Windows 8, anyone like?

At work I have used windows 8 on AIO, desktops, laptops, and tablets. Works great and I hate hearing all the "i hate the new UI" In my opinion its the same damn thing with just a different look. If you are complaining, you must not know how to hit "windows key" then start typing... Hasnt this been around since... well Vista? The tablet features are nice, but I still prefer the mouse and keyboard. Specially for typing. Things needed to change with MS anyways... I personally think they are a little late into the game of apps and tablets.
 
gravator said:
At work I have used windows 8 on AIO, desktops, laptops, and tablets. Works great and I hate hearing all the "i hate the new UI" In my opinion its the same damn thing with just a different look. If you are complaining, you must not know how to hit "windows key" then start typing... Hasnt this been around since... well Vista? The tablet features are nice, but I still prefer the mouse and keyboard. Specially for typing. Things needed to change with MS anyways... I personally think they are a little late into the game of apps and tablets.
Click to expand...

I think the points people are making is that all this new "change" for the sake of change was uncalled for. Not needed and by most , not wanted. Its the same bs I keep hearing about iOS. "its stale" they say "its needs a whole new look" they say. Why? Why does it need a whole new look? Why did Microsoft "need" to completely screw with the basic Windows functionality people have been used to for almost 20 years? Did it improve anything? No. Did it bring new functionality that Windows 7 was lacking? No. Things did not "need" to be changed just because you like a new UI every few years. For business and most individuals its about getting stuff done. Look how many business are still on Windows XP. Why? Because it simply works for getting stuff done. People who like functionality and getting things done don't want to have to relearn everything every year. Consistency when it works is a great thing, not the boring same-old you make it out to be.


As for Microsoft being a "little late" to tablets. How do you figure? Didn't Microsoft come out with tablets years before Apple did? No they are not late, The just don't know what the hell they are doing.
 
I don't go typing out the name of the program I want to use. All the programs I use on daily basis are pinned in my taskbar. I can mouse to them and start them up faster then I can type out the name of some program. Not that I don't do that it's just not the best way.

And all the metro apps suck on a desktop. I mulitask with multiple windows on multiple monitors. Forcing my computer experience to the LCD of hardware is asinine. I've got Win8 on a vm for testing and support but my main systems will stay at 7. First time since WinME that I have not upgraded my main system to the latest Windows version.
 
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Actually I'm starting to prefer the start screen to the start menu. I have about 50 items in the start menu on my personal machine so I almost never click on "All Programs" because it's a pain to scroll through. My most commonly used programs are pinned to the taskbar or start menu and everything else I just type to search so transitioning to the start screen is pretty easy.

I keep reading in the comments all over the internet whenever there is an article in Windows 8 is how the engineers over at Microsoft are a bunch of idiots and the start screen is some stupid idea they came up with and are forcing down the consumer's throat but that's not the case. Over at the Building Windows 8 blog they talk about the design philosophy behind the start screen and they back up their reasoning with lots and lots of data gleaned from the Customer Experience Improvement Program: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/10/11/reflecting-on-your-comments-on-the-start-screen.aspx

I completely understand if some people don't like the new Metro interface and it may very well turn out to be the wrong choice in the long run but it's not just some whim, they have plenty of data to back them up.

EDIT: Just read this about the printing system in Windows 8 and it demonstrates some of the attention to detail that Microsoft is putting into Windows 8 (sounds like the engineers at Microsoft are as fed up with 400MB HP printer drivers as we are): http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/07/25/simplifying-printing-in-windows-8.aspx
 
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James_S said:
...... Just read this about the printing system in Windows 8 and it demonstrates some of the attention to detail that Microsoft is putting into Windows 8 ..
Click to expand...

Let'S talk about the detail, they split the control panel in 2, some are still access by the regular control panel in the desktop other , like printer in the metro crap interface . what a confusing attention to detail no ?

Also for the Windows key typing lover, you press Windows key and type calculator, it open calculator in the desktop , what a turn Windows 8 is all mess up, and not intuitive, peoples don't know where are the thing.

Another prof that Microsoft is too lazy, why can we re size the Metro Crap tiles in the desktop ? Instead of have all the tile on the same screen, I have to scroll ad nauseum. What an epic fail for owner of monitor larger than 10 inch.

I can continue for quite few day.....
 
I keep reading in the comments all over the internet whenever there is an article in Windows 8 is how the engineers over at Microsoft are a bunch of idiots and the start screen is some stupid idea they came up with and are forcing down the consumer's throat but that's not the case.
Click to expand...


This is very much the case. All Microsoft did was look at Apple and say "oh, look at that, they are taking design aspects from the mobile OS, we better throw something like that together" and they did, and in typical Microsoft form they butchered it badly. As for not cramming it down peoples throats: They most certainly did! They give you no option to disable metro. None. This is absolutely cramming it down peoples throats.
 
I certainly wouldn't call Windows 8 "all new".....nor copying Apple.

AolWindows8Pic5.jpg
 
I have windows 8 on a cheapo ACER w500 tablet. It actually works pretty well. I can't imagine having this OS on a desktop or even laptop for that matter. It seems like it is geared mainly for a touchscreen. Even when I hook up a mouse and keyboard to the tablet, I find myself using the touchscreen for quite a few operations.

I think if they put an option for a start menu on the desktop I would be happy. Then I would likely never use the metro app :rolleyes:
 
I have used Windows 8 at lot since the Developer Preview and have used the consumer preview all the way to rtm. I think that it works really well on tablets and the interface is really nice.
While some features have been improved to people with mouse and keyboards, there are some elements which are a bit non-intuitive creating a learning curve from those currently using Windows 7. Additionally many things remain unknown, and I am thinking that things like closing apps and using the charms will add to to the learning curve. e.g. To shutdown the OS, it takes a few more clicks than with previous OS's. But overall I think I have got use to it pretty fast, so I can't say I don't like it.
 
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Just spent two hours downloading and installing windows 8. That's two hours of my life I would like to have back. It's the most uninnovative piece of garbage I have ever seen. If we're going backwards I'll take DOS over Win8.
 
I hated windows 8 at first. I mean I seriously hated it.

I have an HP touchsmart 2 hybrid tablet originally shipped with windows 7. Blah. (Love windows 7, but I don't find it to be touch friendly)

After getting the RTM version loaded on it via action pack subscription, and using it for a couple weeks, I have come to like it alot. The live tiles are awesome, and I can see major promise in this area. They need good apps though. You can access news, weather, and tons of other info from an attractive interface. From a professional standpoint though I dont find it to be that efficient.
 
I've not used it yet myself...From what I've read it's gonna take some getting used to. Read an article in MaxPC that said this may be a good time to try linux since your gonna have to learn to use Windows 8 anyway. Good thought.

Anyway, I ordered a book to get some information about 8 and will try it out when time permits. I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll have to support 8 at some time so I might as well start getting some background information.

Hopefully I'll be in a better position to provide my clients with recommendations or answer their questions.
 
AdvancedTech said:
I've not used it yet myself...From what I've read it's gonna take some getting used to. Read an article in MaxPC that said this may be a good time to try linux since your gonna have to learn to use Windows 8 anyway. Good thought..
Click to expand...

Learn Linux, lol, I use it everyday and I don't need to learn anything, I barely notice the Metro Crap as I have all my important shortcut on the taskbar, and few other on my desktop, so I stay 99% of the time on the desktop. Most important thing to do is to download ans install Google Chrome, as IE 10 is not compatible with a lot of web site.

I use some distro of Linux, and frankly even if Windows 8 is a failure with the Metro crap, Business customers are better to stick with Windows as too many applications, especially business one don't work in Linux.
 
I know this doesn't mean much, but I am hoping for better resouce management.

My tab came with windows 7. It has a dual core 1Ghz AMD, not all that powerful onboard GPU, and 1GB RAM. I use the tab for on-site visits and don't really run sophisticated software so the specs suit my needs just fine. However, on Win7 trying to stream and watch videos was choppy as hell. I sort of shrugged it off as I could care less if it streams videos very well. After the win8 install it sreams fine. It seems a bit more responsive.

It's a new GUI and that's annoying but for the most part it doesn't really seem all that much different. I'll probably do the same thing I have for a while, and maybe Microsoft recognizes this: if the rig has windows 7 don't get 8 and hold off until 9 or 2018 or whatever they're going to call it comes out. That's probably why it's $15 to upgrade.

Oh and good point with IE10 and webpages. Flash is hit or miss. I had a blackberry, everyone stopped making apps for it so I got an android. I want a windows8 phone but if no one makes apps, I'll stick with android. It seems like Microsoft is in an entirely new game now. Not that many years ago, it HAD TO BE microsoft compatible, or else what the heck would you run it on?
 
Maybe I am the lone ranger... I think Windows 8 is awesome. It responds better than 7, loads faster than 7, uses less system resources than 7 just to name a few! The Metro interface of Windows 8 is beyond awesome on tablets... but yes, I do agree that is does suck on a non touch (99%) of PCs. That said, I set windows 8 up as follows:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Winlogin

Change Shell to:

C:\Windows\explorer.exe, explorer.exe

This forces the machine to bypass "metro" and boot to the old looking windows 7 screen.

Next, install Start 8 from stardock: http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

This give you the "start" button back

Windows Key + X is now your friend
 
geekhelp4u said:
Maybe I am the lone ranger... I think Windows 8 is awesome. It responds better than 7, loads faster than 7, uses less system resources than 7 just to name a few! The Metro interface of Windows 8 is beyond awesome on tablets... but yes, I do agree that is does suck on a non touch (99%) of PCs. That said, I set windows 8 up as follows:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Winlogin

Change Shell to:

C:\Windows\explorer.exe, explorer.exe

This forces the machine to bypass "metro" and boot to the old looking windows 7 screen.

Next, install Start 8 from stardock: http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

This give you the "start" button back

Windows Key + X is now your friend
Click to expand...

First of all I highly doubt 8 responds better than 7, loads faster or does anything faster or better than 7. Second thing, I think its a shame you have to "hack" the registry and install a third party app to make the OS usable again.
 
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