5 Reasons To Get Over The Hype And Start Loving Windows 8.1

[Ironman273]

Perhaps you should read the comment that I replied to. Context - it makes a difference.

I was agreeing with you and adding to your statement.

[techbeck]

What I do as well. I own and have bought products from Apple, MS, and Google and not going to let anything the competition says about other change that. I will do my own research. :) If I find a use for something and it has good reviews and a reliable product, I will buy and use regardless of who makes it.

[Anibal P]

And that's actually how I work - using a mix of desktop and Metro apps. I'm just saying I don't want the desktop to go away, or have to choose between the two, until Metro apps become mature enough to be deskto replacements, or until Metro is able to run the desktop apps. I'd rather see that happen than Metro apps on the desktop.

 

I've not heard that the desktop would go away, at lot of people assume it will but there is no indication from MS that it will or I've completely missed it. I see a mixed environment for quite a while, there are things that will generally work better in a desktop environment vs and app environment, and I'd rather have that flexibility

[WhatTheSchmidt]

I was agreeing with you and adding to your statement.

 

Apologies, I read that wrong.

[Gerowen]

Um. No Start Menu! Windows 8 killed my keyboard! Windows 8 killed my mouse! I can't work unless I have 20 billion windows open!

 

And most importantly: PHOTOSHOP! Won't someone think of Photoshop???

 

I think that covers it. :p

You might joke about it, but as somebody who actually uses their computer to do work, I find Ubuntu's Unity or Windows 7 much more efficient on a desktop PC than Windows 8 or 8.1.  It might be fine for tablets, phones, or specific purpose PCs (kiosks where switching applications is not necessary or rarely done), but for multi-taskers like me, it's very hard to get used to doing anything in Windows 8 on a desktop.  Heck I couldn't even figure out how to bring up the menu to exit an application until my mouse pointer brushed a corner of the screen when I first installed it in the VM I've been using to evaluate it.

[+Heartripper Subscriber¹]

I don't really understand the fuss around win8. I am exactly as productive as i was on windows 7, as i can do exactly the same things, with little improvements like

• Automatic preference sync so i get my wallpaper and stuff on all my devices
• Has skydrive support with offline cache built in (Works like a charm in combination with office 2013, I don't need pendrives anymore to move my documents and worry about versioning)
• Default email client works like a charm for me, i have all my emails setup (on all my devices automatically) and everytime i hit the windows key to do some stuff i can see at a glance if i have new mails
• The facebook app works great even on the desktop for what i need

And the rest is exactly how it was in 7. Maybe not worth the price, but I got it for free through my university, so whatever!

[riahc3]

Hello,

I hardly use the start screen in Windows 8.1 I forgot it even exists...

[+Heartripper Subscriber¹]

Hello,

I hardly use the start screen in Windows 8.1 I forgot it even exists...

 

That's the same for me, but actually, i didn't spend my time staring the start menu in w7 either :laugh:

[Order_66]

That's just a silly comparison.  But in a similar line...

 

 

Stagnation isn't a great thing either.

 

 

Why try to fix something that was never broken in the first place?

[PGHammer]

Um. No Start Menu! Windows 8 killed my keyboard! Windows 8 killed my mouse! I can't work unless I have 20 billion windows open!

 

And most importantly: PHOTOSHOP! Won't someone think of Photoshop???

 

I think that covers it. :p

Please - Windows 8 lets me rediscover my keyboard, which the Start menu (yes, pointing-device-centric fanatics) has been strangling.

 

Leave touch-screen support out of things - for users of older hardware, that's mostly irrelevant.  How much do traditional hardware users use their keyboards in Windows?

If YOUR answer is "outside of individual applications, very little", then there is a problem. Windows historically has had many keyboard shortcuts - they became extremely popular among Windows' multitude of power users (mostly those running Windows NT/2000/XP).  Windows 8 retains all of them, and adds several more - further, due to the banishment of the Start menu, there is no bias toward pointing devices.

 

And as to why Windows Server 2012 (and, of course, 2012R2) also includes ModernUI, it makes sense for servers for an even greater number of reasons than it does for desktops.

As opposed to desktops, most servers run in "headless" mode - therefore, they are accessed remotely - of what use is a pointing-device-driven UX on a server accessed in such a fashion?  The greater a UX is biased toward pointing devices, the more bandwidth will be required to access/control it remotely.  (Linux distributions - most of which are aimed at server use, not desktop use - have been making this point for years; even the default UI of Windows Server since 2003 has not been as fancied-up as the desktop side - even though they have shared code since Vista.)

 

Then there is the issue of remote access in general - again, a pointing-device-centric UX is less efficient in terms of resources, and that is regardless of whatever solution you are using.

 

Basically, there's less for pointing-device-centric users in Windows 8 due to a lack of the bias that had been present since the Start menu's arrival - however, that is all.  Those same users are complaining due to them previously getting most (if not all) the favoritism - where have most of the OBVIOUS changes been in Windows been between 95 and 7?  The pointing-device-centric started throwing the keyboard-centric under the bus with the Start menu in 9x, then threw even more of them under that same bus when the Start menu came to NT4 - and now, with ModernUI, we're out from under it.

[Marshall Veteran]

Thread Cleaned and OP shortened. In the future, please post an excerpt of the article and link to the rest.

 

This CAN be discussed in a civil matter.

[PGHammer]

Performance differences are negligible on an SSD.  And 8 is more secure because it has Defender built-in?  Okay...

 

8 isn't worth the aggravation and decrease in efficiency.  Touchscreens aren't taking over, so Metro is a step backwards on a keyboard and mouse.

If you use the mouse (or any pointing device) it does seem that way - however, that is because the Start menu is biased toward pointing devices - which nobody denies.

However, not all users (not even all Windows users) are biased in favor of pointing devices - I'm certainly not.

And that is my real bone to pick with the critics - their criticism is based on an assumption that ALL Windows users are pointing-device-centric/biased.  That is not true, and has never BEEN true - what IS true is that those of us that aren't biased in favor of pointing devices have been thrown under the bus.  My lack of bias toward pointing devices is actually reflected not just in terms of what pointing device I use, but what software I use with it; my pointing device of choice is one of the most basic - the Logitech V220 Cordless.  The single "fancy" feature it even has is that it's cordless.  I don't even use Logitech SetPoint (the default software) with that mouse - instead, I use Microsoft's Mouse and Keyboard Center (the successor to IntelliType Pro/IntelliPoint) which is standard with my keyboard - the equally wireless Microsoft Keyboard 6000 V.3.  I went wireless with both pointing device and keyboard to eliminate wiring clutter - period.  My Wireless 6000 V.3 is both ergonomic (it replaced a wired ergo keyboard) and full-sized - if anything, it's fancier than my pointing device.  But "oh noes - how dare someone that is NOT a gamer be keyboard-centric" is what I hear instead.  I went with this particular wireless keyboard because I don't play musical keyboards - I need a keyboard that will hold up; by and large, Microsoft keyboards DO hold up.  It works in any (and every) OS I run, or have run, since I got it - even OS X Mavericks (OS number three in my rotation). It even works on Macs - real ones. (Specifically, a PPC-driven iMac with iSight, which is arguably the best non-Intel PPC Mac Apple ever built for everyday use.)  I don't need fancy - I do need sturdy.

However, pointing-device-bias has become more and more obvious in terms of Windows users - it's even been true with MaximumPC, of all places.  Look at their recommendations every year since Windows 2000 Professional/Millenium Edition - in terms merely of keyboards and pointing devices - why have they continually shown more love for pointing devices than keyboards?  (If anything, Computer Power User is just as bad.)

[Romero]

You might joke about it, but as somebody who actually uses their computer to do work, I find Ubuntu's Unity or Windows 7 much more efficient on a desktop PC than Windows 8 or 8.1.  It might be fine for tablets, phones, or specific purpose PCs (kiosks where switching applications is not necessary or rarely done), but for multi-taskers like me, it's very hard to get used to doing anything in Windows 8 on a desktop.  Heck I couldn't even figure out how to bring up the menu to exit an application until my mouse pointer brushed a corner of the screen when I first installed it in the VM I've been using to evaluate it.

 

Yes, you totally cannot multi-task any longer with Windows 8 because of course as we all know Metro has already taken over (is it 2020 yet?) and the traditional desktop and its programs have long since been banished.

 

There are valid concerns about the UI but exaggerations like this are just plain idiotic and don't help advance the debate in any meaningful way.

[MorganX]

Until there are problems with them, and when people question that highlighted quote then the Apple fanboys start complaining that nobody every said that, and we are just spreading hate. Of course, you would like to just claim that Win8 has caused many troubles, but ignore the many who use it, love it, and would never look back to Win7.

 

My Surface RT and Pro have just worked, but it doesn't have that shiny Apple logo on it, so it must not, right? My Apple products did work, but since iOS7 has been released they have not with the tangled mess of never ending bugs.

 

On Sunday while sitting watching the NFC championships I pulled out my phone to look up some stat on a football player. One friend there wouldn't listen to the data I looked up. He works at an Apple store, was wearing an Apple shirt, and fully believed that the data I looked up from NFL.com could be incorrect because I read it on my Lumia WP8. When that stupid poetry commercial was played during the game, even he said it sucked. 

 

Unfortunately, the "majority" of users don't appear to "love" Windows 8 right now. The majority of Apple owners do love them, me included. I wish the surface had all the apps and peripherals I Use on my iPad and iPhone, because I want a Phablet or Nokia icon. But the platform is missing too much that I want.

 

Causing problems, I don't know about that. Has many, many inexcusable problems for a lot of people, yes. Google it. Many are averse to it for good reasons. Apple users have nothing to do with it. Those with issue are current users and fans of the platform.

 

Not only that, Apple will probably remain and only grow in the enterprise. In no small part to Microsoft apps. Their remote desktop (which is still not available for WP8) is excellent and solid on iPhone and iPad and home use of Macbooks is going up. It will never be more than 5-10%, but they don't want to be I don't think.

 

All products have problems, but the good must far outweigh the bad. For the Windows 8 platform, the issues and lacking functionality don't do that yet IMO and obviously in the opinion of the many averse to it. They're headed in the right direction but there's no anti-Windows 8 conspiracy. MS isn't denying most of what's wrong, I'm not sure why users are. It's not like Microsoft is an underdog.

 

Apple's advertising campaigns from 1984 to Think Different, to Contribute a verse are magnificent. They create the illusion of Apple products being and extension of you, working the way you do, enabling you. Something it would serve MS well to mimic. There's a lot wrong with Apple's products, and I personally was never impressed with OS X, but one thing they've always mastered is an ability to connect with consumers and give them what they want, or make them think they want it. That's marketing,

[Gerowen]

Yes, you totally cannot multi-task any longer with Windows 8 because of course as we all know Metro has already taken over (is it 2020 yet?) and the traditional desktop and its programs have long since been banished.

 

There are valid concerns about the UI but exaggerations like this are just plain idiotic and don't help advance the debate in any meaningful way.

I'll admit, it does sound a bit exaggerated, but in all honesty here's what happened.  I booted it for the first time, and opened the weather application, and then realized that there was no "X" button anywhere to close the application.  There was no built-in exit button or other obvious method by which to return to the Start screen, so I basically just fumbled around for about 30 seconds until I pushed my mouse into the top right corner.  To me at least, it just seemed odd.

[BajiRav]

Why try to fix something that was never broken in the first place?

My 80386 DX2 based PC never broke. I still buy new PCs every so often.

[WhatTheSchmidt]

Snip

 

Mind showing me those numbers that prove a majority of Windows users don't love Win8? If all you have is "not everyone has upgraded" as your proof. All I see that supposedly proves your point is words like probably, thinking that Mac is somehow winning the OS war (It is the year of Mac!), and when Apple is decidedly losing, that age old Apple fanboy argument of "Well Apple doesn't really want to win the war." Right, Apple doesn't want money, they don't want bigger profits, they don't want higher stock valuations.

 

But you may want to stop with the praise of the apple commercials. There are a number of people here who loved the commercials, but when Microsoft started producing commercials that criticized Apple in the same way that Apple criticized Microsoft in all those Get A PC commercials, suddenly nobody liked those commercials because it showed Apple doing what the fanboys now criticize Microsoft for. You may have missed a memo or was sick during the big Apple fanboy get together where they made those excuses so Apple can keep looking spotless.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Why try to fix something that was never broken in the first place?

because then progress wouldn't happen & we'd still be drawing on cave walls

[Boz]

I thought that Microsoft going touch/tablet and desktop OS in one could work. 

 

Unfortunately I was wrong and so was Microsoft.

 

The biggest issue I have with Windows 8/8.1 is in fact the complete mix of touch and desktop paradigms in UX. 

 

Microsoft simply needs to separate the 2 and have Metro OS and Windows 9 Desktop and be done with it.

 

Allow us to customize and have a productive desktop OS and use Metro OS for tablets and other mobile devices. 

 

This whole, shove it up our noses and hope it goes through, is not working. 

 

 

I personally don't hate Windows 8.1 . I think it's faster and smoother in many aspects than any other WIndows before it.. I just think that UI is garbage, Metro is terrible on desktop and just doesn't belong there and the whole flat thing on desktop just doesn't work. 

 

 

Let's hope Window 9 is desktop only UI and Metro is separated.  I still don't understand the purpose of Sufrace Pro.. there are plenty of super slick, thin, light laptops with touchscreens that can competely replace Surface Pro for anyone who needs a full blown desktop OS with touch support. I bet you most people who use Surface Pro use it as a laptop 99% of the time. 

 

So pushing this Metro/desktop thing on everyone is ridiculous. Just use Metro OS separately on Surface machines and invest in good solid, beautiful desktop experience that's not ugly as butt as it is now. 

[Athernar]

If you use the mouse (or any pointing device) it does seem that way - however, that is because the Start menu is biased toward pointing devices - which nobody denies.

 

The post-Vista start menu's most powerful function is keyboard-based, hardly fitting for your notion of it being "pointing device biased", eh?

[adrynalyne]

- File transfer (copy / move)

- Multi-monitor

 

Definite improvements over Windows 7

(just listing two I am using right now, there are more I can list)

Those are situational though.  I do transfer files, but not enough to care about improvements to the UI.  Command line copying works the same, Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V work the same.

 

For multimonitor, I don't see enough difference for that to matter to me as much either.  Sure, it adds a taskbar, but it hasn't changed how I use it.

 

I am not denying there are improvements to Windows 8 or 8.1.  I am aware of them, but for the improvements I see, I also see it backsliding.  Sure, the start page is more useful than a start menu, but I never used the start menu before, so why would I use a start page now?  It just seems like unnecessary changes to me.  It alienates start menu users, and those who never used the start menu aren't going to start caring about a start page.

 

I use Windows 8.1 (and without a start menu replacement), but these are the things that cause me to pause and wonder what MS was thinking.

because then progress wouldn't happen & we'd still be drawing on cave walls

Needed changes and changes for the hell of it are a bit different, yeah?

[MorganX]

This should help for now: http://superuser.com/questions/433477/how-do-i-run-a-metro-application-from-the-command-line-in-windows-8

 

Here's the problem Romero, that's extra work for no good reason. They've taken a step backwards in functionality. That's what's frustrating a lot of people. This is the first time a major Windows upgrade removed functionality and made you do more mundane work. That's the crux of the some of the vehement resistance. Users have bolstered the Wintel platform and supported Microsoft and now you start wasting my time (and by extension) money, because you screwed up.

 

The challenge now is to keep those users from being irreparably alienated while MS fixes things. Clearly while it seems minor to users who had the functionality in 7, it's no small task to bring these things to 8 and/or WinRT, or I'm sure MS would be doing it at a much faster pace. Again, it's no one's fault except Microsoft and their management. All they can do is keep working in the right direction, throw bones (discounts and free stuff) to appease users till they get it right. At least that's what I would do.

 

It's better to never give a person a thing, than to give it to them and then take it away.

[MorganX]

I was using workarounds for limitations in the UI as far back as Win 3.1. To me having to "make it work for me" isn't a failure of any kind - it's just business as usual.

 

Did you never change any defaults or use any add-ons in XP or 7?

 

Why is customizing the interface such a huge burden for 8, when alternate shells and menus and unique themes and hacks have always been part of what you could do? Especially when the tools are more stable and easier to use than ever?

 

Damn, this comment should shame everyone involved in the Windows 8 RTM IMO. I get your point, but it also bolsters the position of those unhappy with the flaws, shortcomings, lack of or removed functionality that is frustrating may Windows users. Nothing really users can do now except wait and keep letting MS know what's missing/broken and hope for the best. They're clearly listening some. And the management changes can only improve things (I hope.)

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Needed changes and changes for the hell of it are a bit different, yeah?

yes & no. all change is experimentation. you can't find out if the change was worthwhile or not without trying it out

 

i'm personally willing to give metro/modern a chance as it's still in a very infantile state & is being steadily improved with every update as has been shown with 8.1

 

sure it's not for everyone, but then again nothing ever is

 

i know this has been said to death but people said that the original start menu was change for the hell of it and look how that turned out a few years down the road

[MorganX]

Mind showing me those numbers that prove a majority of Windows users don't love Win8? If all you have is "not everyone has upgraded" as your proof. All I see that supposedly proves your point is words like probably, thinking that Mac is somehow winning the OS war (It is the year of Mac!), and when Apple is decidedly losing, that age old Apple fanboy argument of "Well Apple doesn't really want to win the war." Right, Apple doesn't want money, they don't want bigger profits, they don't want higher stock valuations.

 

But you may want to stop with the praise of the apple commercials. There are a number of people here who loved the commercials, but when Microsoft started producing commercials that criticized Apple in the same way that Apple criticized Microsoft in all those Get A PC commercials, suddenly nobody liked those commercials because it showed Apple doing what the fanboys now criticize Microsoft for. You may have missed a memo or was sick during the big Apple fanboy get together where they made those excuses so Apple can keep looking spotless.

 

Proof again. That's generally where it ends up when one has no viable response. The proof I propose would be the changes MS is making to address all the people who don't love Windows 8. From the start button to the alleged return of a start menu. As sell as OEMs providing 7, even using it's availability as a selling point. Now, prove it is loved by a majority of Window users. Just anecdotal proof is fine, sales, changes being implemented to further move away from the Desktop, Start menu, etc.

 

You're starting to sound like a fanboy, the Apple hating kind. I'm not sure how you go from me applauding Apple's current iPad commercials with Apple commercials criticizing Microsoft... I make my living in a Microsoft world and will be having lunch with them tomorrow. I also like quite a few apple products. The new Mac Pro is cool as hell, but I don't want one. I prefer the Windows platform but nothing in me allows me to ignore flaws and lacking functionality. All versions of Windows are superior to OS X, IMO, but that's really irrelevant to the state of Windows 8/WinRT.