Windows 9 Start menu, posted on arstechnica

[mikeymikec]

Step in the right direction. Not a fan of the look though. I hope they keep the option to go to Windows Classic. Does windows 8 have that option? I know 7 does and I always enable it.

Win8 doesn't have that option. They also got rid of the advanced window properties UI which allows you to alter things like scrollbar size.

- edit - however, given that it has the high contrast UI options, I wonder whether it's possible to do what I once did with Win7 and import a theme file from Windows XP (which allowed me to use a particular colour scheme that older versions came with, I think it was called 'desert').

 

[BarkingGhostar]

And why are they not calling this Windows 8.2?

 

[Mem]

And why are they not calling this Windows 8.2?

Windows 9 was always going to be further improvements/changes on Win8/8.1,still being a hybrid OS that caters for everything but giving desktop users more options/layout etc...
As to not being called Win8.2 maybe they wanted to start fresh with a new name or number like Win7 was to Vista,you could argue Win7 is like Vista SP3 ie further refinement.

I also expect more new features in Win9 etc so its really going to be more they just another update then what you saw in 8 to 8.1.
End of the day they were due for another new OS being Microsoft are back on their three years OS cycle, so releasing 8.2 when Win9 was due seems pointless.

 

[stlcardinals]

And why are they not calling this Windows 8.2?

Because people have already given the Windows 8 name a bad name (cue Bon Jovi).

Plus there is a new CEO in place that has to deliver results. Call it Windows 9 and tell Enterprises that the changes made are focused on them.

 

[ninaholic37]

If Win8 had Win7's start menu and no Metro apps/screen, people in general would not have been bothered in the slightest by the other UI alterations.

Windows 8 "Flat Windows" is one of the cheeziest/fugliest things I've ever seen. People may say that it's the Metro and no start menu that they dislike, but I think subconsciously it's the "Flat Windows" (and inappropriate amount of orange) that is driving all their anger and hate underneath it all. I'm confident that psychological tests on OSs with and without these flat windows would find the link to them and Windows 8-rage levels surprisingly solid, with many more neurons of unpleasantness than expected firing up inside the untapped inner workings of the human brain, possibly leading to prolonged mental health issues or cancer.

 

[Mem]

Windows 8 "Flat Windows" is one of the cheeziest/fugliest things I've ever seen. People may say that it's the Metro and no start menu that they dislike, but I think subconsciously it's the "Flat Windows" (and inappropriate amount of orange) that is driving all their anger and hate underneath it all. I'm confident that psychological tests on OSs with and without these flat windows would find the link to them and Windows 8-rage levels surprisingly solid, with many more neurons of unpleasantness than expected firing up inside the untapped inner workings of the human brain, possibly leading to prolonged mental health issues or cancer.

It's far from that bad,you don't need Aero either,look at what Linux can do without Aero,infact I would say Linux has some of the best looking distros around,I could also say quite a few Linux distros have better Start menus to Win7/8 or any Windows OS you care to name.

 

[hardhat]

If Windows 9 will focus on the enterprise, does that mean Microsoft will allow people to turn off cloud integration in Windows and MS Office so there aren't so many security concerns?

 

[mikeymikec]

If Windows 9 will focus on the enterprise, does that mean Microsoft will allow people to turn off cloud integration in Windows and MS Office so there aren't so many security concerns?

Don't be silly. All the big IT companies want you to use their cloud, it's easier to control their customers then.

 

[code65536]

It's far from that bad,you don't need Aero either,look at what Linux can do without Aero,infact I would say Linux has some of the best looking distros around,I could also say quite a few Linux distros have better Start menus to Win7/8 or any Windows OS you care to name.

Aero is still there in Windows 8. In fact, they removed the fallback mode so that Aero (which is actually the new compositor in Vista) is always active, even in a VM or over a RDP session (which, BTW, is fantabulous).

What Windows 8 removed is the Aero Glass style. Which is exactly what it sounds like: a style/theme. And replaced it with something flatter and simpler (still running on Aero), which I frankly like very much.

The faux-glass theme always seemed kitschy and garish to me. I preferred the relatively flat cleanness of Windows Classic (which, sadly, was no longer viable in Windows 7, when I was forced to use glass). I love the Windows 8 theme. It's crisp, clean, and down to business without extraneous ornamentation. And now that I'm used to it, Windows 7 seems even more of an eyesore than it was before.

 

[escrow4]

Windows 8 "Flat Windows" is one of the cheeziest/fugliest things I've ever seen. People may say that it's the Metro and no start menu that they dislike, but I think subconsciously it's the "Flat Windows" (and inappropriate amount of orange) that is driving all their anger and hate underneath it all. I'm confident that psychological tests on OSs with and without these flat windows would find the link to them and Windows 8-rage levels surprisingly solid, with many more neurons of unpleasantness than expected firing up inside the untapped inner workings of the human brain, possibly leading to prolonged mental health issues or cancer.

Other way around. Solid, straight, to the point. No flash.

 

[pw257008]

I'm so glad I rarely see the glass look anymore.

 

[Mem]

Aero is still there in Windows 8. In fact, they removed the fallback mode so that Aero (which is actually the new compositor in Vista) is always active, even in a VM or over a RDP session (which, BTW, is fantabulous).

What Windows 8 removed is the Aero Glass style. Which is exactly what it sounds like: a style/theme. And replaced it with something flatter and simpler (still running on Aero), which I frankly like very much.

The faux-glass theme always seemed kitschy and garish to me. I preferred the relatively flat cleanness of Windows Classic (which, sadly, was no longer viable in Windows 7, when I was forced to use glass). I love the Windows 8 theme. It's crisp, clean, and down to business without extraneous ornamentation. And now that I'm used to it, Windows 7 seems even more of an eyesore than it was before.

I don't think I was clear so my mistake ,I don't mind the Win8 themes or look of it,I still think Linux still has some of the best looking OS distros around.

 

[ninaholic37]

The faux-glass theme always seemed kitschy and garish to me. I preferred the relatively flat cleanness of Windows Classic (which, sadly, was no longer viable in Windows 7, when I was forced to use glass).

I pretty much feel the same. I've mostly used Windows 7 Starter (which doesn't have the Aero theme I believe), and normally turn off all the gloss stuff in "Performance Options", and it looks ok afterwards to me. The windows in Win8 look like something put together by an 5-year old in MS-Paint (Bill Gates grandson?), or some OS in it's Alpha stages, or where when Video drivers get corrupted.

Looking at the second half of the first video in mikeymikec's link, it seems that "Windows 9" hasn't changed much in that regard (which I guess will make some of you happy after all?). Heh.

 

[Ketchup]

...The windows in Win8 look like something put together by an 5-year old in MS-Paint ...

I always thought that about XP. Great OS, but silly GUI. 7 is my favorite so far, with Vista 2nd. The 8 main screen looks like they took a phone screen and blew it up. One you get past that, the themes look pretty good though.

But to each his own, and I bet between them all everybody has one they liked. Looking forward to seeing what 9 looks like on my display.

Microsoft, here's an idea for 10: put each former OS as a Theme option.

 

[blankslate]

And why are they not calling this Windows 8.2?

Despite what some others say it's for the much the same reason that Windows 7 wasn't just Vista SP3. Because the Win8 brand has (justly or unjustly) negative views by a lot of people. Much like Vista did.

Granted 8.1 cleaned up and tweaked the GUI of Win 8 and in the early part of 2014 their was talk of Windows 8.2 with a start menu much like the one for Win 9.
Here is one article from April talking about it before Microsoft decided it would be better to release it in Win9
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/so...could-come-this-autumn-as-windows-8-2-1244018

Windows 8 didn't sell well upon release (compared to Win 7) and it wasn't because it sucked. It doesn't. It is generally faster and more secure than windows 7 (aside from some odd configurations or software that some have to use and thus has rare issues).

However, there was a completely new GUI (arguably not quite tweaked enough as evidenced by the 8.1 tweaks) with no built in option to revert for a more windows 7 style UI (which previous MS OSes had).

With the accelerated release schedule and it sort of makes sense to drop the new start mentu for 8.1 update 2 or 8.2 and move it to a feature of Windows 9.



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