Brad's hate for Windows 8

I'm always shocked when I hear people whom I've always considered smart say they can't figure out Windows 8.

I'm not as smart as most of those people and I had very little trouble figuring it out and can use it very efficiently.

I fucking hated everything I saw of Win8, and I stand by the opinion that some of the changes are ridiculous and a step backwards in usability, but I think it's a fine OS on the whole after using it for a year. Of course, I grew to like Vista as well, so I'm pretty forgiving about these things.

Most of the people that don't like Windows 8 hate it because they don't like change, and often give poor justification. For years there were people going around talking about how they were never going to upgrade from XP, and the "Win8 sucks" crowd reminds me of those people.

I think gamingmichael's point stands: the function of the tile interface on windows 8 is the same as the start menu. Any "basic application" can be pined right to the menu and clicked on. It's just as intuitive as any other version of Windows. What basic features could you not find?

Many people hate 8 because they are misinformed and don't like change.

Also, learn to use shortcuts. Navigating 8 is actually faster than 7 with the addition of win+x and win+q, w, f gives you better control of what you want to search.

What justification are you looking for? People that have tried the OS and don't like it as much as Windows 7 might not like it simply because they have issues with it that you don't. Technical aspects aside, it comes down to a matter of how easy users find it, and not every user will find it as easy to use as others. Or maybe they just have a preference for the way that other operating systems like Windows 7 are structured. Or maybe they don't like the way that Windows 8 looks and feels. No matter how thorough and strenuous a critique against Windows 8 is presented.

And here's the thing about the XP crowd; it was followed by Windows Vista. One of the worst, most reviled operating systems Microsoft ever released. It never got wide traction, and for good reason. Even in the companies where I've done software testing, Vista compatibility testing was one of the last things we'd do, and with minimal effort, because the audience that willingly used it was minimal and was almost entirely eliminated the moment Windows 7 was released. If you have a WIndows XP box , and the version Microsoft is trying to convince you to upgrade to is substantially worse to the level of Vista, would you commit to the upgrade? Probably not.

Windows 7 was a huge step up from Vista, but I, and others, have come to a certain understanding when it comes to Microsoft OSes. Never upgrade immediately. Wait for the first service pack and then determine whether it's worth keeping your old OS or upgrading to the new. Windows 8 was such a goof on Microsoft's part that they skipped service packs entirely and just went with a full dot-release in 8.1. That's not what I consider inspiring.

As for an item I had trouble finding in Windows 8, try the fucking Control Panel. An item that, in Windows 7, is right there when you click Start. There is no need to enter a cascading menu of any sort. It is in the first list of primary items visible in the Start Menu when you click the button. In my first time using Windows 8, it wasn't that obvious and easy to access right off the bat; I had to go searching around for it in a way that I shouldn't have needed. That right there is a fuck-up on Microsoft's part; not a demonstration of user incompetence. Microsoft took away a key navigation element that is simple and easy to understand and use and did not replace it with something equally or more accessible.

If you’re looking to buy a new PC and you hate the idea of looking at Live Tiles, then you’d better get a new PC within the next year or so. As ZDNet points out, Microsoft has told its manufacturing partners that they can keep selling new Windows 7-based PCs through October 30th, 2014, which means that by this time next year every new PC that OEMs release will come preloaded with Windows 8. Microsoft has also announced that it’s officially stopped selling Windows 7 box copies at retail.

Windows 8 has had a bumpy ride over its first year as its growth has seemingly stalled and Windows 7 adoption is still growing at a faster pace than Windows 8 adoption. Of course, Microsoft may release a Windows 8.2 update sometime next year that will go even further in appeasing Metro UI haters than Windows 8.1 did so you may not need to scramble to scoop up the last remaining Windows 7 PCs after all.

BGR: Metro haters beware: 2014 will be the end of new Windows 7 PCs

Hehe. 8.2.

You hit the windows key on your keyboard and then type the letter c and o. It's the second item listed for me. That super easy for me, and quicker than clicking a few buttons (typing is faster than moving your mouse and clicking).

And the fact that I would have to hit the Windows key and type two letters does not make it obvious. Not everyone navigates Windows using keyboard shortcuts. Not everyone even knows that those keyboard shortcuts even exist. If you have to educate a Windows 7 Start Menu user on how to navigate Windows 8 in that manner in order to have a relatively painless user experience, congratulations, you've failed.

I work in an electronics store, and pretty much everyone who comes in to buy a laptop makes it known to me that they dont like windows 8, and some even suggest that they will only buy the laptop if I can put 7 or vista on to it for them. Naturally I refuse, because fuck that, but Brad is not alone in his hatred for windows 8.

Personally, I don't really care. Ill use 7 as long as I am able.

My only gripe with windows 8 is all the full screen applications. Drives me crazy, but not crazy enough to go about changing it since I barely ever use any of that Windows specific bullshit software. Its definitely a mess though. Most of the internal stuff is better laid out, but there are a lot of really curious choices for things. Still, hit that windows key and type what you want, and it's usually pretty good about bringing it up.

Initially I hated the start menu thing like everyone else who hadn't tried it yet and given it a chance, but once I acclimated to it I found it to be vastly superior to the old start menu. Its easy to customize everything you would ever want fast access to and it pops up instantly every time, regardless of what the computer is doing. Its basically what I did on the old start menu, but instead of being able to pin like 10 things to it, I have everything I need in there, plus news headlines and weather and stuff. Its pretty slick.

Anyways, Windows 8 aint perfect, but its pretty damn good if you give it a chance. So many people buying into this Windows 8 hate without giving it a shot for a while. It happens with everything I guess, and that's why I try things and make up my own opinion instead of listening to the masses.

I have Win8 and I never see the home screen, I boot straight to the desktop and that's that. The only thing I don't like is that I sometimes get messages telling me to swipe... but I have a mouse! The super fast boot time is more than enough to make up for it, however.

Windows 8 isn't terrible so long as you have Classic Shell installed. Gives you the Windows taskbar and traditional start menu. You still have access to all of the tiles and what not (and some of them are useful), but if you don't want to interact with those you don't have to.

I found it to be the best compromise between retards and windows 7 users.

Because then you can't say someone else on the internet is "crying" about something. And that's what I live for!

My Dad called my to his room and said:"Son, you know Im bad with computers so please don't laugh but....I don't know how to turn this thing off." Then I laughed, pushed him aside and 10 minutes later went on the internet to look it up.

Win 8 + classic shell is alright though

News flash: people share and discuss their experiences/opinions on message boards.

I agree with you entirely. Windows search is much faster this time around. To access the control panel quickly, with only the mouse, you can right click the start menu button (or hit windows key +x). This brings up a list that is similar to the old start menu; you can shut down the pc, go to the control panel, bring up the task manager, command prompt, or windows explorer. I find this alone makes the UI quicker to use than any previous Windows experience.

Well shit, I didn't know you could do that. The like one time a week I had be resetting my computer I had been doing it the other way haha.

Most of the people I've spoken with about Windows 8 are just following the bandwagon without any personal experience to form an opinion. Disliking the start screen is about the only thing most are able to articulate, and that in itself doesn't seem like a good enough reason to entirely write off an OS to me. Installing Classic Shell because you don't like the UI isn't any different than installing Firefox or Chrome because you don't like IE.

@hailinel: I just want to make sure you know that you can push the Windows button on the bottom left corner of your keyboard and start typing and whatever you want will come up before you're done typing. As far as I'm concerned, that's way better than clicking through menus and scanning text to find what you want.

I like Windows 8. It boots faster and runs better than Windows 7 ever did. It has some problems, though - some people are pointing out how its UI is inconsistent - but once you learn how to use it, it's fine. And yes, you do have to learn how to use it - it's different, not everything is going to come to you immediately.

For the record, I have no problem with either Windows 7 or 8. I do wish that Microsoft wouldn't make a new version of Windows when no new version is necessary, though.

Windows 8 defense force is pretty weak. I won't deny I don't mind the idea of a new UI, but even still have you tried being tech support to a grandmother who got a new laptop for Christmas running windows 8?

I hope Win8 is just a fluke. If not, we're in for some dark times.

Not almost, COMPLETELY insulting, they go on for months about how they are bringing the start button back and it does NOTHING, assholes.

It's much faster than 7 and looks a lot better than 7. The Metro stuff is avoidable.

If you're building a new PC and need a new Windows OS, just buy 8.

Happily skipped Millennium, skipped Vista (except on work computers i had to support), happily skipping this one. Has worked out exceptionally so far.

Btw you know what also boots super fast? A fresh 7 install on an SSD. As most any clean OS would.

Nor have I ever needed to use the search function in WinOS unless looking for some obscure file on someone else's machine. Any dozens of programs and functionality I use are a click or 2 away at all times, no searches required, no extra shortcuts, nothing, because it's already right there and accessible in the first place.

Living hassle free, whereas my brother had to fuck around in 8 just to try to get into the hidden admin account, because apparently the OS doesn't trust you with it and cripples normal full admin functionality. That was fun to hear about.

I admit to having to use a plugin called Start8 to replicate more of the Windows 7 experience because that's just how I like using Windows but other than that, I've had no trouble with it. I've especially been satisfied with it's functionality since 8.1.

Right click on it!!

There are lots of objective truths out there that show how Windows 8 outperforms windows 7.

I've never had a full screen app pushed on me and it's not like 7 had usable apps for things like mail. It also takes the same amount of clicks and mouse movements to shut down your computer and less to put it to sleep.

Why do people dislike things that I like? Can't they understand my opinion is the most refined in the land? People must just dislike change. Or be trolling. No one could legitimately dislike something I enjoy. I'd be madnessssss!

/s

No, but seriously, why do you care? Do you have a personal stake in its market penetration?

I was one of the few that liked Vista, and I had no problem understanding why some people just didn't like it. It's okay to like things that others don't. Being upset that other people don't agree with you is immature. Get over it.

Brad's entire job is to tell us what he likes and dislikes. He videos and writes his opinions for money and they puts them on the internet for people to comment on.

They were on their platform disgusted by the operating system for no good reason so of course that will generate discussion.