Some comments about my Dell Venue Pro and Mango - Venue Pro General

I think would be cool to have a shortcut that go directly to keypad numbers, each time you have to call somebody have to do 2 steps, probably default page "history" would be useful for the last people you called, but no for somebody who in days havent called, it convert in a 3 steps task, i think iphone is easier in this way,
in this section (phone icon) and in yahoo (mail icon) (which i configured in my dell venue pro) using mango version, if you press Magnifier and go Back, the search bar is stuck there and menu doesnt appear until you press "go back" again... i think its a little bug.... because in marketplace works OK.
i think would be cool to custom the background colors of each icon, and personalize something inside them, i dont know, probably time of slideshow, text, what you want they show,etc...
i dont know, there are a lots of ideas for the WP7, in my case, bing scout doesnt work, since im in mexico, it works if i put in the map USA, but no in my city... barcodes or book covers are scanned perfectly and give results about location, costs, etc... GPS works cool too...
after all, mango was big in some aspects, some others are equal, and many others are not considered... definitively this OS need a "jailbreak" to customize and improve all potential from this OS by users, it's a pity, community have to improve or force to make devices better, and not M$ or Apple which only get benefit from it, i suppose iphone would not be sold equal if was not jailbreaked, since many of people i know have unlocked, cracked, and tons of apps obtained from Cydia, probably that's why so many people follow android... which in some time will be the TOP of OS's for phones....i think, some friends are developers and they prefer android, something like linux and windows...
lets see what happen, in my opinion, according about i use from my DVP Mango wasnt a big deal, i have to tell that speed use experience is awesome, it runs like a hell... Bing Scout was great for me but didnt work in Mexico
awww

Related

Default Messaging -> SMS

Hi,
How can I configure my trinity so that a click on messaging ALWAYS goes into the sms inbox and not my outlook inbox?
Any ideas?
Thanks
W
I would also like to know.
Windows Mobile is so remarkably badly designed. It just beggers belief. Just little things like this.
Also, do they expect you to get your stylus out just to close the phone? cos its very difficult to hit that tiny X in the top right corner with your fingers. They should make it a phone first, a pda second.
I think simply, they are idiots.
I have not any problems as you have. I choosed the sms one time and after that it always comes to sms inbox when I press messaging
...and if you log into MSN Messenger, it takes the liberty of loading your Hotmail JUNK onto the phone. Then it displays that you have say 2 new hotmail emails on the meesaging bar on the today screen. If you click on this its about another three clicks just to get to SMS. Then if you close it again and go back to Today screen, you click again on messaging and it is back in Hotmail inbox... requiring even more clicks to get it to SMS.
Each time i have to do this my life gets profoundly shorter.
just use left and right on the dpad to cycle through the messaging accounts
I really cant understand you guys: It is a VERY small device with amazing abilities. And WM5 can do a lot of things.
FuzzMunky said:
I would also like to know.
Windows Mobile is so remarkably badly designed. It just beggers belief. Just little things like this.
Also, do they expect you to get your stylus out just to close the phone? cos its very difficult to hit that tiny X in the top right corner with your fingers. They should make it a phone first, a pda second.
I think simply, they are idiots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can close the phone app by pressing the red button, no problem.
FuzzMunky said:
I would also like to know.
Windows Mobile is so remarkably badly designed. It just beggers belief. Just little things like this.
Also, do they expect you to get your stylus out just to close the phone? cos its very difficult to hit that tiny X in the top right corner with your fingers. They should make it a phone first, a pda second.
I think simply, they are idiots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you noticed a button with "OK" written on top? Have you tried to press the red button after the conversation is over? Have you noticed that pressing the menu button and selecting another program will send the phone application to background? I am asking because you don't seem to have spent much time trying to learn how to use a Windows Mobile device. There are at least three ways to close the phone without touching the screen but you haven't even found one.
Regarding the default account for messaging: I usually open Messaging from the entry in the Today menu and that always returns to the last used account, usually the SMS inbox for me.
Im just pissed because I cant get any SIP things to load without having to go through a long process of unloading today plugins and setting sipchange, then soft resetting, then reloading all the plugins.
I will admit, I didnt realise a press of the Red button exits the phone app. I eventually remapped a hold of the left button to close whatever the current app is. Useful for TOMTOM, so you dont have to go through the menus. I stlll find it annoying how you cant just have the messaging default to SMS.
There is definitely no denying though that for however much the programmers have got right, they are still so far from having the perfect implementation of a PDA OS, And they should be after this many iterations. They still have tiny keyboards, tiny scroll bars, buttons shoved into corners. Look at the iPhone interface and tell me that isnt a far more intelligently designed interface.
I like my device, dont get me wrong, Im just a perfectionist and I want to get rid of all the niggles I have with it. .. and I hated Windows 3.0 which this feels like a lot of the time.
FuzzMunky said:
There is definitely no denying though that for however much the programmers have got right, they are still so far from having the perfect implementation of a PDA OS, And they should be after this many iterations. They still have tiny keyboards, tiny scroll bars, buttons shoved into corners. Look at the iPhone interface and tell me that isnt a far more intelligently designed interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that most problems come from the fact that the PocketPC form factor was designed (or I should say copied from Palm) long before the idea of using it for phones. Most improvements in WM5 were actually related to making it more usable as a phone. So if there have been many iterations most of them were in a PDA context not a phone one.
Regarding the iPhone interface: I won't judge before I have actually used it, and most probably that is never going to happen
FuzzMunky said:
Im just pissed because I cant get any SIP things to load without having to go through a long process of unloading today plugins and setting sipchange, then soft resetting, then reloading all the plugins.
I will admit, I didnt realise a press of the Red button exits the phone app. I eventually remapped a hold of the left button to close whatever the current app is. Useful for TOMTOM, so you dont have to go through the menus. I stlll find it annoying how you cant just have the messaging default to SMS.
There is definitely no denying though that for however much the programmers have got right, they are still so far from having the perfect implementation of a PDA OS, And they should be after this many iterations. They still have tiny keyboards, tiny scroll bars, buttons shoved into corners. Look at the iPhone interface and tell me that isnt a far more intelligently designed interface.
I like my device, dont get me wrong, Im just a perfectionist and I want to get rid of all the niggles I have with it. .. and I hated Windows 3.0 which this feels like a lot of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just get an iPhone... but dont ask for thousands of games, dont ask for MS Exchange Push Mail, dont ask for Outlook compatibility (works bad on iPod), dont ask for Word, PowerPoint, Excel, dont ask for GPS, dont ask for WiFi and/or Bluetooth...
IMHO your ranting about small issues is not appropriate. Just read the manual and try the workarounds people show you here...
So are you saying that WM5 is perfect in your eyes? Or that if you have any problems with it you should never talk about them?
I am confused. Sounds like you just want people to shut up and be mindless consumers.
FuzzMunky said:
So are you saying that WM5 is perfect in your eyes? Or that if you have any problems with it you should never talk about them?
I am confused. Sounds like you just want people to shut up and be mindless consumers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only to you. I just think this: If I got one device with ten things working and one not (in fact it worked!) and another device with 3 things working I wouldnt call the 1st one "badly designed".
Well, let's see. As soon as people get their WM5 device I imagine they will want to put some application launcher buttons on the today screen.
Oh that's right; you can't without installing some third-party software.
Ok. So then they might want to make shortcuts to these apps using the keys on the front of the device.....
Oh that's right; you can't do that without installing some third-party software.
Would you prefer it if I precursed all criticisms with the positives? So, for example: Windows Mobile 5 is this, it's that, in fact, here is a run down of the binary code as a description of it and here are some technical specifications and a glossary of terms.... but... I think that they should let you place application shortcuts on the Today Screen.
Nonsense my friend, nonsense.
saminegm said:
Just get an iPhone... but dont ask for thousands of games, dont ask for MS Exchange Push Mail, dont ask for Outlook compatibility (works bad on iPod), dont ask for Word, PowerPoint, Excel, dont ask for GPS, dont ask for WiFi and/or Bluetooth...
IMHO your ranting about small issues is not appropriate. Just read the manual and try the workarounds people show you here...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because something is the most versatile thing available doesnt make it well designed. Take a closer look at your desktop Windows installation...Take a look at your car....
warnysouth said:
Just because something is the most versatile thing available doesnt make it well designed. Take a closer look at your desktop Windows installation...Take a look at your car....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But yes, I do appreciate the workarounds a lot, thanks,
FuzzMunky said:
Ok. So then they might want to make shortcuts to these apps using the keys on the front of the device.....
Oh that's right; you can't do that without installing some third-party software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I fully respect that Windows Mobile might not be your cup of tea (I had major trouble to adapt to the Nokia S60 interface but a lot of people like it) but to be honest I am just happy with having the last used applications appear automatically in the Start menu, something that no other phone operating system does. I have the programs that I use most frequently always available in that list and it has room for 5 entries which is more than enough for me. And you can choose the 6 items which stay permanently in the Start menu, so you have 11 programs easily accessible plus 3 customisable buttons on the sides of the phone. It works for me.

How do you rate for G1 device?....Reviews Etc.

We're wonder what is people thinking about their G1 device... Please vote and write down your feeling on this new phone.
G1
What does work on this phone works very well. I feel though that this phone is more for developers and hobbyist. It's not quiet ready for guys like me that have very few skills. I hope the software situation gets worked out soon or this phone will end up with no real support just like the Iphone.
i agree, some great potential with this phone, enough to make it a class leader. we just need to see some of the most reported problems ironed out first. great os and hardware on the whole.
what are "mosy reported floors"
I LOVE this phone. Of course it has its problems(lack of camera options, lack of really interesting apps(though there were a hell of a lot of interesting ones added today...), cut and paste is a bit of a pain sometimes but they are all in the software and definitely will be fixed once the device is a little more mature. Considering this is a version 1.0 device and just came out a little over a month ago it's freaking amazing. Heck I've even had iphone users gawk at some of the things it can do like street view compass mode.
Love it!!
I've had (over the past 2 years) the mda, moto q, mogul, instinct, diamond and now the G1.
Windows mobile (mda/q/mogul/diamond), although very convenient, can and will give you a headache and a large pain in the @$$. Screens are usually too cluttered. Such a small screen size with so much stuff. Lag lag lagggggggg. Pocket Internet Explorer is only there for show and orb. Other than that I would recommend opera, netbrowser or skyfire. Functionality is the best feature winmo has. I had full access to my home computer (as long as it was connected to the internet). They are essentially what they are called, PPC's (Pocket PC's).
Instinct... should be set on fire along with all the people who created that POS. Make sure it is a slow roasting fire too. Very very poor smartphone. Good at making/receiving calls though.
The G1 can and will do everying the winmo phones do (minus the head ache... hopefully). All we need to be is patient or pitch in by learning programming.
i rated it very poor, i am very disappointed with the phone and google should be ashamed of themselves. the g1 can't do 1/10th of the things my wing did and my wing was a dog. android is worse than win ce when i first tried it on '03. thanks g1 for ruining my year. xda-devs, please get winmo on this asap.
Till now only 47 peoples vote... gogogo!
Till now only 47 peoples... gogogo! Tell people how do you think on G1~
We hope TMO can see this thread and improve it on next model if possible.
Good and Bad
I rated the phone as Neutral:
Things I like:
- GPS, Wireless are great
- Some cool apps
- Smooth Feel to the screen and it isn't jerky
- Contact List (very flexible for my needs)
- real tactile keyboard
- Maps
- ShopSavvy
Things I don't like:
- Small screen
- No auto-rotate (I know it works with chrooted systems)
- keyboard missing CTRL, PgUp/Down, Arrows (for shell commands)
- Internal Storage space is limited
- Lack of ability to store to SD Card
- The cumbersome headset included (why on earth keep the mic
- Not a true Open Source (I want root access)
Things that would make this phone rock:
- optional on-screen keyboard for simple input (ease up on the wear and tear of constantly having to flip to keyboard)
- piston operated hinges (i.e. slow the shock of closing/opening the keyboard)..opens fast but slows down right before it slams open/shut
- option for normal earpiece input (vice USB headset)
So I'm really mixed. I think a huge win (for me) is the ability to store on SD card (I run out of space all the time now) and having root access. That would put my satisfaction in the upper 90's. I'm sure I'm missing other pros/cons but that's a start for me.
I bought it recently, and am satisfied with it. The screen is very bright and responsive, the browser is very good and I can install my own apps on it without hassle <3
My first one had a squeaky sound to it so I got it exchanged. I have the white one, so it can be hard to see the buttons and some of the apps feel incomplete. Thankfully, I can download the source and mod them to my liking
RouterGuru said:
I rated the phone as Neutral:
Things that would make this phone rock:
- optional on-screen keyboard for simple input (ease up on the wear and tear of constantly having to flip to keyboard)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aye, that annoys me as well, but the input API is is listed on the roadmap for Q1 09, so not too long now (hopefully).
Auto Rotate...?
Just curious if anyone concern about to disable " Auto Rotate " function once keyboard slide out.
Personally, I don't like it at all since sometime, I wish to browse the webpage on horziontal mode but only way is slide out the keyboard!
It is a $%^&*, why they just don't leave a function for user ON/OFF auto rotate ???
I give the phone itself a "very disappointed", the software "very good".
While much if the phone's problems are likely software, the squeaking and overall build quality are sub-par IMO. The battery life is horrid and, while software can fix some of it, the battery is rated very low, which begs me to ask why they spec'd such a tiny battery for a phone with these features.
The point is, I guess, that the phone itself has problems that cant be fixed with a update. The software, while lacking many simple things, at least can and will be eventually fixed.
For me the G1 is a very good start. The default packages and layouts need to be redone. For example. The contacts options don't offer enough input. Like... Birthdays, Anniversaries As well as maybe having IM support for the various default messengers on the g1 ie gtalk, aim etc.
Another Huge let down is the default SMS/MMS package where it does not allow you to forward and the standard options we have become accustomed to using devices such as WM6....
The picture viewer is the worst i have ever seen in my life. Currently I have over 5500 pictures on my SD card and the default viewer does not allow me to view by Directory or simply go into the folder and view that folder, instead it tries to Cache all 5500 pictures and well 35 mins + trying to cache all of them i close it. Also with so many pictures and thousands of names of files there is no option to View a picture and MMS it directly to a contact.
Syncing the phone. There is currently no support for outlook and well even when you export from outlook in CSV format and import into Google it always comes up half garbled with no pictures already saved for contacts. Also not correctly saving number types. IE from outlook if u save it as a mobile number so u can sms on a WM6 device once imported into google it lists it as a regular phone# and cant quickly create a sms to that user by (auto completing the name as you type.)
The only 2 things i have notice that Remember last view is the homescreen and the Applications menu. For instance if you go into your Apps management and uninstall an app. it sends you to the top of the list. The same goes with your Contacts, Directory views, Music library, Etc.
The default options for all applications are normally the same as in notification options. So if i am getting a Text, MMS, Email or what have you it is the same notification for every notification event.
There is no "task manager" to kill processes. IE an X button to close programs or access to kill process' and while Android is supposed to close programs on its own tell that to mine when i run the Browser or Myspace, Facebook, PacMac and close out of the screens and as time passes i wonder why my phone is running slow and open up the Task Switcher and see all of these running still.
There has been no porting of Office XXXX or Open Office to support excel, docx, and the like formats to android at this time yet.
While many people think that the G1 is a big let down and got it and got rid of it. Many of us see the potentional of its power and customization. So if enough of the users voice there dislikes about standard features you EXPECT and want on your device the better the chances that they will take notice.
ultraman69 said:
i rated it very poor, i am very disappointed with the phone and google should be ashamed of themselves. the g1 can't do 1/10th of the things my wing did and my wing was a dog. android is worse than win ce when i first tried it on '03. thanks g1 for ruining my year. xda-devs, please get winmo on this asap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your wing was a 4th generation Windows mobile device.... did you have windows CE or win2003 before you had your wing? it took windows ages to provide the flexability they offered in the wing yes we all are used to those basic things that the wing and such wm2005 and 2006 devices have on it but where your wrong is the G1 and Android has the ability with the current phone you OWN this second to surpass that little phone you call Wing. Through updates and the likes. If your so disgusted in your G1 ill get you 100 bucks for it... PM me.
G1 for 2 weeks ... returned ;?
This is not a thread to bash the G1 in anyway, this is not to compare it to other touchscreen phones. This is merely a usability distinction where i couldn't justify $400 for the device which was more or less to play with android.
the G1 is a good phone, speakers (earpiece/speaker on back) have some amplification issues when the volume is too high, coming from and SE phone however they were more than acceptable in rage and clarity if the volume was controlled.
the internet was outstanding, what i would have liked to have seen was copy and paste in browser, which may have held me to the phone a bit longer than the return period. not being able to at the very least edit docs.google.com documents was irritating at best, especially with no proper document viewer on the phone, severely constricting the email that could be sent from the phone. i am by no means a business user ... but wow, i cant even edit a *.doc thats not already on my phone to another person with some changes.
this has rambled on long enough, i just wanted to share a few thoughts that i had of the device.
diabolical28 said:
your wing was a 4th generation Windows mobile device.... did you have windows CE or win2003 before you had your wing? it took windows ages to provide the flexability they offered in the wing yes we all are used to those basic things that the wing and such wm2005 and 2006 devices have on it but where your wrong is the G1 and Android has the ability with the current phone you OWN this second to surpass that little phone you call Wing. Through updates and the likes. If your so disgusted in your G1 ill get you 100 bucks for it... PM me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While correct that the Wing has the upper hand in generations of O/S, I am reminded of a great quote:
"A wise man learns from his mistakes, a wiser man learn's from the mistakes of the one around him"
sure, you need to change the words around a bit, but the lesson is to learn from others. They didnt. Android has a lot of possibilities. Unfortunately they did not "learn" from WM6, they left a lot out. They left it in the hands of developers, who seem to be too busy writing "flashlight" and "punch meter" to write useful everyday apps that we are lacking. So far the only app that I have seen that addresses a missing feature is the missed call app 9which is AWESOME as I miss a lot of calls because they dont ring though ).
I am still keeping the phone simply because of the browsing feature, I love sitting on the couch and browsing websites smoothly. Unbelievably the browser also lacks simple features like a simple ADDRESS bar (well, its hidden in the menus so you would SEARCH and add to Google's search results instead of direct typing a URL) and switching between tabs (now called Windows) is too many unnecessary "touches" in my opinion.
I dont mean to bash the phone (and dont even think about replying with "get another phone if you dont like it") but I like to bring these frustrations up so that Google programmers know one more time why this phone is going to lose its shine if they are too late bringing themselves up to date. (PS3 Sales anyone?, Late on price cuts?). See if you are too late these days, it doesn't matter if you are better, look at MSN's Video website, its awesome and MUCH better than Youtube but no one knows about it because they were late (and they don't have their own "brand name" and its simply MSN Video)
Not being able to edit *.doc files from inside the phone's memory or google docs is one thing, and I think is acceptable on a not-so-fresh-release-anymore phone.
What is NOT acceptable whatsoever on this phone is:
Not being able to see IMAGES in Gmail??! For goodness sake Google and T-Mobile claim everything you love about google in your hand, BS. Windows Mobile did this back in 1999 (used to be called Windows CE and had its own outlook) Yes that was 1999 TEN YEARS AGO on my Cassiopea
Other items worth mentioning to those who don't have the phone:
No proper support of Google's own search on its own website! (constantly getting the blank search result page)
No Copy/Paste
No Contact Sync with Outlook (what the hell? is this Nokia 1997 all over again?)
No spreadsheet/word doc editor/viewer (ok, ok, we are waiting for all kind of programmers making incompatible with each other software
No PDF viewer (Correction, there is a great PDF viewer in the market for purchase, I meant part of the browser, I think google probably wants to come up with its own version for its Google Book website and doesnt want to use Adobe PDF)
No Flash (there goes 50% of the websites I browse)
Severly closed source and limited programming that has caused simple BS "apps" with a few exceptions. Developers are crying about how limited they are in writing programs as this phone is sooo CLOSED in all ways, there is no way to even write a Gadget for it like the clock that comes on the screen. No root access either.
Unscrollable, limited desktop space
No windows for categorizing icons. Well, Google does not believe in categorizing and file systems. I am sure all their own servers are full of FOLDERs just like Microsoft servers but they claim everything should be "LABELED" not "folder"'d.
No app installation on the SD card?? Whats this one?? I dropped my WING because it was still using the ten year old Windows CE memory system (almost) and had very limited space and was always running out.
This phone made me appreciate all the little details that engineers at Microsoft have thought of in the past 20 years and included in Windows. I think of how our life would've beeen different and productivity in the world would've been so behind if Linux, IBMOS/2 and other crap had taken over the computer world. Thanks again Microsoft for all the thousands and thousands of free "apps" you included in Windows. Stuff as simple as RIGHT clicking on the screen or COPY/Paste or just a window to categorize icons, simple stupid things I have been taking for granted for years. I am sure Google programmers would love to use Windows in all their own computers while at work. Now I know why Windows dominates the software industry even though they have failed in cluttered annoying text advertising, search, maps and a few other areas.
brooklynite said:
I am still keeping the phone simply because of the browsing feature, I love sitting on the couch and browsing websites smoothly. Unbelievably the browser also lacks simple features like a simple ADDRESS bar (well, its hidden in the menus so you would SEARCH and add to Google's search results instead of direct typing a URL) and switching between tabs (now called Windows) is too many unnecessary "touches" in my opinion.
I dont mean to bash the phone (and dont even think about replying with "get another phone if you dont like it") but I like to bring these frustrations up so that Google programmers know one more time why this phone is going to lose its shine if they are too late bringing themselves up to date. (PS3 Sales anyone?, Late on price cuts?). See if you are too late these days, it doesn't matter if you are better, look at MSN's Video website, its awesome and MUCH better than Youtube but no one knows about it because they were late (and they don't have their own "brand name" and its simply MSN Video)
Not being able to edit *.doc files from inside the phone's memory or google docs is one thing, and I think is acceptable on a not-so-fresh-release-anymore phone.
What is NOT acceptable whatsoever on this phone is:
Not being able to see IMAGES in Gmail??! For goodness sake Google and T-Mobile claim everything you love about google in your hand, BS. Windows Mobile did this back in 1999 (used to be called Windows CE and had its own outlook) Yes that was 1999 TEN YEARS AGO on my Cassiopea
Other items worth mentioning to those who don't have the phone:
No proper support of Google's own search on its own website! (constantly getting the blank search result page)
No Copy/Paste
No Contact Sync with Outlook (what the hell? is this Nokia 1997 all over again?)
No spreadsheet/word doc editor/viewer (ok, ok, we are waiting for all kind of programmers making incompatible with each other software
No PDF viewer
No Flash (there goes 50% of the websites I browse)
Severly closed source and limited programming that has caused simple BS "apps" with a few exceptions. Developers are crying about how limited they are in writing programs as this phone is sooo CLOSED in all ways, there is no way to even write a Gadget for it like the clock that comes on the screen. No root access either.
Unscrollable, limited desktop space
No windows for categorizing icons. Well, Google does not believe in categorizing and file systems. I am sure all their own servers are full of FOLDERs just like Microsoft servers but they claim everything should be "LABELED" not "folder"'d.
No app installation on the SD card?? Whats this one?? I dropped my WING because it was still using the ten year old Windows CE memory system (almost) and had very limited space and was always running out.
This phone made me appreciate all the little details that engineers at Microsoft have thought of in the past 20 years and included in Windows. I think of how our life would've beeen different and productivity in the world would've been so behind if Linux, IBMOS/2 and other crap had taken over the computer world. Thanks again Microsoft for all the thousands and thousands of free "apps" you included in Windows. Stuff as simple as RIGHT clicking on the screen or COPY/Paste or just a window to categorize icons, simple stupid things I have been taking for granted for years. I am sure Google programmers would love to use Windows in all their own computers while at work. Now I know why Windows dominates the software industry even though they have failed in cluttered annoying text advertising, search, maps and a few other areas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash was announced to be coming sometime in the near future by adobe, when is the question. There is a pdf viewer on handango however i purchased it and tried to open g1's full manual and it wont open it. GO FIGURE lol.
And contacts sync with Outlook is already out - see MailShadowG at www.cemaphore.com
- in fact, it's an entire push Exchange mail/contacts/calendar sync.
diabolical28 said:
your wing was a 4th generation Windows mobile device.... did you have windows CE or win2003 before you had your wing? it took windows ages to provide the flexability they offered in the wing yes we all are used to those basic things that the wing and such wm2005 and 2006 devices have on it but where your wrong is the G1 and Android has the ability with the current phone you OWN this second to surpass that little phone you call Wing. Through updates and the likes. If your so disgusted in your G1 ill get you 100 bucks for it... PM me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry, i didn't know that this poll was to rate the potential of the g1. potentially, any phone can be great, 5 stars...
i think by now, 2008, the requirements for a pda phone are pretty much well defined. ms may have taken 3 to 4 gens to get it right, it doesn't mean that google needs 4 gens. they don't have to invent or reinvent anything, it all already there.
unfortunately, google seems too wrapped up in UI than functionality. actually, i don't know where their focus is.

ahhh!! cant deal with this phone! help!

man im having a hard time with my HD, im coming from an iphone and this is my first day with it, ive been messing with it all day but its just so much different than an iphone. the screen just wants too much push its getting to me, the iphone you just flick your finger or lightly tap and it recognizes so easily. right now my biggest issue is i cant get the phone data package to work, ive got the iphone plan still but i put my sim in my friend hd and it worked fine so im wondering what i can do to get my att data working. another issue im having is using wifi at home to search web pages moving around the page is a pain and they pages always require me to scroll to the sides. is there a way for me to display the whole page horizontally so i dont have to move sideways along with up and down. this are just a few of my problems, but i can see myself going back to the iphone this thing is just too much trouble, and you cant beat that app store or jailbreaking with customs themes. i was willing to take the loss of 3g for the sharper screen but this issue with having to press against the screen has got me nuts.
does anyone know how i can sync my contacts from my windows contact list on my pc?? this is where my iphone has stored all its contacts.
I have the Touch HD, and my roommate has the iPhone... so I have used them both, and have compared them as well.
To be honest, the Touch HD is MUCH better. Also keep in mind that the two have different display screens, the iPhone's REQUIRES heat (from your finger)... so you can never use a stylus or other similar item to control it. While it does have its advantages (such as multi touch) -- it still lacks in that on the HD, you can use the stylus, or pretty much anything.
Try looking at your settings. Try re-aligning the screen. Also there is a setting to turn on noise feedback (clicking) when you are touching the screen - which might help you when you are scrolling.
Lastly - while the iPhone and jailbreaking have a lot of items... I would say that the HD [Windows Mobile] has 10 times more items and way to customize.
Any way just my two cents. Hope it helps a bit.
Keith
are there any sites you can recommend for free software cause i want to like and keep this thing for the camera but it loads apps prett slow and the media is not as easy to reach as it is on the iphone. im really just looking for sports scores updates and aim and some games for this phone
The Iphone and the HD are two very good devices for their market, generally speaking however, depending what you use it for will determin which device is for you.
There are ways of adjusting the sensativity of the HD, i wouldnt recomend this, what you are expeiencing is simply the change between the Iphone and the HD, had you never used the Iphone you would have thought the HD touch screen was amazing. Which is better? Both have their advantages, but i for one keep my fingers nice and warm in the bitter cold wind and can still use the thing, whilst my Iphone brothers are freezing their fingers off!
Your data package is a mystery, i dont really understand what you mean by its not working, stick your SIM in, then go to system settings, network, then network wizard, that will take care of any little network settings issues that may be stopping you from getting it to work.
Assuming you are using Opera you just tilt the device on its side whilst facing you, that will flip the screen to wide mode, you can just read a full website without the need for zooming in this mode. If your using IE then give up, its old and doesnt work yet, new versions will fix this. Moving the page about is very easy in Opera.
To be honest, i think your being very nieve to think this phone is "simply" better than the Iphone, you cant just jump from one device to another and directly compare them, they are two very different devices, you have gotten used to the Iphone, that is why you like it so much, I have used both and i can tell you that for what i use this thing for the Touch HD is by far the most amazing device i have ever used, hell yeah, Id go as far as saying i love my HD!
I do have some issues with it, but ill live with it for now, hopefully someone will fix them soon. They would all be about the camera. Not overly chuffed with it in its current state.
get winterboard from vito software....google it....lot like the iphone interface
Get HDTweak installed so you can the screen more sensitive.
dazza9075 said:
The Iphone and the HD are two very good devices for their market, generally speaking however, depending what you use it for will determin which device is for you.
There are ways of adjusting the sensativity of the HD, i wouldnt recomend this, what you are expeiencing is simply the change between the Iphone and the HD, had you never used the Iphone you would have thought the HD touch screen was amazing. Which is better? Both have their advantages, but i for one keep my fingers nice and warm in the bitter cold wind and can still use the thing, whilst my Iphone brothers are freezing their fingers off!
Your data package is a mystery, i dont really understand what you mean by its not working, stick your SIM in, then go to system settings, network, then network wizard, that will take care of any little network settings issues that may be stopping you from getting it to work.
Assuming you are using Opera you just tilt the device on its side whilst facing you, that will flip the screen to wide mode, you can just read a full website without the need for zooming in this mode. If your using IE then give up, its old and doesnt work yet, new versions will fix this. Moving the page about is very easy in Opera.
To be honest, i think your being very nieve to think this phone is "simply" better than the Iphone, you cant just jump from one device to another and directly compare them, they are two very different devices, you have gotten used to the Iphone, that is why you like it so much, I have used both and i can tell you that for what i use this thing for the Touch HD is by far the most amazing device i have ever used, hell yeah, Id go as far as saying i love my HD!
I do have some issues with it, but ill live with it for now, hopefully someone will fix them soon. They would all be about the camera. Not overly chuffed with it in its current state.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
everyone whos got an hd says this to me but i dont understand, what are you guys doing with your phone that im not, the only capability the phone has that im aware of is things like word and excel, otherwise its supposed to be a pda phone and surfing the web on this thing is near impossible(i reset the phone and got the Edge working but it feels so slow coming from 3g). zooming in and out is much more difficult than the iphone. i almost wish there were some kind of package to give this phone all the same features the iphone has for zooming and scrolling pages(occasionally ill select something while trying to scroll because ill have to press down too hard). is it ok to post links to programs on this forum, i guess thats another issue with most of these expensive windows mobile phones, everyone and their moms has an iphone so theres a lot of attention paid in terms of modding and customizing. im trying to find the G sensor that lets you rotate any program some kind of mobile messenger and sports score updater. also does anyone know how i can take my windows contacts and export them to the HD.
Loss of 3G? What are you talking about!? The Touch HD is 3.5G! Just as fast as the iPhone 3G, (depending on network coverage, of course). Plus it has even newer technologies.
thatg said:
everyone whos got an hd says this to me but i dont understand, what are you guys doing with your phone that im not, the only capability the phone has that im aware of is things like word and excel, otherwise its supposed to be a pda phone and surfing the web on this thing is near impossible(i reset the phone and got the Edge working but it feels so slow coming from 3g). zooming in and out is much more difficult than the iphone. i almost wish there were some kind of package to give this phone all the same features the iphone has for zooming and scrolling pages(occasionally ill select something while trying to scroll because ill have to press down too hard). is it ok to post links to programs on this forum, i guess thats another issue with most of these expensive windows mobile phones, everyone and their moms has an iphone so theres a lot of attention paid in terms of modding and customizing. im trying to find the G sensor that lets you rotate any program some kind of mobile messenger and sports score updater. also does anyone know how i can take my windows contacts and export them to the HD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a reason why as you said "everyone and their mom's has an iphone". This reason might also apply to you. You are obviously in uncharted territory. If you just want to web search/email/play music then stick to your iphone. A pda phone is designed for much more than that.
Dont blame the HD for your poor network connection.The HD can handle everything from 2G to EDGE, 3G and HSDPA. The phone will connect to whatever EDGE if it cant find a stable 3G (or even better HSDPA) connection. For browsing try opera mobile. And read the manual for the phone. You can adjust the screen sensitivity to your liking.You can also download a cab file here (HD Tweak) to help you with that. Any more complaints?
And yes, EDGE is slower than 3G but that depends on where you are (cell towers) and your network. If your cell provider has 3G or HSDPA signals coming off their cell towers then your HD would automatically choose the best and connect with it.
Good Lord Another Jesus Phone vs HD thread. Do we really need it It's like comparing a PS3 to a PC. One just has to learn the mysteries of WinMobile and that's what this board is all about
ha, see this is what im talking about, you guys keep telling me they are very diferent and winmobile can accomplish a lot more but leave out what. i just dont get what i'm missing. im in the U.S. so the the 3g doesnt work here as far as i know. im on AT&T. i've read somewhere that its got the correct hardware but needs some sort of firmware to possibly accomplish 3g use in the future. i just went to the htc website and put on the 4 hotfixes they had under the support section along with hd tweak 0.5.4 i found. one of the hotfixes solved an issue i was having with the slider to answer calls.
so i still have this problem with exporting contact to the phone from my pc if anyone has any tips
i'm very sorry to anyone who thinks i came on here to offend you guys, just trying to figure this thing and its capabilities out. also can someone tell me what these roms are and should i be cautious loading them, could they cause damage to my phone? i found one that looks like a package of different modifications to the phone
What is the problem with contacts from your PC to the HD ?
I assume you have PC with windows and the outlook application ? And, do you have activesync working between the PC and the HD ?
im using windows mobile device center with vista, and ive never actually set up outlook whenever i get to the email setup i start to stumble because i dont get this pop and map thing trying to setup my yahoo email
thatg said:
im using windows mobile device center with vista, and ive never actually set up outlook whenever i get to the email setup i start to stumble because i dont get this pop and map thing trying to setup my yahoo email
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should have an outlook cd-rom in the HD pack. I have set this up without access to email - I just ignored that in the setup.
I would suggest this is worthwhile as the sync from pc Outlook to HD is very simple.
I use the calendar feature and contacts in outlook on the PC and not the email.
Where are the contacts you want to sync with the HD ?
right now my contacts are in my windows address book, if i go to the start menu then contacts theyre all in there i got outlook running and did the same chose not to sync email but when i try to drag a contact into the outlook contacts outlook tells me its unable to find the WAB DLL. whatever that is
guy you really need to go and RTFM
this is xda dev, not "winmob for dummies"
sure we all have to start somewhere and i did, but i got my first winmob device and then read read read and read somemore. then played and tweaked and hardreset god knows how many times
sorry if you think im being arsey, but the questions you are asking and then solutions (where they exist) have been explored before
google is your friend, or to use the original phrase... "seek and you shall find"
For the heavyness of the touch, look on the forum. You can adjust how hard you have to push on it. Mine is set very light and you can just swipe over it with the lightest touch.
The plus side about a device like the HD is that you can adjust it as much as you want.
The reason why the iPhone is popular and liked by many imho is that its made to be easy for even the biggest idiot.
Just like game consoles are made to bring games to the masses, while a real gamer wouldn't touch a console with a 10 foot pole.
Coming from an iPhone to an HTC does take a little getting used to. I did find the extra screen pressure annoying at first as half my screen presses were ignored. Also, the iPhone is very user friendly, both out of the box and for installing new apps. With a WM device, you do need to do a little bit more to get the most out of it, but once you've got your sat nav installed, gyrator or other screen flip software, put your own skin on it, have voice dial set up and bluetoothed to everything else, and playing the video and audio formats of your choice, all in glorious 800x480, the iPhone will seem like a distant memory.
The threads to read are those pointing to the Wiki's on firmware updates, and basic tweaks (which makes a huge difference). Read the basics, and you'll find an army of people willing to help you get the most out of it. And they dont charge $9.99 for the latest firmware release!
I hope you stick with it.
TravUK said:
Coming from an iPhone to an HTC does take a little getting used to. I did find the extra screen pressure annoying at first as half my screen presses were ignored. Also, the iPhone is very user friendly, both out of the box and for installing new apps. With a WM device, you do need to do a little bit more to get the most out of it, but once you've got your sat nav installed, gyrator or other screen flip software, put your own skin on it, have voice dial set up and bluetoothed to everything else, and playing the video and audio formats of your choice, all in glorious 800x480, the iPhone will seem like a distant memory.
The threads to read are those pointing to the Wiki's on firmware updates, and basic tweaks (which makes a huge difference). Read the basics, and you'll find an army of people willing to help you get the most out of it. And they dont charge $9.99 for the latest firmware release!
I hope you stick with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the encouragement and help, most other people seem to want me to just turn back to the iphone, im not welcome ?
i just tried dling gyrator but it says i need .net framework compact so im looking for that now. can you point me in the right direction of the framework and maybe where to change the sensativity so i dont have to press as hard against the screen, or is that in the HD tweak. also what will the firmware update change.
still having this issue getting the contacts from my windows address book to the phone

Winmo to Android

i previously had a Tytn2. One of the best fones i've ever ownedexcept for the speed and the clunkiness of it. Upgraded to Rogers HTC Dream, but there are a lot of things i miss from the Tytn. Just wondering what functionalities other people miss, and possible this could brainstorm ideas generate solutions or substitutes on Android...
personally,
a) Tomtom, using nav with built in maps, no data necessary
b) official msn client
c) tethering (currently only using pdanet, non-root)
d) simple windows functions, ie copying text, easily moving files within explorer on the fone
e) others...?
kevwo said:
i previously had a Tytn2. One of the best fones i've ever ownedexcept for the speed and the clunkiness of it. Upgraded to Rogers HTC Dream, but there are a lot of things i miss from the Tytn. Just wondering what functionalities other people miss, and possible this could brainstorm ideas generate solutions or substitutes on Android...
personally,
a) Tomtom, using nav with built in maps, no data necessary
b) official msn client
c) tethering (currently only using pdanet, non-root)
d) simple windows functions, ie copying text, easily moving files within explorer on the fone
e) others...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a) copilot live. Its $35 and is on the market. You will need to root and run marketenabler though since canada isn't on the non-free market list yet. The maps are better than tomtom, the routing is smarter, and the route planning is MUCH FASTER.
b) There's lots of im crap on the market. Can't imagine why you would want this nonsense, but its there for you to download if you want it.
c) tether for root users. Again, root it.
d) you need to learn to LONG-press. And for manipulating files, either learn to use the terminal properly like the more intelligent people (it is MUCH easier and more efficient than using ANY gui), or find a free program called "ASTRO" in the market.
e) if you don't have a question, we can't provide an answer.
lbcoder said:
a) copilot live. Its $35 and is on the market. You will need to root and run marketenabler though since canada isn't on the non-free market list yet. The maps are better than tomtom, the routing is smarter, and the route planning is MUCH FASTER.
b) There's lots of im crap on the market. Can't imagine why you would want this nonsense, but its there for you to download if you want it.
c) tether for root users. Again, root it.
d) you need to learn to LONG-press. And for manipulating files, either learn to use the terminal properly like the more intelligent people (it is MUCH easier and more efficient than using ANY gui), or find a free program called "ASTRO" in the market.
e) if you don't have a question, we can't provide an answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey lbcoder, thanks for the response, some good points there
A) does copilot run if i take the sim card out tho (no data used) ? if it does, then you rock!
b) fair enough
c) rooting tonite, once i get home. thanks haykuro
was there anything that anyone in particular liked about winmo?
kevwo said:
hey lbcoder, thanks for the response, some good points there
A) does copilot run if i take the sim card out tho (no data used) ? if it does, then you rock!
b) fair enough
c) rooting tonite, once i get home. thanks haykuro
was there anything that anyone in particular liked about winmo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a) Definitely works without data. Haven't tried pulling the card though, really don't want to open the case up.
d) I've always really liked that winmo never really caught on. They have too much of a monopoly and are perfectly evil and abusive... ever actually read one of their eula's? Its a "You want me to agree to WHAT??? No, I will NOT sign over my firstborn and my youngest daughter, and you can NOT have my testicles ".
I owned a TyTn II before buying an HTC Dream.
My transition to Android was through the Android port to the tytn2. As I was using android on the tytn2, I found myself spending more and more time in android then in WinMobile. After a while I started dreading having to go back to WinMo to access features that the android port didn't have functioning (like camera, wifi...)
What I started to dislike about WinMo was the fact that it has a stylus driven interface. Even though there are some nice custom WinMo Roms, that add some nice finger navigation to the main features, practically all 3rd party software is not finger friendly.
And Android worked so much smoother and snappier then WinMo.
Since getting the Dream a month ago, I haven't once thought about what I'm missing from the tytn2.
Just my experience.
I am pretty much in the same boat as the OP. TomTom was the biggie for me, as was the much better included mail client in WM. I was personally running Windows Mobile 6.5 and in fact am still running it on the Tytn.
I actually went back to using my Tytn and tossed the dream in the glove box. It wasn't till night before last when I rooted the Dream that I put my sim back in it. If Copilot works as expected I may try the Dream for bit and see if my feelings change. However I can see a new WM device in my near future.
Oh take a look at K9 for an email client. Still a bit clumsy to use, but worlds better than the built in mail client in android. Its still a very young phone and OS, I think over time it'll get better.
lbcoder - we have winmo hater! lol well at least i had my tytn2 running better than so many iphones....yeah i'm gonna hate on iphone
outsider787 - how did android run on the tytn2? was it laggy? i have to assum it was, as just its own rom was quite laggy. i agree tho, that it is frustrating to try to do things on the screen with your finger that was designed for a stylus
Capt Fiero - keep me/us informed with how the testing of CoPilot goes! with tomtom, i could just take my sim when travelling in the US and still navigate (atlantic city to ny!)
I replied to your pm, however wanted to add a few things here.
I still have yet to get copilot installed on the 10 day trial. Every time I go to download and install it, using market enabler it wants me to give them a credit card, and I am not supplying a credit card number or personal info through market on an app that I have never even seen in operation let alone tried.
Now as for going state side, I found it ridiculously cheap just go across pick up a USA AT&T pay as you go card, drop it into my Tytn and go from there. Its .10 cents a min vs $2.00 a min for roaming. You have to have your phone unlocked, which if you are on these forums, more than likely you already do. So now I just have a spare sim in my sim carrier that I swap into my phone when I am going to be in the states for an extended period. I thought about forwarding my CDN number to the US number, but never tried it. I just swap the card out once a day and check for any new messages.
kevwo said:
lbcoder - we have winmo hater! lol well at least i had my tytn2 running better than so many iphones....yeah i'm gonna hate on iphone
outsider787 - how did android run on the tytn2? was it laggy? i have to assum it was, as just its own rom was quite laggy. i agree tho, that it is frustrating to try to do things on the screen with your finger that was designed for a stylus
Capt Fiero - keep me/us informed with how the testing of CoPilot goes! with tomtom, i could just take my sim when travelling in the US and still navigate (atlantic city to ny!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you make a TyTn2 run better than an iPhone? That's ridiculous.....My friend still sticks to his TyTn 2 as it is a work phone and he regularly shows me his 'iphone-esque' tweaks, which are laughably jerky and unresponsive. There are a ton of things I could do on my old iPhone 3G that I couldn't do nearly as well on my TyTn2/Touch Diamond/Touch ProAthena/Exec, but that's another issue.....
As for the dream? Well I don't drive so I can't comment on SATnav software, but I'm very happy with the device as an internet-centric phone, and with the HTC IME and Handcent it's a joy to text on. I'd still swap it for a 3GS anyday though, as I'm not a humongous geek, just a lover of multimedia and the internet and the 3Gs provides a great browsing, texting, video, mp3, camera and video experience....
.....shame that the first batch are apparently getting so hot they're bursting into flames.
Anyway, enough of the iPhone crap, let's be straight here: If you LIKE windows mobile and you LIKE the way it works, get a Windows Mobile device. For what it does you can't fault it. If you want Microsoft Services such as hotmail and Live Messenger it will always be the better choice. Android will NEVER be Windows Mobile; it is a completely different platform with different aspirations and an open environment, driven by third-party developers. Personally I prefer the Android Email Client to the Windows Mobile one, but I've only owned a Windows Mobile device up to version 6.1 so the email client may have improved. Also I have a Gmail account.
The major selling point for me of the two is the capacitive screen of the G1. I just cannot imagine going back to resistive screens and styluses so no matter how much WinMo improves it will never get my support until it becomes compatible with capacitive screens.
just my thoughts....
just just got root access. can finally bluetooth. let's see android create 'Age of Empires" and make it as addictive as winmo version. robo defense is only fun to a certain extent
Before this turns into an Android vs WinMo war, they both have there big pluses and both have drawbacks. It boils down to personal preference and desired use. For some its just a a really hard decision. Whenever I make a WinMo/Android thread, I always state that both have there advantages and both have there drawbacks. So don't let the other side of the fence bait you into an argument that has no place on this forum.
I just got an error when trying to reply to your PM, nothing private so here it is.
The following errors occurred with your submission:
kevwo has chosen not to receive private messages or may not be allowed to receive private messages. Therefore you may not send your message to him/her.
If you are trying to send this message to multiple recipients, remove kevwo from the recipient list and send the message again.
I never did get Wifi teather to work, and contacts I found it easier just to copy all the contacts to the sim then move the sim to the dream and copy them from the sim to the dream contact list. (over 200 contacts so any other way would take way too long)
kevwo said:
Capt Fiero said:
I don't know about root being "unlocked" or not. I have not tried that yet. I have not gone across the line with the Dream yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool
thanks again for the help. just trying to bluetooth contacts from Tytn to dream now.
and attempting to get WiFi tether to work. sigh...i guess all this work is part of the fun of a new phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have almost 400, i dont think it could all fit on my sim tho
Well you other option and its a long way around but, if you have
MS Outlook
a Gmail Account and understand what a CSV value is, you are in luck.
Open Microsoft Outlook (must have your windows Mobile contacts synced)
Use the MS Outlook export wizard to export your contacts into a CSV file. Save it to your desktop.
Now open your Gmail account, go to the import wizard, import that CSV file into Gmail.
Now grab your Android phone, enter your Gmail account info, then tell it to sync your contacts from your GMAIL account to your phone.
Presto Bingo, your phone now has all the accounts that were on your Windows Mobile / Outlook account in your Android. This will work regardless if you have 20 accounts or 1000 accounts.
kevwo said:
just just got root access. can finally bluetooth. let's see android create 'Age of Empires" and make it as addictive as winmo version. robo defense is only fun to a certain extent
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude, what's ur problem
kevwo said:
dude, what's ur problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to me that HE's the troll...
kevwo said:
just just got root access. can finally bluetooth. let's see android create 'Age of Empires" and make it as addictive as winmo version. robo defense is only fun to a certain extent
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Robo Defense is only fun until you find the XML files that store your scores/unlocks Couldn't they use some sort of encoding to make cheating a bit more difficult for root users? All I wanted was to save my progress between phone wipes, but ended up giving myself 90 gazillion points and unlocking all achievements.
lbcoder said:
Seems to me that HE's the troll...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol. serious. oh well.
you can hack it like that? wow! but is that more fun than actually OBTAINING the achievement yourself? those black planes are damn near impossible to shoot down its frustrating.
anyone actually play AoE on winmo?
kevwo said:
lol. serious. oh well.
you can hack it like that? wow! but is that more fun than actually OBTAINING the achievement yourself? those black planes are damn near impossible to shoot down its frustrating.
anyone actually play AoE on winmo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I entertained myself with AoE on an old PDA on a plane flight one time. Was nice to have. Android games have a long way to come, but compare teh age of the platform to WM and I feel hopeful.
All in all, I prefer android to the current WM (well I only got to 6.1 before I sold my tilt last year), but if there are apps you depend on, it can be a tough switch to make.

Win 8 Metro Poll and discussion - No FUD aloud!!

Righty folks, heres a quick poll, I think the results will be very interesting, anyone is welcome to vote
The discussion however is for objective views and opinions from people who have actually used and tested the OS for a reasonable amount of time, that's to say more than a hand full of days!
Views like "ive read" Ive heard" "Its crap" mean precisely bugger all and are not welcome. Anyone who binned it after 5 min or couldn't be bothered to understand it because it didn't have a start button need not bother to grace us with your presence.
This is not a place to spread FUD, start flame fests or simply come on to moan about it.
Im not saying we all must agree, im saying we need to be able to support that opinion with evidence, we are after all, Microsoft testers, it would be good to support one another and share what we have learnt and help others out.
Let the fun and games commence!
After using consumer preview since its release i have grown to love the interface. I have to use windows 7 on my college's computers and the start button feels so counter intuitive. All of the old functionality still remains if anyone wants to use it. Also, the os as a whole is much faster than 7. My two biggest complaints about windows 8 are the random crashes when exiting sleep and the general lack of drivers, both of which are expected during a beta stage.
Sent from my handheld Linux computer using electromagnetic radiation.
I installed windows 8 the day the consumer preview came out and overall I have to say it’s been a positive experience. There was a slight learning curve, nothing that a few hours and reading the proper documentation could not fix. Although I feel this was slightly due to the fact the charm bar does not seem to respond very well with two monitors, but in all fairness Ctrl + c works fine and I am more comfortable with shortcuts.
A few things I did the metro icons were not very crisp on a large display which is something that I am very nitpicky about. I also wish there was more of a windows phone influence with regards to the metro apps, currently a lot of the apps are just a long horizontal scrolling applications. I would of much preferred titled sections on a continuous loop that when clicked the title you are moved to that section like in wp7.
Currently scrolling around looks ugly and a little clumsy for instance the weather app to me looks horrible. All in all not really that much has changed its is still really just windows with an addition screen that doubles as a start screen and a way to communicate more information then there previously has been in windows.
indeed, ive got a few driver issues as well, but as you say, that is to be expected in its current form.
multi monitor setups are a big issue, trying to get the "zones" can be a bit of a pain, I dare say you'd get used to it but I think this could be easily overcome and is a design fault that needs fixed
Ideally id like to see metro being transferable to different monitors, whilst maintaining the primary monitor else where.
Something else I agree on is the Windows Phone influence, there needs to be more of it, I realise this is beta still but the people tile is terrible when compared to WP, id presume you would allow groups as well...
Something else id like to see imported to this idea is the ability to sync text messages in to the people tile as well, making the Metro UI an extension of WP, their half way there already and would also provide a convent backup solution for WP. The size of txt messages could easily be transferred when your live account syncs every now and then, meaning you would be able to get home, put your WP down, fire up Windows and instantly be able to work with metro containing all the info available on your phone.
In my opinion, if there going to join the platforms then they may as well do it propperly.
I have used it for about 3 weeks now but i am still unsure whether it should be released along with the desktop OS when the RC comes out. tbh I see what they're trying to do, but it's a very bad move for desktop / laptops (unless touchscreen). Compatibility to older windows programs is limited and it's more of an annoyance than anything helpful. They tried to emulate the launch control in Mac with extra features, but i fail to see how this is revolutionary to desktop pcs and such. It just gave you two desktops, one of which you'll rarely use. Of course there are many other things I can complain about, but don't want to rant up this thread lol. Sure it looks pretty and all, but it's more limited than win7 and I don't see how that's a plus.
HaVoKeR said:
Compatibility to older windows programs is limited and it's more of an annoyance than anything helpful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hows that? im unsure where your coming from on this one as it runs anything ive tried that worked on Win 7 so how is it Limited and annoying?
HaVoKeR said:
It just gave you two desktops, one of which you'll rarely use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I presume you mean the Metro UI is rarely used? From what ive seen the key to getting the most out of Metro is to set it up, at the moment there are limited "apps" which make use of the full live tile function but it will get there, the email, messaging , photos, calendar, Music all work fine (all be it we cant use music properly outside of the US just now)
HaVoKeR said:
Sure it looks pretty and all, but it's more limited than win7 and I don't see how that's a plus.
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I don't see how its more limited? can you explain that? Metro is just a layer on top of the desktop, personally I cant see any less functionality.
HaVoKeR said:
I have used it for about 3 weeks now but i am still unsure whether it should be released along with the desktop OS when the RC comes out. tbh I see what they're trying to do, but it's a very bad move for desktop / laptops (unless touchscreen). Compatibility to older windows programs is limited and it's more of an annoyance than anything helpful. They tried to emulate the launch control in Mac with extra features, but i fail to see how this is revolutionary to desktop pcs and such. It just gave you two desktops, one of which you'll rarely use. Of course there are many other things I can complain about, but don't want to rant up this thread lol. Sure it looks pretty and all, but it's more limited than win7 and I don't see how that's a plus.
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Howso? I use all the older programs that I've always used, It's not limited and it's not an annoyance. How are they trying to emulate Launch Control when the Metro UI dates back to before Launch Control (It's been there since WP7's release which was before Lion's)? I actually use both desktops fairly equally.
Edit: I actually have a correction to that Metro UI has been there since Microsoft released the Zune Player software for PC and Zune devices. So it's effectively been around before Launch Control and Lion.
Answering the poll:
Over 2 weeks and Overall Like. I love being able to see everything at a glance when I start Windows, I love the Metro Applications (Especially the Live Communication Applications). It truly is a step forward from the old, dated menu based interface and a step forward that I welcome. I used to switch OSes every few months because I'd get bored with how Windows looked and how limited I was with customizing it, but 8's changes give me the integration and customization that I like I love the Google Calendar sync, I finally have one calendar across all my devices ^_^, Can't wait to see what changes in RC. I just hope they don't bring back the Start Orb/Menu.
Edit: I would love to at least be able to post status changes to social networks in people though and I'm especially hoping for a Windows 8 Google Voice client so I don't have to open my web browser or look at my phone (especially if my phone's dead) to continue sending/receiving messages. I was going to make one in Developer's Preview but I couldn't find a suitable third-party API that supported receiving messages and I couldn't figure out XAML or the Metro Designer...
Also Dazza: I agree, I don't see any less functionality. Rather I see an increase of productivity and functionality.
I couldn't agree more,
The People Hub on here is pretty bad, course its a preview app so I would hope there will be some significant changes. In fact to make it easy for them, I want WP7 People hub on Windows 8, simple as that.
The challenge would be horizontal scrolling as apposed to vertical given that most of us have wide screen, at the moment its a huge waste of space and not very useful.
The messenger app could do with being linked in to FB in much the same way as WP7, in fact once again, just bring it all over, The people, messaging, email etc are probable some of the most efficient designs ive ever seen on a phone, given that Metro is supposed to be a quick efficient way of doing stuff they would do well to keep that the same and let outlook etc take care of the nitty gritty side to things.
edit:
Looks like that results stacking up, by an large the biggest portion of folk like it, and out of those that don't most of those in % terms haven't used it for very long at all. Just goes to show!
I like it alot. I'd be using it as my main OS already if drivers were available for a couple of my devices.
I've always loved the WP7 UI so Metro is great for me. A little bit more work needs doing on the integration of the desktop with Metro though. Just to make things a little more fluid.
I've got Windows 8 installed on both my main PC and my HP TM2 laptop so have given the touch gestures a go too which work really well.
adamwebb28 said:
I like it alot. I'd be using it as my main OS already if drivers were available for a couple of my devices.
I've always loved the WP7 UI so Metro is great for me. A little bit more work needs doing on the integration of the desktop with Metro though. Just to make things a little more fluid.
I've got Windows 8 installed on both my main PC and my HP TM2 laptop so have given the touch gestures a go too which work really well.
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i was reading on the MS blog that whilst it will run on win7 touch hardware, win 8 hardware has been tweeked even further, have you noticed any issues, especially around fingers moving on to the screen from the sides to quickly? and tap lag (typing to quick an missing letters!)?
dazza9075 said:
i was reading on the MS blog that whilst it will run on win7 touch hardware, win 8 hardware has been tweeked even further, have you noticed any issues, especially around fingers moving on to the screen from the sides to quickly? and tap lag (typing to quick an missing letters!)?
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I'll be honest, I haven't done much with using the on screen keyboard. But certainly not had any problems with swiping onto the screen.
The couple of times I have used the on screen keyboard it hasn't felt much better than the old touch keyboard in windows 7.
For tablet: like it very very much.
For desktop: dislike.
I will never use metro on my desktop PC. Why ? Because it cant display more than 1 app ( nope, 1/4 sized app pinned to left or right side does not count for me ). I will never use metro apps on desktop pc, and i think most people wont...so what is it there for ?
I have nothing against metro, and i like the tiles design. But using it on a desktop PC is just not practical for me.
Akiainavas said:
For tablet: like it very very much.
For desktop: dislike.
I will never use metro on my desktop PC. Why ? Because it cant display more than 1 app ( nope, 1/4 sized app pinned to left or right side does not count for me ). I will never use metro apps on desktop pc, and i think most people wont...so what is it there for ?
I have nothing against metro, and i like the tiles design. But using it on a desktop PC is just not practical for me.
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I see what your saying, but I question your expectation of it.
potentially it displays dozens of "informative apps" opening each app separately then gives you more detail. Consider Metro to be similar to your mobile phone, can you display several windows at once on your phone? unless your using WM probably not but what your phone does is displays you lots of bits of information usually very well. Metro takes this idea and gives it to your PC, a single key press will give you access to stacks of information at a glance, another key press gives you multi windowed windows, or if the metro app is any good you can fire it up in full screen.
Metro is a tool that on the desktop actually works great with impressive levels of productivity, metro on a tablet allows you a great level of finger friendly UI, desktop remains there all be it in a slightly less finger friendly fashion (bumping up the DPI can help here tho!)
dazza9075 said:
what your phone does is displays you lots of bits of information usually very well. Metro takes this idea and gives it to your PC, a single key press will give you access to stacks of information at a glance,
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Well, yeah that's actually pretty useful. Would be great if desktop apps could create and maintain a Live Tile as well, so i could check my mail count etc with Windows key, but not necessarily read it in full-screen metro mode. They can't do that at the moment, but who knows, maybe later.
Akiainavas said:
Well, yeah that's actually pretty useful. Would be great if desktop apps could create and maintain a Live Tile as well, so i could check my mail count etc with Windows key, but not necessarily read it in full-screen metro mode. They can't do that at the moment, but who knows, maybe later.
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do you mean getting your mail program to display on the icon information about whats going on? wouldnt think there is much space to get any real info but if you pin your mail program (for the purpose of all my posts ill say that all desktop programs are programs and metro programs are apps) to your task bar then if the program has been designed correctly then it will display some limited info, outlook works great for me, and tells me how many emails i have sitting there.
HaVoKeR said:
I have used it for about 3 weeks now but i am still unsure whether it should be released along with the desktop OS when the RC comes out. tbh I see what they're trying to do, but it's a very bad move for desktop / laptops (unless touchscreen). Compatibility to older windows programs is limited and it's more of an annoyance than anything helpful. They tried to emulate the launch control in Mac with extra features, but i fail to see how this is revolutionary to desktop pcs and such. It just gave you two desktops, one of which you'll rarely use. Of course there are many other things I can complain about, but don't want to rant up this thread lol. Sure it looks pretty and all, but it's more limited than win7 and I don't see how that's a plus.
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Click to collapse
The UI is very different from the Mac and doesn't even work the same. Not sure where you got that - other than all touch interfaces use Icons....
Compatibility is outstanding. I was shocked at how many of my normal use applications ran perfect. For a Beta of a major OS change, the compatibility is excellent.
It's Win 7 AND more new features.
Win 8 will win you over (unless your an Apple fan) once you see how people utilize the OS enhancements.
---------- Post added at 03:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:02 AM ----------
Akiainavas said:
For tablet: like it very very much.
For desktop: dislike.
I will never use metro on my desktop PC. Why ? Because it cant display more than 1 app ( nope, 1/4 sized app pinned to left or right side does not count for me ). I will never use metro apps on desktop pc, and i think most people wont...so what is it there for ?
I have nothing against metro, and i like the tiles design. But using it on a desktop PC is just not practical for me.
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Click to collapse
I'm not sure what you are talking about. You use the term "app" which to me is one of the little micro applications we use on tablets. Or, are you talking about applications like Streets and Trips, Excel, etc... If you're talking about Metro specifically, then maybe I see what you mean, but I've had multiple ones displayed and running on my laptop although in Metro the sizing is set to 1/3. I did some work with multiple windows between IRFan and Excel and used the old desktop to customize the sizing of the windows. So, again, not sure why you say you can't do it.???
Those same under the hood enhancements could have been made to Windows 7 while keeping and enhancing the Windows 7 UI and called Windows 8 on release (or even a Service pack FFS, look how big XP SP2 was).
It has nothing to do with Apple. It has nothing to do with under the hood improvements that could have been made to 7, anyways (like going from Vista to 7, hello...). It has to do with the jarring and otherwise terrible user experience this release has on non-touch PCs and also for multile monitor users (who are becoming more prevelant with budget graphics cards allowing this and LCD monitors being so cheap nowadays).
I've ran the beta on its own PC. It's terrible for desktop use and will deserve the reviews I'm almost sure it will get when it releases to non-touch users later this year.
Compatibility is always excellent because the Win32 API is forward compatible. There's nothing great, exciting, or unforseen about that. Solaris is UNIX and it has the same backward and forward API compatibility very similar to Windows.
They destroyed Multi-Tasking and generally destroyed the way people use their computers for the sold purpose of pushing their own dumb-down UI metaphor down people's throats. Metro wastes a ton of screen real estate. Look bow big the banners are in many of those apps, and how much odd whitespace is in some of them (Email app, Pictures app, etc.).
Then they throw a highly curated/bastardized version of the explorer shell in as an app and tell us "see, the desktop is still there" even though only Metro apps will be sold directly (and updated directly) via the Windows Store and they're basically deprecating Win32/MFC development, among other things.
I have a hard time calling this a multi-tasking OS, especially if you sit in Metro most of the time.
Sorry, but I'm not sure what YOU'RE talking about.
oh, your here as well, thanks for the constructive feedback, I trust you are using the feedback options within Win 8 to provide MS with your deep insights in to the workings of their BETA product that you asked to test for them
Oh, and Desktop isn't an app, its the desktop, its no different than before and ive not found anything that doesn't work yet strangely enough as i said on the other thread, multi tasking works fine
But anyhow, im not going to bother replying to it all as you seem to have completely made your mind up without really understanding what its all about
dazza9075 said:
oh, your here as well, thanks for the constructive feedback, I trust you are using the feedback options within Win 8 to provide MS with your deep insights in to the workings of their BETA product that you asked to test for them
Oh, and Desktop isn't an app, its the desktop, its no different than before and ive not found anything that doesn't work yet strangely enough as i said on the other thread, multi tasking works fine
But anyhow, im not going to bother replying to it all as you seem to have completely made your mind up without really understanding what its all about
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I stopped giving feedback when they stopped listening to and implementing the most trivial QoL changes in their products.
The Desktop doesn't even have a functioning start menu comparable to Windows Vista or 7 yet you somehow feel compelled to believe it's functionally identical.
Fine is in the eye of the beholder. Being thrown from Desktop to full screen metro apps and only being able to multi-task Metro apps by pinning one to 1/4the screen is a terrible compromise bordering on laughable.
Oh, and have you tried using Windows 8 on a non-touch laptop with only a Trackpad? Laughable...
N8ter said:
I stopped giving feedback when they stopped listening to and implementing the most trivial QoL changes in their products.
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Then why bother downloading it, its for testing purposes only
you have this so unbelievably wrong

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