win8 I use Windows 8 like a power user! Do you?

[BajiRav]

I didn't watch till end but I think a "power user" video should at least show the Win + X menu to get to control panel. :p

[cork1958]

Personally,

I don't and didn't see much difference in using Windows 8 over 7, as far as using what I use.

Can't say as I love or hate Windows 8, but I know I wll not be in any rush to get it, when the final is released. It does not blow my hair back or anything like Windows 7 did compared to XP or Vista, but then anything would've blown my hair back compared to Vista!

[Zato-One8]

How to quickly close apps? Go to the top-left corner, hover on app you wanna close and press middle mouse button :). That's it. You can close more apps in a second like that.

Another great advice: Do you have a mouse with more than two buttons (plus middle button/wheel) and you think going to metro screen is to slow? -> Set one of these additional buttons as Win button! (You can set it with e.g. X-Mouse Button Control program)

[HawkMan]

"power users" manage domains, code, manage servers, works with Photoshop, automate stuff, write scripts and programs, compile stuff, use multi-monitor set-ups, manage multiples computers, push updates on the network, etc.

That has nothing to do with being a power user, that's what you use the computer for. granted most people who manage domains will be power users. but they're not power users because they manage domains, and many photoshop users are far from power users. You're describing in general(except for PS) an administrator, which most often wioll be a power user, but you don't have to be an admin to be a power users. beign a power user is about how you use your computer, not what you do with it.

[firey]

How to quickly close apps? Go to the top-left corner, hover on app you wanna close and press middle mouse button :). That's it. You can close more apps in a second like that.

Another great advice: Do you have a mouse with more than two buttons (plus middle button/wheel) and you think going to metro screen is to slow? -> Set one of these additional buttons as Win button! (You can set it with e.g. X-Mouse Button Control program)

Can do the first thing in W7 with aero-peak (middle to close).

Can do the same in W7 as well. No real speed up from what we can already do.

[HawkMan]

And it shows one thing very clear: For mouse users a underdog experience.

Do this Video again and don't use the keyboard. Then we see a quite new result.

No offence ;)

again, this thread is not a Start screen vs start menu thread. but I'll bite.

finding and starting an item in the start screen is faster than scrolling and searching around in the start menu, with NO keyboard usage. with keyboard search, they'll be about the same.

[BajiRav]

Can do the first thing in W7 with aero-peak (middle to close).

Can do the same in W7 as well. No real speed up from what we can already do.

so where's the problem? or rather is there one?

[Dot Matrix]

Well this thread went to Hell fast. Can we have an ultimate Metro hating thread, so that I don't have to browse past so many useless comments?

I DO use Windows 8, and I'm always on the lookout for new tips and undiscovered features. I don't need to keep browsing past the same crap over and over. If you want to hate on Win8, please go here instead and voice your opinion. https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1081755-do-you-like-or-hate-windows-8/page__pid__594988817__st__255#entry594988817 This thread is about efficiently using Windows 8 to get your work done.

[NightCrawlerInfinity]

I'm a Power User so I use Windows 7.

[Miuku.]

I don't want to sound like an ass but do you people really use the mouse that much? I do everything via keyboard short cuts that's possible and use programs like Butler/Quicksilver/Spotlight to launch programs etc.

I mean come on, why would you even press X when you can just C+W it?

[firey]

So, while you are using the start menu (for 2 seconds) you're actually paying attention to something else? No, I don't buy this argument. When I use the start menu/screen I'm launching a program which means I'm typing or mousing in the start menu/screen, not looking at something else.

That's you though, not me. I can type without looking at the keyboard. I can press the windows key, type cmd and have it open without even looking. I can watch a video on youtube telling me how to do something, and say it needs command prompt. I don't have to have it pinned, or short cutted. I can hit WinKey type CMD and hit enter and the whole time still watch the video. Has happened many times.

Yes, actually, it does show more information. Not only does it show those tiles like you stated, but since it takes up the whole screen, more apps and search results are shown at once. Why have this huge screen and only use a tiny portion of it to do what you're currently doing? Pressing the start button (or clicking in the bottom left) brings it up, and pressing the start button again makes it go away. Yes, you just hate change.

Why do I want more apps and results? I know what I am looking for.. is the whole point not to reduce "Searching for things"? Why would having more things to search through (like you stated) a good thing. Pressing Start makes a little rectangle box come up. Click it again to go away.. no screen interruption, no colored rectangles filling the screen. Why fill a huge screen with 1 large app, when you can fill it with 10+ the launcher to launch new apps (the start menu). Maybe you have the insight to explain it to me. Also, I don't hate change, I constantly upgrade hardware, and try new apps and games. I update my phone all the time, I don't hate change. But.. I do find it funny that by not liking the direction an interface went I instantly hate change.

And it's even easier to do on W8. You haven't actually stated any useful features which were removed. Just things you've gotten used to doing one way that you'll have to do a slightly different way and you can learn how to do in a minute.

I have stated that a useful feature (small start menu) was removed, I also stated that Windows 8 did have some under the hood improvements, that if there was a W7 SP2 with those it would be awesome. I feel like the user interface that was pretty much perfect in 7 has been removed, and I do consider the interface and the way of interacting a feature.

Please state some actual reasons that it is worse than Windows 7. The start menu using a small portion of the screen is not in any way inherently better than using the whole screen. People always say it's better to take a small portion because they can still see the rest, but that's not valid because no one is actually paying attention to the rest for the whole two seconds that it is usually up. And when you're using it to search or launch a program by clicking, it shows MUCH MORE things at once.

I watch other things while launching apps. So.. it is valid. The point was to reduce the number of options and things shown ("Start menu is too cluttered") so why is more all of a sudden good?

This is such a STUPID thing to be mad over. The start screen is better than the start menu. It shows more items at once AND is immensely better for touch screens for computers with them. This doesn't mean it's only better on touch screens, but also for non-touch computers. I have a 30" 2560x1600 monitor on my desktop. The start screen shows a TON of items at once, and they're all very large. This means I can very easily mouse over to them and click without having to be precise or scrolling a lot.

It's no worse than the start menu on my desktop and in my opinion even better since it shows more items and has tiles which replace desktop gadgets.

Purely your opinion. I prefer gadgets that aren't hidden or on another screen. I prefer a list of a few items, and all done without a full screen app.

The only people mad at the change are a minority of people online. Everyone who I've showed it to has liked it. All the "reaction" videos of people hating Windows 8 are the ones who were told about it in a negative fashion before being given it to use or weren't told at all how to use it (hot corners). These aren't realistic scenarios.

hmm, most polls I see are pretty much opposite to that. Where most people are all for the OS but hate the interface, want it hacked, want it gone. So I think it's a Majority of people.

The user base won't mind and the ones with touch screens will thank them for it.

Not everyone has a touch screen, and if it's a GPO why would someone with a touch screen be upset? Seems silly. Also, the user base will mind.. you aren't the only user in said base..

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

This thread is about efficiently using Windows 8 to get your work done.

It is?

scnr

[firey]

so where's the problem? or rather is there one?

Nope, no problem had there been one I would of said there was :)

[Subhadip]

That's a great video, thanks. I have been saying this since CP, the new keyboard shortcuts are awesome! Even if you exclusively want to use Desktop and not touch Metro UI, the Start screen is a very effective Start menu replacement. I have barely touched the Start menu in years, and since Vista it's only purpose was to launch apps by pressing Win + start typing. The Start screen does the same thing - Win + start typing, but the results are presented way better. Finding Files used to work with the old Start menu but that was really fiddly and I preferred to use the Explorer. The new Start screen is a major advancement, finding Files has become much easier, so much so that I rarely use Explorer these days!

Of course, there is some stuff that wasn't touched upon in the video, such as Win+X, Win+E, Win+I, etc - the keyboard shortcutting in Windows 8 is a real pleasure. It's all about the attention to detail - it's many minor things which all add up to make Windows 8 a more fluid experience than Windows 7, and I am not even touching upon Metro UI, just as a pure Desktop usage.

Shame about the thread, but I am not surprised - it is a Windows 8 thread on Neowin.

[Eric Veteran]

Please stick to the thread's topic. If you want to debate the merits and flaws of Windows 8 then take it to a thread that already covers that.

[Eric Veteran]

I don't want to sound like an ass but do you people really use the mouse that much? I do everything via keyboard short cuts that's possible and use programs like Butler/Quicksilver/Spotlight to launch programs etc.

I mean come on, why would you even press X when you can just C+W it?

Ctrl-W still does what it's always done: closes the current window in an multiple document interface. In IE it closes the current tab. In an SDI it does nothing and continues to do so in a non-tabbed Metro app.

And to whomever mentioned coding in VS, chatting and playing games at the same time, I do this every day in Win 8 with no problems.

[ITFiend]

Hey WYN. Open up Windows 8 in a Virtual machine and hit WIN + Q ... What happens? OH WAIT, you get the HOST OS, not the GUEST. FAIL

Or how about WIN + I, F, W? Oh yea, SAME THING.

You Win 8 guys need to really open your eyes. They screwed up big time on this OS.

And yes, that excludes EVERYTHING from ANYWHERE from being searched in a VM that way.

You need to redirect these complaints to the vendor of the hypervisor you?re using. Support for all hotkey focus redirections comes from your hypervisor product, and whatever level 2 hypervisor product you?re using will support them once it officially offers full support for the new versions of Windows.

If you want the hotkeys to work properly right now, then use the level 1 hypervisor that?s built into Windows 8 / Server 2012, or open a RDS session into your VM rather than relying on the console of your hypervisor. Otherwise you just have to wait until the next beta or full release of your hypervisor of choice.

[subcld]

i just restarted my pc from w8 to w7 and now you are forcing me to restart to win8 again lol

[Detection]

I watched up to the Fruit Ninja bit and saw that you had speeded up the video by watching the seconds countdown

/fail

[Rudy]

I watched up to the Fruit Ninja bit and saw that you had speeded up the video by watching the seconds countdown

/fail

The video is a big fail :/

I personally think in the end Win8 might not be so bad but for "power users" it's not going to be good

[Nazmus Shakib Khandaker]

As for the speeding up. I had technical reasons for that. I had to eliminate the lag and make the video shorter, not fool anyone.

@Rudy @Detection

As you can see, I already mentioned the reasoning of speeding up.

/not fail...period

[Travesty]

Great video, thanks! :)

[Zato-One8]

Can do the first thing in W7 with aero-peak (middle to close).

Can do the same in W7 as well. No real speed up from what we can already do.

1. I just reacted on closing apps speed comments from the first page. It's faster than dragging the thumbnail down... And thanks, I didn't know it was possible in W7 from taskbar thumbnails - but IMHO in W8 it's faster, because you don't have to wait for thumbnail to show up.

2. Yeah you can, but who is using W7 start menu? In W7 you can have app shortcuts on desktop, on taskbar and in start - these are 3 places to have shortcuts (why??), but in W8 you have everything in Start Menu (i don't have or need shortcuts on desktop/taskbar anymore (just 3 on taskbar, I'm used to have them in order)).

W8 Start is way richer than W7 Start - it more like homescreen. In W7 Start you can have limited number of shortcuts, in W8 Start you can have how many you want. There are users who have a mess on their desktop (it looks awful), but with W8 you can have how many shortcuts on Start you want and it looks good (and IMHO it's supposed to have more shortcuts - you have there app shortcuts, folder shortcuts, url shorcuts and live tiles).

[winlonghorn]

In summation - if you dislike metro because you don't want to some tacky full screen start thing and have no interest in the ever trendy app store you hate Windows 8. Despite the fact that excluding metro, there is actually a lot of nice changes in Windows 8 that most people on neowin that are "haters" actually want.

I don't see why it's to much to ask that MS give us an option to have a start menu like it is now. You can use metro, I can use my start menu. Everyone is happy.

Microsoft implemented changes correctly in Windows 7 with the super bar. If you didn't like it you could make the start bar like Vista, or 95, or 2000, etc. How they are forcing (if you want windows 8) the metro start screen onto everyone is a night and day difference compared to how they made changes in Windows 7. It amazes me that people are so against having options.

I'm 100% certain that if they did that the majority of the criticism against Windows 8 would disappear nearly instantly.

Given the option, most people would likely wait years and years before adopting this new paradigm. Therefore, developers wouldn't support the platform as well and they would have little hope of ever competing with Apple in the tablet market. ;) They need to push the platform the way that they have! Otherwise, their tablet/mobile strategy would be seen as simply another ipad copycat attempt and the product would be virtually ignored by most people. They know what they are doing! They have done their research! :)

[Charisma Veteran]

Given the option, most people would likely wait years and years before adopting this new paradigm. Therefore, developers wouldn't support the platform as well and they would have little hope of ever competing with Apple in the tablet market. ;) They need to push the platform the way that they have! Otherwise, their tablet/mobile strategy would be seen as simply another ipad copycat attempt and the product would be virtually ignored by most people. They know what they are doing! They have done their research! :)

The desktop environment and the tablet environment are two entirely different things with entirely different needs. Nobody is going to wait years and years to adopt this if they get a mobile device. People do not want a start menu and "Windows 7"-esque OS on a mobile device, and they (well, most) do not want a Win8-made-for-mobile-devices OS on a desktop. From what I have seen, for a work environment, people want whey want what they are familiar with and comfortable with using and have become proficient in. I do not see why Microsoft are forcing people to have to re-learn everything to get back to the level they were before, just because they want to shove together two worlds that should not be combined.

..Just my two cents, of course.