[PCWorld]

Post your comments for How to banish Metro from your Windows 8 PC forever here

[0321]

Best article I've read that may convince me to make the switch to Windows 8. Like many, if not most, desktop users, Microsoft's forcing a new paradigm on us "old fashioned" desktop users is another sign of MS's paternalistic "Father Knows Best" attitude. I teach computers to newbies at a local senior center and the computer lab uses Office 2007 with the ribbon interface. I still use Office 2003 on my personal desktop and laptop and it suits me just fine. I have customized the menu and toolbars to make it best for me, but when I first used Office 2007, I was lost. Where are all my buttons??? I had to spend time learning Office all over again because it now seemed impossible to personalize how I use my computer. MS attitude is we know what is best for you and that's what we will give to you. Other than some Office 2007/2010 addons to allow for a return to 2003 flexibility, you're stuck with what daddy wants you to have. Just nuts from a customer satisfaction perspective!

I still have Vista as my OS on my desktop (Win 7 on my laptop) even though I know many of its faults. I considered upgrading to Win 8 until I realized I would be facing Microsoft's Brave New World of touch and lack of flexibility to make the OS cross-platform compliant. Great for MS. Not so hot for me. I have tried several Linux versions but always gravitate back to Windows.

This article gives me the workarounds to take advantage of all the under-the-hood improvements in the OS that makes the switch worthwhile and still allow me some flexibility.

Thanks Brad.

[jb8967]

Excellent article. I bought Windows 8 Pro (64 bit) for $39.99, as an "upgrade" to my Vista 32 bit on an older Dell XPS 420 platform. Instead of simply replacing Vista, I bought an SSD for $80 and did a CLEAN install with the upgrade. Now I have a dual boot desktop PC. The boot up performance on the newer Win 8 Pro is markedly better...and with the SSD...has made the entire experience much much better.

I immediately installed "classic shell" & "start 8" as a first step, simply because my older system is not touch capable. The result...great.

I kept my Vista on the older HDD, but I never really use it now that I've experienced the benefits of Win 8 64 bit.

[TsarNikky]

"Vexation" was an excellent choice of words. Yes, Microsoft showed the height of arrogance with its choice of the Metro UI. A vast majority of users are not using touch-centric devices. It is also illustrated with the workarounds one has to execute to get rid of the Metro UI. Microsoft would have been much better served, if installers had the OPTION to choose the UI to use. However, the damage has been done and user have been annoyed--just the thing to encourage moving to other OSs or to remain with Windows-7.

[TsarNikky]

Quote

Best article I've read that may convince me to make the switch to Windows 8. Like many, if not most, desktop users, Microsoft's forcing a new paradigm on us "old fashioned" desktop users is another sign of MS's paternalistic "Father Knows Best" attitude. I teach computers to newbies at a local senior center and the computer lab uses Office 2007 with the ribbon interface. I still use Office 2003 on my personal desktop and laptop and it suits me just fine. I have customized the menu and toolbars to make it best for me, but when I first used Office 2007, I was lost. Where are all my buttons??? I had to spend time learning Office all over again because it now seemed impossible to personalize how I use my computer. MS attitude is we know what is best for you and that's what we will give to you. Other than some Office 2007/2010 addons to allow for a return to 2003 flexibility, you're stuck with what daddy wants you to have. Just nuts from a customer satisfaction perspective! I still have Vista as my OS on my desktop (Win 7 on my laptop) even though I know many of its faults. I considered upgrading to Win 8 until I realized I would be facing Microsoft's Brave New World of touch and lack of flexibility to make the OS cross-platform compliant. Great for MS. Not so hot for me. I have tried several Linux versions but always gravitate back to Windows. This article gives me the workarounds to take advantage of all the under-the-hood improvements in the OS that makes the switch worthwhile and still allow me some flexibility. Thanks Brad.

The "Father knows best" attitude (arrogance?) is reminiscent of Sony's BetaMax VCR tape format, IBM, GM, and other companies who thought they could dictate an entire industry. Yes, you can get away with it for a while; but then, when users wise up or get fed up....(not pretty).

[dfghjghkghk]

It will be a wonderful day when we no longer have to work so hard to defend ourselves from Microsoft.

Contribute to making a better world, avoid MS products whenever possible. The day may come that they actually have to LISTEN TO THEIR CUSTOMERS instead of foisting upon them things that just work for Microsoft. Like Windows 8, an attempt to muscle their way into the tablet/phone marketplace all while making the consumer pay the price.

[raynerhoward]

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I immediately installed "classic shell" & "start 8" as a first step, simply because my older system is not touch capable.

I have Start8 on one PC and Classic Shell on another. They both pretty much do the same thing, although I prefer Start8 slightly. A lot more settings are exposed via the GUI such as booting directly to the desktop. Can't imagine why anyone would need both Start8 and Classic Shell installed on the same PC at the same time. Does it give you two start buttons? Just curious.

[ConnorMeeblings]

I don't mind the desktop, nor do I mind the Metro UI. What irritates me to the point of not using it at all is the fact that you can't just stick with one, there is constant switching. I was gonna put 8 on my Bootcamped iMac but I just opted for 7 because it works better.

But then again I just use OSX more anyway...

[ConnorMeeblings]

By the way, besides the Shutdown shortcut you can simply push Alt+F4 with on the desktop (with no windows open). If a window is open it will close it, but if you are on the desktop screen and push Alt+F4, you will be given a box with a dropdown list asking if you want to Shut Down, Sleep, Restart, etc, similar to the one in XP.

[BradChacos]

Quote

Best article I've read that may convince me to make the switch to Windows 8... This article gives me the workarounds to take advantage of all the under-the-hood improvements in the OS that makes the switch worthwhile and still allow me some flexibility. Thanks Brad.

/me tips hat. They've been invaluable to me, as well.

[PaulReidxn0p]

Or you could just use Windows 7...

[burgesjl]

The problem here is the change in policy and direction that Microsoft have had with Win 8.

The design of the ribbon in Office was I think a genuine attempt to come up with a different mechanism and navigation to get to the specific command/function you need, for software that is increasingly complex and has more and more options. As such, it tries to group things together into sections and provide a means to access them. The problem the Office ribbon had was some of these groupings are not intuitive. To give an anology, the correct thing to do with a tomato would be to group it with Fruits, but in fact, virtually everyone considers it a Vegetable so that's intuitively where it should go. Microsoft tried to rewrite the grouping rules and failed to do so. But, the visual paradigm of tabs (top level menu), sections, and then items/buttons within (with a way to expand to assess all options via the bottom corner square) gives a potential of several layers in a relatively compact space. It requires less mouse movement than fly-out cascading menus and is therefore more efficient.

The problem with Win 8, is that it was butchered for entirely marketing reasons to serve Microsoft's own ends. It isn't more efficient for desktop users. It assumes a default method of interaction - the finger - that is much less precise than that it replaces - the mouse cursor. When there is a lot of complexity in the UI, most get around that by presenting more options in a smaller space, requiring more dexterity/accuracy. The mouse provides that. By contrast, the finger and tiles design requires more swipes and events, and thus, its inherently less efficient when the application itself is complex. It only works when the application is not complex, or when the complex features are only used occasionally.

The other problem with Win 8, is that it completely ignores past practice. I talk here about the installers. These typically place multiple entries in the start menu - the program itself, a web site link, a help or readme, uninstall, and settings. I've seen some games with up to 8 things. In the Win 8 UI, this becomes a complete mess. You are forced to modify the default as-installed tiles created (one for each) in order to come up with an efficient navigation, and your manipulation breaks uninstallers leaving a mess. Simply put, it wasn't completely thought through.

It is so easy for Microsoft to fix this mess; add back the start menu, allow people the choice of UI to log into. They refuse to do it. They'd rather have people kicking and screaming, possibly for years, in order to get what they want - which is a forced adoption of this paradigm. The problem is, the paradigm is flawed at a fundamental level. No amount of papering over it, as this article tries to do, fixes the stupid.

[jmpreston]

Win 8 convinced me to convert to Macs. Only 1 Windows computer left to go!

What I didn't realize would be a huge benefit from OS X are the multiple desktops. Wow! It took me several months to figure out their value but they are a huge work flow benefit.

If you have several projects going at once then just create a desktop for each set of applications and swipe between the desktops. Your apps are waiting for you. This feature means you have multiple monitors with only one screen.

VMWare Fusion will assign a desktop for Windows if you need to keep a few Windows programs in action as I do.

[Gergel70]

Quote

By the way, besides the Shutdown shortcut you can simply push Alt F4 with on the desktop (with no windows open). If a window is open it will close it, but if you are on the desktop screen and push Alt F4, you will be given a box with a dropdown list asking if you want to Shut Down, Sleep, Restart, etc, similar to the one in XP.

Ctrl+Alt+Del still works.

[Gergel70]

Quote

By the way, besides the Shutdown shortcut you can simply push Alt F4 with on the desktop (with no windows open). If a window is open it will close it, but if you are on the desktop screen and push Alt F4, you will be given a box with a dropdown list asking if you want to Shut Down, Sleep, Restart, etc, similar to the one in XP. Ctrl Alt Del still works.

Forgot Win Key + I also.

[djnforce9]

I got my setup to the point where the ONLY use of the Start screen is to quickly pick an app I don't use frequently enough to pin to the taskbar, searching, and for a couple games that were written specifically for metro (games generally run in fullscreen anyway so it's no big deal). What I did have to strip out and uninstall were most of the bundled apps. I don't need a full screen interface PDF Viewer, music player, etc so those were the first to be replaced by superior desktop counterparts.

It's still nice to know that for those who REALLY hate metro, they can do away with it for good using a combination of third party apps. Just goes to show how many loathe the new interface if they go so far to abolish every aspect of it.

[JamesVelasquez]

People need to grow up and stop pretending something is cool when it really isn't.

Its simply if you want to bannish metro from your pc dont install it on your pc.

the problem is when consumers buy this crap they allow manufacturers to believe they did something right.

dont buy windows 8 if you have to fiddle with it to get it to work like windows 7.

just like people that wont eat meat do everything they possibly can to eat fake meat that tastes like real meat?

[skyledavis]

By the time you go through all of this rigmarole, you could just learn to use the new stuff! I actually like the new Windows 8 paradigm BETTER on my laptop than on my tablet (I updated a completely non-touch laptop and have an Acer W510). Two reasons I like it better:

1) Consistent, easy to use menu structure. I love that unified search, unified settings, and unified share is built into the new interface. Basically, I love the charms. While the drag to the right corner methodology took a bit of time to develop muscle memory, it really grew on me. I can quickly search or adjust settings, or share really anything I find to Facebook, twitter, or email.

2) content-first approach. The reason I chose chrome over IE initially actually had less to do with the faster script rendering and more to do with the clean, lack of "chrome." I always found the name wonderfully ironic. Metro/whatever takes that a step further to really hide away everything you don't need. Whether on a small screen or a large screen, I hate wasting space with all of the needless UI elements. I want the UI to disappear. The only reason I don't do autohide on my task bar is that it pops up when I don't want it to. Win8's slightly delayed approach to their popup elements, while maligned for making things "slow," is actually great for me. I rarely if ever pop up something I don't want to. The charm icon may appear when I'm trying to close something, but unless I drag down, it doesn't stay up, nor does it get in my way of closing the windows. Not always true for my top-aligned task bar, if I set it to autohide.

[lokness42]

and see you type of people is the reason the united states is falling behind. as things transform you want to be old fashioned. wait tho google and apple will be going to the touch route also. same touch type interfaces are going to be in manufacturing hospitals and such.

[chasedaron]

Or people could just accept the future and move on. I am currently using Office 2013 both at work and home. I have Surface RT, Desktop, Work Notebook, XBOX 360,Zune, and Windows Phone 8. All of these devices work harmoniously together. Microsoft designs the technology to be consistent with their other offerings. Tinkering with your system reg. shouldn't be encouraged for the every day user that wouldn't like the new splash screen. I am sure Microsoft is going to start building in additional measures that will prevent you from hiding their proprietary app system.