How Windows 8 won me over

For those of you who know me and who follow me on Facebook especially, you might know that up until now I’ve been far from the biggest and most loyal supporter of Windows 8. I have found this difficult at times being a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) awardee for two years now in the Windows category. MVPs are independent experts but we’re always watched carefully by Microsoft, well I am anyway, and they take an interest in what we say and write.

Until now I’ve been a big supporter of Microsoft’s products. After the unveiling of the Windows 7 beta just over three years ago I’ve felt that the company had got its mojo back, and was finally headed in the right direction. The quality of the products they have released the last three years including the Live Essentials Suite, SkyDrive, Kinect, Windows Server 2008 and especially Windows Phone gave me confidence that they had put years of stale development behind them.
How Windows 8 won me over
 
Have to agree. I truly have yet to find a reason not to use 8. Thus far all the applications I use in 7 and XP have worked just fine in 8, though I have yet to install VMWare 8. Hopefully sometime in the next couple of days. Golf has now started pulling me away from the computer as the weather gets better each day.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8, (VM win7, XP, Vista)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion p1423w
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3330 Ivy Bridge
    Motherboard
    Foxconn - 2ADA Ivy Brige
    Memory
    16 GB 1066MHz DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5450
    Sound Card
    HD Realteck (Onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Mitsubishi LED TV/Montior HD, Dell 23 HD, Hanspree 25" HD
    Screen Resolution
    Mit. 1980-1080, Dell 2048-115, Hanspree 1920-10802
    Hard Drives
    1 SanDisk 240Gig SSD, 2 Samsung 512Gig SSDs
    Case
    Tower
    Cooling
    Original (Fans)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Keyboard 2000
    Mouse
    Microsoft Optical Mouse 5000
    Internet Speed
    1.3 (350 to 1024 if lucky)
    Browser
    Firefox 19.1
    Antivirus
    MSE-Defender
I think with a little time and a small effort to change Win8 to the way 'You' like it, will win over a lot of the current naysayers.

As with all new OSs it takes a little time to get over the 'Where is X, it use to be easy to find' issues.
There are already apps to return the legacy style start menu, easy to put a 'Shutdown' & 'Restart' icon on the start screen and pin to the taskbar, will be better ways to have the option to boot to the desktop, etc.
Will eventually be enough ways to add changes and make everyone happy.
After all, it is your OS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64/ Windows 7 Ult x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    76~2.0
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3570K 4.6GHz
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-Z77X UD3H f18
    Memory
    8GB (2X4GB) DDR3 1600 CORSAIR Vengeance CL8 1.5v
    Graphics Card(s)
    Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X 1GB DDR5
    Sound Card
    Onboard VIA VT2021
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LCD Dell SP2208WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Samaung 840Pro 128GB, Seagate 500GB SATA2 7200rpm 32mb, Seagate 1TB SATA2 7200rpm 32mb,
    PSU
    Corsair HX650W
    Case
    Cooler Master Storm Scout
    Cooling
    Corsair H80 w/Noctua NF P12 12cm fan, case fans 2X14cm
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wave
    Mouse
    CM Sentinel
    Internet Speed
    Abysmal
    Browser
    Opera Next
    Other Info
    Dell Venue 8Pro: Baytrail Z3740D, 2GB Ram, 64GB HDD, 8" IPS Display 1280 x 800, Active Stylus.
    Haswell laptop: HP Envy 17t-j, i7-4700MQ, GeForce 740M 2GB DDR3, 17.3" Full HD 1920x1080, 16GB RAM, Samsung 840 Pro 128GB, 1TB Hitachi 7200 HDD,
    Desktop: eSATA ports,
    External eSATA Seagate 500GB SATA2 7200rpm,
The thing that wins me over with Windows 8 is the seamless integration of peripherals. Before in past Windows versions, there needed to be drivers from the manufacturer to get it working. In Windows 8, I've had devices literally install and run right before my eyes, and usually with no dialog boxes or anything that suggests Windows is searching for a driver and installing it. Windows 8 is like, ZOOM! I had a wifi adapter literally install and running within three seconds, no joke. I had one of those Flip camcorders install automatically. Everything literally works. It's like the apple mac's creed, but then again, macs don't have ANYWHERE as many compatible devices to work with as Windows does.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
You're lucky (or I'm unlucky)

The thing that wins me over with Windows 8 is the seamless integration of peripherals. Before in past Windows versions, there needed to be drivers from the manufacturer to get it working. In Windows 8, I've had devices literally install and run right before my eyes, and usually with no dialog boxes or anything that suggests Windows is searching for a driver and installing it.

I've had the exact opposite experience. :cry:
This is the first version of Windows that I've used, that won't correctly install a driver, despite trying a dozen times using several different methods.
In the past I've had problems with NVidia drivers, but they only took 2 or 3 attempts to install correctly.

My MB only came out ~2 years ago (I got it last May).
XP, W7 and W8 DP all managed to install the driver correctly on the first attempt.
W8 CP can't manage it at all.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    n/a
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
    Case
    Tower
    Mouse
    Wired Optical
    Other Info
    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
    Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
    RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
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