Poll: Windows 8

[Olas]

Also, there are fixes for most of the things people dislike about Windows 8.

[a href="http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/"]Start8[/a] - Brings back the start button and/or start menu with loads of features for customizing and also lets you boot strait to the desktop.

[a href="http://www.classicshell.net/"]Classic Shell[/a] - Basically the same thing as Start8 but it's free and has more options for tweaking stuff.

[a href="http://www.stardock.com/products/modernmix/"]ModernMix[/a] - Lets you run windows 8 apps in windows on the desktop just like any other program, I'm currently using it and would recommend it.

[a href="http://oblytile.en.softonic.com/"]Oblytile[/a] - Lets you create startscreen tiles for literally any .exe file. You can even use your own icons.

Using all of these you can pretty much turn windows 8 into windows 7+ and none of them cost more than a few bucks, so there's really no reason to complain.

- WHY THE FUCK IS THE SHUTDOWN OPTION BURIED UNDER "SETTINGS"??!!

You can add a shutdown button to the desktop by creating a shortcut that points to "shutdown /s /t 0"
or you can do the same thing with the above mentioned Oblytile to create a shutdown tile on the startscreen.

 

[Joccaren]

Hate it.
It is a little bit faster to boot than 7, which with my SSD isn't an advantage for me as I spend more time waiting for the stupid UEFI BIOS to pass than I do waiting for Windows to load. It also has a couple of technical improvements and features that really should have made it to 7.
BUT, the interface and design is terrible. Its a pain to use. Bought a new laptop for my mum for mothers day, we booted it up for the first time and discovered it had Windows 8 installed. We almost returned it for a refund right away 'cause Windows 8 is that much of a pain to use. Yeah, maybe I could get used to it. I could get used to having no icons in my desktop and having to go through "My Computer" to run any program too, doesn't make it an improvement, and its not worth the time to get used to it either. Using a desktop PC without a touchscreen, and my keyboard without a windows button, its just a pointless pain of an interface that destroys any reason I might have had to 'upgrade'. Windows 9 needs dedicated a dedicated desktop UI, preferably the same as 7, as well as the features of 8 and preferably better multiple monitor options considering the default Windows ones are shit.

 

[Bonecrusher]

I've bemoaned most of Windows 8's failings before (and I make a living selling the shit!), but its biggest issue is its attempt to be all things to everything. Windows 8's goal is to be nothing less than a grand unifying system that can simultaneously power a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, a phone and a 720. These are all completely different machines used by completely different users with a completely different set of needs; it just doesn't work. Even Apple aren't that stupid, running separate lines for iOS and OSX.

That is the most important problem in Windows 8. I don't know how Microsoft developers can't see it.
Microsoft shoot their foot with such a move.

It is not that hard. Release different Windows versions. Put just the touch controls for mobile phones and tablets. Remove the touch controls and optimize the system according to it for the classic desktop users.
But they didn't do it.

 

[5mj7R7yf4Dwr3gdZyyu9PeGNwYjlNrjzuh3iTXQG]

There's plenty out there about the lack of a start menu (which I, for one, used at length) and the inconsistent controls between the Metro and the desktop, so I don't need to get into it. (If you're not familiar with it here's a fairly clever and comprehensive animated review [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTYet-qf1jo] of Win8.

But here's what you need to know:

TL/DR: Win8 restricts what you can run, what you can play and what you can do. Win8 tattles on you to Big Micro, and if MS doesn't approve, it can kill anything and everything on your system.

THE WALLED GARDEN
In order for anything to work as a Win8 application (meaning it accesses the Win8 features) developers have to run it through Microsoft's some are publicized [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Store]). Many Most Almost all apps have to go through this certification process multiple times, costing a fee to Microsoft each time (another weight to sink tight-budgeted startups). Furthermore this process means you have another layer of censorship to blockade cool games from reaching its audience (that's you). (Incidentally, they used to not want anything unacceptable for teen consumption, but pressure forced them to change it. A number of major game devs are abandoning Win8 because of this new policy.)

This is a seriously bad thing.

THE SURVEILANCE CAMERAS
Does anyone remember when it came out that Origin was taking regular pictures of your directory and file trees and sending that back home? Is that still a part of the Origin ToS? Well, Windows likes doing that too. Any time you download something, Windows 8 knows, and sends that info back to HQ. Smile, you're on Microsoft Camera! Furthermore, lets say that you have a keen app, but Microsoft decides for whatever reason they don't want you to have it (and considering their Xbox policy, they decide often). Bam! It's gone. And if it fucks up your system or your very important data, well Microsoft's ToS says you're screwed.

This is a seriously bad thing.

THE RUSTED GATES
There's that part where Microsoft was supposed to update security protocols so that only Big Micro could create a proper signature once a program was thoroughly tested for malware. Well, they didn't. Some suggest that it's because the US government found a backdoor (Remember Stuxnet? Remember Flame? Remember Stars?) and wants to retain it. Still, they didn't upgrade the protocols and have left you and your computer open to the NSA and whoever else has cracked the old Windows signing protocol.

This is a seriously bad thing.

These and many more fun interesting facts can be discovered here [https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/friends-dont-let-friends-use-windows-8].

You are seriously better off downgrading to Windows 7 than staying on Windows 8. And what frightens me is the lack of mainstream publicity that any of this has gotten.

And the interface just sucks.

238U

 

[Callate]

It has no good reason to exist.

Everything that was put into it was about what Microsoft wanted. It wanted in to the tablet and phone market. It wanted a marketplace of its own to hock "apps" like Apple and Google. It wanted the money boost a new OS and the inevitable slew of unnecessary obsolescence it brings.

Nothing in it is about what the people who use it wanted- neither the people who are using Windows devices for power and control they can't get on tablets, nor the people who are used to the common elements of interfaces they've been using for fifteen-plus years, nor the befuddled parents who are calling their children and grandchildren trying to figure out how they hell they can get to their damned e-mail and web browser.

It's a bad product designed with bad goals, it deserves to die a bad death, and that death can't come fast enough.

 

[crudus]

My thoughts
Frankly I don't see what all the fuss is about, so what if it's got a shit start menu(that really isn't that bad) it can do everything Windows 7 can and better. It starts up much quicker than 7 and executes tasks quicker. Task manager is great in 8 no more getting up MSconfig to fanny about with what loads at start up, it's right there in task manager. I've had less problems with 8 in terms of getting games to run than I did with 7. My verdict, it's just as good as 7, probably better. Face it it's not as bad as Vista or ME.

These are my thoughts basically. The only bad review I can really find is "eww, it is different." I actually like the start menu. It took some getting used to, but I found the advantages of it rather quickly. I really don't understand the ire it has gained.

 

[thom_cat_]

I tried it all on a friend's laptop, and found it to be a confusing awkward mess of random design ideas and concepts shoved together on top of a better-running windows 7.

 

[Mrkillhappy]

It seems that it would be fine for tablets phones ect. However for a desktop or a non touch screen laptop it is terrible as trying to navigate the menus is made incredibly awkward by it's design so I just hope Microsoft figures out to not implement that design into windows 9 or what ever they call it or I will probably switch to Linix or a Google based OS.

 

[Wolf Hagen]

Every old gramps knows, that you stay as far away from every second Windows OS as you can.

Seriously? That thing looks like the inbred child of Vista and some Mac OS, they didn't bother bringing out!


So I stick with 7, till I see the Windows afterwards. Simple as that.

 

[mr141177]

I own 8 and really can see many of the complaints leveled here. I alt f4 out of things anyway, so the hidden shut down is moot.
It kindy autogenerates tiles for all the desktop icon i have, which i click on a split second after it boots, because i mangled the tile screen so Steam was dead center and max size
And as to MS watching what i download? Well seeing as the machine only has gaming platforms on it, all of which i suspect are mining me for data, they can all just stare at each others spyware.
All the programs i really need, all exist at uni, 'cause go to hell i'm not paying for a 1yr $1000 license
well there and notepad

 

[SinisterGehe]

I use 7 because none of the expensive licensed software I use for work and my music hobbies have updates or supports for Windows 8 (They do run on it, but no support if something goes wrong - it is even on the EULA what they support). Many of the base things are too complicated and very much useless compared to what I been used to use since windows fucing 98 (still best OS imo, right next to XP).

AND I HATE THE FUCKING WINDOWS LIVE BOLLOCKS ON IT! No I do not want to download chrome trough the fucking Windows Live Marketplace when I just downloaded and launched the installer I downloaded from Google. And I do not want stuff to automatically open marketplace.

It is filled with stuff that I do not simply need for my use.

Also Universal BIOS can go and fuck itself. My motherboard got amazing BIOS and it doesn't need to fucking skip it.

Also starts faster than W7? My W7 starts from button press and when all HDD and such have spun up, in around 5-6 seconds. Mainly because I got it on SATA2+ SSD and I keep my computer optimized and clean. It is amazing what regular maintenance can achieve. (yeah I know it is for advanced users, but I am advanced user and I want programs that I can use the "advanced" way)

Also the security bollocks on W8 can suck on something long that only Yahtzee would come up with.

Also W8 cant do anything more or better than W7 can. So why the hell would I pay 30? for an upgrade. Also I need to have the W8 premium (250? local) to do rollback to W7 if I need to. Fuck that noise.
Go go, my trusty USB boot stick with Linux on it that allows me to format the HDD and automatically install retail copy of W7, only thing I need to do is enter one of the 3 license codes I own. (One for each computer)

Ill stay on W7 until they stop supporting and updating it, and after that I go to Ubuntu or someother thing, or if W9 is any god that then.

But W8 is Microsoft's attempt to be Apple.

Sorry, but I have had BAD morning at work.

 

[SpAc3man]

- WHY THE FUCK IS THE SHUTDOWN OPTION BURIED UNDER "SETTINGS"??!!

Why was it under "Start" in the first place? That sure didn't make any logical sense.
There is only one extra click so there isn't really any issue with where shutdown is.

- No aero glass / transparency effects. (Seriously, why did they remove this?)

It looked really bad with the new design language when they had both in the preview releases.


OT: I love it. I never used the Start menu unless it was for searching or opening the control panel. I like my desktop kept sparse and reserved for the recycle bin and as a place for working directories. The start screen is great for this as it offers more space to pin frequently used things than the start menu ever could. The start menu completely lost its usefulness for launching programs when the Win7 taskbar came along.

I started using the final retail build of Win8 about a month before it went on sale. I had it as a dual boot with Win7 on my desktop as I didn't think I would figure it out quickly enough or even like it enough to use it as a primary OS. I was comfortable using it after a few days and I removed Win7 just before the Win8 release. I then installed it on my netbook because was starting to dislike using it due to not having Win8.

Here is a screenshot of my start screen. Everything organised into proper groups and places. The Main group has the more important tiles close to the bottom left which is close to the cursor after opening the start screen. All the other groups have the most often used tiles on the top where they are most visible. The only Metro apps on my Start screen are there for either the live tiles or if they are nicer for reading than the websites (e.g. Wikipedia and New Zealand Herald).

Spoiler: Clicky

 

[jakel_hybrid]

I upgraded to Win 8 basically as soon as it came out, but that might be because I work in PC retail and it was sort of necessary for me to know my way around the system. I don't get people saying there's no start button or start menu, because if you move your mouse to the bottom corner where the start button was, the start button pops up anyway. The Start menu is now a fullscreen tile based menu, where you can customise it to your liking, including the size, colour AND position of anything you might need to access quickly.

Even if you can't find the program you need straight away in the new Start menu, you can just start tying the name of the program you need and it pops up almost instantly. It starts up faster, the Task manager is amazing, control panel is accessed with a wave of your mouse.

To be fair I mainly use it in desktop mode anyway, which is obviously how it's designed to be used on a PC, but if I'm having a busy work day I can dock my email app to the side of the screen and have that update in real time, WHILE I'm using my regular programs.

I seriously don't understand people who don't like Windows 8, it actually legitimately upsets me that people are calling it a shit OS, because it looks and works differently...

The only issue I had was that i run two screens off my desktop, and when it first came out if I was running a full screen application (e.g. a game) on one screen, then the framerate of the other screen dropped really low. So I couldn't watch a video or something while playing a game. However within a week that was fixed with an update.
Windows 8 really is just Windows 7 but faster, and with more stuff. Some of the Win8 apps you can get are actually really cool, they run butter smooth and have some great functionality.

 

[Snotnarok]

I think the haters are a pretty weird because it runs like like any other windows with a fatter task bar. It uses less resources, boots faster, does things faster, and if you were quick when it launched you got it for 15 bucks. If you're so opposed to change then go back to windows 3.11, wait that didn't have a start bar either oops.

 

[Griffolion]

I've been a user of Windows 8 for a number of months now, and I find it okay.

At the kernel level, it's a very highly refined Windows 7, meaning it runs faster and a lot more stable. It boots quicker, actually has better driver support (a lot more drivers built in, rather than requiring third party software), and has some good features.

I guess my only problem is everyone elses, the needless forcing of Metro onto non-touch devices. My "home screen" is devoid of any of the Metro apps, and only has shortcuts to the desktop and desktop applications I use. It would be nice if MS can program Windows to tell the difference between touch and non-touch devices, and act accordingly. Same OS, different use methods.

Otherwise, I'll be sticking with 8, despite its flaws of design and UI. It runs a lot better than 7, which is saying something.

 

[Chris Tian]

This is a seriously bad thing.

THE SURVEILANCE CAMERAS
Does anyone remember when it came out that Origin was taking regular pictures of your directory and file trees and sending that back home? Is that still a part of the Origin ToS? Well, Windows likes doing that too. Any time you download something, Windows 8 knows, and sends that info back to HQ. Smile, you're on Microsoft Camera! Furthermore, lets say that you have a keen app, but Microsoft decides for whatever reason they don't want you to have it (and considering their Xbox policy, they decide often). Bam! It's gone. And if it fucks up your system or your very important data, well Microsoft's ToS says you're screwed.

I don't get why all this paranoia about sofware companys spying on you gets thrown around. Do you really think anyone at MS gives f*ck all about what you run on your pc? And they record all downloads of everyone? Even if they do that, there is a snowball's chance in hell that any one could sift through that metric f*uckton of data to find my slightly embarrassing porn or whatnot.
I mean i get that there is a larger principle, but for me thats just not worth worrying about.

OT: I use Win8 for some time now and really love it.
Its super easy to install and use, even for a computer-illiterate like me. Additionally it runs very stable, fast and efficient.

I don't see any problems with the interface or why you would have to drag stuff anywhere or something like that. The only two real differences I see is that when it starts up you are at this more tablet-y start interface, but you can pin anything you want there and then its just one klick to wherever you want to go. And that if I want to do stuff I did with the start button in XP, I have to move the mouse to the right edge of the screen instead of the lower left corner.

Also there was this one instance where my internetconection gave up and win8 promtet this "i will fix it" thing that never did anything before and it actually solved the problem, so Win8 and I are bestfriendsforever since.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

If there was an option to have windows 8 without the silly tablet interface I'd love it. The tiles/apps system just doesn't need to be there if you don't have a touchscreen- like most users.

As it stands I think Microsoft made a silly mistake.

 

[Bestival]

Generally speaking MS tends to have a trend with their OS releases. One good, followed by a bad, then a good one, then another bad. 7 was good, vista was wank. Following this trend, 8 must also be wank, and so I am skipping it.
Call me when Win 9 is announced.

 

[Total LOLige]

Here is a screenshot of my start screen. Everything organised into proper groups and places. The Main group has the more important tiles close to the bottom left which is close to the cursor after opening the start screen. All the other groups have the most often used tiles on the top where they are most visible. The only Metro apps on my Start screen are there for either the live tiles or if they are nicer for reading than the websites (e.g. Wikipedia and New Zealand Herald).

Spoiler: Clicky

Since you like the metro screen you might be interested in a program called OBlyTile, you can make custom start screen shortcuts with your own icons/pictures. There are a few metro style icon packs for use with it as well, I'd post a screenshot of my metro screen but I'm using a mini keyboard and it doesn't seem to have a prnscrn key. I really wish that Microsoft had included more customization options straight out of the box. Another tool you might like is Windows Start Screen Customiser, it lets you add a custom background to the metro screen.

Spoiler: Obly Tile

http://oblytile.en.softonic.com/

Spoiler: Links for custom tile icons

Games/Utillities
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=497663
Other tiles
http://walloftiles.net/

Spoiler: Custom metro background tool

http://vhanla.deviantart.com/art/Windows-8-Start-Screen-Customizer-v1-3-beta-337308916

I don't know how to hyperlink words so I put them in a spoiler box for neatness.

 

[Megacherv]

They haven't actually added anything to make it superior to Windows 7, and have made it bloody hard to use if you're running it on a desktop (which everyone does).

Also it is reducing PC sales and is therefore killing PC gaming, if anyone is up for a flamewar?

But it has, under the hood it's far better than 7 (Microsoft have been on a big optimisation kick what with WP7 and WP8 being soooooper fast and smooth)