Windows Windows 8 Marmite thread... Because you either love it or hate it

Surely the VPN settings would be pushed via group policy? Thus effect all users that are in the VPN group?

 

Greetings!

 

Greetings!

 

Even if Microsoft give that number, people will ask, "yea but how many people actually use Win8", and then "Yea, but right now?", "Yea, but are they happy?", a million a one question that doesn't mater, and just to find a doom article to write about for clicks.

Microsoft sold over 100 million copy of Windows 8, and that is what maters. This is what bring revenue to them.

 

I'm pretty sure this would be an important question

 

What really ircs me is that win8 beta had the desktop/win7 option included the final release had it removed.

Proof that the overriding feeling is against Metro = 8.1 blue has desktop option re-instated.
If even MS agrees and there in it for the money what more is to be said?

 

Windows 8 Beta didn't have that option.

 

And a subjective one. "On a scale of one to ten, just how happy...?"

I was never 100% happy with Vista. I just used it because it was the dominant OS, and hence the one that had the most applications. Win95? I installed entirely different shells on it. I was never moved to upgrade to Win7.

Let's first see if that is indeed what is happening. Just because a vocal minority cheer-led by some biased tech writers regurgitating the same bile over and over doesn't like Metro, doesn't mean it is bad and should be abandoned.

 

I replaced all the metro apps with desktop ones (most of which are ones I used in Windows 7 anyway) and bypassed the start screen. After that I haven't found any major annoyances. There are a few inconsistencies in the control panel. The Vista drivers for my older Lexmark laser printer (C500-n) still work so everything is OK so far. Right now it feels pretty much like Windows 7 (after I had installed all my favourite third party programs and tweaked the settings) but it now has a full screen "start" menu and it boots (/wakes up from hibernation) really fast.

Edit 1: At 3840 * 2048 (my desktop resolution) forcing apps to full screen is ridiculous - but on a smaller screen system I might even try to use some of the built in apps.

Edit 2: I suggest that all the critics do a fresh install of Windows 7, use it daily for a month, and track the number of settings they change and the number of third party programs they end up adding. Yes, it involved a bit of research to find a few of those tweaks but it came out to about the same number for me.

 

Sorry guys, I've got to post this. Every time I see this thread I can't help but think of this. It may be revision getting to me, but it's making me chuckle even as I type this!

 

chris182: That's just terrible! - What parents would name their daughter John?

/Off Topic

 

Yes, something that is subjective should never be measured, thats the rule and everyone should obey it, forever.

I think both sides are vocal minorities and everyone in between doesn't give a flying ****.

 

I was sat waiting for an appointment today, and a family came in with a young daughter aged between 2 and 3. They had a laptop with them to keep her entertained and it included Windows 8 and a touch screen. I was quite taken aback by now easily this small child could navigate her way around 'modern UI' apps using the touch screen. She was taking photo's (including changing the zoom level), then navigating back to the start screen and finding a game to play and getting on with that as well.

I'm not sure just how many children of her age would be able to do similar using a mouse and keyboard, especially navigating the start menu and finding her game in the list of programs. This is where a large picture of the game comes in useful over just the name of it and a tiny icon.

 

Or you should just be mindful of what it is you are measuring, and its inherent limitations in terms of interpreting the results. You know, science.

That's the whole idea. We all remember those iconic YouTube video's that were posted following the iPad release, showing centenarian grannies and toddlers alike navigating and using the iPad with intuitive ease, doing things that they would never have been able to do on a regular computer.

When I saw that, I instantly knew that the home PC's days were numbered. Geeks like us would still use them, and professionals would, but the ordinary muggles would grab the tablet with both hands and never look back.

Microsoft will have seen that too, and it realised that to ignore that section of the market any longer would be stupid. In daily life terms computers are not just beasts on desktops anymore. Windows has to cater to every format, every use, every user.

 

Greetings!

Plus ~6M from Classic Shell:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/classicshell/files/stats/timeline?dates=2009-11-28+to+2013-05-08

Still missing numbers for StartIsBack, RetroUI, Vistart, StartMenu8, StartButton8, Power8, Windows 8 Start Menu from Wentutu, Handy Start Menu, StartMenuPlus8, Win8 StartButton, ...

 

In the same vein as the argument: licences issued =! licences used, how many of those downloads were actually used or continue to be used today?

In any case it is a nice testimony to the openness of Windows and how people can customise it to suit their personal needs. Just as they do with their browser (Firefox, Chrome and Opera), email (Thunderbird) and Theme patches, Rainmeter, Samurize, RocketDock, Speedfan, CPUid etc.

 

I agree with the argument that whether we like it or not, touch and touch base UI are the future. I think pretty soon (10-20 years) our desktops will be dead relics people remember like we remember those huge old server computers. Tech is getting smaller and the power consumption is coming down. Soon we'll just have a tablet with lots of USB ports and a hdmi port, projections keyboards and some kind of gaming controller which will satisfy every computer need. Personally I prefer my current setup, but the next generation that is now growing up with touch devices will take over. We adapt or die...

I think Microsoft has realized this and is now pushing for this to happen sooner then it would otherwise, or just trying to stay ahead so that "touchy" people will stay with Microsoft and not run of to the various competitors out there.

Had Microsoft decided to ignore the touch age they would have died a slow death. With this push to the new UI (which does require tweaks and will get them as they learn) Microsoft has ensured that they stay current and able to adapt to the next generation of computer users.

 

Microsoft has some cool ads in Japan:

 

Actually the vast majority hasn't tried it yet and many will hate it on first sight. A few will like it. More will buy the next version. Many small to medium size businesses, with no real IT, staff will have the hardest time of it.


And no, I wasn't trolling. That is my actual desktop resolution. I built it for Guild Wars, amoung other things (including just to see if it was even possible - they said it wasn't), several years ago. It required 6 monitors, 2 TripleHead2Go units, Nvidia's "span" mode in WinXP or AMD's "Eyefinity" software in Win7 & Win8. I use a program called GridMove to arrange windows on the screen.

 

I was suggesting microsoft was trolling.


On the start8 downloads, I have downloaded it numerous times. Twice on betas, once for my actual install and once more for each update they have issued. So a more accurate number would be how many accounts do they have with start8 licences on them.