Photos App in 8.1 loses most of its best features e.g. Facebook/Flickr support...

Thanks for the feedback, everybody.  In Windows 8, we wanted to provide a way for folks to view their photos on other services knowing there would be few (if any) apps in the store at launch that would do so.  Now there are many apps in the store that offer ways to view photos on other services and soon there will even be a Facebook app from Facebook.  We’re confident Facebook will offer great ways to view and engage socially with photos on Facebook.  We welcome Flickr to do the same.  In addition, the People app still offers the ability to socially engage with your friends and even your own photos.

How about having a plug-in system for the system Photos app so other apps like a Facebook app or Flickr app can add themselves to the system Photos app?

This way Microsoft doesn't need to provide built-in support for other services but you can still have them in the system Photos app when you install their app.

This would allow photos services beyond the ones included in the Windows 8 Photos app to be used and Microsoft wouldn't need to add support to the system Photos app for those services themselves (except for SkyDrive of course).

Like I said in the File History conversation (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1_pr-files/file-history-in-81/96dca7ff-03b0-4dfc-a4ff-1b70fa94b26e?tm=1373731683819#_self), the fact that we're even having to discuss this is truly troublesome.  These kind of things shouldn't get out of the draft stages, let alone actually integrated into a beta, much less final product.

(For those that don't know btw, File History in 8.1 is another regression - now there's no way to backup any data outside of Libraries/Contacts/Favourites, no way to create a backup image, and more important - Skydrive and other cloud storage folders are skipped by it, so no version controlled backup for your cloud storage anymore).

This change is just so bizarre as it goes completely against the entire Modern UI philosophy - focus on content, not apps.  Telling us that "Well, there will probably be apps by their respective companies" completely misses the point and is just laughable in the complete lack of common sense displayed and the hypocrisy with regards to the entire Modern UI philosophy to begin with.

While I welcome a more rapid update cycle in general, part of the fear from end users in adopting the rapid release schedule and thereby adding/subtracting features every year as opposed to just security fixes is that they don't have a choice to skip it if they don't like the changes.  With the thousands of API changes made in 8.1 to Metro apps (and most are needed), very soon if you want to be using Windows 8, you will be using 8.1 to run modern apps.  The "option" of reverting back to 8.0 really isn't practical.  All you're doing now is re-enforcing that fear.

Maybe Facebook wants you to use their app, sure.  Maybe Flickr does as well.  And?  Fight harder for your users.  If that's the stipulation they've put out to in order to make apps, well then let the world know the reason Facebook and others won't make a Win8 app.

Frankly, I'm extremely suspect of this assumption though.  Windows Photo Gallery can upload to Facebook and Flickr for years, you're bypassing both of their sites for significant functionality you can do outside their app.  As well, Facebook is obviously far more than image downloading, you'll still need to use their app or visit their site for much of the functionality.  Having their sources show up in the default Photo app would be like free advertising for them IMO.

Expecting users to bounce in and out of apps depending on the source the data is just ridiculous.  If that's the case, then you'll push people away from Modern apps and back to the desktop, where they have far more freedom and functionality.  Especially when manually picking local files and folders is still far more cumbersome in the Modern environment than the desktop, you want your file sources - remote and networked - to be integrated from the start and not require manual poking through the file system.

By Carmen's rationale, then excise LinkedIn, Twitter etc accounts from the People app!  Shouldn't be able to respond to tweets and see my contacts when I can just launch Twitter and LinkedIn's apps, after all.  Remove any trace of Xbox games from the Xbox Games portal, or segregate them from the Windows...er, Xbox for Windows (yeesh) games.

Mail?  Why have the ability to see your Yahoo/Gmail account in Mail?  There are, or will be apps for those two services.  So get rid of them in Mail.

This should not have to be explained.

any you cant delete the new app

With WIN 8.1 it only shows me the folder for the local PC (This PC)...

It no longer shows the library or skydrive or any of the other services from before (FB for example).

I believe they got rid of the FB integration but skydrive and the pictures library should be there...unfortunately just This PC is...

Can you help?

Thanks.

               

And whats up with:

* My 15" inch screen only showing 3 rows, despite the fact that the start screen and the old app can show 4 rows on the same resolution

This is actually configurable now:

From the Settings charm, choose Tiles and turn on "Show more tiles"