PGHammer, on 24 January 2013 - 13:21, said:
And nowhere have you said that Windows 8 didn't work for non-touch hardware (specifically keyboards and mice). You basically assumed that because it supported touch that it either supported keyboards and mice poorly or not at all.
I bought Windows 8 and use it as my primary operating system, therefore I didn't "assume" anything. I formed an opinion based on my experiences. I never suggested that Windows 8 doesn't work for non-touch hardware, just that it wasn't optimised for mouse and keyboard as much as it was for touch. The Charm Bar is horrible, especially as you have to use it to shut down your computer by mouse (there are alternative keyboard shortcuts). The hot-corners are irritating, especially when they don't work properly with Aero Snap. And Metro apps use completely different mouse gestures to Aero. As a mouse and keyboard user I find those changes annoying. Is it the end of the world? No. Does it make Windows 8 a bad operating system? No. But I don't like some of the changes.
SSSikora, on 24 January 2013 - 13:30, said:
I just don't get it! It seems as though 99.9%+ of the animosity leveled towards Windows 8 revolves around Metro and the lack of the Start menu. You are NOT REQUIRED to use anything Metro...with the exception of the Start menu, which can easily be gotten around by pinning applications to the desktop or the taskbar.
Nonsense. To add users, change your Start Screen background, change your lock screen or manage your user account you have to use the new Metro 'PC Settings' (the alternative to the Control Panel), and clicking on the network icon brings up a Metro interface element. Shutting down the computer by mouse requires you to use the Charm Bar, which is fiddly and obviously optimised for touch, and many Windows features have been moved to Metro (Solitaire) or default to Metro (Mail, Photos, Videos, Reader, etc). Sure you
can avoid most Metro elements but Microsoft tries very hard to force it upon users and you cannot escape entirely.
Personally I think it's great that Microsoft took touch really seriously with Windows 8 but the way the Metro elements were bolted onto the desktop was—quite simply—terrible. And let me repeat, I prefer Windows 8 to Windows 7 and I love some of the new desktop improvements - Storage Spaces, Task Manager, the Explorer Ribbon, file transfer dialogue, cloud accounts, etc. But I can certainly appreciate the frustration many people have using it and some of the changes are completely unnecessary.