#WINDOWS 8 OPEN WITH MISSING UPDATE#
#WINDOWS 8 OPEN WITH MISSING WINDOWS 8.1#

And the icons in the Dock (the OS X equivalent of the Windows taskbar) show notification counters, that neatly complement this feature. All notifications, from what is basically Desktop-like software, are listed there, and can be dismissed with little effort. The operating system has a notifications panel, which is triggered by a swipe to the left on the touchpad or by clicking a button on the taskbar.

#WINDOWS 8 OPEN WITH MISSING WINDOWS 8.1#

Prior to using it, I have been an exclusive Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 user, who had grown accustomed to the fragmentation of notifications. In early-September, I purchased a 2013 Apple MacBook Air that, naturally, ships with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. This is a scattered approach that just does not work well, disrupts my workflow and leads to me wasting valuable time. Likely for another year or so, I will have to open more than a dozen apps to see whether there is something new that interests me. And have I mentioned that toast notifications are not even enabled by default in all apps? Users have to do it manually in the Mail app for instance, on a per-account basis. And you don't know they had even popped up, because there is no icon in the status bar or any counter anywhere (except in the live tiles, of course). That may seem like a lot of time, but when you walk away from the device there is a very good chance that you will miss all of them. But except when the user sets them not to automatically disappear, they usually go away in less than 20 seconds.

#WINDOWS 8 OPEN WITH MISSING UPDATE#

Microsoft has tried to improve this situation slightly by using toast notifications, which pop up on the screen whenever an application receives an update (new email, new status update, etc.). And there is very little information that can be crammed inside any live tile. Some live tiles do not immediately update after a notification sound is triggered, which may confuse the user, while others show no counter at all. The live tiles are spread across the screen so the user has to look at themВ frequently in order to see if there are any changes in their appearance. It is certainly possible to do so, but some problems do occur. To some extent, live tiles can replace a notifications center. And, no, live tiles and notification toasts don't cut it. The lack of one would have been fine years ago, when no OS had it, but aВ notifications center or panel has become an essential part in having a great user experience today.

This is a step in the wrong direction nowadays. Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 8, Windows RT, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 all have shipped, or are shipping, without any efficient way of tracking notifications.

Windows 8 open with missing