Windows 8 Dev release

MS if you are listening I still think that THE weakest line in any Windows OS has been Windows Update (WSUS) while it has improved steadily since early Win OS there continue to be problems, most notable with Win 7 has been the deployment of SP 1, lots of people have had problems and they don't seem to be related to malware or errant programs either, just failures of SP1 to properly install and function correctly. This is a SERIOUS issue that I hope MS will finally address and solve, as much as I like Windows OS (I have two systems, XP and 7) I am very apprehensive about installing SP1 for Win 7 as I don't want a disaster. As it is My Win 7 (no SP) is working perfectly and quickly just like it was designed to.

cluberti said:

Win7 failing almost always means the underlying OS it was applied to was already broken, it just hadn't been serviced in the "broken" area yet to bring it to the fore. I have looked at a few hundred Win7 SP1 failures, and I've yet to find one where the machine being updated wasn't already busted to begin with.

That is even more troubling because I have heard of many people with BRAND spanking new machines with Win 7 where the owner with a Win 7 (original version) goes to update to SP1 immediately as the PC came out of the box and viola.....FAILED SP1!

Have any idea why this would be the case?

cluberti said:

However, complaining about a build that isn't half finished is mostly going to get you ignored. Microsoft takes input from users all of the time, so if you want a feature (or don't want a feature), then by all means send that feedback to Microsoft often. However, complaining that an alpha build has bugs or is missing features anywhere but connect isn't smart - take the feedback over to the Win8 page on connect, where the data gets fed directly into Microsoft's tracking databases.

The first sentence contradicts everything that follows, but as an 8 complainer I've never expected anyone at MS to pay attention to anything I've ever complained about. At the same time, I know my complaints are shared by a lot of people who are never gonna go through Connect, so I expect MS to be paying attention to the general sentiments. If not, they're idiots.

Anyone who uses computers and/or devices expects them to be cool and useful. I don't care if you stare at spreadsheets all day long, if there's a way to make the spreadsheets more cool, without cutting into the output of your work (preferably enhancing it) then people like that. It doesn't have to be a major improvement in cool. It could be 5%. Doesn't matter. The point is that computer people like computer stuff to always be moving forward. Otherwise people would be camping outside a store for green monochrome monitors instead of an iPad. Apple may have more stuck-up snobs per capita than MS users, but Apple has steered the entire electronics industry - including MS - into directions no one knew existed, and I don't know anyone who'd rather turn around and go back.

Most 8 complainers are PC users complaining about Metro. And you can divide those complaints into two major categories:

1.) Problems with Metro itself.
2.) Metro feels like an OS slapped on top of an OS. There's little continuity between Metro and whatever the heck the rest of 8 is, which is different than 7 but not different enough to be called 8 if there had been no Metro. As far as I'm concerned, it's Windows 7 and 4/9ths.

The first set of complaints will be easy to fix. The second will not -at least, not now. Maybe the final version of 8 will be great and I'll be wrong, I really don't care. I just want an OS without an identity crisis and that's how I view 8 right now. The way MS has set up 8 - even though we're only in the dev stage - I don't know how they can overhaul it significantly between now and RTM to turn the complainers into enthusiastic buyers like they did with 7. The foundation is set.

What I am not reading - here and elsewhere - are gobs of people "who don't like change" or something vague along those lines. The complainers have specific, well-thought out complaints. And even if that criticism gets nowhere with MS, airing them out here or the 8 forum instead of, say, official MS channels, what's wrong with that? The 7 Forums brain trust is incredible, who knows what you can learn. Conversely, if MS does check this place out, they might learn stuff they'd never learn otherwise if they'd stuck to their typical feedback routine.