Ex-Microsoft Employee Launches 'Fixing Windows 8' Initiative

Page 6 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Status
Not open for further replies.
Seriously, do you people actually have Win 8 installed on anything? I've been using it on my primary PC for a few months now and It's functionally IDENTICAL to win 7. Yes, the little Metro layer is enabled by default and is just garbage on a proper PC, but it can be turned off in 2 seconds.

And then you've just got a slightly updated Win 7 machine; lots of bug fixes, a few new toys, better default codecs and stuff. Nothing to get carried away about.

What on earth is wrong with all of you, and Mike Bibik, that you can't just elect to NOT USE the parts you don't like? This has NOTHING to do with the Vista debacle, and there is nothing wrong with Win 8.
 
Bah... I gave up on Windows after Vista. In fact Vista stayed on my then new PC for less then 1 day. Absolutely retarded excuse for an OS and it in fact drove me to a Mac.

I have never been happier since switching. Have not had a single major software or OS issue and even survived a major OS upgrade and recovered from a hard drive failure on my MacBook Pro in less than 30 minutes. Without losing a single BIT of data. Try that with Windows Whatever.

Steve Ballmar once complained that people like me were paying an Apple tax for the logo. I beg to differ Steve. In my 20 plus years of using Windows I NEVER once was able to recover from a hardware failure without losing ANY data in less than 20 minutes. And, many OS failures were simply unrecoverable and were only fixed by the now famous Windows reinstall.

Granted Apple is getting carried away with it's iOS integration but consumers will sort that out for them. Me. Well I'm going to stick with the MacBook Pro and Mac for now.
 
I think that there is definitely a lot of potential for making everyone more efficient desktop users, but they definitely need to integrate Metro and regular desktop apps better. Right now, alt-tab is the only way to do it easily on a desktop, and that's not something that many non-technical users know about. The metro UI language is very different and takes getting used to. I don't think its worse from a UI standpoint (I learned it at least as quickly as any Linux desktop environment, and it's as powerful as those in terms of speed and search and keyboard access) but its different from the standard windows desktop and people hate different. Honestly, all it probably needs is a 30 second tutorial when you log in for the first time to explain the new stuff.

Also, to correct some misconceptions in this thread, you DON'T need a Live account to run Windows 8. It syncs your user profile to the cloud if you do, but you can have a purely local user account.

I think that everyone who complains about Ubuntu's Unity or GNOME 3 or Windows 8 needs to take a step back and realize that half of the complaints are not that the UI is BAD but because the UI is DIFFERENT. There are some legitimate complaints about all the new user interfaces, but a lot of it comes down to the fact that we already know all the quirks of the UI in GNOME 2 or Windows 7, so we work around them.
 
Windows 8 comes out, a year passes and Mac becomes known as the primary gaming os
 
Seriously, do you people actually have Win 8 installed on anything? I've been using it on my primary PC for a few months now and It's functionally IDENTICAL to win 7. Yes, the little Metro layer is enabled by default and is just garbage on a proper PC, but it can be turned off in 2 seconds.

And then you've just got a slightly updated Win 7 machine; lots of bug fixes, a few new toys, better default codecs and stuff. Nothing to get carried away about.

What on earth is wrong with all of you, and Mike Bibik, that you can't just elect to NOT USE the parts you don't like? This has NOTHING to do with the Vista debacle, and there is nothing wrong with Win 8.
Click to expand...

Where is the option to simply disable metro?

Oh I see. It's a registry edit.

So how exactly are the 99% of computer users who would never edit the registry under any circumstances supposed to "just elect to NOT USE" metro?


EDIT: According to some reviewers, once you disable metro the underlying framework is neither stable nor as usable as the Windows 7 desktop. They added some things, tweaked others, and removed some. Overall, the latest release is not nearly as good as the existing Windows 7 system, with or without metro active. Also, disabling metro also disables parts of the explorer.

Which reviewers? ZDnet, ITProPortal, mstechpages.com, etc.

I'm also seeing lots of problems with the registry hack in the comments on mstechpages - like the login screen vanishes, you have to hit esc to get a login window. Also in some cases it doesn't survive a reboot and you have to do the reg hack again? that seems strange.
 
Remember a few years ago when Knoppix put out that long awaited awesome update and it turned out that the default was optimized for the blind, making it nearly useless for the rest of us? No gui, just an ugly text menu. People complained, and the next version was released in two separate ISOs, one with the blind version as default, one without.

I hope that Microsoft sees the issues being raised and takes them to heart - making the base desktop as fully functional as 7, and adding options and utilities rather than removing anything.

Then they can have a boot option or simple toggle to enter Metro or Aero2

This would be the best outcome. If W8 actually has the fantastic updates and such that have been claimed, and they make metro completely optional and not remove options when you disable metro - it may do well.
 
stop fearing change. u guys crack me up. oh god it looks different no good. go buy an over priced mac. go into things with an open mind and you would be surprised.
 
once i downloaded start8 from stardock, things were much better.
Having a start menu that opens in the desktop helps allot when you are quickly trying to switch applicatoins.
I just wish that you could run their 'apps' in desktop mode, instead of taking over the whole screen
 
Every Windows keyboard I have seen has a Windows Key. Tap it to see the start menu. The Window key is now like the Android or iOS home button.

Unlike Windows 7 or Vista, you can rearrange the tiles so that the programs you actually use are on the screen in front of you when you turn on your computer. Common tasks are one click and faster. On top of that, Windows 8 is blazingly fast. I appreciate that users may be initially disoriented, but give it a couple of days and things will be easier and faster.
 
If the change does not work, why enbrace it, that is illogical. Change when it brings improvement is good but not change for the sake of change, that only brings confusion, and youre only making microsoft richer. You are turning this into the fashion industry every year there is something different.
Don't forget the computers are supposted a tool for getting a job done, and if you have to relearn how to use your O/S every two years, well you must have too much time on your hands, lifes too short for this nonsense.
 
I am, and I believe this to be true, a fairly intelligent IT professional with a background in software and web development. I installed Windows 8 via VMWare Player and had this same reaction within the first 5 minutes. I couldn't figure out how to quickly and intuitively navigate between the two interfaces until I by happenstance clicked on the Windows Key.

UI design needs to be intuitive and there must be visual clues to guide a person to navigate the user interface. If this is not done, the user interface is a failure. It is quite well known that people do not read instructions, so the user experience must have integrated instructions OR when that is lacking a common interface to what has come before. This video is very aptly chosen, my sister, brothers and parents would have this same issue.

That said, once I got used to the user interface, I kinda liked it, but I have a hard time really calling it a new OS UI. Metro acts like an app that can hide the old windows OS. I found myself switching back to the old experience often, and then just leaving Metro open for the information updates and notifications like a bill board to let me know when things have changed and need attention.
 
It may come as a surprise to some users that not all keyboards have a windows key, I have an original IBM ps/2 keyboard that I had for over 20 years and has never failed me yet, I tried others but they don't last very long they just an't durable. Most of then are just plain junk. What y'all suggest now folks.
 
Really people, If you like windows 7 so much keep it. Microsoft knows that if Windows 8 and Windows Server 8 fail they are going to loose massive market share to apple, google and others. The metro style app is extreemly smart. Yes people should watch the 5 minute intor first so they know how the hidden features work but other than that Windows 8 is rock solid and will save Microsoft from total destruction.
 
Microsoft really doesn't get it: Just play off your strengths, and stop changing things so radically! Mac OS didn't become successful by making drastic changes to interface, they did it by maintaining the same look and feel but just adding on to it. Why is that such a difficult concept to grasp?
 
[citation][nom]captainspock[/nom]It may come as a surprise to some users that not all keyboards have a windows key, I have an original IBM ps/2 keyboard that I had for over 20 years and has never failed me yet, I tried others but they don't last very long they just an't durable. Most of then are just plain junk. What y'all suggest now folks.[/citation]

What you're essentially saying is that Win8 doesn't support your 20 year old legacy hardware. Well, either upgrade or don't get Win8. Honestly, what kind of modern keyboards are you buying, and what are you doing to your keyboards that they break so often? FYI, some companies make modern keyboards with the old style clicking switch keys. Perhaps one of these would be a good option for you. There are choices out there that are more durable than your standard Walmart keyboards.
 
I have not replaced it because it still works and have you never heard the expression if it an't broke don't fix it. BTW I did find one one keyboard that I like but could not find any ebay seller of the keyboard that would sell me one because for the most part they are recalcitrant and will not ship outside the US and I refuse to pay the ripeoff prices in this part of the world.
 
Windows:
98SE (fine) -> ME (crap) -> XP (fine) -> Vista (crap) -> 7 (fine) -> 8 (??) ; my money is on 'crap'.

Yes, I've tried two versions of Windows 8 and I still haven't figured-out WTH Microsoft is thinking?! I hate the default UI, I feel like it's turned my PC into a glorified 'PC Smartphone' and cheapened my experience.

No Business will want to use it, and it's IMO a failure out of the box.
 
[citation][nom]Pherule[/nom]""Who puts this out," the dad says after four minutes. His son says it's by Microsoft."They trying to drive me to Mac?""Err... what? Is Mac the first thing old people think of as an alternative to Windows? It's as if Linux doesn't exist to them. I'd pick Linux 100x before touching Mac.[/citation]

Apple products have much better consumer market penetration than anything Linux, save for Android.

Gotta love that narcissistic computer geek mentality...smh...
 
[citation][nom]jaquith[/nom]Windows: 98SE (fine) -> ME (crap) -> XP (fine) -> Vista (crap) -> 7 (fine) -> 8 (??) ; my money is on 'crap'.Yes, I've tried two versions of Windows 8 and I still haven't figured-out WTH Microsoft is thinking?! I hate the default UI, I feel like it's turned my PC into a glorified 'PC Smartphone' and cheapened my experience. No Business will want to use it, and it's IMO a failure out of the box.[/citation]

So where does Windows 3.1, 95, NT and 2000 fall into that ranking of yours? What about Server 2003, 2008, and 2008 R2?
 
I am a corporate administrator and I will *NOT* be rolling this out to my users. Most of my users don't know how to update Acrobat ffs, you think Im going to freak them out with Metro? Not on my time and not on my dime. If they want to play around with it, they can do it at home on their personal equipment. I am not going to retrain my entire user base because Microsoft wants to combine their operating systems. Sorry, MS, but my company will not be moving to Win8.

And before you fanbois pipe up, I am a MS fanboi. I have been using windows since Windows 386, yes there was a Windows 386. I have been testing the DP and then the CP since release and it just takes too long to navigate around compared to Windows 7. If you cant be more productive with a new release, there is no reason to frustrate my users. There is such a thing as being resistant to change, I got that from my users going from XP to Win7, until they got used to it and found that 7 was a much more stable platform and allowed them to do their work more effeciently. My support calls went down drastically. Win7->Win8 is another issue entirely. Its not even Windows anymore, in the sense that my users are used to. I would bet cash money it would be easier to teach a windows 7 user to use a Mac than use Metro. I do like the snappyness under the hood, the less system resources and the storage. But, as a corporate administrator, the live ID requirement, the fugly, unintuitive Metro interface, the dumbing down of the "classic" desktop, makes this new version a no go for my business.

P.S. Microsoft calling the traditional or legacy interface "classic" really peeves me for some reason. Its like they brought out the marketing hounds to try and justify this change to Metro. Classic sounds dated, and the traditional desktop is not dated; it has been improved on every version of Windows until 8. As the other user was saying, dont fix what aint broke. But what do I know, right. I just have to support this mess...
 
I have had Gates8 for exactly one week. My first impression was, "I hate it". My feeling after 7 days is, "I REALLY hate it".
I have spent this week un-pinning garbage, removing anything that says "Bing" completely from the computer, loading Start8, customizing a green, rectangular XP Start button, figuring out how to kill "LockScreen", finding out going into program files is not as easy as it was in XP. I also found Outlook Express is gone, and geez, the boys in Redmond tell me I have to sign up for a Windows account to configure my e-mail account? Really?
Mozilla Thunderbird.
I have....some physical issues that makes having things in familiar places on a desktop a must....which they now are....and no password. Then new IE needs a password for anything outside of Disney, so, Firefox.
Office....there's a window to click..."Which version do you want to buy?"...deleted the entire thing.
Charms are gone. Hot spots are gone. I have a keyboard and mouse, apps are file renamed so they don't even try to open. MicroSlime "Store" is also renamed, hiding away, out of sight.
Good thing I have lots of experience with removing Norton.....Toshiba gives you a 30-day trial....and it takes two days off and on to get it all gone....including registry.
I do have a normal control panel back, I miss the search and run buttons in control panel, with separate windows. Hard to remember right or left click on the provided search bar.
I need to rename "libraries".....I'm used to "Documents", which holds "My Documents", "My Pictures", that sort of stuff.
Taskbar icons are okay..how they work is not. I don't need some silly peek or Aero popping miniature screenshots up I have to squint to read. I want my vertically cascaded blue boxes back with just text...I will find a way to get them back.
There are what, over a half dozen outfits offering free and paid programs to fix the start button, control panel, Metro hiding, boot to desktop, all of that?
In this short period of time since final release? It looks like they hired all the bozos who wrote Vista back for this one.
Was on the phone with MS Accessibility today. They haven't a clue how to fix some of this for those of us that cannot use the McDonalds Menu Order Screen.
I have talked to IT heads, in large companies...no way...they buy 7 machines and immediately load XP. Talked to professors I know who teach computers.....the newest they'll do is 7.
If I can't fix it, I'll take it out on the deck and do a Joe Biden to it.
Too bad there isn't some place one can communicate with MS and voice your displeasure.
This reply is being done on my XP Pro desktop, because it is far, far more user friendly that Gates8.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom