win8 Can't adjust to windows 8

[Stup0t]

Here is my 2p worth. I have windows 8 on a netbook and it rocks.... as a portable device I use my netbook almost as much as I use my desktop which is still win 7. I work in IT and take calls from a council and the fire stations... had one call from a 55 year old fireman who wanted to use citrix on his new pc with windows 8..... I got talking while we were waiting for the install and I said about how most tech people don't like 8 because of the start menu..... he said just go down the left of the screen with your mouse and right click there is ye start menu.... wtf....if a non tech savvy fireman can get windows 8.... why cant you lot.... sort ye self out ffs... bunch of whining ******* tbh.

[Dot Matrix]

Here is my 2p worth. I have windows 8 on a netbook and it rocks.... as a portable device I use my netbook almost as much as I use my desktop which is still win 7. I work in IT and take calls from a council and the fire stations... had one call from a 55 year old fireman who wanted to use citrix on his new pc with windows 8..... I got talking while we were waiting for the install and I said about how most tech people don't like 8 because of the start menu..... he said just go down the left of the screen with your mouse and right click there is ye start menu.... wtf....if a non tech savvy fireman can get windows 8.... why cant you lot.... sort ye self out ffs... bunch of whining ******* tbh.

Where is this fireman? I wanna go shake his hand! :D

[Stup0t]

Where is this fireman? I wanna go shake his hand! :D

Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, England.

[Growled Member]

.....so here's to hoping Windows 7 last as long, or longer than XP!!

It probably will. I can't see many businesses moving to Windows 8 now or in the future.

[PGHammer]

It probably will. I can't see many businesses moving to Windows 8 now or in the future.

Move now? Highly UNlikely - and not news; training dollars are still hard to come by. If the business in question is running XP or 7, even less likely.

The perception (which is, in fact, what creates threads such as this one on Neowin and elsewhere) is that Windows 8 is so different due to the Start menu being excised AND the addition of touch support. How real that is depends on individual users (not the operating system) and how wedded they are to the Start menu.

[Shasoosh]

Here is my 2p worth. I have windows 8 on a netbook and it rocks.... as a portable device I use my netbook almost as much as I use my desktop which is still win 7. I work in IT and take calls from a council and the fire stations... had one call from a 55 year old fireman who wanted to use citrix on his new pc with windows 8..... I got talking while we were waiting for the install and I said about how most tech people don't like 8 because of the start menu..... he said just go down the left of the screen with your mouse and right click there is ye start menu.... wtf....if a non tech savvy fireman can get windows 8.... why cant you lot.... sort ye self out ffs... bunch of whining ******* tbh.

People don't hate Win 8 because it lacks a Start Button. They hate it because it lacks a Start button and it sucks.

I guess it's an "ok" system for the normal user (firemen)

[Corelogik]

People, me specifically, don't like Windows 8 because it is forcing a Tablet based ui onto a desktop where it doesn't belong. We don't like it because to use or find ANYTHING on the start screen, it has to flip over and cover, your whole screen. Taking you out of context to what you were doing.

We don't like it because the whole purpose behind it, is a Microsoft marketing ploy. They want to force it on everyone to get them used to it in the hopes that once used to it, you'll buy a tablet or cell phone with the same ui next time your shopping for one. In the meantime, they get to push the app store and take a cut of all sales through it.

THAT is the reason for Windows 8 and the start screen. Marketing. There is not a single line of code in the old start menu that was or is incompatible with anything in Windows 8. It worked, works and can work just fine.

IF the start screen was pared down to an actual menu when on the desktop, and NOT taking up the whole screen, it would be more tolerable. Covering your entire screen just to search for something or launch an application you need, ir unacceptable and ridiculous.

[+Fahim S. MVC]

People don't hate Win 8 because it lacks a Start Button. They hate it because it lacks a Start button and it sucks.

I guess it's an "ok" system for the normal user (firemen)

Very reasoned argument there /s

Firemen and the like (aka normal people) make up the majority of the computer using public, geeks/power users (aka the people complaining about the UI evolution in Win 8) are the minority. Microsoft decided to change their hard-to-use-for-the-majority-OS to an easy-to-use-for-the-majority-OS at the expense of the power user minority - such a decision can't possibly make good business sense....

[Shasoosh]

Very reasoned argument there /s

:D

.. I've posted a bunch of my real reasons earlier in the post. Corelogik (few posts above) also had a strong argument imo.

[Luc2k]

such a decision can't possibly make good business sense....

The adoption rate shows this to be true.

p.s. You need to work on your sarcasm use.

[+Fahim S. MVC]

The adoption rate shows this to be true.

p.s. You need to work on your sarcasm use.

Adoption rates of normal people?

These people never upgrade their operating systems. The only time a normal person upgrades their OS is when their geek friend does it for them.

Instead they buy new computers when their 'old' one gets old.

[Luc2k]

Adoption rates of normal people?

These people never upgrade their operating systems. The only time a normal person upgrades their OS is when their geek friend does it for them.

Instead they buy new computers when their 'old' one gets old.

Let me try and understand your argument. So, if these "normal people" never upgrade their OS, except when the geeks/power users do it for them, wouldn't it make more business sense to cater to the people who influence the opinion of others and are distributing (or not) said product? As for the part that they buy new systems when they get old, that doesn't seem to be much of a factor as it will happens regardless of OS. I don't know about you but I never heard of anybody saying "I like that UI so much that I think I'll buy another PC even if I have no actual use for it."

Getting back your previous comment about MS changing their "hard-to-use-for-the-majority-OS to an easy-to-use-for-the-majority-OS". Who exactly decided which is which, and I would like some sources for that. Now if you would have said touch, that would have made more sense, but then again that is not a majority and will not be in the near future. On a personal note, I wouldn't consider W8 harder (or easier) to use than W7, but more annoying and as desktop user Metro looks like software bloat to me.

[spoetnik]

"if these "normal people" never upgrade their OS, except when the geeks/power users do it for them"

good reply to that lol

and wow guys this topic is still going and on-topic ? lol

[+Fahim S. MVC]

Let me try and understand your argument. So, if these "normal people" never upgrade their OS, except when the geeks/power users do it for them, wouldn't it make more business sense to cater to the people who influence the opinion of others and are distributing (or not) said product? As for the part that they buy new systems when they get old, that doesn't seem to be much of a factor as it will happens regardless of OS. I don't know about you but I never heard of anybody saying "I like that UI so much that I think I'll buy another PC even if I have no actual use for it."

I think Microsoft have made a strong (and correct, in my honest opinion) strategic decision with this to disrupt the cycle of geeks influencing the 'normal' people as they have seen it work with Apple's devices. I hope they now back their convictions all the way because I can see this being a winning strategy for them, even though some power users are going to be left mighty p*ssed in the process. The adoption figures are irrelevant, because they show a greater state of the economy and the fact that people aren't buying new computers than they are reflective of true operating system uptake.

Getting back your previous comment about MS changing their "hard-to-use-for-the-majority-OS to an easy-to-use-for-the-majority-OS". Who exactly decided which is which, and I would like some sources for that. Now if you would have said touch, that would have made more sense, but then again that is not a majority and will not be in the near future. On a personal note, I wouldn't consider W8 harder (or easier) to use than W7, but more annoying and as desktop user Metro looks like software bloat to me.

My sources are only anecdotal experience of people around me at varying levels of technical expertise. I have seen people who struggle with Windows 7 and even programming their Sky PVR pick up an iPhone and Windows 8 really easily (even on non-touch). It's only those who don't like a deeply entrenched workflow who struggle with Windows 8 (again anecdotal experience).

As for the change in strategy, I believe a unified user experience is important, web and desktop, touch and non-touch - everyone is working towards it (Google, Apple and Microsoft).

Anyway, if you disagree that's totally your right. I'm done with this topic now - those who don't like Windows 8, refuse to try to like it and that's totally their call, but I believe they are missing out.

[buzzmag]

I've been using it for a week now and I still feel pretty much lost.

I miss the start menu! All I did there is used the search and click My Computer but I keep going to the corner of the screen searching for it.

Metro is ..idk, not for me. Why the apps takes a few seconds to load? Sure, every application we use takes a few seconds to load but with metro the stupid splash screen stops me from doing any thing else. It's like metro takes me to a completely other place in windows with its full screen etc' and i don't like it. Makes me feel disconnected.

How much time it took you to adjust to windows 8?

I'm using Start8 and the Quick Launch Toolbar. System boots to Desktop and one would never know it's running Windows 8. There are a few things I like about W8 but not enough to use it the way MS thinks I should.

[+Warwagon MVC]

I still think WP8 on a Tablet would have been amazing.

[Dot Matrix]

I still think WP8 on a Tablet would have been amazing.

I'm sorry, but I want a tablet that is more than a dead duck.

[Buttus]

i don't like it because it scrolls left and right, and not up and down...

(or does it now?)

[Gabe3]

better use mac if win8 is too hard. dont know why anyone would use metro apps on a desktop then complain about it. the interface was designed for touch screens...

[+Warwagon MVC]

I'm sorry, but I want a tablet that is more than a dead duck.

Yes, because they wouldn't change it at all for a tablet /s

[PGHammer]

better use mac if win8 is too hard. dont know why anyone would use metro apps on a desktop then complain about it. the interface was designed for touch screens...

Actually, it is designed to be neutral.

The issue with Win32 is that it is designed primarily for keyboards - if you want support for anything else, you need an extension. (This applies not just to touch and voice - which are obvious - it also applied to mice, which is FAR from obvious. Mouse support isn't standard with Win32 any more than it was with Win16 - the runtimes merely include the extension. Mouse support is taken for granted with Win32; however, it's not standard.)

ModernUI, however, includes - as bog-standard - keyboard, mouse, AND touch support. I have, so far, not run into so much as ONE ModernUI app or game that doesn't support mice. Now, there may be issues with KEYBOARD support in ModernUI (due to apps that lack menus, for example); however, this applies just as much to Win32, or even old Win16 applications - not all Win32 applications have menus.

It's not that ModernUI is touch-biased; it's more that it's not as keyboard-biased as Win32 or Win16. (Look at the interface of a typical Win32 API application - any Office 2010 application, or even Visual Studio 2010, does nicely. Notice how the key-letter of menu items is underlined - that is a bigger tell than you'll see at a poker table.) We're used to the "tell" of that keyboard bias (it's not even unique to Windows - that same "tell" is present in every GUI under the moon; you'll even find it in Android and iOS - two OSes not exactly famous for keyboard support) - however, reduce it and folks apparently start screaming. (That is probably why that "tell" of a supposed keyboard bias is in Android and iOS, where it makes no sense whatever.)

[pixelpixel]

I am so glad I moved to windows 8. The only thing its missing is for the native search to be able to scan metadata in images. Until then I will just use bridge.

I love how I can scan quickly over weather, news, sport and email from the metro ui. You really can't do that from the old start menu.

The upgrade was worth it just to play Forza Horizon and have the map via smart glass.

The only extra thing I use is Decor8. It took me a while to adjust but I am glad I did.

[Dot Matrix]

Yes, because they wouldn't change it at all for a tablet /s

A phone OS is a poor tablet OS. I already have a Lumia running WP8, so why limit myself to such a crappy UX. when I can do better with Windows 8? Operating systems should never be upscaled. Go upscale a photograph and see just what that does to the quality of the photo. It's the same principal when upscaling operating systems.

[Dashel]

Once again you seem to be arguing against yourself Dot. On one hand you say you are for a unified UX to support the mobile, 'post-pc' generation - why 'should' it not eventually encompass the phone as well?

On the other, you have yet to make a case on why the phone and slate should be 'different' or how the WP UX is so 'crappy' in comparison. What exactly can/should I do from RT that I can't do from the phone again?

History shows that squishing 'down' the desktop onto mobile has never worked especially well for MS and in fact the opposite approach was key to Apple's success in the mobile space. (The right strategy for the time, I think MS's strategy right now is a good one, simply because they have so little developer mindshare in the consumer space - that isn't a technical issue however)

[+Warwagon MVC]

A phone OS is a poor tablet OS. I already have a Lumia running WP8, so why limit myself to such a crappy UX. when I can do better with Windows 8? Operating systems should never be upscaled. Go upscale a photograph and see just what that does to the quality of the photo. It's the same principal when upscaling operating systems.

They can change the OS UI to upscale just fine on a tablet, look at the iPad. As far as up-scaling apps, that can also be done. It's just that the iPad doesn't do it. If you jail break the iPad there is an app which makes your iphone apps look nice and crisp on the iPad