What I like about Windows 8

JerryMungo

JerryMungo

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Apart from the fact that it's given my older Lenovo T410s a new lease on life with the touch screen coming into it's own, there are some things I really think they got right about Windows 8.

One is the native ability to open and run files from .iso's
I've just downloaded Office 2013 iso and am able to run setup directly from the ISO. It treats it as a folder :)
The metro interface is good fun with a touch screen. I'm going to seriously look at replacing monitors at my place with touch screens and upgrading. It's a good overall experience.
 
I like the fact that the Start Menu becomes a much prettier launcher for apps, the fact that it ties in so neatly with iCloud and whichever WP8 device I choose to buy in future and the fact that its just so much more frugal with hardware resources and feels zippier.

Then there's the better task manager, explorer ribbon, built-in security, many improvements to networking and filesharing and I can use the picture password option if I don't feel like typing it in. There's a lot of small improvements that add up to, for me, a great OS. I just wish it scaled down well enough for netbook-size screens but it may force manufacturers to come up with higher-resolution ones later on. Also the way Modern UI can take advantage of a trackpad is seriously cool - it almost alleviates the need for a touch screen.
 
I'm not sure what you're trying to imply here. Do you think Windows 8 is going backwards?
 
NAG - Wesley said:
I'm not sure what you're trying to imply here. Do you think Windows 8 is going backwards?
Click to expand...

I'm just saying it has all been done before and it remains fairly ghastly. I always disabled the launcher on Mac OS; hated it.

I don't really know where Windows is going, but Win 8 just seems to be a rush job to get into the apps/store model and to get there soonest to keep the dollars flowing. So you have a really hideous cellphone OS built for phones not many people wanted mashed onto a slightly updated Win7 ( which in itself ain't so great - just Vista with some annoyances taken out ) and the result is an abortion. No, I'm not saying you cannot use it - you can, after a fashion, but it is horrible on a desktop.

It seems also to be MS's intention to move away from Win32 ( which is admittedly a mess ) thereby dumping a whole generation of the software I use daily, in favour of a really dumb and asinine full-screen interface model over which MS will try to exercise some control via their store. Stuff them.

If you want to see how to make radical changes properly, look at what Apple did from 68K to PPC to Intel, from OS 8/9 to OS X, with things like Classic and Rosetta and fat binaries.

I have developed a lot more ill-feeling towards MS over Win8 - they are treating me like an idiot ( which I may well be ) and I duzzn't likes it.
 
I've mentioned this before, but yes the new way looks a lot like Program Manager of Win 3.x days. So in effect it is a way of going back to 1990.

BTW Win 8 still lets me run VLC, WinRar, and other non-MS approved software. I think you have to enable the option by default though, because by default it does not want to install non-MS approved softs.
 
i honestly dont see the fuss. more features. very similar to win 7 without the start menu which i didnt use anyway. most of my apps are pinned. so i dont even notice the metro interface much
 
It starts up from scratch in seconds too - I love that. I didn't see the fuss either until I gave it a test drive.

Its the biggest jump IMO since XP from 98 and 95 from 3.1
Very different look and feel and nice smooth interface. I particularly like using my finger on the screen. I used touch with Windows 7, but this is a way better experience.

It helps to have some nice stuff built closer to the core - partly why OSX is so smooth on most Macs. Time will tell if my system is to perform well a year or more after all the bits are installed...
 
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IPX-SPX said:
It starts up from scratch in seconds too - I love that. I didn't see the fuss either until I gave it a test drive.

Its the biggest jump IMO since XP from 98 and 95 from 3.1
Very different look and feel and nice smooth interface. I particularly like using my finger on the screen. I used touch with Windows 7, but this is a way better experience.

It helps to have some nice stuff built closer to the core - partly why OSX is so smooth on most Macs. Time will tell if my system is to perform well a year or more after all the bits are installed...
Click to expand...

agree. what i meant is that i dont see why people are fussing that it is an inferior product to win7. i honestly disagree.
 
iceman23 said:
agree. what i meant is that i dont see why people are fussing that it is an inferior product to win7. i honestly disagree.
Click to expand...

Exactly my thoughts after using it. They're probably moaning about having to learn something new... Navigation is not obvious to a seasoned 7/Vista/XP/2000/98/NT 4/95 user :)
 
Things I like about Win8:

Things I dislike about win8:
Tries to be a tablet OS.

Been using it as my primary gaming PC for a few days now and it's crap. Really is taking a step backwards.
 
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My copy of Windows 8 seems to be missing a hideous interface. Obviously compared to OS X it's still hideous, but less so than previous Microsoft attempts.

Windows 7 extended some of the enhancements in Vista while also dramatically improving the resource usage/performance, which was really Vista's only major weakness. I haven't really seen any performance/resource improvements in Windows 8, it seems to be on a par with Windows 7 mostly, but there are a number of little useful enhancements to the interface.

Apple did support old binaries for quite sometime, but that support was not permanent and was never intended to be permanent. There were the expected howls of protest when they did eventually terminate it. I don't know what Microsoft's plan is, but unless they're planning to abandon their prime source of income it would be foolish to try to do away with windows. The current hybrid thing is a bit bizarre (not that it has any actual impact on someone using standard Windows applications), and ultimately getting rid of the old crud can only be a good thing, but they'd have to be careful about restricting how many windows you can lay out.

Whatever passing resemblance the Start screen may have to Program Manager, functionally it is very different. The Start menu had now also become problematic, hence the introduction of the search feature which left the Start menu as really just a familiar visual feature. It became all about pinning commonly used applications and using search for everything else. The Start screen does that perfectly well (the search is actually better and it works well to lay your commonly used applications out as tiles).

Plus you don't have to resort to hacks to install pre-existing Windows applications. I don't see it going down well trying to force users to only buy from their store.
 
Qwikslver said:
Things I like about Win8:

Things I dislike about win8:
Tries to be a tablet OS.

Been using it as my primary gaming PC for a few days now and it's crap. Really is taking a step backwards.
Click to expand...

Lol, and Windows 7 is better on a tab? No, it's a step forward in my books.
 
IPX-SPX said:
Lol, and Windows 7 is better on a tab? No, it's a step forward in my books.
Click to expand...

What I'm trying to say is that there needs to be two separate OSs. You shouldn't use a tablet OS on a desktop PC. So many of the design choices only work on a tablet and are horribly inefficient on a desktop.

Too many extra clicks and swipes to get the simplest things done.
 
Space_Chief said:
BTW Win 8 still lets me run VLC, WinRar, and other non-MS approved software. I think you have to enable the option by default though, because by default it does not want to install non-MS approved softs.
Click to expand...

Lol, what? You can install whatever the hell you want on W8. It's no different to W7 in that regard.
 
There's loads I like about Win8, but two things have cropped up which I'm stuck with:

1.) Shortcuts on Metro Start - how do you change the properties of the shortcut? On the desktop it's fine - you can set compatibility mode, run as administrator etc, but for metro tiles there's no such option?

2.) I'm doing a fair bit of work off an external drive. Certain apps haven't got write permission to that drive, and if, for example, I bring home a flash drive with .zip files on - I can't extract from the flash directly to the external drive. I continuously get write permission messages. UAC level can be dragged all the way down, but still the problem persists. So I've got two options: use a registry edit which will render metro apps un-usable, or activate the hidden administrator account in order to get unhindered access. Why is it such a mission to use my own computer and do exactly what I want?
 
Does that video address any of the two questions I posed? My internet is a bit slow atm so I couldn''t watch it properly. It probably addresses the first question but could you just shed some light on it please, if indeed you know how to do it (change metro start shortcut properties)?
 
saor said:
Does that video address any of the two questions I posed? My internet is a bit slow atm so I couldn''t watch it properly. It probably addresses the first question but could you just shed some light on it please, if indeed you know how to do it (change metro start shortcut properties)?
Click to expand...

It's basically a short intro on how to actually use metro and highlights the differences to win7.

All it did was show me how ill suited the UI is to a desktop platform.
 
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