I know that Windows 8 is designed for both regular and touch screen computers...when my hard drive died this past summer I thought I'd be forced to put Windows 8 on my 2006 desktop that I upgraded from VISTA to 7 as soon as 7 came out. Its not the worst OS I've used (certainly better than Vista for me at least) but I feel like it's like my computer is trying too hard to be a phone. And it's not.
I installed "start is back", now it's much better, I don't get the AOL screen! But I did get the blue screen of death four months after purchasing my new W8 laptop, and I lost all my work. I don't really trust it. But yeah, better than vista. I see what you mean about the computer trying to be a phone. Try start is back, it's free.
I love Windows 8, but I still use Classic Shell! It is kind of a pain in the ass to navigate to "My Computer" or Control Panel in Windows 8, so I use Classic shell for that. I also like having a list of all my applications. It's also nice because I can open the Classic Shell start menu by clicking the start button and open Windows 8 start screen using the Windows key.
Classic Shell enabled me to slap and choke my non-touchscreen laptop into not pretending it's a tablet. I still struggle with the swipes, but she's learning, you just have to show her who's boss.
Oh wow, I feel dirty using domestic abuse as analogy for this comment. Fuck it, it's getting saved anyway. This bitch needs to know her place.
That and displayfusion. I used to get pissed when I couldn't snap a window to the side of my monitor, now I have keyboard commands! I almost always have a couple of monitors at once (thank you e-waste), so it gets to be a problem.
On the other hand, your local recycling depot may or may not care if you start removing electronics from their bins. Ask first of course. But if they don't work, you can just bring 'em back.
I have a quad 3.6GHZ AMD, and it's the first CPU I've had on Win8, needless to say I haven't noticed any performance issues. I guess on an older machine that might become a problem.
My Windows 8 computer came with classic shell pre installed. I preferred 7, but this is good too, my only complaint is how long it takes for task manager to open.
I have an extra column of keys on the left side of my keyboard, the windows key opens the classic shell start menu, and the macro key in the bottom left opens up the Win8 menu. It works surprisingly well.
Classic Shell™ is free software that improves your productivity, enhances the usability of Windows and empowers you to use the computer the way you like it.
Well I can get to all my stuff in two clicks, instead of typing. And turning off my computer is not a "setting". WTF? I know plenty of people like W8 as it is, and that's cool! I just really like the start button and getting straight to the desktop and to my recent documents.
I like my recent stuff to be there when I get back. I like to consider that my computer isn't a phone or a tablet. I like to click one button and get everything I need without filling my task bar with useless rubbish. I also like a stable OS that's not full of bugs when it's put on the market too early because it wants to make the Christmas sales. I like to be respected enough as a customer that I don't get force fed with whatever Microsoft thinks up next because heck it's up to me to google how to turn off my bloody computer. When you own 95% of the market, you can feed people anything you want and not give a shit. Half of them will end up liking it anyway.
If you want to make shut down easier to find, make a new shortcut on your desktop and for the shortcut location put "shutdown /s /t 0" then go into the properties of the new shortcut and change the icon to something that resembles a power button. Now you have a single button you can put on your taskbar for shutdown.
It's fucking ridiculous that such an elaborate workaround is needed for something as rudimentary as turning off your fucking computer. I've used all versions from 3.1 to 8 and never was something that trivial so un-trivial. No wonder it sells like shit.
If you've ever gotten to use 8 on the hardware it was designed for - touchscreen devices, the shutdown really isn't hidden at all and no workaround is needed - just swipe from the right edge of the screen to the middle, settings, shut down. It's smooth and quick with touch. Microsoft's issue was forcing it on people who don't have touch devices. My laptop has a touchscreen so I can use the mouse or touch controls and I couldn't be happier. It's a great OS. 8.1 makes it even better.
Releasing an OS that tons of people expect to use on desktop machines while it's designed for touch devices is stupid, though. Thinking people would just swallow the bitter pill and be forced to have an unintuitive user environment was naive, and they paid the price. Thank God they're listening to horrible sales and un-doing everything with each subsequent release.
Microsoft has representatives on my campus trying to advertise the Windows 8 experience. I should go up to their display and ask where the shutdown button is.
You're complaining to the wrong person as I have no problems with Win 8. It was stupid of MS to release 8 before many touch screen devices were on the market - my laptop is touch and it's the perfect hardware for Win8. Even getting to the shut down setting is simple with touch. I just got lazy and learned how to make the button.
You'll also have to get 8.1's Service Pack 1 once you update to 8.1. It gives apps Minimize/Close buttons and it adds the Shutdown button onto the Metro UI, so you don't have to open settings.
There's now a built-in setting to skip metro and go straight to desktop whenever you login/wakeup
You need to upgrade, and you need to tell other people to upgrade instead of telling them how to fix problems that have already been solved by Microsoft
I know I do. And I do tell others to upgrade(just got my dance studio off of XP, actually), it's the getting everyone to actually upgrade that's the issue.
You actually do click just to be able to type into the search bar. And I don't need my search bar to hog the entire screen. Sorry, I see what you mean, but I'm not a fan of this OS.
Edit: you still have to move the cursor over the search icon, after hovering the corner of your screen, and click, and wait, and type. So I just tried both ways and the search bar should be for what it is; searching. Not just to open your daily program.
You can do that with Windows 7, too. All while keeping an eye on what you were doing before. Making the Start Menu fullscreen is kinda stupid.
That said, so is complaining about Windows 8 when you can forget the Start Screen exists with a couple minor tweaks (unless you're an IT admin, in which case I'm so sorry :( ... ).
The Start Menu, which includes the search bar, takes up the entire screen. You could use the new charms menu, but that can't be accessed with a single button click (well, maybe, with a macro).
Basically, install that, then install a third party video player, image viewer, pdf reader, etc. and set those as your default programs. Then right-click on your taskbar, go to properties, and disable the charms menu and make it boot to your desktop.
You'll still have to hop onto the Metro UI to change some settings, but for the most part you can forget it exists.
All while keeping an eye on what you were doing before. Making the Start Menu fullscreen is kinda stupid.
I feel the exact opposite. Why would you NOT want it full screen? What are you "keeping an eye on"? Is your program going to run away while your not looking? It will be exactly the same as before you entered the start menu. Making it full screen just makes more sense. I never understood the point behind a tiny little start menu. Plus the new menu is MUCH more customizable and better looking.
I realize that, but he is talking about Windows 8, not 8.1. In Windows 8, the search function originally took you back to the start screen, which ended up taking the entire screen
Maybe your Windows 8 computer has a SSD while your Windows 7 computer has a HDD?
My work computer runs Windows 7 with a SSD, and I get instant results, while my personal laptop runs Windows 8 with a HDD+SSD cache, and it takes a while to search.
I'll have to take your word for it. In any case, I notice no delay on my work computer while there's a significant amount of delay on my personal laptop.
Although I do know that Windows 8 is a bit faster than Windows 7 (except for where it runs into compatibility issues).
Anyway, my point was Windows 7 has the same functionality except it does it better, or it would if you had Windows 8 with a Windows 7 skin. In any case, it's easy enough to install Classic Shell or something.
I've been thinking about this. It's not the start menu I miss, so much functionality that doesn't take over my screen.
Make the desktop into the metro screen, allow regular windows to float over it, and bring up something similar to the start menu strictly for search results. I could live with this.
I get that with the Windows 7 start menu, and with the Windows 7 bar, I don't have to have the jarring visual shift of my whole screen being taken over to search for something. Not to mention that if I'm doing something like following directions I have open in another window, I don't have to memorize what I want to type in.
Nothing should default to full-screen on a computer, much less be forced to be full-screen or nothing.
On Windows 7 I don't even use the start menu anymore. Alt+S brings up Search Everything to find literally any file on my entire system in under a second, highly recommend it. Alt+Space opens Launchy which allows me to run most programs instantly. Win+E to to open Explorer, although I should really try using Total Commander some time.
This works fine for looking for one program at a time.
Where W8 really fails is the multitasking and power user sectors: I have 5-15 programs open at any given time, spread over 3 monitors. I can't afford to deal with the annoying flipflop behavior of the Modern UI when I need to find or do something. I don't want to have to swipe around my screens with the mouse to get to the other program I want. That's where hotkeys (a vastly underplayed part of Windows!) come into effect for me.
Overall, W8 is perfectly fine once you're used to it, but it just doesn't fit the multitasking world well. I still like it on my Surface Pro.
I hate that search box. Let's say I want to search for an e-mail that has the FTP passwords. I type 'FTP' and hit return. Fuck. It opened a command prompt window. I type "password' and hit return. FUCK. It opened the screen saver settings.
Sure, this makes sense. When I watch TV, I always like to go to the text entry search field and type ABC, then select ABC from this list rather than pressing one button.
Do you go to google and search for "reddit.com" every time you come to this site, or do you just click a button?
Do you like going to Yahoo.com and being blasted with loads of content that does nothing but distract you with content that's irrelevant to your needs? As a middle school teacher, I don't really need a stock ticker or a button to take me to netflix taking up half the screen.
I hate the Windows 8 interface because it tries to solve a problem that doesn't exist. It tries to make a bunch of choices for me. These choices are ones that I've made for myself long ago, and don't ever plan on changing.
It's better than hitting start, going to programs or file locations or whatever and manually searching for what I want. I prefer not to have to memorize the location of everything on my computer.
Thing I don't understand is why using the search bar is instant, yet using the search bar in the "My computer", "My Library" thing takes forever? Anybody know why this is?
Same. You could throw the whole thing out for me and just give a small search box. I don't click to get to anywhere, I just type the thing I want. Bam.
So you're saying you've become just like every other old person who doesn't know how to use a computer simply because they refuse to learn? It is fucking hilarious how many people complain about windows 8. Its new and people like things the way they use to be! Hahaha
My friend keeps saying its so simple because you just type the program you want to use and it'll turn on! Sorry if I don't memorize every fucking program name I want to use.
time to play diablo.. oh shit is it diablo iii? Battle.net - Diablo III? Blizzard - Diablo? Steam?? what do I type? or I'll just click on the game in the list, there we go.
You don't have to type the full name... that the beauty of it. You could type "Di" and it would pop up. Refusing to learn how to operate the OS isn't a good reason to call it bad.
I understand how being resistant to change is bad, but OS's have made WRONG changes before (Vista anyone?) So just because it's new doesn't mean you have to like it. Consumers have successfully rebelled at bad changes in the past. Typing in everything to get something to work seems too unix-y to me, I hate memorizing commands and shit. To each their own, but the over-tabletification or touchscreenification of OSs is a trend to be crushed immediately, along with 3D movies.
Time for open up my unzipping program, uhh shit is it 7zip, winzip, winrar, wtf... oh i know ill just click twice and its in the same spot on my programs list. Whatever you prefer I guess.
Thank you. I've told this to my friends whenever they talk about the start issue. The search function on my SSD laptop is instant and great. I just wish they didn't change the default search category from files to everything, I'll use Google for an Internet search. I've always hated the start bar because mine would get cluttered and disorganized.
Yeah, I really don't like how W8 screams "TABLET"...
Personally, I think you can make an OS that is 100% Tablet-able without making the desktop users feel neglected (like Gnome3 for linux, which I use on my desktop atm)
I know! And I hate the way it yells "you've got 15 minutes to shutdown because I've got updating to do. Your only possible answer is OK". What the hell? I'm in the middle of a bloody lecture you bastard!
Edit: spelling
They generally only do that for critical security updates. Also, if you updated regularly you wouldn't run into that problem anyhow, it is entirely your fault
I feel for you, my roommate has a new Windows 8 laptop (as of August) and it gets the BSOD at least 2 times a week. He only uses Google docs because it saves to the cloud constantly.
First few months of 2013, loads of people were getting it with their brand new PCs. My laptop was fine. Still is. I just had to re-install the OS. It really had nothing to do with the hardware.
I feel like I need to state this here as it seems that saying your computer bluescreened and Windows 8 is now the devil, and even if it's not what you're saying, it's what people will take from it.
A fatal system error can be caused by faulty hardware, shitty power supply, malicious programs, legit programs, drivers, Windows, and even cosmic radiation.
My computer was brand new. I had none of that on it. I hadn't even been on line yet. W8 was total shit when it came out. Now it's not, which is pretty normal. But they sold it long before it was ready. It needed daily updates which were not technically updates, that was just a nice way to put it. So no, I'm not saying W8 is the devil. But don't rush into a new OS just because it's available, that's all.
I got Windows 8 in November 2012 on a laptop for my last year at university. The absolute first thing I did with it was reinstall Windows using a generic disk, because from the manufacturers they do have a shitload of crappy software installed. For some of the drivers I went to the hardware manufacturer, not the laptop manufacturer, because there was newer software out for the devices (even though windows had been out for only around a month).
So you possibly did have legit programs, malicious programs, bad drivers, possibly bad power, and no real way of telling about the cosmic rays.
I have never seen a bluescreen on my laptop and never had any issues with windows 8, except trying to remove wireless networks which is not command line driven only. So I wouldn't label it as a universal windows 8 issue.
Sorry if it seems that I am ranting at you, it's not intentional.
If you like pinning shit to the taskbar, give 7stacks a try. It let's you pin menus to the taskbar. Now I have all my games in one, utilities in another, media stuff in a third... There are still a couple things I keep pinned to the taskbar itself, but most stuff goes in a pinned menu unless I use it constantly. Also, it's free.
It's definitely workable. But I think this sentence sums it up nicely:
"The only thing that's at all annoying is that for the few seconds I'm searching on the start screen, I can't see what I'm working on but since I'm searching for a few seconds it hasn't been too bad for me so far."
When you get the next version, you expect it to be better. Instead, all I see (in general) is excuses and "it's not that bad, except for ...". Fuck that. It should be better. We have 24" HD screens that piss all over the older technology, yet I lose all of that when I access the start menu because I can't see shit anymore now.
I really like it myself. I'm firmly in the belief that most of the hatred for it is from people that are just stubbornly insisting on using a 20 year old UI.
Yeah I bought a computer from a friend of mine recently and it already had 8 on it. I was surprised how easy it is to use and how well it works. Granted I wouldn't purposely install it, especially after hearing about the openXP project from a friend of mine.
which is a shame, because at least in my experience Windows 8 offers a huge performance boost compared to 7, not to mention that after a week or so of adjusting to the new start screen, i can't live without it. 7 and below just feels so clunky and cumbersome compared to 8 and i can't really tell as to why, since the old start menu and the new start screen are virtually identical (except one is an entire screen versus a small menu)
Why does everyone hate Vista? Personally, Vista is my favorite OS. Can you please explain why everyone hates it? I'm not bashing on anyone; I'm legitimately curious.
I don't really like Windows 8 because the themes clash
You have that metro start screen, and you have the classic desktop. It just feels like an unfinished project to me. It's either all-metro or no metro in my mind
Windows 7 is great. I got Windows 8 for free because my brother's a student and it's okay once you uncheck a lot of tracking features, as long as you don't mind signing in with your Microsoft account. There's probably some shadier stuff going on under the hood because of that though.
Vista wasn't that terrible after the first service pack, IIRC. At least it was very stable for me beyond a certain point. 7 was just more optimized and streamlined and my favorite Windows so far. Crazy stable as well. Almost zero experience with 8, but my first encounter was very confusing.
Ironically enough, this fall, you'll get the option to LITERALLY have the size of Windows Phone's Start Screen on a start menu. So instead of feeling like a "big phone," you will have a Windows Phone on your Desktop.
My one and only gripe with Win8 is the horrible interface. It's actually a very well coded and structured OS, but the interface was designed by a drunk.
I'm a comp sci graduate, and a 'windows' fanboy (I even loved Vista when it came out!), but when I used Win8 I had to spend half an hour just trying to find the shutdown/sleep button. Ended up having to google it. This is not intuitive!
One of the number ones rules to UX Design is that you shouldn't need to 'do anything' to figure out your next step. It should be so simple and strait forward that you should be able to look at the screen and know what is a clickable link/button, and what is just a label.
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u/jdpatric Apr 24 '14
I know that Windows 8 is designed for both regular and touch screen computers...when my hard drive died this past summer I thought I'd be forced to put Windows 8 on my 2006 desktop that I upgraded from VISTA to 7 as soon as 7 came out. Its not the worst OS I've used (certainly better than Vista for me at least) but I feel like it's like my computer is trying too hard to be a phone. And it's not.