Will Windows 8 Work Out For The Average PC User?

With Windows 8 set for launch later this year, the debate is still raging on about the relatively radical design changes implemented by http://www.redmondpie.com/will-wind...&utm_campaign=Feed:+RedmondPie+(Redmond+Pie)#Microsoft in the OS. Now, before I go on, I want to note that I’m not the type that’s resistant to change. Improvement and progress is welcome, and I really don’t mind adjusting to changes of any sort. But, the issue isn’t with people like me; it’s with users that struggled to understand Windows as it was before these radical changes.


Will Windows 8 Work Out For The Average PC User? | Redmond Pie
 
They should bring out two versions of Windows 8, one with training wheels and one for people open to change. I was going to word this differently but I didn't want to start world war 3.
 

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I think it will be a big success especially with the smart phone and tablet crowd as the PC has a similar interface and access to Metro Apps that will also be on the phones and tablets.

Jim
 

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I think it will be a big success especially with the smart phone and tablet crowd as the PC has a similar interface and access to Metro Apps that will also be on the phones and tablets.

Jim

I agree, but I think we're in the minority.
 

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For me, the reason to get a Windows based tablet PC is to get away from the restrictive interfaces and apps provided by iDroid devices. I was thinking about getting a Windows tablet so that I could have all the functionality of my desktop PC. I'm a little worried about being locked into "Metro" so I may end up with a Windows 7 tablet a bit sooner than I anticipated.
 

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For me, the reason to get a Windows based tablet PC is to get away from the restrictive interfaces and apps provided by iDroid devices. I was thinking about getting a Windows tablet so that I could have all the functionality of my desktop PC. I'm a little worried about being locked into "Metro" so I may end up with a Windows 7 tablet a bit sooner than I anticipated.
Its entirely up to you what you do but as far as I'm aware as long as you buy an Intel based tablet with Windows 8, you wont be locked into Metro. Dont forget Windows 8 is optomised for tablets and also the new Intel chips are as well. You're experience on a Windows 8 tablet should be a lot better than on a Windows 7 tablet.
My personal opinion is that you will be much better off with a Windows 8 tablet, but I could be totally wrong. The only problem you could have is if you bought an ARM based tablet.
Also battery life will be much better and any heat problems should be less.
 

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Well, I've always thought that Windows 8 will be better suited in the younger generations. Yes, there are the older folks out there that do keep with technology, but to me, the younger crowd will adopt it better. It might not necessary be due to being used to "smart"phone UIs, since they would need to be using Windows Phones to truly say they are adapted to Windows 8. It would be more due to the fact that it's greatly different, it's not the Windows their parents used. I think that would be the major attraction point.
 

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Its entirely up to you what you do but as far as I'm aware as long as you buy an Intel based tablet with Windows 8, you wont be locked into Metro.

I don't like Metro as an interface. I know an x86 tablet will be able to run all the conventional x86 apps, but I just don't like the start menu replacement.

I can see a lot of people being confused with Metro. People who have been using computers since 95/98/XP shouldn't have to change the way they use the computer. Sure, things got moved around a bit in Vista/7, but Metro is like a whole 'nother OS.
 

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Its entirely up to you what you do but as far as I'm aware as long as you buy an Intel based tablet with Windows 8, you wont be locked into Metro.

I don't like Metro as an interface. I know an x86 tablet will be able to run all the conventional x86 apps, but I just don't like the start menu replacement.

I can see a lot of people being confused with Metro. People who have been using computers since 95/98/XP shouldn't have to change the way they use the computer. Sure, things got moved around a bit in Vista/7, but Metro is like a whole 'nother OS.
People since 95 etc, I've been using computers since the Commodore 64 and Amiga, Amstrad and Atari, I dont find Windows 8 that confusing. Probably what MS should have done is put a little video at the start and also a PDF, and maybe they will in June, I certainly hope so for their sake.
I havent used Windows 7 on a tablet, but to be honest, I think it would be horrible, where Windows 8 will be very easy, maybe even easier than IOS.
But I suppose if you hate it that much stick with what you know.
 

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It's not about hating it. They've reinvented a perfectly good wheel.

IMO, the only thing Win7 lacks natively is a decent on screen keyboard, but any tablet manufacturer has that covered. Tap to click, right click - it all works just fine. I was playing around with the Acer Win7 tablet and was quite happy with the usability.

It would have been fine if they took Win7 and gave it a tablet interface - just like Media Center gave Win7 a HTPC interface.

My experience with various tablets is that the user is locked into a very specific interface. They're good for a select few things, but at the end of the day the PC is easier to use. I feel that all Metro does is force the user into a specific interface. It's almost as if a fully functional PC is being "locked down" to be used as a kiosk terminal or something.
 

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Hi there
Oh dear here we go again !!!!

I know the modern educational system in most countries appears to be regressing but people who buy and use computers aren't usually that ignorant in their basic use.

Lets take 4 basic groups of people

1) Youngsters / young teens .

I think about 150% of this group all have at least ONE smart phone or access to one.

If even 7 year olds can master the intricacies of an Iphone (or most other smart phones) without batting an eye lid W8 won't be a problem for them.

2) First time users

As this group hasn't previous experience with Windows it should be a relatively easy matter for them to use the new W8.
This group hasn't got any previous experience - so nothing to "unlearn" and they won't be looking all over the place for stuff where they are used to finding it.

3) The "Geeks". Now this is the group that seems to have the most difficulty using it themselves (and by inference they assume everybody else will have problems too). They are so used to doing everything with possibly loads of keyboard short cuts etc and other tricks that they will probably get frustrated and irritated rather than just sitting down for an hour or so and playing around with the system.

4) "Average" Joe out there.

Some will have problems some won't -- just like the current position. So long as a decent video is presented at initial install or first boot up time - remember those clips that you had with Windows XP and earlier --- "Explore Windows" or was it "Take a Windows Tour" people will soon get the hang of it.

The key is in having a video AND MANUAL (video tutorials are fine but one often needs reference to a manual as well that you can peruse at your own pace -- You Tube users please note not everything works in "teaching mode" by making a You Tube video) .

I really think the difficulty is grossly overblown -- people adapted to Windows 3.1 easily enough from DOS based systems and that was a MONUMENTAL difference in working.

W8 will stand or fail on whether it's nice and fast on modern gear, can install even the most relcalcitrant of drivers easily and run as many as possible programs in compatability mode.

These days people aren't going out to buy a new printer say just because a manufacturer can't be bothered to make sure their hardware still works with W8. Some will get round the problem by using Virtual Machines (the average joe out there actually knows more about these than one would suspect !!) while others will say well I'll just stick with W7 until I absolutely HAVE to upgrade.

Incidentally there are still enough "Backports" for people still to load XP on to modern systems so W7 won't go away any time soon even if W8 comes pre-installed on newer gear.

I think this product WILL be a success although we do need to stop the 35 km or so left scrolling to find an application.

(And BTW t o Start menu lovers -- if you've got a lot of programs with a lot of sub menus and sub-sub menus and sub sub sub menus etc this gets impossibly unwieldy too and is HOPELESS on a computer with a small screen such as a 10 inch screen netbook).

Cheers
jimbo
 

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It's not about hating it. They've reinvented a perfectly good wheel.


It would have been fine if they took Win7 and gave it a tablet interface - just like Media Center gave Win7 a HTPC interface".

You've just described Windows 8.
 

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@jimbo, well said, I won't bother going over all your points, except to say that I think Windows 8 will be a success. Like you said, the people who are having the most trouble are the people ho have gotten themselves into a routine.

I probably haven't had too much trouble because I have always used different OS's and PC's from the Commodore64,Amiga, Linux, DOS and Windows etc. Too be honest I'm getting bored with Windows 7, although its a very good OS. I'm really looking forward to see how Windows 8 will pan out and particularly the new Apps for Metro.
 

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Pretty much can easily do anything I want on 8, but doesn't mean I like it. In fact, the opposite. The Start menu works ehh alright for me as an app launcher since I can use it quicker than 7, but anything else imho is nonsense. Apps in Metro, nonsense. Charms bar, waving magic wand nonsense...so on and so on. Charms bar pops up on my 100 times a day when I didn't want it nor need it. I play guitar and run sheet music apps...so sometimes I have to do things extremely quickly with Windows to keep up with the playing music...and instead Charms bar pops up to slow me down at the most inopportune times.
 

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You've just described Windows 8.

Not really - they're forcing users into a full screen "start menu" which is more clutter than anything. They've made it so that the conventional "Explorer" shell is rarely used, and difficult to use when you get into it.

As for Win7 on a tablet - I see absolutely nothing wrong with it if what you want is a slate PC with a full blown OS on it. If you want an iDroid like interface, then maybe Metro is your thing. If you want the full blown functionality of a Win7 PC, then it really isn't.

Metro might be pretty if you want music, picture and fart apps tablets have become so useful for, but when you want to get some work done, Metro isn't your tool.

My other fear is that when Win8 hits the shelves, there will be less incentive for OEMs to build tablets with active digitizers. I like the ASUS EP121 for the handwriting capabilities, but I don't really like the price.
 

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You've just described Windows 8.

Not really - they're forcing users into a full screen "start menu" which is more clutter than anything. They've made it so that the conventional "Explorer" shell is rarely used, and difficult to use when you get into it.

As for Win7 on a tablet - I see absolutely nothing wrong with it if what you want is a slate PC with a full blown OS on it. If you want an iDroid like interface, then maybe Metro is your thing. If you want the full blown functionality of a Win7 PC, then it really isn't.

Metro might be pretty if you want music, picture and fart apps tablets have become so useful for, but when you want to get some work done, Metro isn't your tool.

My other fear is that when Win8 hits the shelves, there will be less incentive for OEMs to build tablets with active digitizers. I like the ASUS EP121 for the handwriting capabilities, but I don't really like the price.

I just had a look at that Asus its a pretty mean looking tablet, thats the beauty of Windows, the choice is mind boggling, where with Apple its my way or the highway. Unfortunalely something like that is really only suited to a limited number of people hence the high price.
Hopefully Windows 8 and the new Intel chips will bring down prices as these machines become more popular and powerfull, unfortunately that wont be of any benefit to you if you dont like Windows 8.
 

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It's really funny how guys that like W8 see it as their duty to defend W8.

Defend away, what you just don't seem to grasp for some reason is that a huge bunch of people just don't like it. Not talking about functionality or anything like that. We just don't like it.

Feel free to throw out the don't want to change foolishness, or whatever is the flavour this week.

Outside of oem's using this on their systems I just see a massive flop for W8. I have always bought the new os as soon as it dropped. I have zero interest in this one, and quite frankly other than a few people on W8 forums I know NO ONE who likes it.
 

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It's really funny how guys that like W8 see it as their duty to defend W8.

Defend away, what you just don't seem to grasp for some reason is that a huge bunch of people just don't like it. Not talking about functionality or anything like that. We just don't like it.

Feel free to throw out the don't want to change foolishness, or whatever is the flavour this week.

Outside of oem's using this on their systems I just see a massive flop for W8. I have always bought the new os as soon as it dropped. I have zero interest in this one, and quite frankly other than a few people on W8 forums I know NO ONE who likes it.
I find it really funny how guys that dont like W8 assume that everyone else shouldnt like it either. Most of them use the same rhetoric as well, its just like Vista and ME, its going to be a massive flop, I'm pretty sure most of them wouldnt even know what Vista and ME are. As far as forums go, I go to quite a few independant forums and find that quite a few people really do like it.

In my opinion its going to be a massive success, but people stuck in a routine are going to hold back, just like the people still on XP.
 

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Hi there
Oh dear here we go again !!!!

I know the modern educational system in most countries appears to be regressing but people who buy and use computers aren't usually that ignorant in their basic use.

Lets take 4 basic groups of people

1) Youngsters / young teens .

I think about 150% of this group all have at least ONE smart phone or access to one.

If even 7 year olds can master the intricacies of an Iphone (or most other smart phones) without batting an eye lid W8 won't be a problem for them.

2) First time users

As this group hasn't previous experience with Windows it should be a relatively easy matter for them to use the new W8.
This group hasn't got any previous experience - so nothing to "unlearn" and they won't be looking all over the place for stuff where they are used to finding it.

3) The "Geeks". Now this is the group that seems to have the most difficulty using it themselves (and by inference they assume everybody else will have problems too). They are so used to doing everything with possibly loads of keyboard short cuts etc and other tricks that they will probably get frustrated and irritated rather than just sitting down for an hour or so and playing around with the system.

4) "Average" Joe out there.

Some will have problems some won't -- just like the current position. So long as a decent video is presented at initial install or first boot up time - remember those clips that you had with Windows XP and earlier --- "Explore Windows" or was it "Take a Windows Tour" people will soon get the hang of it.

The key is in having a video AND MANUAL (video tutorials are fine but one often needs reference to a manual as well that you can peruse at your own pace -- You Tube users please note not everything works in "teaching mode" by making a You Tube video) .

I really think the difficulty is grossly overblown -- people adapted to Windows 3.1 easily enough from DOS based systems and that was a MONUMENTAL difference in working.

W8 will stand or fail on whether it's nice and fast on modern gear, can install even the most relcalcitrant of drivers easily and run as many as possible programs in compatability mode.

These days people aren't going out to buy a new printer say just because a manufacturer can't be bothered to make sure their hardware still works with W8. Some will get round the problem by using Virtual Machines (the average joe out there actually knows more about these than one would suspect !!) while others will say well I'll just stick with W7 until I absolutely HAVE to upgrade.

Incidentally there are still enough "Backports" for people still to load XP on to modern systems so W7 won't go away any time soon even if W8 comes pre-installed on newer gear.

I think this product WILL be a success although we do need to stop the 35 km or so left scrolling to find an application.

(And BTW t o Start menu lovers -- if you've got a lot of programs with a lot of sub menus and sub-sub menus and sub sub sub menus etc this gets impossibly unwieldy too and is HOPELESS on a computer with a small screen such as a 10 inch screen netbook).

Cheers
jimbo

well said Jimbo yes i think windows 8 will be a success
 

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It's really funny how guys that like W8 see it as their duty to defend W8.

Defend away, what you just don't seem to grasp for some reason is that a huge bunch of people just don't like it. Not talking about functionality or anything like that. We just don't like it.

Feel free to throw out the don't want to change foolishness, or whatever is the flavour this week.

Outside of oem's using this on their systems I just see a massive flop for W8. I have always bought the new os as soon as it dropped. I have zero interest in this one, and quite frankly other than a few people on W8 forums I know NO ONE who likes it.
I find it really funny how guys that dont like W8 assume that everyone else shouldnt like it either. Most of them use the same rhetoric as well, its just like Vista and ME, its going to be a massive flop, I'm pretty sure most of them wouldnt even know what Vista and ME are. As far as forums go, I go to quite a few independant forums and find that quite a few people really do like it.

In my opinion its going to be a massive success, but people stuck in a routine are going to hold back, just like the people still on XP.

As it stands, and of course the results can flip easily with more time since there are only 10 votes now, but it is 9-1 in favor of Windows 8 being poor: http://www.eightforums.com/general-discussion/6309-petition-microsoft-addressing-8-a.html

I'm pretty sure I know what ME and Vista are.
 

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