WIndows 8 vs OS 10.8

By AltecXP
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Order_66

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This is not intended to start a flame war, just express my opinion and see if anyone else feels the same way.

Honestly I moved to OS 10.5 when I started to get tired of using XP and Vista's performance bugged me, pre-SP1. When Windows 7 came out I found it very interesting and I enjoy using it at work, but with a good MacBook still having life in it I had no reason to switch, I alo enjoyed 10.6, and to a lesser extent 10.7. With 10.8 coming out and not liking its direction I was looking forward to Windows 8. After playing with the first public release I hoped to disable the Metro UI with a registry hack (I do not know if this still works or not), and then use the Explorer interface that I'm used to with it's Windows 8 additions. Now that the newest Preview is out I find myself again finding OS X as the better option. Which honestly really annoys me as I was looking forward to migrating back to Windows to avoid 10.8.

This time instead of migrating from an OS I don't like to one I find interesting, I find I'm picking the lesser of two evils. What worries me most is that my parents are in their 50's and my mother has been using a Windows computer since 3.1, currently on 7, and when I put her in front of Windows 8, it frustrated her so much that she walked away, came back a few hours later and then got annoyed again. An OS upgrade should never frustrate a long time user to the point that they give up on it, and feel they need to force themselves to learn it. I will probably just be leaving them on Windows 7 until it's no longer supported or end up moving them to a Mac, as they enjoy using my iPad.

Does anyone else feel that Windows 8 is going to be a black mark for any PC user not on a touch screen?

I personally feel torn between an OS that I don't like where it is started going to 10.7/8 and one that I feel jumped right into everything I hate with Windows 8, which I hoped would be the OS to pull me back to Windows after how much I enjoyed Windows 7.

I am curious as to why you don't like where OSX is going? there are some things I don't care much for in 10.7 and a few added things in 10.8 I could certainly do without, but overall OSX in any version is way more user friendly and polished than windows 8 will ever be.

  • BumbleBritches57
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brink668

Posted
Posted

I feel my workflow is much faster in Windows 7 than in Windows 8. I feel like I'm working backwards now, I haven't setup any real tests for time. This is just what I am feeling when I use it. So my sense of time might be incorrect and /or it may just be my brain re-adjusting to this new way. I will see I don't see business migrating to Windows 8 at all for their user environment maybe for tablets but definitely not Desktops/Laptops.

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rfirth

Posted
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I feel my workflow is much faster in Windows 7 than in Windows 8. I feel like I'm working backwards now, I haven't setup any real tests for time. This is just what I am feeling when I use it. So my sense of time might be incorrect and /or it may just be my brain re-adjusting to this new way.

When you first start, you might be slower. But once you use it for a while, it become second nature - just like using Windows 7 is second nature to you now.

I will see I don't see business migrating to Windows 8 at all for their user environment maybe for tablets but definitely not Desktops/Laptops.

I think they will, but not for a long while. First let employees use it on their home computers and learn. But that's normal. They never jump on board right away.

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mrp04

Posted
Posted
That real problem I think Microsoft is going to have is not with users like us, but with average users. Every single person I've shown it to can't stand it, and at least half of them have said their next computer will be a Mac.

The changes in 10.7 and 10.8 are implemented in a much smarter way in my opinion.

This all depends on how you introduce it to the average user. People always say this, but the people I have shown Windows 8 all thought it was great! I told them about it in a positive manner and went on to show them all the fancy new features. They liked it just fine.

Touch enabled PCs are also going to become much more popular. I gave my mom my old Tablet PC with Windows 8 installed and she loves touching the screen instead of using the mouse.

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jagowar

Posted
Posted

The re-education of users will be the biggest challenge ms faces with win8 and it will take years just like the first mouse/kb took. I expect them to have a VERY large budget dedicated to this purpose and you will see a ton of marketing showing you how to use it (the question will be how poor of a job do because ms's marketing is one of the worst out there). I think it will also help a ton by having some kind of tutorial when you first turn on a new win8 pc.... already has been showing up in some of the screenshots so you know it will be there in the final version.

Win8 always was going to be a transition os to winRT and metro.... I fully expect win8 to be considered a "failure" by windows standards but will get 500+ million new devices out there designed for metro and in the longrun will be better off for it. Now is actually the perfect time to start this transition because win7 is as strong as it is.

This all depends on how you introduce it to the average user. People always say this, but the people I have shown Windows 8 all thought it was great! I told them about it in a positive manner and went on to show them all the fancy new features. They liked it just fine.

I've had the same experience.... but I also don't plop the thing down infront of them and say go.... never understood why people think that's an accurate representation of the intuitiveness of something. I give them a quick 30 second demo of the basics and let them discover the rest.... 100% positive reaction from the people I have shown it to.

Grand Master

mrp04

Posted
Posted
I've had the same experience.... but I also don't plop the thing down infront of them and say go.... never understood why people think that's an accurate representation of the intuitiveness of something. I give them a quick 30 second demo of the basics and let them discover the rest.... 100% positive reaction from the people I have shown it to.

Exactly. The bare minimum is show them the hot corners and if on a touch enabled PC show them swiping in from the sides. That's enough to understand how to use it. And both of these will be shown in the first log in OOBE.

Grand Master

jakem1

Posted
Posted

I don't even know if it's that. I've been a Windows user since 3.0, so I've been through a "relearning" already when 95 came out, and so far Windows 8 hasn't been a problem for me either. In fact, I find it to be pretty good, especially when more Metro programs become available. I'd say it's perfect for tablets and touch screens, and the desktop is still there, so I don't see what all the fuss is about. I can use my old programs just fine like I could in Windows 7.

This sums up my feelings about Windows 8. Not only do I feel that I can continue to use Windows the way I always have, it also looks perfect on a tablet. I've never been interested in iPads with their dated, fake wood and metal UI or any of the countless knock-off Android tablets with their laggy, spyware-infested OS but I can really see myself using a Win8-based tablet. It still needs some polish but it looks like Microsoft got the fundamentals right.

Grand Master

+virtorio MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

This all depends on how you introduce it to the average user. People always say this, but the people I have shown Windows 8 all thought it was great! I told them about it in a positive manner and went on to show them all the fancy new features. They liked it just fine.

I didn't use positive or negative manner, just showed them the basics and answered any questions they had. They decided they care for it all for themselves.

The result probably would have been different if I had a touch screen/tablet PC.

Mentor

NinjaGinger

Posted
Posted

Does anyone know if Microsoft has had any feedback for 8 from business customer? In my opinion, thats when the real world attitude will hit them and the s>>> reallly hits the fan. Its only one opinion from a friend who works in computers for business, but Microsoft should worry if is is typical.

Community Regular

BumbleBritches57

Posted
Posted

This is not intended to start a flame war, just express my opinion and see if anyone else feels the same way.

Honestly I moved to OS 10.5 when I started to get tired of using XP and Vista's performance bugged me, pre-SP1. When Windows 7 came out I found it very interesting and I enjoy using it at work, but with a good MacBook still having life in it I had no reason to switch, I alo enjoyed 10.6, and to a lesser extent 10.7. With 10.8 coming out and not liking its direction I was looking forward to Windows 8. After playing with the first public release I hoped to disable the Metro UI with a registry hack (I do not know if this still works or not), and then use the Explorer interface that I'm used to with it's Windows 8 additions. Now that the newest Preview is out I find myself again finding OS X as the better option. Which honestly really annoys me as I was looking forward to migrating back to Windows to avoid 10.8.

This time instead of migrating from an OS I don't like to one I find interesting, I find I'm picking the lesser of two evils. What worries me most is that my parents are in their 50's and my mother has been using a Windows computer since 3.1, currently on 7, and when I put her in front of Windows 8, it frustrated her so much that she walked away, came back a few hours later and then got annoyed again. An OS upgrade should never frustrate a long time user to the point that they give up on it, and feel they need to force themselves to learn it. I will probably just be leaving them on Windows 7 until it's no longer supported or end up moving them to a Mac, as they enjoy using my iPad.

Does anyone else feel that Windows 8 is going to be a black mark for any PC user not on a touch screen?

I personally feel torn between an OS that I don't like where it is started going to 10.7/8 and one that I feel jumped right into everything I hate with Windows 8, which I hoped would be the OS to pull me back to Windows after how much I enjoyed Windows 7.

What's so bad about OS X 10.8? Oh no, a few new apps that you can completely ignore. Windows 8 is so incredibly stupid, there aren't even words to describe the stupidity. Facepalm.

Community Regular

Astrum

Posted
Posted

Does anyone know if Microsoft has had any feedback for 8 from business customer? In my opinion, thats when the real world attitude will hit them and the s>>> reallly hits the fan. Its only one opinion from a friend who works in computers for business, but Microsoft should worry if is is typical.

The company I work for (one US FMCG giant) has been replacing XP for Win7 since last year. Not done yet. I doubt Win8 will be considered at all.

I'm sure there will be a hack to disable Metro and enjoy desktop freedom.

Grand Master

devHead

Posted
Posted

I don't even know if it's that. I've been a Windows user since 3.0, so I've been through a "relearning" already when 95 came out, and so far Windows 8 hasn't been a problem for me either. In fact, I find it to be pretty good, especially when more Metro programs become available. I'd say it's perfect for tablets and touch screens, and the desktop is still there, so I don't see what all the fuss is about. I can use my old programs just fine like I could in Windows 7.

I gotta say I'm in the same boat. And I've organized my Start screen where the programs I use are close by and available. Otherwise I'm pretty much always on the Desktop and if I need to, I can just pin Word and Excel to the Taskbar to get the Jumplists back for them. I only wish that when I did a search on the Start screen I could choose for which file types to find, instead of it always defaulting to Apps.

Grand Master

spaceelf

Posted
Posted

Yes that's what it is, a generation gap omg! /s

Why not? I'm sure I could find research saying younger people buy more tablets and mp3 players and Macs.

Said people are obviously going to have less inhibitions towards learning new interfaces. I know enough people who wouldn't even know why they needed a DVD player if it wasn't for their kids.

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