Windows 8

I did a search here at BA for windows 8 and was surprised to find so few topics about windows 8.
My wife just got a laptop and it has windows 8. here is my first impression.
why? Does Windows think it is fun to relearn your software? I’m just working and now somebody came in and moved around all my tools and relabeled the boxes so I do not know where anything is!
I think Windows has some legal obligations to be reasonable as so many programs and users depend on it. Look at it this way. What if every car manufacture moved the driver side and you could not get a new car you was used to. Some people can not drive well in a car they are used to. I can not even use this!
I believe it is unreasonable to make such changes to Windows interface. It cost us all time and money. I believe we all should get a free downgrade to Windows 7 and Windows 7 should continue to be supported by Microsoft at least as long as 8 and 10, because we paid for it. I did not pay Windows to make my job harder. Kill the Monopoly! I want my money back!
If it was easier that would be one thing. Its like they decide for me what I need on my desk top. That’s another thing windows now is one big selling platform, installing software we need to pay for and update.

If your new PC came with Windows 8 Pro you have downgrade rights to downgrade to Windows 7.

Yes, damn Microsoft for changing things, everything was better in the 80’s when people were using windows 1.0. No complaining about things constantly changing and not finding things…

I hear that the best bits of both Win8 and Win7 will be present in the new Windows 10 version once it is formally released (like the start menu and pieces of the Metro design).

Windows 10 will also supposedly be able to detect if you’re using it on a PC or a mobile device and adjust itself accordingly (so people who expect the typical desktop OS experience will not be disappointed).

Seems to go well with the alternating theme of Windows versions to say the least, with every second version fixing everything that is wrong with the first.

in my opinion, windows 8 is fine,
you just have to get used to it.

took me like 20 minutes…

can’t find something? search for it, need it allot? pin it to something.

I haven’t had any problems with windows8.1 myself. Looking forward to a free windows 10 upgrade though I can’t stay I’m particularly stoked about microsofts switch to a subscription model. However; it might be nice for mobile users. Apparently MS will be assuming all upgrade powers for mobile devices meaning all mobile devices will receive update availability at the same time without having to wait for the carrier or manufacturer to, possibly never, approve an update like with Android.

“20 minutes” is that a insult to me or are you just barging? It takes me weeks to get windows 7 working the way I like it after a new install how much longer now? but I did buy my own computer.
If you do not like complaining fall in line with mario and all the other cogs and do as you are told.
Complaining sucks and you know who are the worst complainers? The people who complain about the people complaining.
Windows 8 sucks. It is inefficient to change the interface just to make it look different for sales or to promote sponsored software. Its as bad as my wife who wants to rearrange the house. I walked into the wall because she move the bed.

PS I miss the 80’s
PSS thanks for the link to the downgrade.

This is only a myth, Microsoft would never hear the end of it if they expect people to start paying monthly for the privilege of using a computer. Otherwise, that might actually be the news that finally creates a ‘Year of Linux’.

@Ace: I hope it’s only a myth, if so maybe it was created in an attempt to explain how Microsoft is going to turn a profit offering free Win10 upgrades to all Win7 and 8/8.1 users, sans businesses. At the same time I suppose Win8/8.1 had such dismal sales that offering free Win10 would even still at least turn a bigger profit than win8 did, since businesses would still have to purchase a full license for each install.

@kazinger: I really don’t mind win8.1 myself, but I realize that in that respect people like myself are in a strong minority. Your concerns about Windows 8 have been widely echoed across the Windows user base. My guess is that you’ll be happier with Windows 10, apparently Microsoft listened to all the complaints about Windows 8 and addressed them in 10, rumor has it that Win10 may be released late next month.

P.S. In looking at the numbers again Win7 continues to have over 50% of the desktop OS marketshare while apparently 8.1 just took over XP, 18.56% to XPs 13.57%. 8.1 had significantly less, but looking at the graphs 8.1 saw a significant increase while at the same time XP had a significant decrease and this was right around the time rumors started proliferating about the free Win10 upgrade. Interesting eh? Mac OSX… 7.27% and Linux coming in at 1.25% Woo go Linux!

Dismal 8.1 sales or not looks like MS is still king of the castle in the desktop OS market, by a long run.

Another theory is that you will have the option to pay once per year if you want to get the latest features that have been developed (or otherwise just settle with security fixes). That method would be a bit more fair in my opinion.

Also, I wouldn’t allege a conspiracy here. The truth is that the Win8 is a lot more lightweight and a lot less crufty than WinXP ever was, and it’s not uncommon for companies to offer incentives to move people to newer versions so they no longer have to keep supporting all of the old ones.

Been using Linux for over 10 years and never looked back

have fun with PAYING $$$ to have Microsoft piss you off !

@Ace: I wasn’t suggesting anything about a conspiracy, I understand that companies have their motives for doing things, as a corporate entity Microsoft needs to find ways to survive and/or thrive. Now that you mention it I suppose it is a conspiracy in so much that a group of people came together to come up with a plan or course of action, but not in that said group was plotting something harmful or unlawful:

Conspiracy(n):

  1. A secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful.
  2. The action of plotting or conspiring.

Conspire(v):

  1. Make secret plans jointly to commit an unlawful or harmful act.
  2. (of events or circumstances) seem to be working together to bring about a particular result, typically to someone’s detriment.

I’d say the word conspiracy has been used to such a degree to define a very particular type of action so that any time the word is used it seems to implicate a vast global takeover when in reality there are a lot of conspiracies, the vast majority of which have nothing to do with taking over the world or controlling masses of people. Probably most of the time it has to do with putting food on the table.

@JohnVV: You know I can’t say I agree with Microsoft’s philosophy, but a lot of people work really hard on the Windows product so regardless of whether the product is good or bad I generally prefer not to insult that effort. I’m sure many of those people are very talented.

windows has always came with my pc for a little extra,

I would do linux, but I have other people that us my pc,
and there are some editors/engines still unsupported in
linux right?

@Blue: You could do a dual boot with a Linux distribution so you have both Windows and Linux. As for support there are a lot of things that don’t officially support Linux, but the very nature of Linux makes it possible, in many cases, to get something working that doesn’t necessarily work out of the box. Just takes a little extra elbow grease as they say.

Not to get off topic, although that’s exactly what I’m going to do, speaking of conspiracy you know there really was a group of ‘conspirators’ known as the Illuminati.

The Bavarian Illuminati was an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776. The society’s goals were to oppose superstition, obscurantism, religious influence over public life and abuses of state power.

Technically they did have aspirations of world domination, but never really possessed the capability to bring that to fruition. Neither did their aspirations include subjugation of the world’s populace, instead they sought to further the ideas put forth from the Enlightenment. I suppose I don’t really know that much about them, but many of the ideas spawned from the Enlightenment period did flourish regardless of whether the Illuminati was behind it or not. If anything that probably had a positive effect on civilization as a whole, that’s not to say that today’s world isn’t without its share of problems, but probably better off now than it was then.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati
P.S. Interesting enough it does appear as though a number of their ideals line up with the ideals of the American forefathers. There really isn’t anything to suggest that’s anything other than a coincidence, lots of people had ideas similar to the American forefathers during the Enlightenment period.

Windows 8.1Pro 64bit works fine but you should immediately get Classic Shell. They have a “free” version but I pay for the fine use. A computer store nearby installs it on all of their Windows 8.1 installs. It puts everything “back” where you expect, leaving all of the functionality intact. It is still “there” if you want some of the Windows 8 features, but for the most part, this software recovers the face plant that Microsoft made. Try it out, works great.

Ok, let me rephrase. What exactly makes windows 8 so bad and unusable (and please be specific)

Also, what exactly are you doing to make the customization of windows 7 take weeks, and if you are already prepared to spend weeks, why is it such a big deal to spend the same time learning how a new operating system works?

Not to interject here, but in my opinion both Morio and kazinger are correct about the state of Windows being a good or bad product. Now you might wonder how it is that both of their clearly opposing views are correct and I will explain it.

Clearly Morio doesn’t have any beef with Windows 8, it would seem that Windows 8 suits his particular needs and meets his particular tastes. In this case Windows 8 is a good product.

Conversely kazinger is having some real trouble working with Windows 8 for various reasons. Windows 8 neither suits his particular needs or meets his particular tastes. In this case Windows 8 is a bad product.

It would appear to me that Morio, correct me if I’m wrong, thinks kazinger is wrong about his experience with Windows. In truth I don’t see how or why kazinger would be wrong in describing his own personal experience with something, instead it is simply that kazinger’s experience differs from that of Morio because kazinger is a different person with different needs and different tastes.

You see, Windows 8 is neither good or bad, it simply is. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say. There’s no need to argue here because you’re both right Windows 8 is good for Morio and bad for kazinger. In the same way a peanut is a good source of protein for some people, but a deadly allergen to others. The peanut is neither good or bad itself, but is good for some and bad for others.

Quite frankly there is no blanket solution that suits the needs of every single individual. What’s good for one may be bad for another and the fact that it is bad for one does not make it untrue that it is good for another, neither does the fact that it is good for one make it untrue that it is bad for another.

You do have a point, but I’m just trying to understand what specific problems kazinger is having. Maybe the problems can be fixed easily, maybe they can’t.

I had some issues with windows 8 in the beginning, but I have now been using it for about 1½ years on my laptop, and at least for me it works more or less like windows has for the last 20 years.