No Booting Straight to Desktop in Windows 8

[Usersname]

Has explorer been revised to calculate folder sizes and quantity? I hate not knowing at a glance what space on my hard drives is taken up by what folders/files. Eight is a DoDo for me if they haven't fixed that.

However they make Windows look it will never have the elegance of MacOS; just a fact of life. Shame Apple engineers, Devs, and executives can't get their heads around GPU upgrades and gaming. They'd seal the deal if they did. I'd prefer agnostic OpenGL over DirectWrecks any day.

 

[Guest]

Sadly this won't be the first time the advanced user minority would get screwed over by a company because of the mainstream majority. So bitch all you want but you aren't the ones they are lstening to, some because they know that as soon as they give the OS some pointless but overhyped exclusives, (e.g., dx10 for vista, the awesome new gfx API that EVERY developer was going to use?) and some well-paid online reviewer shills who will show you with fancy charts and cherry-picked benches how effing awesome win8 actually is, sooner or later all of you are going to get on the bandwagon.

 

[upgrade_1977]

How thoughtful of them to alienate all there faithful customers.

 

[wildkitten]

Well, if there is a silver lining to all this, the really good Windows 2000 and XP followed Windows ME. Since Win8 seems like the new ME, perhaps the next couple of versions will be very good. Let's hope they come out pretty quickly.

 

[Guest]

Touchscreen is no replacement for keyboard and mouse in many, if not most of the office environment. Data entry, writing letters, making invoices, making contracts etc. is much faster using a keyboard (and mouse).

IMHO forcing people to use an UI that was designed for a touch screen will only irritate users. I think MS should make a clear differentiation between desktop userbase and that for the smartphone and tablet. In the next decades desktops won't be replaced by smartphones or tablets with touchscreens only, simply because for certain tasks the keyboard and mouse is much faster.

This move from MS is just silly and a pannic reaction to gain market share with tablets and smartphones.

(btw I am a developer using MS tools)

 

[Guest]

There is nothing wrong with Windows 7, it operates almost flawlessly. Why in the world would you go out and make such "drastic" changes such as taking away the start button that we have had since 95 and shoving this new UI in our face??? I don't want a touch screen PC... My phone pisses me off enough times throughout the day that when I come home I enjoy my PC doing what I want, when I want. Is a mouse and keyboard seriously to much for people to comprehend these days?

 

[metalmania31]

I don't get what the big deal is. Once it boots up one click goes to the desktop and you can put all the 3rd party software you want for productivity.
THe Start screen is basically the start drop down menu blown up. It's annoying, but essentially the same thing just placed in your face with tiles.

 

[sephirothmk]

No booting to Windows 8. I'll stay on 7, thanks.

 

[Guest]

The only reason why i was going to buy windows 8 was MS allowing boot to desktop. In my opinion this is the lock down of Windows through monetization. I say say this because the store is being forced onto the users. What i am really worried about is pc gamming since the only thing that could kill my favorite hobby is Windows. MS could in the future implement their own rules in an attempt to get a cut out of pc games sales. There is no doubt that MS would prefer everyone to play on a console and pc games are in the way of more $$$.......i'll shut up know and continue to smoke whatever i am smoking./sarcasm

 

[robochump]

Just a matter of time before a 3rd party program by-passes the Metro UI.

 

[littleleo]

Um... $40 to upgrade to the pro version to add your computer to a domain? Better resource management that makes programs and games run faster? Better backup options? Better cloud support? Better support and segregation for multiple users on the same machine? Better support for one user over multiple machines? Better multi-screen support? More input options? Dramatically less CPU, HDD, GPU, and RAM use by the OS? More detailed (finally useful!) reporting on system resources within task manager? Better support for legacy software?

Seriously, other than the replacement of the start menu with 'not Metro' (which you barely need to interact with, and actually is better than the start menu in some ways) win8 is far superior to win7 in every way.

Today Windows 8 will judged more on looks then ever before. If it looks like a dog they don't care what's under the hood. Why MS is doing everything it can to restrict changes people want to do to make it more functional this is counter productive and is causing more negative post. Not that there is a shortage of negative post for this product. I don't think I've ever seen the sheer volume of negativity about a product like this before. I think MS should divert some of it marketing dollars to it development to fix what everyone is complaining about.

Personally I don't need to change my O/S I'm happy with my Win7 Ultimate. I know most businesses will not try it for at least 2-3 years since it cost so much to update your office with software and training cost. With all the negative post I really think Win8 is going to be slow getting accepted. I haven't tried it and I'm not interested in doing so at this time. Perhaps in the future after all the bugs are worked out, and knowing MS there will be tons of them. Everyone one I know that has tried it didn't like it which is a bad sign. I think MS knows this and that's why they are offering the $49.99 upgrade. But this upgrade is only for people that have bought Windows 7 or a system with Windows 7 since June 2nd. This is for a downloaded version you have to pay extra a DVD copy. How many people want to redo their O/S and their whole system after 5 months?

Ever since the management at MS got so greedy with their own pay and benefits and cut the compensation packages to its employees they seem to have lost the majority of their talent. Their products are not cutting edge as they once were and they seem to depend more on being a patent troll for income then from great software products people are excited about. The days of people lining up in the streets for days for MS products like they did for Win95 seem to have past for MS forever. Too bad they don't seem to understand why. Steve Ballmer needs to go!

 

[Anomalyx]

When is the release date again? Need to make sure to stockpile Win7 licenses before they become unavailable.

 

[littleleo]

Windows 8 is expected to be released on October 26

 

[hoof_hearted]

Who in Microsoft is trying to force this? Microsoft is not a stupid company, so there has to be some ulterior reasoning for this. Is this Balmer's pet or something? I mean this has to so obvious to everyone working at Microsoft as it is to Tom's readers that this is a bad idea (forcing people to use something they clearly don't want). Maybe Microsoft is simply abandoning the PC in the name of tablets, after all, Apple is worth more now, than Microsoft and Google combined. That really hurt to say that.

 

[metalmania31]

jacekring, yes I've gamed with FPS, I've used it with dual monitors surfing the internet. I havent tested it beyond that. On my brothers laptop I switched him over to it for the time being to test out and he hasn't had any issue. Metro is just an start menu interface change with app like features. Can you specifically say how metro is hindering your ability to use windows. I work at a large CPU maker and I use win 7 all day working. I don't see how win8 would change that dramatically given once you get to the desktop you can work as normal.

 

[draphius]

im starting to think that microsoft secretly wants win8 to fail. there cant be one bit of research that suggested that feature was something the user wanted

 

[razor512]

God people on here need to get a clue. I just wonder how long people bitching about the UI changes have actually used PC's. I've been using them since before there even *was* a Windows. Every 10 years or so they always make changes that are more drastic than the interim versions. I remember clearly when MS added mouse support and designed the UI around it - everyone bitched. I remember when Win95 came out and had the Start Menu + task bar everyone bitched. This the just the next logical step in UI progression. Or did you think they'd keep the Start Menu forever? Its death is already overdue as it is.

When the GUI was heavily pushed, some hated it but most welcomed it because it required less work.
It requires fewer muscle movements to move a mouse and do 1 or 2 clicks, then it is to work in a command line and enter in 10-30 characters to perform the same action.

Also the only major UI change that windows has had (before windows 8), is with the release of windows 95, and from windows 95 to windows 7, the base layout of the UI has not changed, they simply added more eye candy, and a few minor additional UI features for better window management.


Windows 95:

Windows 98:

Windows ME:

Windows 2000:

Windows XP:

Windows Vista:

Windows 7:

As you can see, the basic layout has not changed since windows 95. The layout works and many people are very used to it. The main change that has happened is since windows 95, the taskbar has gotten twice as tall and does not display any additional information. (luckily, from windows XP to windows 7, the option to revert back to the windows 2000 UI has remained (though they have mostly gotten rid of it in windows 8

Windows 8 is a large UI change, and the sad part of it is, it does not improve efficiency, it takes more work to navigate the metro UI crap than it does to navigate the classic start menu.

The metro UI takes up the entire screen and displays fewer items than the windows 7 strt menu which only takes like 1/10th of the screen.

The metro crap requires more mouse movement since you are working with the entire screen

The metro crap is not needed on a desktop since the mouse cursor is a precision tool; it does not need giant icons.

Touch screen on a desktop or laptop is useless because compared to a tablet, you preform different tasks on a full PC, tasks that require more focus and thus finger smudges all over the screen will be extremely annoying it is also completely useless to have since it is not optimal to use a mouse, keyboard and touch screen (and the touch screen cannot replace a mouse and keyboard as it does not perform the actions that require them as well as a mouse and keyboard. (it is kinda like those gesture mice which cripple the standard mouse functions in favor of adding a few gestures)

 

[Guest]

Simply put, I vote with my dollars. W8 and it's "playschool" interface won't be getting mine.
Foolish moves lately from microsoft. Screwing its partners by releasing hardware and changing authentication. Screwing business and enthusiasts with this retarded OS interface. Changing a product for the sake of change and not considering your core customer's needs is a death wish.

 

[vxd128]

Going into the Windows 8 preview, I went in with an open mind. After 30 minutes of using, I was disgusted by the feel of it. In my opinion the whole Tile UI (metro) screen felt clunky and user unfriendly. I'm a keyboard and mouse user and the approach MS is taking bothers me. Their solution is to buy more hardware is not an answer. A better answer would've been to allow a user to by pass the Tile UI and use a classic start button. I will say that if I had a tablet running Windows 8, I see the usefulness of the Tile UI, other than that, it's worthless.

 

[ejb222]

Seriously people grow up! i don't care...down vote me. but go through and read your comments. You are literally complaining about something that is petty. You truely sound like children. Read you comments...then down vote me all you want. Oh yeah and the proof that you are just children is that you don't even realize how childish you are.

 

[ejb222]

[citation][nom]vxd128[/nom]Going into the Windows 8 preview, I went in with an open mind. After 30 minutes of using, I was disgusted by the feel of it. In my opinion the whole Tile UI (metro) screen felt clunky and user unfriendly. I'm a keyboard and mouse user and the approach MS is taking bothers me. Their solution is to buy more hardware is not an answer. A better answer would've been to allow a user to by pass the Tile UI and use a classic start button. I will say that if I had a tablet running Windows 8, I see the usefulness of the Tile UI, other than that, it's worthless.[/citation]
Yeah, because 30min is an honest try....TROLL

 

[ejb222]

Again can any one of you Win8 haters explain how the Metro interface drastically downgrades your ability to perform similar functions that you would on Windows7? I haven't seen one person explain this to me. If you don't like the look, thats fine. But that doesn't mean the OS doesn't perform. I don't like the look of the BMW X3 but by far it is a superior SUV. People need to get a clue and grow up.

 

[ejb222]

I'm so glad they are going to Metro, I hated MS for forcing me to use a start button before.

 

[f-14]

touch? wtf is voice command, screw touch, that it 1990's tech

 

[svdb]

I'm too old to play with colored blocks.