Gave windows 8 a proper try, still sucks

[techpun]

I agree with the previous comments.. having to buy addon software to make a OS usable seems silly. Microsoft should of given users an option, but hey this is meant to be tablet friendly so I guess you can't have it all.

 

[Zargon]

Same for me.

I ran it for 2 days and tried doing all my regular stuff. It sucked balls.

I never log into facebook unless I have to contact someone on there. This is maybe once a month. However W8 decided that anyone should be available to message me at any time. I never shut my computer down, so this got very frustrating. Sure maybe there is a setting but it still sucked.

Obvious driver and software conflicts. Most things could be manually installed using W7 drivers but still a pain.

And then there was the terrible UI. I run dual monitors but one is used for a TV display. Windows could not understand this and it made for a very terrible experience. To make it usable I had to basically turn it into W7 minus a start button. What's the point in a new OS if you have to treat it like a stripped down version of the previous OS?


Hopefully by launch day its great. I'd really, really, really like to be able to play mobile games on my desktop. Maybe their tablet style OS will allow that? It would make it usable if they did.

so you what, installed the live tile app? instead of using the webpage? if so YOU decided that, not MS

I'd be interested to know what level of user feels they simply 'have to have' a start menu.

What about it is a necessity?

The equivalent of nearly everything in the current (win 7) start menu is in the menu you get right clicking the lower left corner of the screen (where the start button used to be). The only things i think aren't on that list are the equivalent of my computer (which can be found by click the Windows Explorer icon on the task bar, and the all programs list which is the start screen or clicking the windows key for an auto search of everything that's registered.

What's left that's missing?

I have to admit, it's much easier to find things off the start menu and search than it was on the old start menu.

There's nothing wrong with missing it and wanting to do the previous way, but i'm getting tired of the complaint of it being gone without the qualification of what it's departure is costing you.

There's only one reason anyone can say the start button is better than what they've got now and that's because they've been using it for 17 years. That's it. There's no missing functionality, just a rearranging of what was there to be honest.

There's also been some degree of re-arranging between pretty much all versions, but admittedly, not to this degree.

I agree. Its 99% this isnt what I am used to so I hate it. They are all now that old guy at work that bitches about how much better his life was without computers

I agree with the previous comments.. having to buy addon software to make a OS usable seems silly. Microsoft should of given users an option, but hey this is meant to be tablet friendly so I guess you can't have it all.

so like...android sucks becaues you cant do anytihng with it stock too right? and OS X because it doesnt do what I want out of the box? how about linux?

 

[Tom]

I'd be interested to know what level of user feels they simply 'have to have' a start menu.

What about it is a necessity?

The equivalent of nearly everything in the current (win 7) start menu is in the menu you get right clicking the lower left corner of the screen (where the start button used to be). The only things i think aren't on that list are the equivalent of my computer (which can be found by click the Windows Explorer icon on the task bar, and the all programs list which is the start screen or clicking the windows key for an auto search of everything that's registered.

What's left that's missing?

I have to admit, it's much easier to find things off the start menu and search than it was on the old start menu.

There's nothing wrong with missing it and wanting to do the previous way, but i'm getting tired of the complaint of it being gone without the qualification of what it's departure is costing you.

There's only one reason anyone can say the start button is better than what they've got now and that's because they've been using it for 17 years. That's it. There's no missing functionality, just a rearranging of what was there to be honest.

There's also been some degree of re-arranging between pretty much all versions, but admittedly, not to this degree.

Here's the thing. The START menu has been THE way the vast majority of people have used Windows since the first version of Windows that was worth using. Windows 95.

From a UI perspective, the Start menu is almost all there is to Windows, other than desktop icons, which don't do anything the Start menu doesn't do in a more organized way.

And there's no reason to not have it.

Here's my poor analogy. W8 is like Honda deciding a new way to steer their car was to touch the windshield in the direction you wanted to go. If you wanted to use a steering wheel you could, but it was hidden under the spare tire and instead of rotating it to steer you slide it side to side. and to steer sharper you push in on the side of the wheel in the direction you want to go.

Oh, and while its easy to start the car, to turn it off you have to hit a switch that's hidden in the door jam of the right rear passenger door.

 

[cboath]

And that's still ignoring the point. I've asked the question multiple times and never gotten an actual answer as to why removing the start button vastly changes the way anyone works - and for the worse.

Aside from the 'all programs list' all start menu functionality still exists in the same basic place, just without a circular/rectangular icon to click on.

Using the win key to search for a program is easier that browsing the all programs list. The difficult part of it is actually using/remembering to use the win key because it's a change from the way things have been done before.

As a critique, I can say I wouldn't mind having all the functionality of right clicking the lower left corner in the charms bar - more of a centralized location. Still, it's not losing me any functionality to have one on each side of the screen.

 

[Tom]

1. right click is for properties and menus, not starting programs.
2. hidden locations require telling someone to look for them.
3. the "all programs list" is the most important part of the Start menu.
4. its hard to search for a program you don't know exists. like bundled programs that come with a printer.
5, there's no reason for not having it.

I haven't used W8 so here are some questions.

1. Where's the recent documents list ?
2. how do I get to Control Panel ?
3. how do I get to docs,pics,music ?

 

[PokerGuy]

After hearing all the fuss, I decided to give it a whirl myself. I can sum up my take on windows 8 in two words. It sucks. It feels like someone decided that MS had to get with the new world and move into the tablet space, and shoe horned a tablet OS onto a desktop. Absolutely terrible.

I love the under the hood changes, it's quick and peppy. It has some nice features as far as drive pooling and stuff like that, but the UI is just plain horrid. I guess I can install something like start8 or some other cludge to somewhat fix it, that might be worth a shot.

There's no way in hell any corporation is going to roll this UI out to the masses, and I can't see anyone wanting to teach their less-tech-inclined friends/parents/relatives etc how to use this. The use of not-at-all-obvious areas where you have to move your mouse to get certain menus to appear etc is pretty particularly horrid.

Blech.

 

[PokerGuy]

Aside from the 'all programs list' all start menu functionality still exists in the same basic place

Yeah, aside from one of the most useful features, everything is there

 

[PokerGuy]

1. right click is for properties and menus, not starting programs.
2. hidden locations require telling someone to look for them.
3. the "all programs list" is the most important part of the Start menu.
4. its hard to search for a program you don't know exists. like bundled programs that come with a printer.
5, there's no reason for not having it.

I haven't used W8 so here are some questions.

1. Where's the recent documents list ?
2. how do I get to Control Panel ?
3. how do I get to docs,pics,music ?

Any OS that makes it so painfully difficult to figure out how to do even the most basic things is a failure. There's a reason Apple has grown to be massive in the iphone/ipad/ipod world: simplicity and intuitive operation. As much as I hate Apple as a company, the truth is anyone can grab one of their devices and without having to read any manuals figure out in a minute or two how to do most things. Yes, that also means you are confined in what you can do etc, but it's intuitive. Win 8 doesn't seem intuitive to me at all.

 

[Dominato3r]

Yeah, aside from one of the most useful features, everything is there

If you use the features, you might like right-clicking where the start button once was. Brings up some nice options.

 

[Kuschelweich]

I've been meaning to give it a try as well. Have been using XP since 01'. I downloaded the ISO, just been to lazy to install another hard drive to test it on.

 

[Blueychan]

LOL nowadays, it's cool to hate on Windows 8 ...

Been using it for the last couple months...love it!

 

[Remobz]

LOL nowadays, it's cool to hate on Windows 8 ...

Been using it for the last couple months...love it!

Windows 8 need beta testers for the next few years....lol!


Loving Windows 7 now

 

[Kuschelweich]

Currently installing on a precision 390 workstation I've been working on, curious to see how it runs on the old E6300.

 

[Rhonda the Sly]

1. right click is for properties and menus, not starting programs.
2. hidden locations require telling someone to look for them.
3. the "all programs list" is the most important part of the Start menu.
4. its hard to search for a program you don't know exists. like bundled programs that come with a printer.
5, there's no reason for not having it.

I haven't used W8 so here are some questions.

1. Where's the recent documents list ?
2. how do I get to Control Panel ?
3. how do I get to docs,pics,music ?

1.) You don't, it doesn't exist anymore unless you want to pin the Username\Recent folder, which is sorta a clunky alternative. A desktop toolbar might be a suitable workaround.
2a.) Pin it to the Start Screen
2.b) All Apps, the 'Windows System' folder will usually be near the end of the list
2.c) From the Desktop, it's in the Settings Charm
2.d) Win+X
2.e) Search

3.a) Pin them to the Start Screen (any folder can be pinned, even compressed, oddly)
3.b) File Explorer opens to Libraries by default, one step away

 

[Tom]

Maybe MS will make a Windows 8 PowerToy start menu..

<hoping>

 

[Kuschelweich]

Besides being confusing and cumbersome to launch programs I'm noticing SpeedStep isn't working and my e6300 is always at 1.6GHz(266*6) for some odd reason. Should be 266*7 for 1.86, and I believe around 800MHz at the low end. It's enabled in the bios and I've tried different power schemes and messed with the processor settings and it still won't budge from 1.6. It's working fine in XP. :hmm:

 

[darkewaffle]

Been using windows since I was a little kid in the mid 90s, these days the only thing I use the Start menu for is basically to get to "Run" or "All Programs" when I rarely need to pull up something I don't use often enough to justify a shortcut.

They're just growing pains; it's like when I make new keybinds in a game, initially it's painful not because they're bad but because it's not what I'm used to and my fingers want to do something different simply out of reflex. But after a little while it starts to click and the experience is overall much improved.

 

[gammaray]

...

Here's my poor analogy. W8 is like Honda deciding a new way to steer their car was to touch the windshield in the direction you wanted to go. If you wanted to use a steering wheel you could, but it was hidden under the spare tire and instead of rotating it to steer you slide it side to side. and to steer sharper you push in on the side of the wheel in the direction you want to go.

Oh, and while its easy to start the car, to turn it off you have to hit a switch that's hidden in the door jam of the right rear passenger door.

that is a rather good analogy. Unfortunately, all the tech companies are trying to get people to use their new gadgets, cpu getting so small now, that there are thinking of making nanobots to get into our bloods, flying cars and star wars is near, this gonna totally suck in the future, i'm glad i won't be there to live among the cyborgs and intelligent droids.

 

[cboath]

1.) You don't, it doesn't exist anymore unless you want to pin the Username\Recent folder, which is sorta a clunky alternative. A desktop toolbar might be a suitable workaround.
2a.) Pin it to the Start Screen
2.b) All Apps, the 'Windows System' folder will usually be near the end of the list
2.c) From the Desktop, it's in the Settings Charm
2.d) Win+X
2.e) Search

3.a) Pin them to the Start Screen (any folder can be pinned, even compressed, oddly)
3.b) File Explorer opens to Libraries by default, one step away

2.f) Another place it always was - the windows/file explorer, down in the left hand column

I'll go so far as to admit that removing the recent option (btw, i really like how they did it in win7) is something i'd like to hear their explanation for. It's possible that their perogative is that it's supposed to be handled in the program since it's part of the basic API I believe. But i'd still like to hear their take on that. The only other option is that their usage tracking showed next to no one used it.

It's also odd to hear someone ask about the Documents option because it's something I just don't use - the libraries that is. My Documents is where it always was. There's no shortcut on the desktop, but it doesn't keep you from making one. As noted above, it's still right at the top of the Explorer window where it always was.

I'll go so far as well as to say that they should have but an intro video on there that you could opt out of. The video should show you new tips and tricks. Things like Win key to search, right clicking the lower left corner, etc.

Something else, someone asked about all the programs that get added into the old all programs list and how you're supposed to find them. Same way you always did. They're all added to a panel on the start screen. You can just see all entries at once without having to click to open a bunch of folders. Search all programs won't get you web links or help files that you could find in the old start menu or in the new start screen, but you can easily organize the start screen to make those things easier for you to find.

 

[Tom]

2.f) Another place it always was - the windows/file explorer, down in the left hand column

I'll go so far as to admit that removing the recent option (btw, i really like how they did it in win7) is something i'd like to hear their explanation for. It's possible that their perogative is that it's supposed to be handled in the program since it's part of the basic API I believe. But i'd still like to hear their take on that. The only other option is that their usage tracking showed next to no one used it.

It's also odd to hear someone ask about the Documents option because it's something I just don't use - the libraries that is. My Documents is where it always was. There's no shortcut on the desktop, but it doesn't keep you from making one. As noted above, it's still right at the top of the Explorer window where it always was.

Something else, someone asked about all the programs that get added into the old all programs list and how you're supposed to find them. Same way you always did. They're all added to a panel on the start screen. You can just see all entries at once without having to click to open a bunch of folders. Search all programs won't get you web links or help files that you could find in the old start menu or in the new start screen, but you can easily organize the start screen to make those things easier for you to find.

My Start button "all programs" has well over 300 items in it. Does that mean I'm going to have 30 pages of big square icons to page through ?

As to the My Documents folder vs libraries..I'm parlty with you, I don't like libraries at all. I like easy access to actual folders on a hard drive with files in them.

But I do like easy acces to recent documents, the Start menu does this in a very useful way. For example, I pin Notepad to the Start menu, then the Notepad icon has a menu list of recent documents that I can pick and Notepad opens with that txt already open.

I hope W8 has something like this ?

 

[Snoop]

My Start button "all programs" has well over 300 items in it. Does that mean I'm going to have 30 pages of big square icons to page through ?

As to the My Documents folder vs libraries..I'm parlty with you, I don't like libraries at all. I like easy access to actual folders on a hard drive with files in them.

But I do like easy acces to recent documents, the Start menu does this in a very useful way. For example, I pin Notepad to the Start menu, then the Notepad icon has a menu list of recent documents that I can pick and Notepad opens with that txt already open.

I hope W8 has something like this ?

I believe if you have the application pinned to the desktop toolbar a right click will bring up recent documents.

 

[cboath]

^^ That is true. Just like in Win7 - if you pin to the tasbar, you still get the recent list.

As for 300 entries in the start menu, I hope that isn't 300 folders and the 15 things installed under office, for example, count as 15 in that list.

If it's 300 total entries, It's not 30 pages by any means. You can make the tiles 3 different sizes I believe. Using square tiles you can get something like 12 In a column and I get, i believe, 4 columns per page - i'd have to check the numbers when I get home. That's be about 7 pages. You can also right click on the start screen and it zooms out to show you the whole thing and you can zoom to another area. You can label each column as well on the zoomed out view to make it easy to zoom to the office area or the games area or however you set it up.

It'd also help if vendors didn't fill their start menu/screen section with extraneous crap either. I don't need a shortcut to their website or to a EULA or to their help files.

 

[hondaf17]

I'll go so far as well as to say that they should have but an intro video on there that you could opt out of. The video should show you new tips and tricks. Things like Win key to search, right clicking the lower left corner, etc.

I'm very surprised they didn't include a tutorial video like the one you described. I installed the consumer preview over the summer and thought, "well, they'll have an intro video for the release." That would be an easy way to show everyone how to do everything, rather than just have them experiment and figure it out on their own. XP even had a little intro video!

 

[tulx]

I installed Win8 Pro yesterday and am enjoying it immensly. If you actually learn how to use the Windows UI properly (with hotkeys) it's MUCH faster than the start menu ever could be.

 

[Mem]

I installed Win8 Pro yesterday and am enjoying it immensly. If you actually learn how to use the Windows UI properly (with hotkeys) it's MUCH faster than the start menu ever could be.

Yep Win8 is growing on me more I use it,downloaded the Pro version lastnight,painless install,my Steam and Origin games work fine and so far not needed to install start8,using move mouse to one of corner options or right click in left corner for my needs.


Very smooth upgrade and experience for me so far .
Looking at all the free stuff in Store,quite a lot of free games