Final thoughts on Windows 8: A design disaster

[bill]

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/final-thoughts-on-windows-8-a-design-disaster/20706

I'm now ready to sum up my Windows 8 experience with a single word: awful.

I could have chosen a number of other words — terrible, horrible, painful and execrable all spring to mind — but it doesn't matter, the sentiment is the same.

And I don't say this lightly. I want to like Windows 8. I really do. From a performance point of view, I've no complaints since it's just as snappy and responsive as Windows 7, and will likely get a little better as drivers mature. Hardware support is also excellent; the platform able to handle effortlessly everything I threw at it.

...

But despite being rock-solid, snappy and responsive, as a platform to do real-world work on, Windows 8 feels utterly unusable, and that's down to one thing — the "Metro UI" user interface.

I'll have to admit that I don't find the Metro interface intuitive at all. I may have to actually buy a book and study up on this one.

[ukgimp]

People are banging on about not being able to go back to W7.

You can by thr look of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4YFfrfdKlQ

[4Eyes]

Its the same story with Ubuntu and 'Unity' and to a lesser extent, 'Gnome3' desktop for linux.

If you are changing the way the user interface works, you really need to give people the option to use the old one as well. With linux, people changed to Linux Mint in droves, or switched to XFCE desktop instead of Gnome.

It's quite possible (although debatable) that a new user might prefer Metro to Win7's desktop, or Unity to XFCE, or any of them to the Mac, or vice versa, but most users are not 'new', we come with mental 'presets' and 'muscle memory' for the OS Desktop we currently use.

We all have work to do, and need to do it efficiently, and if the OS or desktop starts getting in the way, it will make us angry.

[Chunkford]

I should really give it a test run, but if I too fall into this category then I might do the unthinkable and seriously consider buying an apple!

[jetboy]

This has been said before by others with more insight than me: Microsoft has two cash cows; Office and Windows. All the while Microsoft limited the platforms that Office would run on, it dictated that for (business) people, Windows was the best OS choice. With the increasing power and capability of mobiles/tablets, running ARM processors and Android and Apple OSs, continuing with this strategy would eventually kill Office's market share as people found alternative ways of working.

The alternative strategy would be to release Office on these other platforms, thus removing the need to run Windows if you wanted to run Office. This would eventually kill Windows' market share, but maintain Office's.

It's an either/or decision for Microsoft. Office is coming for ARM processors, iOS and Android. I believe that those crying that Microsoft seems to be clueless with Windows 8 are missing the point. Microsoft aren't trying move desktop users to a new interface. Rather, Windows 8 is the first step towards Microsoft sacrificing (traditional desktop) Windows in favour of Office.

[bill]

Microsoft aren't trying move desktop users to a new interface. Rather, Windows 8 is the first step towards Microsoft sacrificing (traditional desktop) Windows in favour of Office.

It really doesn't seem like that to me. I see this as Microsoft trying to push the Metro style across everything they have...Windows, Office, XBox, etc. They're trying to unify the user interface across the board. They are even forcing Metro on Windows Server 8! Who the hell needs that?!

[I, Brian]

Not sure why I would want Win 8 on a desktop.

Maybe time to start using that iMac for general use instead of hobby use.

The one thing that has kept me rooted in windows is office documents for clients, but have been using Open Office more anyway.

[Drastic]

I finally got around to installing the release preview. RTM is available for EE, but I may try the 8pro upgrade trick which I don't think works on EE. I'm planning on upgrading my main work PC for $40, going dual boot until I'm fully migrated.

Early impressions:
- Much less resource hungry than Vista, which is still running my main machine.
- I really don't like the metro interface. Slapping a touch UI onto the desktop is not my idea of success.
- no start button is annoying, at first anyway
- the "charms bar" is waayyy too metrosexual. sorry nffc
- multiple monitors look goofy with metro on one, desktop on the rest

My main reason for upgrading is I want to get on an OS that is built for this decade. Vista is getting a bit long in the tooth for a couple of things, and 8 is going to be popular and required in the near future if you want to try out the integration with phone, xbox, etc.

I found a couple of third party options ($5 each) that remove metro and give you a traditional start button and menu back. I felt at ease when I found this, but after playing with one I wondered if I might be missing something from the new UI. So, I'm going to try to learn and live with Metro and if I continue to hate it and decide to nuke it, no problem. I have a feeling that is what's going to happen, but I'm going to let it play out.

My prediction is that geeks will hate metro but will nuke it or get used to it, and Joe Sixpack is going to be rather confused, probably for quite for a while.

[grnidone]

>- the "charms bar" is waayyy too metrosexual. sorry nffc

Is that why they call it "metro interface"?  *serious question*

[bill]

>- the "charms bar" is waayyy too metrosexual. sorry nffc

Is that why they call it "metro interface"?  *serious question*

Since this thread started MS has actually dropped the "Metro" name due to some conflict with a software company in Germany I believe. We geeks still use the term, but MS discourages it officially.

I've been using Windows 8 on a dual screen setup at home since the RTM, and I believe I have overcome the aversion to the "Metro" interface. However, I still feel as though I'm missing something. I really haven't done any study of the OS other than standard use, and when I have an issue I look it up. I think normal users on PCs are going to have issues with this. I still feel that I should check out a how-to video or something.

[ergophobe]

So my perpetually troubled 2-month old HP laptop seems to have died and I'm thinking of calling the machine a lemon, sending it back before the warranty is gone and getting myself a new machine... but then I noticed mot are now shipping with Win 8.

So, on a laptop with no touchscreen (at least I don't think they have touchscreens on the ones I'm looking at), will I hate Win 8? I should say that I've been basically fine with Win2K, XP, Vista (yes Vista) and 7 installed on neww machines that they were intended for. I'm not that hung up on the OS actually (if I were, I probably wouldn't be on Windows now would I?), but when I see "design disaster" it makes me wonder whether I should be filtering for Win7 machines

[Drastic]

It's fine, you can nuke the look and bring the start button back for free with ClassicShell.

[Drastic]

My SSD finally came in, TigerDirect free shipping sucks.

Spent most of yesterday doing a clean install plus loading and configuring most of my apps.

The more I use it the more I like it, and man is the SSD fast and I'm still on SATA 2.

From selecting Win8 at the boot manager to boot is probably 2 seconds.

[BoL]

2 seconds, not bad! I think my Ubuntu on a HDD is about 10 seconds.

[ergophobe]

It's fine, you can nuke the look and bring the start button back for free with ClassicShell.

Thanks, that's what I needed to know