Windows 8 Metro: The fall of windows or the best invention ever

evolutionqy7

Been running this on my PC since it came out. I like it, I like it a lot, went on my W7 laptop for a while there and it was the bad and the ugly.

Though I don't use the Metro Interface a lot. Most of the stuff is done in the desktop app, but Im happy that at least to have the option to have that. Suppose metro interface will have more uses on a touch screen tablet.

I probably wasn't so happy with Windows since my first PC purchase

Especially love the speed increase and its good that a PC that came with Vista works perfect with W8

Now ATI driver support is non existant but I ran Microsoft Flight there earlier on today and it worked on nearly highest settings with no problem

Im running Quad Core 2 with 3GB RAM and SSD

Overheal

fionny wrote: »

Ah dude im not one of those I am an early adopter,

not even my point, just from what you said, it's a viewpoint that you and I both know will be alarmingly widespread when this thing hits the street.

In fact I really would hope they still sell desktop PCs and Laptops with Windows 7 and leave Windows Metro for All in One Touch, and Tablets.

edit: flight is out? since when?

evolutionqy7

Overheal wrote: »

edit: flight is out? since when?

http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/ today

mossie

Overheal wrote: »

Based on the above post, I understand a large swathe of consumers will absolutely flip their sh*t when this becomes the Operating System of their time.

I still have the odd customer complaining that we don't sell laptops with XP. Sigh.

The vast majority of people don't have touchscreens and this OS is very definitely a touchscreen OS. It's fine for tablets etc but definitely not for your average PC with keyboard and mouse. Also changing peoples work practices is a big thing - where I work we have touchscreen with a custom overlay but I never use it as it's much faster using the mouse / keyboard than lifting my hand to and from the screen. I'm sure metro is needed by some people but it should be an option in the install.

_Kaiser_

mossie wrote: »

I'm sure metro is needed by some people but it should be an option in the install.

Well if it turns out to be another ME/Vista then I have a feeling it'll be made optional by SP1 (if not earlier!)

As others have said, I'm sure it's fine for a tablet/phone but I certainly won't be using it as my main OS - and wtf is with Server "8".. it has the same thing?? Can't see many sysadmins or businesses rushing out to upgrade somehow.

Think they've fumbled badly here to be honest. I love my smartphone and it's great for texting or the occasional short email, or browsing boards and such - but I wouldn't expect to get any serious work done on it... that's why I have a laptop and a desktop with Windows 7 installed

One size does NOT fit all.

dasdog

Whatever about the client, and I didn't like dev preview, the server version looks decent so far. I have it running as a VM on a desktop (2x2.33Ghz/8G/2008R2SP1) and its quite fast, using < 1G RAM and < 20% CPU.

The default is a core installation which is meant to be administered by powershell and other remote tools so no sliding phone stuff. The GUI itself is quite light though I'm already reaching for the older tools and easily managed to hose an instance.

elderlemon

I think this is one of the gutsiest moves ever made in the tech world. You may not like the interface but its a brave move. MS are looking at falling notebook sales, increasing tablet sales, windows revenue dropping and people saying windows is old tech, past it, not current etc.

In one move they have made windows "cool" again. Remember that their market is the tens of millions of ordinary consumers who dont use 90% of the options that exist in older windows or the traditional apps. They are reaching to these consumers for their €/£/$'s and I think they will have a hit on their hands.

I've been using it for a few days and yes its clearly designed for touch (I find myself reaching out to push a tile!) but for us mouse and keyboard users its still not a problem and I suspect there will always be a way for us techs to get the older traditional l&f.

For the 99% of the other users who's next notebook, desktop, tablet will all have touch screens they will love it.

Stuxnet

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

At present I've a ubuntu install and I'm wondering whether to give up on it and roll back to 10.04 because the unity user interface is wojas even when you've tweaked it back to 2D and fixed the menus.

at least with linux , you have freedom and choice, the unity ui introduced in ubuntu does rock the boat, but you can very esily change it, no need to panic and jump ship. if you havbent already try the cinnamon desktop, its ace


sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gwendal-lebihan-dev/cinnamon-stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cinnamon

logout and re-login selecting cinnamon desktop at the login screen

happy days

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

BigEejit

Well, i tried it and think that the metro interface is utter ****e.

So then i start thinking, what is the killer app of windows 8? Skydrive? If it is I am not interested.

As earlier comments said, its another ME or Vista and i will be waiting for windows 9.

god's toy

Its interesting to me that on my normal laptop metro is just another interface to get use to, however on my touchscreen netbook its a whole other story!
It just works so much better, like a tablet does but with 'windows'
to keep it short, I can see why it works and why it doesn't and IF your your not using a touch screen computer maybe your not really experiencing it as intended by microsoft.

evolutionqy7

I don't understand people who are using metro interface on the laptop why don't ye just use the desktop app? I mean as everyone said the metro interface is mainly for touch. I've no problems using both and I don't have a windows tablet to test it on, but I use it fine on my desktop by just using the desktop app. Took me a couple of hours to get my head around that the start button is gone but after pinning all my maim shortcuts and folders to the taskbar I forgot about them. Just the performance increase alone is worth going to w8

G-Money

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

I don't understand people who are using metro interface on the laptop why don't ye just use the desktop app? I mean as everyone said the metro interface is mainly for touch. I've no problems using both and I don't have a windows tablet to test it on, but I use it fine on my desktop by just using the desktop app. Took me a couple of hours to get my head around that the start button is gone but after pinning all my maim shortcuts and folders to the taskbar I forgot about them. Just the performance increase alone is worth going to w8

I think I'd have to do something like that as constantly flicking to the Metro screen to find Office or whatever app I was using was doing my head in.

Although do you find it irritating having to fill up your taskbar with shortcuts?

evolutionqy7

G-Money wrote: »

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

I don't understand people who are using metro interface on the laptop why don't ye just use the desktop app? I mean as everyone said the metro interface is mainly for touch. I've no problems using both and I don't have a windows tablet to test it on, but I use it fine on my desktop by just using the desktop app. Took me a couple of hours to get my head around that the start button is gone but after pinning all my maim shortcuts and folders to the taskbar I forgot about them. Just the performance increase alone is worth going to w8

I think I'd have to do something like that as constantly flicking to the Metro screen to find Office or whatever app I was using was doing my head in.

Although do you find it irritating having to fill up your taskbar with shortcuts?

Not really. I always had my most used programs on the taskbar and some of the ones I don't use a lot on the recent list. I just pinned notes and calc and other stuff to the taskbar and it doesn't feel like that much of a difference from windows 7. I used it all day Thursday when I was sick and I didn't go into the metro interface at all cause I didn't need anything.

So for me on my desktop the only time i really see the metro interface is when i start up the pc. After that it disappears. None of that going back and forth between interfaces

I can't wait to play around with it on a tablet. It will be probably the other way around. No desktop and all metro. I was considering lashing out 1k for a Samsung w7 slate and loads w8 on it but im not sure yet cause its a lot, 2nd the drivers for longer battery life probably wouldn't be there. So Maybe I will have to hold out till the end of the year.

Acer w500 tablet is just too ugly for me even though its only 400 euro for a 32gb version.

unkel

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Not really. I always had my most used programs on the taskbar and some of the ones I don't use a lot on the recent list. I just pinned notes and calc and other stuff to the taskbar and it doesn't feel like that much of a difference from windows 7. I used it all day Thursday when I was sick and I didn't go into the metro interface at all cause I didn't need anything.

So for me on my desktop the only time i really see the metro interface is when i start up the pc. After that it disappears. None of that going back and forth between interfaces

+1

Pity though you can't disable metro, like you could on developer preview. That said, we do get to keep the new task manager, which is nice

Also, I feel disabled without the start menu, so I installed this free start menu, which works fine

My guess is that MS doesn't let you disable metro, because they want more feedback on it. Come on folks, no such thing as a free lunch. MS isn't giving us a free stable legit OS for a year and want nothing in return

G-Money

I might possibly give it a go again then and add my shortcuts to the task bar. I suppose in fairness, most of the time I'm using Chrome when I'm on the computer so perhaps I don't need to switch to other apps as much as I think.

I know if you right click on the Start preview thing in the bottom left, it brings up a menu which lets you go to the control panels and a few other things.

I'll perhaps give it a go again when I get back to Dublin.

Torqay

unkel wrote: »

Pity though you can't disable metro

Adding more and more gimmicks to a desktop operating system over the years is one thing, but taking the desktop out of desktop operating systems is something entirely different.

unkel

It's not the desktop, it's a touch interface that's suitable for phones and tablets, but not so much for PCs

I have no doubt that using W8 without metro will be an option when it goes final. Not doing so would be suicidal for MS...

johneire31

I installed this Windows 8 and it turned my laptop into a mobile phone. I have never used an operating system before where I had to google to learn how to navigate it. I had to google to turn off the laptop, find the control panel, and all the usual things I would normally find laying about nice and handy. Many years ago, a lot of Linux distros mimicked the windows desktop so that people would find it familiar and easier to use, I don't they will be copying this one.

Perhaps if they get a enough feedback they will at least put in a start button

j

I think it is absolutely crap, the easiest part of this software is the install, seamless and friendly, but using it is horrendous. I will be wiping over again with a clean Win 7.

fionny

johneire31 wrote: »

I installed this Windows 8 and it turned my laptop into a mobile phone. I have never used an operating system before where I had to google to learn how to navigate it. I had to google to turn off the laptop, find the control panel, and all the usual things I would normally find laying about nice and handy. Many years ago, a lot of Linux distros mimicked the windows desktop so that people would find it familiar and easier to use, I don't they will be copying this one.

Perhaps if they get a enough feedback they will at least put in a start button

j

I think it is absolutely crap, the easiest part of this software is the install, seamless and friendly, but using it is horrendous. I will be wiping over again with a clean Win 7.

I hear ya! Im a pretty advanced computer user and I struggled to find how to get to control panel :P I mean seriously.... its not efficient as a desktop interface... shame shame shame.

BostonB

I installed it on a laptop no issues. Everything works and I can find everything, but it feels like a work in progress. By that I mean it feels like theres no overall plan or objective to the changes. Things are just everywhere. Its a mess. There absolutely no wow features I can see.

partyatmygaff

As great as it looks and performs on tablets, it's not suitable for desktops or laptops without touch screens. It's clunky unless you've got a touch interface.

BostonB

Clunky thats exactly the word for it.

demanufactured

Vista Mk II

BostonB

demanufactured wrote: »

Vista Mk II

In fairness I don't think its that bad. Vista was chronically slow and just really annoying. I don't think Windows 8 is that bad. Its feel like Windows 7 with a skin.

evolutionqy7

I think Microsoft knows well that some dinosaurs wont love the new interface or wont understand why its there.

But I think some people understand that this needs to be done sooner or later or the OS called Windows would slowly fall in marketshare cause new customers would lose interest in the same interface that caused the same reaction back when Windows 95 was released.

I wouldnt go as far as calling it Vista 2 cause there was nothing wrong with it except for being a resource hog and it made using Windows hell of a lot simpler and nicer to look at to prepare for W7.

Im looking at Windows 8 as a no comprimise system that will still allow you to use desktop while devs will start moving over to the marketplace system. There probably wont be any need for a desktop in a year from W8 launch as Marketplace would be thriving and most laptops and desktops would be an all in one type.

BostonB

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

I think Microsoft knows well that some dinosaurs wont love the new interface or wont understand why its there....

I'm not entirely convinced Microsoft knows why either.

fionny

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

I think Microsoft knows well that some dinosaurs wont love the new interface or wont understand why its there.

I love how at 26 im classified as a dinosaur because I want function over form... METRO UI IS NOT PRACTICAL IN A POWER USER SENSE.

evolutionqy7

fionny wrote: »

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

I think Microsoft knows well that some dinosaurs wont love the new interface or wont understand why its there.

I love how at 26 im classified as a dinosaur because I want function over form... METRO UI IS NOT PRACTICAL IN A POWER USER SENSE.

THEN DONT USE IT!!! Its not like your forced to be in the metro interface all the time.

All this whinging over the metro interface when you don't don't even have to use it.

I launch all my programs from the desktop app and they stay in the desktop app. There is also apps to bring back the start menu for those who are in deep need of it even when you can pin everything to the taskbar.

This is why there's two interfaces. One is for touch and consumption, other is for work and general support framework for legacy apps and interactions.

Guess you can't keep everybody happy even if you keep the new and the old...

BostonB

I dunno I can't find anything I can't do with it. Early days yet.