Hey, Windows 8 doesn't suck

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For months now, various pundits have been deriding the upcoming Windows 8 as the next Vista. People have made mocking videos showing older people thoroughly confused by Windows 8's Metro tile interface. Indeed, the Windows 8 Metro interface is radically different than the traditional Windows desktop. It's a touch interface.

Yet the same pundits that slammed Windows 8 on the desktop are now lauding Microsoft Surface, the Windows 8-powered touch tablet that Microsoft announced Monday. Since the Windows 8 Metro software hasn't changed, what exactly is so different? After all, Microsoft is demonstrating the exact same interface on touch-enabled hardware. And all of a sudden, Windows 8 is making sense.

Read more at:
Hey, Windows 8 doesn't suck | Microsoft - CNET News

 

[besb]

apple stands NO chance to seize that market since they've failed at that time after time. Even then, Windows 7 is still there for use until 2022. For some, that will be fine, for others, Windows 8 will be fine.

2022 is just fine , I wonder if I will still be on this forum then: I will be 84 years young!!!!

 

[Night Hawk]

That doesn't answer the question - no surprise there.

If they allowed choice - they would do well., no question of that.

The deliberate removal of choice is appalling.

Very dangerous, counterproductive.

It must be a fascinating time over at Apple HQ. They must be sorely tempted to attack.

Risky for them - they would need to bring in a laptop range at lower prices. Even with a different branding strategy, there is a danger it could contaminate their premium brand.

But what an opportunity to seize the desktop os market as well.

If the retail looks the same as the RP they will tend to lose in the desktop market! The majority of desktop users want an OS they are able to customize in various ways. The move away from providing a newer but still standard desktop option to only see Metro rammed down people's throats will make 8 a hard sell there.

Here I found the RP to be more buggy then the CP! Loading 7 from the CP boot options never ran into the problems seen lately when loading 7 up from the RP's boot options on the other hand. The changes to be seen in 8 are far more then just a new Start screen/Start orb removal but core elements have seen changes there as well.

The way MS tossed Metro in everyone's faces however wasn't the best move for introducing a new user inteface while removing what everyone was already accustomed to without any options available. That was poor planning by MS there and has sure to be seeing a great deal of negative feedback!

 

[Soundtweaker]

Um last I checked the desktop is still there. How else should they introduce the metro interface. Brochures?

 

[Night Hawk]

The way they did it with the DP, CP, and now RP builds is a bit questionable without any option to convert to any familiar desktop seeing the Start orb, Programs, and shutdown options button.. Instead it's been a wild search and destroy Sherlock Holmes puzzle for most! ddaaaaaa....

Instead of introducing it in a fashion where the "non touchscreen user" still has a conventional desktop option available in order to try out the next version MS simply slams Metro in your face! For most that objectionable on first impressions! As someone else here at W8F remarked: "It's the way they implemented it!".

Having started off with Dos and 3.1 and hoping MS would have smartened up by 8 being a further development along the success track 7 enjoys including the newer MinWin kernel to advance the OS they simply turned it upside down and said: "take it or leave it!" and which will end up seeing most "leave it"!

While MS is hot and bothered to get into the mobile business they ended up side swiping the desktop users! The other changes as far as core elements are generally something you would be expecting to see and simply have to learn how to get 8 working under certain circumstances. That's simply a new learning curve typically seen with each new version anyways.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

I'm fairly new here to the forum. In fact, it's my first forum membership, although in the past I've used them and found them to be of great help for problem solutions and education. I'm one of those that know enough about computers to be dangerous. At first I was taken back by a lot negative comments about the start screen UI in 8, noticeably by Pros and greater enthusiasts. I pissed myself with excitement over it for a few weeks thinking "this is cool, different, informative with live tiles, and organizationally helpful. Wow, M$!"

Then the other day I ran into a problem making a recovery disc. I had Windows explorer open with file properties and advanced properties, IE open with various tabs which included this forum, 8 mail, Notepad to take notes, and a few others. It's rare for me to have more than three items open for I use the machine socially and for small business purposes. I was navigating back and forth regularly using shortcut keys, mostly Alt/Tab or WinKey/Tab in my usual manner. The start screen kept popping up when I closed something out, instead of staying on the desktop where I needed and/or wanted to be. Ugh! It started to get frustrating trying to get things done! I've occasionally performed this kind of task in times past in prior OSs to fix problems. I kept hitting the WinKey to blank out the start screen to get back to where I wanted to be.

I don't sit behind a machine all day like you pros or greater enthusiasts do. Now I understand what you are saying. For us casual users and wannabes it's great for we only do this kind of thing from time to time. But, if I were a Pro doing this all the time, I'd be pulling my hair out! If M$ doesn't give the option of UI then I can see where they will lose your business with 8, keep using 7, and hopefully they will wise up by 9.

Windows 8 doesn't suck for the common man or woman, but you had better wise up for the Pro and enthusiasts, M$!

 

[alphanumeric]

This is the first time I've booted up into Windows 7 since I installed Windows 8 about a month ago. It's actually quit refreshing to have things work the way I'm used to and prefer. My Windows 8 install is starting to go south on me and I'm debating whether to reinstall, try the refresh option or just wait for the next leaked build. Metro is acting up for me so now its even more of a nuisance.

 

[Night Hawk]

I'm fairly new here to the forum. In fact, it's my first forum membership, although in the past I've used them and found them to be of great help for problem solutions and education. I'm one of those that know enough about computers to be dangerous. At first I was taken back by a lot negative comments about the start screen UI in 8, noticeably by Pros and greater enthusiasts. I pissed myself with excitement over it for a few weeks thinking "this is cool, different, informative with live tiles, and organizationally helpful. Wow, M$!"

Then the other day I ran into a problem making a recovery disc. I had Windows explorer open with file properties and advanced properties, IE open with various tabs which included this forum, 8 mail, Notepad to take notes, and a few others. It's rare for me to have more than three items open for I use the machine socially and for small business purposes. I was navigating back and forth regularly using shortcut keys, mostly Alt/Tab or WinKey/Tab in my usual manner. The start screen kept popping up when I closed something out, instead of staying on the desktop where I needed and/or wanted to be. Ugh! It started to get frustrating trying to get things done! I've occasionally performed this kind of task in times past in prior OSs to fix problems. I kept hitting the WinKey to blank out the start screen to get back to where I wanted to be.

I don't sit behind a machine all day like you pros or greater enthusiasts do. Now I understand what you are saying. For us casual users and wannabes it's great for we only do this kind of thing from time to time. But, if I were a Pro doing this all the time, I'd be pulling my hair out! If M$ doesn't give the option of UI then I can see where they will lose your business with 8, keep using 7, and hopefully they will wise up by 9.

Windows 8 doesn't suck for the common man or woman, but you had better wise up for the Pro and enthusiasts, M$!

Most have opted to use a 3rd party tool like Start Menu 7, Classic Shell, Start 8, and pinning the programs menu on the Start screen to get around the Start screen itself. Others simply pinned everything to the taskbar or as I did here add new tool bars onto the task bar if not some other method to get around the repetitive back and forth trips to the Start screen.

The power user who multitask simply looks at the Metro as the "Flop gui" while the novice is all thrilled with the "new look". For most however simply finding a way to disable the Metro entirely would be the preferred option in order to stay with 8. And many have simply opted to wait to see what MS will come out with after 8 has come and gone preferring to stay with what they have now!

Here the CP ran well while it was on despite the Metro and workarounds. The RP stuffed up as well as 7 when setting it up as the dual boot of the two in order to see how that would work out. It didn't! Besides the complaint heard about how 8 sees a full restart before the other OS begins to load the dual boot resulted in first seeing 8 lock up solid and then brought those problems over to 7 forcing a repair for each!

I still have the RP on VM however for a continued look at the registry to see what else is there for the Start screen besides several tems named "Windows UI" in the "HKey_LocalMachine_Software>microsoft>Windows" branch. Those are mainly for appearance and don't see the "1" = enabled, "0" = disabled function.

Finding the batch type file used to start explorer.exe will likely reveal the Start screen process to edit out to see that taken care of. It's not incorporated into the explorer.exe file itself as you would expect Windows Explorer to be but is somehow a version of explorer much like the Better Explorer addon you could download last year prior to the DP release.

 

[Rickkins]

The more the greed dogs push the cloud, the more that alternatives will present themselves. Not everyone is so gullible.

And metro on the desktop is the worst abomination ever released by ms.

 

[SIW2]

The more the greed dogs push the cloud, the more that alternatives will present themselves.

I hope you are right.

I don't want to sound over dramatic - but the world will be a much worse place unless those viable alternatives appear.

 

[SIW2]

Most have opted to use a 3rd party tool like Start Menu 7, Classic Shell, Start 8, and pinning the programs menu on the Start screen to get around the Start screen itself. Others simply pinned everything to the taskbar or as I did here add new tool bars onto the task bar if not some other method to get around the repetitive back and forth trips to the Start screen.

The power user who multitask simply looks at the Metro as the "Flop gui" while the novice is all thrilled with the "new look". For most however simply finding a way to disable the Metro entirely would be the preferred option in order to stay with 8. And many have simply opted to wait to see what MS will come out with after 8 has come and gone preferring to stay with what they have now!

Yes, I think that pretty much sums it up.

 

[poppa bear]

I call BS. In a few years, most consumers will be on touchscreen laptops and tablets.

You're right. Your statement is absolute BS!

 

[Rickkins]

Almost all Windows users are using either Desktops or Laptops without touch screens. There are very few Windows tablets. Any sold after Windows 8 comes out will only be a small percentage of the total number of Windows systems.

I call BS. In a few years, most consumers will be on touchscreen laptops and tablets. MS is doing the right thing and staying ahead of the curve and building for the future. How stale would MS be if they kept the same old desktop and aero interface that reminds everyone of Vista? All they would hear about is how MS isnt innovating and hows it's not much dif than Win7.

Seriously, touchscreen laptops...??? Keep your hands where I can see them, and step away from the bong.... (hehehe, just kidding)

But seriously, no, in a few years most consumers are gonna be exactly where we are now, sitting in front of a good old desktop and/or laptop.

 

[Night Hawk]

Most have opted to use a 3rd party tool like Start Menu 7, Classic Shell, Start 8, and pinning the programs menu on the Start screen to get around the Start screen itself. Others simply pinned everything to the taskbar or as I did here add new tool bars onto the task bar if not some other method to get around the repetitive back and forth trips to the Start screen.

The power user who multitask simply looks at the Metro as the "Flop gui" while the novice is all thrilled with the "new look". For most however simply finding a way to disable the Metro entirely would be the preferred option in order to stay with 8. And many have simply opted to wait to see what MS will come out with after 8 has come and gone preferring to stay with what they have now!

Yes, I think that pretty much sums it up.

That's the unfortunate side of all this! While I wasn't in any rush to move up from 7 any time soon W8 is a literal "frightmare" for most who expect a normal looking desktop OS of some type in each newer version.

No one minds the occasional innovations like seeing gadgets go from a side bar to the desktop. But to strip away more then just the familiar desktop gui for a Tablet type simply doesn't go over well with most! Besides that there are some other things that have been noticed as well showing this will be a different animal to work with in contrast to how things are done in Vista and 7.

Almost all Windows users are using either Desktops or Laptops without touch screens. There are very few Windows tablets. Any sold after Windows 8 comes out will only be a small percentage of the total number of Windows systems.

I call BS. In a few years, most consumers will be on touchscreen laptops and tablets. MS is doing the right thing and staying ahead of the curve and building for the future. How stale would MS be if they kept the same old desktop and aero interface that reminds everyone of Vista? All they would hear about is how MS isnt innovating and hows it's not much dif than Win7.

But seriously, no, in a few years most consumers are gonna be exactly where we are now, sitting in front of a good old desktop and/or laptop.

That's a fair assessment since I have no plans to be sitting in front of any touched off blonder! If I want to push on things all day I can simply go down to a local shopping mall's arcade and dump coins in a machine with fire buttons! and then have to listen to all the odd sounds coming out of it!

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
please tell me how to do my work with say a 60 cm monitor and only touch input.

Apart from the fact that my arms would get really tired quickly I would't even be able to REACH the wretched thing ( and I'm not small either !!) -- I'm not sitting with my nose almost touching a screen that size -- and if I did I'd probably have to wear glasses as thick as Milk Bottles after two or 3 months.

So long as "traditional" work needs to be done you will still need "traditional" methods of input -- and that means (usually) a keyboard and a mouse. You can enable some vocal commands on some devices --but I suspect you'd be very unpopular in a a busy office yelling commands at a screen.

For me the tablet is a "nine days wonder" device that won't I suspect be around for too long

if I need that type of stuff some of the better smart phones can do evevrything and MORE that a tablet can do. - With a 32 GB micro REMOVABLE sdhc card too you can store almost as much music / audio books and even a movie or two on a phone and the new Galaxy III s has a screen that's just about OK for watching say a movie on a train / plane without having to get a computer out. - Plenty of android apps for playing AVI etc.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Night Hawk]

The only time I touch any screen is when using an lcd cleaning solution and the wipe pad for removing the cleaning solution along with any dust or dirt. I think after pushing an index finger into the screen long enough most displays would end up with a hole in them!

My cell phone has a 16gb SD card in that and holds a music library. The only thing I have to dig out is the blue tooth head phones for listening or taking calls(good sound quality but not so good on battery charge). Even that has the option to browse, check your email, social networks, etc. for a pocket sized hand held that's not as evolved as a smart phone even.

W7 already has support for touchscreens where the need is present. I think is saying: "You can still use 8 on a desktop. But we designed 8 for the other markets mainly. Our devoted fans will still buy into it however." right!

With 7 being a solid desktop OS MS could now play around in the other markets in order to sneer at Google and others by showing they can jump in there as well.

For desktop the typical user not only will want to find a work around for Metro but now must learn other things on how to set things up for 8 since a simple bios setting change trashed the RP install making it unbootable while 7 successfully started right up and installed the two OS drives with a restart required. It's not going to be the Vista to improved 7 OS type of upgrade into 8 just like Vista saw a large gap between that and XP in how things work.

The plus sides are few at the present with an improvement in security as well as IE 10 being a smoother running browser then IE 9! The downsides however are taking it's tolls on the majority of typical desktop users as well as a new learning needed for what other unseen changes have been made. It's a different ball park that 8 takes you to!