Brad's hate for Windows 8

SPRING BREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK\

Yeah but besides that, what's he going off on Windows 8 for? It's a pretty solid OS, faster than 7 with some UI improvements, and all that crying people have about Metro is from people who refuse to even use Metro.

Pfft.

8 is fine but if I wasn't lazy, I would go back to 7 in a heartbeat.

It's an OS that was designed for touch screen interfaces shoehorned onto PCs. It's not intuitive; I've been using Windows operating systems since before 3.1, and I couldn't for the life of me find basic applications and functions in Windows 8 that I could find in Windows 95, 98, XP, and 7 in a heartbeat. 8.1 pays lip-service to the notion that people want the Start button back, but the way that it was implemented is almost insulting. It doesn't matter that Windows 8 boots faster; it is aggravating to use.

Couldn't find basic applications and functions?

What's hard about hitting a button, typing in what program you want, and then having it run?

How is that any worse than having to dig through a huge start menu and find something nested 3 things deep on cascading menus?

I can even hit windows, type in turn off, and there it is. No hunting, searching, or anything.

People just like to complain about change, I think. Do I think W8 is better than 7? No, not really. It is clearly designed for touch and looks rather ugly. It works perfectly fine though and takes only a small amount of adjusting to get used to it. I think it was a week or less before I didn't even care anymore about the differences. I can still find everything I want easily (some things even easier, actually), and I enjoy the performance and speed benefits it provides.

I have had zero complaints with Windows 8.

I've done that before. It's called DOS. Or perhaps the command prompt. There are reasons that graphic user interfaces supplanted text entry as the primary mode of OS navigation.

What are you even talking about? Windows 8 does support text entry for most things. Is Windows 8.1 a huge improvement? I would argue no, but it does get rid of some of the things that many users were complaining about. If you want to find something, press the Windows key and type. If that sounds familiar to you, it's because it should. Windows 7 operated in that exact same manner. The UI was little bit different, sure, but the core functionality was and is still there.

Text entry to run programs is what I'm talking about. And yes, it was a snarky answer. I'm just tired of people being up in arms that, shock of shocks, not everyone thinks Windows 8 is actually good.

Why give a fuck? Why ponder another's tastes? Just accept it. Christ.

Some people like it, some people doesn't.. shocking news! Personally: I believe they should make a desktop OS for desktop and a touch OS for touch. If they going to copy apple, at least copy it right.

uhhhhh, this is a joke right? Uh, okay I'll play.... yeah, it's a bit okay if your new, but even new, it's quite ridiculous you need to gesture controls with the mouse to access shutdown, I should update to 8.1, and all the applications are nothing more then tablet style apps so nothing older then 3 years old works. You have to be a jokester, because even if I'm like trying to rationalize what your saying it still feels like a bad tablet program

Alt+F4 at the desktop will bring up the shutdown options menu you are used to in previous Windows iterations. Shortcut keys are your friend.

@gamingmichael: and so does ctrl+i

I dont have a problem with W8 as i dont use the start menu much as i used launchy back when i was using W7. What is infuriating though is that the new "This PC" (why did they have to rename My Computer?) has the 6 folders pinned at the top of the home page as well as the side bar. Had to edit to registry to remove those. Also removed the start button for 8.1 cause i dont need that shit when i press the windows button.

I use windows 8 like Windows 7 always desktop no need for full screen apps. Home screen is full of Desktop apps and shortcuts like it alot.

First thing I do when I am setting up a machine for family or friends? Make Windows 8 look as close to Windows 7 as it can. Sometimes I'll show them what it looks like before for kicks. It's not intuitive to people who aren't super familiar with computers and it's clumsy for people who are. Who the fuck is it for?

Why would you do that? You can completely avoid the Metro interface. Compared to Windows 7, Windows 8 has improved security, improved speeds (especially for people with SSD's), more efficient multitasking, better multi-monitor support, better gaming performance. Battlefield Performance in Windows 8

I gave Windows 8 a chance but... too many annoyances and no noticeable improvements for me. I went back to 7 after a few days.

Just to give an example, I use 2 monitors, and when trying to slide a window from one display to the other, I always bump into their stupid "hot corner" on the top right. You have to actively avoid the top right corner of your screen or your cursor will be stuck. It's relatively nitpicky I guess, but this is the very definition of stupid UI. I could simply choose get used to it, but I don't really want to get used to stupid UI.

Plus I really saw no benefits to using 8 instead of 7 for the way I use my computer. It's just the same thing with a bunch of useless crap layered on top of it. People say it's faster, but I didn't see it. My Windows 7 machine is already fast enough.

So you're defending Windows 8 by saying it's faster than Windows 7 to launch, and that you can avoid using Metro? A bit counter-intuitive don't you think, guys?

You're really selling it to me.

I recently got a tablet with full Windows 8.1 on it and the OS makes a lot more sense. I actually really like the hybrid desktop/tablet interface for the tablet.

All MS products seem to have a sterile presentation combined with the fact that they have tried to dumb everything down to the point of insanity.

Apple streamlined things, MS dumbed them down. Big difference.

Name me 10 OS's this year worse than Windows 8!

I actually like the idea of a fullscreen "start-menu", which is exactly what pressing the windows button in W8 gets you.

Nobody really used the Start button in W95-7 all that much.. it was just menus buried under more menus. I just had a desktop full of links in W7, now my desktop is much more organized. Plus, it runs some stuff better than Windows 7 did. It still has a lot of issues with running older software and the microsoft store is just awful, phone app stuff.. but as a second operating system to fuck around with, why not?

If the new OS doesn't jive with the way I use my current OS, as in actually having desktop icons and a start menu, why am I the one that's wrong.

And the metro thing is pretty much the only difference. Runs faster, maybe, but I wouldn't call windows 7 slow by any means.

Two complaints: can't get Mark Ecko's Getting Up to work for some reason and that frigging smiley face when it blue screens is a pretty horrible choice...

Other than that, it's fine. A bit of getting used to, but it's fine.

Tried 8 and couldn't stand it. Saw no reason to use it over 7 which does exactly what I want. None of that matters though because they fucked up Solitaire and Minesweeper. Who the fuck wants to use full screen versions of those games? They're for having off to the side while you are supposed to be doing something else. That's where they completely lost me.

Its not for me, its meant to assimilate young people who grew up on smartphones, not older people who grew up on desktops.

W8 bugs the crap out of me. They use it some at the place where I work, and I'm finally starting to get a little more used to it, but I don't enjoy it at all. I hate everything being an app. This also probably explains why X1 doesn't look appealing AT ALL to me.

Windows 8 was made for touch, the UI is bad when using a mouse.

I groan when a student says they have either a mac, or a windows 8 machine. They're the biggest pain in the arse to troublehsoot.

You can't fix a mac. Everything is hidden and hard as fuck to access on windows 8, especially when remote connecting.

Windows 8 is good provided you aren't stupid and know how to use the Windows key.

I was an XP die-hard. Rocked it until this year. Going from XP to 8 was a revelation and I think even more so since I completely skipped vista and 7. I love win 8!

The UI is not a touch UI. The Start screen can function as a touch UI and so what? It can still function just like a regular start menu. I don't get the hate.

Honest to god, I don't even really notice a difference. Once I get to the desktop it's basically the same thing.

God damn I hate Metro.

Thankfully, one quick button press hides it and you really have no reason to go back to it. Having only 3 seconds between hitting the power button and actually using the pc is pretty sweet too.

But may God have mercy on you if you ever encounter a serious problem on Windows 8 that requires you having to access Bios or, even worse, try to get it to launch into safe mode without having access to the OS.

Yeah, I boot straight to desktop so I barely notice any difference. Keep in mind that I don't use that many different programs so it's super easy for my to pin some to the taskbar and just hit the windows key and search for the rest. Rarely have to type more than 1 or 2 letters before I get what I need.

The idea of a completely unified OS across all devices is boring and lazy to me. I can't help but think it's going to make people complacent. I think human beings are capable of learning how to operate more than one OS and Microsofts attempt to make it "simpler" by making everything the same is the opposite of what we should be teaching future generations. I'd like humans to get smarter rather than make everything so simple that when problems do arise no one can do anything themselves. I have ideological issues with the OS.

I also had to help my mom uninstall 8 and reinstall 7 on her laptop because she didn't like it.

Most of the windows 8 hate is just because people feel their need to post impressions 4 seconds after they've seen it. Spend a day or two with windows 8 and you'll see there's not one thing widows 7 does better.

8 is my no means a massive or even significant improvement but it's still better in every way.

Yup.

I've used Windows 8 for work since the OS was in pre-release development access. I still hate it. These "improvements" you see are not objective truth.

That is my exact experience, it's really hasn't been as horrible as people make it out to be.

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend upgrading from 7 to it because I thought 7 was fine and it probably isn't worth 100 bucks or whatever the upgrade is. But if you're building/buying something new (like I did with my desktop), you should totally just spring for 8, it basically cost the same as 7 if you're buying a fresh copy.

@lordjezo: its an OS with no reasonable improvement to 7 and the speed is only there because of everything its not loading at startup...because its an OS designed from the ground up for tablets.

I've had nothing but great experiences with Win8.

I work in IT and I really don't like it on desktops. Functionality was clearly added for touch screens that hinder my desktop experience. Everything from mouse "touch" gestures to unlock or shut down/sleep being hidden like 3 layers deep. full screen apps are clearly not ideal and sure you'll say just ignore them, but they push them on you. Many apps default to there fullscreen versions, update, mail,etc. The start button was very efficient for desktops, obscuring a small portion of your screen the start menu, with its giant button that fill , well no one can tell me they thought that was the best design for desktops.

So you may like it, but dont say people who dislike just haven't tried it long enough.

I work in IT as well. We've been forced to deploy Windows 8 to some executives because it's 'the latest and greatest'. Most executives are not tech savvy and neither are these folks. It has been an utter nightmare supporting these machines.

Windows 8 was made to be used on touch devices, specifically the surface tablets and very little thought has been given to how normal, not tech minded folks would use the OS. Microsoft is chasing Apple but they forgot that IOS and Android are loved because (for the most part) they are easy to use. Windows 8 is not.

It's a terrible OS.

I've only used Win 8 for about 2 weeks and the experience was not great. I'm sure if I got the chance to use it more I'd get used to it, but it was still a bit frustrating. The touch screen version of 8 which seems to work nice the few times I've used it though. For now I'll stay with 7.

No software that is more complex than its predecessor has resulted in being faster. Your observations about being faster than Win 7 are around booting and and launching which are improvements in sleep/hibernation mode and driver initialization but not actually making your old machine faster. This stuff appeared in Mac OSX and Linux before Win 8 but that is another thread.

Also you mistake what is going on in Win8 Metro. It isn't impossible to learn but it is annoying because it is inconsistent and the general conveyance is poor: Sometimes you use a touch pattern, sometimes you use a m-k pattern, sometimes there are two things ways to get the same thing, sometimes essential things are hidden, and so and so on. Users can learn it but why should users when the old one worked better than they wanted? If Apple did this with Mac OSXI people would laugh at it suggesting that Apple designers have lost their touch and are crazy that they abandoned such a well known and easy to use interface. Are they wrong? Probably not. So why can't the same criticism be leveled at Microsoft?

In the end that is really what the issue is: A radical change like this needs a transition mode. If Win 8.0 offered a clean way to toggle between "classic" and "metro" a lot of issues would be solved. Users could be eased into "metro" at their own pace and not denied old features as a fall back. "Where is the power settings?" is a well established thing since Windows 2000 (its in control panel). For Win 8, it is a mystery to a new user. Without that transition state, a user with a new machine and Win 8 is stuck.

A professor in HMI had a great rule of thumb: If users are using Google.com to figure out how to use basic features then the interface needs a lot of work. When users need to Google how to close apps in Win 8, there is a distinct issue and users have legitimate problems figuring out the interface.

ps. A IT friend of mine described Win 8 simply like some who built beautiful house with a bad plumber. Some of the faucets have the cold water on the left, faucets open in random patterns, and you no longer get ice from the refrigerator but in a closet down the hall. Great looking house and fun to be in but how is it so annoying to get something to drink?