Windows 8.1 What do you think?

Garyvdh said:
I have to agree. The look of this OS has taken a ten year step backwards.
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But it looks very similar to Win7. Honestly how long to you spend with the Start menu expaneded on your screen? You spend even less time in Start, its just to launch apps (only desktop if you want).

And if you're really adverse to tiles, you can configure the 8.1 Start button to take you to the Apps screen instead. Basically your entire Start menu unfolded over the whole screen (again hovering over your desktop wallpaper) ...

Start8.1A.jpg
 
Roman4604 said:
Why do you believe Win8.1 cant be made to look almost exactly like your screenshots (and boot straight to it)?

Only difference is what happens when you hit the Win logo in the bottom left corner.
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What microsoft did with the start menu was the most fatal mistake ever. Just deal with it.
 
World must never know the truth behind the Start Button murder

Windows 8 architect Steven Sinofsky has officially “retired” from Microsoft having inked a deal in which he cops a share payout worth $14m in exchange for not joining the competition.
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Since his exit, Microsoft has reversed direction on Windows 8 following an outcry and tanking PC sales, releasing the preview of an update that re-introduces a Start Button to help people find their apps, lets you boot to the desktop instead of the new Metro touch-tile UI, and lets you re-size apps from the Windows Store.
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And still Microsoft hasn't learned. It would appear that the 8.1 opportunity to rectify the Start Menu faux pas has been lost.
 
semaphore said:
Just deal with it.
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Don't have to, I can use it with ease.

I will say thought, for an average novice user the default population/layout of Start can be confusing/daunting compared to Win7.

MS could have had an installation option that went something like "Optimize installation for (a) Modern Touch (b) Win Desktop" that would presented a more familiar experience for previous users. Unfortunately that's the penalty for their strategic objective of pushing touch/Modern.

That said, for anyone with a reasonable amount of PC savvy, it should be no problem to optimize/adapt Start in Win8.1 to be desktop friendly/focused.
 
Roman4604 said:
Don't have to, I can use it with ease.

I will say thought, for an average novice user the default population/layout of Start can be confusing/daunting compared to Win7.

MS could have had an installation option that went something like "Optimize installation for (a) Modern Touch (b) Win Desktop" that would presented a more familiar experience for previous users. Unfortunately that's the penalty for their strategic objective of pushing touch/Modern.

That said, for anyone with a reasonable amount of PC savvy, it should be no problem to optimize/adapt Start in Win8.1 to be desktop friendly/focused.
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Agreed.

However like myself that i zip throughout the menu items fast, i find the new start menu full screen the biggest load of **** on the planet. Its clumsy, slow, inefficient, non-intuitive, its just plain terrible. Desktop PC's are NOT touch screens (mostly) and like you said there should have been that option.

But thankfully there are start menu replacements for the abortion.
 
I do PC training & tech support for a living and all of my clients have decided to stay away from Windows 8. If I could choose the Windows 7 layout (ie. never use metro look / apps for anything) I would probably be OK using it.

I now use Linux 90% of the time that I use a computer for personal use.
 
semaphore said:
Agreed.

However like myself that i zip throughout the menu items fast, i find the new start menu full screen the biggest load of **** on the planet. Its clumsy, slow, inefficient, non-intuitive, its just plain terrible. Desktop PC's are NOT touch screens (mostly) and like you said there should have been that option.

But thankfully there are start menu replacements for the abortion.
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I dunno hey. Fully get your point if you want to do it that way.... but I can get to my programs a LOT quicker that I used to. If I want to get to outlook (before I pinned it), i'd tap the windows key and type "ou", the first two letters, and hit enter. That for me is a lot faster than anything else.

My productivity has improved dramatically on windows 8 once I got used to it. I can still understand the frustrations though. I'm glad there are start menu replacements for those that need it, but at the same time, if they had included it by default, i'd never be doing things the way I am now (even though the process was basically the same from within the old start menu, you tended to rather scroll the menus then type in the search bar).

It's a tough one to decide. To have included it (even if it was off by default), would have meant that people would just turn it on as a first port of call, and the likes of me wouldn't have gotten used to their new approach to managing your pc. On the flip side though, they've isolated a bunch of users in the process.
 
What I currently have, thinking of going to Windows 8 tomorrow though, sadly my desktop gadgets didn't work too well the last time I was on Windows 8 and I'm so used to having them.

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NomNom said:
What I currently have, thinking of going to Windows 8 tomorrow though, sadly my desktop gadgets didn't work too well the last time on Windows 8 and I'm so used to having them.

Untitled_zps1ab4021f.jpg
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How do you do the docking of the apps at the bottom left?
 
Slab said:
How do you do the docking of the apps at the bottom left?
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It's just a normal toolbar, make a folder somewhere of the links you want.

Then right click the Taskbar > Toolbars > New toolbar... > Then navigate to where the folder is, then click select folder.
 
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