Is Windows 8 really that bad? (Windows 7 user)

[haylight]

I like Windows 7 fine but am worried about 8 like I was worried about Vista and my worst nightmares came true with the latter. Is 8 another hell?

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Depends on your perspectives I guess. I think 8.1 is pretty good but not quite there yet. I would like to be able to disable the charms and a few other things without using a 3rd party program. I'll probably end up with 8.1 in the end but I think i'll be modifying it somewhat.

You should try it out and see for yourself in a VM or a test machine.

 

[John Connor]

You should have posted this under Operating Systems not software.

As far as Windows 8 goes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9v95hzURkQ

 

[Abakus]

In my opinion, 8 is terrible but 8.1 isn't all that bad. I wanted to rip my hair out with 8. The upgrade to 8.1 helped sooth my frustration but I eventually hated all of the constant super slowness, lock outs, blue screens and of course that ugly interface. So, I decided to downgrade back to Win7—where everything ran fine and fast.

If you go to a local store for computers (or Walmart) they have test systems out. You could always check it out and decide if you like it. Or if you have a friend with it, ask if you can test it out.

 

[Imaginer]

Short answer, no.


Long answer...

It has it's flaws to those not adept enough, 8.1 somewhat fixes them (visible start button, desktop booting, right click Start icon power configuration options, better new user account tutorial hints).

I would go again in giving a long answer to why, but I am going to post some things I said before...

My outlook on the issue with people looking at the Start screen and adjusting to such.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=35880950&highlight=#post35880950
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=35943489&highlight=#post35943489

And the other issue is Microsoft accounts, which I have already mentioned here and there.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=35864466&highlight=#post35864466
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=35975029&highlight=#post35975029

 

[nemesismk2]

I have used windows 8 for a short time (days) on a pc and it was usable. i really wish the person had windows 8.1 because i had heard that windows 8.1 is a good improvement from windows 8. i absolutely hated windows 7 which kept me using windows xp for a long time and i am still using windows xp but yes i do still have windows 7 too.

 

[bbhaag]

Depends on your perspectives I guess. I think 8.1 is pretty good but not quite there yet. I would like to be able to disable the charms and a few other things without using a 3rd party program. I'll probably end up with 8.1 in the end but I think i'll be modifying it somewhat.

You should try it out and see for yourself in a VM or a test machine.

If you're using 8.1 just use these instructions to disable the Charms Bar.

The Taskbar and Navigation Properties window is the quickest way to disable the Charms Bar.
To do that, right-click Taskbar followed by clicking Properties in the context menu.
Then click the Navigation tab.
Now, under the Corner navigation section, simply uncheck ‘When I point to the upper-right corner, show the charms’ option and hit OK.

 

[Morbus]

I use Windows 8.1 at work, and though it's more stable than the default Windows 8, it's basically the piece of inconsistent crap. It's ugly as sheet, it's slower at pretty much everything because of the metro interface, and most things are just harder to do.

The SINGLE thing that I like more about it than I like about Windows 7 is how the delete confirmation works: it doesn't ask if you're sure if you're sending stuff to the recycle bin, but you're deleting it permanently (SHIFT+Delete), it asks if you're sure. Apart from that, it's terrible. The whole "app" thing is infuriating, the "there's a new app for this type of file" is infuriating, the "open file with" dialog is infuriating, the network panel is infuriating, the control panel is infuriating, the explorer sidepanel is needlessly cluttered, as is the main explorer page, the whole start screen is bonkers and impossible to work with (yeah, you can search, but it's SLOW as crap), metro software is useless 90% of the time, and the remaining 10% are just infuriating, and the windows store is... well, I don't really know how it is because the two times I tried to open it, it just stood there loading, that little thing going round and round for more than 10 seconds, and since it's a metro app, it's fullscreen, so it's a fullscreen loading and you can't do anything else apart from staring at this stupid ugly loading circle of balls and I just ALT+F4 out of it because it's infuriating.

In short: avoid it like the plague. I've been using for a year and something now, and it's really not any better than it was. Apart from the stability, which went for unstable to mostly stable, when I installed 8.1. Mileage will vary, of course.

 

[PliotronX]

Another annoying thing I've noticed about the 8.1 refresh: it needs more virtual memory at all times. Same exact work PC, 8GB of RAM, never an out of memory message with 8.0, I could leave as many browsers and programs and tabs open as I pleased. I had set the pagefile to 256MB because it had plenty of RAM and I wanted to conserve space on the SSD. After 8.1, I have to set the pagefile to at least 1GB to avoid out of memory errors and force closing of browser windows. After thinking it was because of updating to 8.1 via the app store and reformatting and doing a clean install of 8.1 and still receiving the errors, I dislike 8.1 even more than I disliked 8.

 

[Morbus]

Just put your page file on your HDD, if you have one...

 

[debian0001]

If you enjoy a shitty work flow as a Desktop OS, use Windows 8.

 

[Rhonda the Sly]

You should have posted this under Operating Systems not software.

As far as Windows 8 goes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9v95hzURkQ

I'm not sure if that was supposed to be funny or not but I only made it to about the middle then, by that point, I wanted to punch him in the throat. :\

As for Windows 8, I feel it works exceedingly well for everything I need on my desktop and laptop. Device boots up into OS and OS runs apps - I can even shut the device off after I'm done!

If you need a start menu, 3rd party versions are available.

 

[zCypher]

Metro interface is great for mobile devices or as an HTPC. For a workstation, that kind of interface doesn't really make sense in terms of productivity. This should be obvious enough.

Aside from the fact that they really screwed the pooch with their shenanigans making Metro the default and making you go out of your way to get a normal desktop with start menu, it's awesome. That's a pretty big deal to a lot of people though.

Personally, I find it was pretty stupid they went that route, BUT, I honestly tend to spend a certain amount of time customizing my system regardless, so it's probably a wash either way. Still irritating though.

 

[John Connor]

I have about 8 hours of Win 8 experience. I installed it into a virtual machine. When Win 8 loaded I said, "what hell is this?" Installed startisback and got rid of metro BS. I like Win 7 better and that's what I'll use. What's the point in 8 anyway? If it doesn't have a newer DirectX I'm not interested. If XP could have DX11 I'd stick with XP.

Why do I have to install and tune crap to make 8 like 7? I don't have a touch screen and NEVER want one!

 

[TheRyuu]

Use 8 or 8.1 with one of the start menu programs (Startisback or Start8) for a while and ask yourself which one is better then.

Newsflash, if you don't like metro you don't have to use it.

If you're on a traditional HDD for your boot drive you might really like Windows 8 because of the speedups it'll bring (check out boot time).

 

[John Connor]

If you're on a traditional HDD for your boot drive you might really like Windows 8 because of the speedups it'll bring (check out boot time).

With SSDs it's pointless. I use nothing but SSDs. Win 7 is fast and ever since I installed Panda cloud on the desktop start up is fast!

 

[88keys]

After hearing about how much Windows 8.1 has improved, and programs like StartIsBack, I finally got around to installing it on my main PC just to see what it was all about.

I went into this with an open mind and I really wanted to like it. But I found even with the Start Menu programs that you still have to deal with Metro in some way which is horrendously awkward on non-touchscreen. Sure there are ways to suppress it to the point where you don't even have to see it, but it seemed like a lengthy process and I figured that it was just easier to go back to Windows 7.

Everything else however is very nice. I like the folder options ribbon (like M$ Office), I like how it automatically downloads and installs OEM drivers via Windows update. I would probably be running it right now if there was a way to natively disable Metro either during or after installation.

Touchscreens are meant for mobile devices and kiosk type machines. NOT desktop workstations. Either they need to figure out a way to natively disable Metro, or make it usable for non touchscreens. I don't care if StartIsBack is $50, $5, or free. This is a service that Microsoft should provide to it's users, not by a third party.
I might give it another spin when the 'threshold' update is released, or wait for Windows 9, but the fact of the matter is that if they don't resolve this issue with future OSes, then I plan to Run Windows 7 until support runs out at which point, I'll either migrate to Linux or Mac.

 

[PliotronX]

Just put your page file on your HDD, if you have one...

I wish I could install one! It's a Zbox (like the Intel NUC) with one 2.5" bay. 8 is simply a disaster of more proportion than that of Vista but I can't wait to see the '7' that takes its place.

 

[Mem]

I like Windows 7 fine but am worried about 8 like I was worried about Vista and my worst nightmares came true with the latter. Is 8 another hell?

First welcome to the forums,as to Win8/8.1 seems like a personal preference if I'm being honest.
I find it dead easy to use and even Metro is so simple that a 7 year old could handle it with a mouse and keyboard.

I can accept anybody not liking Win8/8.1 or any OS but not that it's hard to use,those days were back in the old DOS days when you had to use your brain,now its only point and click.
Anyway some do like it with start menu mod like Classic Shell etc, use the options on 8.1 ie have it so you can boot straight to old desktop UI if you really hate Metro.

Myself I just use 8/8.1 as it is even with just my keyboard and mouse without any start menu mods,even Metro I find so simple but then I just have Win8.1 customise to my needs on both the old desktop UI and Metro.

Having said all that Win8/8.1 is very stable but more a hybrid OS ,however you can still use mouse and keyboard without touch like I do.
End of the day only really you can decide if you like it or not.

Some forums more anti-8 like here and some more pro like OcUK,you decide .

 

[88keys]

To be clear, I don't dislike Metro UI because it's not user friendly. I dislike it because I find it clumsy to use with a mouse and keyboard. I've run it on tablets, and I've found it to be quite well done for the most part, but I just don't think it's suited for non-touchscreens.
I like the UI on my Galaxy phone, but i would hate to use it with a mouse and keyboard.

M$ needs to quit forcing people to migrate to whatever they think is best and let consumers decide.

 

[blurredvision]

If you enjoy a shitty work flow as a Desktop OS, use Windows 8.

Workflow is no different on W8 desktop than it is on W7 desktop.

 

[zephxiii]

I think it sucks because it isn't refined and will be like a ME/Vista.

I've ran into a number of quirks like excel disappearing from the taskbar when I have documents open, taskbar not refreshing, network drives not mapping via script that worked in all the previous OSs, 8.1 won't install on one of the machines I have at all, some issue where I just couldn't click on stuff and other random issues.

I dunno 8 has just been quirky. It's sad because MS is all now about pumping out OSes fast...quantity instead of quality. I'd rather have them work on refinement instead of injecting all this crap into their OSes...

The Metro UI integration is idiotic. I've talked to a few end users and they are just confused on how the OS flips you in and out of metro. It's annoying.

I've gotten used to the start menu but it's stupid for desktop use. I miss the old one since i could pin excel (or whatever other apps) and have a list of documents in the start menu because certain apps I don't want pinned to the taskbar.

It's a good thing they have search on the start menu because trying to scan through all the apps on the new start menu is terrible.

8 to me is a sad idiotic mess. At least the up directory button made its way back in after they deleted it in Vista...probably because they realized it was a dumbass decision...and sadly 8 has A LOT of dumbass decisions in it lol.

Here's hoping 9 is a lot better.

EDIT: some additional things:

1. Excel thinking a file over the network is already use and not letting me save.
2. Dropping connection from WAP and not being able to get back on until a reboot.

 

[ghost03]

Upgrading to windows 8 will cause you a few minor annoyances for the first like 3-4 days. After which you probably won't notice any more.

That said, I wouldn't upgrade from 7 unless you don't have a choice. It doesn't really add anything useful for desktop use.

IMO of course.

 

[BIGGDOG]

I love Windows 8.1 but I have found a few companies that are not ready for the move to 8.1 like my Epson printer or my motherboard Utilities. The OS is awesome for me and I think that we will be getting a big update soon.

 

[kakavn]

Yeah, I can't agree more.When you buy Win 8, you will see. Within a week you will be here with issues and you will be asking how to go to Win 7. :biggrin: