Windows 8: Great OS or Greatest OS?

[Lemur]

I think we can all agree that Windows 8 is the pinnacle of human achievement. Just the other day, after using Windows 8, I won the lottery and several attractive people asked that I sex them. This sort of thing just happens when you use Windows 8.

Discuss. And maybe move the other bits of Win8 discussion to new thread.

[caravel]

I am going to get windows 8 at work soon... mainly because I will have to support it and that will be easier than trying to guide windows 8 users while using windows xp...

No doubt I will be posting of my exploits from my pleasure yacht surrounded by topless models in a few weeks time...

[Lemur]

I am going to get windows 8 at work soon...

And I bet you are 100% stoked!

There are three Windows-ish PCs in the Casa de Lemur; the kids' PC, my work laptop, and my personal rig.

I want minimal headaches with the kids, so I put them on Win7. Work is also standardized on Win7. But I went ahead and tried out 8.1 on my rig. It's ... interesting.

Like I said in the other thread, I know enough about working in an unfamiliar OS to undo some of the more horrible stuff, but I have Strong Sympathy for the average computer user. Windows 8 has some interesting technology inside, but the front-end is basically a land-grab for Microsoft apps. Many of which you wouldn't touch with your worst enemy's Johnson.

[Xiahou]

If you have a touch screen, the Windows8 interface kinda works.

Otherwise, it's just mystifying why they decided to do things the way they did. Why force desktop users to run "apps" full screen? Why force a jumble of icons over an organized Start menu? Why force gestures over clicks and keystrokes?

They're trying to force a tablet experience onto the desktop. Why? Apple successfully maintains a separate desktop & touchscreen OS- they didn't try to cram them together. I suspect Microsoft did so because their mobile offerings weren't gaining any traction, so they thought they could leverage their PC dominance into the mobile market by unifying the OS.

[Husar]

This guy actually has some nice ideas for interface improvements IMO.

I haven't read all of it but had a look at the screenshots on a news site a while ago, those mostly looked pretty nice.

[Gregoshi]

Hi. My name is Greg and I'm a Windows 8 user.

It all started innocently enough when I bought my laptop and Win 8 was the only OS option available. I was optimistic back then. I'd heard how bad Win 8 was but figured I could handle it. Those complainers were weak and undisciplined. I would tame the beast. I was wrong.

The first sign of trouble was the Metro interface. Charms. Apps. Finger gestures. After several days I had mastered only one finger gesture - it didn't do anything, but I felt better after using it. And Charms - they had none. But apps I detested. Even the word "apps" annoyed me. Install any software and your system is flooded with a diarrhea of apps - an app for the Readme file, an app for visiting the company website, an app to visit the company store, an app for software updates, an app for uninstall, an app for software documentation and so on. The Metro interface quickly becomes cluttered with a crapp load of apps.

Unfortunately I discovered the Desktop-without-a-Start-Menu. Sure, it looked like good ol' Win 7 - except too many things have issues. Skype doesn't go online or I can't answer a call. Shockwave doesn't work with Firefox often - hanging for 30 seconds and then a popup window to answer for each page making browsing certain websites painful. Gmail and other Google feature go into a "Not Responding" state for several seconds making their use annoyingly slow. Windows Media Player doesn't play DVDs or Blu-ray disks - by choice! Even something as basic as the volume control locks up often. And so it goes.

The joys of computer use have diminished under Win 8. I am beaten down. I look longingly at Win 7 on Amazon and dream of better days ahead. Well, that is my story. Thank you for listening.

[The Black Douglas]

i've never understood how an operating system can be exciting, it's like chefs who are passionate about food.

i still miss xp, IF ITS NOT BROKE DONT FIX IT (UNLESS YOU WANT TO FORCE USERS INTO A TRAP THAT FORCES THEM TO CONFORM TO THE CYBER FASCIST MIND CONTROLLERS, BUT STILL GIVE THEM ENOUGH GIMMICK SO THEY CAN SHOW OFF TO THEIR LADYBOY INTERNET BRIDES)

i'm sure W8 will be lovely.

[Sigurd]

Got Win8 on two machines (laptop + desktop). Best thing that happened to OS since Win2000.
Have a win7 laptop as well and it feels "old".

The only aber I had was a blue outlook, but I survived that and are now enjoying the new simplistic office 2013.
The "old" start menu (<- win7) is odd looking these days.


edit: Hahaha... watching that youtube clip in OP, I notice they are speaking Norwegian in the first clip (after the Polish/Russian chick on the phone) where the co-worker throws himself across the desks and attacks his colleague.

[Husar]

i've never understood how an operating system can be exciting, it's like chefs who are passionate about food.

i still miss xp, IF ITS NOT BROKE DONT FIX IT (UNLESS YOU WANT TO FORCE USERS INTO A TRAP THAT FORCES THEM TO CONFORM TO THE CYBER FASCIST MIND CONTROLLERS, BUT STILL GIVE THEM ENOUGH GIMMICK SO THEY CAN SHOW OFF TO THEIR LADYBOY INTERNET BRIDES)

i'm sure W8 will be lovely.

Most people have forgotten this apparently but when XP was first released, people hated it even more than the y hate Windows 8 now. There were several reasons:

- it was too colourful, made for children, green start buttons are child's play and grey is what real nerds want on their computer
- it was based on Windows NT, a work system for companies, games even had issues with it sometimes and self-respecting gamers would stay with 98 (SE) or the horrible ME.
- it was totally buggy, seriously, the older ones were far more refined and how could Microsoft dare to release such a broken OS
- it was too slow, the horrible candy graphics for children were needlessly taking away up to 3%* of peoples' fps and it was a real atrocity that noone needed


*number is made up

This stuff repeats with almost every new Windows, people will find something to complain about while the new CoD that is even more the same as last year's iteration is totally awesome and breaks all sales records yet again. I wouldn't claim that Windows 8 is super awesome, I'm just a little tired by people complaining about every change Microsoft makes even though quite a few changes are usually for the better and allow for better utilization of hardware and so on. I remember how much people used to hate the glass interface when Vista was released and now I heard someone say Windows 8 looks bad because it doesn't have the shiny glass look...

Bonus:

[Lemur]

[W]hen XP was first released, people hated it even more than the y hate Windows 8 now.

Eh, that wasn't true in the circles I traveled back in the day. Most of us were on Windows 2000, and the general verdict was, "It's Win2k with better drivers." Which, in fact, it turned out to be.

Of course, Windows 2000 was the last decent OS released by MSoft without Windows Genuine Advantage (paging George Orwell, paging George Orwell), so in a way it was the last great hurrah.

[Husar]

Eh, that wasn't true in the circles I traveled back in the day. Most of us were on Windows 2000, and the general verdict was, "It's Win2k with better drivers." Which, in fact, it turned out to be.

It may depend on circles, yes. IIRC Win 2000 was mostly a work-OS and was quite a bit problematic for gaming (because of the driver issues and stuff), at least early on. Back in 2000 I was also in the middle of highschool so maybe I just didn't hang out so much with productive grownups at the time.[/QUOTE]

Of course, Windows 2000 was the last decent OS released by MSoft without Windows Genuine Advantage (paging George Orwell, paging George Orwell), so in a way it was the last great hurrah.

Yeah, there was also all this talk about mainboard chips that will only allow MS-certified software to run becoming mandatory with Vista and so on but I still haven't seen any of this really scary stuff. At least until now I can install almost any program from the internets without my Windows telling me the chip does not allow it. There is some issue with installing some really uncertified old drivers in Windows 8 (I tried because I have a really old scanner that only works with a modified driver for a newer but similar scanner since Vista/7), but apparently that can be worked around by turning certain protections off. Not the simplest task though.

[caravel]

If you have a touch screen, the Windows8 interface kinda works.

Otherwise, it's just mystifying why they decided to do things the way they did. Why force desktop users to run "apps" full screen? Why force a jumble of icons over an organized Start menu? Why force gestures over clicks and keystrokes?

They're trying to force a tablet experience onto the desktop. Why? Apple successfully maintains a separate desktop & touchscreen OS- they didn't try to cram them together. I suspect Microsoft did so because their mobile offerings weren't gaining any traction, so they thought they could leverage their PC dominance into the mobile market by unifying the OS.

gnome-shell is an effort to do the same thing - essentially it's a smartphone/tablet GUI.

but I still haven't seen any of this really scary stuff

Have a read about secureboot and UEFI, particularly with respect to ARM chips.

[Beskar]

Most people have forgotten this apparently but when XP was first released, people hated it even more than the y hate Windows 8 now. There were several reasons:

- it was too colourful, made for children, green start buttons are child's play and grey is what real nerds want on their computer
- it was based on Windows NT, a work system for companies, games even had issues with it sometimes and self-respecting gamers would stay with 98 (SE) or the horrible ME.
- it was totally buggy, seriously, the older ones were far more refined and how could Microsoft dare to release such a broken OS
- it was too slow, the horrible candy graphics for children were needlessly taking away up to 3%* of peoples' fps and it was a real atrocity that noone needed

You forgot the programmes "XP-Antispy" etc, people used to get, as Microsoft fit the OS is government tracking devices and software so they can download all your secrets over your 56k modem and this intrusion on our civil liberties will get worse.