back to article Microsoft splashes coat of paint on Windows 8 comms apps

Microsoft has announced that it will make updates to Windows 8's built-in Mail, Calendar, and People apps available via the Windows Store beginning on Tuesday, March 26. "This update will bring improvements to your Windows experience across your whole life – your personal communication and your work," Brandon LeBlanc of the …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hmm, interesting...

    I don't recall seeing any news items every time Gmail, Currents, Google Calendar or Google+ get updated, and android has like a billion times more users than Windows 8....

    What gives?

    Why not talk about the REALLY good Google+ Android and iOS app updates that came out today??

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hmm, interesting...

      Considering the last major announced update for Google Calender was the removal of support for the open format CalDev in favour of their own proprietary API a few short weeks after MS announced they would be including support for it in its products to better sync with Google products, its probably a good thing Google's updates aren't reported on more often.

    2. Captain Scarlet
      Alert

      Re: Hmm, interesting...

      They added a nice shiney features, like folders for emails (Which we've only had on everything for like forever), but I still don't want to downgrade to Windows 3.1 version 2.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Hmm, interesting...

        I just checked and the current version of the mail app does support folders...

  2. Down not across

    "improvements to your Windows experience across your whole life"

    Hardly. My life does not revolve around windows. Yeah sure it exists in corporate environment. That is work, not life. As for non-work, its something Steam runs on.

    1. hplasm
      Meh

      "improvements to your Windows experience across your whole life"

      Only if I didn't have to use it.

      Mr LeBlanc talks some utter donkeyballs.

    2. JDX Gold badge

      That is work, not life.

      Work is a subset of life. A fairly important one as it takes 50%+ of your waking hours.

      1. hplasm
        Meh

        Re: That is work, not life.

        "improvements to your Windows experience"

        I draw your attention to the above, and restate- the only improvement would be it's absence.

  3. Simon Harris
    Meh

    Microsoft splashes coat of paint on Windows 8 comms apps

    When I saw the heading I thought they must be resurrecting Hyperterminal!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Trollface

      Re: Microsoft splashes coat of paint on Windows 8 comms apps

      No, that'll be Windows 9… dumps you into this big full-screen HyperTerminal window with a prompt that looks like this:

      C:\>

      and you type commands to launch applications. :-)

    2. southpacificpom
      Windows

      Re: Microsoft splashes coat of paint on Windows 8 comms apps

      I actually thought it may be Clippy getting a revival.

      "It looks like your trying to write an operating system..."

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Microsoft splashes coat of paint on Windows 8 comms apps

      I actually run Hyperterminal on W8 in order to communicate with my arduino stuff, the version from XP works just fine if you copy the .dll and .exe.

      It's loss from the OS proper is a shame.

      1. richard 7

        Re: Microsoft splashes coat of paint on Windows 8 comms apps

        Use ZOC, it doesnt actually suck.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "bring the Windows Store messaging apps up to the standard of Outlook"

    The expression "Damning with faint praise" comes to mind...

    1. Mephistro
      Coat

      Re: "bring the Windows Store messaging apps up to the standard of Outlook"

      Well... If you consider "the standard of Outlook" to be a praise, then you are right. Me, I think it's more of a 'libel'.

      1. Quxy
        Pint

        I believe that the original idiom...

        ...serves as the semiofficial motto of El Reg writers:

        Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,

        And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer;

        Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike,

        Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.

        -- Alexander Pope (1734)

      2. Eenymeeny
        Happy

        Re: "bring the Windows Store messaging apps up to the standard of Outlook"

        Possibly because you don't own Outlook and Taskline (http://www.taskline.com/).

        1. Quxy
          Unhappy

          Outlook and Taskline

          I am obliged to make heavy use of Outlook 2007, and as you imply, its integrated calendar and scheduling features are pretty decent. But even Taskline isn't going to stop this bloated monstrosity from crashing twice a day, or fix its infamously broken line wrapping, or bring back RFC2822 email quoting that (mostly) worked until its editor was replaced with Word. So, as for so many other users, Outlook has been sidelined into a role as a glorified calendar, while I've switched to a more modern, well-behaved MUA for regular email.

          1. JDX Gold badge

            Re: Outlook and Taskline

            I can't even remember Outlook crashing and I use it 8 hours a day...

            1. mmeier

              Re: Outlook and Taskline

              Neither Outlook/Exchange nor Notes/Domino have any problems on a decently setup system since the days of XP and IIRC Office 2003. Very low memory can cause lags in Outlook and crashes in Notes (The SWT part most likeky), Outlook does not like "shakey" network connections (or extremly long lags) and nags for username/password. But thats it. Works even if some genius puts the AD server on the other side of the pond...

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Windows

    First impressions are what count.

    Honestly; if Microsoft is telling us about this then I have full confidence that they'll succeed and turn those programs into something awesome. Because if there's one thing Microsoft can do is turn something totally shit into something totally awesome (at least to some people, others might be less enthusiast and would probably label it "finally useful").

    But here's the thing: Too little, too late.

    Microsoft really needs to realize that the first impression is all that counts.

    I'm not getting near Win8, even though it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Microsoft would somehow eventually succeed in setting up a solid and liable replacement for the start menu in Windows 8. I dunno; something which brings TIFKAM and the desktop better together.

    But the damage has already been done; a lot of people have only one intention: to keep their current Windows version around for as long as possible. Where XP users are more likely to upgrade to Windows 7 than Windows 8.

    So even if Microsoft would succeed, and I honestly think they'll pull it off eventually, it would hardly get them much further. Because just as now people will approach the product with a lot of (warranted!) prejudice; more likely picking some "other" solution just because of it.

    The first impression is what counts.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  6. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Re-arrange the following words

    On, pig, like, lipstick, a, putting.

    1. hplasm
      Happy

      Re: Re-arrange the following words

      Like putting a pig under lipstick. Fool the masses...

  7. Eponymous Cowherd
    Windows

    The phrase.....

    polishing a turn, comes to mind.......

  8. The_Regulator
    Windows

    Use Win 8 But I Don't Use Any Of Those Apps

    I use windows 8 on my home desktop pc with a mouse and keyboard no touchscreen, I do not even have those apps on my start screen as I do not use them. I actually use my pc almost exactly the same way as I did my windows 7 pc except for a few free apps e.g. ESPN, USA Today, Tech Blogs etc.

    Using my computer like this with windows 8 is actually by far a better experience than with windows 7 as I get the best of both worlds.

    Love watching you guys get all frothy at the mouth as soon as someone mentions windows 8 and microsoft.

    To @Eadon the troll judging a book by its cover is something a 4 year old might do, in the real world people actually try things and discover whether they like them or not then again you probably do not have the intelligence to try most things so.......

  9. Sporkinum

    Apps

    I tried the mail app, but i have not found a way to display a mail by itself. I don't use a wide screen monitor, and a lot of the mails I get, get a scroll bar because they are wider than the display area. Since Windows 8 won't let you drag borders around or re-size anything, the program is rendered minimally useful for me.

    I tried to use the calendar the other day to set a reminder of when payday was. I would be a recurring item once every 2 weeks. No option to create that.

    Also, with the non wide screen monitor, you can't use more than 1 program at a time.

    The only thing I occasionally use as a Windows 8 app is slacker, because it streams nicely in the background when I am doing things on the desktop. Otherwise I use Classic shell and boot directly to desktop.

  10. Shane Kent

    Can someone let me know when Win8 is out of Alpha and into Beta...

    because I got sick of waiting on MS when Media Center did absolutely nothing to push iTunes off MS's desktop.

    I had a welder, that right a welder and not even an office worker, tell me the programs on the tile-thingy are weak. His exact words, that is pretty sad. I guess they will walk monkey boy when they are at the penny stock level.

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