I remember when I first tried Windows 8 in a laptop. I initially didn't like it because it was a big change from Windows 7. Then I got my first tablet with Windows 8.1. I fell in love with it! So beautiful, so smooth... I really miss all those features you mentioned.
Windows 8.1 tablet mode was better compared to Windows 10 (What happening with animations and gestures in Windows 10) I really miss Windows 8.1 cool Animations and gestures and looks 😞
I really don't know why everyone bashed Windows 8 so hard. Even today most of my older Laptops run Windows 8.1. Not because they wouldn't be able to run Windows 10 but because Windows 8.1 is just so much sleaker and is way less hardware intensive.
People hated Windows 8 because it is a step backwards for them especially the Start Menu and the Window mode for Apps is not supported. Windows 8.1 is now praised because people now realized Microsoft can be much worse than Windows 8.1, i mean look at Windows 10 now (1903 as of my writing this comment), it is just worst, terrible resource management, buggy ui, etc. Windows 8.1 on the other hand is the middle of the great Windows 7 and terrible Windows 10, the best option for modern hardware support is Windows 8.1 rather than Windows 7, also the support for Windows 7 will stop next year (2020) whereas Windows 8.1 will be until 2023.
The tablet mode in 8.1 was incredible and windows 10 just destroyed all the progress they were making. It's so laggy and glitchy in tablet mode and I have a new surface pro. Microsoft is dropping the ball and they will pay greatly
The thing is, even on a track pad or mouse the gestures were great on windows 8.1, they were really thought out and intuitive, i didn't have touch screen laptop but using these gestures through the Trackad was a breeze and I loved it. If only people gave it a chance 😑
The entire video I was expecting and HOPING to hear you say, "but now, Microsoft is bringing it back"... Honestly, seeing it is just painful. I want this back. It looked and functioned so much better. I would love RT back with current full emulation on ARM.
The world was not ready for Windows 8. I am using a Surface Pro 4 now for almost 2 years and I still find myself get frustrated when the gestures of my Surface 2 dont work. Why do I have to press a tiny battery icon and then tap between 4 brightness options when setting the display brightness was done with a simple swipe and slide in windows 8?
Sugraf Post this on Feedback Hub and on Twitter pages of Microsoft employees. Hopefully that they will get noticed. This is not new but feels like the Windows Team and Microsoft as a whole were just being deaf about this.
Too bad i lost all hope in them and don't feel they listen to feedback. Not a single feedback item i submitted was ever addressed. Not a single feedback item i upvoted was fixed in a way that is satisfactory.
There's a joke on r/ProgrammerHumor about how you can fuck up your software by just adding a single small feature. With that many feedbacks submitted everyday, how long do you think it takes? They're not that committed HAHAHA GET IT?
The start screen was my favorite thing on w8 When I upgrade to windows 10 it felt just boring and empty and I didn't understand why, 3 years later with this video now I realise all the things I miss from w8. Great video.
Windows 8 had better personalization than Windows 10. I still miss those wallpapers you could choose from for the start screen as well as the horizontal nature of the start screen.
One "error" (it's not exactly an error but kinda misrepresents how to best do something) in this video was at 11:38 where you said windows 8 just gives you a black screen on the left side after snapping an app to the right, then forcing you to return to the legacy interface to open up file explorer. While this is true, you can actually get the home screen to show up more easily by clicking at the top left of the screen with a mouse, which will place it on the left side of your split view (however you will still have to tap on the file explorer app). When using touch I believe you can just swipe in from the left instead of clicking and it will show the home screen. By tapping it you should get the options of which side you want to place it on. I find this method a little bit more elegant so I just wanted to share it in case anyone didn't know.
Check also split screen behaviour please. In windows 8 when you split screen and wanted to switch to another app and back again to two split screens they were remain unchanged while Windows 10 very often "forget" your previous setup. For it was me the most irritating experience after upgrade to the 10.
Jme Yeah, even on Windows 8.1, opening All Apps actually follows your finger on the track pad while Windows 10 just doesn't have at all. Now I have to move my mouse pointer to the All Apps button instead of quickly swiping my touch pad.
just as long as you use the magic trackpad. Try using some 3rd party device, and all that feel goes away. I use a Wacom tablet to work, and sometimes I want to use touch gestures with my hand still on it. It supports gestures, but they are even more clunky than in w10. But they've got the hardware-software sooo well optimized, the magic trackpad works just seamlessly - Well... Apple makes an OS just for their own computers, so they can do that. MS makes an OS for an infinity of devices and configs ...sooooome of them are their own. I really don't know how do they get along, I have never tried a Surface device. But yes.... maybe they should try to optimize W10 better performancewise, and not just looks of it. Maybe We get a bit better from ARM or Andromeda. Idk.
Tomas Palacios Well Microsoft has Precision drivers that they already giving more first-class support, but even then the gestures are not as natural as on macOS. Windows has basically no excuse when even on Windows 8.1 follows your finger even on Synaptic drivers back in the day. I can open All Apps by just sliding my fingers up using touch pad, there is no such thing on Windows 10. Gestures on Windows are unnatural and are complete afterthought as if they are just "hacks" gestures, doesn't feel it's baked. In summary, Microsoft has no excuses for not implementing natural gestures when they already have done it on Windows 8.1 and when they have Precision now. Also even not in touch pad, gestures are not even better on touchscreen.
Windows 10 sucks for tablets, I haven’t used tablet mode on my surface pro 3 since windows 10 was installed, what I miss the most is granular brightness control, it sucks you have to go up on increments of 25%, it sucks you have to go to settings just to get a brightness slider wtf
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Yeah. Also the connectivity shortcuts were way better. The two wifi icons in 10 do two totally different things. Like wtf? If you want to change networks you have to add the network shortcut. Also the battery life is a mess without doing group policy edits and registry edits.
Very good review. I love Windows 8/8.1 on a tablet. The table mode is a very good experience. I was disappointed that they scrapped the tablet side on Windows 10. Microsoft's biggest problem with Windows 8 was that they forced desktop users into a tablet interface for no good reason. And now Windows 10 forces tablet users into a more desktop modem, which is better for desktops and not so great on tablets. I hope they will make the tablet side better in the future, it was the first time I saw some real innovation from Microsoft.
Yodani Quezada Semantic zoom worked great on the Start screen but that was about the only place it worked well - the implementation inside apps didn't respond instantly and felt too disconnected (sort of like how Zac points out the Task view gesture is in Win10), unfortunately.
One of my favorite things about Windows 8 that Windows 10 can't do is making custom tiles. There's some workarounds for 10 but they're not nearly as efficient and seamless as 8. Also I agree with all of this. I'm a stickler for intuitive design and Windows 10 is just so janky and inconsistent with animation.
11:31 but in Windows 8 you could be alway sure that the previous app (on right in your video) alway stays in the same size as you left it. In Windows 10, I snap app to left, tap the blank space, brigs me to start, select app *and it shoots to fulscreen* 😡
Windows 10 still feels like a beta OS in many ways. But at least it’s simpler to use overall. Menus aren’t hidden anymore. Windows 10 is still buggy and ugly though. It made me switch to MacOS which Windows 8 didn’t.
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Menus aren't hidden, you just don't know that you can click on stuff to get there.
Totally agree with all the points here. I could forgive the half-finished tablet experience when Win10 first launched but it's been years now and it's barely been touched.Lets all get onto the feedback hub and express our displeasure at the slow progress.
I love Windows 10 Tablet Mode, mainly due to the great functionality it has. I love being able to multitask almost instantly and with using any two programs I want. But I do think more gestures would be amazing, as well as further refinement. You know what would be really cool? Some program's open animations could resemble their physical counterpart, if there is one. The File Explorer's animation could be the "front" flap opening to reveal a digital representation of paper, and then a quick zoom in into full-screen mode. The Windows Store's could be a splitting of the front logo, like an automatic store door :D Word's opening animation could resemble the opening of a book or something. OneNote's could resemble a notebook opening. Or maybe since there are notebooks in OneNote, that animation could be reserved for opening individual notebooks. And maybe for the rest of the apps/programs, their opening animations could be customizable. I think it would also be sick if we could have resizable windows in Tablet Mode. And maybe bring the desktop multitasking to it as well. To enable that, you could drag programs/apps to a corner of the screen to take up a quarter, which would be similar to the current sliding to either side gesture we have now for multitasking. Basically, when you drag down from the top of the screen to do multitasking, two more black bars would appear in a horizontal orientation if you drag your selected program/app to a corner, indicating you could snap programs/apps to corners of the screen. Just some ideas to make Windows 10 Tablet Mode not just as good as Windows 8, *but even better*! Edit: The hybrid Tablet Mode for 2-in-1 devices, that takes Desktop Mode and optimizes it for touch, kind of does that stuff already. Dragging, resizing, and snapping windows is super easy with touch now, since the hitbox areas were increased. Though, as with the standalone Tablet Mode, more gestures would definitely be appreciated. But in my opinion, they need to be unique. Just like with the trackpad gestures, the ones for the touchscreen could be customizable. Second edit: The one thing I want the most for functionality purposes in Sun Valley is that gesture layer mentioned in the recent article about Sun Valley on Windows Central. Also, Microsoft should combine the two Tablet Modes and have options for each difference between the two that currently exists (Start Menu vs. a Start Screen, being able to snap two or four applications, windows or no windows, etc.).
This makes me sad. I LOVED Windows 8.1! It was so fast and it made sense. All other OS's look like "dead" interfaces. The thing is, I'm sure other OS's will copy W8.1's ideas and no one will credit Microsoft with being so future leaning. Just because this was made under a different regime than the current one doesn't make it bad. I got the Surface RT (with cyan Touch Cover -and matching Lumia 710 and MS Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500!) the morning it came out and it basically lived on my kitchen table, and came with me when I'd stretch or relax. I could do a lot with my left hand at the lower-left corner of the screen: change apps by swiping from the left, change Metro IE tabs by swiping up from the bottom, etc. I'd usually be eating with my right arm and crumbs could get all over the touch keyboard and I wouldn't care because it was pretty much waterproof and easy to clean! I REALLY miss that thing; the Surface Go looks promising though... I'm dying a bit inside just typing this. I just hope they bring these great ideas back.
That's the same for me. Windows 7 is just a fixed version of Windows Vista. And Windows 10 is just a better convertible experience than individual experiences in Windows 8.1. Like the desktop version of 8.1 is better and tablet version is also better but MS can't find a better way to integrate the two. That's how Windows 10 caught people's attention. Overall Windows me, Vista and 8 had new interfaces which I love but Windows XP, 7 and 10 are just upgraded version of the above mentioned versions.
I couldn't agree with you more on this - I felt disappointed from day 1 with the tablet experience on Windows 10. Why did they change it at all? All they needed to do was make the desktop experience better but leave the tablet mode as it was. Oh well.
While I like Windows 10 a lot (also in tablet mode on my surface) I've totally forgotten the beauty that were (or better are) the animations in Windows 8 (8.1). Probably it's because I never owned a touch-centered device in the 8(8.1) days.
I'd be using 8 still if it wasn't for features like Cortana that 10 brings. The gestures on 8 were awesome even using a mouse and keyboard. I loved being able to sling the mouse in the upper left corner to go back to the app I just used. It's even crazier we don't have these gestures now since so many more people have Windows tablets. Microsoft is so good at disappointing people because there's so much untapped potential and they remove features that people love.
The other thing I miss from Windows 8? The brightness slider!!! Setting brightness adjustment to a single button is just crap tbh, going from dark to suggested doesn't do much and going from suggested to brighter is like turning the lights on in a dark room.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who prefers Windows 8 tablet mode and thinks Windows 10 tablet mode is ugly and glitchy. It really does feel like it is forcing a UI on an OS that just doesn't want it there. Performance on low end tablets is another issue. My HP Stream 8 ran like garbage on Windows 10 and I had to go back to Windows 8.1, night and day difference. Even with only 1gb ram, Windows 8.1 still manages to be usable on it, unlike 10 which simply was not.
Tablet mode in Windows 8 is well-thought and its design language was clear and make sense. In Windows 10, they do the one-for-all approach and took the classical chrome and icons approach of Android and iOS, and it is pretty much messed up. The only problem with Windows 8 was, they left desktop users behind. Apple's two OS strategy was better somehow, although we saw some iOS apps being ported to Mac.
Yes i agree with this. I didn't know why microsoft made windows 10 on tablet mode is really worst. And even i've been try to compare them with 8.1 on my advan tablet from indonesia. which is running windows 8.1 on tablet mode. my exprience is really amazing. Even the loading startup or something is really good on that one. Hopefully microsoft can learn or improvement a lot with this. Not only on windows 8/8.1 or windows 10. But also for every windows OS. So every of us can use the best exprience always
Windows 10 Tablet Mode is really bad, and Microsoft wonders why people think Windows are not great for tablets, because the UX they did for Windows 10 is just bad. Though at least if there is one thing Windows 10 did right, is that there is indeed a Tablet Mode where the apps will launch full-screen and will automatically snap apps if you lets say open PDF from the Mail app and will open default PDF app you have. On Windows 11, there is nothing like that anymore since it is just Desktop UX with some nicer gestures. Yes, the gestures are superior than Windows 10, but Windows 11 lacked a proper tablet experience overall. They just made desktop more touch friendly but not optimized. Apps are all opened as windowed, except for 11 inch and below, but it is nothing but just auto-open them maximized, W11 still lacked tablet UX behaviours that makes the workflow better for tablet. Microsoft somehow knows and nails a great tablet UX with Windows 8.X, way ahead than the competition that time when it regards to touch UX. Yet they made 360 and now they don't understand tablet anymore and proper touch UX. They also now don't understand proper design consistency which they achieved with Windows Vista till Windows 7. Windows 8.X though have 2 distinct design language which is Metro and the flat AERO on desktop, but at least it was way more polished on each of its own. On Windows 10 it wasn't polished till the end, it gets worse. Windows 11 is indeed way more polish than Windows 10, but it is not as polished as Windows Vista at launch though.
Why can't MS give people choice? On Windows 10, give the option of a Windows 8.1 UI for tablet. On Windows 8.1 they should't have forced tablet mode for Desktop PC users. It's all or nothing with Microsoft.
I think the main problem is performance. W10 included so many VFX (...good and hot VFX, I actually like it a lot, and think W8 is waaaay too flat) it made it heavier to handle. To follow along a gesture with animatio, you must have performance reaaaally optimized. And W10 doesn't. I use W10 in a Tablet, and it is kinda' sad. it just can't keep up with its own native resolution - I have to reduce resolution to something like 25% the actual screen resolution to be able to play solitaire… so the cards will actually keep up with my fingers.
8.1 was made for surface, when i updated my surface 3 to 10 i ended up using it a whole lot less because it lost the intuitive nature. i ended up using my surface rt more often than the 3, that and the 16:9 aspect was better for video watching. #bringbackgestures
I can't be mad at them for this. People treated Windows 8/8.1 like it was Vista all over again for no reason. Folks refusing to even touch it. Reaction videos from parents and grandparents flipping out because they were afraid of the change. Acting like they could NEVER get used to the gestures. It was a mess. And whats funny is those same gestures they went Ham over are sprinkled across newer versions of iOS and Android that many of those same folks are using TODAY!! I do think they need to meet in the middle to not make Windows 10's touch interface feel so basic, but can i totally understand also.
I must say though, Windows 10 new interface design style (I think it's called Fluid) is quite lovely. Windows 8 was very flat, 2D, and the bright multi-colors made it feel very young. In the latest Windows 10, I really like all the new textures and materials within the OS, and I personally enjoy the more uniform color scheme as well. The UI style feels more sophisticated and mature. I only wish that the light mode was actually white instead of grey, and the dark mode was closer to actually black instead of (dark) grey again.
We have to get a lot of people to insist the Insider community to bring back the elegance that once was in Windows with tablet mode. I really miss Windows 8.
@microsoft take note! Windows 8 is now ready for the masses. The apps from Microsoft was much more ambitious and social... With Windows 10, Microsoft is killing off all these services. Windows 8 Messaging for example. Why kill off everything now? NOW is the time for these items. People should roll back to Windows 8. Maybe Steve Ballmer should return? He had vision, making Windows more consumer orientated....
Huh? Zac, I thought you said you preferred the Windows 10 tablet mode over the Windows 8/8.1 style 3 years ago... guess 3 years brings up a change of taste huh? Personally though, I like Windows 10's Tablet Mode, to me it's in par with 8.1's tablet UX, Windows 10's tablet UX has some shortcomings and upsides over 8.1's and 8.1's has some shortcomings and upsides over 10's, but still I would like to see Microsoft improve Windows 10's tablet mode, we saw an improvement with the November 2015 Update, and the Anniversary Update, then they halted after then like there were no changes with the Creator's Update and so on, the touch keyboard is getting some new features so it's getting somewhere... but I would like to see more improvements on the Windows 10 Start Screen and toss in a few new features that can make it fun to use.
Zac, Glad you made this comparison. Windows 8.1 start screen makes Windows 10's Tablet mode look like a brain fart. This is possibly why Andromeda has been postpone since it will be running Windows 10's tablet mode which is awful for phablet use.
Everything you said is true. But: You have to look at the other side, too! Everything you miss of Windows 8s tablet UI was a mess for users who just used Windows with a keyboard and a mouse. For example: Why would a UI element follow the mouse cursor for example? Doesn't make sense. I think the solution is pretty simple: touch input and mouse and keyboard input don't work together. We need two SEPARATE UI paradigms. At this point I would normally refer to Apple but now they're doing the same crap. Have you seen the ported iPad Apps that run on macOS, like the Home-App? Looks and feels horrible with big clunky buttons. I wish software companies would just understand that some things don't get along ...
Me too in my 2 true Windows tablets, Surface 2 and HP stream 8. My surface 3 and pro 3 moved to windows 10 and I have never used the tablet mode, even when I use them without the keyboard I used desktop mode... However they are used much more as laptops than tablets.... and I use much more the surface 2 as a tablet, except if I need portrait mode
Mee too! On my Surface Pro 2, when Win10 was installed, Explored kept crashing every 2 minutes. Now it has Win8.1, and hell yeah! The touch interface is fantastic, it feels snappy, and it's fast and very stable. It just works! But i will keep Win10 on my second laptop, just because it hasn't a touchscreen
I actually like Windows 8 more then 10 in speed and Ui even for desktop. But I like the features of windows 10 Ink, waiting for dark skin. If 8 could support Edge I would go back as its snappier then chrome
Windows 8 does actually maximize desktop apps automatically but only on small tablets. Unfortunately there is no way to force this on or off other than possibly faking the EDID data.
To improve tablet mode on Windows 10, Microsoft should allow a full-screen mode to all, or at least the Metro UI apps, and enable the users to remove the taskbar so that it will be similar to Windows 8/8.1, iOS & Android.
I reverted my Surface Pro 2 back to Windows 8.1.1 partly to this much more fluid tablet experience, and system reliability overall. Miss some win10 Tablet mode features, but sure not missing any of the ultra garbage QC and forced updates from Microsoft.
I agree with most of your points except the one about the window animation. There is no need for a window to do a couple of backflips to come into view. Perhaps a more subtle scale and fade into view.
Commented one week after Windows 11's reveal, for context: Now that Windows 11 has been announced, I'm curious to see how it's major touch improvements compare to Windows 8's touch interaction.
Windows 8.1, with touch was better than Windows 10 Tablet mode: The charm bar is really useful,and easy to use, the gestures are cool, and you can even disable them in settings, a thing that you can't do in Windows 10
They could've kept the desktop features separately for Windows PC Laptops and tablets, and for handheld PDAs, MS could've kept the Windows 8.1 fluid/live tiles design.
I just don't get why they devolved so much over win8.1 - i mean tablet mode is it's own mode … what is so hard in having that look and work like it did in win8.1? the way it is working now it is an active deterrant to using windows on a tablet or 2in1 in tablet mode. they are ruining their potential (again)
While I miss the tablet friendly stuff in 8.1, I still prefer Windows 10. In Windows 10, I'm not prevented from using non store apps together with store apps in tablet mode. It's just much more seamless in 10.
the community hurt MS feelings during the win 8.x era. So I'm not surprised they gave tablet no love in win 10.
Ackara i'm sure it's not the case her but i think that they well fix this ... But it well take them for ever 😪
I remember when I first tried Windows 8 in a laptop. I initially didn't like it because it was a big change from Windows 7. Then I got my first tablet with Windows 8.1. I fell in love with it! So beautiful, so smooth... I really miss all those features you mentioned.
Windows 8.1 tablet mode was better compared to Windows 10 (What happening with animations and gestures in Windows 10) I really miss Windows 8.1 cool Animations and gestures and looks 😞
Better. Not best
But the taskbar is very handy. But it has to be in the left and the icons have to be activated. It's just natural when holding a tablet.
me too
i want the 2nd color in windows 10.
JuniJuin Enero Thank you for correction 🙂
Windows 8.1 tablet mode (IMO) is better than w10 but windows need to "rebrand" it image.
I'm so glad somebody made a video about this because I've been complaining about Windows 10's tablet mode for over a year now
Well, that's what we get from bashing Windows 8 years ago.
I really don't know why everyone bashed Windows 8 so hard. Even today most of my older Laptops run Windows 8.1.
Not because they wouldn't be able to run Windows 10 but because Windows 8.1 is just so much sleaker and is way less hardware intensive.
It was a great OS, but just a big shift from W7. Hard for people to handle I guess.
agreed. they shift their focus mainly on classic desktop experience rather than focus on tablet mode like windows 8.
People hated Windows 8 because it is a step backwards for them especially the Start Menu and the Window mode for Apps is not supported. Windows 8.1 is now praised because people now realized Microsoft can be much worse than Windows 8.1, i mean look at Windows 10 now (1903 as of my writing this comment), it is just worst, terrible resource management, buggy ui, etc. Windows 8.1 on the other hand is the middle of the great Windows 7 and terrible Windows 10, the best option for modern hardware support is Windows 8.1 rather than Windows 7, also the support for Windows 7 will stop next year (2020) whereas Windows 8.1 will be until 2023.
Windows 8.1 experience is much better than laggy, glitchy and buggy experience of Windows 10.
IVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS FOR YEARS! really miss the tablet experience on windows 8
lazar razal me too!
me three!
Windows 8 is still getting supported till 2020, just reinstall it
Me too
Josephoid 8.1 is supported until 2023 so yeah
The tablet mode in 8.1 was incredible and windows 10 just destroyed all the progress they were making. It's so laggy and glitchy in tablet mode and I have a new surface pro. Microsoft is dropping the ball and they will pay greatly
I agree 100% with you. I was so disappointed about the animations and gestures on the Windows 10 tablet mode when it launched...
The thing is, even on a track pad or mouse the gestures were great on windows 8.1, they were really thought out and intuitive, i didn't have touch screen laptop but using these gestures through the Trackad was a breeze and I loved it. If only people gave it a chance 😑
Bing Smart Search on Windows 8.1 was the best. It had contextual answers and a sleek UI. Searching via Cortana just isn't the same.
The entire video I was expecting and HOPING to hear you say, "but now, Microsoft is bringing it back"...
Honestly, seeing it is just painful. I want this back. It looked and functioned so much better. I would love RT back with current full emulation on ARM.
I was expecting him to say he asked microsoft about this and they said....
painful is just the perfekt description. Maybe it would be even better featured by cringes
The world was not ready for Windows 8. I am using a Surface Pro 4 now for almost 2 years and I still find myself get frustrated when the gestures of my Surface 2 dont work. Why do I have to press a tiny battery icon and then tap between 4 brightness options when setting the display brightness was done with a simple swipe and slide in windows 8?
I wonder if MSFT pays attention...
Sugraf Post this on Feedback Hub and on Twitter pages of Microsoft employees. Hopefully that they will get noticed.
This is not new but feels like the Windows Team and Microsoft as a whole were just being deaf about this.
Too bad i lost all hope in them and don't feel they listen to feedback. Not a single feedback item i submitted was ever addressed. Not a single feedback item i upvoted was fixed in a way that is satisfactory.
There's a joke on r/ProgrammerHumor about how you can fuck up your software by just adding a single small feature. With that many feedbacks submitted everyday, how long do you think it takes?
They're not that committed HAHAHA GET IT?
The start screen was my favorite thing on w8 When I upgrade to windows 10 it felt just boring and empty and I didn't understand why, 3 years later with this video now I realise all the things I miss from w8. Great video.
Windows 8 had better personalization than Windows 10. I still miss those wallpapers you could choose from for the start screen as well as the horizontal nature of the start screen.
Windows 10 is like "just do it" and windows 8/8.1 is like take it easy bro" just chill"
even windows phone 8 and 8.1 was far superior to mobile 10.
Yeah I loved 8.1 on my SP3 it felt seamless between the desktop and tablet experience.
Anyone else feel gaming felt better in 8.1 too?
I think 8.1 was the fastest and most lightweight windows in the recent years.
@ but people love to hate Windows 8.1
@@sriramsundar8388 unfortunately
Actually not just touchscreen experience, the trackpad experience was also great on Windows 8.1
Those awesome days of windows 8
One "error" (it's not exactly an error but kinda misrepresents how to best do something) in this video was at 11:38 where you said windows 8 just gives you a black screen on the left side after snapping an app to the right, then forcing you to return to the legacy interface to open up file explorer. While this is true, you can actually get the home screen to show up more easily by clicking at the top left of the screen with a mouse, which will place it on the left side of your split view (however you will still have to tap on the file explorer app). When using touch I believe you can just swipe in from the left instead of clicking and it will show the home screen. By tapping it you should get the options of which side you want to place it on. I find this method a little bit more elegant so I just wanted to share it in case anyone didn't know.
You are right when you say Windows 8 was beautifully fluid.
Check also split screen behaviour please. In windows 8 when you split screen and wanted to switch to another app and back again to two split screens they were remain unchanged while Windows 10 very often "forget" your previous setup. For it was me the most irritating experience after upgrade to the 10.
Even on macOS, Notification Center follows my fingers on my Magic Trackpad.
Jme Yeah, even on Windows 8.1, opening All Apps actually follows your finger on the track pad while Windows 10 just doesn't have at all. Now I have to move my mouse pointer to the All Apps button instead of quickly swiping my touch pad.
lots of animations follows your finger on macOS
just as long as you use the magic trackpad. Try using some 3rd party device, and all that feel goes away. I use a Wacom tablet to work, and sometimes I want to use touch gestures with my hand still on it. It supports gestures, but they are even more clunky than in w10. But they've got the hardware-software sooo well optimized, the magic trackpad works just seamlessly - Well... Apple makes an OS just for their own computers, so they can do that. MS makes an OS for an infinity of devices and configs ...sooooome of them are their own. I really don't know how do they get along, I have never tried a Surface device.
But yes.... maybe they should try to optimize W10 better performancewise, and not just looks of it. Maybe We get a bit better from ARM or Andromeda. Idk.
Tomas Palacios Well Microsoft has Precision drivers that they already giving more first-class support, but even then the gestures are not as natural as on macOS. Windows has basically no excuse when even on Windows 8.1 follows your finger even on Synaptic drivers back in the day. I can open All Apps by just sliding my fingers up using touch pad, there is no such thing on Windows 10. Gestures on Windows are unnatural and are complete afterthought as if they are just "hacks" gestures, doesn't feel it's baked.
In summary, Microsoft has no excuses for not implementing natural gestures when they already have done it on Windows 8.1 and when they have Precision now. Also even not in touch pad, gestures are not even better on touchscreen.
I've used Windows 8 tablet mode on my desktop PC more often than regular one just because it was God dang gorgeous to have on a big monitor!
I loved Windows 8. It was the best Windows I ever had...
For me it was 8.1 but easily the best.
I still have Windows 8.1 on my PC, the craziest thing is my monitor isn't touchscreen so it sucks.
When I was still a noob I upgraded my native 8.1 laptop to 10. Mixed feelings...
Windows 10 sucks for tablets, I haven’t used tablet mode on my surface pro 3 since windows 10 was installed, what I miss the most is granular brightness control, it sucks you have to go up on increments of 25%, it sucks you have to go to settings just to get a brightness slider wtf
Yeah.
Also the connectivity shortcuts were way better. The two wifi icons in 10 do two totally different things. Like wtf?
If you want to change networks you have to add the network shortcut.
Also the battery life is a mess without doing group policy edits and registry edits.
Thank gosh ver 19H1 fixes that
Install a windows 8.1 on it, www.microsoft.com/pt-br/software-download/windows8ISO
Very good review. I love Windows 8/8.1 on a tablet. The table mode is a very good experience. I was disappointed that they scrapped the tablet side on Windows 10. Microsoft's biggest problem with Windows 8 was that they forced desktop users into a tablet interface for no good reason. And now Windows 10 forces tablet users into a more desktop modem, which is better for desktops and not so great on tablets.
I hope they will make the tablet side better in the future, it was the first time I saw some real innovation from Microsoft.
Semantic zoom was the best thing in the history of UI/UX
Yodani Quezada Semantic zoom worked great on the Start screen but that was about the only place it worked well - the implementation inside apps didn't respond instantly and felt too disconnected (sort of like how Zac points out the Task view gesture is in Win10), unfortunately.
One of my favorite things about Windows 8 that Windows 10 can't do is making custom tiles. There's some workarounds for 10 but they're not nearly as efficient and seamless as 8. Also I agree with all of this. I'm a stickler for intuitive design and Windows 10 is just so janky and inconsistent with animation.
11:31 but in Windows 8 you could be alway sure that the previous app (on right in your video) alway stays in the same size as you left it.
In Windows 10, I snap app to left, tap the blank space, brigs me to start, select app *and it shoots to fulscreen* 😡
Windows 10 still feels like a beta OS in many ways. But at least it’s simpler to use overall. Menus aren’t hidden anymore. Windows 10 is still buggy and ugly though. It made me switch to MacOS which Windows 8 didn’t.
Menus aren't hidden, you just don't know that you can click on stuff to get there.
Microsoft should see this video. What a downgrade windows 10 is.
Not if you use a desktop. Win10 is much better there.
Yup Win 8 and 8.1 was complete ass when compared to not only win10, but even when compared to win7
Just install Windows 7 start menu and its better than 7 and 10.
No, desktop was perfectly fine on Windows 8. The same as Windows 7 or 10.
DrStormpooper nah. Windows 8 is a much better desktop OS than 10.
and that's a reason why i love win 8/8.1 instead of 10
Totally agree with all the points here. I could forgive the half-finished tablet experience when Win10 first launched but it's been years now and it's barely been touched.Lets all get onto the feedback hub and express our displeasure at the slow progress.
I love Windows 10 Tablet Mode, mainly due to the great functionality it has. I love being able to multitask almost instantly and with using any two programs I want. But I do think more gestures would be amazing, as well as further refinement. You know what would be really cool? Some program's open animations could resemble their physical counterpart, if there is one. The File Explorer's animation could be the "front" flap opening to reveal a digital representation of paper, and then a quick zoom in into full-screen mode. The Windows Store's could be a splitting of the front logo, like an automatic store door :D
Word's opening animation could resemble the opening of a book or something. OneNote's could resemble a notebook opening. Or maybe since there are notebooks in OneNote, that animation could be reserved for opening individual notebooks.
And maybe for the rest of the apps/programs, their opening animations could be customizable.
I think it would also be sick if we could have resizable windows in Tablet Mode. And maybe bring the desktop multitasking to it as well. To enable that, you could drag programs/apps to a corner of the screen to take up a quarter, which would be similar to the current sliding to either side gesture we have now for multitasking. Basically, when you drag down from the top of the screen to do multitasking, two more black bars would appear in a horizontal orientation if you drag your selected program/app to a corner, indicating you could snap programs/apps to corners of the screen.
Just some ideas to make Windows 10 Tablet Mode not just as good as Windows 8, *but even better*!
Edit:
The hybrid Tablet Mode for 2-in-1 devices, that takes Desktop Mode and optimizes it for touch, kind of does that stuff already. Dragging, resizing, and snapping windows is super easy with touch now, since the hitbox areas were increased. Though, as with the standalone Tablet Mode, more gestures would definitely be appreciated. But in my opinion, they need to be unique. Just like with the trackpad gestures, the ones for the touchscreen could be customizable.
Second edit:
The one thing I want the most for functionality purposes in Sun Valley is that gesture layer mentioned in the recent article about Sun Valley on Windows Central. Also, Microsoft should combine the two Tablet Modes and have options for each difference between the two that currently exists (Start Menu vs. a Start Screen, being able to snap two or four applications, windows or no windows, etc.).
This makes me sad. I LOVED Windows 8.1! It was so fast and it made sense. All other OS's look like "dead" interfaces. The thing is, I'm sure other OS's will copy W8.1's ideas and no one will credit Microsoft with being so future leaning. Just because this was made under a different regime than the current one doesn't make it bad.
I got the Surface RT (with cyan Touch Cover -and matching Lumia 710 and MS Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500!) the morning it came out and it basically lived on my kitchen table, and came with me when I'd stretch or relax. I could do a lot with my left hand at the lower-left corner of the screen: change apps by swiping from the left, change Metro IE tabs by swiping up from the bottom, etc. I'd usually be eating with my right arm and crumbs could get all over the touch keyboard and I wouldn't care because it was pretty much waterproof and easy to clean! I REALLY miss that thing; the Surface Go looks promising though...
I'm dying a bit inside just typing this. I just hope they bring these great ideas back.
I totally agree. I loved windows 8.1 on my older surface devices. It was so easy to switch between apps and close apps just by swiping.
Well said, Zack! Windows 8 was before its time, 10 is great but the tablet mode is a 'nothing' experience.
i hope Microsoft improves their Windows 10 tablet mode. 😒
allen christian Hope so😐
Still nope. Maybe in another 2 years?
@@tuckercoffin2164 I don't know man it seems like their tablet mode has been perpetually neglected.
I'm probably the black sheep here, but Windows ME, Vista and 8 was awesome.
That's the same for me. Windows 7 is just a fixed version of Windows Vista. And Windows 10 is just a better convertible experience than individual experiences in Windows 8.1. Like the desktop version of 8.1 is better and tablet version is also better but MS can't find a better way to integrate the two. That's how Windows 10 caught people's attention. Overall Windows me, Vista and 8 had new interfaces which I love but Windows XP, 7 and 10 are just upgraded version of the above mentioned versions.
I couldn't agree with you more on this - I felt disappointed from day 1 with the tablet experience on Windows 10. Why did they change it at all? All they needed to do was make the desktop experience better but leave the tablet mode as it was. Oh well.
Except for the gestures, I like the more the less "on your face" aesthetic experience of w10, it feels tidier.
Windows 10 is fairly slow on tablets, also it's animations are actually glitches. I miss windows 8.1
While I like Windows 10 a lot (also in tablet mode on my surface) I've totally forgotten the beauty that were (or better are) the animations in Windows 8 (8.1). Probably it's because I never owned a touch-centered device in the 8(8.1) days.
Windows 10's tablet mode looks like an aftertought
I'd be using 8 still if it wasn't for features like Cortana that 10 brings. The gestures on 8 were awesome even using a mouse and keyboard. I loved being able to sling the mouse in the upper left corner to go back to the app I just used. It's even crazier we don't have these gestures now since so many more people have Windows tablets. Microsoft is so good at disappointing people because there's so much untapped potential and they remove features that people love.
I think a 4 finger swipe left and right should be added to change applications, (to the right or left depending, like alt tab, and alt tab shift).
Different colored tiles of windows 8 and 8.1 were much better then the same accent colored tiles :(
The other thing I miss from Windows 8? The brightness slider!!! Setting brightness adjustment to a single button is just crap tbh, going from dark to suggested doesn't do much and going from suggested to brighter is like turning the lights on in a dark room.
Thanks for the video Zac! I had forgotten how nice tablet mode was on Win 8.
Cshell needs to come fast enough!
Windows 10 killed my tablet. In windows 8.1 it was way faster
It's time to use the feedback hub once again.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who prefers Windows 8 tablet mode and thinks Windows 10 tablet mode is ugly and glitchy. It really does feel like it is forcing a UI on an OS that just doesn't want it there.
Performance on low end tablets is another issue. My HP Stream 8 ran like garbage on Windows 10 and I had to go back to Windows 8.1, night and day difference. Even with only 1gb ram, Windows 8.1 still manages to be usable on it, unlike 10 which simply was not.
6:47 iOS had gestures before Windows 8, but only on the iPad
Tablet mode in Windows 8 is well-thought and its design language was clear and make sense. In Windows 10, they do the one-for-all approach and took the classical chrome and icons approach of Android and iOS, and it is pretty much messed up.
The only problem with Windows 8 was, they left desktop users behind.
Apple's two OS strategy was better somehow, although we saw some iOS apps being ported to Mac.
Yes i agree with this. I didn't know why microsoft made windows 10 on tablet mode is really worst. And even i've been try to compare them with 8.1 on my advan tablet from indonesia. which is running windows 8.1 on tablet mode. my exprience is really amazing. Even the loading startup or something is really good on that one. Hopefully microsoft can learn or improvement a lot with this. Not only on windows 8/8.1 or windows 10. But also for every windows OS. So every of us can use the best exprience always
Windows 10 Tablet Mode is really bad, and Microsoft wonders why people think Windows are not great for tablets, because the UX they did for Windows 10 is just bad. Though at least if there is one thing Windows 10 did right, is that there is indeed a Tablet Mode where the apps will launch full-screen and will automatically snap apps if you lets say open PDF from the Mail app and will open default PDF app you have.
On Windows 11, there is nothing like that anymore since it is just Desktop UX with some nicer gestures. Yes, the gestures are superior than Windows 10, but Windows 11 lacked a proper tablet experience overall. They just made desktop more touch friendly but not optimized. Apps are all opened as windowed, except for 11 inch and below, but it is nothing but just auto-open them maximized, W11 still lacked tablet UX behaviours that makes the workflow better for tablet.
Microsoft somehow knows and nails a great tablet UX with Windows 8.X, way ahead than the competition that time when it regards to touch UX. Yet they made 360 and now they don't understand tablet anymore and proper touch UX. They also now don't understand proper design consistency which they achieved with Windows Vista till Windows 7. Windows 8.X though have 2 distinct design language which is Metro and the flat AERO on desktop, but at least it was way more polished on each of its own. On Windows 10 it wasn't polished till the end, it gets worse. Windows 11 is indeed way more polish than Windows 10, but it is not as polished as Windows Vista at launch though.
Touchscreen: Windows 8.1
Everything else: Windows 10
Why can't MS give people choice? On Windows 10, give the option of a Windows 8.1 UI for tablet. On Windows 8.1 they should't have forced tablet mode for Desktop PC users. It's all or nothing with Microsoft.
Not an interesting fact: WP 7, 8 & 10 and Windows 10(PC) have fade effect. Windows 8.1 is the only OS to have flip animation.
I think the main problem is performance. W10 included so many VFX (...good and hot VFX, I actually like it a lot, and think W8 is waaaay too flat) it made it heavier to handle. To follow along a gesture with animatio, you must have performance reaaaally optimized. And W10 doesn't. I use W10 in a Tablet, and it is kinda' sad. it just can't keep up with its own native resolution - I have to reduce resolution to something like 25% the actual screen resolution to be able to play solitaire… so the cards will actually keep up with my fingers.
8.1 was made for surface, when i updated my surface 3 to 10 i ended up using it a whole lot less because it lost the intuitive nature. i ended up using my surface rt more often than the 3, that and the 16:9 aspect was better for video watching. #bringbackgestures
Cmon everybody we still have 4 years left to use the great tablet mode experience
I can't be mad at them for this. People treated Windows 8/8.1 like it was Vista all over again for no reason. Folks refusing to even touch it. Reaction videos from parents and grandparents flipping out because they were afraid of the change. Acting like they could NEVER get used to the gestures. It was a mess. And whats funny is those same gestures they went Ham over are sprinkled across newer versions of iOS and Android that many of those same folks are using TODAY!!
I do think they need to meet in the middle to not make Windows 10's touch interface feel so basic, but can i totally understand also.
Agree everything you said and I still enjoy Windows 8.1 even when using on PC
@RobloxerMartin so much better and stable.. Windows 10 cone with lots of bugs and problems even it's already 2020..
is there a workaround to get gestures back
I must say though, Windows 10 new interface design style (I think it's called Fluid) is quite lovely. Windows 8 was very flat, 2D, and the bright multi-colors made it feel very young. In the latest Windows 10, I really like all the new textures and materials within the OS, and I personally enjoy the more uniform color scheme as well. The UI style feels more sophisticated and mature. I only wish that the light mode was actually white instead of grey, and the dark mode was closer to actually black instead of (dark) grey again.
We have to get a lot of people to insist the Insider community to bring back the elegance that once was in Windows with tablet mode. I really miss Windows 8.
@microsoft take note! Windows 8 is now ready for the masses. The apps from Microsoft was much more ambitious and social... With Windows 10, Microsoft is killing off all these services. Windows 8 Messaging for example. Why kill off everything now? NOW is the time for these items. People should roll back to Windows 8.
Maybe Steve Ballmer should return? He had vision, making Windows more consumer orientated....
Nice comparison, I didn't know about all those changes.
Video liked man
Huh? Zac, I thought you said you preferred the Windows 10 tablet mode over the Windows 8/8.1 style 3 years ago... guess 3 years brings up a change of taste huh? Personally though, I like Windows 10's Tablet Mode, to me it's in par with 8.1's tablet UX, Windows 10's tablet UX has some shortcomings and upsides over 8.1's and 8.1's has some shortcomings and upsides over 10's, but still I would like to see Microsoft improve Windows 10's tablet mode, we saw an improvement with the November 2015 Update, and the Anniversary Update, then they halted after then like there were no changes with the Creator's Update and so on, the touch keyboard is getting some new features so it's getting somewhere... but I would like to see more improvements on the Windows 10 Start Screen and toss in a few new features that can make it fun to use.
Why isnt windows 8 store not working. Any sugesstions. Please help.
Zac, Glad you made this comparison. Windows 8.1 start screen makes Windows 10's Tablet mode look like a brain fart. This is possibly why Andromeda has been postpone since it will be running Windows 10's tablet mode which is awful for phablet use.
Everything you said is true. But: You have to look at the other side, too! Everything you miss of Windows 8s tablet UI was a mess for users who just used Windows with a keyboard and a mouse. For example: Why would a UI element follow the mouse cursor for example? Doesn't make sense. I think the solution is pretty simple: touch input and mouse and keyboard input don't work together. We need two SEPARATE UI paradigms. At this point I would normally refer to Apple but now they're doing the same crap. Have you seen the ported iPad Apps that run on macOS, like the Home-App? Looks and feels horrible with big clunky buttons. I wish software companies would just understand that some things don't get along ...
That's why I'm still usin' Windows 8.1 😅😝
Me too in my 2 true Windows tablets, Surface 2 and HP stream 8. My surface 3 and pro 3 moved to windows 10 and I have never used the tablet mode, even when I use them without the keyboard I used desktop mode... However they are used much more as laptops than tablets.... and I use much more the surface 2 as a tablet, except if I need portrait mode
Mee too! On my Surface Pro 2, when Win10 was installed, Explored kept crashing every 2 minutes. Now it has Win8.1, and hell yeah! The touch interface is fantastic, it feels snappy, and it's fast and very stable. It just works!
But i will keep Win10 on my second laptop, just because it hasn't a touchscreen
miss windows 8.1
12:19 #BringBackAnimations
Lol
I actually like Windows 8 more then 10 in speed and Ui even for desktop. But I like the features of windows 10 Ink, waiting for dark skin. If 8 could support Edge I would go back as its snappier then chrome
Can W8.1P be installed on a 2017 Surface Pro? What PC are you using for this demo?
Excellent comparison... But does anyone know of planned tablet mode improvements?
Microsoft Store is not opening here too in 8.1. Any idea?
swipe the left edge of the tablet and tap search, type wsreset and run as administrator
Windows 8.1 was half-baked "Hell yes!!!" Windows 10 is almost fully baked "OK?" :)
I have a W10 tablet but I run it in PC mode because I don't like the tablet mode
Me too
Windows 8 does actually maximize desktop apps automatically but only on small tablets. Unfortunately there is no way to force this on or off other than possibly faking the EDID data.
To improve tablet mode on Windows 10, Microsoft should allow a full-screen mode to all, or at least the Metro UI apps, and enable the users to remove the taskbar so that it will be similar to Windows 8/8.1, iOS & Android.
How about desktop mode comparison video?
9:25 you can change it to auto hide but it doesn’t hide forever
I reverted my Surface Pro 2 back to Windows 8.1.1 partly to this much more fluid tablet experience, and system reliability overall. Miss some win10 Tablet mode features, but sure not missing any of the ultra garbage QC and forced updates from Microsoft.
Isn’t there a third party app that brings back the gestures?
11:22 That is annoying as well, and no this isn't unusual, now you have to tap on the side to stack another app on the side.
I agree with most of your points except the one about the window animation. There is no need for a window to do a couple of backflips to come into view. Perhaps a more subtle scale and fade into view.
Commented one week after Windows 11's reveal, for context:
Now that Windows 11 has been announced, I'm curious to see how it's major touch improvements compare to Windows 8's touch interaction.
They removed Tablet Mode altogether in 11
so i'm not sure, it made much more like Windows 7 tablet experience but with new snapping feature
@@DSGMER-ef8gv But several improvements were implemented, so not having tablet mode isn't a big deal. Plus, the interface adapts anyway.
Windows 8.1, with touch was better than Windows 10 Tablet mode: The charm bar is really useful,and easy to use, the gestures are cool, and you can even disable them in settings, a thing that you can't do in Windows 10
They could've kept the desktop features separately for Windows PC Laptops and tablets, and for handheld PDAs, MS could've kept the Windows 8.1 fluid/live tiles design.
I just don't get why they devolved so much over win8.1 - i mean tablet mode is it's own mode … what is so hard in having that look and work like it did in win8.1? the way it is working now it is an active deterrant to using windows on a tablet or 2in1 in tablet mode.
they are ruining their potential (again)
I still love my Surface RT 8.1 but the software is dying… :'(
One thing you forgot, the Horizontal scrolling.
While I miss the tablet friendly stuff in 8.1, I still prefer Windows 10. In Windows 10, I'm not prevented from using non store apps together with store apps in tablet mode. It's just much more seamless in 10.
I couldn't agree more. Send this video to the core dev. teams of windows. Hope they will listen and make a focus on the tablet mode.
8 is better for tablets