I've come to a realization . . . .

[Ray8]

The OP said he had issues with it. I just can't understand how it's 'not someone's cup of tea'. It's scrolling. You just use a mouse wheel and scroll. Whether it's left and right or up and down, what's the matter?

"Oh no my screen is moving left to right! I must tell everyone how disjointed the Windows 8 experience is!"

A large number of people don't like:

- a menu that takes up the entire screen
- apps that take up the entire screen (on large monitors)
- apps that can't be resized
- apps that can't be moved around
- apps that can't be viewed on one monitor, while working on another monitor
- apps that only work on the prime monitor
- apps that don't work alongside desktop programs

Yes, the Windows 8 experience is disjointed, half-baked and basically flawed.

 

[BillWindows]

The OP said he had issues with it. I just can't understand how it's 'not someone's cup of tea'. It's scrolling. You just use a mouse wheel and scroll. Whether it's left and right or up and down, what's the matter?

"Oh no my screen is moving left to right! I must tell everyone how disjointed the Windows 8 experience is!"

A large number of people don't like:

- a menu that takes up the entire screen
- apps that take up the entire screen (on large monitors)
- apps that can't be resized
- apps that can't be moved around
- apps that can't be viewed on one monitor, while working on another monitor
- apps that only work on the prime monitor
- apps that don't work alongside desktop programs

Yes, the Windows 8 experience is disjointed, half-baked and basically flawed.

None of those things has got anything to do with the average user, just a handful of power users.

 

[Ray8]

None of those things has got anything to do with the average user, just a handful of power users.

...or the majority of desktop users.

 

[whs]

None of those things has got anything to do with the average user, just a handful of power users.

But those are the ones that buy computers. The 'average users' buy appliances.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Desktop isn't dead yet

None of those things has got anything to do with the average user, just a handful of power users.

But those are the ones that buy computers. The 'average users' buy appliances.

Lenovo Proves Sky Isn't Falling by Shipping Record Number of PCs
Lenovo Proves Sky Isn't Falling by Shipping Record Number of PCs | Maximum PC

 

[Ray8]

PCs will always be an enduring product, be they desktop, laptop or tablet attached to a docking station. There are simply too many things that a PC does in a more functional manner than does a handheld device.

 

[ashleyg]

I read that Lenovo record sales story the other day with interest. I didn't see any reference as to what markets they sold them into nor what OS they were selling those systems with. Just curious is all.

 

[whs]

My guess would be that a lot of their sales are in China.

 

[Wenda]

Regarding the sideways scrolling, back in my early XP days I had this mouse with two buttons and a scroll-wheel. The
scroll-wheel scrolled, as you'd expect, vertically, and doubled as the third button if pressed.

But if you pushed the scroll-wheel to either side, it would scroll sideways. It was great back then as I only had a crappy
800x600 monitor and most pages were too wide for it.

That mouse would have really come into its own with Windows 8, and would surely have kicked ass. Sadly, it's long gone.

Wenda.

 

[Mystere]

A large number of people don't like:

- a menu that takes up the entire screen
- apps that take up the entire screen (on large monitors)
- apps that can't be resized
- apps that can't be moved around
- apps that can't be viewed on one monitor, while working on another monitor
- apps that only work on the prime monitor
- apps that don't work alongside desktop programs

Yes, the Windows 8 experience is disjointed, half-baked and basically flawed.

Nice long list.. Except, you just described the same thing 7 times in different terms.

Admit it ray, you just like to complain.

 

[Mystere]

But if you pushed the scroll-wheel to either side, it would scroll sideways. It was great back then as I only had a crappy
800x600 monitor and most pages were too wide for it.

That mouse would have really come into its own with Windows 8, and would surely have kicked ass. Sadly, it's long gone.

Nearly all mice with a physical scroll wheel are like that, other than maybe some ultra cheap ones.

 

[Ray8]

A large number of people don't like:

- a menu that takes up the entire screen
- apps that take up the entire screen (on large monitors)
- apps that can't be resized
- apps that can't be moved around
- apps that can't be viewed on one monitor, while working on another monitor
- apps that only work on the prime monitor
- apps that don't work alongside desktop programs

Yes, the Windows 8 experience is disjointed, half-baked and basically flawed.

Nice long list.. Except, you just described the same thing 7 times in different terms.

Admit it ray, you just like to complain.

And clearly, you still don't understand.

 

[whs]

C'mon guys, don't start a fight. Take a relaxed attitude. Here is my take:

The $39.95 deal was hard to pass. I have spent more money on other useless toys. Installed it in a virtual partition. Is great to play with - has a nice weather app. I have no trouble operating Windows 8.

BUT - if you want to do any serious work, use Windows 7 - is less cumbersome. Only the poor suckers that need a new PC are stuck with it. They'll survive.

 

[Wenda]

But if you pushed the scroll-wheel to either side, it would scroll sideways. It was great back then as I only had a crappy
800x600 monitor and most pages were too wide for it.

That mouse would have really come into its own with Windows 8, and would surely have kicked ass. Sadly, it's long gone.

Nearly all mice with a physical scroll wheel are like that, other than maybe some ultra cheap ones.

OK, fair enough, I haven't bought a new mouse for some time, and yes, mine IS a cheapie cordless USB one. But Win 8 still works
just fine with it, even so. And it does seem to be very reliable, hence no new one purchased recently as not really needed.
All good.
Wenda

 

[BarnabasSackett]

(@BarnbasSackett -- the position of those pedals will depend on which country you drive in --

Please name a car/country where the gas is on the left and the brake is on the right.

 

[BarnabasSackett]

Standards are the devil.
They make you "expect" something.

I remember the good old days when there were no standards, even de facto standards and nothing worked with anything else. Yes, those standards are evil.

 

[BarnabasSackett]

Only the poor suckers that need a new PC are stuck with it. They'll survive.

Maybe the plan is to drive people to Linux.

 

[Mystere]

Maybe the plan is to drive people to Linux.

If that's the plan, it's being hampered by the Linux vendors attempts to self destruct

 

[al4nw31]

(@BarnbasSackett -- the position of those pedals will depend on which country you drive in --

Please name a car/country where the gas is on the left and the brake is on the right.

The point is kind of here:
Would you rather have a car with different version of pedals (such as a hand accelerator or something like that)...
Or standard pedals and spend an extra grand covering for software development in electric cars for pedals?
Just because we expect and want something that's been there for dozens of years, we have changed our consumer outlook.
We're not just looking at practicality here, this day and age.
The standards have been set, and changing them is practical suicide for a company.
Well, Microsoft has taken the lead here, and either they're going to pay, or it's going to be the new standard.
So you can eat it, or wait until its eaten by others.

 

[JOD]

I am not a power user, but on the other hand I am more than a common user, somewhere in between. At work, I have W7, at home W8. I have absolutely no problem with either of these systems - of course, there are some things that do not appeal to me (like Reader in metro-style only, which makes switching between documents a bit of hassle), but nothing which would make me consider downgrading to W7. For the record, I spend most of the time (97 %+) on the desktop and am using Start8 - e.g. you can use the Win key not to switch to the last app, but can force it to go to desktop everytime. Simple feature, yet absolutely improves my experience. And no, I do not say that something like this should have been in W8 from the start, as I really do not care about what-ifs.