The "Is Windows 8 a Flop?" Thread

Well it's "gorilla arm" or the carpal tunnel syndrome. Gorilla arm is not nearly as bad as CTS. But since you're likely to do both mouse/keyboard operations with a Win tablet, and shoulder flexion, you may get both... :)

Think of it as good practice for rifle PT in the army. ;)
 
Yep, in response to my LaunchPad screenshot ...

You seem to misunderstand what I was saying.


I dispute the all there.

Again, you make a strawperson. Unless you can show me the Win taskbar in your pic of the Win8 Start screen. And show me where I get a choice to "make Metro disappear foreva". Without third-party programs and whistling through my arsehole.

Now I COULD try explaining what I am saying a third time, in baby language, or I could say a prayer to St Jude, the patron saint of lost causes. Hmmmm....
 
You seem to misunderstand what I was saying.
I do understand, but as usual think its a lame point. Are you honestly going to open LaunchPad to access an app in the Dock when its accessible directly from the desktop?

Unless you can show me the Win taskbar in your pic of the Win8 Start screen.
As above, if an app is pinned to the Taskbar, why would I need to see it in Start? I would click on it straight from the desktop.
 
I do understand, but as usual think its a lame point. Are you honestly going to open LaunchPad to access an app in the Dock when its accessible directly from the desktop?

It depends on ones' personal preferences i.e. what one finds easier and more intuitive, especially with the majority of users coming from Win 7 and XP. The more ways to do something, the better.

As above, if an app is pinned to the Taskbar, why would I need to see it in Start? I would click on it straight from the desktop.

The more ways to do something, the better. That's why we have X's and on the top right, menu on the top left corner, exit in menu and ALT+F4 as ways to do the same thing. It doesn't cost a lot of code and memory to keep the old ways alive for people who have become used to them. There is no one single good reason to force people to change, except for post hoc rationalisations of Microsoft such as "we made changes because we're w-nkers who redesign everything every few years, now let's just tell people they're 'better' and that's that".
 
Found this interesting article: http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/03/s...metro-and-use-only-desktop-mode-in-windows-8/

Basically it explains how to create a scheduled task to bypass Metro and take you to the desktop at login. Also a tip to reconfigure defaults so that media and files are defualted to the desktop version of the app e.g. for pictures and video etc.

Would be very interested to hear from the gents here with W8 if the things in this article actually work effectively.

Still I gotta say that even though there are solutions to these annoyances, it is not an excuse for MS to exclude choice as to how you want to work

Precisely! Why should you give through all this bother to get Windows 8 to work this way?

MS have enough coders to include a setup wizard that leads you through these choices at install time - point is they made a strategic decision not to - they made a strategic decision to force the new UI onto users.

Let's see how that pans out - corporates will not install this puppy for years to come - in fact, much like vista, it will be skipped entirely and Windows 7 will only be upgraded once MS officially stops supporting it
 
Precisely! Why should you give through all this bother to get Windows 8 to work this way?

MS have enough coders to include a setup wizard that leads you through these choices at install time - point is they made a strategic decision not to - they made a strategic decision to force the new UI onto users.

Let's see how that pans out - corporates will not install this puppy for years to come - in fact, much like vista, it will be skipped entirely and Windows 7 will only be upgraded once MS officially stops supporting it

Well, as said, and I'm repeating this like a broken record, MS (Ballmer) think that they can leverage their PC OS share to convert people to Windows phones and tablets, by forcing them to already work unnaturally with a tablet interface on Windows on these desktop/laptop non-touch PCs. Instead of doing what Apple has been doing, with iOS and OS X, MS just lumped them clumsily together and is shoving them in front of our faces. Ballmer plans to release more devices running Windows Blue in 2013 in an effort to copy Apple. These changes in UI are not changes which were researched out, they're just a forced move aimed to create more customers for MS mobile devices. Hence it's not in their interest to change things. The old way of doing things will be sidelined even more and touch interface elements will (have) invaded Intel PCs which neither have touch or where touch is present but is only a gimmick because of gorilla arm and need to actually type on a keyboard/use a better fine mouse pointer.
 
Well, as said, and I'm repeating this like a broken record, MS (Ballmer) think that they can leverage their PC OS share to convert people to Windows phones and tablets, by forcing them to already work unnaturally with a tablet interface on Windows on these desktop/laptop non-touch PCs. Instead of doing what Apple has been doing, with iOS and OS X, MS just lumped them clumsily together and is shoving them in front of our faces. Ballmer plans to release more devices running Windows Blue in 2013 in an effort to copy Apple. These changes in UI are not changes which were researched out, they're just a forced move aimed to create more customers for MS mobile devices. Hence it's not in their interest to change things. The old way of doing things will be sidelined even more and touch interface elements will (have) invaded Intel PCs which neither have touch or where touch is present but is only a gimmick because of gorilla arm and need to actually type on a keyboard/use a better fine mouse pointer.

Exactly. Corporations are standing at a very complex junction. In my personal computer use I do too. MS is pulling a Hitler on us ... and I do not appteciate it one bit. Ballmer must fall for this. Corporations must take a firm stance and not enter the MS gate to their new world where they are constructing a very poor copy of AppleWorld.
 
I had a meeting yesterday where I was asked to review a very large corporation's OS specifications going forward. I will in the next week work through the documentation and make sure the consequences and options are well understood. I so wish there was more OS competition to table realistic alternatives. One cannot change a huge full oil tanker's direction in a jiffy. But one can at least start a process of opening up to other options ... and in so doing send out a clear message that we will not be bullied into a new walled garden where we are forced to invest across the board into one ecosystem. MS has made a serious blunder IMO. We want options. We do not appreciate having things we do not want/need pushed on us because MS wants to make money like Apple.
 
Yes it's official windows 8 sucks, Microsoft sucked since Gates left, ok now move on.

/Apple Fanboy
 
A throwback to XP/Vista days, made redundant in the Win7/8 Taskbar.

Redundant perhaps but not improved upon.

I dispute the all there. If you had to pack every default/installed executable app in OSX into the Dock, it would be a dogs breakfast to use. The norm, as would be with Taskbar, is to be populate it with frequently used apps (co-habiting with active running windows).

This is where quick launch was superior.
 
This is where quick launch was superior.

I still use quick launch in win 8. It's still there. You just create a new toolbar with "%appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch" as the target. Couldn't do without it.
 
Very disappointing sales figures in America for Windows 8 over Christmas period, and bound to continue.
But you have to ask yourself why. This analysis sums it up quite nicely ... http://www.businessinsider.com/microsofts-windows-sales-dropped-11-during-the-holidays-2013-1

MS is pulling a Hitler on us ... and I do not appteciate it one bit.
Unfortunate, and I agree they have gone about it in a pretty draconian way, but when you're fighting for strategic long-term relevance/existence in the market, some collateral damage isn't going to be of primary concern ...

This is what's really troublesome for Microsoft about these stats. This isn't some grand pronouncement about Windows 8 being a failure. This is a grand pronouncement about a fundamental shift in personal computing behavior.
 
Win8 is quite usable at home. Just spend the $5 on the Start8 start menu and put a few hours into installing alternative apps before going through file associations to make sure that NOTHING opens with the Metro/NewUI shyte. Basically undo everything that microsoft has done except the performance optimisations.

I'm very worried about deployments in business though. Have sold a few machines with Win8 on it and support calls are going through the roof. I can not employ more people because of this and pushing the prices up (to get more people and provide user training with every workstation) will force me out of the market. I do not sell anything with Win8 on it anymore. Too many unhappy clients. Win8 can close my small IT company.
 
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