Microsoft decides to double down on stupid. New Windows 8 pricing.

[Maximilian]

You guys are weird, just install ClassicShell and it's literally a faster version of Windows 7 minus the WMC. A few more adjustments like Netplwiz to autologon off to turn off logon screen and you can make it so no one would no any different.
You guys just want something to bithc about.

Says the guy who paid $400 for freaking vista

 

[Gothgar]

/shrug

I like Win8

I bet most people have never used it. It is ridiculously fast.

 

[Staples]

Uhh, the $40 was a limited time promotion after which it goes to full price. Same thing with Windows 7

No, people here want to bitch about it and play dumb acting as if this is a surprise. This has been known since before Windows 8 was released. Wow guys, what a surprise.

Also, I am not so sure why the slowdown in PC sales (which affects the number of copies of Windows 8 sold) is being blamed on Windows 8. The number of PCs being sold has been in decline for the last decade.

But for Windows 8 haters, we won't let facts get in the way.

 

[Crono]

/shrug

I like Win8

I bet most people have never used it. It is ridiculously fast.

It takes a while for people to get used to major UI changes. Remember how many users (even power users) were complaining about XP when it was first released? How it was dumbed down, had a Fisher Price look, and was unintuitive?

Granted, some of those users are still probably using the Windows classic theme, but the majority of users were comfortable with XP by the time SP3 rolled out.

I was on Windows 8 beta/release preview/release candidate for a while and stuck with it, learning all the new shortcuts and got used to the second interface. A lot of things are better and faster, and using Windows 8 in a dual or multi-monitor setup is smooth. And managing startup, services, and tasks is easier with the new task manager.

It's easy to dismiss or bail on Windows 8 just looking at it as a new experience or using it only casually for a few days or weeks. But use it as your primary OS - especially when you have it on laptops, desktops, tablets, and similarly styled WP on smartphones - and you can appreciate the convergence of the two UI approaches.

Windows 8 is a transition, without a doubt. It's likely that the next OS will be the one that is more polished and successful. Win 8 is not bad, but as is often the case of going from one version to the next immediate one, most people don't need to upgrade. If you were on Vista (at least after service packs) there wasn't a compelling reason to upgrade to Windows 7. If you were on XP, there wasn't a compelling reason to go to Vista.

 

[WilliamM2]

I'm glad I upgraded to pro edition for $39. Need to make a bootable USB and keep it somewhere. Also have to make sure I save my email with the codes because I got windows media edition for free.

The free Media Edition keys need to be activated by Feb. 1, 2013. After that, they won't work, it's in the email.

 

[WilliamM2]

Also, I am not so sure why the slowdown in PC sales (which affects the number of copies of Windows 8 sold) is being blamed on Windows 8. The number of PCs being sold has been in decline for the last decade.

Not true at all:

http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/17/technology/enterprise/intel-earnings/

Worldwide PC shipments fell by 5% in the fourth quarter and 3.5% for 2012, according to Gartner. It was the first time since the dot-com bust of 2001 that PC shipments fell from one year to the next.

 

[CZroe]

I'll probably run Win 8 on a Media Center PC with a Wii remote. I just don't see how it makes sense on the desktop.

 

[Puppies04]

You guys are weird, just install ClassicShell and it's literally a faster version of Windows 7 minus the WMC. A few more adjustments like Netplwiz to autologon off to turn off logon screen and you can make it so no one would no any different.
You guys just want something to bithc about.

Yeah all you have to do is pay $100 and spend 3 hours setting it up so it is like what you already have for a minor speed increase (my laptop and gaming rig are both lightning fast anyway so I doubt I would notice).

Who wouldn't go for that deal..... morans.

 

[darkewaffle]

I installed Win8 on a new SSD on my HTPC over the weekend. It took about a half hour fixing all the settings (That need to be fixed on every other version of Windows as well; power, graphics, user settings, updates) and then a few minutes taking note of some of the changes to the organization and I was using it fluently. It runs extremely fast, though I can't compare to Win7 because I went from 7 on a HDD to 8 on SSD; neither are slouches.

DPI scaling seems improved as well; at least for native Windows elements. I find that between that and the improved default theme it looks much better on my TV with less time spent fiddling with it, which I appreciate.

I've had no problem with device or software support yet. Even before I'd installed any drivers everything looked and worked right. I've also experienced better video playback on 8 vs 7 though I think that's almost certainly due to MPC-HC vs MPC rather than the OS.

I don't use the "modern" UI (yet? I think if you could customize tile size a bit more it'd make some pretty slick glorified shortcuts) but I really like the more intelligent search. All Start menu was ever good for was as a library of seldom used but still desirable programs that aren't worthy of an icon imo.

If it take you three hours to figure it out, PEBKAC.

 

[HeXen]

Yeah guys, you are weird for not buying an OS, then installing a 3rd party piece of software and making tweaks to revert it back to the previous version OS look and feel and losing WMC!

:hmm: Oh wait, that whole statement was weird, nevermind!

You're an idiot as everyone install 3rd party software of some kind on all Window's OS's...including 3rd party drivers.
So until you can honestly say you don't install any games, photo editors, drivers..etc and only use what Windows gives you...well actually that would just make you a very unique and special type of user. However everyone else is already installing stuff, so using one to change the UI is no different.
Like i said, anything just to complain...

 

[biostud]

Even though I have start8 installed, I find that I use smart search more and more.

 

[PowerYoga]

win 8 is great on a tablet for sure.

On my laptop? not as good. I'd argue its just a bit different from windows 7 and have no real problems with it so far though. I'll admit it took some googling to figure out where the fuck my "folder options" went though. The ribbon interface is not the best design.

 

[brocks]

For the bolded point:
Undo is easily accessible. It's just tucked out of sight at first.
On the title bar, near the top-left corner, you have what they call the Quick Access Toolbar. If you click the drop-down arrow, you'll see Undo and Redo (rename is even there). If you want those commands to be always visible, you can click them and they'll be in that bar.

Thanks for the tips. I'll stick with 7 for now, but sooner or later my current PC will die, and I'll probably put 8 on the new one, since it will have better drivers for stuff like USB3.

At that point, I'll give it maybe a week, and if I still hate the interface, I'll install one of the add-ons that make it look like 7. If I want to learn a totally new way to do stuff, I'll just install Linux.

 

[jagec]

You're an idiot as everyone install 3rd party software of some kind on all Window's OS's...including 3rd party drivers.
So until you can honestly say you don't install any games, photo editors, drivers..etc and only use what Windows gives you...well actually that would just make you a very unique and special type of user. However everyone else is already installing stuff, so using one to change the UI is no different.
Like i said, anything just to complain...

Why would you need to install extra software in Windows? It already comes with everything you need.

Games--Solitaire.
Photo editor--MSPaint (which got a pretty nice update in 7).
Text editor--Notepad.
Browser--Explorer.

Only a power user or uber-nerd would ever need anything more, and those people all run Linux anyway.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I bought eight Windows 7 keys for $20 when it first came out and have only used three of them. The bar has been set. I won't be upgrading anytime soon but if I did I wouldn't want to pay more than $2.50 or so per key for Windows 8.

ACM deal? that was awesome. I still have some of mine lol.