Windows 8 Is a Desktop Disaster

[neufuse Veteran]

I put windows 8 RTM on a system for my dad last night, he use to be a tech person in the 80's and early 90's but hasn't done anything realy since... he is so confused, the tutorial just left him more confused... questions like why are there no visual markers of where you can do things at come up... which is true, how do you know you can do something without knowing where you can do it at? the start button/orb is gone, ok so what we still have a start screen, we could of had something there still to show hey this area goes to that... or the side charms, how about something that shows this will pull those up, and the thing that got him the most is when you are in a app how do you close it? he didn't understand the grab the top and drag it thing, as "that doesn't make sense, there is nothing saying I can do that, how am I supose to figure that out?" is the response I got...

oh and don't get him started on how to shut the system down... I think non-tech people found it just to easy to click shutdown, instead of logging out going past the clock screen to get to the login screen to click on shutdown form there or going to the side charm bar and going into another page on that then shut down from there

oh and he just got ****ed when the huge windows update bar showed up across the screen while he was looking around the desktop... that is just an intrusive design by default...

[nekrosoft13]

I just installed Start8 by Stardock. Essentially the app reverse the process. I now how a normal operating system with the perk of looking at the tiles when I want. I highly recommend it and it is going for $4.99 if you buy it now.

yap, its great, only way to make 8 usable.

I put windows 8 RTM on a system for my dad last night, he use to be a tech person in the 80's and early 90's but hasn't done anything realy since... he is so confused, the tutorial just left him more confused... questions like why are there no visual markers of where you can do things at come up... which is true, how do you know you can do something without knowing where you can do it at? the start button/orb is gone, ok so what we still have a start screen, we could of had something there still to show hey this area goes to that... or the side charms, how about something that shows this will pull those up, and the thing that got him the most is when you are in a app how do you close it? he didn't understand the grab the top and drag it thing, as "that doesn't make sense, there is nothing saying I can do that, how am I supose to figure that out?" is the response I got...

oh and don't get him started on how to shut the system down... I think non-tech people found it just to easy to click shutdown, instead of logging out going past the clock screen to get to the login screen to click on shutdown form there or going to the side charm bar and going into another page on that then shut down from there

oh and he just got ****ed when the huge windows update bar showed up across the screen while he was looking around the desktop... that is just an intrusive design by default...

yap, windows 8 designer should be fired

[Scorbing]

yap, its great, only way to make 8 usable.

yap, windows 8 designer should be fired

While I agree with you in a lot of things you are saying, I must tell you that this is the future of Windows and we all have to get used to it whether we like it or not, unless of course you decide to jump ship to OSX or Linux.

If the new interface bothers you and your dad, then do like the rest of us who hate the new UI and get Start8 from Stardock. It will bring back the Start Menu and automatically log you on the classic desktop you are so used to using and all for a mere $4.99.

Trust me, it works great.

My Windows 8 Desktop with Start8

[neufuse Veteran]

While I agree with you in a lot of things you are saying, I must tell you that this is the future of Windows and we all have to get used to it whether we like it or not, unless of course you decide to jump ship to OSX or Linux.

If the new interface bothers you and your dad, then do like the rest of us who hate the new UI and get Start8 from Stardock. It will bring back the Start Menu and automatically log you on the classic desktop you are so used to using and all for a mere $4.99.

Trust me, it works great.

My Windows 8 Desktop with Start8

putting a start menu back doesn't fix what is annoyances like taking up 1/3 your total screen to show a windows update banner... or not knowing where there is an interactive location at... my dad had no problem with using the start screen, it was all the hidden stuff that they have no visual ques for that got him pretty annoyed fast

[Scorbing]

putting a start menu back doesn't fix what is annoyances like taking up 1/3 your total screen to show a windows update banner... or not knowing where there is an interactive location at... my dad had no problem with using the start screen, it was all the hidden stuff that they have no visual ques for that got him pretty annoyed fast

I know exactly how he feels dude...Believe me. I am trying very hard to get used to it but I still have my Windows 7 Pro Acronis Image on my backup HD just in case I wanna go back to it.

[rhianntp]

This article is exactly on target .. in the last few days with customers I've heard nothing but complaints

[Arceles]

putting a start menu back doesn't fix what is annoyances like taking up 1/3 your total screen to show a windows update banner... or not knowing where there is an interactive location at... my dad had no problem with using the start screen, it was all the hidden stuff that they have no visual ques for that got him pretty annoyed fast

for the updates, you can always put "update" on the start8 search part and it will bring the windows update window, that's one thing that I missed of the start screen.

[bodmas]

I am using windows 8 pro x64 bits on my laptop and facing no problem. In fact I am enjoying it more than windows 7. its really fast. but yes, it still needs some more updates to make it stable.

[neufuse Veteran]

for the updates, you can always put "update" on the start8 search part and it will bring the windows update window, that's one thing that I missed of the start screen.

I'm not talking about getting to updates, I am talking about Windows filling your whole screen with a banner saying there are updates available.... when it finds them it littearly draws the whole screen dimmed then puts a banner across the screen saying "Updates available download now?" in a big banner box that just pops up outa no where

I can't find a pic of the you have updates banner but here is one I found of it wanting restarted after the updates install... this even pops up on the desktop, no more bubble non-intrusive updates messages....

I personally love this quote

Once it?s time for a monthly restart, Windows 8 will notify you at the login screen rather than invade your space with bothersome pop-up notifications inside of Windows.

not how its working for me, it just pops up in the middle of doing anything which is more invasive then a pop-up balloon that doesn't take z-order priority and prevent you from doing anything until you take care of it's question

[ahhell]

not how its working for me, it just pops up in the middle of doing anything which is more invasive then a pop-up balloon that doesn't take z-order priority and prevent you from doing anything until you take care of it's question

This. I was copying 200GB to an external drive and the reboot thing popped up. I had 4 mins before it would auto-reboot. I'm like "yeah whatever". Well, when it wants to reboot, it will.

[neufuse Veteran]

This. I was copying 200GB to an external drive and the reboot thing popped up. I had 4 mins before it would auto-reboot. I'm like "yeah whatever". Well, when it wants to reboot, it will.

I'm starting to notice more of these annoying banner pop-ups for other things also... looks like windows update isn't the only one

[Noir Angel]

Lol people are spending money to get their beloved Start menu back? *facepalm*

Modern UI isn't THAT bad. It's called learning something new, but most of the detractors act like 5 years olds and go "WELL I DON'T WANNA, HMPH!".

Ahh my old friend the "it's newer so it must be better" mantra. It's my call to make usability decisions not yours ;) when I consider a change to be worth adapting to (like the superbar) I will adapt to it.

[ViperAFK]

for the updates, you can always put "update" on the start8 search part and it will bring the windows update window, that's one thing that I missed of the start screen.

I'm not using start 8, I just pinned the control panel icon to the classic taskbar, and its jump list includes windows update (and some other useful items)

I slightly prefer the classic start menu to the metro screen, although I'm not sure if I like it enough to pay 5 dollars, I may give start8 a try though :D. After pinning my most used stuff to the taskbar I have no huge issues.

[ViperAFK]

I'm not talking about getting to updates, I am talking about Windows filling your whole screen with a banner saying there are updates available.... when it finds them it littearly draws the whole screen dimmed then puts a banner across the screen saying "Updates available download now?" in a big banner box that just pops up outa no where

I can't find a pic of the you have updates banner but here is one I found of it wanting restarted after the updates install... this even pops up on the desktop, no more bubble non-intrusive updates messages....

I personally love this quote

not how its working for me, it just pops up in the middle of doing anything which is more invasive then a pop-up balloon that doesn't take z-order priority and prevent you from doing anything until you take care of it's question

Yeah thats a pretty bad overlook, however one of the first thing I configure when I install any windows version, is setting it to download updates automatically but never install them automtically. I install them whenever I'm ready.

[neufuse Veteran]

Yeah thats a pretty bad overlook, however one of the first thing I configure when I install any windows version, is setting it to download updates automatically but never install them automtically. I install them whenever I'm ready.

yeah, but as I said before you get that same banner pop up when it realizes there are updates to install, but just says "updates available" and happens over and over again until you install them or tell them no.. every time I log in I get that banner, windows 7 at least its just a system tray icon and not intrusive at all.. windows 8 it pops up in the middle of doing something, right at login, when ever and takes away the entire screen until you answer it

that is just annoying in the middle of work (i know that is someones mockup, but its the only image i can find right now and im not at home to get a screen shot of it at the moment)

I was just reading a few tech sites that call this "making windows updates less annoying"... how? by annoying us more?!

then I get this full screen banner pop up every time I try to run some apps I wrote myself....

once again someone elses screen shot but that is what I get

[nekrosoft13]

yap, ultimate goal is to only have approved apps running on PC.at least i was able to turn that off on server 2012

[Shane Nokes]

yap, ultimate goal is to only have approved apps running on PC.at least i was able to turn that off on server 2012

Except for the fact that you can click on More Info and just run it anyways...

[nekrosoft13]

since it was the first thing i disabled on server 2012, after the first notification.

does it always pop up when you run that particular application?

[Arceles]

I disabled Smart Screen filter from the setup... such tools are for people with seriously no idea of what a PC is.

[Skin]

For the life of me, I cannot figure out the mental status of the people that seeming can't figure out how to navigate and work fluidly in both the 'desktop' and the new app layout.

They are easy to manage, and aside from the fact people may not like the aesthetics, it is not something that should cause this much of an issue. At this point, I can't tell if it is just whining, or people are so afraid to even look at something different that they just shut down. That, or it's just normal Microsoft hate.

[Noir Angel]

I've been a loyal Microsoft user for 10 years (apart from smartphones, there it's all Android), so nice excuse but no. I really do just dislike it. As I seem to keep needing to point out to the many shills on this forum you have no right to tell other people what does and does not count as a valid usability complaint, because usability is a very personal matter, and a very important one. You love the start screen? good for you. Stop slapping those of us that don't down as if we have some kind of mental deficiency, it's rude and insulting.

[xWhiplash]

I've been a loyal Microsoft user for 10 years (apart from smartphones, there it's all Android), so nice excuse but no. I really do just dislike it. As I seem to keep needing to point out to the many shills on this forum you have no right to tell other people what does and does not count as a valid usability complaint, because usability is a very personal matter, and a very important one. You love the start screen? good for you. Stop slapping those of us that don't down as if we have some kind of mental deficiency, it's rude and insulting.

Agreed. I always upgraded to the latest OS the week it is released. I probably will not upgrade to Windows 8. Why is it such a big deal to want an option when you install windows?

[Noir Angel]

I'll probably end up using it (begrudgingly) as I like to stay up to date for gaming, but I'll probably use something like Tihiy's StartIsBack to bypass the start screen.

[scaramonga]

I've been a loyal Microsoft user for 10 years (apart from smartphones, there it's all Android), so nice excuse but no. I really do just dislike it. As I seem to keep needing to point out to the many shills on this forum you have no right to tell other people what does and does not count as a valid usability complaint, because usability is a very personal matter, and a very important one. You love the start screen? good for you. Stop slapping those of us that don't down as if we have some kind of mental deficiency, it's rude and insulting.

+2

Trouble is, those who disagree with those who are proclaiming Windows 8 as a wonderful piece of work, are somehow labelled as 'haters', 'trolls' and/or whining babies, just because we don't agree with their point of view.

If you like Windows 8, good, then use it. I don't, so I wont use it, which is also good.

[tsupersonic]

+2

Trouble is, those who disagree with those who are proclaiming Windows 8 as a wonderful piece of work, are somehow labelled as 'haters', 'trolls' and/or whining babies, just because we don't agree with their point of view.

If you like Windows 8, good, then use it. I don't, so I wont use it, which is also good.

That's what I don't understand, the fanboys of Windows 8 here are hardcore, and defend it like nothing I've seen before. If you even offer your opinion (which come on everyone is entitled to), you're immediately shot down by the fanboys. After using it from launch, I can say the desktop experience is truly miserable (and remember this is my opinion). I spend most of my time on the "desktop" but anytime I go on the start screen or a metro app, I lose focus of the apps that need attention on the desktop (things like IM). I'm sure these apps can use notifications API in the OS...Anyways, I admire MS for trying to unify the UI experience on phone, tablet, PC platforms, but W8 just does not work on a non-touch screen device.