Five ways Windows 8 overhauls the PC

In 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted the fictional Star Trek chronology and franchise. In 2011, DC Comics did the same with its superheroes. But now Microsoft is about to reboot the very real Windows operating system, and it will forever change how we use computers.

Windows 8 is Microsoft's answer to the question of how to integrate mobile and desktop computing. For the most part, it succeeds, but it's an ambitious answer that will be best understood only when many people to stop thinking of desktop and mobile as discrete entities.

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I respect and admire poeple who try and take risks at doing something new, innoative. In this case however I'm afraid that you don't overhaul computer life that easily. Coming up with Metro Start Screen shows that they don't understand the complexity of tasks one makes on a computer. They assume poeple are using their computer like they are using their cellphone. No. Poeple will still look for their files in a list, they will still look for the "Documents" folder, they will still save files on the HD and they will still print their textes off Word text editor or off PDF reader. Touch screen or not touch screen the work on a computer will still be fundamentaly the same in 100 years from now, just as handwriting is still the same as 100 years ago. I admit W8 is an interresting experiment, I even admit that the new interrface is cool in some ways, but only buffoons are saying it will make a revolution in the way we use computers.
 

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I respect and admire poeple who try and take risks at doing something new, innoative. In this case however I'm afraid that you don't overhaul computer life that easily. Coming up with Metro Start Screen shows that they don't understand the complexity of tasks one makes on a computer. They assume poeple are using their computer like they are using their cellphone. No. Poeple will still look for their files in a list, they will still look for the "Documents" folder, they will still save files on the HD and they will still print their textes off Word text editor or off PDF reader. Touch screen or not touch screen the work on a computer will still be fundamentaly the same in 100 years from now, just as handwriting is still the same as 100 years ago. I admit W8 is an interresting experiment, I even admit that the new interrface is cool in some ways, but only buffoons are saying it will make a revolution in the way we use computers.

It's interesting that "power users" are the ones that come up with the most reasons why Windows 8 will fail and they base it on the way THEY use the computer. In the billions of users in the Windows world "power users" are only a small percentage and therefore it cannot be assumed their way is how everyone does it. There is already enough evidence that shows that millions of people like simple computing, if that were not the case Apple would not have sold so many millions of iPads. The more of these news postings I read the more I notice a trend in the comments of more people accepting and liking Windows 8. Even this article linked here which actually has a poll the "Yes, Upgrade to Windows 8" and "Yes, buy a new computer with Windows 8" counts for 46% of the votes. If you add the "Maybe's" it jumps to 80% in favor of Windows 8. That's a pretty impressive amount for an OS that is set to fail by so many.
 

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If you add "Maybe" to the other options, it jumps to 54% opposed. ;)
 

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There was dramatic increase in those saying they were likely to get win 8 - after the $40 price was revealed.

MS did the right thing there - but it tells you something.

I think it is true a large proportion of the population only needs a computing device of some kind for very simple stuff - bit of browsing and online shopping, bit of emailing - Fbooking - perhaps a time wasting game or two while they are on the train. That's pretty much it.

Nothing wrong with that - if it's all folk want to do - fine.

They can do it on a phone.

They might get something slightly lrager to do exactly the same things - but with a bigger screen - fine - $200 for a Nexus is plenty good enough.

There is a big market for that.
 

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If you add "Maybe" to the other options, it jumps to 54% opposed. ;)

Even so you'd expect much higher opposed given all the negativity against Windows 8, or should I say negativity tech bloggers and power users give Windows 8.

There was dramatic increase in those saying they were likely to get win 8 - after the $40 price was revealed.

MS did the right thing there - but it tells you something.

Really? I'd be interested in the link to where you read that because it wasn't in the article referenced here.
 

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Perefctly obvious to those of us who have been following this for a long time.

For example - there was a thread on this very forum asking will you upgrade to win8.

Can't recall the exact figures , but it was was more no's - until the $40 was announced - then it switched very rapidly.

There is nothing surprising about that.

What do you think the $40 deal is for?
 

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There is a lot of negativity about win8 - a big contrast to the way win7 was received thru the various beta's - ( there were a lot of leaks, too ).

It is clear why that is.

The two Steve's are trying to get some kind of toe hold in the mobile market, they fear they may never get in unles they do it now.

Therefore, they have produced an o/s aimed squarely at the tablet market. There will also be a phone o/s - which will appear similar to the average punter.

However, MS traditional user base ( 1.5 billion, allegedly ) are largely desktop users.

Not hard to see where the problem lies.
 

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If you add "Maybe" to the other options, it jumps to 54% opposed. ;)

Let's split the maybe-s and add to the results:

Yea: 61.5%
Nay: 32.5%

We'll even give you the "Others".
 

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There was dramatic increase in those saying they were likely to get win 8 - after the $40 price was revealed.

MS did the right thing there - but it tells you something.

I think it is true a large proportion of the population only needs a computing device of some kind for very simple stuff - bit of browsing and online shopping, bit of emailing - Fbooking - perhaps a time wasting game or two while they are on the train. That's pretty much it.

Nothing wrong with that - if it's all folk want to do - fine.

They can do it on a phone.

They might get something slightly lrager to do exactly the same things - but with a bigger screen - fine - $200 for a Nexus is plenty good enough.

There is a big market for that.
You're kind of assuming that people ONLY use computers/devices for the most simplest thigs ever. Not true. The average user does do that, but they do Office, they do entertainment like wirelessly connecting their PC to their TV or using their Xbox. Some use Photoshop, some use Facebook. Sweeping generalizations of the 99% of Windows users of how they use their PCs is absurd. Not everyone has five monitors and 80 open windows and not everyone uses a 15 inch screen to troll Facebook.
 

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Perefctly obvious to those of us who have been following this for a long time.

For example - there was a thread on this very forum asking will you upgrade to win8.

Can't recall the exact figures , but it was was more no's - until the $40 was announced - then it switched very rapidly.

There is nothing surprising about that.

What do you think the $40 deal is for?

No, you said "There was dramatic increase in those saying they were likely get win 8 - after the $40 price was revealed.", this is not a statement of opionion based on observation you are stating fact. So unless you have a link that backs up this statement you are only implying that it was based on the thread in these forums which means it is irrelevent to the poll in the article. Had your statement been one of the choices in the poll then yes we could say the $40 had swayed votes.
 

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Here are the numbers so far as both the article poll and the Forum poll (Will you upgrade? That is the question... - View Poll Results) are concerned. I am splitting the maybe-s and adding to both yays and nays.

Article:
Yay 61.5 %
Nay 32.5 %

Forum:
Yay: 54.065 %
Nay: 45.925 %

I think the forum shows a little more prejudice (for the lack of a better word) since there's more Pros that vote here than would on the article site. I'll also dare say that at least 2/3 of the maybe-s will end up changing to 8.
 

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    Acer T690
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    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
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    Acer/Intel E946GZ
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    2GB (max upgrade)
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    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
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    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
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    Acer AL1917W A LCD
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    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
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    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
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    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
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Perefctly obvious to those of us who have been following this for a long time.

For example - there was a thread on this very forum asking will you upgrade to win8.

Can't recall the exact figures , but it was was more no's - until the $40 was announced - then it switched very rapidly.

There is nothing surprising about that.

What do you think the $40 deal is for?

Actually, I started that thread. :p I followed it daily noting the changes and basically, the no's and yes' were quite even with a good maybe margin. Overall though, the yes' pretty much held in slight majority over the no's. There were a couple of moments where the no's had it, but then a few hours later the yes' had it. Even when the upgrade info was released, the stats remained the same except the people that answered yes grew over the people that said no where the amount of maybe's increased a bit and no's increased a bit. The upgrade price didn't seem to have a HUGE effect, but as the cost was taken away from the cons list, more people will obviously upgrade and more people will give it more consideration than before.
 

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    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
Here are the numbers so far as both the article poll and the Forum poll (Will you upgrade? That is the question... - View Poll Results) are concerned. I am splitting the maybe-s and adding to both yays and nays.

Article:
Yay 61.5 %
Nay 32.5 %

Forum:
Yay: 54.065 %
Nay: 45.925 %

I think the forum shows a little more prejudice (for the lack of a better word) since there's more Pros that vote here than would on the article site. I'll also dare say that at least 2/3 of the maybe-s will end up changing to 8.

:thumb:
 

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    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
There is a lot of negativity about win8 - a big contrast to the way win7 was received thru the various beta's - ( there were a lot of leaks, too ).

It is clear why that is.

The two Steve's are trying to get some kind of toe hold in the mobile market, they fear they may never get in unles they do it now.

Therefore, they have produced an o/s aimed squarely at the tablet market. There will also be a phone o/s - which will appear similar to the average punter.

However, MS traditional user base ( 1.5 billion, allegedly ) are largely desktop users.

Not hard to see where the problem lies.
They didn't really aim solely at the mobile market, they were aiming for the new PC market, and that is the tablet and touchscreen. They also aimed it at every other PC. So basically, the aimed it at PCs.
 

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    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
If you add "Maybe" to the other options, it jumps to 54% opposed. ;)

Let's split the maybe-s and add to the results:

Yea: 61.5%
Nay: 32.5%

We'll even give you the "Others".

That was based on the figures that were on the site around the time RobR posted.

It's now:
(No + Maybe)
Yes: 44
No: 55

(Yes + Maybe)
Yes: 79
No 20

The point is that if you add" Maybe" to either side (in a lot of "super scientific" polls :sarc: ) the results skew the way the person doing the addition wants.

"Yes, Prime Minister" The Ministerial Broadcast (1986)

"Yes, Prime Minister" The Ministerial Broadcast (1986) - Memorable quotes
 

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    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
I can only say that I am surpirsed how many are still no or maybe.

$40 is a gift - even if you don't like it much - that is not a purchase decision - it is an impulse buy.

Maybe Steve B should have just made it free.
 

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@Cokie,

Sweeping generalizations of the 99% of Windows users of how they use their PCs is absurd

I said something quite different - did you ever think about reading a post before replying?

I think it is true a large proportion of the population only needs a computing device of some kind for very simple stuff
 

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  • OS
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If you add "Maybe" to the other options, it jumps to 54% opposed. ;)

Let's split the maybe-s and add to the results:

Yea: 61.5%
Nay: 32.5%

We'll even give you the "Others".

That was based on the figures that were on the site around the time RobR posted.

It's now:
(No + Maybe)
Yes: 44
No: 55

(Yes + Maybe)
Yes: 79
No 20

The point is that if you add" Maybe" to either side (in a lot of "super scientific" polls :sarc: ) the results skew the way the person doing the addition wants.

Yes, I'll grant you that. We'll have to keep an eye on the polls. I'm sure some of members will vote in both poles after reading this thread. Bottom line is that sometimes "people" polls can be altogether wrong. I wonder if someone is running an analysis through a computer program on this subject? Nov. 4, 1952: Univac Gets Election Right, But CBS Balks
 

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Yes, it's true - what people say in a poll is not necesssarily what they end up doing.
 

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