Windows 8

[137th Gebirg]

I read this interesting article on CNN by a Mac user who is actually looking forward to Windows 8. As a long-time Apple bigot myself, I was naturally curious. Windows 8 has apparently been rebuilt from the ground-up to be more in-line with mobile device interface design.

While I am a Mac user, I also have an XBox 360. This new OS looks a lot like the design of the new XBox OS that came out a couple months ago. I honestly don't like how things are laid out in this new paradigm, and IMHO makes it very hard to find what I'm looking for, particularly Indie Games and specific apps. If this is the way they're going with W8, I REALLY hope they make it easier to find stuff. Their Office 2010 "upgrade" was another abysmal failure, IMHO, with regard to interface design and the new menu structure. I hate having to re-learn where everything is.

Anyways, does anyone have any direct experience with the public preview of this new OS? I am somewhat morbidly curious...

 

[Augustus]

I have messed around with it a little bit. I am also a Mac user, (I am running the Windows 8 preview through Parallels) but I really like the design. I have no idea how it feels using it day in and day out, but for the minimal stuff I use Windows for, it seems just fine.

 

[Dac]

As both a Windows and Mac user, I hate it. I hate it I hate it I hate it. I don't get the need to cram a square peg into a round hole - because thats what this is. A tablet OS that's smushed on top of a genuinely useful Desktop OS rendering both obsolete. How many of you are using the same computer you had a year ago? Or two? Or three? Now, do you want to go out and buy a new fangled touchscreen desktop screen? No? Well Windows 8 is gonna be real shit for you, because so much of it relies on gestures you can't even use it with a single point touchscreen properly (I own a HP touchpad, I tried). Unless you use a mousepad for your desktop your going to have a nightmare using this day in day out. Not to mention the fact that the WHOLE POINT of this redesign was to make Windows usable on tablets, thats why they've created this whole metro ecosystem - of course, NONE (I really mean it, NONE) of your existing Windows apps will run on an ARM tablet, which pretty much all the Windows tablets will use. So your stuck with those metro iOS knockoffs. Seeing as this means that this new "unified" windows is anything but - what is the fucking point of unifying it in the first place?! Apple has a successful mobile platform, and a successful desktop one. Sure, they've swapped some features between the two, but the core of OSX remains the same. It can still be used just as easily with a mouse and keyboard. Microsoft have destroyed the way conventional PC users use PC's in an effort to attract a market which is DOMINATED by Apple and the iPad. They think Windows is the thing to do that, unfortunatley Windows as the whole world knows it won't be coming to tablets. And tablet windows is being shoehorned onto desktop windows because....I really don't fucking know why.

Honestly, Windows 8 is going to be a disaster of biblical proportions. It'll make Vista look like a drop in the ocean. Unless they re-institute a NORMAL Desktop UI (not that gimped one atm with no start button) that you can boot straight into, I really do think this release could destroy microsoft. Or at least damage them beyond repair. If you have an iPad, your not going to switch it out for Windows 8. If your a large business who's every single computer runs Windows, your never going to upgrade to 8 because it will destroy workflow, and require a COMPLETE equipment overhaul just so people can use it the way its intended - and that intended way is in complete contrast to the work work work ethic that all those companies make their profit by . Oh, you want to open a word document? Well flick your finger along here, touch here, wait a minute, touch this - you need to look for a document? Well, hold your finger in the corner, scroll along to the desktop, open the desktop, open explorer, look for your file, hold the file down and open it back in Word. It's just so fucking backwards. I can do practically everything with 2 or 3 clicks in Windows at the moment. Making it so I HAVE to touch screen instead is just stupid.

Unless they change it all in the 11th hour, I'm sticking with Windows 7 and OSX. Even Mountain Lion with all its iOS additions is a better OS for desktops.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

^ You kind of had me until this part:

ell Windows 8 is gonna be real shit for you, because so much of it relies on gestures you can't even use it with a single point touchscreen properly

Seems to me the whole issue is just re-learning the various shortcuts used for quick browsing. If they're trying to imitate the functionality of the XBox interface (I sort of think that they are) then that's just a familiarity issue. But what I really suspect is that they're going to try to immitate the Kinetc as well and add voice command functionality sooner or later, which -- combined with a few keyboard shortcuts -- would make it pretty smooth to use.

It's annoying to have to re-learn everything, but I suppose Microsoft is so used to people hating their operating systems that they expect most people will stick to Windows 7 anyway so only adopt Windows 8 as their old computers slowly break down and have to be replaced (hell, I have worked for three different companies in the past four years that are still using Windows XP). Voice command could be interesting, though, provided they can get it to become something more than a gimmick.

But that's all interface-related stuff. The real question is, will Windows 8 function like a proper, 21st century operating system (like Windows 7 almost does) or like a crack-addicted toddler on malfunctioning treadmill (like Windows Vista notoriously did).

 

[137th Gebirg]

I could see Windows 8 being a "parallel" OS, running in tandem with support for Windows 7, much like 98 & NT back in the day, each serving its own purpose. If MS wants to supersede W7 w/ W8, I do see a problem with this. If it is, in fact, as much of a paradigm shift as Dac claims, he's right - no company will foot the bill for the overhead required to support it and the FedGov will NEVER touch it. It will definitely need to maintain some uninterrupted "classic" look & feel in the interface if it plans on being successful.

Very interesting...sounds like this one might be another Microsoft "Bob" in the making; another "vastly different approach" to operating system design and we all saw how well that worked out for them.

 

[Methos]

i've got the windows 8 release client running on my laptop now... and honest opinion, i wish i hadn't bothered...

Now i'm a heavy Windows user... always have been... i'm a pretty advanced user, so figured i'd be more than comfortable with the new interface, bells and whistles...

well... in admittance, this is the release client i'm using, so the final product may be completely different with all the bugs and quirks ironed out, i sincerely hope so, because if they ship it as it is, it's a disaster waiting to happen...

I can admit that i would more than happily use Windows 8 on a tablet, it's perfectly designed for touch screen interfaces and 'swipe' style kinect personal interface systems, but on it's own with a mouse and keyboard, it's very cumbersome, slow and awkward to get around... and yes, i say 'slow' and this is on an I7 system with 8gb Ram...

I'll give the full version a go when it's released, hopefully they've fixed all the bugs and problems by then, but as it stands now, i'll be keeping windows 7 until i upgrade my system to fully touchscreen interface systems or they really impress me with the actual product

M

 

[Amaris]

i've got the windows 8 release client running on my laptop now... and honest opinion, i wish i hadn't bothered...

Now i'm a heavy Windows user... always have been... i'm a pretty advanced user, so figured i'd be more than comfortable with the new interface, bells and whistles...

well... in admittance, this is the release client i'm using, so the final product may be completely different with all the bugs and quirks ironed out, i sincerely hope so, because if they ship it as it is, it's a disaster waiting to happen...

I can admit that i would more than happily use Windows 8 on a tablet, it's perfectly designed for touch screen interfaces and 'swipe' style kinect personal interface systems, but on it's own with a mouse and keyboard, it's very cumbersome, slow and awkward to get around... and yes, i say 'slow' and this is on an I7 system with 8gb Ram...

I'll give the full version a go when it's released, hopefully they've fixed all the bugs and problems by then, but as it stands now, i'll be keeping windows 7 until i upgrade my system to fully touchscreen interface systems or they really impress me with the actual product

M

I hope it works out. Like you, I'm an advanced user, and I've tinkered around with it, and it runs like a used (or new) Yugo on my AMD Athlon X2 w/ 3GB RAM. I like the interface, at least, I like the concept of the interface, but it's a bit cumbersome with a mouse and keyboard, and I've no intention of buying a tablet any time soon. So that's likely a no go for me. I'm still a desktop PC kind of guy. It's my little central command, and I need an OS that takes advantage of that. For me, Windows 7 does very nicely in that department.

 

[Colonel Midnight]

I'll be honest -- I haven't tried the Consumer's Preview, rather just following along with the various reviews, screen shots, articles, etc.

With that said, the less I have to Win8... the better I'll feel. Windows 7 is working just fine -- I don't need another piece of painful Alien green background eye-candy to toil through just to get to the programs on the computer, etc.

And -- what's with everything running in full screen? Sorry, some of us LIKE to see the wallpaper behind the application windows, even if its just a bit... For me, it reminds me thankfully that there is a world outside the stuff I'm doing currently.

Ah well, enough grumbles for today.

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[137th Gebirg]

^^^ I'm just curious if MS forces everyone to upgrade to W8 by deprecating the support path for W7, or will they foresee it to be so bad that it would follow the Vista scenario, continuing support of XP until they could get W7 out the door? How vested in this new OS model will they be before Windows 9 is announced, planning to go back to the more traditional model?

 

[Geckothan]

It sounds rubbish to me.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Which part?

 

[Crazy Eddie]

The part that starts with "Win" and ends with "dows."

 

[Venardhi]

This seems like a pretty big gamble but I expect they have a fall-back plan if Metro doesn't take off on the desktop. This may be a bit of an experiment to see how far they can push the tablet-style interface onto the desktop before people push back. I expect they have a fully realized and very classic Windows version of windows 8 sitting around (the desktop view of the Developer preview looked pretty much like a skinned version of 7 to me) that can quickly be pushed out if the ruckus gets too loud.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Well, they did mention some kind of intermediate mode to make the transition a little more delicate. That would make one infer that a bit of the "classic" look is still a part of the GUI shell. If they're smart, they'll flesh that out to more than just a simple skin and make it a full-blown part of the OS - give people the easy choice if they want to stay with the "real" operating system look or try out the new "mobile" OS look.

And, "if they're smart" are the operative words here.

 

[Cutter John]

I'm sure its fine if you have a handheld gadget. But I'm perfectly happy with my regular desktop Windows box. Unless someone can convince me why I need to update, I'll carry on using Win7 for the foreseeable future.

 

[SeerSGB]

Seeing the reviews on Windows 8, fuck it. Next year's desktop is going to be a Linux box running but open source software.

 

[Colonel Midnight]

^^^ I'm just curious if MS forces everyone to upgrade to W8 by deprecating the support path for W7, or will they foresee it to be so bad that it would follow the Vista scenario, continuing support of XP until they could get W7 out the door? How vested in this new OS model will they be before Windows 9 is announced, planning to go back to the more traditional model?

I'm sure that is probably they're basic gameplan -- MS tried to do that pretty expeditiously with XP when Vista came out, only to have the whole thing back-fire in their faces.

Given that MS is pretty predictable in most things, I would bet that's the gameplan here as well. Innovation is hardly their core competency.

I hope, if anything, that TPTB realize some of the silly assumptions that were made for Win8 regarding the whole "every desktop should be a touchscreen system"... and just spin-off/turn Win8 into a "Windows Metro for Tablets" version. Then roll out Win9 without the goofy pre-school Metro touchscreen / resource hog layer.

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[MacLeod]

Good job I'm not a cynic as this Could almost be a marketing plan.

Release an OS which lots of people will buy that is sub-standard or at the very least isn't fit for what users need.

Then 12-18 months later release a new OS which. Causing people to fork out even more money to upgrade.

Like I said, good job I'm not a cynic.

 

[Deks]

I don't like the Metro UI.
I find it completely useless to be honest and mostly catered for online activities (such as browsing, cloud, social media, etc.).
I also don't see the point of the Cloud.
Keeping all of my data online? I'm sorry, but NO. Keeping certain things online for convenience sake is ok, but everything?
I'm sorry, but I'm not too keen on giving outsiders a peek into the contents of my personal HDD. It's not as if there's anything special on it, but seriously, I just don't see the need in sharing everything about my life with everyone (I find the concept of social networks to be utterly idiotic/boring - it's one thing to debate on a specific topic in a forum with others, but it's an entirely different story [idiotic in my opinion] to effectively share every minutia of my life with others).

If Windows 8 as an OS brings decent improvements over Windows 7, then I will probably upgrade (and retain the standard UI design as it is in Windows 7).
But seriously, as a UI, METRO is just awful.
The design works for smartphones among other things, but honestly, it's not for a proper working/administrator/offline type work where you work with file transfers, organizing the computer to your own preferences (instead of it telling you where it wants you to put things, etc.).

I don't have an issue with learning a new UI, but only if it's viable/versatile like the current one in Win 7... METRO UI as such is not really that in my opinion.

 

[Geckothan]

I think Microsuck and Crapple need to realise that not all of their customers are metrosexual hipster retards that just want to poke at some shiny colours on stupid little touchscreens, with eyes glazed over and mouths overflowing with drool – some people actually use their computers for serious work! Even Windows 7 has a pretty piss-poor UI for serious productivity, without extensive modification and use of third-party tools to replicate functionality that comes as standard with every NetWM compliant window manager.