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PCGamesN: "Why I'm uninstalling Windows 8"

I've not used it and I have no ill-will towards it, but it does seem to me that the most positive comments are basically "If you change a few things, it's just like Win7". Which doesn't really make me want to actually upgrade.

Are there any tangible, positive reasons to upgrades, rather than just reasons it's not as awful as everyone's saying?
 
The only thing Windows 8 is good at is boot times and shut off times, but that becomes moot when you use an SSD.
.

Who turns their computer on and off anymore? Suspend to RAM makes booting on/off obsolete.

When did Win 7 become so great? It is defiantly a downgrade compared to XP from an expert level usability point of view. So many thing take for more clicks or are hidden in layers of newbie view stuff.

And rebooting after updates? what is this 1995? My Fedora install can DL hundreds of updates and never ask to reboot. The other day my win 7 laptop reboot mid-sentence typing, no warning. It was applying some update. Ya, I'm sure their is something buried to turn that off, but that is the default?
 
I've not used it and I have no ill-will towards it, but it does seem to me that the most positive comments are basically "If you change a few things, it's just like Win7". Which doesn't really make me want to actually upgrade.

Are there any tangible, positive reasons to upgrades, rather than just reasons it's not as awful as everyone's saying?
I like having smartphone-like operations on a desktop. Apps, notifications, lock screens that show todays scheduled events and weather, with PIN unlock. And behind it all is everything Win 7 could ever do. Plus everything is speedier.

I like the Windows 7 "plus" experience of Win 8. I'm certainly not trying to make it like Win 7 with special hacks :P
 
Who turns their computer on and off anymore? Suspend to RAM makes booting on/off obsolete.

When did Win 7 become so great? It is defiantly a downgrade compared to XP from an expert level usability point of view. So many thing take for more clicks or are hidden in layers of newbie view stuff.

And rebooting after updates? what is this 1995? My Fedora install can DL hundreds of updates and never ask to reboot. The other day my win 7 laptop reboot mid-sentence typing, no warning. It was applying some update. Ya, I'm sure their is something buried to turn that off, but that is the default?

if it gave you no warning your problem is shitty software that would never pass Win7 or Win8 certification.
 
Unless of course you happen to have a triple monitor set-up, in which case putting the mouse in the lower left corner (or any corner for that matter) can become a major irritation unless you're willing to slow your 1000dpi mouse to slow-as-molasses speed.

Huh? On multimon systems, there's a hidden "peg" on the shared corners that makes it really easy to hit them. Just slam the mouse to the bottom, slide it over to the edge and it will "catch" on the corner.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/21/enhancing-windows-8-for-multiple-monitors.aspx said:
Improved mouse targeting on the shared edge

A multi-monitor setup brings the major benefit of more real estate, but it also lacks the Fitts' Law benefits of hard edges and corners across displays. While it’s extremely easy to trigger corner UI such as Start, charms, or recently used apps on a single monitor, it isn’t uncommon to overshoot the mouse when the corner appears on a shared edge on a multi-monitor configuration.

With multiple monitors in fact, targeting the shared edge can be downright difficult. Move a few pixels too far and your cursor is suddenly on the wrong monitor. This has been a common challenge in previous versions of Windows as well, like when you’re trying to hit the close button or scroll bars on a maximized window on a shared edge. Many work around this by remembering to move the mouse slowly as it approaches a shared edge or by avoiding window layouts that bump up against those edges. We commonly observe this behavior in our own usage and in field studies.

In the Release Preview, we’re introducing an improved model for shared edges that makes it easier to target UI along a shared edge.

Since corners are even more important for Windows 8, we’ve created real corners along the shared edges to mimic the Fitts’ Law advantages of a single monitor. The red corners in the diagram below demonstrate how these corners can help guide your mouse.

6366.red_2D00_corners_5F00_25394EBF.png


We’ve designed the corners to provide help when you need it and to get out of the way when you don’t. The protruding corner target is 6 pixels in height, which means that it is only noticeable when you’re trying to target the corner of the screen. Also, we’ve designed the corner to only work for the monitor your cursor is on. For example, leaving monitor 2 for monitor 1 in the diagram below, the bottom corner in monitor 1 will not interfere as you move your mouse across the shared edge.

6170.red_2D00_corners_2D00_green_2D00_arrow_5F00_44E82887.png


The shared corner isn’t just an improvement for the new Windows 8 UI, but it also makes it easier to target controls on the desktop like Close and Show desktop. As a result, targeting shared corners is fast and fluid. First-hand experience is a must with this design, as you will notice this improvement right away when using the new Release Preview.
 
It's pretty unfortunate how much FUD Windows 8 is receiving from the tech media, much like Vista (which was better than XP in every possible way if you had anything but a crappy low spec OEM computer). No doubt we'll see an exodus of people downgrading to Win7 for no rational reason when they buy a computer with Win8 pre-installed.

People who buy prebuilt systems with the OS preinstalled aren't going to bother downgrading their OS. And people who build their own systems will continue to use their current Windows 7 licenses.
 
PCGamesN's Tim Edwards has written a piece on why he's decided to uninstall Windows 8 after a month of use. A couple of choice quotes:


There are certain things that you do with your PC every day that should form the basis of the operating system. Email. Instant Message. Calendars. Media Playing. All of these functions in Windows 8 are carried out through Metro apps, and they are universally awful.




For more on Mr Edwards' rant, follow the link below.

http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/why-i-m-uninstalling-windows-8

You don't have to use the Metro apps to do any of that stuff. You can use the same things you are using today. What a turd of an article.

Cheech said:
It's just dumb. There's no way to get a calendar/clock to be persistant on the screen from what I can tell, and mixing Metro and original Desktop apps doesn't work with a shit, because you have to switch to the Desktop when you're in a Metro app, then switch to the Desktop app itself.

It is a neat toy, I use it on my home laptop, but I really don't see a benefit to putting it on my work computer. Microsoft went after the home user/Apple with this release, and didn't even stop to consider their bread and butter enterprise user.

Actually, that is a good idea for a 1/4 app. Clock, Calendar, Stocks, etc. A configurable 1/4 layout for you to place some "widgets" that the app dev creates.
 
The desktop mode doesn't have Aero Glass?
No it does not. It did right up until the final release. They think transparency is tacky now.

I don't like that it's gone.. But then again I haven't had the chance to use the final version.
 
Luddites attached to their archaic computer interfaces fear change.

Old man yells at cloud.

I mean come on guys, at least Microsoft is trying to move forward here. As someone who has only been using Macs since 2001 I give them props for Windows 8.
 
Am I the only one who actually liked Aero Glass and is annoyed by the downgrade in window style?

Love the Aero Glass theme, very disappointed they took it out of Win8.

I want nothing to do with Win 8 ever, I refuse to use an OS where the desktop is a secondary concern and on top of that sits an xbox dash.
 
Glad to see Windows 8 is being exposed as the piece of trash that it is. Don't install this crapware on your PC, guys! Stay strong! Pretty colourful boxes is not a good change, so don't let the fanboys tell you you're a luddite or are afraid of change, or whatever nonsense they've concocted this week.

5192012043239windows8vsaol.jpeg
 
Huh? On multimon systems, there's a hidden "peg" on the shared corners that makes it really easy to hit them. Just slam the mouse to the bottom, slide it over to the edge and it will "catch" on the corner.

I really wish it did, don't know if it's a bug or a side effect of my arrangement but it never seemed to "catch" for me, at any corner, note I'm running triple screen with the centre being a widescreen 23" and two 19" Dell 1907FP's in portrait mode at either side, so not an entirely common arrangement. - Could this be due to the fact that due to this arrangement there are no "common corners", just edges?
 
i'm getting nostalgic just reading this.

sign me up for windows 8.5: dull utilitarian bastard edition which guts all the fisher price shit and leaving just the tarted up kernel/task manager. and aero glass. it's like mineral water for the eyes.
 
I have no plans for 8. Windows 7 and transitioning to it make me realize MS doesn't deserve pc gaming or it's consumers. There are tons of issue with in the OS or how devs of all types fuck with it that make realize they don't give a shit ultimately have a good or great experience consistently. If it wasn't for the fact linux and macs have almost no markets and no real support for gaming I'd jump. Vista and 7 suck for gaming if it wasn't for the fact they forced DX9 users to upgrade I would've never jumped from XP.

If I didn't make movies or music and enjoyed the freeware platform or certain communities MS would never get my money. They have consistently been losing my support since Vista and this OS will most likely seal the deal.
 
I think it's fine.

People just don't like change.

If you started on this... Or you were more open-minded to change, it would be seen as a fine OS.

No, not really.

Look at what Apple did; they designed iOS specifically for portable devices and only started integrating a few of its features in OS X after the former had proven itself on its intended platform. Those additions are always optional and never get in the way of the desktop experience. Newcomers from iOS feel right at home while power users are happy.

On the other hand, Microsoft took an unproven interface clearly aimed at tablets and forced it upon a userbase that is already comfortable with the simplicity of previous Windows versions.

You really don't see why people are pissed?
 
Glad to see Windows 8 is being exposed as the piece of trash that it is. Don't install this crapware on your PC, guys! Stay strong. Pretty colourful boxes is not a good change.

5192012043239windows8vsaol.jpeg
harsh.

No it does not. It did right up until the final release. They think transparency is tacky now.

I don't like that it's gone.. But then again I haven't had the chance to use the final version.
That's too bad, I'm a fan of the transparency.

Luddites attached to their archaic computer interfaces fear change.

Old man yells at cloud.

I mean come on guys, at least Microsoft is trying to move forward here.
I like having smartphone-like operations on a desktop.
Maybe that's just it: I don't view having smartphone-like operations on a device that is not a smartphone, is not controlled like a smartphone and has completely different user interface requirements from a smartphone as a step forward.
 
Luddites attached to their archaic computer interfaces fear change.

Old man yells at cloud.

I mean come on guys, at least Microsoft is trying to move forward here.


I'll say this again:

Show me the improvement here.

And to be clear, by 'improvement', I mean changes that substantially increase functionality for most if not all users.

People aren't complaining about the thought of change. They're complaining about changes that don't benefit them in any substantial way. Why be forced to learn an interface that actually doesn't do anything better than what you have now, in exchange for... what, really?

Tired of hearing anyone who objects to change for change's sake (or change to promote some MS internal agenda of a universal interface across multiple devices, even ones that aren't well-served by it) as a Luddite. That's bull, man.
 
I'll say this again:

Show me the improvement here.

And to be clear, by 'improvement', I mean changes that substantially increase functionality for most if not all users.

People aren't complaining about the thought of change. They're complaining about changes that don't benefit them in any substantial way. Why be forced to learn an interface that actually doesn't do anything better than what you have now, in exchange for... what, really?

Tired of hearing anyone who objects to change for change's sake (or change to promote some MS internal agenda of a universal interface across multiple devices, even ones that aren't well-served by it) as a Luddite. That's bull, man.

People are acting like they need to learn command line Unix. It takes 3 minutes to learn how to navigate the new Start Menu.
 
Maybe that's just it: I don't view having smartphone-like operations on a device that is not a smartphone and is not controlled like a smartphone with completely different user interface requirements from a smartphone as a step forward.

The fact that a lot of these software concepts were devised on smartphones first is kind of an accident in history, having little to do with the form factor of the phone itself. Notifications, lock screens, the app model, make just as much sense on a PC as they do on a phone. It's just that it took an entirely new platform for designers to rethink about how OS software could work. And now those concepts are trickling back down to PCs.

I can understand if you just aren't interested in those features.. Then fair enough. Don't get it,

But as someone who likes how smartphones operate, it makes sense for my PC to work similarly. If someone sends me a message in Facebook... Why should I have to be notified on my phone? The PC should tell me, just the same. And Win 8 does.
 
I'm building a new machine this week and I'm likely gonna throw Windows 8 on it when it comes out. I've got mixed emotions about the Metro stuff (The OOTB productivity apps are pretty bad), but I've had it installed on my laptop since the beta came out and it hasn't prevented me from doing anything I was able to do with prior Windows versions.

They've also made some nice upgrades behind the scenes (I like the cloud integration and the perf tweaks personally), so I think it's going to be a mainly positive experience. I can always roll back to Win7 if I grow to hate it. I don't think that's gonna be the case though.
 
Anyone else find it sort of ironic that when the Xbox launched everyone thought, oh windows will be on xbox, but it ended up being the xbox os on a pc
 
I'll say this again:

Show me the improvement here.

And to be clear, by 'improvement', I mean changes that substantially increase functionality for most if not all users.

People aren't complaining about the thought of change. They're complaining about changes that don't benefit them in any substantial way. Why be forced to learn an interface that actually doesn't do anything better than what you have now, in exchange for... what, really?

Tired of hearing anyone who objects to change for change's sake (or change to promote some MS internal agenda of a universal interface across multiple devices, even ones that aren't well-served by it) as a Luddite. That's bull, man.

One question: have you used it?

Here are the reasons why I installed Windows 8 on my gaming computer. Disclaimer: yes I work for Microsoft, etc. etc., as I've mentioned in every thread on the subject.

  • Multimonitor support is much better
  • Resource utilization is much lower
  • Much better task manager
  • Much better file management, copy/paste, Explorer implementations
  • Hyper-V is built in, so no need to mess with third-party alternatives

Now that's just stuff on the Desktop, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of stuff too.

It's not change for the sake of change. It's the creation of a single user interface that works well on all form factors. But most importantly, it works well on systems that blend together multiple form factors.

The future will not be today. People won't walk around with a laptop in one hand and a tablet in another, with a Desktop PC sitting at home. The future is a single device that can do all of that stuff - light enough with good enough battery life to use as a tablet for consumption, a keyboard you can plug it into to use it like a laptop, and a dock you can plug it into at home to hook it up to a giant monitor or multiple monitors for productivity.


Now, as for the new Start Screen on a desktop PC without any hint of touch? It works well enough for me on my gaming PC. I use it about as much as I used the Start Menu in Windows 7 - pretty much never at all. When I do use it, it's generally to tap the start button, type, and hit enter.

The News app and some others are pretty pleasing to use on a gigantic monitor though. They cut out the cruft and ads and let me focus on a single thing, and the paragraph spacing makes it super-easy to read too.

For example, on a 24" monitor, I'd rather read this:

upP4c.png



Instead of this:

Hz3Ph.png
 
Luddites attached to their archaic computer interfaces fear change.

Old man yells at cloud.

I mean come on guys, at least Microsoft is trying to move forward here. As someone who has only been using Macs since 2001 I give them props for Windows 8.

Microsoft didn't bolt Metro to the desktop, because consumers wanted that functionality. Nope, MS did it so they could use the potential of hundreds of millions of Windows desktops and laptops running Windows 8 and Metro to gain marketshare in the tablets market that is dominated by Apple and Google (Android). Hardware maufacturers would have been wary of a dedicated cusom tablet OS for tablets but they'll support tablets running the new Windows. It's absolutely shameless.
 
Luddites attached to their archaic computer interfaces fear change.

Old man yells at cloud.

I mean come on guys, at least Microsoft is trying to move forward here. As someone who has only been using Macs since 2001 I give them props for Windows 8.
Please tell me in what way(s) metro moves the mouse and keyboard controlled desktop interface forward?

I've already said that I think it will be a brilliant OS for tablets, because the oversized tiles and full screen Metro apps seem designed especially for touchscreen interfaces.

But when it comes to mouse and keyboard, for me, Metro doesn't advance Windows 7 in any meaningful way for the traditional desktop control method. It's different. It's not an evolution, that I can see - it's an alternative.
 
I have windows 8 installed on my asus slate...Besides the better keyboard and touch it's fucking terrible.

- Shutting down, restarting is a lot more difficult than it should be
- Good luck finding the classic Control Panel
-Touch is still wonky in none metro apps
-Lack of overall cohesion , everything just feels weird
 
You can find posts by me raging against the loss of a start button months ago.

As someone who has used the Win 8 release preview for months now, I can say: I was wrong.

It makes just as much sense to have a big full screen app launcher (Metro) when you want to run something, rather than a tiny Start menu with an annoying series of nested folders you have to hunt and peck through to find your apps. Metro is more like the Win 7 taskbar model, where you pin things you want to it. Who needs to pick through all the clutter that came along with installing applications (uninstallers, readmes, etc?) just show me a big grid of applications and I'm more productive in launching what I want.

And as far as launching it without a button: putting the mouse in the lower left corner accomplishes the same thing without cluttering up the taskbar. Or the Windows key on the keyboard, which has been given an actual use after 15 years by bringing up/hiding the Metro screen.

I also was a hater but took the time to learn how to use windows 8 and now i dont want to go back. I can't think of a way they could improve shit with win 9 they can only get worse and they close down desktop so far i still find it open enough for me personally.

Im not that doom thinker anyway i have important stuff to think about then see windows 9 or 10 be like ios.
 
I'm excited for Windows 8, not because it's going to be good, but because it's changing the game and presenting some innovation that when implemented better in Windows 9, will be huge. Windows 8 is the start for a radical shift in the PC OS for the better, just not the immediate better.

*Note: I've switched over to a Mac recently due to all of my other devices being in the Apple ecosystem, so my opinion is based on not having to deal with Windows 8 while waiting for 9. I'm hoping it pushes Apple to invest more into OSX.
 
No it does not. It did right up until the final release. They think transparency is tacky now.

I don't like that it's gone.. But then again I haven't had the chance to use the final version.

The weird thing is that the taskbar is still transparent, although the windows are not. Would having options have been so bad?

Maybe that's just it: I don't view having smartphone-like operations on a device that is not a smartphone, is not controlled like a smartphone and has completely different user interface requirements from a smartphone as a step forward.

Well said. Again I wonder if it really would have been a bad idea to leave some options to the user especially regarding the use of metro. I guess they want to force it on us, thus having options is not an option.
 
To everybody saying "lollol just go to the desktop retard", don't you see why this is such a shitty concept? They ripped out one shortcut system and stapled on a new one clearly designed for tablets. You are buying a new OS that is no steps forward, two steps back. Why would a PC user upgrade for a shittier setup, just because they can still do (only) most of the things they used to?

The whole idea is silly. Make PC GUIs for PC, please. Full screen isn't the problem. Big icons easily readable on a TV would be a bonus, even, if the whole setup had nothing to do with a mouse and keyboard. Hell, it doesn't even support Microsoft's own controllers!

Except there are plenty of steps forward. Just look at dLMN8R's post above. There are plenty of upgrades that make it a good option for some, but possibly not enough for others.
 
I actually worry that one day MS will eventually add metro in Win7 as a compulsory service pack, if they do that not sure what I'll do, move to Mac I guess :-(
 
One question: have you used it?

Here are the reasons why I installed Windows 8 on my gaming computer. Disclaimer: yes I work for Microsoft, etc. etc., as I've mentioned in every thread on the subject.

It's not change for the sake of change. It's the creation of a single user interface that works well on all form factors. But most importantly, it works well on systems that blend together multiple form factors.

The future will not be today. People won't walk around with a laptop in one hand and a tablet in another, with a Desktop PC sitting at home. The future is a single device that can do all of that stuff - light enough with good enough battery life to use as a tablet for consumption, a keyboard you can plug it into to use it like a laptop, and a dock you can plug it into at home to hook it up to a giant monitor or multiple monitors for productivity.


Hz3Ph.png

This is not now. This is not even 5 years from now. I'll eat my virtual TF2 hat if that happens 10 years from now.

The Metro interface is currently totally unneeded on the PC. A progressive implementation to go along with changes in the computing interface seems like a better idea than a hard break in how we use Desktop computers.
 
The weird thing is that the taskbar is still transparent, although the windows are not. Would having options have been so bad?
Yeah I don't like that either. I guess it could be argued that the taskbar is supposed to kind of blend in with the wallpaper... But I think I prefer how it is now on the Release Preview, with transparent windows too.
 
I know how to work the start menu, but still don't consider it an improvement.

The way MS saw it most people don't even touch the Start menu outside of the pinned apps, if at all. Now they cut out the junk most apps throw into their folders and made the whole Start menu large, organizable icons.
 
I'll just say that I don't want to see any of you complaining when Windows 9 goes "you can only install apps from our store, fisher price's my first computer UI only, desktop is unsupported legacy, pay hundreds of dollars for a SDK", because sadly that's where everything is pointing right now. I cannot wait for Gabe to give MS the middle finger and manage to merge Steam for Linux with Wine.
 
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