We need a Windows 8 thread!

[NeoCracker]

Discuss Windows 8 and your thoughts!

I start this thread because I am getting a new PC in the next month or two, and am pondering the need to go to windows 8 over Windows 7. :p

[Fonzie]

Man, I'm still coastin' it on Vista.

Dark days, man.

[Ergroilnin]

My policy with Windows OS is to get every second one. I ignored Vistas and I will ignore 8's. Get 7.

[Edge7]

If you can get 7, get 7.

However, my current Laptop has WIndows 8.1, and I'm beginning to adjust to it.

[Shorty]

I have no intention of ever switching to Windows 8. I will stick with older versions until they revert the platform, and forever remain with Windows 7 if I need to.

[Spuuky]

Windows 8 is fine, anyone complaining about it simply hasn't acclimated to its idiosyncrasies in the same way they have with whatever OS they like. You can customize it however you need to. I use Windows 7 because it's what I already own.

[CimminyCricket]

I really like 8/8.1, so I'm a bit biased towards it. Before 8.1 came out, 7 was still my favorite operating system. The part that sucked was I first installed it on a computer that started out as a Vista machine. Once I built a computer with newer parts I didn't have any problems installing Windows 8 and having all of my hardware functioning appropriately.

My favorite part of 8/8.1 is the start screen (which is funny because this is the part of the OS that people hate the most). The start screen is full customizable and let's me keep my desktop and taskbar nice and clear and allows me to put whatever programs/shortcuts I want as charms and organize them however I want.

[Dr Unne]

On the plus side, the flat tiles look pretty good, the look of the window manager is better than goofy transparent 3D from Windows 7. Windows 8 looks a bit like Openbox on Linux. If I had a tablet I might like Metro.

On the minus side, pretty much everything else. There's a cost to re-learning all of your habits, and I'd like to have a good reason before I pay that cost. Windows 8 offers no good reason. Forcing people to use a tablet interface on a desktop was a bad idea. Pointing at random corners and sides of the screen to evoke commands is silly and hard to discover and remember. The awkward divide between Metro and the classic desktop is jarring.

Why did they remove the Start menu? Probably for business reasons. It probably benefits Microsoft but it surely doesn't benefit the user. It does force people to use Metro, so maybe if they're used to Metro, they'll go buy a Windows phone/tablet.

Overall I don't like how computers are giving users less choice. Why not offer Start Menu as an option? Why not an option to pick classic desktop or metro, turn one or the other off entirely? It's disturbing. I want a computer I can use for business and tweak and program and own. I don't want a locked-down toaster with all of the important choices made by the company selling the thing. Which is why Windows is still on my braindead gaming computer and Linux is on everything else.

[Crop]

Windows 7 was awesome, but I recently got a new laptop and had to go with Windows 8. After a period of adjustment I don't think it's too bad. I only use my laptop for basic things anyway, so I pretty much cleared out that annoying start screen of everything and just use the desktop.
I've managed to customise it so it is very similar to using my old laptop which had Windows 7.

[escobert]

I have 8 on my laptop and 7 on my desktop. when I go to solid state drives on on my desktop it too will be going to 8. 8.1 gives you taskbars and taskbars on all of your multiple displays! yay! as someone who uses two displays on his desktop and often two with his laptop (I connect it to my 40" TV) I like having taskbars on every screen!

[edczxcvbnm]

I have had windows 8 since it came out (I was still on XP) and I made the transition fine. I use Windows 7 at work and some of the things that I do translate very well.

I never use the start menu...ever. I just hit Windows Key and type the program I want to open and hit enter. Works like a charm.

I also use Quick Launch Icons on the start bar (they removed the feature in 7 and 8 but there is a work around by creating a toolbar that points to a folder with a bunch of shortcuts in it).

I in all honesty cannot figure out why people are so attached to the start menu. I never use it because it is just a giant mess in the first place. I will admit that tiles and the start screen is not perfect by any means but at least the tiles give you the ability to organize things the way you want so your most used stuff is right in your face. Whatever.

I also like that Windows 8 is pretty efficient and fast. 7 was pretty good but 8 is fine tuned it big time. I am waiting for the next update which will allow Metro apps to be run in desktop mode (If I remember this correctly).

8 has a lot of nice little changes that I appreciate like the long over due task manager redesign or IE finally entering the modern browser age with IE 10 and now 11. True they still are far behind the other guys but if you occasionally need to use IE for something at least it isn't going to kill you >.>

I really see no reason to stick with 7 if given the choice but to each their own.

[Calliope]

I have a laptop with Windows 8 and every time I try to use it, I end up having to close it and put it down before I break it in half due to pure rage and frustration. I've spent the last hour trying to uninstall all of the useless bloatware on the start menu, except I'm also using a trackpad and half the time I accidentally end up opening the thing I'm trying to select, and apparently I can only choose to uninstall one programme at a time. Now it's at the point where it wants "administrator passwords" in order to do anything, but that's Spuuky's fault and now I can't even try to fix it myself until I can get the stupid password. I also feel stupid just hovering and hovering my cursor and still not triggering the stupid menu prompt thing. Ugh.

[escobert]

Uh just unpin them from the start page. I have yet to run into anything that really took up any substantial space on my laptop with 8. and to that matter now that I have 8.1 and a normal task bar, I never use that stupid windows screen anyways.

[Calliope]

I have been unpinning them, as I said in my post. It's not a matter of the icons taking up harddrive space, it's a matter of clutter and being told that I want functions that I don't actually want or have any use for, and then making it difficult and unintuitive to remove them.

[Mirage]

Can't you just use Win8 without the metro thing and stuff?

[Calliope]

I didn't even know what the "metro thing" was until I googled it. There was no instruction booklet in the box or pre-loaded tutorial on my desktop, and when I found the help section and started reading it, it provided coaching for using tablet devices before even mentioning using a mouse and keyboard. I can choose to not use it, and I'm going through the windows button shortcuts, yes, but the point is that it is unnecessary, frustrating and difficult. I'm no longer even remotely excited to use my brand new expensive laptop, so I've reverted back to my older, slowly failing one. If I have to plug a mouse into it and then find something to use as a mousepad in order to use it, it becomes cumbersome to use in transit or in bed or anywhere that isn't a desk or table. It's good to learn new ways of doing things, sure, but it could be made easier to transition for people who have never used a tablet or smartphone before.

[NeoCracker]

Currently using my new PC, and the new interface isn't really all that bad out the box for me.

[escobert]

Yeah it took about 2 days of using it before I was completely fine and having no trouble switching between 7 and 8.1

[NorthernChaosGod]

Windows 8 is pretty cool, it's stable and boots pretty fast. I've had programs from the beginning to get rid of the Metro thing and add the Start menu back, so it's basically Windows 7 with more stuff.

[escobert]

Have any of you got the 8.1 update?

[CimminyCricket]

I do and it made this version of Windows so much better than I thought it would xD

[Psychotic]

I just got a new Laptop with 8.1... I made the jump all the way from XP :shobon: Apps randomly come flying up when I move the cursor to the left and that annoys the shit out of me, but other than that it's pretty great.

[CimminyCricket]

You can turn that off :c)



1. Move your mouse cursor to top-right or bottom-right corner of screen and click on Settings icon present in Charms Bar.
2. Now click on "Change PC settings" option.
3. It'll open PC Settings page. Now go to "PC & devices -> Corners & edges" section.

Turn off the two settings for app switching.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

I don't mind Windows 8.1. I adjusted to it. It pissed me off a lot at first, mostly because I was having problems updating it and for some magical reason Windows install did not recognize the RAID set-up done by the manufacturer (laptop). Once I figured out the problem I was able to clean install and got everything to work. Silly Lenovo. :p

[Calliope]

You can turn that off :c)



1. Move your mouse cursor to top-right or bottom-right corner of screen and click on Settings icon present in Charms Bar.
2. Now click on "Change PC settings" option.
3. It'll open PC Settings page. Now go to "PC & devices -> Corners & edges" section.

Turn off the two settings for app switching.

I want to rep this post ten thousand times - not because I currently need the information in it, but because it's an example of someone being helpful and not just saying "Oh, I adjusted to it, so I don't know why anyone else is having difficulty, it's not that hard". Good work!

Since my last post I have upgraded to 8.1 and it has made things much easier. I'm still not using that computer now though, because now it's stopped connecting to my wireless connection. :hat:

[Rantz]

There's certainly a lot about 8 that requires conscious effort to adjust to. That in itself is a negative, but there are definitely things that serve to weigh that up. Metro is pretty nice and (at a guess, though I can't say for sure) easier for a new user to get into than the desktop view. For a casual computer user, it works well enough to never really have to use the desktop mode at all. For someone who regularly uses computers for work or similar, I think Metro is still too new and unrefined to really work out as well as it might. It's moving in the right direction, but the very fact that you can still use the desktop is a tell-tale sign that Metro as it works today is not enough for those purposes. I used Windows 8 for about two months at work, and while I learned to appreciate many things about it, I ended up spending 99% of my time in the desktop interface, as Metro naturally does not have all the apps I need, and the interface is currently adapted for simpler tasks. I think it's an intermediary stage for sure, and we won't have those two modes for long.

I think it's a perfectly fine decision to stick with Windows 7 for the time being if you don't care to adjust or if you're unwilling to deal with early-days issues, although I don't imagine you'll be able to avoid adjusting to a more Metro-like interface for very long. And once it gets more polished, you'll be better off for having adjusted to it. :D

[Faris]

"Failure configuring Windows updates. Reverting changes" :Oo:

Other than that, just get desktop versions of everything and it's not bad at all.

[CimminyCricket]

For those of you with 8.1 you can set it so you always end up at the desktop instead of that start screen. If you right click on the taskbar and properties. Under navigation you can set it to be desktop instead of metro.

And don't forget you can customize that metro screen to suit your needs. I prefer it because I don't have to browse through folders to find all of my installed programs it just lists all of the programs and apps I've installed.

Also I'm glad you appreciated input :)

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I've grown accustomed to Windows 8 over time. I prefer the Desktop mode to metro for most things, but it's a lot quicker to pop into the metro thing and then start typing a program name I want to open up rather than go through folders to find it. I really haven't messed with customizing metro or disabling it or anything.

I hope your computer starts connecting to your wireless network, Calliope! I really don't know much about computers to help with that, but it sucks when something like that happens :(.

[CimminyCricket]

Check with the mfg of the device you're using to connect to see if there's an update. Obviously you'd need to download it to another computer and pop it on a flash drive (or a cloud if you have one [Google drive is bad ass]) then install it on your internet less PC. 8.1 has had a ton of issues with devices working after the update. There was an entire line of HP laptops that would brick if you installed 8.1.

[Spuuky]

I prefer the Desktop mode to metro for most things, but it's a lot quicker to pop into the metro thing and then start typing a program name I want to open up rather than go through folders to find it..But you can already do this in Windows 7.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

To be fair, I never used Windows 7. I went from a laptop with Vista to a laptop with Windows 8, haha.

Edit: And I had a pretty cluttered desktop on my old laptop, so I never really had to search for programs and such.

[Kalevala]

I received a new laptop for Christmas with Windows 8 on it. I hated it for the first few days because, as has been stated, you are told next to nothing about how the new OS works. I don't mind it now that I'm used to it, though.