windows 8 Do you like or hate Windows 8?

[MrChuang]

With nearly every thread regarding the CP or RP of Windows 8, it seems to turn into a flame war. I haven't seen a thread with a clear poll, so I thought I would make one. Of course this thread is going to turn into an argument between both sides but I guess it's appropriate to keep it in here rather than scattered across a hundred other threads.

My personal thoughts on Windows 8 are quite negative and I am not a fan of the direction Microsoft is taking. The Release Preview feels as if Microsoft has ignored most of the negative feedback and keeps pushing for their vision. The improved desktop elements such as explorer & task manager are a great improvement however for a home or work desktop, the metro start-screen IMO is not suitable. My reason for this is the lack of customization it has. Users such as me have become familiar with the start menu and have watched it evolve for years. Tablets should use metro, desktops should use the typical start menu.

[articuno1au]

If you can edit your poll, turn off multi-choice.

I could select all 4 choices at once at the moment >.<

I don't "love" Windows 8, but I do think it's an improvement overall.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

I don't like the fact that it appears to be more oriented towards touch devices, with the desktop user experience seemingly tacked on at the last minute.

Do I hate it? No. Do I like it? Certainly not. Would I use it with various tweaks put in? If the tweaks made it more of a desktop experience that I've become used to, probably.

[HoochieMamma]

I don't like the fact that it appears to be more oriented towards touch devices, with the desktop user experience seemingly tacked on at the last minute.

Do I hate it? No. Do I like it? Certainly not. Would I use it with various tweaks put in? If the tweaks made it more of a desktop experience that I've become used to, probably.

We have a winner.

[ichi]

Why is the only option against Windows 8 so passionate? I don't like Windows 8, and I certainly don't like the direction MS wants to take the desktop to, but I don't "hate" it.

IMO dumbing down the UI to the lowest common denominator needs (ie. those of the content consuming audience) is awkward. MS might have some data about what users do with their desktops most of the time, but I don't get how that correlates with limiting any other possible use.

While I've never been a fan of previous Windows desktops, in Windows 8 you'll still be able to manage apps in "classic" mode, which is not great but it's at least a known quantity. My real issue is with Metro window managing being intended to be the "future" of computing. That's a future that makes me cringe.

That said, my only real interaction with Windows desktops is on corporate computers, which means mostly servers. I guess I won't have to deal with Metro there for a very long time (hopefully never).

[Quillz]

I have no real issues with Windows 8. I will upgrade once it hits RTM.

[Detection]

I hate Windows 8

threads.

[Guest]

Do you like or hate? But no option for love. Seems biased.

Anyway, I'm still undecided, I still expect some rather large changes before RTM. Mainly in the classic desktop.

[Boojiboy]

Windows 8 reminds of OSX Tiger in the sense that the UI is all over the place. I was happy to see Apple unify most of the desktop with Leopard. I hate how you have to bounce back between two UI's in Windows 8. I wish it was complete either way, meaning all metro or all old desktop. Not the hack job that exist now. Don't get me wrong I really like the metro UI, just wish it was more consistent. Also, since I mentioned Apple I'm sure I will cause some negative reaction, so here are my main points. Really like that Microsoft is going in a different direction with metro. I find metro to be pretty easy to navigate until you have to work with settings. Don't like the need to bounce back and forth through two ui's. Can't wait until Windows 9 when things are more streamed line.

[devHead]

I don't like the fact that it appears to be more oriented towards touch devices, with the desktop user experience seemingly tacked on at the last minute.

Do I hate it? No. Do I like it? Certainly not. Would I use it with various tweaks put in? If the tweaks made it more of a desktop experience that I've become used to, probably.

This is exactly the camp I'm in. I've been running it exclusively for the last couple of days since it came out, and while I like the improvements to Explorer, Task Manager, and the File Move/Copy dialogs, overall, it just hasn't sold me. I have tried to find something cool and useful about the new Start screen, but frankly, I just can't see the need for having a full screen you're thrown into just to launch a program that isn't on your Desktop or pinned to the Taskbar.

It's alsmost like someone said, 'Hey, we gotta have a new interface for Touch based Tablet and Smartphone Apps because our OS is going to be for all platforms, so lets just bastardize the Start menu and stick it there!' That's what I feel like when I use it. Like, here's a Tablet screen you don't need, but since we've dispensed with your Start button and Start menu, we'll just stick a simplified version of it on this Tablet screen too.

[Dannydeman]

Multi monitor support is still buggy as hell. Because of this, I hate it very much..

Try this: Pin a Metro app to your second screen. Now open the Startscreen on your main monitor. All of the sudden the pinned Metro app, pins to your main monitor :) Really.. who comes up with this stuff? The only use of Metro on the desktop is when you can pin stuff on your second monitor, so it acts like a sidebar, widgets and stuff like that. Otherwise Metro is a big pain in the ass to use on a big-screen system with a keyboard and mouse. The fullscreen apps are useless compared to the desktop variants. The UI is clearly not made for a mouse/keyboard combo. I can't believe Microsoft forces this so much :s Hopefully they see the light with Windows 9 and go for a more Apple like approach where they see the desktop as a desktop..

[MFH]

I think I'd like it on a tablet - if it takes off (and it could based alone on Microsofts muscles), it will be better than Android for sure IMHO. I still can't accept Metro on the desktop. The whole Windows 8 non-touch-experience to me feels poorly thought out and even more poorly executed.

After using it for some time I think that whilst the typography is really looking great on W8, the wild combination of colors on the start screen looks unappealing - it looks like a kinder-gardener has tried to paint a picture with all available colors at once... (I don't know how else to describe it :) [*]). For that reason I would actually prefer it if they'd implemented a system wide tile color like on WP7. It may haven't looked as customizeable, yet there would have been a more unified look.

[*] Or did I? It looks to me as if they showcase that my GPU is able to produce 256 colors at the same time... (As if that would be anything extraordinary...)

[articuno1au]

I'm always confused by those people complaining about not being able to use it as a desktop system.

I literally spend all my time on the desktop in the CP. My metro start screen appears for about a quarter second it takes me type in the first few characters in whatever I am trying to launch and disappears. More often than not it doesn't even have time to render.

I don't understand why it is that people feel it's such a step down given my usage hasn't changed in the slightest (except I have pinned remote desktop instead of using the jump list in the start menu).

This is why all of the anti-8 sentiment confuses me so.

[Quillz]

I'm always confused by those people complaining about not being able to use it as a desktop system.

I literally spend all my time on the desktop in the CP. My metro start screen appears for about a quarter second it takes me type in the first few characters in whatever I am trying to launch and disappears. More often than not it doesn't even have time to render.

I don't understand why it is that people feel it's such a step down given my usage hasn't changed in the slightest (except I have pinned remote desktop instead of using the jump list in the start menu).

This is why all of the anti-8 sentiment confuses me so.

Because it's different and people don't like change.

Remember that "Mojave Experiment" from a few years back? I believe the point of it was to show that most people who "hated" Vista only hated it because marketing told them so, and because it was different from Windows XP, which they got used to. Yet once they actually sat down and used it, not knowing it was Vista, they liked it.

We saw this back in 1995: Windows 95 was horrible, a failure, etc. because it was different from Windows 3.1. It was going to fail because it didn't have the familiar Program and File Managers. Indeed, it didn't. It had something much better. And overtime, we got used to it.

Give Windows 8 a few years, and I think most people will become quite comfortable with having a Start screen rather than a Start menu.

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

I dont hate it, i do see it having potential on a tablet. However i dont like using it either. I find it annoying been forced to use a desktop PC like its a tablet with a keyboard / mouse attached to it.

For me personally it just doesn't work, it appears like Windows 8 is forcing users to run a single task. I dont want to run applications full screen on a 1920x1200 screen, i can only imagine what its like for people with larger 2560x1440 screen resolutions.

I realise the desktop is still there, however its just not good enough. I find myself constantly been annoyed by the hot spots and been thrown out the desktop to "Metro". There's no need for it to be so intrusive on a desktop. I use the start menu a lot on Windows 7, to access my documents, network places, recent documents, system settings... the sleep button. I never realised how much until i didn't have it.

Give users some choice in how they want to interface with there PC and Windows 8 could be great, i see no reason why everyone would not be happy then. People who like the metro experience on the desktop can use it, people who want to use a PC for productivity can do so without Metro getting in the way.

It would be such a simple fix to have some options... i cant help feel Microsoft is forcing Metro to help push app sales on a Market they control.

[derkim]

Windows 8 has no chance for me. I skip Windows 8 and enhance my work on Linux systems. I do this since years and maybe I get the switch in a few years.

[Travelar]

Do I hate it? No. Do I like it? No.

I don't have any touch screen devices that will run it. On the desktop, it's not conducive of the way I work. I've been using Microsoft Products since DOS 2.0 and this is just isn't working for me.

[.Neo]

I hate Windows 8

threads.

In that case simply don't bother posting and ignore them in the future. Things can really be that easy sometimes.

[Max Norris]

I'm in a "it's all right" mindset. Overall liking it, but needs a bit of tweakage/refinement in a few places yet.. although that may improve with the RTM build, have to wait and see what the final's like. (And I do like Metro overall.. just has a few quirks to work out.) My x86 based tablets will definitely be upgraded when it goes gold, desktop I'm 50/50 on that.. probably wait a bit (SP1?) for the kinks to get worked out. If it doesn't work out for me I'll just stay with 7, have been very happy with it.

[D.J.P]

For Me, Not liking Windows 8 and Microsoft's current UI direction.

8 Has it good points like others have pointed out, let down by the Start Screen & other metro stuff (window style, network pop-up list).

Will I upgrade: Only if I can kill Start Screen and other Metro stuff.

[drazgoosh]

I love Windows 8. I'm not limited by the Metro style start page. Much faster boot. Better features: copy/paste additions, new task manager, etc. Will definitely upgrade my Desktop PC when it's released. Might even buy a tablet.

[Detection]

In that case simply don't bother posting and ignore them in the future. Things can really be that easy sometimes.

Or you could stop adding to the useless posts list and ignore a post that was in no way anything to do with you ?

[NgLife]

I hope the start menu back in windows 8 RTM :)

[AndyAmo]

The question for me seems to be; where is the "killer" app that might make Metro indispensable. None of the apps currently on the Start Menu seem of much value and that is why I end up continually flipping between Metro and Desktop. The Metro version of Internet Explorer looks the best of breed but the full screen, single task character of Metro seems a little retro on a Desktop. For me, the difference between a Phone/Tablet and a Desktop is that, on a mobile device I am only expecting to passively retrieve information, look up a reference, check the weather, read a book. On a Desktop I expect to do all that and then interact with the data in some way. Process data from multiple sources to discover new information. As far as I can tell Metro apps only fetch and present data. The environment does not seem suited for actually processing data in any way? Perhaps some clever so-and-so can develop the app that makes the Metro environment worth staying in, until then? Well I really like the snappy and responsive Windows 8 desktop but, for the time being I can find nothing useful about Metro.

[Som]

this will probably be the first windows i'll skip :(