windows 8 Do you like or hate Windows 8?

[Skyfrog]

As a desktop OS I don't like it at all and see no point in it. As a touch tablet OS it seems very nice though.

Desktops and tablets are two very different things and they shouldn't try to unify one interface to fit them both.

[.Neo]

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

I suggest you follow the first part of your own advice. ;)

As for Windows 8: Despite to what Microsoft and some people here advocate it's a release almost purely aimed at tablets. The way I see it offers very little advantages for desktop users, the Metro interface being more of a disadvantage especially to those who own larger screens or have a multi-monitor setup. Beyond that it's pretty much the same stuff wrapped in a new interface.

[daniel_rh]

I like it, I don't love it... That said, I'm not running to update my desktop but my laptop could be a different story, and looking forward to buy a nice Tablet PC, a real one with real apps like Photoshop, full feature office, and x86/x64 proccesor

[Dot Matrix]

I like that Windows 8 is removing device bias. I might buy a touchscreen just for it.

[neo1911]

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

Same applies to you too. He just expressed his opinion. You downright sound mad!

[firey]

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

Same here, I didn't bother downloading the RP, after playing with the DP and the CP (boy those sound dirty), I have lost any hope for the OS. The problem is that for me the OS packs some nice features, however the way I interact with it, and how I would be using it on a daily basis just doesn't work for me with Metro styling, the start screen.

[.Neo]

Same applies to you too. He just expressed his opinion. You downright sound mad!

Not at all. Let me explain: Windows 8's arguably the biggest new thing right now and triggers a lot of different opinions due to the big changes it brings forth. Not entirely sure why you'd complain about the amount of threads regarding the subject on a tech forum traditionally aimed at Microsoft/Windows. If you hate Windows 8 threads simply ignore the Microsoft Beta sub forum. Just sayin'.

[neo1911]

He merely answered the question asked in the thread's title. Not trying to defend anyone, but his one worded reply would have been trolling in any other thread.

[Som]

Same here, I didn't bother downloading the RP, after playing with the DP and the CP (boy those sound dirty), I have lost any hope for the OS. The problem is that for me the OS packs some nice features, however the way I interact with it, and how I would be using it on a daily basis just doesn't work for me with Metro styling, the start screen.

i would say download the RP and give it a go, but i felt really depressed after using it...

[.Neo]

He merely answered the question asked in the thread's title. Not trying to defend anyone, but his one worded reply would have been trolling in any other thread.

He answered with "I hate Windows 8 threads", which isn't the question here by any means. I get the feeling you didn't read his post carefully enough before calling me out.

[neo1911]

^^ Why get mad? All I wanted to tell you was to chill.

[Wakers]

I'm definitely on the like side of the fence. Haven't seen anything in there to hate yet.

The kafuffle over the metro start screen is just sad. I'm a power user who is always multi-tasking and in no way does it interfere or make anything harder than it was before.

[.Neo]

^^ Why get mad? All I wanted to tell you was to chill.

See post #32.

[GTAComplete]

I personally love Windows 8... but I have just gone back to Windows 7 because of the lack of compatibility for programmes I use everyday. For example, the installation for Sony Vegas didn't run, and I couldn't mount some of my games with PowerISO. Hopefully, they will fix this in the future and this won't be another major OS failure like Windows Vista...

[Wakers]

I personally love Windows 8... but I have just gone back to Windows 7 because of the lack of compatibility for programmes I use everyday. For example, the installation for Sony Vegas didn't run, and I couldn't mount some of my games with PowerISO. Hopefully, they will fix this in the future and this won't be another major OS failure like Windows Vista...

That's not really down to MS though, that's the developers of that particular software. It's not up to MS to update third party software so that they work on the new OS.

Whether developers will do that, or push out entirely new versions remains to be seen.

One of the things that made Vista such a disaster was that third party developers were far too slow in bringing their software up to date (or just abandoned it all together and tried to make people buy a new version to work on the new OS), and that reflected badly on MS - which wasn't entirely their fault.

Hardware manufacturers were also guilty of this. NVidia were hideously slow at making stable Vista drivers for their higher end cards. So much so that I sold mine on ebay and replaced it with an ATi at the time, because I was sick of having to make system level tweaks just to get games to run properly. Creative released a generation of identical cards, pretty much, just with "vista compatability" as a "feature" - so people upgrading from XP had no sound driver support from them.

[butilikethecookie]

I personally love Windows 8... but I have just gone back to Windows 7 because of the lack of compatibility for programmes I use everyday. For example, the installation for Sony Vegas didn't run, and I couldn't mount some of my games with PowerISO. Hopefully, they will fix this in the future and this won't be another major OS failure like Windows Vista...

I can't get Sony Vegas to run to save my life! I tried running it in compatibility mode but that didn't work. Are you on the RP or CP? I'm upgrading to RP today so maybe I'll try it again.

[ichi]

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 Metro is not about a start screen, it's also about window management. Something that you can kinda get around in Windows8 but that's intended to become the standard in future Windows releases.

I could stand a fullscreen start menu if it was all about that (heck I'm enduring Gnome Shell's Overview right now, which even while offering a lot more features than Metro is still a fullscreen menu anyway), but the limitation of a few hardcoded window arrangements (fullscreen, 50/50 and 80/20 splits) is something that just won't work for me.

Then Windows8 happens to feel half backed, and not just because of the "beta" status. It neither here nor there when it comes to window management, offering a weird mix of behaviours depending on the type of app you are running.

You could stick with the classic desktop, but then where's the advantage of running Windows8 at all? There might be some improvements under the hood, but at the end of the day you have the same experience as with Windows7 plus a few annoyances, and you end wasting time adapting your workflow to work around features you aren't using.

The start menu... I didn't like Windows7 start menu so it's not like I'm attached to anything. I disliked it same as I didn't like it when other desktops like KDE adopted it. The old "classic" start menu wasn't good either, but at least it wasn't such a mess that you absolutely needed a search box to find anything.

If we really want to go that way I'd rather use something like Synapse and be able to find not just my apps but absolutely everything on my systems from a single search box, and then drop the whole menu instead of pretending that the new implementation is of any actual use other than wasting space.

Also the widgets on the start menu could be a nice idea wasn't it because I'm working on my desktop, not on the start menu. I can already get info about incoming mail, weather, chats (which I can reply to without even opening new windows or changing my window arrangement), calendar events and what not without touching any key, so I don't feel any need for a whole new screen full of gadgets.

Summing up, I don't see Windows8 adding anything I need, yet it would force me to change my workflow for no good reason. The Metro style window management feels like a huge step backwards if you are doing anything other than watching movies or browsing the web. I just can't get my work done with those crappy split options.

[mehta708]

I have been using Widows 8 since almost 8 months. It was tough but I think I have grown to love it.

[Miuku.]

After trying it in a VM:

[patseguin Global Moderator]

The more I play with RP the more I love it. I have 2 partitions for 7 and 8 and haven't been back to 7 since RP came out. I really like it a lot.

[~Johnny]

I suggest you follow the first part of your own advice. ;)

As for Windows 8: Despite to what Microsoft and some people here advocate it's a release almost purely aimed at tablets. The way I see it offers very little advantages for desktop users, the Metro interface being more of a disadvantage especially to those who own larger screens or have a multi-monitor setup. Beyond that it's pretty much the same stuff wrapped in a new interface.

An opinion many disagree with frankly :p. We'll see how it turns out, I'm meant to be helping deploy it in a school environment by the end of the year, so that'll be a fun experience :p

[Dot Matrix]

An opinion many disagree with frankly :p. We'll see how it turns out, I'm meant to be helping deploy it in a school environment by the end of the year, so that'll be a fun experience :p

What kind of environment are you deploying it in?

[threetonesun]

I'm underwhelmed by it. I actually like the idea of Metro, but in practice, the apps are horribly underutilized, and often ugly or oddly designed just to fit in with some cohesive "theme".

[McKay]

Looks like Windows 8 is the Marmite of OS's. PRetty much 50/50 Neowin Love/Hate.

[firey]

i would say download the RP and give it a go, but i felt really depressed after using it...

I guess I don't see the point. I know that the functionality I want, and the way I want to use it isn't there. I know that without hacks and mods it won't come back. So it's easier to just not bother.