windows 8 Do you like or hate Windows 8?

[BajiRav]

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Windows 8. And actually I don't use the Windows 8 Start Screen but rarely because I have no touch screens, so I prefer to use the task bar as my app launching scheme. But when I need to use an app that I rarely use, and it is not pinned yet to the Start screen, I then have to right click and choose "All Apps" from the start screen to locate and Pin to the Start screen. It takes 1 extra click to get there. I actually prefer to pin my most frequent programs to the taskbar (Just 1 click to get the app started vs. tapping the windows key to locate the app (if it was pinned), then clicking the app to get it started (1 extra click if it was not pinned). There is no difference in clicks If an App has been pinned to the start screen when compared to Win 7 Start Menu. But there is 1 extra click when the app is not pinned when compared to Win 7 Start Menu. Oh and BTW you can pin apps to the win 7 Start menu. Also there is allot more mouse movements in Windows 8.

You could do one of the two ways,

1. Add a taskbar toolbar for start menu folder

2. Pin the start menu folder to taskbar and keep the "File Explorer" as first icon in the taskbar

[jesseinsf]

You could do one of the two ways,

1. Add a taskbar toolbar for start menu folder

2. Pin the start menu folder to taskbar and keep the "File Explorer" as first icon in the taskbar

Thanks, that really helped. If anyone needs that path to all apps folder then here is it. You have to unhide the folder.

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu

[xendrome]

2. AREO gone. best thing Microsoft ever did. hello NEW era of gaming <3

Just FYI Aero isn't gone, only the Aero Glass/Transparency stuff, and not sure what Aero has to do with gaming anyway..

[2III7]

People who want "all programs" back obviously can't either type or don't have a keyboard. Some have even complained that they can't remember all the programs names they installed. That is just ridiculous. Perhaps some mnemonic training would help? :rolleyes:

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

W8 ain't bad but the metro part needs work, a lot of work before people can get used to it.

Biggest thing I'd like to see is that it could be made transparent. :)

[Eric Veteran]

[Threads merged]

[Dot Matrix]

[Threads merged]

Which threads got merged?

People who want "all programs" back obviously can't either type or don't have a keyboard. Some have even complained that they can't remember all the programs names they installed. That is just ridiculous. Perhaps some mnemonic training would help? :rolleyes:

I don't understand this. I know all the names of the apps I have installed, and it's not too difficult to remember the names of the default apps and tools that have been present in Windows for years.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

To get to "All Programs" you have to open the start screen, then "Right Click" the start screen then choose "All Programs". I would like a direct link to "All Programs" because not all programs are pinned to the Start Screen. Is there a shortcut to this?

Win+Q, or clicking the search charm, will take you there from Start or the desktop.

Also from Start you can use Ctrl+TAB to cycle between the two views.

[BeerFan]

I wouldn't say that I hate it. But I see no significant positive change in it. Therefore, I won't be buying it.

[fix-this!]

i don't hate it i just think it will be nothing short of an utter disaster.

[BajiRav]

I wouldn't say that I hate it. But I see no significant positive change in it. Therefore, I won't be buying it.

Cool, that's settled then.

[BeerFan]

Cool, that's settled then.

Yep. It is the title of the topic, after all. Thanks for your input.

[jesseinsf]

Win+Q, or clicking the search charm, will take you there from Start or the desktop.

Also from Start you can use Ctrl+TAB to cycle between the two views.

Thanks for the info. You can also create a Toolbar and direct it to the "All Apps" folder. The only thing is it works like the Win2k start menu. I've included the folder path to the All Apps Start menu.

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\

Choose "Start Menu"

[streetw0lf]

I was planning on installing W8 when it hit Technet in a couple of days. In the meantime I got a hold of W8 Pro RTM and installed it after making a disk Image of W7. I wanted to see what worked and what didn't. The install went OK and nearly everything worked for me. However Metro, or whatever it's now called, is a POS IMO.

It's a chore to find the simplest of things. I dislike it's Jekyll & Hyde UI personality, Metro or Desktop. As a person who likes to be on the bleeding edge and always has I can honestly say I will probably wait on W8. Form what I've read there are some nice performance boosts under the hood which I would like to have. I can't imagine the Corporate world beating a path to W8's door.

I suppose I would get used to it after awhile like any other new thing but I have to ask; What the heck was MS thinking when it came up with the Metro UI?

[grayscale]

People who want "all programs" back obviously can't either type or don't have a keyboard. Some have even complained that they can't remember all the programs names they installed. That is just ridiculous. Perhaps some mnemonic training would help? :rolleyes:

This is what puzzles me as well O.o

[BajiRav]

I was planning on installing W8 when it hit Technet in a couple of days. In the meantime I got a hold of W8 Pro RTM and installed it after making a disk Image of W7. I wanted to see what worked and what didn't. The install went OK and nearly everything worked for me. However Metro, or whatever it's now called, is a POS IMO.

It's a chore to find the simplest of things. I dislike it's Jekyll & Hyde UI personality, Metro or Desktop. As a person who likes to be on the bleeding edge and always has I can honestly say I will probably wait on W8. Form what I've read there are some nice performance boosts under the hood which I would like to have. I can't imagine the Corporate world beating a path to W8's door.

I suppose I would get used to it after awhile like any other new thing but I have to ask; What the heck was MS thinking when it came up with the Metro UI?

Is this the first time you are using Windows 8?

As far as corp./enterprise market is considered, they'd have skipped Windows 8 irrespective of metro because most of them have either recently finished deploying 7 or are in the process of doing it.

[Windows Nashville]

Cool, that's settled then.

It's settled when Microsoft puts back the start menu and provides a way to turn off Metro.

[BajiRav]

It's settled when Microsoft puts back the start menu and provides a way to turn off Metro.

well I meant it is settled for osuwildlifer because he won't be buying (and using) Windows 8. I am sure you and others will have your own reasons to not make that clear decision yet.

[xWhiplash]

It's settled when Microsoft puts back the start menu and provides a way to turn off Metro.

I would be fine with a Start Screen Lite for when you are on the desktop. But I agree about Metro. Right now Windows 8 is just very inconsistant.

For example: Volume control is the aero control we are familiar with in Windows 7, but the Network Connections is metro. Inconsistant.

Windows Vista and 7 do this amazing technology that aparently everyone seems to forget: resizing windows! If I have one connection available, I get a small popup. When I have more connections, the popup gets bigger. Why in the hell do I need 100% height what appears to be 20% width metro bar for one wireless connection?

If I am on the desktop, I should only see aero. If I am on Metro, I should only see metro. All of this back and forth...aero this....metro that is just frustrating.

Two control panels, what controls what? inconsistant.

Remember I am talking about the desktop here. I know the metro control panel is for tablets. But why does the desktop version need two separate control panels?

[FloatingFatMan]

The vast majority of PCs today are mobile (i.e. laptops, and increasingly, tablet). It is very rare for anyone to shutdown mobile machines. Most of them you just close and let them go to sleep.

Even desktops, by and large, are rarely shutdown. Obviously some people do it, but not enough that 2-3 clicks is too difficult.

We're going to have to agree to disagree on this, I think. I don't know anyone who isn't a geek, who does that. ALL my family and friends (barring the geeks), turn their laptops OFF when they're done using them.

I dunno, maybe we're more concious of energy waste in the UK? Either way, MS shouldn't be encouraging wasteful practices. Turn your stuff off when you're not using it, folks!

That reasoning has been discussed in depth on the B8 blog.

For most people (all but the few who moved their taskbars), the Start button still works exactly the same as before. You throw your mouse into the lower-left corner and click. Having it appear only on the desktop (the way it did in early builds) made the system inconsistent and harder to learn. A lot of usability studies went into the new model, and found that having a consistent way to get to Start from anywhere in the system was much more important than having a visual affordance that's only there some of the time (which makes you think you can only use it some of the time).

Personally, I also thought that having it there made it feel like Start was "anchored" on the taskbar which was a weird inversion of the model. Desktop is anchored in Start via the desktop tile, just as apps are. This felt a lot more coherent, in my opinion, when the pearl was removed.

Again, I disagree, but less wholeheartedly than the first part. My wife's had a play with W8. Overall, she likes it, but she just could NOT figure out how to get back to the Start screen from the desktop; nor could my dad. Neither of them are computer literate and they don't use keyboard shortcuts, so don't suggest any! Once I showed them how, they managed it, but both said it'd be a lot easier if there was a button there rather than having to remember "useless crap" as they put it. They just want to do their thing and be done, not prat around figuring stuff out or bother to remember things they just don't care about.

I question the results of the usability studies, and wonder what age groups and computer experience they covered. People barely interested in computers rarely volunteer for such things...

[Dashel]

We're going to have to agree to disagree on this, I think. I don't know anyone who isn't a geek, who does that. ALL my family and friends (barring the geeks), turn their laptops OFF when they're done using them.

I think the other issue is that power savings settings and features like hibernate have been so hit and miss in the past they many average users go with the simple 'it just works' solution of a power off (even though as you say, geeks have been telling them to hibernate for years). Even with Vista and Win7 the default power settings are setup for off, not sleep/hibernate.

I hate the use of usability studies (though has MS actually released them for Win8 yet?) Tell that to the asshat test audiences that have been watering down and ruining film for decades. Has MS actually released them? The only study I've generally seen on this is their ode to Fitt's Law, nothing specific to this behavior though. Did MS's studies take into account how they have 'trained' their users over the years?

I literally watched my neighbor try and click the whack a mole Start 'button' in Win8 over and over, even after telling him just to move into the corner and stay there on click. They have been trained to (double) click 'on' things. Single clicking a hidden target, ha.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Windows Vista and 7 do this amazing technology that aparently everyone seems to forget: resizing windows! If I have one connection available, I get a small popup. When I have more connections, the popup gets bigger. Why in the hell do I need 100% height what appears to be 20% width metro bar for one wireless connection?

If I am on the desktop, I should only see aero. If I am on Metro, I should only see metro. All of this back and forth...aero this....metro that is just frustrating.

Two control panels, what controls what? inconsistant.

So you don't like the unified thing (network flyout), and you don't like the not-unified things ("two control panels," by which I assume you mean PC Settings and the desktop Control Panel). I sense it would be difficult to please you :-)

Remember I am talking about the desktop here. I know the metro control panel is for tablets. But why does the desktop version need two separate control panels?

Wait now I'm really confused. The desktop only has one control panel.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

We're going to have to agree to disagree on this, I think. I don't know anyone who isn't a geek, who does that. ALL my family and friends (barring the geeks), turn their laptops OFF when they're done using them.

I dunno, maybe we're more concious of energy waste in the UK? Either way, MS shouldn't be encouraging wasteful practices. Turn your stuff off when you're not using it, folks!

Laptops use zero energy in hibernate (which it will doze to when not in use). I do not think I've witnessed a person actually "shut down" a laptop in normal usage in at least 5 years. Obviously I'm not counting things like when you're about to replace the battery or something.

Again, I disagree, but less wholeheartedly than the first part. My wife's had a play with W8. Overall, she likes it, but she just could NOT figure out how to get back to the Start screen from the desktop; nor could my dad. Neither of them are computer literate and they don't use keyboard shortcuts, so don't suggest any! Once I showed them how, they managed it, but both said it'd be a lot easier if there was a button there rather than having to remember "useless crap" as they put it. They just want to do their thing and be done, not prat around figuring stuff out or bother to remember things they just don't care about.

Had they logged in with a new user account and seen the intro screen? That's there to help people upgrading on their own and who don't have you or something else to tell them that they need to put the mouse in corners to control the system.

I question the results of the usability studies, and wonder what age groups and computer experience they covered. People barely interested in computers rarely volunteer for such things...

You'd be surprised. They recruit participants for all different ages, walks of life, and computing backgrounds. Obviously it's no easy task to build something that suits them all. And usability studies aren't everything. But they are very valuable, and our user research organization is the best in the business.

[FloatingFatMan]

Laptops use zero energy in hibernate (which it will doze to when not in use). I do not think I've witnessed a person actually "shut down" a laptop in normal usage in at least 5 years. Obviously I'm not counting things like when you're about to replace the battery or something.

Not really relevant. I don't know anyone, outside of techies, that use hibernate mode or anything like that. They turn them OFF.

Had they logged in with a new user account and seen the intro screen? That's there to help people upgrading on their own and who don't have you or something else to tell them that they need to put the mouse in corners to control the system.

RP version here still, no demo. I'm no thief. ;)

You'd be surprised. They recruit participants for all different ages, walks of life, and computing backgrounds. Obviously it's no easy task to build something that suits them all. And usability studies aren't everything. But they are very valuable, and our user research organization is the best in the business.

I don't doubt your team, I doubt the people in the study.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Not really relevant. I don't know anyone, outside of techies, that use hibernate mode or anything like that. They turn them OFF.

I said that every person I've ever seen use a laptop just closes the lid when they're done, or in some cases presses the power button first. You said this wastes power, to which I said no, it doesn't, since it puts the laptop to sleep (very little power) and it then dozes to hibernate (no power). I didn't say that anyone knows or cares what sleep or hibernate is. They just know that when they shut the lid, or press the power button, it's "off." And when they need it, it's back "on."

RP version here still, no demo. I'm no thief. ;)

Oh right, forgot it wasn't there, whoops. But yeah, that is the idea though. There's really one key thing you need to know when first using Windows 8. For mouse, it's throw the cursor into the corners. For touch, it's swipe in from the edges. Once you have that, it shouldn't be hard to figure out how to get around.

I don't doubt your team, I doubt the people in the study.

I wish we could share some of the videos from them (I'm actually surprised Channel 9 never has, or at least if they did I couldn't easily find it).