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[Junior Mint]

I didn't understand the hate for it until my dad got a windows 8 laptop and I had to help set it up for him.

It just makes no sense the way they set up full screen apps vs desktop.

If they treated the metro apps as a desktop program instead of treating the desktop as a metro app I'm sure there would have been far less complaints.

I can't even count the number of times I've seen people leave the default settings and every single fucking jpeg/image file opens up in Metro.

 

[Azih]

People keep saying this, but, I'm sorry, it's simply not true.

Having had to go from a Windows 7 machine with a SSD boot drive to a Windows 8 machine with a traditional hard drive for boot has been downright painful. I simply can't stand it - not only in startup itself, but from the desktop loading to actually being able to do anything. It's horrible.

Sure, it may be faster than Windows 7 on a regular HD. But, people comparing it to using a SSD in any way, shape or form is just absurd.

Well I think EatinOlives is just comparing Windows 7 on HD boot to Windows 8 on HD boot time not saying anything about not 'needing' an SSD.

And yeah, the Metro picture viewer is the worst thing ever compared to the bog standard desktop one. I think that turns more people off Windows 8 than anything else.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

Anecodatal evidence: this is how we've always done it at work. All our HP desktop PCs used to come with Vista or Windows 7 preloaded, the IT department put XP on it since that was the company standard. Nowadays new HP desktops come with Windows 8 and we put Windows 7 SP1 on those.

I bet this is very, very common.

I work in IT. Let me assure you we build ONE volume image to put on each HD. We don't go computer to computer and reinstall Windows on a brand new machine.

This number doesn't include volume anyway.

 

[Netrunner2k2]

I didn't understand the hate for it until my dad got a windows 8 laptop and I had to help set it up for him.

It just makes no sense the way they set up full screen apps vs desktop.

If they treated the metro apps as a desktop program instead of treating the desktop as a metro app I'm sure there would have been far less complaints.

I hear you, man. My mom got a Windows 8 laptop and so did the other ladies where she works. They all grumble about Windows 8 on a daily basis. Only recently, after installing Windows 8.1, has the grumbling lessened.

 

[ymmv]

I'm actually going to go ahead and claim that I liked the jump from Windows 8 from 7 than I did the jump from Vista to 7.

Vista to 7 was barely a change at all. Having used Vista for the last year leading up to 7, I found it hilarious that people were throwing parades that 7 was so amazing, because other than a few additions like Jump Lists Vista and 7 were virtually identical at that time. It was pretty much a marketing rebrand.

7 to 8 was huge. After a couple of changes to the default settings the experience was far smoother. It's got some really neat things, specifically the Task Manager has been completely overhauled and is WAY more informative in what your system is doing. Somme of the visualization is great too, like graphing the speed at which your system transfers files between drives/USB thumb drives, etc.

On a technical level it's also really impressive. The optimizations are unbelievable, especially when you pair it with an SSD. Considering how old the Windows OS is, I'm amazed they were able to optimize it this well. And they seem to have finally got rid of the "Windows + Time = sludgy as shit" problem. I haven't had to reinstall the Windows partition in my computer since I installed Windows 8. The bootup is blazing fast and I still haven't even upgraded to an SSD on my main machine. It jumps between traditional windows and the elaborate Metro stuff through snapping and shit blazingly fast. It must've been a bitch to code, but it works like a dream.

And some of the metro stuff is amazing. On my surface I don't use anything other than Metro IE, even when I'm operating in "desktop mode" (hook up a USB hub, mouse+keyboard+hook up to a 1080p display). It's by far, the best tablet internet browser. It spanks any browser on a mobile device, even chrome on iPad.

So yeah, I'm seriously impressed with W8, especially after 8.1. Anyone claiming it's "bad" in any way has no fucking clue what they're talking about.

Windows 8 would have been a GREAT OS if it weren't for Metro. It's no coincidence that most fans barely mention Metro apps (and usually say they've learned to live with the Metro start menu).

 

[StudioTan]

Anecodatal evidence: this is how we've always done it at work. All our HP desktop PCs used to come with Vista or Windows 7 preloaded, the IT department put XP on it since that was the company standard. Nowadays new HP desktops come with Windows 8 and we put Windows 7 SP1 on those.

I bet this is very, very common.

So your company did the same thing with Windows 7 meaning that a) it has nothing to do with how good the OS is and b) Windows 7 software sales (according to your logic) were also inflated meaning the comparison in total sales is still valid. Assuming of course enterprise sales are included in this number.

 

[Keyouta]

I'm really liking 8.1. Pretty impressive where sales are considering the backlash against the OS.

 

[terrisus]

Well I think EatinOlives is just comparing Windows 7 on HD boot to Windows 8 on HD boot time not saying anything about not 'needing' an SSD.

If that's the case, fair enough, I can't really compare it.

But, I've seen far too many people say things like "Windows 8's bootup is so fast it like having an SSD!" or something.
And, that's just a complete joke, and the notion needs to be completely wiped out.

 

[ymmv]

I work in IT. Let me assure you we build ONE volume image to put on each HD. We don't go computer to computer and reinstall Windows on a brand new machine.

This number doesn't include volume anyway.

My point was that our desktop PCs came with a newer version of Windows than the image we put on those. At work we use SCCM to deploy our default Windows 7 image to each and every new machine.

We use KMS to license 10,000 PCs. The Windows OEM licenses that come with those HP desktops are most likely counted by MS but are never used.

 

[speculawyer]

Congrats on your near-monopoly product being able sell!

 

[PetriP-TNT]

If that's the case, fair enough, I can't really compare it.

But, I've seen far too many people say things like "Windows 8's bootup is so fast it like having an SSD!" or something.
And, that's just a complete joke, and the notion needs to be completely wiped out.

My Windows 8 home PC with regular HDD is in same working order (ie. Steam on, Chrome on) in same time as my Windows 8 work PC with SSDs, which is pretty much instantly. Yay anecdotal evidence.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

My point was that our desktop PCs came with a newer version of Windows than the image we put on those. At work we use SCCM to deploy our default Windows 7 image to each and every new machine.

We use KMS to license 10,000 PCs. The Windows OEM licenses that come with those HP desktops are most likely counted by MS but are never used.

Were they bought in a quantity more than one to a business address?

Because then they wouldn't count in this number and I doubt your business really got 10,000 licenses.

Try taking that serial activation from one of those computers that never used Win 7 and try using it on a similar OS install and version at home

 

[MercuryLS]

I feel dirty that I contributed to this by buying a work PC where this pile of shit came pre-loaded on it. It would have been nice to have a choice.

 

[VanquishUK]

So...300 million pirated copies?

 

[Gannd]

My problem with Windows 8 is that Microsoft rushed to make their OS mobile/touch friendly when most people still use a PC the traditional way. If Metro was an add-on and not the focus of the OS, I think it would be fine. If I booted straight into a desktop that looked and worked just like Windows 7 but with all the under the hood improvements and the other stuff was something that I had to choose to load into, that would be fine.

Windows 8 is confusing as well. My parents got a new laptop and they didn't know how to use the device. They are 62 years old and they are not willing to learn how to use a new interface at their age with how much they use a computer. It was just a really bad idea to try to force people into using a computer the way that hundreds of millions of people do not use. People talk about the growth in mobile but the PC is already out there.

 

[davepoobond]

My problem with Windows 8 is that Microsoft rushed to make their OS mobile/touch friendly when most people still use a PC the traditional way. If Metro was an add-on and not the focus of the OS, I think it would be fine. If I booted straight into a desktop that looked and worked just like Windows 7 but with all the under the hood improvements and the other stuff was something that I had to choose to load into, that would be fine.

Windows 8 is confusing as well. My parents got a new laptop and they didn't know how to use the device. They are 62 years old and they are not willing to learn how to use a new interface at their age with how much they use a computer. It was just a really bad idea to try to force people into using a computer the way that hundreds of millions of people do not use. People talk about the growth in mobile but the PC is already out there.

To be fair people like your parents barely know how to use a computer any way you give it to them. "New" UI or not.

 

[Kite]

Wow people are still having issues with windows 8 when it's been out for how long? Maybe you aren't as good with computers or your aren't as mentally agile as you think you are. Maybe now you know how your parents feel all this newfangled technology, soon it'll be you~

 

[Herne]

Once you bypass Metro, Windows 8 is fine, really. It's reasonably fast, but improvements such as more details and options in file copying and task manager and all that are things that we should have been given long ago, so I don't really equate them with Windows 8, and see them more as something Microsoft finally got off their rears to implement. I'm still on Windows 7 on my desktop, and see no reason to upgrade soon - I only have 8 on my laptop because that has an ssd and the performance is better there.

While it does boot very fast, actually getting to a useable desktop and then a fully loaded desktop isn't nearly as fast. And even bypassing Metro, stuff still really annoys me, the way they try to hide everything and keep it behind the scenes... that shit is really annoying.

What's even more annoying is that the Asus software keeps bringing up the damned charms bar occasionally, even though I've disabled side swipes in the software, have installed WinAero Charms Bar Killer and have also disabled it in Classic Menu. It just keeps coming back - the fix is to enable and disable it in the Asus touchpad software, but it's really annoying that I can't kill it and remove it completely. A horribly annoying thing, that.

Wow people are still having issues with windows 8 when it's been out for how long? Maybe you aren't as good with computers or your aren't as mentally agile as you think you are. Maybe now you know how your parents feel all this newfangled technology, soon it'll be you~

Posts like this are worthless. Many people just don't like the way Windows 8 works, there's no reason to belittle them for it.