Windows 8, I’m warming up to you

The following isn't the sentiments expressed by many note.

Windows 8, I’m warming up to you

By Ken Hess
March 26, 2012, 10:00am PDT


Summary: Windows 8 and Server 8 sport the new Metro interface. You might hate it now but you’ll get used to it and you’ll like it.



Windows Server 8 Server Manager

It’s going to take a little time to find everything in Windows 8’s new interface but I think I’m warming up to Metro and its idiosyncrasies. I finally successfully installed Windows Server 8 into a XenServer 5.6 hosted VM. I gave my new Server 8 VM 2 CPUs and 2GB RAM. Alternatively, Windows 8 Desktop installed easily into VMware Workstation 8. I also installed Windows 8 Desktop onto a physical system so that I could test on real hardware as well.


I think I might actually like the Metro interface now that I’ve had a chance to test it, be mad at it, curse it to Hell and then to try it again with a sense of “this is the way of the future for MS operating systems.”


It’s time, as I once told a coworker about 15 years ago, “Put on your big boy pants and learn to use this system.” I was referring to his resistance at learning Windows NT 4.0 after I upgraded his system from Windows NT 3.51. My attitude was soon dampened by the sound of a Director informing my Domain Admin group that we had to stay every night until all of the desktops had 64MB RAM in them. Most of our NT 3.51 systems had 32MB RAM.

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[SIW2]

LOL - except this is more complex and artistic than anything in metro.

Good Lord. When I see that repair tool screen or almost anything else in Metro, I see this:

 

[Boris]

The differences between the Start screen's version of IE 10 and the icon pinned is simply seeing IE open in full screen or windowed mode. It's simply the same IE but two modes.

Not in my opinion. As they dont share the same bookmarks and settings. And this is big let down: with W8 you have to syngronize you settings manually (not between two pc's but) between two UI's in two different control panels. This is also true for email etc.

 

[thatmanbrian]

IE 10 on a desktop will have a different history and bookmarks with the one opening in Metro??

 

[whs]

Getting anything done in a large corporate machine was just so hard

That is the same in any large corporation. The only way you get anything done is if you can show the value of the proposal in money terms. The CFOs usually have the last say.

 

[Vince53]

Eighteen years ago, the paper mill that I worked at introduced touch-screen monitors, with the option of using the mouse. It was so much easier to use the touch screen that most of us did. Within a few years, I predict that no one will be manufacturing non touch screen monitors.

 

[tcman50]

Eighteen years ago, the paper mill that I worked at introduced touch-screen monitors, with the option of using the mouse. It was so much easier to use the touch screen that most of us did. Within a few years, I predict that no one will be manufacturing non touch screen monitors.

agreed, everyone now has a justified use for their middle finger

 

[crawfish]

Eighteen years ago, the paper mill that I worked at introduced touch-screen monitors, with the option of using the mouse. It was so much easier to use the touch screen that most of us did. Within a few years, I predict that no one will be manufacturing non touch screen monitors.

They're also popular at McDonalds. They're still not going to help me write this message or do anything else I do at my desktop computer.

 

[Coke Robot]

I kind of wonder sometimes if "power users" feel that Windows 8 kills power using because the interface doesn't look like an MS-DOS screen. Take for example, the Recovery Environment, it's much more simpler to use than ever and yes, it looks dumbed down. But isn't that the whole point of software UI evolution, to make it easier to use?

 

[Vince53]

I might not have explained myself properly, You CAN use a mouse and a keyboard with a touch screen. And just as no one in the world is manufacturing 32-bit hardware, the day will come when no one will be manufacturing non touch monitors.

 

[Colonel Travis]

I kind of wonder sometimes if "power users" feel that Windows 8 kills power using because the interface doesn't look like an MS-DOS screen.

Oh boy, not me. Can't stand DOS. I hate the BIOS screen, I hate website coding. I remember Atari BASIC - even hated that. I'm not a programmer, although I understand the delight they get from making good code, but I've always thought we were decades - maybe even centuries - behind from being able to make stuff appear on a computer screen easily as well as elegantly. Agree with you completely - make the interface simple and cool and forward-thinking.

The other night I went to hear Walter Isaacson speak, he wrote the big Steve Jobs bio. Not a fan of Isaacson because his books are boring, and his speech was boring, but I still like to get a chance to hear someone like him talk because some nugget might come out of it. Of course he ripped MS, made fun of the Ribbon, spoke highly of Apple. Typical one-sided nonsense. But when he talked about Jobs working on his products, I thought of Windows 8 and that guy who made a video of his dumbfounded dad. Jobs would say - I want something that someone can pick up without any instructions and be able to operate intuitively. With the iPod, someone told Jobs it takes so many steps a user has to take to get to a song, and Jobs said screw that, there are too many steps. Cut it down. And the designers said they didn't know if they could cut it down, and he said - cut it down. And they did. Every time Jobs said do something, and was met with resistance, he always prevailed and the end-product was better off for it. I've used Macs since they came out. I've used PCs the same amount of time. Macs used to be superior machines for certain things. That's simply not the case any more. I think Apple computers are a waste of money but they're still great machines, and all Apple products are easy to use. MS needs to keep the idea of great design in mind, because they lost it with 8. I know a lot of people love Metro, and I'm not trying to stir up that debate, I'm just saying that a lot of people don't, and I think MS needs to seriously take that into account from here on out, or else they will lose serious business.

 

[Calico]

I kind of wonder sometimes if "power users" feel that Windows 8 kills power using because the interface doesn't look like an MS-DOS screen. Take for example, the Recovery Environment, it's much more simpler to use than ever and yes, it looks dumbed down. But isn't that the whole point of software UI evolution, to make it easier to use?

Unfortunately, this is the kind of comment I'd expect from someone who doesn't understand the command prompt or how it can be used. It's also a very Windows-centric point of view. That aside, it's not about the kind of user one happens to be or the interface available, it's about providing the right interface for the task at hand.

There's nothing wrong with providing simple ways to perform complex tasks, however, in certain situations simplicity has to make way for more appropriate tools. Windows 8, just like it's predecessors, provides both environments. For those less technical users, there's Metro style, as well as familiar desktop applications. However, quite often, performing more complex tasks, is either not catered for within the GUI or where there is, it can be severely limited. In these situations, making use of the Command prompt or Powershell is the best alternative.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Wrong OS?

I kind of wonder sometimes if "power users" feel that Windows 8 kills power using because the interface doesn't look like an MS-DOS screen. Take for example, the Recovery Environment, it's much more simpler to use than ever and yes, it looks dumbed down. But isn't that the whole point of software UI evolution, to make it easier to use?

It sounds like you're talking about Linux.

I only rarely use the "Command Prompt" (normally only if my network is playing up).
Unlike Linux, I can fix most problems using the GUI.

The "Command Prompt" and "Powershell" are great for automating repetitive tasks (e.g. scripts) like replacing the meta data on thousands of mp3s.

 

[area 66]

I kind of wonder sometimes if "power users" feel that Windows 8 kills power using because the interface doesn't look like an MS-DOS screen. Take for example, the Recovery Environment, it's much more simpler to use than ever and yes, it looks dumbed down. But isn't that the whole point of software UI evolution, to make it easier to use?

Lol...... software evolution? DOS ? , if at least you have use the words Command Prompt or Power Shell. You can now install a Windows server without GUI (Core) The new Windows 8 Server don’t make exception, the beta version is installable with GUI or in Core version, they even have the “Windows Server "8" Beta Virtual Machine Core (x64)” , more and more servers will be without GUI and administered true the PowerShell interface.

That's the evolution, more power to the one who know how to use it, but at a price, you have to be capable to use the PowerShell.

 

[crawfish]

I might not have explained myself properly, You CAN use a mouse and a keyboard with a touch screen. And just as no one in the world is manufacturing 32-bit hardware, the day will come when no one will be manufacturing non touch monitors.

You're just reasserting what you asserted the first time without any elaboration. I replied that while a touch screen is useful for taking orders at McDonalds, it's not going to help me write this message or do anything else I do with my desktop computer. It would also be awkward to use at arm's length. Then there's the fingerprint smudge factor, which I tolerate on my iPod Touch only because it's so damn useful. Instead of just repeating that it's going to happen, try to explain why.

 

[thatmanbrian]

There could be a snobbery at work for 'power users'. Either they think a pleasant looking interface doesn't present the right image or that it makes it too easy for underlings to do things, undermining their perceived power knowledge!

I still use a command window for some tasks as DOS commands are ingrained in me! It is particularly useful when searching for a file name. Windows search (Win 7) never feels reliable or trustworthy nor very fast and the indexing by default leaves out an awful lot. In DOS I know it is search where and what I want.

 

[Calico]

There could be a snobbery at work for 'power users'. Either they think a pleasant looking interface doesn't present the right image or that it makes it too easy for underlings to do things, undermining their perceived power knowledge!

:huh:

It must have been hell for you working in IT, being surrounded by all those unimaginative snobs...

 

[thatmanbrian]

Ouch!

Lehnerus said "wonder sometimes if "power users" feel that Windows 8 kills power using because the interface doesn't look like an MS-DOS screen. Take for example, the Recovery Environment, it's much more simpler to use than ever and yes, it looks dumbed down."
So I commented from my own experience.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Not me

Ouch!

Lehnerus said "wonder sometimes if "power users" feel that Windows 8 kills power using because the interface doesn't look like an MS-DOS screen. Take for example, the Recovery Environment, it's much more simpler to use than ever and yes, it looks dumbed down."
So I commented from my own experience.

That was Coke Robot, not me. :shock:

http://www.eightforums.com/windows-8-news/5306-windows-8-i-m-warming-up-you-3.html#post80015

 

[jimbo45]

There could be a snobbery at work for 'power users'. Either they think a pleasant looking interface doesn't present the right image or that it makes it too easy for underlings to do things, undermining their perceived power knowledge!

:huh:

It must have been hell for you working in IT, being surrounded by all those unimaginative snobs...

My problem with I.T isn't the I.T guys who usually are trying to do their jobs but with their managers who "pretend" they understand "the business" that they are supposed to be providing services for.

Many times I've had problems in I.T / Business steering commitees when some scrobbity I.T manager who has never even SEEN so much as a screwdriver (they usually come from things like HR or Finanace) and then try and lecture a load of High Voltage Electricity Engineers on what they need to fix broken Pylon cables etc etc.

The poor guys in I.T usuallly have an impossible job of delivering a system cobbled together by some Finance guys to some Engineering users who usually have some limited understanding of I.T from their college days -- and surprise surprise the system isn't fit for purpose.


If you're an Engineer repairing a High Voltage line and you need to get 600 Metres of special HT purpose cable from stores you can't go round filling in 99 zillion cost and profit centres codes and cost per metre of this sort of stuff -- meanwhile you've got 20,000 people without power. !!!

An extreme case --but been there --seen it and done it.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[thatmanbrian]

Sorry got my quote source wrong but you get my drift!!