Is it really that bad??

[Mystere]

My phone auto corrected on me. I meant to say it wasn't more steps OR any more time consuming...it is simply annoying to me. I really just don't like flipping back and forth between the radically different looking screens. It's almost an irrational complaint...but I just don't like it.

Well, at least you recognize that it's irrational

Can you explain why it bothers you so much? It's not like you lose your place in the app you're working on (unless you start a new app, in which case focus will shift to the new app). It's not like it's not a single click to be back exactly where you were.

I read these messages about people who complain that they "lose sight" of their word processing document.. really? They complain that they can't see their browser for a moment. Really? I mean, come on.. if these are the worst arguments you have... then Windows 8 is actually quite a success, if your worst argument is that there is something annoying about it... you could say that about your wife!

 

[geeve420]

Pparks1, Couldn't you just create your own keyboard shortcut for snipping tool by going to the properties of the application, going to the shortcut tab and filling in what ever you wanted it to be? I have done that for several of my most used Programs, I did the same thing in W7.....

Geeve

 

[pparks1]

Uggghhh...I knew people would not understand what I was trying to say. I realize "how" to get to the snipping tool under Windows 8. I know that I can pin it to Start, i know that I can pin to the taskbar. I know that I can create an icon for it on my desktop.

It's simply the fact that I have to leave desktop, see wild and crazy start screen, and then snap back to the desktop that I don't like. It just bothers me, plain and simple....not for any technical reason, it's pure emotion and experience Of course, after pinning it to the taskbar, it's no longer an annoyance...but the first time getting to it on a machine is what gets me irritated.

 

[geeve420]

Uggghhh...I knew people would not understand what I was trying to say. I realize "how" to get to the snipping tool under Windows 8. I know that I can pin it to Start, i know that I can pin to the taskbar. I know that I can create an icon for it on my desktop.

It's simply the fact that I have to leave desktop, see wild and crazy start screen, and then snap back to the desktop that I don't like. It just bothers me, plain and simple....not for any technical reason, it's pure emotion and experience Of course, after pinning it to the taskbar, it's no longer an annoyance...but the first time getting to it on a machine is what gets me irritated.

I gotcha now! right on....

Geeve

 

[pparks1]

Well, at least you recognize that it's irrational

Yes, it's purely an emotional thing.

Can you explain why it bothers you so much? It's not like you lose your place in the app you're working on (unless you start a new app, in which case focus will shift to the new app). It's not like it's not a single click to be back exactly where you were.

It probably bothers me because the metro type interface is not very appealing to me. I prefer really to not see it, EVER. When I am on another machine and I have to bring up the Start Screen, it's just a reminder to me that the interface that I don't like is still there and it bugs me.

When I hit the windows key and I see that screen with the tiles and such...it's like a punch to the nuts. It's just so busy, bright, colorful, and the spinning tiles with pictures and news feeds and such is just such a jolt to my system. And Microsoft seems to have gone a bit out of their way to prevent me from really changing it or making it more appealing (like a complete inability natively change that background picture to something that I would actually want). I don't like the bland 2D effects. I don't like the fact that right now, based on my system setup, that the tile for the desktop, the tile for photos and the tile for People are all showing me the exact same picture.

I read these messages about people who complain that they "lose sight" of their word processing document.. really? They complain that they can't see their browser for a moment. Really? I mean, come on.. if these are the worst arguments you have... then Windows 8 is actually quite a success, if your worst argument is that there is something annoying about it... you could say that about your wife!

I'm one that complains a bit about "losing sight". When I am on a computer with a single monitor, and I have to leave the desktop to find a new application, all of the things that I had open and resized so that I could view 3-4 things at once all disappear. Now sure, if I am just going out to Start to fire up the snipping tool I will be right back. But if I hit start just to peruse some application and then a live tile grabs my attention then I might be sitting there for 5-10 minutes reading the news feed and not responding to an instant message that popped up on Microsoft Lync on my desktop, or seeing an email that I have been waiting on come into Outlook on my desktop....or see that an rsync script that was running in an SSH window has completed. Am I to blame for getting distracted and losing focus? Absolutely. Might I be screwing around on Facebook or reading this forum from work and being distracted? Yes. However, when on facebook or on this forum, I'm simply in a browser window and I have my entire taskbar on display. When an email hits Outlook, I see it come in. When my instant messenger goes off, I see the icon blinking on my taskbar. I get notifications and I can respond to them. When I am out in Metro Land, I'm not getting the notices.

It's not so much that Windows 8 is bad. It has features that I quite like. But it's entwined with the metro UI experience and I don't care for that. It's not radically better for me than Windows 7. I just don't want to spend the $40 to make my Windows 7 box Windows 8. I'd rather just save my money and continue to use Windows 7. I prefer having a start menu (without having to use a third party), I prefer the aero look and feel (even though I run without transparency in 7), and I don't care for "any" of the tiled applications as of yet. So, when I take the Start Screen, remove all of the tiled apps and just leave pinned desktop apps...I just don't see the point of actually having 8.

 

[Mystere]

It probably bothers me because the metro type interface is not very appealing to me. I prefer really to not see it, EVER. When I am on another machine and I have to bring up the Start Screen, it's just a reminder to me that the interface that I don't like is still there and it bugs me.

Imagine that it's 1990, and you're on a BBS (it was like the internet, with dialup, but not global) and you found someone saying they were using Windows 3.0, and they hated it because the windows were all colorful and annoying. All they wanted was DOS.

Would you not have told them to stop complaining and just use DOS?

They might argue that they like some features of Windows, such as using more than 640k, but the whole Windows thing was annoying, and even if they ran a DOS window full screen, they still "knew" Windows was there in the background, and it bugged them.

Would you not tell that person they should seek psychological help with that problem?

 

[mbratch]

It probably bothers me because the metro type interface is not very appealing to me. I prefer really to not see it, EVER. When I am on another machine and I have to bring up the Start Screen, it's just a reminder to me that the interface that I don't like is still there and it bugs me.

Imagine that it's 1990, and you're on a BBS (it was like the internet, with dialup, but not global) and you found someone saying they were using Windows 3.0, and they hated it because the windows were all colorful and annoying. All they wanted was DOS.

Would you not have told them to stop complaining and just use DOS?

That's not quite the right comparison.

If I understand the OP's scenario, your comparison should go something like this...

The user is in 1990. They like DOS. They bought a new PC which came with Windows 3.0, but they simply prefer to use DOS and have found a way to do that under Windows 3.0. But, every time they enter the DOS command they want, it temporarily pops them over to this Windows 3.0 world where they have to click on something to get back to their DOS program.

I would tell that user, "Yep, I can understand why you're annoyed and the system is stupid for behaving that way. But the makers of the system have decided that this behavior is better and that you should learn to like it. In fact, they have a one hour video explaining in detail why the new system is better and more likeable."

 

[Tepid]

You know, if you think about though. Everywhere you go, there is a psychological process to how things are laid out.
All the big chain stores work on your mental senses in how they present everything to you. How the lay out is, what items are where exactly.
I hadn't really thought bars were that way till I started watching that bar makeover show. But convenience stores, restaurants, clubs, and even Windows.

However, I will agree that the start screen and the metro apps are a bit annoying to use, yes, I admit it, it's not the end of it all.
I like the live tiles and stuff, and it's not that annoying to switch to it.'
And like with other Windows Systems, I have customized them all to my needs, so ClassicShell is not a reach for me (or should be for anyone really) to install and customize. There are a lot of people who used Logon Screen changers and stuff, what's the real difference?

If it had been me. I would have kept the desktop (even on tablets) the focus point and made the Tiles and Live Tiles icons display on the desktop, Or....
But let's be honest, people would still complain about them.
Or... Made Metro UI a Zune or Media Center type interface that could be resized etc.

I would have made it so Metro Apps run in their own Window on the desktop.

The problem with this is,,,,

Metro Apps are supposed to be designed so that you can use them on any device.
So there has to be some kind of standard that can cross platform with all those devices.

How simple that would be to make a windowed app run on a phone or vice versa without extra code, or even having to recode per device I don't know.
But from my understanding is that all Metro Apps should be able to now run on any device with minimal effort on the part of the programer.
I am starting to research this and see if I can write a small app, to see what I can do with it. Anyway....

It Windows 8 really that bad?
You could say it is a matter of perspective to a small degree.
Really the only complaints I have seen are all over the new Metro UI. Some complaints about some of the apps and how they work, but for the most part they are the apps that noone really used to begin with in previous Windows Versions, they found their own, like foobar or WinAmp or something for music and VLC or something else for movies.

The security improvements and some of the App you can get in the Metro Store, among other things do make Windows 8 a good upgrade.

If you go off looks alone, I am quite sure some of us here would probably not get any dates, or be married.

No, Windows 8 really is not as bad as many try to make it out to be, like they do with practically every new Windows OS or App (think office).

 

[pparks1]

Imagine that it's 1990, and you're on a BBS (it was like the internet, with dialup, but not global) and you found someone saying they were using Windows 3.0, and they hated it because the windows were all colorful and annoying. All they wanted was DOS.

Would you not have told them to stop complaining and just use DOS?

Yes and no. I've still got Windows 7 and I can use that. And Windows 8 isn't that much different in most respects. However I'd rather be open and honest about how I feel about it in hopes that changes could potentially be made to it to make it work better for me.

There are simple reasons why many of us don't care much for Windows 8. A few simple customization options could resolve most of my concerns, but it won't mesh with where Microsoft is trying to take this operating system. The only retort I can make is to simply not buy it, not upgrade to it and not use it to show my overall dissatisfaction. That's what I am doing.

 

[Mustang]

How is print screen easier on Windows 8? On Win7 simply press Ctrl + PrtScn. Then paste to Word or wherever.

And snipping tool can be sent to desktop as shortcut, or pinned to task bar, and one click to use. I don't use it very often so keep it in jump start menu.

Oh ... and I never have to leave the desktop which to me is infuriating when working with 4 or 5 open windows.

 

[Fredledingue]

Imagine that it's 1990, and you're on a BBS (it was like the internet, with dialup, but not global) and you found someone saying they were using Windows 3.0, and they hated it because the windows were all colorful and annoying. All they wanted was DOS. Would you not have told them to stop complaining and just use DOS?

That's not the right question neither.

---

Imagine that it's 2012, you are on the internet and you find someone saying they are using some sort of new DOS look-alike OS with huge blocks and plain flat 16-colors based desing, and they hated it because it was full screen and annoying. All they wanted was Windows.

 

[gazz9496]

one of the guy's at my work would prefer DOS....he also hates windows 8...but then he's never actually used it for more than a minute or two.

 

[Mitchell]

So i followed Brink tutorial on how to have an automatic log in with a Microsoft account. But sometimes when I log it, it says logging in "Other User" and then fails for having a wrong password. Any reason??

 

[lehnerus2000]

Screenshots

How is print screen easier on Windows 8? On Win7 simply press Ctrl + PrtScn. Then paste to Word or wherever.

And snipping tool can be sent to desktop as shortcut, or pinned to task bar, and one click to use. I don't use it very often so keep it in jump start menu.

Oh ... and I never have to leave the desktop which to me is infuriating when working with 4 or 5 open windows.

I though that "Ctrl + PrtScn" sent the screenshot to the printer.

Key	Action
PrtScn	Screenshot entire screen
Alt + PrtScn	Screenshot active window
Ctrl + PrtScn	Screenshot send to printer
Windows 8 adds: Win + PrtScn	Screenshot entire screen and automatically send to "Pictures" folder

 

[Coke Robot]

It probably bothers me because the metro type interface is not very appealing to me. I prefer really to not see it, EVER. When I am on another machine and I have to bring up the Start Screen, it's just a reminder to me that the interface that I don't like is still there and it bugs me.

Imagine that it's 1990, and you're on a BBS (it was like the internet, with dialup, but not global) and you found someone saying they were using Windows 3.0, and they hated it because the windows were all colorful and annoying. All they wanted was DOS.

Would you not have told them to stop complaining and just use DOS?

They might argue that they like some features of Windows, such as using more than 640k, but the whole Windows thing was annoying, and even if they ran a DOS window full screen, they still "knew" Windows was there in the background, and it bugged them.

Would you not tell that person they should seek psychological help with that problem?

 

[xraiderv1]

Quick question:
How can I get shortcuts on the desktop.
Like I have outlook pinned to the taskbar but how can I get it like under "My Computer"
With windows 7 all I did was drag it from start menu

Something like this...
View attachment 13182
Right click on the Outlook tile on Start or in All Apps (you will need to right click anywhere on the Start Screen and then hit All apps on the bottom of the command bar) and you will see something that says Open file location. Click that.

View attachment 13183
Then it will open a File Explorer window, which will allow you to drag the shortcut to the Desktop.

off topic a mo... how do I label my tile groups?

 

[Mystere]

Click the - (minus) in the lower right corner (or zoom using any of several other techniques), then right click a group and choose Name Group.

 

[Wenda]

I love my release preview. I am planning to buy Windows 8 pro after Christmas and am looking forward to it. I dont like what i've seen of the flat look but if it works as well as this beta does, it'l be OK.

 

[topgundcp]

Click the - (minus) in the lower right corner (or zoom using any of several other techniques), then right click a group and choose Name Group.

In addtion to this, you can also click and hold the group to move it around.

 

[Tepid]

So i followed Brink tutorial on how to have an automatic log in with a Microsoft account. But sometimes when I log it, it says logging in "Other User" and then fails for having a wrong password. Any reason??

Yes, this could be due to it not recognizing the default password that you may have set for the Auto-Login,
Or, it may be logging in so fast that it is skipping the check for it...
But most likely it is failing to use the correct profile, trying to login to either a non-existent profile, or the default profile.

how to fix this I am not sure, and which of those I really not sure, but I am guessing that it is the 3rd.

I would suggest posting in that tutorial for a possible better answer. I may also take a look at it and see, that tutorial.

But before that I would try reversing it, see if you have issues logging in, then try the tutorial again. Maybe something just got tweaked and that might fix it.