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[Duxxy3]

It's in 2, and having everything available with 2 clicks is much more efficient than trying to navigate the Start menu.

You think a scrolling list and twirling down folders is efficient?

I find that having everything in one place is more efficient than in multiple places.

I have used every windows OS and this along with ME are the only ones i would not for their place and time.

Pin your most used applications to the taskbar/start screen/desktop and search for the others.

I support a lot other people, not just myself.

 

[Lynn616]

Searching is not as efficient. Which is why i prefer the start menu over it.

I'm just point out that arguably the best way to get around in windows 8, using search, is not very efficient and is no better or worse than the search function that was already in windows 7.

It is not as efficient and it is no better or worse? You lost me.

Anyway I explained to you why it was just as efficient as the old start menu. I also explained why it was better.

Read it again.

Start screen is the exact same as the old start menu. Just start typing and there is all your settings, apps and files right there. You also will have access to quickly search within all your other apps from that same search. It is far more powerful and useful than the old start menu.

 

[StudioTan]

I find that having everything in one place is more efficient than in multiple places.

No, what's efficient is getting to things quickly. You're confusing how quickly you can access something with where it is kept.

Also interesting that you ignored my question. As you said, search is the same so lets move to mouse only actions. Let's say I want to launch Darksiders. On Windows 8 the tile is in my Games section, 2 clicks away. In Windows 7 I need to click Start, scroll down, click THQ, click Darksiders II folder, click game launcher. Even if I didn't sort my Start screen icons into categories in Windows 8 I just need to click the left corner, flick my mouse wheel and click the big tile which is easy to find and click because it's large.

If you want more evidence that having everything in one place does not necessarily make things more efficent:

 

[Smash88]

Looks like they still refuse to allow us to automatically boot to Desktop.

I thought with Blue they would listen. Guess they got their heads so far up their asses they'll just be blissfully ignorant.

Looks like I'm sticking with Windows 7 with my new build.

 

[campfireweekend]

Looks like they still refuse to allow us to automatically boot to Desktop.

I thought with Blue they would listen. Guess they got their heads so far up their asses they'll just be blissfully ignorant.

Looks like I'm sticking with Windows 7 with my new build.

Do you really hate the fact that metro even exists and can't bear to see it for a millisecond? There are some legitimate faults in windows 8 but I've never considered this an important one.

 

[StudioTan]

Looks like they still refuse to allow us to automatically boot to Desktop.

I thought with Blue they would listen. Guess they got their heads so far up their asses they'll just be blissfully ignorant.

Looks like I'm sticking with Windows 7 with my new build.

It makes the most sense since generally when you boot your computer you do so to launch a program and your programs are all there on the Start page. It also provides you with instant information via live tiles. So when my computer boots I can see things like weather, social media updates, emails, IMs, stock information or whatever at a glance without having to open multiple applications or websites.

Also, if desktop is your first tile you can just hit enter. It literally takes you less than a second to get to the desktop.

 

[Duxxy3]

No, what's efficient is getting to things quickly. You're confusing how quickly you can access something with where it is kept.

Also interesting that you ignored my question. As you said, search is the same so lets move to mouse only actions. Let's say I want to launch Darksiders. On Windows 8 the tile is in my Games section, 2 clicks away. In Windows 7 I need to click Start, scroll down, click THQ, click Darksiders II folder, click game launcher. Even if I didn't sort my Start screen icons into categories in Windows 8 I just need to click the left corner, flick my mouse wheel and click the big tile which is easy to find and click because it's large.

If you want more evidence that having everything in one place does not necessarily make things more efficent:

I think this is where we diverge then. I absolutely believe that the one stop shop start menu is by far and away better than the multiple locations in windows 8.

This isn't taking into account any desktop shortcuts, which is where i put my game shortcuts on my home PC. As soon as i get to work though i can't count on any customization. All i can count on are the constants and how quickly i can access those constants.

With windows 7 i can find everything i need under the start menu. Anything i need to do can be done quickly under that. With windows 8 the safest way to move around is win+x and search. Right there my efficiency has gone down the tubes.

 

[Zizbuka]

I'm having weird issues with Win8. When I copy files, sometimes in the middle explorer (not internet explorer) resets itself. Then some of my programs (rain meter) don't restart. Very annoying.

When the time comes to rebuild my desktop, I'll probably go back to Win 7. Metro, and some of the apps were cool for a while, but I never use it any more. Win 8 is like WP8 for me, kinda cool and different, but leaves me wanting more.

 

[StudioTan]

I think this is where we diverge then. I absolutely believe that the one stop shop start menu is by far and away better than the multiple locations in windows 8.

This isn't taking into account any desktop shortcuts, which is where i put my game shortcuts on my home PC. As soon as i get to work though i can't count on any customization. All i can count on are the constants and how quickly i can access those constants.

With windows 7 i can find everything i need under the start menu. Anything i need to do can be done quickly under that. With windows 8 the safest way to move around is win+x and search. Right there my efficiency has gone down the tubes.

You're still ignoring my example which, basically as Schuey says, just means you have no interest in actually finding out the fast way to do things, you've already made up your mind about which is faster despite all evidence to the contrary. Especially when you say the Win+X menu isn't efficient, that's simply lying to try to make a point.

I'm having weird issues with Win8. When I copy files, sometimes in the middle explorer (not internet explorer) resets itself. Then some of my programs (rain meter) don't restart. Very annoying.

This is weird, my gf has been having the exact same issue recently. I was going troubleshoot it tomorrow. It's not happening to me.

 

[Razdek]

If it sucks then what is an iPad or Android tablet? It sure as hell kicks the shit out of all of them.

Win RT is horrible and what makes it better than an iPad or Android tablet. If you say Office then what's going to happen when Office eventually comes to both ecosystems? The Marketplace is a wasteland still after all these months and developers aren't creating the popular apps for it.

 

[MCD]

Win RT is horrible and what makes it better than an iPad or Android tablet. If you say Office then what's going to happen when Office eventually comes to both ecosystems? The Marketplace is a wasteland still after all these months and developers aren't creating the popular apps for it.

MS just bribed $25 to the devs. Just you wait!

 

[Razdek]

MS just bribed $25 to the devs. Just you wait!

Lol that incentive. I'm trying to think what MS can do to get developers excited about the platform but can't think of any. They have a tough challenge ahead of them for sure.

 

[Duxxy3]

You're still ignoring my example which, basically as Schuey says, just means you have no interest in actually finding out the fast way to do things, you've already made up your mind about which is faster despite all evidence to the contrary. Especially when you say the Win+X menu isn't efficient, that's simply lying to try to make a point.

What evidence? I have my tried the operating system going from pre-release versions all the way to 8 pro on tablets and my opinion did not change once during all that time. All that matters to me is that I can do my job far more efficiently on a clients windows XP or 7 machine.

On a side note, I have two friends that bought windows 8 laptops in the past few months against my recommendation and both have asked multiple times about downgrades. If the way to downgrade wasn't so ridiculous, both would be running 7 right now.

 

[StudioTan]

What evidence?

How long would it take you launch a program in the Star menu that is buried at the bottom of your list and 2 folders deep?

How would you find a little used program that you don't know the name and launch it from your Start menu quickly?

How many clicks does it take you get to Disk Management from the Start menu assuming default location?

On a side note, I have two friends that bought windows 8 laptops in the past few months against my recommendation and both have asked multiple times about downgrades. If the way to downgrade wasn't so ridiculous, both would be running 7 right now.

That's great, I installed Windows 8 on my girlfriend's machine and my nephew's touch tablet and both are very happy. Anecdotal evidence doesn't mean much.

 

[killer rin]

I now officially hate Oracle even more than I currently did. I installed the Oracle Visual Studio database tool on my Windows 8 Touch Laptop so I can work on my school assignment, and it gave me a bluescreen with a Kernel panic. Whenever I restart the computer it says "Preparing Automatic Repair" then the loading circles come up... and then the screen goes black and nothing will happen for a minute or two until the mouse comes up. I now only have the mouse showing on a black screen and I have no clue what to do other than wait. Hopefully it fixes itself

Edit: Aand nope. The computer hasn't done anything for the past 40 minutes. Tried to manual boot into advanced settings through Shift+f8 and its wont boot up. I'll have to manually make a bootable USB Key and see if I can force it to repair that way :\

 

[TheLaughingStock]

Win RT is horrible and what makes it better than an iPad or Android tablet. If you say Office then what's going to happen when Office eventually comes to both ecosystems? The Marketplace is a wasteland still after all these months and developers aren't creating the popular apps for it.

The search, touch gestures, and driver support is better. And Office will be intentionally limited on those devices by MS.

 

[netBuff]

What evidence? I have my tried the operating system going from pre-release versions all the way to 8 pro on tablets and my opinion did not change once during all that time. All that matters to me is that I can do my job far more efficiently on a clients windows XP or 7 machine.

On a side note, I have two friends that bought windows 8 laptops in the past few months against my recommendation and both have asked multiple times about downgrades. If the way to downgrade wasn't so ridiculous, both would be running 7 right now.

Get them to buy Stardock's Start8 and ModernMix - these two programs are very cheap and fix most complaints.

How long would it take you launch a program in the Star menu that is buried at the bottom of your list and 2 folders deep?

How would you find a little used program that you don't know the name and launch it from your Start menu quickly?

How many clicks does it take you get to Disk Management from the Start menu assuming default location?



That's great, I installed Windows 8 on my girlfriend's machine and my nephew's touch tablet and both are very happy. Anecdotal evidence doesn't mean much.

The Start Menu is much more suited to a keyboard/mouse environment, it is much more efficient and clear. I also like that it provides easy access to program-specific "recent files".

All evidence points to the "Modern" Windows 8 experience not being very popular: OEMs preinstalling start-menu replacements, slow adoption rate and terrible Surface sales.

I've had the same experience with people I know: No one likes the very inefficient Windows 8 setup on a laptop. Instead of improving some long-standing problems the Windows 7 desktop had, Microsoft added another layer of complexity that further obfuscates many common tasks.

Windows 8 is a terrible OS on the desktop, and it's a bad competitor in the tablet world - both Android and iOS are much better.

Windows RT is just useless all around.

The search, touch gestures, and driver support is better. And Office will be intentionally limited on those devices by MS.

Touch gestures and driver support? Really?

It's a very dangerous game to intentionally gimp a product like Office - Microsoft may very well be on the path to losing its dominance, especially with Google Apps gaining popularity in companies.

 

[PG2G]

Windows 8 is a terrible OS on the desktop, and it's a bad competitor in the tablet world - both Android and iOS are much better.

Windows RT is just useless all around.

How are Android and iOS better on a tablet?

 

[AnkitT]

I think the liquid daffodil apps have gone free or maybe some promo offer is going on. Get yer twitter apps(gleek, cowlick, etc.) now.

edit: damn, they went back to paid now it seems.

 

[Duxxy3]

Get them to buy Stardock's Start8 and ModernMix - these two programs are very cheap and fix most complaints.

Matter of fact I did tell them to get Start8, rather than paying for a new copy of windows 7.

 

[btrboyev]

Why not use classic shell? It's free and works really great and is 100% customizable.

 

[TheLaughingStock]

Get them to buy Stardock's Start8 and ModernMix - these two programs are very cheap and fix most complaints.



The Start Menu is much more suited to a keyboard/mouse environment, it is much more efficient and clear. I also like that it provides easy access to program-specific "recent files".

All evidence points to the "Modern" Windows 8 experience not being very popular: OEMs preinstalling start-menu replacements, slow adoption rate and terrible Surface sales.

I've had the same experience with people I know: No one likes the very inefficient Windows 8 setup on a laptop. Instead of improving some long-standing problems the Windows 7 desktop had, Microsoft added another layer of complexity that further obfuscates many common tasks.

Windows 8 is a terrible OS on the desktop, and it's a bad competitor in the tablet world - both Android and iOS are much better.

Windows RT is just useless all around.



Touch gestures and driver support? Really?

It's a very dangerous game to intentionally gimp a product like Office - Microsoft may very well be on the path to losing its dominance, especially with Google Apps gaining popularity in companies.

The touch gestures for navigation, task switching, and multitasking are better relative to the other two. Additionally, peripherals that I own playing nice with the device makes it useful for my needs. If it wasn't initially clear that what I was referring to. As far as office, we were never going to see macros or anything like that so for some its gimped by default, In any case, there's no significant cannibalization via Google so what else is dangerous?

 

[StudioTan]

The Start Menu is much more suited to a keyboard/mouse environment, it is much more efficient and clear. I also like that it provides easy access to program-specific "recent files".

All evidence points to the "Modern" Windows 8 experience not being very popular: OEMs preinstalling start-menu replacements, slow adoption rate and terrible Surface sales.

I've had the same experience with people I know: No one likes the very inefficient Windows 8 setup on a laptop. Instead of improving some long-standing problems the Windows 7 desktop had, Microsoft added another layer of complexity that further obfuscates many common tasks.

Windows 8 is a terrible OS on the desktop, and it's a bad competitor in the tablet world - both Android and iOS are much better.

Windows RT is just useless all around.

So you quote me, and then instead of actually addressing what I said and answering the questions I asked you go into the same vague spiel of of the Start menu being better without providing any evidence as to why. Personally I never used recent files from icons, although that's a good example. I just use recent files within whatever program I open since 95% of programs I use have that in the File menu. It still doesn't mean the Start menu isn't very slow and inefficient in many situations such as the ones I described.

Sales don't enter into it, if it did the OSX would be considered a horrible OS because Windows has almost 20 times the market share of Macs.

As for comparing iOS and Android to Windows 8 on a tablet I would love to know what you consider superior about the actual OSes.

 

[surly]

Looks like they still refuse to allow us to automatically boot to Desktop.

I thought with Blue they would listen. Guess they got their heads so far up their asses they'll just be blissfully ignorant.

Looks like I'm sticking with Windows 7 with my new build.

I really can't understand why that alone is the make or break point for some people. You have to click the left mouse button once, or press 1 key on your keyboard and you're at the desktop.

For me, the first thing I do when I turn on my PC is fire up either my email client or web browser, so clicking an icon on the Metro screen launches the program and takes me to the desktop in one go anyway. It's the same with any desktop application where you have a shortcut on the Metro screen.

It's such a trivial complaint.

 

[buhdeh]

Damn people are still arguing about Windows 8, haha.

My take: been using it since launch and the Metro start menu is still as useless as the day I got it. I have literally not opened a single app in there since the first week. Honestly, there really is no reason for it to be there for anything without a touchscreen. Rest of the OS is fine albeit ugly as hell.

 

[netBuff]

So you quote me, and then instead of actually addressing what I said and answering the questions I asked you go into the same vague spiel of of the Start menu being better without providing any evidence as to why. Personally I never used recent files from icons, although that's a good example. I just use recent files within whatever program I open since 95% of programs I use have that in the File menu. It still doesn't mean the Start menu isn't very slow and inefficient in many situations such as the ones I described.

Instead of asking very strange and non-reality based questions, why don't you tell us first why you think "Modern" is better suited to those tasks than a start menu? I see much more potential in refining the start menu: Having an impractical, unsorted, full-screen UI instead doesn't increase discoverability of programs.

Sales don't enter into it, if it did the OSX would be considered a horrible OS because Windows has almost 20 times the market share of Macs.

That's absolutely true, many people also have bad taste: But sales can be an indicator.

As for comparing iOS and Android to Windows 8 on a tablet I would love to know what you consider superior about the actual OSes.

Simple: Android allows me to do everything I want on a tablet easily and comfortably while integrating into my desktop environment perfectly. That's not the case with Windows 8/RT - the tablet OS of future promises.

The touch gestures for navigation, task switching, and multitasking are better relative to the other two. Additionally, peripherals that I own playing nice with the device makes it useful for my needs. If it wasn't initially clear that what I was referring to. As far as office, we were never going to see macros or anything like that so for some its gimped by default, In any case, there's no significant cannibalization via Google so what else is dangerous?

That's highly subjective - Windows 8/RTs touch gestures seem very arbitrary and nonsensical, they are a far cry from the easy solutions Android and iOS provide. Microsoft's philosophy seems to be "menus everywhere".

Why not use classic shell? It's free and works really great and is 100% customizable.

Start8 & ModernMix are much more polished and nice looking experiences than Classic Shell (which has more functions, but most just want the start menu back) and they can also be recommended to anyone as they are very easy to set up.

 

[Mindwipe]

The search, touch gestures, and driver support is better.

Not really.

And Office will be intentionally limited on those devices by MS.

Office is intentionally limited on RT with the lack of Macros and AD support.

I'm sure the iOS version will be worse, but I'm not convinced there are that many customers in RT's particular sweet spot. They likely either need very little functionality or macros to work (such as any corportate. Ever.)

 

[Damon Bennet]

Snapping alone lifts windows 8 above ios and android as a tablet os. I was just playing fruit ninja via bluestacks, worked really well for beta software. Would not downgrade to anything else now, really.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

It's funny. I have all my Modern apps set up and tied into all my accounts, and I really want to love it, but fact of the matter is, once I get to my desktop, I never really even enter the Start Screen anymore.

Anyways, two things that I would like to see fixed in Blue that desperately needs to be done:

Make the Start Screen search work like Windows 7. If you're going to hide the filesystem from me, don't make it so friggin impossible to search for files, needing the whole name typed perfectly before it pops up.

Secondly, a notification center. How do you launch a tablet/smartphone/or even desktop OS these days without a notification center?

 

[brotkasten]

It's funny. I have all my Modern apps set up and tied into all my accounts, and I really want to love it, but fact of the matter is, once I get to my desktop, I never really even enter the Start Screen anymore.

Anyways, two things that I would like to see fixed in Blue that desperately needs to be done:

Make the Start Screen search work like Windows 7. If you're going to hide the filesystem from me, don't make it so friggin impossible to search for files, needing the whole name typed perfectly before it pops up.

Secondly, a notification center. How do you launch a tablet/smartphone/or even desktop OS these days without a notification center?

Someone on the Windows 8 team seems to think that live tiles are a good replacement for a notification center.

 

[elkayes]

It's funny. I have all my Modern apps set up and tied into all my accounts, and I really want to love it, but fact of the matter is, once I get to my desktop, I never really even enter the Start Screen anymore.

Anyways, two things that I would like to see fixed in Blue that desperately needs to be done:

Make the Start Screen search work like Windows 7. If you're going to hide the filesystem from me, don't make it so friggin impossible to search for files, needing the whole name typed perfectly before it pops up.

Secondly, a notification center. How do you launch a tablet/smartphone/or even desktop OS these days without a notification center?

Right there with you. The (very) few metro apps I´ve got installed are for situational use only. (Except for skype and Bing news, which has become my go-to app/website to keep up with current events). But I´m still in chrome/msoffice/foobar for over 95% of the time I use my laptop. The start screen really is just a glorified launcher right now.

Still worth the 15€ I´ve paid for it.

 

[clav]

Snapping alone lifts windows 8 above ios and android as a tablet os. I was just playing fruit ninja via bluestacks, worked really well for beta software. Would not downgrade to anything else now, really.

Is blue stacks available for Windows RT?

 

[Everdred]

Is blue stacks available for Windows RT?

Unfortunately, no.

 

[gblues]

I have finally been able to join Team Windows 8. Only had it a couple days and I've already found plenty to like:

- multi monitor handling. Praise baby Jesus, MS did something right and put the task bar on both screens instead of just the primary.

- improved task manager. Showed me what was making my pc take forever to become usable.

- with multiple monitors, I basically have boot-to-desktop. Suck it, whiners.

 

[Enco]

I've been using W8 since release and overall it's not too bad but there are some things that blow my mind.

1. The file explorer in metro mode. Holy shit what a horrendous load of crap. I dread attaching things to emails because it's so unintuitive.

2. The network settings menu. Why the FUCK can't you just click on a network and change it from private/public/home? Why on earth would you take this out? No reason at all.

 

[StudioTan]

Instead of asking very strange and non-reality based questions,

Are you serious? Non-reality based questions? Accessing Disk Management doesn't happen in reality? Launching a game doesn't happen in reality? You've never had to launch a program that you couldn't remember the name of? Which reality are you living in?

 

[MCD]

I've been using W8 since release and overall it's not too bad but there are some things that blow my mind.

1. The file explorer in metro mode. Holy shit what a horrendous load of crap. I dread attaching things to emails because it's so unintuitive.

2. The network settings menu. Why the FUCK can't you just click on a network and change it from private/public/home? Why on earth would you take this out? No reason at all.

This is even a bigger WTF:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com.../thread/ac430fa0-346e-4eb1-8ddd-d0dfedcf7d3e/

As for the public/Home thingy: http://community.spiceworks.com/how...-location-from-public-to-private-in-windows-8

Dumb but you can solve it without messing with the registry.

 

[netBuff]

Are you serious? Non-reality based questions? Accessing Disk Management doesn't happen in reality? Launching a game doesn't happen in reality? You've never had to launch a program that you couldn't remember the name of? Which reality are you living in?

What you were doing with your scenarios was adding artificial restrictions to these task to make the "Modern" screen seem more efficient, when it isn't - the start menu is much quicker at accessing all types of files, control panels as well as applications. Starting something using Windows + typing is also much less intrusive with an UI that isn't full screen.

I have finally been able to join Team Windows 8. Only had it a couple days and I've already found plenty to like:

- multi monitor handling. Praise baby Jesus, MS did something right and put the task bar on both screens instead of just the primary.

- improved task manager. Showed me what was making my pc take forever to become usable.

- with multiple monitors, I basically have boot-to-desktop. Suck it, whiners.

Yeah, I was able to retire a third-party utility that did the same for me in Windows 7. Pausing file transfers is another big improvement. But there is so much more that could be done, it's sad seeing the desktop languish like this.

This is even a bigger WTF:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com.../thread/ac430fa0-346e-4eb1-8ddd-d0dfedcf7d3e/

As for the public/Home thingy: http://community.spiceworks.com/how...-location-from-public-to-private-in-windows-8

Dumb but you can solve it without messing with the registry.

Just a few days ago, I was wondering where that UI went

 

[StudioTan]

What you were doing with your scenarios was adding artificial restrictions to these task to make the "Modern" screen seem more efficient, when it isn't - the start menu is much quicker at accessing all types of files, control panels as well as applications. Starting something using Windows + typing is also much less intrusive with an UI that isn't full screen.

What I was doing was giving real world examples of tasks I performed with the Start menu many times. Tasks that take longer in Windows 7 than they do in Windows 8. The claim was that the Start menu is more efficient. No, it isn't, not in many cases. I often work with my keyboard tucked under the desk because I'm working with a Wacom tablet or mouse only. Having to launch a program with the Start menu with mouse only is extremely slow and cumbersome. Whereas mouse, touch and keyboard input can all be efficiently used in Windows 8.

Win+typing takes exactly the same amount of time as it did in 7. We were talking efficiency, not whether something went full screen or not. You're just moving the goal posts.

 

[netBuff]

What I was doing was giving real world examples of tasks I performed with the Start menu many times. Tasks that take longer in Windows 7 than they do in Windows 8. The claim was that the Start menu is more efficient. No, it isn't, not in many cases. I often work with my keyboard tucked under the desk because I'm working with a Wacom tablet or mouse only. Having to launch a program with the Start menu with mouse only is extremely slow and cumbersome. Whereas mouse, touch and keyboard input can all be efficiently used in Windows 8.

Win+typing takes exactly the same amount of time as it did in 7. We were talking efficiency, not whether something went full screen or not. You're just moving the goal posts.

Seems like you are the one moving goal posts: Suddenly, you mention edge cases like currently using a graphics tablet while wanting to perform system maintenance functions?

And I still don't see how the three example tasks you listed are performed more efficiently on the Metro UI than with the regular start menu - all three of them seem much more suited that menu (and Windows 8 adds in the extra speciality of distributing system settings between two different control panels).

The start menu is much better for searching, as I don't have to remember whether to press Win, Win+Q or Win+W for a simple search. I press the Windows button, type something in and select a result - couldn't be simpler.

 

[StudioTan]

Seems like you are the one moving goal posts: Suddenly, you mention edge cases like currently using a graphics tablet while wanting to perform system maintenance functions?

And I still don't see how the three example tasks you listed are performed more efficiently on the Metro UI than with the regular start menu - all three of them seem much more suited that menu (and Windows 8 adds in the extra speciality of distributing system settings between two different control panels).

The start menu is much better for searching, as I don't have to remember whether to press Win, Win+Q or Win+W for a simple search. I press the Windows button, type something in and select a result - couldn't be simpler.

I mentioned a tablet and mouse. Did you miss the mouse part? Do you think everyone launches programs by searching for them? Did you also ignore the crux of the conversation you jumped into? Perhaps you can go back and read the conversation to understand why I mentioned accessing a system function like Disk Management.

Your other question was also addressed. I gave a real world example of launching a program. Go back and read and maybe you'll understand why it's faster to use a mouse with the Metro launcher as opposed to the Start menu folder hierarchy system.

Your last complaint about unified search is changed with the next update of Windows, so you'll be happy there.

 

[netBuff]

I mentioned a tablet and mouse. Did you miss the mouse part? Do you think everyone launches programs by searching for them? Did you also ignore the crux of the conversation you jumped into? Perhaps you can go back and read the conversation to understand why I mentioned accessing a system function like Disk Management.

Your other question was also addressed. I gave a real world example of launching a program. Go back and read and maybe you'll understand why it's faster to use a mouse with the Metro launcher as opposed to the Start menu folder hierarchy system.

Your last complaint about unified search is changed with the next update of Windows, so you'll be happy there.

Your "real world examples" don't make any sense as showcases for Modern's supposed efficiency (launching Disk Management takes much less clicks with the start menu), and my own and many others real world experience clearly shows that Modern is in no way any faster or more efficient at launching applications. I really don't see how the "All Apps" view is in any way better than the start menu (and even the start menu could be improved for this specific use case).

BTW: I always use a foot pedal & mouse, with my keyboard tucked under the desk: The start menu is much faster for that use case. You wouldn't believe how swiftly I can access Disk Management!

 

[tmdorsey]

Does anyone know of a problem where 3rd party desktop programs look blurry compared to MS desktop programs? For example Chrome vs IE desktop versions?

 

[netBuff]

Does anyone know of a problem where 3rd party desktop programs look blurry compared to MS desktop programs? For example Chrome vs IE desktop versions?

Hard to pinpoint, but display scaling could lead to some apps looking blurrier than others: Right-click the desktop -> Screen Resolution -> Make text and other items larger or smaller

Chrome also uses different font rendering than IE does (although the latter looks much blurrier than the former, so it's probably not that).

 

[Jzero]

Does anyone know of a problem where 3rd party desktop programs look blurry compared to MS desktop programs? For example Chrome vs IE desktop versions?

Nope. That may be a video driver problem. Can you post a screenshot?

 

[stktt]

Does anyone know of a problem where 3rd party desktop programs look blurry compared to MS desktop programs? For example Chrome vs IE desktop versions?

Is it specifically the text? Chrome and IE use different font rendering methods.

 

[StudioTan]

Your "real world examples" don't make any sense as showcases for Modern's supposed efficiency (launching Disk Management takes much less clicks with the start menu), and my own and many others real world experience clearly shows that Modern is in no way any faster or more efficient at launching applications. I really don't see how the "All Apps" view is in any way better than the start menu (and even the start menu could be improved for this specific use case).

BTW: I always use a foot pedal & mouse, with my keyboard tucked under the desk: The start menu is much faster for that use case. You wouldn't believe how swiftly I can access Disk Management!

It takes exactly 2 clicks to access Disk Management in Windows 8.

Right-click lower left corner > click

EDIT: I recommend reading this blog post, it clearly explains, based off millions of real world statistical data points, why the changes are faster for launching applications and where the limitations of the Start menu are

 

[netBuff]

It takes exactly 2 clicks to access Disk Management in Windows 8.

Right-click lower left corner > click

Didn't think about that menu - but isn't this a desktop improvement, something that could as well more practically have been added to the start menu right-click menu (and how often do you access Disk Management when no keyboard is present for this to be meaningful?)

I thought you were making your point about how the "Modern" UI improves the user experience. I'm not disagreeing with the fact that there's much more to be done with the desktop then Microsoft has realized so far. I like the refinements MS did add, but they are few and far between and tainted by the addition of Modern (which is at least manageable with third-party tools).

 

[Duxxy3]

It takes exactly 2 clicks to access Disk Management in Windows 8.

Right-click lower left corner > click

Is there a fast way to get to devices and printers?

Not trying to pick a fight, just wondering if there is a more efficient way other than searching or going through the control panel.

 

[StudioTan]

Is there a fast way to get to devices and printers?

Not trying to pick a fight, just wondering if there is a more efficient way other than searching or going through the control panel.

It's 3 clicks to get to it via the Control Panel so it's quite fast, however if it's something you use semi-frequently you can add it to the Win+X menu.

http://janhannemann.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/add-shutdown-reboot-to-windows-8-winx-menu/