[Naizeroo]

Thank you so much. I have been saving for my computer for a year and I almost returned it. I was pretty angry for having this program forced on me since I was not even slightly interested in a touch screen. These changes will make the new OS much more livable.

[VanMing]

I love the Metro U.I. and all its components, I'll admit to use both Netscape Navigator and Google Chrome, but Mozilla Thunderbird is inferior to Windows Live Mail (a Microsoft Product) and most of the services Windows 8 offers already take away the need to download them online.

I used to download hundreds of programs to make my Windows XP computer ''fully functional'', and dozens on 7, but only a few on Vista, but MAAAAAAAANY on Windows 98 & 95, respectively. On Windows 8 I only need to download Dropbox, POOF, all the things I need in 1 place, and everything I own and desire there too.

All the programs I use to host the things I cherish on Dropbox are pre-installed. Windows 8 brings the both the best and worst Internet to YOU.

I'll admit to some hassles here and there, but it's better than Linux and Apple combined, heck it's better than all previous Windows combined... wait, it IS all previous Windows combined + Zune H.D. + Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango)/7.8 + Xbox.

[dragon69]

VanMing, on 28 March 2013 - 05:31 AM, said:

I love the Metro U.I. and all its components, I'll admit to use both Netscape Navigator and Google Chrome, but Mozilla Thunderbird is inferior to Windows Live Mail (a Microsoft Product) and most of the services Windows 8 offers already take away the need to download them online.

I used to download hundreds of programs to make my Windows XP computer ''fully functional'', and dozens on 7, but only a few on Vista, but MAAAAAAAANY on Windows 98 & 95, respectively. On Windows 8 I only need to download Dropbox, POOF, all the things I need in 1 place, and everything I own and desire there too.

All the programs I use to host the things I cherish on Dropbox are pre-installed. Windows 8 brings the both the best and worst Internet to YOU.

I'll admit to some hassles here and there, but it's better than Linux and Apple combined, heck it's better than all previous Windows combined... wait, it IS all previous Windows combined + Zune H.D. + Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango)/7.8 + Xbox.

AOL stopped development of Netscape Navigator on December 28, 2007, but continued supporting the web browser with security updates until March 1, 2008. AOL allows downloading of archived versions of the Netscape Navigator web browser family

[loremiles]

Quote

Do not know what all the fuss about metro. One click and it is gone and you never have to go back to it unless you want. I run everything from desk top except for a few items where I go back to metro, but this is only because I choose to. I could easily put these in the task bar too, except for the metro only apps like weather. I guess it is change, most cannot handle it.

Couldn't agree more... I actually think the metro menu is way more intuitive than start menu, even for desktops/laptops. Obviously I remove all those crappy apps and only pin to start the programs I use, but anyway still better than having to open like 5 menus in old start menu to get to what I want...

By the way the shutdown thing, never heard about alt+f4? It really isn't that hard afterall

From all those things the only one I might consider is booting directly to desktop but even that, i mean it's only one click if you have desktop shortcut on metro menu.

I think you're all afraid of change, because this aren't real problems or disadvantages either. Windows 8 is pretty faster , so less frustrating also

cheers

[Quant]

0321, on 18 February 2013 - 05:43 AM, said:

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.

Translation: I teach 'stuck in my old ways' computers to seniors. Teachers should know the past and teach the future, not stay stuck in the past. Hey students, let me teach you the ways of a decade ago... laughable. Glad you're not my teacher.

[dragon69]

Microsoft produces a product and then sells it and when it is not what the public wants then it gets lack luster sales numbers ( 2.27% of the people using computers use that product ) .... and if Microsoft is happy with that .. then it is OK with me ! If they really wanted everyone to use it then they would of listened to all the feedback they have received in the last year or so and perhaps more than 2.27% of the world would buy said product instead of Microsoft having to force said product on us computer users !

Just my two cents

They are the producers of said product but should conform to what the consumers want !

[WilliamTetzeli]

Articles like this are great. More and more Windows 8 looks like a Rube Goldberg contraption, as more things that were the default require more and more complicated workarounds to make them - work. Meanwhile, Linux gets easier to use every day. Install in fifteen minutes and everything you want is right there, working out of the box.

Okay, to be honest, Linux requires some tweaking too if you're going to watch DVDs (unless you buy Fluendo, which meets all the DRM requirements, for 30 bucks); but most of the tweaking is easy and for pretty specialized stuff, whereas Windows 8-Track has to be hacked just to make the day-to-day user experience anything less than a nightmare. Time to get out of the chute MS is pushing you cattle into - unless you want to end up hamburger.

[BrianCrane]

Quote

Translation: I teach 'stuck in my old ways' computers to seniors. Teachers should know the past and teach the future, not stay stuck in the past. Hey students, let me teach you the ways of a decade ago... laughable. Glad you're not my teacher.

Ok, let's be fair here. I myself am ok with change as long as it is for the better. But just because someone recognizes that something new is not necessarily better than what is already available just because it's new, does not mean they are stuck in the past. Being critical of something doesn't mean you're negative. It means you are wise enough not to blindly accept everything that comes along like sheep.

The Modern UI, in my humble opinion, is the MS attempt to be like Apple and unify all their mobile devices with the same OS look and feel (iPad and iPhone). What they failed to comprehend is that Apple has a separate OS and separate GUI for its desktop and laptop products, and they do so for a reason. These devices require different functionality and methods of interaction, especially in an office setting. For tablets and phones, I think the Modern UI is excellent and intuitive. But for a standard laptop or desktop user in an office environment, the requirements of the job just aren't caught up yet such that a touch-centered interface is relevant or even usable.

[gvice]

Thank you, thank you! I got a brand new computer over 2 weeks ago, turned it on, could do nothing...shut it (the lid!) and put it away. Haven't touched it since! Sad. Now I have something to work with:)

[RJLDDS]

Let's turn back the clock 30 years when the PC first arrived. Apple had been around prior to Charlie Chaplain's debut with the IBM PC. Apple had been in use in research and education but the enterprise and business users were tied to IBM by the umbilical cord because they were mainly mainframe users.

The first PC were big and clunky (a 10 MEG hard drive was over $1000) in addition to the $2500 for the PC with two 5 1/4 inch, floppy drives. The business market went with the PC and DOS because most programs were in interpreted BASIC and open source, so they could be easily reprogrammed to suite the business.

Xerox had experimented with GUI at PARC and Apple came out with the LISA which was a horrible failure. LISA was the predecessor to the Mac and had the first usable GUI but it was too much of a leap for a text and command line based world. This is what I see with MS and Win 8. They have become just like the PC companies they displaced, Apple and IBM.

MS is trying to get into the hardward market with Surface and in due time the all in one computer may be a reality, but the leap was too great for a massive established user base that grew up on Win 95-WIn 7.

I still run Server 2003 which is XP based and is stable as a rock and Windows 7 on my clients. I have been very comfortable for several years with this configuation. I bougt a new Toshiba laptop in January with Win 8 plain vanilla and was appalled.

It could not be more ill suited for non touch screen systems even if they had waited another year or two before its introduction. MS does not live on Mt, Olympus folks. It has been a lackluster company for the past decade and has not done anything really innovative IMO.

Most people I know are not bothering with trying to learn Win 8, but rather DOWNGRADING their systems to Win 7 Pro. User demand is supposed to guide market and product development, not the other way around. I am going to be one of those who is going to remove this nucence disgusied as a operating system.

My personal belief is that the only viable alternative is Apple, whose stock has taken a beating recently because of people buying into the Android OS for smart phones and tablets which I detest. Apple OS X can run most Windows programs virtually, so if MS does not change its stripes soon and salvage Win 8 by making it easy to switch to a Win 7 interface they are screwed and Win 8 will go down in history as another Vista.

There was a mad rush by businesses to buy Win 7 systems before Win 8 started coming as the OS on all new computers. If you own MS stock dump in pronto because the carnage has just begun.

[bobby2626]

I don't know. I though the old desktop was boring. I used to have widgets on it so I would see something useful, but otherwise I thought the desktop was a waste. The start button was boring. Press start and a small hard to read list of programs appears that you have to scroll through. Some of the programs were listed in subfolders containing multiple options that I never even used. The start screen is a big improvement. You put the program tiles you like just where you want them and grouped just how you like them. Some of the tiles show information and that will become more useful as more apps are developed. I just can't fathom why some people are so upset about the loss of the boring start button.

I was anxious to try Windows 8 when it first came out. I went to a Stable's store and started playing with it on a few computers. I think I was able to navigate through the entire interface in about 10 minutes just by poking around . I'm at loss to perceive what's so difficult about it. I have a six year old desktop, and it runs better than ever with Windows 8 on it, and it is more fun to use. Go ahead and spend you time figuring out how to avoid the start screen. I think my time will be better spent trying out new apps from the app store.

With Windows 8, my computer still does the same things it used to do, but now has a new layer of functionality through the start screen that I think is a big improvement.

[Sarah999]

This is such a useful article. I have been struggling with W8 for days after my insurers insisted I replace my stolen computer using a voucher for PC World - and guess what? No Win 7 computers. All came preloaded with W8. So not my choice. This article has helped me to crystallise some hard won conclusions for the average non techie W8 users.

1. The Metro start screen is just unnecessary cr*p on a laptop. The apps look flashy and inviting but 'Metro apps' are just cut down versions of programmes you are probably already using - eg Skype. Try them out if you like, but why would you want a cut down version designed for a phone or tablet, when you can download the full featured version and have it available from the desktop? I was reassured when I read someone who sounded quite authoritative saying 'I couldn't find one app I wanted to use'.

2. Alter your defaults as described above. This prevents the puzzling situation when you click on a graphic or attachment in your email and are presented with a full screen with no obvious way to exit. Not so much Windows as Window.

3. Downloading a little programme such as Start8 will restore your computer to something more familiar. It's free for a trial period of a month. This will give you some breathing space while you figure out if you want to try and use the Metro start screen in the way described above.