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

Because it echos what others have been saying all along ?
A jack of all master of none OS.

 

That's not what the article is saying.

 

You say "jack of all master of none" like it's an inherently bad thing when it comes to OSs.

For me an OS should be a flexible way of accessing applications. Personally I use Metro and Desktop extensively, and enjoy being able to use Windows the way I choose to.

I'd rather have an OS that can do multiple things well, rather than one thing very well and not be able to do some things things at all.

 

That depends on what parts you read, he does say there are two types of users, three if you include Windows server 2012, he also says MANY features got cut. Trying to be all things to all people ends up pleasing no one.

 

The idea is that you read the whole article, not just the bits that you agree with.

In any case I'm pretty pleased, and I'm not missing the features which were supposedly cut.

 

Yup i did read the whole article, as well as the full reddit thread.
Features were not supposedly cut, features have been cut, along with missing settings and all the other compromises they made trying to be all things to all men.

 

Greetings!

Always interesting to have a Microsoft UX designer confirm Metros essence.

 

Yup, and I've really missed them as I have been power-using my PC, running Office, SketchUp, CAD/CAM software, writing code, designing PCBs. Man, that Windows 8 sucks!

For those who have been living under a rock for the last year, perhaps.

 

I read the whole article and all I remember is that I don't have multiple desktops because some people don't know how to use a computer.

Multiple desktops would be great for work. I could categorise tasks and their programs or program instances and then group them into various desktops.

What I don't under stand is why these features are not included and disabled. So people can enable them if they want them. Whats so bad about that?

 

Here you go. It's the beauty of Windows: you can mod it, you hard core power-user, you.

 

Nah you can't mod it. Just run software on it.

Anyway thanks I'll give it a whirl

 

You can totally mod it. Run different shells on it (Litestep or Next step), skin it, registry tweak it, install add-ons. You don't run Windows, you dominate it.

 

I'm not familiar with the Reddit thread. I'm curious what features you're talking about, and why you need them to make Windows a more robust operating system. What is it about the lack of these features that makes Windows such a compromise?

 

Is it worth upgrading from 8 to 8.1 on my laptop?

 

If you use the Modern UI or Skydrive, its probably reason enough. If not it probably won't make a huge difference to you. Anyway its not a big deal to do the download and update either way.

 

Because it's not the Microsoft way, you get a load of things that you will never use with no way to remove them. And a load of things removed or disabled that leaves you having to hunt for third party software to do the job, or failing that having to live without it.

Here you go, a direct link to the reddit thread that the original article is based on.
And FYI as I'm not the UX designer talking about the features that were cut i can only repeat what he said...

But if you want more details you would be better of asking the horse so to speak, and not claiming it was myself that said "Many, MANY features got cut because of this"

 

Yeah, but I'm not missing anything. So what "many, MANY" features got cut that are creating a chasm of hollow emptiness in my Windows user experience? List or GTFO.

As for multiple screens, follow the download link above. If you're a power-user, you should be able to manage that. If you're not, you won't care.

The argument of being able to remove what you don't need is a BS argument. There are many (MANY) features in Windows that you or the average user never even use, yet you lament them being cut. Does that not contradict your own point? And seriously, how much costs a few Gb of storage these days? Windows' install size is hardly an issue these days.

 

Like i said i am not the one saying "many, MANY" features got cut" so i cant list them.
You would need to ask the person who posted on reddit for this list you are so desperate for.
As pwnies has only mentioned one of the features of the many, MANY that had to be cut how do you know you are not missing them ?

Removing or disabling features is common practice when hardening a system against security threats, in fact it's one of the first steps most people recommend. Then you have the added chance of system instability and the extra system resources used by running services or drivers that may never be used.

And far from being contradictory or lamenting features being cut, that as you say some users may never use. More and more features are being both added and cut from windows in the attempt to make it all things to all men, yet at no point is the end user given the option of what to add or remove to best suit their needs.

As for windows install size not being an issue these day, tell that to OEM's having to spend more money on installing higher spec hardware in devices intended to run Windows.

 

Well for one thing your not going to miss something you don't know about. That doesn't mean the item you don't know about shouldn't be in there. I only miss multiple desktops because I know about multiple desktops. I would never come to the conclusion of multiple desktops by myself. One thing I would like to see included is an always on top option for windows. This is a requirement I did arrive at before seeing it elsewhere.

Being able to remove is BS? BS like the add remove/features function?

I understand that there are 3rd party apps that can fulfill some requirements. But 3rd party apps require a certain level of trust. Especially little known and closed source software. Sometimes they are not up to the level of an OS integrated feature. Sometimes you end up installing the Ask toolbar by mistake. Sometimes the software mirror is a bit dodgy. Then there are things like maintenance across windows versions and security updates etc.

Without a controlled 3rd party software repo for windows. It's all a bit of a cluster ****.

Just expand the list of add remove features. Make the OS more modular and let those that want to add or remove stuff do so. It's not rocket surgery.

 

So just checking that I understand you both: you complain about Windows being changed to be all things to everybody. Then you complain about a loss of features that you, specifically, happen to want because you happen to know about and want them. Then you complain that you can't add and remove features at will...

Sounds to me you want Windows to be all things to everybody.

@Corky: come on, dude. Arguing that Windows had many features cut because some dude said it had many features cut, without being able to say what these features were --and therefore, why they matter at all-- is weak. And I know I'm not missing features because I'm not missing them. How else would you know?

@theshadow2001: And when is the last time business had to upgrade a computer to accommodate a new version of Windows? Even our old Dell NHS workhorses have 300Gb drives. And Windows 8 actually takes up less space, and runs better on old hardware than Windows 7. So kinda disproves that argument.