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I read that article. And what he said about the Metro theme. Well he obviously did not know that he could install Classic Shell or Start Menu 7.Then Windows 8 would have booted straight to the desktop. And he would have had the start button and Windows 7 start menu.And he would not have had to deal with the Metro theme very much.

And secondly,you don't have to use the Metro apps. You can use all of the non Metro software that you use on Windows 7,on Windows 8. I don't have any Metro apps on my Windows 8,I uninstalled them. Because they don't work on a netbook.

So I have never used a Metro app. But I don't miss them. As Windows 8 is running all of my Windows 7 and Windows XP software. And it runs all of the old Windows 98 and Windows 95 software. But he most probably only has the 64 bit Windows. If he had installed 32 bit Windows 8 like I have got, he would not have found it slow.But he probably did not know that either.

Windows 8 for me is like Windows 7. Not as fast as Windows 7. But once you install the start menu software like Classic Shell. You can work the same way that you are used to on Windows 7 or Windows XP. Andrea Borman.

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Tweed is always in fashion for people who don't move on :p, just the same as people not moving onto Windows 8, I can understand if your on Windows 7 and it does what you need, but holding back from installing Windows 8, because it's different is silly.

Oh I'll agree about moving on to using Win8.

However, you keep your stinking paws off my tweed you damn dirty ape. /CharltonHeston

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I am back on windows 7. The main reason is because of the UI on the desktop.

I find Areo+tranparent much better with dark/black colors.

You may call it eyecandy, but for me it is important, when using the desktop many houres every day.

Even XP looks better than this win8 desktop UI crap.

In the end, Windows 8 is a smart phome/tablet os.

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I am back on windows 7. The main reason is because off the UI on the desktop. I find Areo+tranparent much better with dark/black colors. You may call it eyecandy, but for me it is important, when using the desktop many houres every day. Even XP looks better than this win8 desktop UI crap. In the end, Windows 8 is a smart phome/tablet os.

Squeel like a piggy - You knew that was coming, didn't you see my post earlier :p

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He said that the charms bar is unusable. Well I did not find it so. And you can now disable the charms bar in the latest version of Classic Shell. But as I have the Windows XP start menu on Windows 8. I hardly ever use the charms bar. Which is just a shortcut to the Metro start menu. Andrea Borman.

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The fact that you guys are members of Neowin indicates that many, if not all, of you are well knowledgeable in Windows functionalities. In other words, you guys represent probably the top 10% of computer users with well above PC skills.

Although I disagree with most of the points raised by the author, I can surely sympathize with him as he represents the other 90% of Windows users. We can argue about how crappy or intuitive the new Windows OS is all day but to that 90% of the PC users, Windows 8 will definitely bring lots of frustration.

Personally, I care less about the Modern UI as I do all my stuff in the desktop environment only. My laptop feels a little snappier and more importantly, believe it or not, has a longer battery life. I also run Appetizer so finding programs is a breeze. However, would I consider upgrading my parents' PC to WIndows 8? Never.

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half an hour?! to find how to shut it down? and he's writing a 'review' of sorts? wow.

Just came to this thread and seen the first reply, which has pretty much confirmed to me that the article writer is clueless. If taking half an hour to work out that pressing the on/off button on the Windows 8 device switches it off like every single version of Windows back to 95 the norm for him, then he really should back away from the device, put it down, and do something else entirely. For ever.
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half an hour?! to find how to shut it down? and he's writing a 'review' of sorts? wow.

well, tbh i had to google it! no joke...

you have to go back to the tiled area and click on the settings 'charm', i suppose, thinking about it now that is kinda like clicking the start button and then choosing shutdown, so that's cool.

if someone wants to let me know how i can shutdown from the desktop though that would be quite nice, haha! :D

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well, tbh i had to google it! no joke...

you have to go back to the tiled area and click on the settings 'charm', i suppose, thinking about it now that is kinda like clicking the start button and then choosing shutdown, so that's cool.

if someone wants to let me know how i can shutdown from the desktop though that would be quite nice, haha! :D

Alt+F4 from the desktop (not while in an application) or (even easier & can work even if an app has focus) WinKey+I, then select power. :)

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Alt+F4 from the desktop (not while in an application) or (even easier & can work even if an app has focus) WinKey+I, then select power. :)

mm.. indeed, i am finding myself having to use a lot of shortcuts with win8... this is fine for me, i'm not sure how my mum will get on with it though when she can't turn off her machine haha :D

cheers

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In my opinion MS doomed W8 to failure by forcing such a drastic GUI change.

Average person John Smith or Jane Doe stroll past the computer section at their local store and walk over and try out the pretty Windows 8. They can't figure it out because nothing works the way it does on their home computer - John and Jane shrug their shoulders and walk away.

In the enterprise arena what corporation wants to have to spend the extra money in today's economy to retrain staff and rewrite applications?

Windows 7 runs fine for 99% of people and enterprises. It is a fanstastic OS from MS and neither average John and Jane nor enterprise customers have any compelling incentive to upgrade.

They should have rode the Windows 7 money train for a while longer and put out another Service Pack adding some of the background improvements of W8 to W7.

The new UI should have been offered as a free add-on and tweaked for a couple years for those tech-hungry users who wanted a uniform GUI between their phones, tablets, and desktops.

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In my opinion MS doomed W8 to failure by forcing such a drastic GUI change.

Average person John Smith or Jane Doe stroll past the computer section at their local store and walk over and try out the pretty Windows 8. They can't figure it out because nothing works the way it does on their home computer - John and Jane shrug their shoulders and walk away.

In the enterprise arena what corporation wants to have to spend the extra money in today's economy to retrain staff and rewrite applications?

Windows 7 runs fine for 99% of people and enterprises. It is a fanstastic OS from MS and neither average John and Jane nor enterprise customers have any compelling incentive to upgrade.

They should have rode the Windows 7 money train for a while longer and put out another Service Pack adding some of the background improvements of W8 to W7.

The new UI should have been offered as a free add-on and tweaked for a couple years for those tech-hungry users who wanted a uniform GUI between their phones, tablets, and desktops.

^Why would you want to re-write applications? Desktop is still there. You don't need to metro-fy everything.

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mm.. indeed, i am finding myself having to use a lot of shortcuts with win8... this is fine for me, i'm not sure how my mum will get on with it though when she can't turn off her machine haha :D

cheers

Well Alt+F4 has been around forever to be honest...that's nothing new. People have just forgotten about a lot of functionality that has existed.

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Well Alt+F4 has been around forever to be honest...that's nothing new. People have just forgotten about a lot of functionality that has existed.

No people have not. Are you forgetting that Alt + F4 closes the active window first? Sometimes (and I have done this myself when I need to leave right away or something) some people want to shut down when they have dozens of things open. I had to hold Alt + F4 for a few seconds before I saw the shutdown dialog.

You cannot say things as fact. Power button DOES NOT 100% shut down EVERY PC in existance. What if they got somebody to set up their computer for them and changed it to sleep instead of shut down? You cannot say these things as fact. That is not a good thing to mention on IT Support. Especially since most people call the monitors their "desktop" or "tower" and the call the actual tower the "disc drive" or "CPU". I told somebody once to press and hold the power button on their computer tower (we used standard Dell Optiplex models so I even described it) since it was not responding to anything. They turned off the monitor. I corrected them and they said they thought the monitor was the computer

You guys need to realize, that people are not that knowledgable with computers. It is not just the older individuals that struggle. And that is ok. I have a horrible time with taxes, so I get somebody to do it for me.

All of these hidden menus and focus on keyboard shortcuts will not end well.

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Yes, active windows. That's why I said:

Alt+F4 from the desktop (not while in an application)

If you're in a window you just click on the desktop, and it will open the dialog box allowing you to choose a shutdown option, no matter how many other windows are open. As long as the desktop has the focus it will work. It's been this way for a very long time. You also aren't supposed to hold it down. You press & release. If you hold it then yes you will have problems since it will keep sending the command over and over.

Now as regards the intelligence or education of the customer. It's up to each person in this world to make sure that they are educated. I won't comment further due to the fact that some of the comments I wanted to say can come off condescending.

Needless to say, if you cannot educate yourself on a topic (not directed at anyone, but meant in general), then in all honesty that's not the fault of anyone but yourself.

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Yes, active windows. That's why I said:

If you're in a window you just click on the desktop, and it will open the dialog box allowing you to choose a shutdown option, no matter how many other windows are open. As long as the desktop has the focus it will work. It's been this way for a very long time. You also aren't supposed to hold it down. You press & release. If you hold it then yes you will have problems since it will keep sending the command over and over.

Now as regards the intelligence or education of the customer. It's up to each person in this world to make sure that they are educated. I won't comment further due to the fact that some of the comments I wanted to say can come off condescending.

Needless to say, if you cannot educate yourself on a topic (not directed at anyone, but meant in general), then in all honesty that's not the fault of anyone but yourself.

Not supposed to hold it down? Sigh, it will not cause problems, have you ever tried? If you hold it down, it will close everything in sequence then you get the shut down dialog. I have seen many IT admins do this and they stop holding it down once the shut down dialog appears.

"It's up to each person in this world to make sure that they are educated." And people have been saying (in this thread too) "Just press the power button" as a fact that it will 100% shut down every pc in existance. It is up to the IT Support technician to adjust to the knowledge of the person that called you. Have you ever wondered why when you call a support hotline that they always ask if you did the most basic thing first? Because most people do not do that! I had somebody call me that their new computer was not working, they did not plug the power in.

All I am saying is telling somebody to simply press Alt + F4 or press the Power Button is not a 100% successful solution, and never a good idea to mention on the phone (I have tried). Since Windows 95: Start - Shut Down (or if newer systems that have sleep by default Start - Click the arrow that is pointing to the right - Shut Down). These are 100% successful ways to shut down the computer. Not Alt + F4. Would you potentially want an individual to press it over a dozen times just to get the shut down dialog?

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All of these hidden menus and focus on keyboard shortcuts will not end well.

They are the same bloody shortcuts (plus some new ones) that have always existed in Windows. The only thing new is how Win 8 looks. It all functions the same way.

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Not supposed to hold it down? Sigh, it will not cause problems, have you ever tried? If you hold it down, it will close everything in sequence then you get the shut down dialog. I have seen many IT admins do this and they stop holding it down once the shut down dialog appears.

"It's up to each person in this world to make sure that they are educated." And people have been saying (in this thread too) "Just press the power button" as a fact that it will 100% shut down every pc in existance. It is up to the IT Support technician to adjust to the knowledge of the person that called you. Have you ever wondered why when you call a support hotline that they always ask if you did the most basic thing first? Because most people do not do that! I had somebody call me that their new computer was not working, they did not plug the power in.

All I am saying is telling somebody to simply press Alt + F4 or press the Power Button is not a 100% successful solution, and never a good idea to mention on the phone (I have tried). Since Windows 95: Start - Shut Down (or if newer systems that have sleep by default Start - Click the arrow that is pointing to the right - Shut Down). These are 100% successful ways to shut down the computer. Not Alt + F4. Would you potentially want an individual to press it over a dozen times just to get the shut down dialog?

Yes, not supposed to hold it down. Especially with multi-tabbed browsers these days. It will just flash back and forth between the browsers close tabs dialog and the shutdown prompt.

Put the desktop in focus, press it and release. It will bring up the prompt. Then when you shutdown it will terminate the processes and close everything just that way. Doing it the other way is asking for it to not work.

If you want the new simple way then do this (since you're requiring the mouse for some reason).

Move the mouse cursor to the bottom right-hand corner (before it was bottom left), click on settings, click on power, click shutdown.

Besides you do realize in 8 that putting the PC into sleep mode uses about as little power as doing a shutdown since 8 has kernel hibernation on shutdown right? So the power button actually still puts it into enough of a shutdown mode. You just avoid having to deal with the BIOS boot screen.

If you're wanting to shutdown because of an installation you need to actually restart.

So yes. I know exactly how to use the system...

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