Again, there's no need at all to overcomplicate things while simultaneously letting people make ugly ass start screens. Did you complain that the start menu only displayed applications in big long columns? Search works identically to Windows 7. Hit start and start typing. They've even just added a handy little search button in the corner in the update released yesterday. When you type, there's a little list of possible stuff you might want to do underneath based on what you're typing. You should be able to type steam, hit enter and it loads steam. If it doesn't do that, then that's probably Steam's fault. The Microsoft account thing. The app store is an app store. An online app store controlled by Microsoft. Complaining you can't get apps off it without creating a Microsoft account is like complaining that Steam doesn't let you buy games without a Steam account. The very fact you're using it without an MS account is pretty telling as well. The whole experience is significantly better with an MS account. You get notifications from services, built in mail, synchronized settings, built in cloud etc. etc. One more thing. These changes are intuitive. The set up they've got is intuitive, at least compared to Windows 7. The trouble is you're used to Windows 7, so any significant changes seem jarring whereas they're actually beneficial in the long run. Having gotten used to using a mix of full screen apps and desktop apps, I've come to find everything quicker to do and use than ever before. You've posted this in a Windows 8 thread full of people who are experienced with Windows 8. If you list a bunch of complaints that don't make sense, someone's gonna tell you why they're all wrong. There are real, valid complaints to make about Windows 8, no doubt, but what you had aren't them. You're someone who is having trouble working out how to use an OS with some drastic changes, it's not that the OS itself is stupid as you're implying.
The first point, regular program shortcuts pin fine, but in a previous version of windows you could simply type the program name into the search bar to find them, which was the issue. Additionally, when you create a desktop shortcut for a steam game, it isn't an application that can be pinned to the start menu. Yes, the tiles are meant to look simple and consistent - which is why I was very surprised to see that it took so much work to make the tiles I added from shortcuts consistent by giving them the same simple-tile look. Of course there should be options to change how the tiles can be laid out, there's no good reason for there not to be. Search most definitely does not work the same as in Windows 7. I have downloaded the update today and will install it shortly so hopefully that's able to make it a bit more functional. I have no need for my OS to alert me about mail, nor to synchronise my settings or use a cloud service. I dislike the idea of a 'closed' system like this - Yes, it's like "Steam" where you can buy apps to your account, but for a free app that in any other OS I could simply google, download, and install, it seems unnecessary. I understand you're upset because you like Windows 8 and you must hear a lot of people hating on it, which I don't particularly agree with. I've got nothing against Windows 8 itself but the new Start screen is anything but intuitive if you're on anything other than a phone or tablet - my complaints are that things which would have been simple in any other OS have become so restricted that you need to go out of your way to find a workaround. The icons in my screenshot posted above in the 1st and 3rd columns - there's no excuse for use not to be able to do this without 3rd party tools. I'm just grateful that there are lots of communities out there who feel the same, and develop the apps and design the icons so we can at least fix the design ourselves. I'm also very much looking forward to the new Win8.1 updates that they're talking about!
the update added an water mark to my desktop even though my windows is not pirated wtf [editline]9th April 2014[/editline] it's saying that i need to activate windows
Windows search works exactly like it's older counterpart in 8.1 / 8.1 Update 1, just type. And bing being in that search is something you choose during installation, that's what you get for clicking next without reading.
[IMG]http://puu.sh/82eOU/91bc6f4d2e.jpg[/IMG] Seriously what the hell is going on. The hard drive Office is installed on is fine. I've tried repinning. It's my work PC so everything is obviously licensed. The two icons without text are Outlook and Lync.
so uh, how do i enable the new start menu now that i installed update 1?
[QUOTE=meppers;44500538]so uh, how do i enable the new start menu now that i installed update 1?[/QUOTE] There is no new start menu? That's for a later update.
damnit
How do I change the start menu tiles' color?
[QUOTE=Jebus;44497488]stuff[/QUOTE] I just tried it. You hit start, type the name of an application, it shows up in a list on the right of the screen, you right click on it, you click pin to start. Simple as. I think I've worked out why Steam won't come up in that list for me. I think it's because it's installed on a separate hard drive and, since installing it, I've reinstalled windows so it doesn't have a place in the registry. Though, if this isn't the case for you, then it's because Steam doesn't behave like it should, the way every single other application does. You 100% should be able to see any application installed on your computer coming up in search, anything that doesn't is the application's fault. Then the trouble with Steam shortcuts not working is, again, weird, but it's a problem with Steam. For some reason, when you use the 'place a shortcut on the desktop' thing, it's not placing a traditional shortcut to an executable. For some reason, it's a link that tells Steam to open a game. Now, there's no reason this shouldn't be able to be pinned to start, so there's a problem with Windows there but there's also no reason that Steam doesn't simply create a shortcut to the executable of the game as these pin to start really easily and behave in a way that makes more sense in every other way. Desktop program tiles do look consistent by default. They all use the desktop icon on a colour derived from that icon. They can't just make desktop tiles work like metro tiles do for a host of reasons. The biggest is simply that they don't have anything to make them out of. The developer of a 5 year old program didn't create a tile for it long before W8 was announced, they created an icon. If they stretched that icon out over a tile it would look pixelated and terrible. There simply isn't any way that the start screen could create a tile out of what's available from an application. If they started letting desktop application developers create tiles, barely any of them would meaning there'd be a huge inconsistency between different desktop tiles, with some of them looking the same as for metro apps. You also wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Also I already said why they didn't make it available to change how they look easily. Here: [quote]Changing icons is a tiny visual difference. Maybe you see it as a necessary thing but, frankly, when you're designing an interface to be simple and minimal, adding in loads of options that don't have much necessity makes things over complicated. There used to be a way of changing icons, sure, but it was a total ball ache. The other problem is, if they let people change their start screen icons at will, they'll end up looking horrible. They want to provide a consistently good looking approach. The new Start Screen is designed to be crazy simple. Then of course there are programs available to change the tiles and they do so with ease.[/quote] Maybe they should have had some hidden option for it somewhere. Maybe some application deep in control panel so most people couldn't find it called 'tile changer' but it's not their priority, especially since there's perfectly good third party options. There was never some 'skin changer' application to change the look of your taskbar or start menu. It was all third party. It works identically. Hit start, start typing and some stuff comes up underneath. Then when you hit enter, it comes up with all of the results. Bing integration into this completely optional and, even when it's there, it includes search results from your computer. I've got it turned off since I never use it. As TDocter pointed out, it's something you choose during installation. To be honest, if you don't like signing in with an account, that's your problem. Services integration is the way computers are going to work moving forward and there's a really good reason for that. It's better. Of course you have no need for any of those things at all but, while we're at it, you have no need for a computer that doesn't look like this: [img_thumb]http://www.kymatasound.com/images/Olivetti486DX.JPG[/img_thumb] You have no need to eat and drink any more than fruit, nuts and water but you do. I hate the idea of shunning progress with the attitude of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it.' Things improve. Every major OS player on every kind of platform is working on integrating their own services deep into their OSs. Services integration like this makes using a computer much easier and much better. Why could you possibly not want notifications? Knowing what's happened instantly. You can connect your in built calendar with just about any major calendaring service and, whether or not you ever want to touch the app, you get notifications about upcoming events. Both toast notifications and in writing on the lock screen. These are objectively advantageous features and there's way more. Cloud storage, as well, is a huge huge huge advancement in the way computers work and will probably be the dominant form of storage within a decade and with good reason. If you put something in your cloud folder, you've got access to it literally anywhere as long as the other devices you use also have access to it. Then you have the added bonus of never possibly losing those files. If it's your connection you're worried about, I have a dreadful dreadful internet connection that won't make it through a Youtube video without stopping irrecoverably so I have to refresh the page once or twice and I still use cloud storage regularly and don't really have a problem with it. Right, and you can download desktop applications freely and easily. That particular way of pinning Steam apps to start is only available through the store, but there's tonnes of programs like Oblytile that let you do it through the desktop. The idea is that, on top of being able to download anything from the internet, they've added an optional walled garden app store to make it much easier to find and download applications safely that developers upload the applications to directly. These applications are then allowed access to exclusive APIs that let them integrate with other stuff like search and notifications but they can only do any of this once they've been approved by the store. It makes for a cleaner, safer approach to installing applications but if you still want to use the old method of finding applications through the internet, as you'll have to if you want to use desktop applications, then you can. [editline]10th April 2014[/editline] I've found that pinning Steam to the Start Screen means it comes up in searches.
[QUOTE=Protocol7;44499224]http://puu.sh/82eOU/91bc6f4d2e.jpg Seriously what the hell is going on. The hard drive Office is installed on is fine. I've tried repinning. It's my work PC so everything is obviously licensed. The two icons without text are Outlook and Lync.[/QUOTE] I've been having the same problem, happened after an update to office 2013 I think, hopefully they'll fix it at some point.
[QUOTE=TDocter;44508457]I've been having the same problem, happened after an update to office 2013 I think, hopefully they'll fix it at some point.[/QUOTE] I updated to the new update, that didn't immediately fix it, then one time when I had the start screen open it suddenly popped up. Not like when I opened it, but just randomly while it was open. Okay, I guess. I won't complain.
How do you run metro apps windowed in the new Windows 8.1 update?
[QUOTE=buster925;44511374]How do you run metro apps windowed in the new Windows 8.1 update?[/QUOTE] That's not available yet. When they announced it at Build, they were announcing it as a future update a few months down the line.
[url]http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2mzcpqe&s=8#.U0hut1eup6q[/url] Interesting.
[QUOTE=bassie12;44521449][url]http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2mzcpqe&s=8#.U0hut1eup6q[/url] Interesting.[/QUOTE] Here's a couple more: [url]http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-posts-then-pulls-videos-showing-interactive-windows-8-live-tiles[/url]
I hope either Microsoft or someone else makes it possible so you can place livetiles on your desktop. I really liked the gadgets in W7 and I hope they can make a comeback in this form.
[QUOTE=kimr120;44522063]I hope either Microsoft or someone else makes it possible so you can place livetiles on your desktop. I really liked the gadgets in W7 and I hope they can make a comeback in this form.[/QUOTE] Live tiles on the desktop. Reminds me of Longhorn.
Is it a good idea to upgrade to 8.1 now? Last time I did it fucked up every one of my production tools one way or another. That was like half a year ago.
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