How are you guys liking Windows 8 so far?

Activate: AMD said:
No, i'm saying all mainstream desktop guis are mouse interfaces, so saying Metro UI is hardly different from Aero simply because its a mouse interface is ridiculous. I don't remember who in this thread made that point earlier, but just because its "moving the mouse and clicking" doesn't mean its equivalent. I'm also saying that consistency between two dramatically different form factors is overrated.
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Nobody (at least not me) is saying it's equivalent because "you move a mouse and click things". Because there are obviously very asinine possibilities for a move the mouse and click things interface. But the start screen is equivalent, in the sense that you perform roughly the same action, click in the lower left, then click your app (or for the start menu, navigate folders, then click your app, which is more effort.)


Now i'm starting to think you're being deliberately obtuse. I don't give a damn what you call the stupid things. Gadgets, tiles, etc. But MS could have put a sidebar on the desktop with "live tiles" just the same way they have a sidebar with "gadgets", but they didn't need to have you boot into the start screen just to have live tiles. Having live tiles as an excuse for the start screen makes absolutely no sense on a PC, because you have more than enough screen real-estate to put them on. This is not the case on a tablet or phone, so I understand why it makes sense for those devices.
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I'm not arguing over their names, and am trying to use the names I see other people use that I am dealing with, so I have no idea why you act like I am making a big deal of the names.. what I'm saying is, Metro has at least one benefit (combined user and developer experience), what do desktop gadgets offer over that? To use desktop gadgets, you still have to click a button in most cases, the minimize all or minimize your opened apps, then re-open them to work again on them. That's about the same effort more or less as clicking the start screen hot spot, looking at the metro gadgets and then clicking the hotspot again (or the desktop tile, or hitting windows key) to get back, without the benefit of a combined tablet and desktop experience for developers and users.
I'm saying that OSX doesn't boot into a home screen with rows of apps. Win 8 is the equivalent of OSX booting to the iOS homescreen. I think MS is missing the point with this whole concept of "continuity" between devices. People like their iPhones so they buy MBP's. They don't seem to have any issues with OSX. Its about hardware, design language, aesthetics, reliability and interoperability. Those things can be accomplished by MS without forcing this new UI down long-time users throats
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I'm saying OS X is irrelevant, because it is not the be all end all of OSes or anything else. And any UI MS makes is going to be 'forced down our throats', and somebody's not going to be happy.

See above for why your continued insistence on distinguishing "tiles" from "gadgets" is pointless
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See above for why that has nothing to do with what I was actually saying.
You were the one who said people are inventing issues with Win 8... and you also asked how can you argue with someone who says they don't like it. If your feeling is that people are inventing issues to justify why they don't like it, I don't see how that makes your opinions any less irrelevant than you consider mine.
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Again, I didn't say 'people' were inventing issues, I said *you* were inventing issues (when you said you have to go 'around live tiles' to get to the desktop.) Your whole line of reasoning is that I am dismissing people's opinion for inventing issues, I only said you were inventing issues, and only about one thing in particular, so it's not generally applicable to the rest of this thread..

You need to work on your reading comprehension. YOU were the one who accused Win8 haters of thinking Win8 makes their PC's into giant iPads. I said I didn't think that at all because I know that underneath the stupid new GUI, its still Windows. So why would they put this layer of fluff on top of an otherwise powerful and worthwhile upgrade? I also said that if I wanted bullshit force-fed to me, i'd buy Apple junk, BUT I DON'T. I also don't want Metro
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My comprehension is more than adequate, but thanks for the suggestion as I'm sure we could all use improvement. Anyway, you said you know it's not a giant ipad, but if you wanted it, you would get an ipad. Seems to me you are saying it's an ipad, more or less. I have a feeling you are not aware you think it or are saying it, and are going to continue to insists I am incorrect here until I get bored and ignore what you say about it..sigh.
 
Syndicated_Death said:
:) are you really trying to tell me it should have been that hard? that's a bit silly. Actually why is it when I put you up against brass tacks about what the start screen is you then start suggesting work arounds? if the start screen is all the start menu you say it is why do I need work arounds?

also, isn't it a bit presumptuous to assume that the majority of your client base will use all of your devices? your phone, your console, your tablet and your OS? maybe I'm a mutant... I have windows machines, I have a PS3 and I use an android phone.
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I suggested a work around, because you don't like the current method. I'm fine with it, the gist of the complaint seems to be discoverability as opposed to it's actual location, and discoverability is not an issue of end users, just early adopters, and early adopters are expected to do their home work since they don't get tutorials and manuals, etc. that end users get. Then I'm saying at this point, if you personally are not happy there is a work around, but shutdown is quite a rare action (I personally never shutdown, I expect the average user shuts down once a day or so), so I don't think 3 clicks instead of 2 for this one thing is a big deal, hell it's barely a minor deal imo.

You can call it anything you like, but it's MS' thing now, to offer a complete stack from top to bottom, and make it a consistent experience for users and developers. But it doesn't mean you have to do it or anything, I myself have this Win 8 desktop in my sig, and an iphone, it's just an attractive option, not some kind of necessity.
 
I have to say I'm liking it, it's like two operating systems in one and I can almost run it entirely from the desktop if I want. Metro/Modern is a neat toy and I use it only really for the things I use to use the start menu for, but it is not quite as fast as the start menu. Everything I'm throwing at it is running, even GFWL games which initially gave me an error when I tried to launch 'em until I installed client as a stand alone. Only thing that isn't working is Origin, but then again I really haven't had an urge to play BF3 or MOH:WF.
 
Demon10000 said:
I've upgraded all of my machines. On the outside, it's Windows 7 with a different window theme, but faster.
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You did all of your machines already?! Did you use it for an extended amount of time? I couldn't imagine using it for less than 48 hours and already convert all of my machines.
 
RangerXML said:
I have to say I'm liking it, it's like two operating systems in one and I can almost run it entirely from the desktop if I want. Metro/Modern is a neat toy and I use it only really for the things I use to use the start menu for, but it is not quite as fast as the start menu. Everything I'm throwing at it is running, even GFWL games which initially gave me an error when I tried to launch 'em until I installed client as a stand alone. Only thing that isn't working is Origin, but then again I really haven't had an urge to play BF3 or MOH:WF.
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Really? Origin has always worked perfectly fine on my installation.
 
RangerXML said:
I have to say I'm liking it, it's like two operating systems in one and I can almost run it entirely from the desktop if I want. Metro/Modern is a neat toy and I use it only really for the things I use to use the start menu for, but it is not quite as fast as the start menu. Everything I'm throwing at it is running, even GFWL games which initially gave me an error when I tried to launch 'em until I installed client as a stand alone. Only thing that isn't working is Origin, but then again I really haven't had an urge to play BF3 or MOH:WF.
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Like Tsumi, I have no trouble with origin, play BF3 and MOH:W just fine, butter smooth. What error are you getting, maybe I or someone else can assist.
 
I just upgraded my Gaming Rig today. I've spent a little time in a VM previously to get an idea what was coming down the pipe.

Honestly... it's not really as bad as it seems when you are watching the videos etc. but the interface isn't directly intuitive. People will learn I think.

I thought $40 was a fair price to upgrade, so I did it. Who knows, maybe something cool will come out on the app store or something.

At the end of the day, I think it's good to try new things. Once I figure out a few more things regarding Media Center (waiting for the e-mail from MS with the licence key to activate it for free) I am probably going to upgrade my HTPC as well because I think it's an interface that is much more suited to the 10' experience on my HTPC (when outside of windows media center of course since that doesn't seem to have changed).
 
Canon said:
Once I figure out a few more things regarding Media Center (waiting for the e-mail from MS with the licence key to activate it for free) I am probably going to upgrade my HTPC as well because I think it's an interface that is much more suited to the 10' experience on my HTPC (when outside of windows media center of course since that doesn't seem to have changed).
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Yeah, nothing to figure out if you used WMC7, they literally put zero effort into improving or changing anything from the previous version, it is 100% identical.

God forbid they would've at least "Metro-skinned" WMC, but they didn't even bother to do that. But for now I'll be grateful they gave it back to us at all.
 
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mknlb50 said:
I want real opinions from the people who have used it extensively and please NO OS FIGHTS!

I went to Best Buy today to try out Windows 8. It took me less than 2 minutes to get used to the metro interface. Keep in mind, I've never watched any of the Windows 8 tutorial videos. It was THAT easy to use. Right now I am installing Windows 8 Enterprise on my Samsung Series 7 laptop so I can play with some more. Why not on the desktop? From my experience so far, Windows 8 works the best on computers with either touch screen or touch pad. I thought using Win 8 with traditional mouse and keyboard was a bit too limited.

I'll play with it a bit more to see if I should buy a MS touch mouse to use it on the desktop later. Sometimes, change is a good thing. I think MS made the right choice seeing how more and more average consumers are moving away from the traditional desktop computers. Only time will tell.
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My first impression of windows 8 was that metro + desktop seemed like two halfassed systems for desktop usage. Metro itself seemed underpowered and too simplified for desktop use and the desktop without start button seemed unfinished.

As a system for heavy mouse "point and click" users, it seemed a bit clumsy, but I am an old school gamer, so I'm often using keyboard instead of mouse for some tasks.

Its a bit like Unity on Ubuntu. Awkward at first, but when you start using the HUD and such, it becomes much easier.

With these four keyboard shortcuts, I found it actually better to use metro then the standard start menu:

Windows key: Switch between Modern Desktop Start screen and the last accessed application (for my use, its a switch between desktop and the metro start menu)
Windows key + C: Access the charms bar
Windows key + Tab: Access the Modern Desktop Taskbar
Windows key + F: Access the Files Search screen

More shortcuts here.

Metro gives a better overview of the files versus the old start menu and the charms bar makes search for a program pretty fast if you use keyboard much. For Mac users, who often use the command key, it would be an easier transition using metro as start menu.

I must say that Win 8 has grown on me pretty fast, though I don't use the store app system much yet. :)
 
RangerXML said:
I have to say I'm liking it, it's like two operating systems in one and I can almost run it entirely from the desktop if I want. Metro/Modern is a neat toy and I use it only really for the things I use to use the start menu for, but it is not quite as fast as the start menu. Everything I'm throwing at it is running, even GFWL games which initially gave me an error when I tried to launch 'em until I installed client as a stand alone. Only thing that isn't working is Origin, but then again I really haven't had an urge to play BF3 or MOH:WF.
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try command "windows key + X" it brings up an awesome menu.
 
"windows key + D" brings you back to the desktop no matter where you are in the OS
 
I like the new theme, clean and functional. Never liked Aero.. it was basically microsoft's response to OSX aqua look by adding eye candy because they could, it served no real purpose or usefulness.

Metro - hate it. Not because I'm not willing to learn new things, but because it really doesn't improve anything that already existed. I'm all for radical changes, but only in the context of the change bringing about much better.

If not for Start8, I would completely regret the purchase $ and time spent reinstalling everything (done about 5 reinstalls so far trying to figure out how to d:\Users via audit mode, but it doesn't work with \ProgramData and Metro apps).

Windows 8 + Start 8, A++.
 
I am getting used to it. Perhaps it's psychological but I feel there is a disjunction between the desktop and the start menu. Whenever the screen switches between the two I feel like I'm working on two different systems. Probably psychological, but the start menu is so distinct. I would like to see the start menu have a transparent background and dim whatever is behind, which is where you came from before going to the start menu. I think this would alleviate some of the disconnection I feel.
 
pinoy said:
I am getting used to it. Perhaps it's psychological but I feel there is a disjunction between the desktop and the start menu. Whenever the screen switches between the two I feel like I'm working on two different systems. Probably psychological, but the start menu is so distinct. I would like to see the start menu have a transparent background and dim whatever is behind, which is where you came from before going to the start menu. I think this would alleviate some of the disconnection I feel.
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Not psychological at all, in order for a transition to the new app store generation of windows to happen without causing further uproar than it already has, they had to keep a foot planted in the old and the new. By Windows 9, "legacy apps" will probably be gone or run inside a "legacy mode" window similar to "XP mode" in Windows 7, no more installing your own apps at that point (no "side loading") and everything is DRM'd and gets sourced through the app store.

So the dual personality of Windows 8 that you're experiencing is just a side effect of the transition to that eventuality, one stepping stone toward the longterm goal. The problem right now is there aren't enough apps worth using in Metro land to hang around in it for any length of time, but hopefully that will change sooner than later.
 
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That's baseless speculation, MS has not given so much as a hint that it's going Metro Apps only in Windows. They have nothing to gain by doing so, Windows would cease to be a viable competitor to Mac and Linux, since many apps will never be appropriate for Metro. The current system seems to be everything they really need, the ability for users to run safe, universal apps (Metro apps), and easily run and use desktop apps. Now, it's not impossible they do that, but it would probably require the market to universal abandon the desktop apps on their own first, which I don't see happening.
 
Filtrator said:
Terrible.

Metro = Horrible UI, I hate side scrolling.

Desktop = Ruined, transparency is gone, you cannot even adjust border thickness anymore(border padding).

Great idea and concept, terrible execution.
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OMG i thought i was the only one that every changed that stupid over sized window padding! I mean FFS microsoft... why on early.. for since WinXP ... did you ever think it was a good idea to waste half my fricken screen on NOTHING!? And now... not even let me change it to regain some of that area you think is fine to waste? FFS.. ever since i tried the CP.. i went straight to customisation to change that darn padding from 5 elephants wide to ZERO (if i could) only to NOT find any option to change it..

FFS. ggrrrr I hate "upgrades" that take away power/choice/usability. And so far... thats all 8 has done for me. effing frustrating to know that the users that don't care for getting jerked with time wasting crap are for ever going to get jerked around due to "mainstream profiting". Fuck modern day gadgets and their push to be sold to sheeple!
 
HoffY said:
OMG i thought i was the only one that every changed that stupid over sized window padding! I mean FFS microsoft... why on early.. for since WinXP ... did you ever think it was a good idea to waste half my fricken screen on NOTHING!? And now... not even let me change it to regain some of that area you think is fine to waste? FFS.. ever since i tried the CP.. i went straight to customisation to change that darn padding from 5 elephants wide to ZERO (if i could) only to NOT find any option to change it..

FFS. ggrrrr I hate "upgrades" that take away power/choice/usability. And so far... thats all 8 has done for me. effing frustrating to know that the users that don't care for getting jerked with time wasting crap are for ever going to get jerked around due to "mainstream profiting". Fuck modern day gadgets and their push to be sold to sheeple!
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I resent being called sheeple, and I have not noticed any significant loss of power/choice/usability. The only loss of power I have found is the ability to access the Windowsapps folder, which contains all Metro apps. Someone will find a way to jailbreak/root this, similar to how it has been done on iOS, Android, and indeed even Steam. The only other thing I noticed that I lost as far as customizing goes was advanced choice of colors. And Windows 8 has not removed any ability to install 3rd party skins.

And you're supposed to choose the right tool for the job. Microsoft gave you all the tools, and this would be especially apparent with dockable tablets. Metro for touchscreen on-the-go usage, desktop for docked mode.
 
the right tool for the job you say... well if they made the right tool for the job i would chose it. But until then i'm stuck with half arsed bullshit that just gets more and more painful to use and it seems that the only stuff that gets attention is the stuff that will make the marketing team jizz in their pants (be gone with the enhancements that make your ever day usage experience better.... hell it only took 500 years to get a "create folder" button in Explorer... or haven't you ever wanted to create a folder?)

Some of us have to actually charge our time out. We can't just spend all day surfing the net looking for 3rd party tools to fix all the obvious fixes that get over seen and that if they actaully used the stuff they created.. they would have been frustrated with said annoyances within (often) the first 10minutes.

Don't worry. Microshaft arent the only ones that do it. I'm having a hell of a time with CAD software (to name one) in the last few years. But just like i say in that department... they are meant to be the smarter of the "crowd" so why arent they more focused on fixing these annoyances seems they are often so small to fix but mean so much from a usage point of view? Baffling. Software nowadays seems to be created with half-arsed in mind. And left to the some 3rd party developers (if its even possible) to create that extra level and attention to detail and depth that we should be heading towards.
 
I went and loaded Windows 8 Pro today on my Alienware X51. On occasion it tends to come up w/some kind of error for some reason, causing it to have to restart. My hardware is only a few months old, and so is up to date.

After using the OS for a while, I had to see if I could find a program that emulated the Classic Shell, and found Classic Start. It's an improvement, and hopefully Microsoft puts the Classic Menu back into Windows.

I'm also not too keen of loading my Microsoft account info into Windows, due to their OS's being so easy to break into.

My other systems will be staying w/Windows 7 Ultimate.

I work for a very large corporation, and we just switched over from 32 bit Windows XP Pro to the 64 bit of Windows 7 Enterprise on our desktops and laptops. As such, because we are such a large customer of Microsoft, Windows 7 will be around for a while. We can't just switch over w/every new release, since our own internal written software has to be able to work on it, as well as our engineering software, such as CATIA.

.
 
My current rig is going on 4 years old with nary a hiccup on Windows 8 so far, much less anything causing a restart. Mayhap I can pick parts better than the guys at Alienware?

I'm guessing that Windows 7 Ultimate give you many more years of excellent service. Windows 7 is a very good OS! Likewise, I think your company will be very happy with Windows 7 Enterprise for the foreseeable future. Congrats to finally getting all those boxes off of XP! I'll bet that makes your job a lot easier!
 
It's going to take some getting used to. Little things keep tweaking me out, like accidently pinning Chrome to the left or right... and being unable to figure out how to get it "un pinned". It could be, however the fact it's 1:15am, and I'm pretty damn tired.

Oh, and I wasn't able to do a clean install for some reason. I'll likely wipe it tomorrow and try to get a fresh copy going.
 
Bought the upgrade to Pro for 29.99€ because at that price if its a fail then it doesn't matter. To Windows 8 I picked up quickly how to navigate, switch between apps etc. and must say it is easy to use the only niggle that I have is no native changing of the Start Screen background other than that im rather impressed with it.
 
Just downloaded..(thanks for the info about 64 bit download) and installed. So far so good. Some things are randomly strange, but for the most part its good and it makes a BIG difference for a setup on a TV, when you are sitting a couple feet away.

8130963591_b6ec547705.jpg
 
I upgraded to Windows 8 Pro 64 bit on my desktop (clean install).

Metro sucks for desktop use. However, that caused me to realize I never really used my start menu in Windows 7 except to search, change settings, explore my computer, or launch programs, and that I can do all those things in Windows 8 even better and faster than in Windows 7. I basically unpinned and uninstalled almost everything except a few live tiles that were handy, and hardly ever use the start screen anymore. I just use the desktop version of all the apps and all my gripes are gone.

I had an old DVD drive that worked intermittently in Windows 7 that I was going to uninstall this weekend. However, under Windows 8, it works perfectly so that is something else I noticed. So the only real con is metro, but you have to ask yourself, how and why do you use the start screen currently? For myself, Windows 8 makes the things I do easier and faster because they removed most of them from being connected to the start screen. My 2 cents.
 
I went back to 7. I don't like the UI in Win8 and don't understand why they're trying to integrate a tablet interface with a desktop interface. I also don't want to use 3rd party software to try and correct the flaws. The pros do not outweigh the cons for me. The metro interface should be optional during install for people that are using a touch device. It just feels really half assed in my opinion.
 
lathode said:
I went back to 7. I don't like the UI in Win8 and don't understand why they're trying to integrate a tablet interface with a desktop interface. I also don't want to use 3rd party software to try and correct the flaws. The pros do not outweigh the cons for me. The metro interface should be optional during install for people that are using a touch device. It just feels really half assed in my opinion.
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You can't even tell that StartIsBack is installed, it doesn't even show up in add/remove programs, it simply reactivates the native Microsoft code existing in Windows to provide the start button/boot to desktop. I gave metro a shot and simply hated it on a desktop, but after installing StartIsBack, there is literally 0 difference between Windows 7 and Windows 8 other than the performance improvements that come with 8, an updated task manager, and all the other features. No reason not to stick with Windows 8, my boot time is 7 seconds down from 10 seconds now.
 
newster said:
For myself, Windows 8 makes the things I do easier and faster because they removed most of them from being connected to the start screen.
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Can you go into more detail on what you can do faster? A lot of the basic functions I tried in the start screen and folders in desktop mode were either restricted or a bit slower.

Examples:

- Can't right click and create a file on the start screen.

- Could not seem to separate an icon and make it standalone. I am sure there is a way but it wasn't obvious. I tend to do this on the desktop (Win 7/Vista/XP) for files I need to deal with at a later date; though they might have long file names that I will not remember. Hard to search for something if you don't know the name.

- In desktop mode the folder tabs are slower to use. In Win 7/Vista you could click file, and then move across the top to switch to edit, view, ect. In Win 8 you must click file again to close it, and then click edit or whatever to open that. Why make it slower?

- The ribbon in folders in desktop mode. The drop down menu was quicker to use.

- In Metro all of the programs open in full screen. There does not seem to be anyway to scale them down into a window so I can fit two programs on the screen at once. I have a 24" screen for a reason; so I can fit a lot of stuff on at once.

- Harder to get to the control panel in desktop mode in Win 8. Two clicks away in Win 7, three in Win 8.

- Long to get to a search screen where I can search my entire computer in Win 8 desktop mode. In Win 7 I open the start menu, type in what I want to search for. In Win 8, open a random folder, click Computer, and then search from there. Another unnecessary click that seems a bit out of place.

On the other hand I don't see how the start screen does anything new:

- You can pin all of the "apps" and folders you want in Win 7 on the desktop.

- Searching for a file/program was just a click away at all times.

Keep in mind I am talking only about desktops and laptops. Someone tell me what I am missing. :)
 
Purchased the upgrade, installed on my laptop. Props for the smooth upgrade. That's it. Completely unusable for my work flow, Horrid might be a better term. Wiped my laptop and reloaded Win 7. 8 is a piece of crap.

In terms of using this in the enterprise. Forget it - if I deployed Win 8 to my users I'd get fired.

Win 8 may be a good tablet/phone OS but in terms of desktop use, MS blew it with this. I rate it right up there ME and Vista.
 
The upgrade install broke my VirtualBox networking drivers and nothing could get it working again, so I had to reformat and do a clean install.

I have Windows 8 on my desktop and laptop. I love the new desktop theme and start screen.

My only issue is the fullscreen apps are pretty much a waste of life on a 30" LCD:
great_use_of_screen_space.jpg

(scaled down from 2560x1600)
 
- The ribbon in folders in desktop mode. The drop down menu was quicker to use.
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Shortcuts are even faster what's your point

Also ribbon is quicker for doing most things it displays more menu items at once so it requires less clicks just move and click, instead of move click, move down click again.

- Harder to get to the control panel in desktop mode in Win 8. Two clicks away in Win 7, three in Win 8.
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windows key, type control panel... still quicker faster and easier, i could do it blindfolded.

- You can pin all of the "apps" and folders you want in Win 7 on the desktop.
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Which is what most people ended up doing which is why they moved to a whole screen for putting up shortcuts etc

Long to get to a search screen where I can search my entire computer in Win 8 desktop mode. In Win 7 I open the start menu, type in what I want to search for. In Win 8, open a random folder, click Computer, and then search from there. Another unnecessary click that seems a bit out of place.
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? windows 8 search is by default alot more expansive in what gets indexed and searched for then windows 7, even so it's just a small settings difference if all you want to do is change how search behaves. It's still just windows key, type in yes if all you want to do is keep in desktop mode you're gonna run into problems. But that's your own dam fault for trying to avoid doing touching the start screen.

- In Metro all of the programs open in full screen. There does not seem to be anyway to scale them down into a window so I can fit two programs on the screen at once. I have a 24" screen for a reason; so I can fit a lot of stuff on at once.
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Quite legit, i get what metro was trying to do, make the program as uninterrupted by extra GUI things as possible, but not being able to split the screen 50/50 is just menacing. Personally i'd like to be able to split something 25/25/25/25 in the 4 corners of the screen as i have 2k monitor that's 30" that is fit for that kind of stuff. I'd also like for windows key to bring up start screen where my cursor is instead of on a preset screen.
 
Flogger23m said:
Can you go into more detail on what you can do faster? A lot of the basic functions I tried in the start screen and folders in desktop mode were either restricted or a bit slower.

Examples:

- Can't right click and create a file on the start screen.
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You're not supposed to. But you can still right click and create a file on the desktop, so this is not an actual degradation in any way.

- Could not seem to separate an icon and make it standalone. I am sure there is a way but it wasn't obvious. I tend to do this on the desktop (Win 7/Vista/XP) for files I need to deal with at a later date; though they might have long file names that I will not remember. Hard to search for something if you don't know the name.
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You should not try to use start screen like the desktop, the desktop is still there if you want to do that. The Metro stuff is an addition on top of that stuff, meant to be used in a simpler more straight forward manner.


- In desktop mode the folder tabs are slower to use. In Win 7/Vista you could click file, and then move across the top to switch to edit, view, ect. In Win 8 you must click file again to close it, and then click edit or whatever to open that. Why make it slower?
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I don't know about this one, is this something you do a lot? I basically just use explorer to copy and rename files occasionally.


- The ribbon in folders in desktop mode. The drop down menu was quicker to use.

- In Metro all of the programs open in full screen. There does not seem to be anyway to scale them down into a window so I can fit two programs on the screen at once. I have a 24" screen for a reason; so I can fit a lot of stuff on at once.
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You can have an app use 1/3rd or 2/3rds of the screen, by dragging it's side border, but generally for that usage you should stay with desktop apps, I'll touch on this more at the bottom.

- Harder to get to the control panel in desktop mode in Win 8. Two clicks away in Win 7, three in Win 8.
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You can also right click in the lower right (where the start screen hot spot is) to get the "Power menu" which has the control panel, and several other things.


- Long to get to a search screen where I can search my entire computer in Win 8 desktop mode. In Win 7 I open the start menu, type in what I want to search for. In Win 8, open a random folder, click Computer, and then search from there. Another unnecessary click that seems a bit out of place.
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You can hit the Windows Key and start typing to search in Windows 8.

On the other hand I don't see how the start screen does anything new:

- You can pin all of the "apps" and folders you want in Win 7 on the desktop.

- Searching for a file/program was just a click away at all times.

Keep in mind I am talking only about desktops and laptops. Someone tell me what I am missing. :)
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I think what you're missing is that the Metro stuff is not a replacement of the desktop, it's an addition, you should ideally use both (not just metro stuff), because each makes sense for a different task. For standard multitasking, having many tiled Windows for some kind of quick reference work, you would stick with the desktop. Also for more complicated apps UI-wise, the desktop will always be better. Where Metro makes sense, if for simple utilities and gadget type apps, that you might want to run in the background but not have sucking CPU/RAM/Disk resources; Metro Apps are completely suspended when not used, so it's perfectly reasonable to run dozens or hundreds of them, which would not be something you'd attempt in Windows 7 and still expect to have top performance when gaming, watching HD movies, or doing high end computational workloads. I would for instance, run many news sources, and email checkers and calendar/event notification programs, etc. and not have any resources sucked away from my games. Then say you want something like a program to give you a file hash, or zip your files, or some other simple utility - getting the metro version allows you to get a utility for that purpose, that is guaranteed to be safe. Being in a specially hardened sandbox, metro apps can not corrupt or infect the system, average users really need this more than probably you and I, but it would allow them to try dozens, hundreds or more apps without any fear of ever destroying their install or getting their bank accounts drained.

Again it's not a replacement for the desktop, metro is more an addition so people can use their computer like an appliance, without fear or maintenance type issues, while still having the power of the desktop for where that is necessary. That's how I see it philosophically any way, naturally I don't speak for MS or anyone but myself, however.
 
Zinn said:
The upgrade install broke my VirtualBox networking drivers and nothing could get it working again, so I had to reformat and do a clean install.

I have Windows 8 on my desktop and laptop. I love the new desktop theme and start screen.

My only issue is the fullscreen apps are pretty much a waste of life on a 30" LCD:
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(scaled down from 2560x1600)
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Like I was telling Flogger23m, and occasionally tell others, it's about the right tool for the job, using the metro music app would make more sense on a tablet or touch device, there are metro apps that make sense for desktop mouse usage, but that's probably not one of them, since it does not play music in the background, etc. Where I find metro apps make sense on the desktop, is for things like the mail application to give me notifications, and the various news feeds, etc. so I can click into the start screen and get all the latest information in the world, and what I need personally. The benefit, is these are sandboxed applications so I don't have to risk infection by grabbing desktop versions from web sites, and they use no resources when in the background. Maybe I could explain it better, but I hope you know what I mean.. I think some people get the idea that they are supposed to use all metro apps on their desktops, for a desktop with a mouse, metro apps should probably be thought of as a safe, controlled form of gadgets, many of them just don't make sense in a desktop + mouse scenario, others do.
 
Control panel is easily accessed by right-clicking the lower left corner. Actually, a lot of power user options are easily accessed there, like add or remove programs, command prompt, etc. Same two clicks as in Windows 7, except that it's a right click and a left click instead of 2 left clicks.
 
lathode said:
I went back to 7. I don't like the UI in Win8 and don't understand why they're trying to integrate a tablet interface with a desktop interface.
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Because iPad. Think I'm kidding, I'm not. Microsoft's new "direction" all stems from that. They dont care about Enterprise this go round, as that group tends to be upgrade sticklers anyway. This is an all-out assault on the consumer and mobility segments after standing by idly with a thumb parked while Apple became the richest company in the world catering to that demographic. As to why Metro forced onto desktops, its just a casualty of this war -- the fratboy marketing majors convinced decisionmakers that a unified interface optimized for tablet and touch would be evolutionary and have synergistic benefits, PC desktops be damned since they're "dying anyway".

Can't fault them for all that, but the way they went about it from a desktop PC perspective is back asswards and could've been handled far more intelligently.
 
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odditory said:
Because iPad. Think I'm kidding, I'm not. Microsoft's new "direction" all stems from that. They dont care about Enterprise this go round, as they tend to be upgrade sticklers anyway. This is an all-out assault on the consumer segment and mobility after standing by idly while Apple became the richest company in the world catering to that demographic in that space. As to why Metro forced onto desktops, its just a casualty of this war -- the fratboy marketing majors convinced decisionmakers that "unifying" the interface would be evolutionary and have synergistic benefits.

Can't fault them for all that, but the way they went about it from a desktop PC perspective is back asswards and could've been handled far more intelligently.
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Yea about as insightful as saying MS is evil because they are breathing your air. From a desktop perspective, there is no detriment to the Metro stuff, it's an addition that I find useful, but that you don't even have to use. Other than that launching programs for the desktop from the start menu is more efficient than the start menu with a little personalizing of the start screen, so all of what you wrote strikes me as complaining just to complain.
 
odditory said:
Seconded. Can't speak highly enough of StartIsBack since its the only one that runs the native start menu code left in explorer.exe. All the other start menu replacements at this point are replicas.
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I know it readds the start menu and disables the start screen on start up, but does it also add Aero back? Desktop mode just looks so ugly without it! :p
 
odditory said:
Not psychological at all, in order for a transition to the new app store generation of windows to happen without causing further uproar than it already has, they had to keep a foot planted in the old and the new. By Windows 9, "legacy apps" will probably be gone or run inside a "legacy mode" window similar to "XP mode" in Windows 7, no more installing your own apps at that point (no "side loading") and everything is DRM'd and gets sourced through the app store.
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When Visual Studio is a successful Metro app I will believe you. Along with Photoshop and Excel and all the other hardcore productivity software out there. Until then, I know that won't happen simply because Microsoft employees won't want to do their programming in a tablet UI.
 
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