Four months in, Windows 8 needs help

After four months of tepid Windows 8 PC sales, maybe it's time for Microsoft to make a few changes.

During a conversation I had this week with IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell, he volunteered the following statement, which sounded strangely like my experience.

There were certain decisions that Microsoft made that were in retrospect flawed. Notably not allowing people to boot into desktop mode and taking away the start button. Those two things have come up consistently. We've done some research and people miss that.


And there are a lot of people that as soon as they boot into Windows 8, they go to desktop mode and do most their work there and occasionally back to Metro. But the point being they're much more comfortable with desktop mode.

Source

A Guy

 

[SIW2]

Intimidated?

Insulted/annoyed from what I can tell.

 

[whs]

And the computer gurus are intimidated by the start screen

I don't think anybody is intimidated - it's just a nuisance on the PC. I guess it is alright for people who know nothing about computers - 4 year old kids and little old ladies. And those are always being cited as glowing example of how easy Win8 really is.

 

[A Guy]

I have no bias either way on Eight. Anything I find on Eight that hasn't been posted I post. The fact that many are negative should tell you something. If you believe for one minute I specifically post negative stories then you don't know me. Posting news stories to spark debate was the plan when there was little Windows Eight to deal with. Now that Eight is out, those seeking help, and commenting on actual issues takes the forefront. But an article with a strong viewpoint is still relevant.

That said, the fact that an article has an opinion you agree with, or disagree with, does not entitle you to trash someone with differing opinions. It seems we have diametrically opposed viewpoints, and people who feel it is there job to defend their "side". The phrase "don't kill the messenger" comes to mind. If an article is anti Eight, there will be those who are against it, and vise versa. So nothing with an opinion either way should be posted? Articles that repeat the same theme, especially over time, say something about peoples opinions. I personally will continue to post articles. A Guy

 

[BillWindows]

And the computer gurus are intimidated by the start screen

I don't think anybody is intimidated - it's just a nuisance on the PC. I guess it is alright for people who know nothing about computers - 4 year old kids and little old ladies. And those are always being cited as glowing example of how easy Win8 really is.

Just tell me one thing whs, you sound like a fairly smart sort of a guy. If people are doing real work on their computers how often are they going to see the Start Screen and why are they bothered with the number of colors on the tiles etc or even the colors of the screen shouldn't they be working in Photoshop or doing a spreadsheet or something.

I personally think this whole thing is being completely blown out of proportion. I've got XP on an old HDD and I've got all kinds of eye candy on it but I look at it now and it looks sort of dated even though the eye candy is futuristic.

 

[BillWindows]

Intimidated?

Insulted/annoyed from what I can tell.

Honestly? Insulted.

 

[BillWindows]

I have no bias either way on Eight. Anything I find on Eight that hasn't been posted I post. The fact that many are negative should tell you something. If you believe for one minute I specifically post negative stories then you don't know me. Posting news stories to spark debate was the plan when there was little Windows Eight to deal with. Now that Eight is out, those seeking help, and commenting on actual issues takes the forefront. But an article with a strong viewpoint is still relevant.

That said, the fact that an article has an opinion you agree with, or disagree with, does not entitle you to trash someone with differing opinions. It seems we have diametrically opposed viewpoints, and people who feel it is there job to defend their "side". The phrase "don't kill the messenger" comes to mind. If an article is anti Eight, there will be those who are against it, and vise versa. So nothing with an opinion either way should be posted? Articles that repeat the same theme, especially over time, say something about peoples opinions. I personally will continue to post articles. A Guy

I don't think anyone is going to worry about you posting articles, but like you said when people just keep pumping out the same negative articles about almost the same thing some amongst us are going to feel the pain, the pain of boredom.

 

[whs]

And the computer gurus are intimidated by the start screen

I don't think anybody is intimidated - it's just a nuisance on the PC. I guess it is alright for people who know nothing about computers - 4 year old kids and little old ladies. And those are always being cited as glowing example of how easy Win8 really is.

Just tell me one thing whs, you sound like a fairly smart sort of a guy. If people are doing real work on their computers how often are they going to see the Start Screen and why are they bothered with the number of colors on the tiles etc or even the colors of the screen shouldn't they be working in Photoshop or doing a spreadsheet or something.

I personally think this whole thing is being completely blown out of proportion. I've got XP on an old HDD and I've got all kinds of eye candy on it but I look at it now and it looks sort of dated even though the eye candy is futuristic.

I never said I cannot deal with /8 - I just don't like it. I don't want stuff on my PC that was obviously designed for kids. It insults my intelligence. And I don't want things jumping at me when my cursor hits a corner and I don't want applications that take a whole screen and I don't want to go back 20 years and have to use keyboard shortcuts to get out of this misery. And when I put 'resource monitor' into search I want to see the Resource Monitor and not an empty screen and then I have to go hunt for it. I could just go on all night.

I have been a professional operating system developer for 35 years and I want my system to look professionally, not like a device from Toys'R'us. Let the kids and the little old ladies play with it.

 

[SIW2]

LOL.

Can't disagree with that.

 

[Coke Robot]

I don't think anybody is intimidated - it's just a nuisance on the PC. I guess it is alright for people who know nothing about computers - 4 year old kids and little old ladies. And those are always being cited as glowing example of how easy Win8 really is.

Just tell me one thing whs, you sound like a fairly smart sort of a guy. If people are doing real work on their computers how often are they going to see the Start Screen and why are they bothered with the number of colors on the tiles etc or even the colors of the screen shouldn't they be working in Photoshop or doing a spreadsheet or something.

I personally think this whole thing is being completely blown out of proportion. I've got XP on an old HDD and I've got all kinds of eye candy on it but I look at it now and it looks sort of dated even though the eye candy is futuristic.

I never said I cannot deal with /8 - I just don't like it. I don't want stuff on my PC that was obviously designed for kids. It insults my intelligence. And I don't want things jumping at me when my cursor hits a corner and I don't want applications that take a whole screen and I don't want to go back 20 years and have to use keyboard shortcuts to get out of this misery. And when I put 'resource monitor' into search I want to see the Resource Monitor and not an empty screen and then I have to go hunt for it. I could just go on all night.

I have been a professional operating system developer for 35 years and I want my system to look professionally, not like a device from Toys'R'us. Let the kids and the little old ladies play with it.

See, I've never had those issues. My intelligence was never insulted, my pride wasn't damaged. A piece of software can't do that to me.

By the way, xp is the Windows version with its Luna interface that looks like it was made by Fisher Price.

 

[whs]

By the way, xp is the Windows version with its Luna interface that looks like it was made by Fisher Price.

Correct, that's why I never used it. It's so damn boring.

 

[BillWindows]

I don't think anybody is intimidated - it's just a nuisance on the PC. I guess it is alright for people who know nothing about computers - 4 year old kids and little old ladies. And those are always being cited as glowing example of how easy Win8 really is.

Just tell me one thing whs, you sound like a fairly smart sort of a guy. If people are doing real work on their computers how often are they going to see the Start Screen and why are they bothered with the number of colors on the tiles etc or even the colors of the screen shouldn't they be working in Photoshop or doing a spreadsheet or something.

I personally think this whole thing is being completely blown out of proportion. I've got XP on an old HDD and I've got all kinds of eye candy on it but I look at it now and it looks sort of dated even though the eye candy is futuristic.

I never said I cannot deal with /8 - I just don't like it. I don't want stuff on my PC that was obviously designed for kids. It insults my intelligence. And I don't want things jumping at me when my cursor hits a corner and I don't want applications that take a whole screen and I don't want to go back 20 years and have to use keyboard shortcuts to get out of this misery. And when I put 'resource monitor' into search I want to see the Resource Monitor and not an empty screen and then I have to go hunt for it. I could just go on all night.

I have been a professional operating system developer for 35 years and I want my system to look professionally, not like a device from Toys'R'us. Let the kids and the little old ladies play with it.

You're 75 years old and you're worried that your PC doesn't look Professional, there's only a few things that worry me as I get older, one I hope I wake up in the morning, two I hope my plane doesn't crash, three I hope I can remember how to turn my computer on.

You must be using a different Windows 8, mine says view resources in Task Manager.

 

[BillWindows]

By the way, xp is the Windows version with its Luna interface that looks like it was made by Fisher Price.

Correct, that's why I never used it. It's so damn boring.

How can it be boring when you're using it for work, Apple stuff is boring, Microsoft stuff is what you make it, even Windows 8 can be made to look great.

 

[Coke Robot]

By the way, xp is the Windows version with its Luna interface that looks like it was made by Fisher Price.

Correct, that's why I never used it. It's so damn boring.

So I'm basically insinuating that you need a UI that it shiny, reflective, and borderline distracting to be usable or/and nice to use?

 

[SIW2]

You can insinuate any rubbish you want. Par for the course with you.

You like it - that is fine.

A lot do not - that is also fine.

They do not need to justify themselves to you or anyone else.

If they are polite enough to reply - you then try and twist their words to fit your little fantasy and in your peculiar view "catch them out".

That falls into the category of personal attack.

Weird.

 

[mart4494]

That said, the fact that an article has an opinion you agree with, or disagree with, does not entitle you to trash someone with differing opinions. It seems we have diametrically opposed viewpoints, and people who feel it is there job to defend their "side". The phrase "don't kill the messenger" comes to mind. If an article is anti Eight, there will be those who are against it, and vise versa. So nothing with an opinion either way should be posted? Articles that repeat the same theme, especially over time, say something about peoples opinions. I personally will continue to post articles. A Guy

but I doubt if the personal 'attacks' will stop

 

[SIW2]

FYI even Paul Thurrott said

More to the point, when Windows 8 first shipped, there were no new devices on which to test it. I've now used many of them. And I prefer regular PCs...Cars didn't replace trucks. They live side by side.

That's something coming from him.

People are allowed to prefer whatever they want. Live with it.

 

[whs]

You can insinuate any rubbish you want. Par for the course with you.

You like it - that is fine.

A lot do not - that is also fine.

They do not need to justify themselves to you or anyone else.

If they are polite enough to reply - you then try and twist their words to fit your little fantasy and in your peculiar view "catch them out".

That falls into the category of personal attack.

Weird.

Very well said. Fortunately I live in free countries and I can choose what I want.

 

[Coke Robot]

FYI even Paul Thurrott said

More to the point, when Windows 8 first shipped, there were no new devices on which to test it. I've now used many of them. And I prefer regular PCs...Cars didn't replace trucks. They live side by side.

That's something coming from him.

People are allowed to prefer whatever they want. Live with it.

No.

 

[Ray8]

----

 

[SnarkyTwit]

I've been lurking in the forums for a while, watching the debate rage on. I think it's time I weighed in. I have been using Windows 8 for a couple of months now and have installed Start8 as I just find it makes things easier for me. As far as "liking" Windows 8 over Windows 7, I'm indifferent. Windows 8 runs just fine on my computer, just as Windows 7 did. I find I rarely switch over to the Modern UI screen, so for me that is just wasted code. I have not downloaded anything from the Windows store except Skype and I probably will never purchase anything from there. A quick perusal of the store showed nothing of interest to me.

Looking towards the future, I will probably switch to an Android based device for my computing needs as PC hardware is starting to be priced out of my range. IE $999 Canadian for the Surface Pro with 128GB of storage and it doesn't include the cover/keyboard. I think that is outrageous.

Microsoft just doesn't offer a compelling reason to stay on board with them anymore.

Snarks

Come on now, you're comparing an Android tablet with a full blown PC, that's not a comparison that's a joke. I've got multiple tablets, while nice, I would never compare them to a full blown Windows tablet.

You should be comparing to RT which is near half the price with Microsoft Office.

PC hardware has never been cheaper in the history of computing, the price of Windows laptops is nearly a Joke. I was selling 486 SX 33 Compaq Notebooks for $2800 with a monochrome screen nearly 20 years ago. Now you can pick up a Notebook for less than $300 with a lot more power.

Actually they were $3500 that was a special price..

You are right. I should have considered the price of the RT. It is still $599 on sale for a 64GB model. Also you are right in that laptop prices have really come down. But, I just wanted to point out how expensive they are compared to Android tablets. Plus developers have really jumped on board with Android based applications. Much more than there are available in the Microsoft "Store".

Snarks