MarketWatch Slams Windows 8, Calls it Unmitigated Disaster

Page 3 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Status
Not open for further replies.

sirencall

Honorable
Mar 27, 2012
82
0
10,640
Im not sure what the complaints are based on. Is it that you have to relearn to use it? If it had the same interface as 7 would you say you have no reason to upgrade as well for offering nothing new and minor performance upgrades? Yes you will have to learn to use your keyboard again but it is faster access your programs than it ever could be with the start button. Its easier to find anything than it could be with a start button. You can make shortcuts on your desktop still, and everything else you could do before. You also have more control and information at your disposal than every before. Just open task manager ONCE in win8 and compare it win7 and you will see the advantages right there.
 

brucek2

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2008
117
0
18,680
[citation][nom]Godlover1133[/nom]I can't believe so many people think Microsoft is trying to sell this as a desktop OS. ... Microsoft knows that Windows 7 is its Desktop version[/citation]
Source please? For this to be true, Microsoft would have to allow (=assess no penalties nor remove any discounts) if OEMs wanted to continue to advertise and ship Win7 on new desktops even after the Win8 launch; and to commit to supporting Win7 on the desktop for as long a period as they do Win8. I've seen no evidence of either. Have you?
 

brettms71

Distinguished
May 20, 2009
70
0
18,630
I never used the start button in windows 7, except to get to the search field where you type in the application name you want to run and type it in and hit enter. going through menu's in the start button is slow, and i hate a cluttered desktop, so icons are out for me. Anyway, you quickly learn the names of applications you want to run so typing it in makes sense on a desktop.

so two things are happening here in my opinion.
1. Microsoft is bad at advertising functionality. From your Metro UI screen, just start typing the name of an application. No need to do anything just start typing. It shows you the applications search functionality and the applications installed as you type. No need for a start button. As you type it in, if it highlights the right thing, just hit enter. By the time i typed "con" it had highlighted control panel as an option. I hit enter, it switches to desktop mode and loads control panel. much easier than clicking through a menu.

2. People need to adapt a bit and spend a bit of time learning it. Which takes me back to point 1...microsoft neecd to advertise functionality better.

Once i learned that i could just start typing the application name from the metro UI, i no longer needed the start button.
 

cobra4014

Distinguished
Jul 31, 2011
33
0
18,530
I actually like the fluidness of the UI. Once you actually customize it (It works better if you upgrade and keep all of your data) you can actually get to things faster than 7. I'll probably get flamed for this but just attempt to give it ~4 hours of using it. I hardly use metro, the new explorer is great, the search, etc in the lower right hand corner is great and really quick. Am I the only one that likes using this on the 24 inch desktop PC? really guys, just give it some time.........
 

zcpro

Distinguished
Jul 13, 2011
7
0
18,510



Please see the following videos and explain to us how you’ll help these people.

http://youtu.be/gIq_wl-KBjk

http://youtu.be/v4boTbv9_nU

http://youtu.be/oyc1RVCXvAk

Also, Maximumpc has nailed it perfectly. See the article below:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/8_things_we_hate_about_windows_841
 

vincentyu

Distinguished
Jan 4, 2010
7
0
18,510
A simple trick to get backup part of the functionality of start menu back in Windows 8:
Launch Windows Explorer and
1. create a library named "All Programs"
2. add the following 2 folders to it:
%PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
3. select "All Programs" and arrange by Folder, view by list. This will give you all the desktop applications installed on your pc.
 
[citation][nom]SteelCity1981[/nom]the fact is it doesn't matter what bloggers or anyone else thinks, what matters is what your avg consumor thinks. Your avg consumor is going to be the deciding factor in all of this. If your avg consumor doesn't take to Windows 8 well, then you will mostlikely see a big backlash from them wanting to downgrade their new pc's with windows 8 on it back to windows 7 from pc vendors. much like we saw with Vista. I don't expect for avg consumors to take kindly to the radical UI changes of Windows 8 then what they have been used to for 17 years since Windows 95 with the classic UI and start menu setup that millions and millions of your avg consumor has been used to for soo many years. If Windows 8 becomes a big failure it will be mostly due to metro and no start menu and what's sad about that is is that Windows 8 brings some nice improvements under the hood but it's radical changes to its UI and missing start menu may end up overshadowing all of those improvements.[/citation]
I'm not sure how much the average user cares about the start menu. Most consumers only seem to know what is on the desktop itself and is not aware that they can get to programs in the start menu. (I'm not talking about people here). However, the average user doesn't want to relearn things either.

I also believe the average user will parrot what ever they reviewers are telling us if they were in position to make a choice, although the average user will just buy a PC and take what comes with it, which will be Windows 8. As much as people hated Vista, just about everyone who bought a computer during that time frame used Vista, as they weren't able to downgrade themselves.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Dvorak tends to say the sky is falling often, and though I'm no fan of Windows 8, I have trouble trusting his opinion. If you're looking for bad press on a new Microsoft release, there are scores to choose from.
 
G

Guest

Guest
All Microsoft has to do is make a "Windows XP II" and they would sell to all the people who still use XP like me. XP is still the #1 most used OS and if MS was smart they would consider that fact instead of forcing people who have mastered a perfectly working OS to have to relearn where everything is all over again. Plus I'm paranoid on Win7 I believe it spies on the user since the hd light always blinks even when it sits idle when no avs scans are taking place. On XP it stops blinking when there's no activity. I have no proof of it but I just don't trust Win7. Win8 will be to Win7 the way Win7 is to XP in my book. XP works and should live on forever. Imagine a new XP where everything is still in the same places just with a polished new look. I'd totally buy that especially if they made the old XP upgradable to the new one.
 

DawnTreader

Distinguished
Feb 7, 2009
67
0
18,630
[citation][nom]husker[/nom]"First of all, the system-software product is mostly divorced from all the thought and trends developed by Windows over the years, as if to say that they were wrong the whole time, so let's try something altogether new."That says it all.[/citation]

this kind of reminds me of what is said about the development of portal 2 in the "Final Hours of Portal 2" book.

"The Portal gun was absent from the F-STOP concept. The new ideas were fun and exciting, but surely this wasn't Portal 2. The team was sent into a tailspin, questioning each and every decision they'd made over the past year. It was time for everyone to sit down and take stock. As soon as Left 4 Dead was finished in October of 2008, Gabe brought the Portal team together for a meeting. What had started as one of the most exciting experiments in Valve history had suddenly become deeply divisive even inside the company.

As one employee remembers, Newell looked around the room and slowly acknowledged the obvious. "We are making Portal 2 without portals," he said before slamming his head against the desk in defeat. "

I wonder if someone at Microsoft will pull the plug at the last moment seeing all the backlash from the preview.
 

airborne11b

Distinguished
Jul 6, 2008
466
0
18,790
Im sure win8 will be fine. It's going to be great on tablets for sure, where the metro interface will shine and im sure the metro stuff will be mostly optional stuff for desktop users like myself....

Some people seriously need to chill. A lot of people here sound like the dorks who said movies with audio (talkies) were just a stupid fad.... Welcome to the IT world: learn 2 adapt, learn something new every day, or become useless. Tech is always changing and not every change is going to be in your comfort zone.
 

JOSHSKORN

Distinguished
Oct 26, 2009
2,395
19
19,795
Windows 8 needs to have an installation wizard for this sort of thing. This is roughly how it should go for Desktop/Laptop users:

Type of Machine:
-Mobile Phone
-Tablet
-Laptop
-Desktop

If Laptop/Desktop, ask: Do you have a touch screen or only a Mouse?
-Touch Screen
-Mouse
This option can be changed in the Control Panel, should you purchase a Touch Screen.

Do you wish to boot into Metro UI or the Windows Desktop?
-Metro UI (Check the widgets to display)
-Windows Desktop
This option can be changed in the Control Panel
 

mrmez

Splendid
Its quite simple. Every windows release alternates between success and failure.

ME: Terrible
XP: Good
Vista: Terrible
7: Good
8: Terrible

Based on history, you shouldn't expect 8 to be good, so when someone tells you its terrible.... you knew it all along.

I don't know the problem at M$, but they just can't seem to get the balance right. It's either a derivative OS with some added annoyance (vista), or a completely new from the ground up OS with major annoyance (Metro).

I hate to hit up the Apple model again, but whats wrong with taking W7, which people love, and polishing it up every 6-18 months?
 

rantoc

Distinguished
Dec 17, 2009
1,859
1
19,780
Every other window is "experimental" is you ask me, then a good one come out like win7. Now we are at the "omg its the worst ever" side of the cycle so its hardly surpricing that MS tries to do its experiments!

Shame that we cant skip win8 all together and get a good win9 at once!
 

belardo

Splendid
Nov 23, 2008
3,540
2
22,795
[citation][nom]vincentyu[/nom]A simple trick to get backup part of the functionality of start menu back in Windows 8:Launch Windows Explorer and1. create a library named (blah blah)[/citation]
I have an even easier way... stick with Windows 7. :)

[citation][nom]DiggityDoggie79[/nom]All Microsoft has to do is make a "Windows XP II" ~Plus I'm paranoid on Win7 I believe it spies on the user since the hd light always blinks even when it sits idle when no avs scans are taking place. [/citation]
No need for XP-II (I think its called XP-MCR anyway). Win7 is fine and is no MORE spying on you than XP. Turn off your defragger and use a real defrag program... like Defraggler (it'll over-ride the Windows7 one if you tell it to).



 
G

Guest

Guest
I installed Windows 8 over release preview over Windows 7. It kept all of my desktop apps and in desktop mode, the OS functions just like Windows 7. I have dual monitors and I can run metro on one monitor and desktop on the other. It seems like the best of both worlds for me. After using it for a week for work (and play), I find that there is nothing Windows 7 can do that Windows 8 can't but there is a ton of cool stuff Win 8 can do that 7 can't!! I really don't understand all the hatred for windows 8. I for one think it's brilliant.
 

sten_gn

Distinguished
Aug 24, 2011
28
0
18,530
Windows 1 – 3.1 – I have had 3.1 and it was ok

Windows 95 – looked great but had weak stability
and 95 SE - got repaired and worked good

Windows 98 – this was better, but not sow stable
and 98 SE - became stable, good gaming and working platform

Windows Me - shitty modified version of win 98

Windows 2000 - this worked for me very long with 98se

Windows XP – becomes great after SP 2 and i still use it (work and games)

vista – extreamly shitty, huge heavy cow

7 – is repaired vista 2.0, not too bad but not that great as other think

8 – is broken & retarded 7 (vista 3.0) EPIC FAIL as PC system and as for tablets it is to BIG, version x86 and x64 are 16-20 gigs of size, tablets got at best 32-64 GB, I don't see any sense in this...
I don't know how heavy is the 8 RT (ARM) but i can guess its probably good several gigs as well ...
It is like using huge hammer for small pin, which has to be put in gently.
 

belardo

Splendid
Nov 23, 2008
3,540
2
22,795
Okay... I've been doing a wait and see with Win8. I think metro looks fine for desktop (simple for novices or idiots to use) and its a long-term plan to move OFF of Windows into the new smaller Metro interface, like Intel removing legacy support on their motherboards (PAR/SER ports, PATA connections, etc) John Dvorak has his issues (I remember him of the OLD days) - he was right about the Amiga, thou.

I've DL and installed the latest Win8 Preview version on a dual-core AMD test PC. Installation was smooth (16min), boot time with a 6yr old HD is 35 seconds. I've been using the system as I would any new OS/device... and there are things I can't quite figure out - make sense or they are simply gone.

In a word: Windows 8 = FAIL. I know we are about to see some top CEOs retire soon at Microsoft. Monkey man Ballmer isn't going to be around long.

- "Desktop" means the interface, Windows7 old school.

- Metro on the desktop isn't horrible, but its the primary interface for your computer and we NEED Windows to interact with. In face, Metro on the desktop cannot work correctly without THE DESKTOP.

- The image viewer in Metro blows... its far less functional than the one on my iPad! On the iPad, you can actually ZOOM in.

- Microsoft is constantly PUSHING you to buy crap from their APP or media stores.

- The removal of the Start Menu is BAD. Quick access to your printer and other hardware? I haven't quite figured it out yet. It should be EASY.

- Microsoft says "Just type the name of the program / APP you are looking for"? Huh? What if YOU DON'T know WTF you are looking for? What if you can't spell worth a shit? Typing in defrag~ shows you both the Windows Defragger and the command defrag... image that going well with a novice.

- Constant back and forth between METRO and Desktop... is LAME LAME LAME (Did I say, it was lame?)

Here is an EXAMPLE! Lets say you are in METRO and you want to ADD videos to your library... Here is what Metro says "To add videos, go to the Windows 8 desktop, select Windows Explorer and then Videos Library"... huh? What the... Microsoft pays people to come up with this shit? They could of at least included a button that would it for YOU.

Windows key toggles between Win / Metro interfaces... With Windows 8 - your Windows KEY will be MORE used in 1 month than since 95.

Okay... you are in desktop mode, want to open a program that ISN'T on your desktop screen. Press the Windows Key (Which takes you back to the Metro Start Screen) and if its not a tile, you start typing… you get a list and you click your selection. Or you Right click and you get a screen with ALL the Apps (a Start Menu, if you will).. It’s a “Start Screen” really, and you cannot move items around or rename them. For example, I put Calculator, Snip, Notepad ++ in my “Tools” folder on my Start Menu…. Not with Windows 8.

I admit, I wouldn’t mind an option to put a POP-UP screen in Win7 that shows everything in your ALL Programs Start menu… but this is what many Win8 people will be doing.

- The Metro Apps take too-long to load (its downloading Sell-you-shit content) before you get to see your photos, videos or music. Oh, what if you are in Desktop mode and want to manage your music in Metro… Press Windows, Press Music tile or try the task-switch on the left. Press the Play button to bring up the interface to make it stop or whatever. ARGH!


My take: Metro is half-baked… it should be ABLE to stand on its own, it doesn’t. Being tacked onto the real-OS which has its legs broken makes Win8 Desktop pretty much useless. The constant back and forth is a mess. I’m sure you can disable many Metro functions (media playback) and put all your desktop icons items into folders on your desktop… but WHY bother? Metro feels very much like Microsoft decided to make Media Center its OS. A desktop computer is not a Media Center… that is what our Tablets, phones, MPCs/consoles are for.

I LOVE the Metro interface for WP7… but it seems they haven’t enhanced 8 much beyond 7… I have cool features in my WP7Launcher emulator on my Android phone that MS doesn’t do. So I will most likely BUY a NEW Android phone in a month or so and run WP7Launcher on it. Sorry Nokia...

Metro doesn’t belong on the desktop… simple as that. With 22~30” screens, we run many windows showing all kinds of info. I may run two videos, or watch TV while having Word and various browsers and Photoshop running. Not the kind of thing you do on a tablet or a phone.

MS should have simply made a Metro “App” launcher to keep compatibility with Metro devices (phones / tablets)… so that such apps would launch from the desktop, just full screen… or better yet, optionally a window (Like CMD).

My Windows8 Desktop Mode review:

Anything to do with Metro on desktop mode, SUCKS. This is MS raping you with Metro, period. You cannot get away with Metro with Windows8. There WILL be hacks and such, but they may break their WPA/security junk… and the common user won’t bother. I won’t, why should I?

About the GOOD things in Win8DT: I like the updated interface, its cleaner. The Task Manager gets a 10 in my book, *I* love it. The task switching and task bar work the same (other than Start is murdered), the Windows-tab changed for only Metro Apps (even in desktop)… no biggie. Alt-tab is same as normal, but includes metro Apps.

I very much LIKE the new COPY/Delete dialog boxes that are faster and more informative than Win7~XP.

I’m even okay with the new explorer and lock screen… but ribbon should be OPTIONAL to turn-off because it’s a waste of space for a power user, a pull down menu is good enough. *I like ribbon on MS-Office 2010, it works nicely there*

So overall – the there are nice tweaks on desktop mode, its cleaner.
But there is one thing that MS is still, to this day, since the days of Windows 3.x that they don’t seem to know how to UPDATE.

The Drive Info box. It is still the same UGLY purple-blue pie-chart. Check out Defraggler’s cool 3-D modern looking pie-chart for your drive.

*I* will not be buying or recommending my clients to touch Windows8. The $150~300 price tag they want for this crap is a joke… It’s going to be like Vista 2.0. People will NOT pay for it… they will upgrade to Windows 7.

Microsoft: I have some free advice from you… You learned something with Windows 7, you admit you screwed up (kind of admit). You are NOT listening now. I’ve updated whole offices from XP > Win7 and they loved it. I never ever sold or built a vista-PC. We bought ThinkPads with XP until Win7 came out. I’ve had people pay me to KILL vista and install XP on their computers.

Metro is NOT FIT for Desktop usage. I know one person with a stupid touch-screen AIO HP computer… and they used the touch screen for about a week. Dirty screens and back-forth between mouse/key and the display made it a hassle.

You have a choice: Take the blue pill – continue on this path with Metro Rape. You will see our wrath and I do hope Apple brings back the “I’m a Mac” TV Ads… it would be a good joke. Apple is gaining market share because there are LESS reasons to actually need a Windows computer.

Or, take the Red pill. Return the Start Menu, more POWER user options for Explorer (user option to turn off ribbon), make Metro a launcher for Metro Apps. Maybe, have it a user option to go FULL screen which would be GOOD for Media-Center PCs. You can make these changes over a weekend. You will lose a little bit of face, but *WE* will forgive you.

The common computer user out there doesn’t even know what you are doing or even heard of Metro… they don’t need to know.

The nightmare that is metro negates any and all improvements to the Windows8 OS.

You have been warned.
 

belardo

Splendid
Nov 23, 2008
3,540
2
22,795
[citation][nom]TheRealJomon[/nom]I have dual monitors and I can run metro on one monitor and desktop on the other. It seems like the best of both worlds for me. I really don't understand all the hatred for windows 8. I for one think it's brilliant.[/citation]
Are you going to buy a 2nd monitor for me and everyone else? Is that you Mitt Romney?
The Win8 desktop side has many nice things about it, the OS itself is leaner and quick - I like it. Metro ruins it all.
 

pmerritt

Distinguished
Jul 25, 2008
35
0
18,540
Dvorak sounds like an idiot.....it wouldn't hurt Microsoft.....lose some money (yes) kill the company (hell no) and it wouldn't be the first time the released a screwed up OS. WindowsME and Vista comes to mind. They basically FIXED Vista and gave us Windows7 and if Windows8 is deemed terrible they will fix it too.
 

hannibal

Distinguished
[citation][nom]killerclick[/nom]A bigger problem is what Windows 9 will be like. Will it have desktop mode at all if Metro is a success? And "success" for Microsoft might mean losing like 30% of the desktop market to gain 10% of the mobile market. That would be a jackpot for them, so they might throw a lot of us under the bus to gain a foothold against Android and iOS.[/citation]

Well we all can be guite sure that there will be Metro UI in win9, that much is sure, but I think that they will keep the underlying desktop part in there too. It is allso guite sure that they will make some adjusments in there, nothing big but some changes in anyway. Even bigger question is what happens in 2020 when support for win7 is going to end. Do they keep Metro UI even after that or what will happen at that time? Untill then there is normal mouse driven UI that will keep MS floating even in the worst case scenario. It may be that Metro UI is at that time the most succesfull MS UI ever (including that mobile market), or MS has to deside what to do next. They don't be at any hurry to change UI before that. They will get money from lisensing, and from new computers. Joe Average does not change OS untill he buys a new computer, and as it has been said above. Corporates can use any OS they like (It does not change MS income at all).
So Killerclicks prediction seems to be very accurate. MS can lose some users, if they get new ones to compensate the loss, and there will not be huge loss at any situation untill 2020, and very like not even then, like Brucek2 said above.
So this is wait and see game. How long MS can sit and wait untill someone panics? Guite long time, because they have allmost monopoly in desktop market... Yes I know there are Apple machines and Linux machines, but how big persentage does they have? In value... guite big (Apple), but in volyme not so.
Itanium did fail, because it didn't run old programs well. Win8 will run old programs at least as well as win7, so no problem in there. The bigger problem to MS is the 32-bit version. They would like to leave it (easier to support only one version), but too many old (read corporate) programs would not work after that move, so they keep on suporting it... I predigted that Vista would be last windows with support to both 32-bit and 64-bit... how wrong I was...
It is so big thing, that 32-bit versions can live many windows generatios more...
The computer world is just so crazy sometimes!
Summasummarum... Metro UI is is not very big treath to MS (it is more like opportunity, with a risk though), but pure 64-bit version would be economically unwise. And how much I would hope that there would be only 64-bit version available... not gonna happen soon I am afraid.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.