Getting rid of The App Platform.

[martinhindsight]

I like windows 8 a lot.
The only thing I dislike about it, is the app environment. It is very confusing, obtrusive and seems kind of unnecessary.
So here is what I would like to be able to do:

I would like to get rid of it.

I don't mean merely disabling it or uninstalling apps.

I want to rip it out of the operating system so that afterwards it looks like it was never there. I want to erase every trace of it.

Is that even possible?

 

[Slartybart]

It (the app environment) is very confusing, obtrusive and seems kind of unnecessary.
So here is what I would like to be able to do: I would like to get rid of it.
I don't mean merely disabling it or uninstalling apps. ​

I don't know a way to disable the Modern side of Win8 - it's kind of built into Windows.

Please elaborate on why you think it's confusing - maybe members can make it less confusing for you.
And what is obtrusive about it - do things pop up, or interfere with your other work? Members might have some suggestions that would help there as well.
Kind of unnecessary - yep not to mention that some of the Modern apps are 'duplicates' of desktop apps.

Here's what I did to Win8.1:
I always boot to desktop, not to the Start Screen
For every Desktop app that I regularly use, I uninstalled it's counterpart on the Modern side. I played with the Modern app to see what it did, if there were any advantages, but I was used to the desktop version, so after playing I uninstalled it.

Then I organized the Start Screen so that it only contained my favorite desktop apps
1) unpin from start all the apps I didn't want to see all the time
2) pin to start the apps I frequently use
Think of the Start Screen as the recent programs list or pin to start menu on the older style start menu
3) If I need a seldom used app, I open the Apps screen
Think of Apps as All programs on the older style start menu

So after configuring boot to desktop and organizing apps on the Start Screen, I have basically what I think you want without ripping apart Windows.

If you want to try it through configuration changes - let me know. If you're intent on ripping apart Windows to accomplish the same goal, I won't be able to help you with that - I wouldn't know where to begin or how the system would behave.

Another member might know.

Bill
.

 

[martinhindsight]

thank you for the quick reply.

The app environment is of course necessary for mobile devices but why would a desktop user prefer them over the regular Programs?
any app probably does have a better regular counterpart. The whole thing feels kind of like a parasite latched onto a regular windows without any real improvement in how windows is interacted with. It is just another layer of Interface to interact with windows and as such it is redundant. Whether you do a double-click on the desktop or a single-click in the app-environment, it won't matter to the desktop user. It just adds more confusion. The settings in the app platform seem to partially reflect the Control panel so I can just go straight to the control panel and make changes there.
And I don't like the idea of connecting my regular windows User Account to an outlook account. I have no Idea how they are connected and how it affects the configuration of user rights. They should have made it optional during installation.

After doing a google search I realized that it most likely won't be possible but I thought it is still worth a try to consult the official forums.

 

[Slartybart]

darn, I had a nice post and closed the wrong window.

Most desktop users prefer the desktop applications - maybe I confused you by saying Desktop Apps

You can uninstall any app, Desktop or Modern. It's less parasitic, more parallel. They released a two headed OS trying to satisfy the Desktop base and allow new hardware (touch) and new users (phone and tablet) to use Windows they way they were used to using devices. Did they fall short - sort of, but MS quickly recovered with 8.1 - few people noticed by that them, the damage was done.

This is where a lot of people get it wrong. The Desktop and the Modern GUIs are peers, equals. There is not another layer. You decide which GUI meets your need and use that one. There isn't any redundancy, other than how an application works in a GUI.
Take IE for example - there is a version for both GUIS. Why? Because the Modern GUI is used more by people with touch screens and the tiny icons on the Desktop IE don't work very well on touch screens. You never have to use the Modern IE unless you want to - I uninstalled it along with most of the other Modern Apps.

PC Settings is the Modern GUI for Control Panel - big for touch. There are a few settings in PC Settings that are not in Control Panel, but they mostly apply to the Modern GUI.

I agree with you 100% on the Microsoft Account issue and I provided feedback to MS for the Win10 Technical Preview (TP). (There's a new release of Win10 TP that might have made this much better ... I hope so.

The best advise I can offer is for you to use the desktop exclusively. The only time you might go to the Modern side is for the Start Screen. Forget all about the Modern Apps, PC settings, Charms, - forget about them. Run Windows only from the Desktop and only with Desktop programs. Use Control Panel and all the other Desktop features - forget the Modern GUI exists.

Quick tips: Right click the Windows logo (start button) and you'll see a 'power menu' - use that instead of going to the Start Screen. Pin your favorite Desktop programs to the taskbar (right click -> pin to taskbar)

If you're concerned about disk space, uninstall the Modern apps that came With Win8

You can switch to a local account in PC Settings -> Accounts

If you have a Modern app that uses an MS account, you can either hit the [cancel] button when you launch it or sign into to each application individually (not recommended) The words not recommended are part of the text on the sign in screen for the application - MS doesn't recommend doing it this way - they recommend using a MSA sign-in. A recommendation is just that - you can still do it the either way. I do recommend signing into an app individually if you want to sign into Windows with a local account.

 

[strollin]

I don't think it's possible to remove the "Modern" side of Win 8. Just make sure you've set things to boot direct to the desktop and ensure that no modern app is set as the default app for any extension. Doing that makes it so you pretty much will never see a modern app.

 

[markweatherill]

You could always disable the Windows Store service and no Store 'apps' will work.

 

[10soonerlater]

The 'only' ModernGUI intrusion I get, and it's an acceptable compromise, is the System Tray network icon and the process that follows upon left-clicking it. The right side opens up a column listing the available network information in ModernGUI form. Once the network and internet connections are established, I can close the column and I'm back in total Desktop.

If the connections were left on automatic, I might not even bother with the Tray icon or the right-side ModernGUI column. Sigh! Compromise.

 

[David Bailey]

A picture---



I use Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements

 

[alphanumeric]

Striping it out is most likely a bad idea. Too many interdependencies. You'll more than likely just break something in the process and end up with a nonfunctional Windows install. If you do decide to give it a try make an image of your currently running system first. I'd make a recovery thumb drive too.