Windows 8, enough after about 2 hours

[Southern Patriot]

You're right, sort of. But it would still be better if you only had to use one method of switching apps.

And I'm thinking this duality is what is going to confuse the hell out of most average users. Two types of apps, two (or more) ways of launching them, two ways of switching between them, two sets of settings. Think about this for a moment: if people on a tech oriented forum are having difficulty coming to grips with the changes, how in the hell do they expect average users to understand the changes?

[Eric Veteran]

[Threads merged]

[Southern Patriot]

Most people aren't using 24" or 27" monitors these days. It's either laptops or 40"+ HDTVs.

I'd love to see some sort of study that backs that up, because I sure as hell see a lot of 22"-27" displays for sale at various stores.

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

I think it's a conspiracy by the media and they're setting up MS. The way the iCabal in the media are going ga-ga over this turd is very disconcerting.

More often than not, they're comparing it to iOS and using a tablet to review it on. I wonder how many Mac users wish they had iOS running parallel to OS X on their Mac and be told that the future lies in iOS apps.

[Southern Patriot]

I guess I'll be one of the few that will disagree with you. *continues working on 40" at 1920x1080*

You must have eyesight worse than my wife does if that resolution on that size screen really appeals to you. Yeah, it is fine for playing movies, etc. from the the computer, or for gaming, but for actual work???

[Southern Patriot]

[Threads merged]

I'm curious, which thread did you merge into this one? And why merge another thread into this one after 35+ pages? That's gonna make it hard to go back and see which comments were merged in from the other thread.

[Salutary7]

Almost ALL of the real people I know use between 19" and 22" screens, I have 2 22", but yea not everyone has an HDTV. Just because you use an HDTV don't classify it as everyone, or most people. Because that simply isn't the case.

That's probably about right, at least for desktops. And speaking of which, I'm still somewhat disappointed that MSFT chose a minimum 1366 screen width for full functionality. W3School's Janurary 2012 statistics indicate 40% of their traffic has a resolution smaller than 1366. Their demographic is probably close to the type of people who would try or buy Win8, too. Granted, 1366 seems to have become the standard minimum for new monitors or laptops (except the 13 inch macbook pro :laugh:), so it fits with a future forward line of thinking (i.e. hardware refreshes).

[migo]

And I'm thinking this duality is what is going to confuse the hell out of most average users. Two types of apps, two (or more) ways of launching them, two ways of switching between them, two sets of settings. Think about this for a moment: if people on a tech oriented forum are having difficulty coming to grips with the changes, how in the hell do they expect average users to understand the changes?

You already have the taskbar and alt tab, that hasn't confused people.

I'd love to see some sort of study that backs that up, because I sure as hell see a lot of 22"-27" displays for sale at various stores.

For sale, sure, but being purchased at checkout? That's laptops and hdtvs.

[fix-this!]

i gave up after an hour of use.

[V23]

i gave up after an hour of use.

Then you didn't really give it a chance. It takes most people a few days to become accustomed to it, but once you do you start to realise the benefits.

[artje]

went back to 7 after 1.5 hrs, trying to install dualboot with the start8 app from stardock

[Stoffel]

Did any of you read this article?

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/the-metro-haters-guide-to-customizing-windows-8-consumer-preview/4610?tag=content;feature-roto

Got some nice little things in it to make your life 'easier'

I liked the tip about making your background on the desktop look like the one on the start screen

[MFH]

We really don't know how the 'average joe' will react to windows 8

Not sure if this was posted before:

[V23]

Not sure if this was posted before:

Final version will come with a tutorial. Once he knows how to open the start screen, (through a tutorial or by someone telling him) his problems will be significantly reduced.

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

Not sure if this was posted before:

I like how he tried to click on the fish at one point (1:38). :laugh:

[MFH]

Final version will come with a tutorial.

Like if anyone reads tutorials these days?

All you Metro supporters are talking about how this is the future of computing, but how can the future involve reading manuals when the present doesn't?

[MorganX]

OK, while I still think the UI is a productivity loser until better desktop navigation (particularly full screen swiping) is availalbe, (please update the touch mouse or hopefully logitech will provide a solution), Microsoft's quick video is better than trying to discover too much in the preview, especially if you're a Windows 7 user.

And listening to the fans here (I'm not going to say fanatic) is a bad idea. If you think of Metro as an exposed start button, you will use it much more productively and FWIW, search is unified. Yes there are multiple shortcut keys (sigh) to search apps, programs and settings but if you just start typing at the start screen it will search and this is unified. Just like hitting the Windows key and just start typing in Windows 7. I don't think it needs to be full screen, that's a whole lot of unecessary eyeball movement, but it works. I think the start menu/taskbar is superior to the charm and previous bar and hot corners is a step backwards, but if you approach it with the right metaphor, it might not be as bad as it initially appears. It's not going to be as lean and mean as Windows 7 though.

Again, the overzealous fans do it a disservice at this point and time by ignoring its shortcomings.

PS: I think allowing you to hit the ESC key to go to the desktop would go a long, long way.

[br0adband]

More like...

Win 3.1 - OK

Win 3.11 - Awesome

Win 95 - OK

Win NT4- Kickin' but the server OS even though serious folk used it as a desktop OS

Win 95 OSR2.5 - Great

Win 98 - Meh

Win 98SE - Excellent

Win 2000 Pro - Outstanding

Win ME - Uhmmm... ugh

Win XP - Good but SP2 made it really great

Win XP x64 - Fantastic rock solid OS but driver issues plagued it, still an awesome thing

Win Vista - Driver issues plagued it (not the fault of Microsoft)

Win 7 - Best thing Microsoft ever put out

Win 8 - (reserved for future comments, the previews aren't enough to justify 'em so far)

[guru]

I think it's a conspiracy by the media and they're setting up MS. The way the iCabal in the media are going ga-ga over this turd is very disconcerting. The apologists will always hold the line for MS so that's not surprising. But seeing the word 'jarring' over and over again from those with no obvious agenda should give some pause to MS.

QFT

[MFH]

More like...

Win 3.1 - OK

Win 3.11 - Awesome

Win 95 - OK

Win NT4- Kickin' but the server OS even though serious folk used it as a desktop OS

Win 95 OSR2.5 - Great

Win 98 - Meh

Win 98SE - Excellent

Win 2000 Pro - Outstanding

Win ME - Uhmmm... ugh

Win XP - Good but SP2 made it really great

Win XP x64 - Fantastic rock solid OS but driver issues plagued it, still an awesome thing

Win Vista - Driver issues plagued it (not the fault of Microsoft)

Win 7 - Best thing Microsoft ever put out

Win 8 - (reserved for future comments, the previews aren't enough to justify 'em so far)

damn why did I only have 95FE and 98FE before switching to XP?^^

Can't agree on XP 64bit, aka "Server 2003 Client Edition" though?

[V23]

Like if anyone reads tutorials these days?

All you Metro supporters are talking about how this is the future of computing, but how can the future involve reading manuals when the present doesn't?

How did people learn to use the traditional desktop then? Do you honestly think in twenty years we will still be using the same desktop set-up as we are now?

[MFH]

How did people learn to use the traditional desktop then?

Good question. Judging from how people operate modern PCs, I'd say they never did? But honestly who reads manuals these days?

Do you honestly think in twenty years we will still be using the same desktop set-up as we are now?

Do you honestly think that in 20 years we will only use touch interfaces? I can tell you 100% we won't?

[Buzz99]

Metro = tablets

Start menu = desktop

Best bet would be a Metro version of Win 8 and a start menu version ( just like home premium or Pro version of win 7). this way Microsoft may make everybody live happy forever after.....

[br0adband]

Do you honestly think that in 20 years we will only use touch interfaces? I can tell you 100% we won't?

I would agree there, because in 20 years touch will be the secondary method of interacting with computers and electronic devices.

What's the primary method going to be? Voice command, control, and recognition, of course... :)

[Jim K Global Moderator]

I really do like Windows 8, well everything but the Metro. Bugs me when you click on an app, for example Google Chrome, in Metro, Metro minimizes...you see the desktop and then Chrome opens. Just weird.

To me, it just looks like some 3rd party app that really doesn't flow well. Of course, I'm still rocking the "quick launch" bar in Windows 7 with my most frequently used apps. I have two icons on my desktop, "My Computer" and "Recycle Bin", and I like simplicity.