Windows 8: Three Reasons to Hate

[GostHacked]

I remain perplexed and baffled by all this talk of mobile phones, tablets, "apps", and so on. Are people not aware that Windows 8 doesn't require you to use any of that? That as soon as you're at the Desktop, it's the exact same user interface they've been using all along?

I honestly just don't get it. You people are being ridiculous.

-k

If there is a nice 'make it look like win 7' button, I may be down for it. But I really don't care for this metro interface.

[GostHacked]

lol yes they are. I'm using windows 8 and this new operating system is such an improvement from windows 7 in so many ways that I fail to understand the logic of these complaints.

Of course there will be low interest in a new operating system, after all we're in a recession that has not been seen on this magnitude since 1930.

Even chromebook and Mac are taking a tumble or stagnating in sales these days.

What do you classify as improvements? Is it just nicer looking or is it more functional?

[Sleipnir]

What do you classify as improvements? Is it just nicer looking or is it more functional?

I would say both. It doesn't consume so much power, it last longer without my laptop being plugged in. Booting up/shutting down are much quicker (few seconds versus a minute or so in windows 7) even loading documents seems faster than with windows 7. My mom told me that noticed that surfing the web is much smoother - I didn't notice that but she still uses windows 7.

In another feature, you can split the computer screen into 2 parts to work on two different things, or up to 6 parts if you download a particular app.

Long story short, I personally find it to be more functional and efficiently more operable than in windows 7. However, I can suggest few improvements that could be made - perhaps windows 8.1 and 8.2 will address them.

And yes, it looks better instead of the usual small symbol shortcut on the windows 7 screen. You can always customized your metro screen background (solid colour versus design colour) and tiles if you're not happy with it.

If you still have doubt, there is always a free 30-day trial in which you can try windows 8 for that period of time.

Edited April 21, 2013 by Sleipnir

[AngusThermopyle]

Win 8 is slightly faster than 7 but benchmarks show that its a very minor speed increase, not something that will make much of a differance really, it is a bit snappier opening and closing programs though. It does boot and shut down faster as well. For gamers the difference is negligible. The Win 8 service pack is codenamed Windows blue it will address the problems Win 8 has, such as a search function that often times can't find what its searching for, kinda a big deal actually. Max PC actually say that its energy consumption could be much better, this is something blue will also address in an effort to compete with other mobile platforms. Of course the X86 architecture is more hungry than mobile chips, however it also trounces other mobile chips so soundly performance wise that you really can't compare them. When Haswell is released in several months the power issue should become a non issue. Not only will Haswell sip power but will offer a 15 to 20% increase in performance over current I7 procs, in some instances the performance gains will be even greater. Of note is the rumour that such extensive updates, or service packs if you will, are going to be annual events, like Apple. Unlike Apple Microsoft will not charge for them.

Having said all that I personally do not like Win8. On the other hand I'll eventually have to re-install it, the first thing I'll do is install Classic Shell (www.classicshell.net) in order to banish that hideously craptacular Metro interface. In one fell swoop that will make it palatable to me. Honestly, I should have re-installed it already but I've been too busy lately.

Edited April 21, 2013 by AngusThermopyle

[Bonam]

In another feature, you can split the computer screen into 2 parts to work on two different things, or up to 6 parts if you download a particular app.

You know people have been splitting their screen into as many windows as they want since the very first generation of windows, right? That's kind of why it's called "windows".

[kimmy]

If there is a nice 'make it look like win 7' button, I may be down for it. But I really don't care for this metro interface.

Yeah, it's called the "Desktop" button. You click on "Desktop", and then you're in Windows 7 and "Metro" is a distant memory.

-k

[Bonam]

Yeah, it's called the "Desktop" button. You click on "Desktop", and then you're in Windows 7 and "Metro" is a distant memory.

-k

If that's true, I guess it sucks for microsoft that they didn't do it the other way around (Start in "Windows 7" and click the "Metro" button to go to that), they coulda avoided all the bad impressions. However, from what I recall of when I tried it (pre-release candidate like 1 month prior to release) that was not the case at all. You could go to a desktop mode, but it was clunky and unwieldy and ugly.

[GostHacked]

You know people have been splitting their screen into as many windows as they want since the very first generation of windows, right? That's kind of why it's called "windows".

Been that way since win 3.1 !!

Do it all the time with the 3 monitors I have on my system. Multiple programs and multiple windows. I think the rebranding of a program to be called an 'app' is nothing more than marketing hubub.

I want to get into power consumption. It makes no difference what OS you are running on a laptop, you are not getting more power efficiency on the computer. But you can adjust the power settings (which has been there since 2K I think) and get similar results.

[Sleipnir]

Yeah, it's called the "Desktop" button. You click on "Desktop", and then you're in Windows 7 and "Metro" is a distant memory.

-k

The charm bar is also the new start button. Honestly in windows 7 I hardly use the start-up button, maybe 3-5 times a month.

[cybercoma]

Yeah, it's called the "Desktop" button. You click on "Desktop", and then you're in Windows 7 and "Metro" is a distant memory.

-k

Apparently there's going to be an update (Windows 8.1) that boots directly into desktop mode without having to first go through the Metro setup.

Windows 8 is such a horrible failure that it hurt the entire PC industry. What an amazing f*** up.

[Sleipnir]

Windows 8 is such a horrible failure that it hurt the entire PC industry. What an amazing f*** up.

Can you provide proof that windows 8 hurt the entire PC industry? Or was that sarcasm?

[kimmy]

The PC industry has been in trouble for a long time, so the idea that Windows 8 is to blame seems like bandwagon-jumping.

And I am pretty sure that the commercial failure of Windows 8 has far more to do with preconceptions than with the actual product itself. This thread is an example.

-k

[cybercoma]

I'm just re-iterating what other analysts have been saying. Here's an example.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57578914-92/pcs-hit-by-an-ugly-quarterly-drop-as-windows-8-flops/

First-quarter global computer shipments dropped 14 percent from the previous year, said International Data Corp., much worse than its forecast for a 7.7 percent decline. The pullback marked the worst-ever quarter since IDC began tracking quarterly PC shipments in 1994, and it's the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year shipment declines.

Yes, PC sales were declining anyway. However, they expected a decline of 7.7%. Instead they were hit with a decline that was nearly double that projection and it's primarily being attributed to Windows 8.

Anecdotally, I bought a Mac instead of a PC in the fourth quarter because I hated Windows 8. I have 3 other friends that did the same. Anecdotal, yes. However, the market numbers certainly reflect this.

[TimG]

Anecdotally, I bought a Mac instead of a PC in the fourth quarter because I hated Windows 8. I have 3 other friends that did the same. Anecdotal, yes. However, the market numbers certainly reflect this.

I think your are over simplifying your buying decision. I am guessing that the Mac does everything you need and you had no problem paying for the premium hardware that comes with macs. I suspect the same calculations would have been present if there was no Windows 8.

The real trend I see in the PC market is there is less need to upgrade because the h/w has outstripped the ability of s/w to tax it and the consumers upgrade dollar must now be shared with a tablet and smart phone.

[GostHacked]

I think your are over simplifying your buying decision. I am guessing that the Mac does everything you need and you had no problem paying for the premium hardware that comes with macs. I suspect the same calculations would have been present if there was no Windows 8.

The real trend I see in the PC market is there is less need to upgrade because the h/w has outstripped the ability of s/w to tax it and the consumers upgrade dollar must now be shared with a tablet and smart phone.

This is true hardware is so advanced the software has not been devloped to tax it. Even with the latest in video games don't tax a system like it used to 10+ years ago. I have not upgraded in three years and my PC still plays everything without issue.

Software does need to catch up, but it may be that software has peaked for the time being. Much advancements were made with the 64 bit OS and I can see things only improving if/when a 128 bit OS, or something similar comes out.

[Sleipnir]

I'm just re-iterating what other analysts have been saying. Here's an example.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57578914-92/pcs-hit-by-an-ugly-quarterly-drop-as-windows-8-flops/

Yes, PC sales were declining anyway. However, they expected a decline of 7.7%. Instead they were hit with a decline that was nearly double that projection and it's primarily being attributed to Windows 8.

Yeah the problem is that the analysts are not taking couple things in consideration.

1) We're in a global recession. Were the Mac, previous windows and others introduced during such recession?

2) The selling of Mac, Linux, Windows and other operating system are either stagnating or in decline.

3) There is an increasing emphasize for tablet and phablet (or whatever the slang is) over PC in recent years.

In any case when you introduce a new operating system, chances are the first round will be full of imperfection and complaints. That saying, this is why there are occasional major updates are assigned to the system over time

[GostHacked]

Yeah the problem is that the analysts are not taking couple things in consideration.

1) We're in a global recession. Were the Mac, previous windows and others introduced during such recession?

2) The selling of Mac, Linux, Windows and other operating system are either stagnating or in decline.

3) There is an increasing emphasize for tablet and phablet (or whatever the slang is) over PC in recent years.

In any case when you introduce a new operating system, chances are the first round will be full of imperfection and complaints. That saying, this is why there are occasional major updates are assigned to the system over time

The better thing would be to simply improve the way the current OS does things compared to trying something completely new. We saw that failure with WIN ME. Improvements of 95 should have been made.

When Win 2K came out, it was a fantastic OS from the start. Huge improvements over the previous Win NT version. And Win 7 was what Vista should have been.

I don't think so much of a recession being the decline of PCs as much as businesses not willing to constantly fork over money to keep their computer systems up to date. We are in the process here of upgrading from XP to Win 7. And we will still run into some issues as some programs are not compatible with the Win7 environment. So the cost of upgrading an OS on a desktop/laptop need a lot more things to keep in mind.

[cybercoma]

Now with MS demanding.a monthly fee for new versions of Office, we may yet to see iWork take over too. What a turn of events that would be.

[GostHacked]

Now with MS demanding.a monthly fee for new versions of Office, we may yet to see iWork take over too. What a turn of events that would be.

Either that or going to open source programs like Open Office which are free! But there is no official support structure.

[TimG]

Now with MS demanding.a monthly fee for new versions of Office, we may yet to see iWork take over too. What a turn of events that would be.

This is basically the deal businesses have be getting for years but it has now been extended to consumers. It is not going to scare away any businesses and will attract some consumers since cloud services and VOIP long distance are included in the bundle.

It is also OPTIONAL - MS still offers the pay up front wrapped license.

[AngusThermopyle]

The latest news is that Blue will be previewed to the public sometime in June . It will incorporate a start button but no associated menu, WTF. Really dont see the point of the button without the associated menu myself, it will also have something called Kiosk mode, this is for retailers to display Win 8 without locking the system down. Anyway, heres a link for those who may be interested.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/new_windows_8_blue_leak_confirms_additional_features123

Sorry, link function doesn't seem to be working today.

Someone mentioned ealier that Apple uses premium hardware. Nonesense. Apple switched to an X86 architecture years ago. In other words they use the same hardware as a PC. They had to do this as even the best of their products fell woefully short of a well built PC performance wise. The downside is that they still use some proprietary parts so repairing or upgrading can still be a major pain with Apple. Just say no and dont drink the Apple flavoured Cool Aid.

As for Open Office, used it for years and it is very good. Now however I've switched to Libre Office, still free but even better than Open Office.

[cybercoma]

Someone mentioned ealier that Apple uses premium hardware. Nonesense. Apple switched to an X86 architecture years ago. In other words they use the same hardware as a PC. They had to do this as even the best of their products fell woefully short of a well built PC performance wise. The downside is that they still use some proprietary parts so repairing or upgrading can still be a major pain with Apple. Just say no and dont drink the Apple flavoured Cool Aid.

http://bgr.com/2013/04/24/windows-pc-study-macbook-pro-463158/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

The most reliable Windows machines on the market...

[August1991]

A Microsoft Corp. executive is acknowledging what many tech watchers already knew: The company's flagship Windows 8 software hasn't met expectations, and Microsoft is turning itself inside out to respond.

Last fall's introduction of the new operating system was supposed to be an achievement to catapult Microsoft and its allies into the market for new kinds of computing devices—including tablets and convertible products—and help generally get consumers more interested in buying new PCs. Six months after the operating software's debut, it isn't yet a hit by the accounts of some PC executives and research firms.

WSJ

Call it the New Coke moment. And no doubt in the future, like New Coke, conspiracy theorists will argue that this was the plan all along. (In the case of New Coke, it is argued that this "mistake" allowed the Coca-Cola company to switch from expensive sugar-cane sucrose to low cost, corn syrup fructose.)

BTW, Coca-Cola has a market valuation around $200 billion and Microsoft around $280 billion. Well, conspiracy theories aside, big corporations make mistakes.

What bothers me more is that Microsoft, unlike Coca-Cola, bases its valuation on future projects, and Microsoft has the potential to change our productivity.

Maybe it's more a "jump the shark" moment.

[August1991]

The PC industry has been in trouble for a long time, so the idea that Windows 8 is to blame seems like bandwagon-jumping.

And I am pretty sure that the commercial failure of Windows 8 has far more to do with preconceptions than with the actual product itself. This thread is an example.

-k

Yes, Johnny didn't really fail at school. The teacher preconceived his failure.

-----

Moore's Law still applies and there's no reason the "PC industry" should be in trouble. The only problem is that software is lacking, and the main player just dropped the ball.

There is a huge, gaping profit opportunity sitting on the table right now. As bystanders, let's see what happens next.

[TimG]

Moore's Law still applies and there's no reason the "PC industry" should be in trouble. The only problem is that software is lacking, and the main player just dropped the ball.

Nonsense. The bottle neck for consumers shifted from the CPU to the network card (specifically the wireless network card).