OS and Software > Microsoft Help > What are the substantive reasons to reject Windows 8?

reply to Gem

Re: What are the substantive reasons to reject Windows 8?

reply to Gem
Here I sit with a 2005 build XP desktop, a 2011 W7 laptop, and a 2012 W8 laptop. Latest Microsoft fixes on all three, bloatware removal on the laptops, no other enhancements. Running side-by-side with Word and Excel on all three, same documents and spreadsheets, XP=Office2003, W7=Office 2010, W8=Office365, I see little difference in performance. Surfing the net, downloads, uploads, e-mail, all the practical day-to-day things I do, again there is little difference in performance. Transferring data from one box to another over the home network, backups, restores, etc... the XP lags a little behind as expected. So, performance wise on a practical level, my situation only, I see very little difference at all between the three.

On a learning curve level, XP and W7 were easy. Familiar form factor, if you will. W8 not so much. It took longer than I thought it would to "get used" to Metro, and my reflexes are still playing me false even now. It's something I'll get used to, eventually, but the transition is unnecessarily painful. I cannot imagine for the life of me why Microsoft would abandon such a successful UI in favor of the "flavor of the moment". W8, out of the box, may work great on tablets and smartphones; unmodified, it is less than desirable in a desktop environment.

To answer the original question, I guess my response would be: I see no advantage to W8.

reply to NotTheMama

reply to Duramax08

reply to Archivis

reply to Gem
I'll outline my some of my reasons why i ended up rejecting Windows 8.

(Please note: I ran Windows 8 full time from 3 days after launch until about 2 weeks ago I think)

1. The Metro UI - Even though I learned how to use it, it seems like a step back to the 1980's. It is not multitask friendly at all, and I find it very counter-intuitive and just clumsy. The Metro UI violates the 6 Principles of User Interface Design. It also Violates the 1st and 2nd laws of "The Humane Interface"

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principles···e_design

In simple words, why would i want to use a UI not suited to desktop work? It offers me nothing. Furthermore, You can never really disable Metro. Even with a Start Menu replacement, Windows 8 still loads that interface in the background consuming resources. So those are resources wasted. Now don't get me wrong, I like Metro on small screens like a Tablet or a Windows Phone...but it doesn't belong on my desktop.

2. Windows 8 SmartScreen sends info about every file i run on my PC back to Microsoft by default - So i have to turn this this feature off manually. Its none of MS darn business what files I download on my desktop or execute on my computer. Can't a guy have a bit of damn privacy in this world!? I might as well just invite MS into my house, rummage though my cabinets, eat the food in my refrigerator, I want a PC platform this is not doing its best to try and spy on me at every turn. That feature should have been "turned off by default" but it wasn't....i consider it a matter of trust, and MS broke my trust with that decision....they are more concerned with spying on their users for marketing purposes then delivering a quality OS.

3. Windows 8 just has too much "hand holding". Windows 7 has more hand holding then i can stomach, but Win 8 is just intolerable in this regard. I am tired of my PC trying to treat me like im stupid. For example, just today I had a PC that had start up problems....so Windows "forced me" into running that stupid start up repair for 35 minutes...when all i needed was access to the command line and it would have been fixed in like 3 minutes. IT FREAKING ANNOYING THAT IT DOES THIS. Those options should not be the defaults...it just give Network Admins like me more headaches to deal with....God Windows just get out of the way and let me work!!!!

Long story short...#3 is the biggest reason...MS is allowing Windows to just "get in the way" wasting time...Im so sick of the hand holding...

They are catering this OS to the lowest common denominator and thats bad....computer users should understand "somewhat" how a computer works....do you just hand someone a gun with no training and tell them to go hunting? Of course not! However, computers and cyber warfare are the weapons of the future, and the industry is putting computers and tablets(that could be used in botnets and god knows what else) into the hands of cretins that have no idea how they even work.

I am not big on name calling, but cretin is really the best word to describe it....because these people don't want to know how it works, and those of us who do are suffering with this. It is this useless handholding nonsense that just wastes time, and is totally counter productive.

Ok my rant is over. boy that felt good!

reply to dave
I'm not the first one to suggest this. There are a bunch of others--tech writers who've "inspected" Windows "Blue"--who state this outright. Microsoft already thinks the desktop computer is dying (due to sales "drying up"), which I think is somewhat ridiculous. But, if it ain't earning them money, then they don't really see it as a market at all.

I think the "home computer" of the future will be something you hook up to your HD-TV, using whatever control device you want--keyboard, mouse, tablet, whatever; having windows on a desktop will be just as essential as ever for running applications (whether you call them "apps" or not) that do useful tasks.
--
"Face piles of trials with smiles; it riles them to believe that you perceive the web they weave."

reply to workablob
Thanks for the heads up!

reply to Gem
I have to license it
I have to license some start menu replacement
I have to train my users
I have to field support calls on the new interface

Will my users be able to do more work with win8 to offset those costs?

And the bouncing between desktop and Metro for admin tasks make the OS look like it's unfinished.

reply to Gem
The main reason I don't use Windows 8 is that it does not have support for my main desktop computer's hardware (namely the ATI HD4650 AGP graphics card). On Windows 7, I enjoy crisp 1920x1080x32bpp graphics that are smooth, fast, fluid on a 23" LCD monitor. On Windows 8, due to unsupported graphics, I'm reduced to 1024x768x16bpp on "generic VGA" drivers. Not acceptable.

Further, after playing with Windows 8 on new computers in stores like Best Buy, I find the new UI to be confusing and annoying. Some applications are on the new "Modern/Metro" UI, but other applications are on the "Desktop", requiring you to switch back and forth from one UI to another UI that have disparate workings/functions. It seems a mess.

So even though my laptop could run Windows 8 and has supported drivers (it shipped with Windows 7), I maintain both my computers on Windows 7 Ultimate for consistency.
--
Teabaggers: Destroying America is Priority #1

reply to workablob

reply to Gem

reply to Gem

Re: What are the substantive reasons to reject Windows 8?

reply to Gem
Like several other respondents (apart from the insulting NOYD) I agree that the question should be: is there a good reason for switching?

I use MANY irreplaceable legacy applications (never mind why), several of which have not been upgraded since the early 2000's. They were designed for the XP generations of Windows, and I simply do not wish to expend the energy that testing each on Windows 8 (with several probable failures) would require.

As to xp's alleged insecurity to exploits...total nonsense. I have been a power user of XP pro 3 for a decade and have been hit ONCE by a rootkit, a result of my own stupidity and inattention.

You might, further, wish to google on the question of windows 8's or even 7's, penetration in the enterprise market. I think you will be surprised to find a significant minority still using XP, a much larger proportion certainly than the ONE home user you mention.

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"specialists without spirit, sensualists without heart....these nullities are caught in the delusion that they have achieved a level of development never before attained by mankind." -- Max Weber

reply to plencnerb

reply to plencnerb

Been Running Windows 8 Pro 64bit since October 26th 2012, and Very Happy with Windows 8 Here, for the following Reasons

Metro/Moderm Start screen doesn't bother me one bit, I use that 50/50 percent of the time, (maybe was used to it already since had a Windows Phone prior to getting Windows 8)

Quad Core Processor and AMD video runs Windows 8 great

All my programs and games work great

Full screen email program isn't a big pain in my eyes now, i'll admit was a little at first, but not anymore

Overall Very happy and can't wait to update to Windows 8.1 later this year to fix whatever issues that need fixing

reply to dave

said by dave:

said by plencnerb:

Just to add what dave has said ...

Wrong Dave. That was Dave workablob .