Review: Windows 8 core apps OK for tablets, disappointing on desktops

[danrok]

Windows 8 - Messaging, people, and calendar apps filled with promise, bugs, and limitations.

See front page: http://www.aoaforums.com/frontpage/s...-desktops.html

Comments?

[chrisbard]

"There's nothing stopping Microsoft from continuing to improve them: hopefully, future updates will fix any remaining bugs and perhaps even add some new features.

People: A great idea, executed mostly well

We?ll start with the highlight. The People app (which originated in Windows Phone) brings together contacts from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and your e-mail accounts, including Hotmail, Exchange, and Gmail. Oddly, Yahoo Mail contacts cannot be added to People, even though Yahoo Mail can be used in the Windows 8 Mail application."

Kickass!!!

[Aedan]

You should see the BlackBerry PlayBook Contacts App then! It pulls your contacts in from whatever account sources are configured. (See First Look: Using the Contacts application on BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 ) That includes Facebook, Google, ActiveSync, BlackBerry Mobile Fusion and so on. It also includes CardDAV for a standards based contacts sync.

It's good to see that others are also thinking the same way - it's helpful to have your contacts in one place really!

[Daniel ~]

Originally Posted by chrisbard

"There's nothing stopping Microsoft from continuing to improve them: hopefully, future updates will fix any remaining bugs and perhaps even add some new features.!

Only what stopped them from getting it right before they took your money.

[Aedan]

You'd have to define "right" first! I've yet to come across software without bugs, simply because such software would have to be trivial in order to eliminate such issues.

[Daniel ~]

Good point. "Right"

Here's what I think. If I have a good tool and it works well for me. Then In someone else's interests it's decided that I must have a new one to please the guys that make the tools.

Then the new tool had better be better than the one I'm losing. If I upgrade as I did with acronis, I expect progress rather than regression.

Most often that's just what I get...but every once in a while someone pulls an Acronis. Where perfectly good software is replaced with crap.

So for me "right" is defined this way...is it better for ME than what I had before?

So Did MS get this "right"? or did they just make it different and insist that it must be good, it's MS and it's NEW?

[Aedan]

Is new better? Not intrinsically. It can be better, it can be worse. In my opinion, MS have taken the jump that Apple hasn't done yet, by trying to unify both tablet and desktop OSes. Apple are moving in that direction, but they're not there yet.

Is it right? I guess in some ways time will tell. When Windows 2000 came out, there was a fair bit written about how Windows 98 was better for gaming.

[Daniel ~]

Looks more to me as though they decide the desk top is finished and are moving towards mobile rather than a true integration that would co-mingle while preserving the the best for each...

But hell we both know you understand this area far far better than I.

But that's how it looks to me.

[Aedan]

I haven't used Windows 8 very much (Looked at a preview for a while), so I'm no expert on it. I'm not sure how they could have integrated both to be honest. With a mobile platform, the app takes over the whole screen. So, it'd be difficult to have that alongside traditional desktop apps.

Perhaps they could have kept a task bar, and if you chose a mobile app, it'd go full screen. Still not amazingly helpful though.

[Daniel ~]

Well, as Chris points out they will be refining their approach as time goes by...I can't bring myself to say I wish them well... But I do wish those who must use their products well....

Best I can do at this time":O}