Blogs A Week With Windows 8

In fairness, this isn't a windows 8 review. Its a blog about his first experiences and thoughts of 8.

 

W8 is not going near my PC, tried it for 2 days on a virtual machine, loathed it, you have to jump through too many hoops to do even the most mundane of things.

If I bought a new desktop,laptop today, the first thing I'd do is format that POS off the Hdrive and install W7.

W7 will be supported for the next 4-5 yrs, and I'm hoping by the time it's ended, Linux will be a genuine alternative with proper gaming support.

 

http://www.learnbycrystal.com/Win8/ShortcutKeys_Windows8_usingWin_Crystal.pdf

 

Ah, ok, didn't know that.

Thanks.

 

Eeh, bought a new laptop. It came with Windows 8, tried to like it, failed, now running Windows 7.

 

Nexxo is pro windows 8 as much as i am pro nvidia so to see him defending it is expected.

I have ran it since launch but have reverted back to windows 7 in recent weeks i did not use the metro ui and was gaining little been on windows 8. Start8 is great but should not be required.

The fact that they have since said they are bringing it back is kinda funny and is admitting they have made a mistake.

Price is also gone through the roof for a copy of windows 8 pro, No one will spend the sort of money they are asking for it unless they have to have it. ( judging by the sales no one does)

Even at the £25 they were asking for on launch it struggled to pick up sales now its alot more than that which just seems kinda nuts.

Windows 7 is supported to 2020 for the record. By which stage there will be another windows version ( another 7 more versions if they release 1 a year as expected) out which is likely going to get its start menu back among other things. ( maybe even allowing us to select the desktop as the default setting without start 8 installed)

 

Greetings!

Could have tried any of the StartMenu alternatives and\or Metro killers.
Windows 8 isnt really bad as a OS, it just has a messy UI.

 

Wow, what a terrible article (blog, whatever). Why is this even here...

 

+1
I don't understand the issue either.

 

If anything, it shows that this long after launch not much has changed (yet).
Actually, shutting off the gestures from the touchpad is probably the smartest part I've read here, because they seem to be quite annoying for the inexperienced user (and maybe for the experienced as well)

For 25, I'd have tried Win8.
As it is, I've got a Win7 key lying around for nothing, I'm not spending the money for Win8 my new rig.

 

I've not used W8 on a laptop, however going by Goodbytes' post in the Windows 8 Marmite thread, it seemed to me like the gestures were not on by default. If this is the case, imo this lays the blame with the manufacturers not with MS.

Anyone who's installed W8 on a laptop themselves confirm this?

 

Gestures are off on my laptop, which I installed W8 on myself.

 

Same.

Windows 8 has all the same controls as Windows 7. Just ignore the touch-centric stuff, that's for tablets and all-in-ones with touch. Use they keyboard.

 

I haven't read all the comments, but already getting some helpful hints about how to shut down my PC fully and I've since created a local account, so thank you all you more advanced users out there.

In my personal opinion, I think that Windows 8 is under more threat than it realises. I have Office 2013 Pro, but it does not support the modern UI in any way which seems stupid as MS have put so much effort into making it linked with SkyDrive (which is a very handy free service). So much emphasis on cloud storage but no real Windows 8 support.

Another area I feel MS will suffer from is Linux, more specifically, Ubuntu. Now that Steam has officially started supporting it, more and more enthusiasts, gamers and tech-savy people will move across as it does everything you need, nothing you don't, while demanding a low power system (cheap to build) and the OS is free (cheaper still).

I am waiting for major games to go across to Linux before making the full jump...

 

My experiences over the past year and half using Windows 8:

1. People might think logging in using a Live account is silly, but you'll be glad if/when you come to re-installing Windows because a Live account backs-up your preferences and automatically restores them. I'm not entirely sure how much it saves, but it certainly restores themes, colours, wallpapers etc. I'm not sure about modern apps, or start screen layout etc. but I'm sure it's something MS will be looking to expand like they have in WP8 which backs-up and restores everything.

2. Personally I think people may be too quick to install or recommend programs like Start8. Is not having a start button important in any way to those of us who are capable of understanding that there are hot corners? Is booting to the desktop a must-have feature? I ask the same question to people who criticise W8 for booting to the start screen, and that is 'what is the benefit of having it start to the desktop?'. You still have to run a program, so why not do that from the start screen (clicking on a tile to run desktop chrome for example), but first quickly check whether or not you have new e-mails etc?

3. I agree with the poor quality of modern apps. I have no issues personally with the mail app, it does all I need which is to manage my 4 e-mail accounts (personal, junk, university, and professional), giving the ability to read, compose and delete messages quickly. I don't quite understand the author's issues with attachments. They appear at the top of e-mails, and you click once to download and again to open where they will open into the program you choose (pdf's open in acrobat for me). About as straightforward as it comes, no?

But many other apps are quite poor. I still hate the music app for example. I don't use many others though. The calendar app is fine for what I need, as is the WP8 app (to transfer data) after a rocky start.

4. The shut-down button is a little annoying. But I really do find that using the the physical power button is the most sensible way to shut-down a pc. Everyone should have their power button's reasonably accessible, otherwise how do they turn them on to begin with? Hitting it and walking off is as simple as it comes.

5. There are a lot of improvements to Windows 8 other than Modern UI. So those saying what's the point of upgrading, I'd say there's a lot of reasons, especially for us power users. Built-in multi-monitor support is nice, as is built in anti-virus. Then there's the speed improvements, both in general use and in boot-up times. There are many, many more, so I won't go into them all now.

6. So in my opinion W8 is an improvement on W7. It offers everything W7 does + improvements to the desktop experience + a good touch screen interface to boot (not that I currently use that aspect). There are things that need improving, namely the quality of the modern apps, and the transition between the modern UI and desktop, but this doesn't stop me from doing my work and taking advantage of those benefits.

 

I've had issues with attachments not opening in the default program for some reason. Had to save file then open. Can't remember what it was though. Other than that though, I'm happy with Mail, it does everything I need.

 

+1

 

I've been using Windows 8 Pro since last October but I honestly only bought it to take advantage of the fact it was cheap (£40). I did not try the beta because of the negative comments so, Initially, I found myself hating it, primarily because of the new Start screen interface which I found to be incredibly jarring when used alongside the desktop. The apps were basic to the point of being useless and swiping the mouse down to close apps when I close them by clicking on the X in the corner of the window on the desktop just added to the horribly inconsistent feel.

I was about to revert back to my Windows 7 Home Premium backup when I discovered Start8, which added back the Start menu and most of the functionality which is hidden in the Start screen 'clutter'. Since then I haven't looked back but that's honestly because apart from the odd Windows Store game (which are depressingly overpriced compared to their iOS and Android counterparts) I don't use the Start screen at all.

As such I'm left with a faster loading and marginally slicker running version of Windows 7 and I don't miss Aero Glass at all, especially as I now no longer see those annoying "Windows is running slow" messages after exiting demanding games.

Windows 8 is, on reflection, a bit of a mess. I really think that Microsoft should have kept their tablet/smartphone operating system separate from their desktop/laptop one. Even Apple have iOS and OSX for that reason. It was a massive mistake to force a tablet interface on desktop users IMO; the Start screen should always have been *optional*.

 

I remember talking to MS reps coming up to and on release of W7. They were pushing that as a touch.

I'm curious as to what exactly you mean by the tablet interface, are you referring to the Start Screen?

 

yes