I am just wondering if any one, like me, really misses Windows 8 on a tablet computer. I still to this day think UI wise and touch friendly wise it is still decades ahead of Windows 10. Tablet mode in Windows 10 is not anything close to the experience. I actually really miss Horizontal Start Screen where it was fun to set up live tiles, I liked the Idea of the desktop being its own environment when needed, charms bar was really actually good. The left swipe in gesture for task manager was amazing. IE metro was so much better than edge. How when swiping a menu it tracked with your finger and just felt more natural. My mother has my original Surface RT running windows 8.1 and it is so much more enjoyable to use than Windows 10 IMO.
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Windows tablets with Windows 8
- Thread starter derekamoss
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I was a big fan of the Surface RT/2 back in the day. I too enjoyed it as a tablet (that can do notebook-type things in a pinch). Sadly, Microsoft wasn't committed to Metro/Modern UI and that resulted in a chronic lack of a quantity of quality apps for the platform.
I'll always think of the Surface RT as the Zune tablet that never was.
Yeah I never thought of it as the Zune tablet that never was no I miss it more! Man I miss my Zune HD so bad. I wish I would have kept on to it.
The core UI of Windows 8 was initially created for the Zune HD.
I still have my Zune HD and use it periodically, though it is getting tougher and tougher to sync it on macOS with each update to macOS.
The Zune desktop software was terrific. (at least version 2 and later, version 1 was nothing more than a skinned version of Windows Media Player) I have it installed on one of my Windows systems and occasionally update my library there with new tracks.
I thought I was the only one who thought this. I keep Windows 8.1 on a Surface 3 just to have fun. Really don't know why people hated it so much. It was very usable on a desktop after the feature update. Much better on tablets than Windows 10's crummy "tablet mode." That's one awful start screen!
It was a lot more fun as well. It really felt natural to me. Ahhh I miss it......
There’s a guy in my city with a brand spanking new Surface RT and Type Cover listed for £100. I’d love to buy it as part of a some day vintage computing piece but I’d be way too tempted to open it and ruin it’s value.
Of course; it runs Windows RT which Microsoft abandoned so any actual logical reason to buy it is out the Window
Of course; it runs Windows RT which Microsoft abandoned so any actual logical reason to buy it is out the Window
I don't think people or reviewers complained about Windows 8 / 8.1 for tablets / surfaces. In-fact, almost every review praised it on it's improved power efficiency, updated aesthetic & interface finishing, and lower system-resource usage over Windows 7. They even praised it for the improved user experience of the interface on tablets and surface devices. BUT most users weren't using touchscreen devices, and the user interface was objectively terrible and felt dumbed-down and slow for mouse input. I remember even after the 8.1 update on school computers, just thinking "why?" for so many dumb little interface decisions Microsoft made for everyday, non-touchscreen PCs.
On the other side of the coin, my brother purchased an RT directly from Microsoft during their fire sale of those devices, and I know exactly what you mean. The UI was, and still is in a lot of ways, the best user interface for touch screen devices. It was really, really well done in that regard. While I consider my iPad Pro my favorite device, I can't help but feel Apple is behind in terms of features when it comes to iOS on tablets, and Windows RT felt more "Pro" with stronger customization & feature set. But the devices themselves with obvious lack of developer support aren't anything more than an enjoyable relic of the past.
I was really fast with Windows 8.1 on a desktop system. I thought it was nice. Windows 10 was a step backwards to me when it was first released, but they’ve since gotten it together pretty well.