Introducing Microsoft Windows 8

Postby **Bobtheduck** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 12:41 am

I saw this on CNET, I think. Wasn't a fan of the idea, but it may grow on me. Prolly have to wait for windows 9 for the kinks to be worked out (like Vista to 7) And, of course, the interface alone suggests they'll be dumbing things down. Many features were lost between XP and 7 (The search is now gimped beyond belief, for one) and I'm sure it will be the same there. Anyhow...

Postby **shooraijin** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 9:20 am

I like Metro in concept, but I'm concerned about the discoverability of some of their features. (And I despise the ribbon.)

Postby **TheMewster** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 1:23 pm

I HAAAAAAAAAAAATE Metro already. Plus, no start menu in the desktop version (which I expect Microsoft to throw out the window next release.) Also they have stuff on there that prevents dual booting, I heard. So yeah, not impressed with Windows 8. AT ALL.

Postby **Xeno** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:01 pm

shooraijin (post: 1536689) wrote:(And I despise the ribbon.)

If there weren't enough other reasons for me to have switched to OS X back in 2008 the ribbon that was infiltrating MS products was enough. It truly is a despicable thing.

Postby **TheMewster** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 1:49 pm

What is the ribbon? I've never heard that term before.

Postby **Xeno** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 1:56 pm

TheMewster (post: 1537579) wrote:What is the ribbon? I've never heard that term before.

This is the ribbon. The grouping of graphical sub-menus into seemingly random sets.

Postby **armeck** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:00 pm

would not using internet explorer take care of the ribbon? I mean after all ie is the moat worthless piece or crap known to man

Postby **TheMewster** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 5:32 pm

Hey, armeck, don't insult ie. It IS a useful tool for downloading Firefox or Chrome. XD

Postby **Xeno** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:59 pm

armeck (post: 1540163) wrote:would not using internet explorer take care of the ribbon? I mean after all ie is the moat worthless piece or crap known to man

The Ribbon is going to exist throughout all of Windows 8, not just Internet Explorer, but Windows Explorer itself, Office applications as it has for a number of years now, and other MS programs. It's replacing the old File, Edit, View, Etc. menus entirely. This is one of the biggest saving graces of OS X as far as I can see, it still has those no matter the interface of the actual program, the universal tool bar atop the screen still has those.

Postby **Arya Raiin** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 11:48 am

Downloaded the consumer product preview. Should be... interesting. o.O Windows seems to be making itself easier and easier for people who have a hard time using computer. But, for people like us who are good with computers it seems to be pretty inconvenient. :/ I mean, if I can't dual boot there's no way that I'm going to want to buy Windows 8.

Postby **ADXC** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 12:55 pm

Personally, Windows 8 looks too complicated and does not look that user friendly (Especially to those of us who have used XP or 7 for the better part of our lives.). Either I will stick with my reliable Windows 7 or (If I can get the money) switch over to Mac.

Microsoft is doing inventive things I think, but it's not really something that I "need" in an OS.

Postby **Xeno** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 1:03 pm

I tried the dev preview of Windows 8, and, um...no thanks. I've said on many occasions that while I don't necessarily like Windows, I could use Windows 7 as my primary OS if I had to. Windows 8 seems entirely too clunky for a desktop operating system with the way it transitions between the Metro UI and the KDE-lookalike UI that Win7 has. I just got a new iMac about a month ago, so I'll stick with OS X for the foreseeable future.

Postby **ADXC** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 1:14 pm

Ah I am jealous. XD Maybe one day I'll be able to afford a Mac and won't have to figure out Windows OSs anymore. XD

Postby **TheMewster** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 3:14 pm

So far I think the best part of windows 8, from what I've seen, is that the price of Windows 7 should hopefully go down, so I can upgrade when XP support ends. Either that or teach mom to use Linux.

Postby **Midori** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 4:19 pm

I...um...

I like the ribbon...

Postby **Garland** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 11:58 am

This is what bothers me the most:

I like the normal interface and I feel like this style should stay on the mobile machines, as it makes sense there. I guess it's the start menu or something, but it still annoys me.

I can live with the ribbon, but I prefer traditional menus.

Postby **Xeno** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:49 pm

Garland (post: 1565097) wrote:This is what bothers me the most:

I like the normal interface and I feel like this style should stay on the mobile machines, as it makes sense there. I guess it's the start menu or something, but it still annoys me.

I can live with the ribbon, but I prefer traditional menus.

Whoops. Sorry about that necro post.

Yes, this is the "start menu" interface for Windows 8. How unbelievably clunky is that? You're right, it would look great on a tablet. It already works great on Windows Phone (not to be confused with Windows Mobile). But in a desktop environment, it just seems useless for most things aside from being able to quickly hop to the weather or stocks app, which as far as I can tell are actual "apps" now and not gadgets like they used to be.

Then the programs list is off to the side of that screen as what appeared to be cluttered mess to me, though it was trying to read all the programs on my Mac when I was running it in Parallels, so that may have had something to do with it. It seemed less usable than OS X's app springboard that it pulled from iOS which I never use (I open programs from Spotlight if they're not one of the few items in my Dock).

Postby **mechana2015** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:58 pm

My actual response on seeing that picture:

"What on earth is that supposed to be? How is that useful?"

Postby **Midori** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 5:10 pm

mechana2015 (post: 1565701) wrote:My actual response on seeing that picture:

"What on earth is that supposed to be? How is that useful?"

It appears to be designed for the oft-neglected target audience of people with five-inch-wide fingers/pointers.

Postby **Technomancer** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 5:27 pm

I understood that you were supposed to be able to set it up so that you could get the ordinary desktop feel. I'll probably have to do the up-grade for work reasons. *Really* not looking forward to it though, but I need to find out if there are any suprises in store for us regarding our software. I very definitely don't want to have to put up with the same kind of nonsense that I did with the whole 32-bit to 64-bit transition.

Postby **Xeno** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 2:20 pm

Not sure if anyone saw this or not, but apparently Microsoft is planning on offering upgrades to Win8 from XP, Vista, and Win7 for $40. I'm not sure how long they plan to do this, or how much they intend to sell the non-upgrade version of the OS for, but it's kind of interesting.

Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9228745/Microsoft_unveils_40_Windows_8_upgrade

Postby **Bobtheduck** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 6:35 pm

The worst thing about this is I'll be forced to use it with my next computer if I don't buy a new computer SOON.

Introducing Microsoft Windows 8

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