Win 8 Laid an Egg?

[BobH]

I ran across this article yesterday and haven't seen any comment on it here. The editorial twist makes it seem as though Microsoft laid a rotten egg with Win 8.

I only recently jumped to Win 7. From the learning curve issues referred to, I'm glad I didn't skip 7 and go to 8.

Any Win 8 users - please comment.

Microsoft Changing Win 8

[stuck]

I'm not a Win 8 user but back in late April Woody posted this article about how MS might not backtrack on the Win8 interface.

Ken

[JoeP]

I've been running Win8 since it RTM'ed. There is a bit of a learning curve. Not much though. IMO, too much is made about the start button not being there. The Start screen is the new start menu. You can organize it to suit your needs. I still work mostly in the desktop. I have the PC setup so that all I need do is press "Enter" on a boot and the desktop is loaded. One could also have a shortcut for something such as Outlook, File Explorer, or some other program that they like to load after booting to make it easy. I've got 20 of the programs I use most regularly pinned to the taskbar for easy use.

Microsoft has to make the learning effort easier for most users. I admit I'm not most users. When I decide to go to a new version of Windows I jump in with both feet and try to learn it through immersion. From what I've read it is likely that the Start button (but not the start menu) will be returned. Possibly a configurable method to boot straight to the desktop.

All in all I like Win8. It is definitely faster to boot and shutdown. I've not had any BSODs. I find myself using the Start screen apps more frequently. I would recommend it to anyone who is willing to learn a little.

Joe

[Argus]

Not a Win 8 user.

The BBC made some comments on the difference between that FT article (and they are not alone on that end of the spectrum; all being speculation) and other watching Microsoft. It's been going in that direction for some time now, but it took some time before the major news sites picked up the discussion. Mary Jo Foley, at her blog All About Microsoft, ZDNet, has been following MS, and in this case, the "Windows Blue" update for quite some time. Here's a recent post: What Microsoft is now saying (and not) about Windows Blue.

And a follow up from the BBC, 8 May; Windows 8 update public preview to be released in June, with some comments from MS about the FT article.

As for Windows 8 in general; given the major changes, and with that the rather steep learning curves for many people, we have not seen much education going on, compared to, for example, the changes back when Windows 95 was introduced. (And they must be rather desperate since they have changed the interface of almost all their sites on the net to match, and mention, Windows 8.)

When reading different articles during the last year it seems that the lack of a start button and a possibility to boot directly to the Desktop are the major gripes. I have not tried the RTM version, but I also find the mixed environment being a major pain; I mentioned one example related to User accounts earlier.

There have been so many changes in Windows 8; sign in with a Microsoft account; "apps" (if allowed) serving personalised content based on different things such as location, name and even account picture, it seems (but focus seems to be on the UI, on both sides, MS and those complaining) etc. These are things people have become used to when working with phones, but it's not something one would expect from a desktop OS (We have seen similar things being done in some Linux distributions; Ubuntu 12.10 introduced online search results, and that wasn't popular.).

And even if you could boot directly to the Desktop it wouldn't change the Desktop being treated as just another app; close it and you are back at the start screen, with or without other apps running.

But apart from the abovementioned, the Desktop environment seems quick, with nice improvements to the Task Manager etc. and as Joe mentioned, with a quick boot and shutdown.

[BobL]

Picked up a Win 8 laptop for the Mrs. - as mentioned before a bit of a learning curve but it is a nice machine, and the Start page is the old start menu on steroids.
If the Mrs. can maneuver on a Win 8 machine, most anyone else can also.
Only situation was a Win 8 specific program not wanting to relinquish to a Win 7 version - taught it a lesson and all is well now.