Discussion on:

Learning to love Windows 8

Who says typing is becoming common? I don't know anyone who does it except for a few old graybeards who are still using Unix with a cshell and who edit their programs with emacs. The idea of invoking a desktop program by typing its name went out with "dial" telephones.

It's name will either be Apple or Linux.

make it clear .......

I will not be using a touch screen for my main systems and the 'Metro' desktop is crap when using a mouse. I want - nay, I insist on having a clean desktop and do not want all that crap polluting my space.
Seriously people - there is far too much emphasis on looking cool and trying to be hip. Productivity wise this appears to be a big flop and is only going to make a lot of business users want to hang on to XP even longer.

Because a scroll bar is a new concept for computer users?
You did see the scroll bar at the bottom of the Metro style screen - didn't you?
and if you can't get the knack of moving your mouse to the right edge of the screen, you can call up the "charms" by pressing Windows-C

Why should anyone have to scroll? I don't have to scroll to see all my applications on my Windows 7 desktop.

it is still there.

I have to go through extra step to get it. How is that better?

What I have now on Win7 is my 30 or so icons organized neatly around the edges of my edges of my desktop so that apps I open that take up most of the screen don't obscure them. This is what I see when I boot up - nothing I have to click to see that desktop. How is Win 8 better?

The author says, "While I can understand why some people object (it is a change after all), I dont really understand the reasoning behind their objections. " The reasoning is that I have tried Windows 8 (both publicly released versions). Microsoft has hidden key functions in various places (lower left corner - left click, right-click on a blank part of the desktop, do something on the right of the screen, hunt for the shut-down command, etc). I'm sure it all makes sense to the programmers, who know where they hid most of the icons.

The fact that the start screen is ugly is irrelevant to me. What I object to the the massive size of the icons on the start screen, using valuable real estate that I would like to use for what I want to appear on the screen. Sure it is easy to get to the more traditional desktop, but it is an additional step that shouldn't be required.

I don't resist change, but I do resist stupid change. I regularly use PCLinuxOS, CentOS, and Ubuntu (both desktop and server editions). Those three operating systems are much more intuitive, easier to use and navigate, and configure than is Windows 8. I currently do most of my computing on Linux. I do have an audio editing program, Picasa, and an invoicing program on a Windows XP platform (running on a virtual machine under Linux).

I will probably have to setup one computer with Windows 8 so I can experiment with supporting clients with Windows 8 (training, setup, configuration, and troubleshooting). Unless Microsoft introduces a method to bypass the Metro interface, I will switch to a Windows 7 platform for my few Windows applications.

In the experimentation I have done with Windows 8, the OS appears to be solid in working with legacy Windows applications.

As for the "demise" of the command prompt, I have to use that tool on a regular basis to change file security setting (via CACLS) which just can't be done with the Windows GUI tools. There are a number of other commands in all versions of Windows that require the use of the command prompt.

Unfortunately, software manufacturers take a long time to figure out how to program for each new version of Windows. It was only after XP was obsolete as a supported operating system that some software could be run by a standard user and not an administrator. I am sure the problem will reappear for some applications when installed on Windows 8, although I had not encountered that problem with the programs I experimented on Windows 8.

I have been running Windows 8 for 4 months at home and at first I had a hard time adjusting, but I didn't run out right away to trash the interface, I stuck with it, and I find some of the critisim is hyperbole. I can uderstand you get used things and you like the way things are, and I can understan you don't like the aestetics, I don't agree but to each their own. The Start menu is just the old start menu exploded onto one screen, and that can be confusing if leave it there. I have a lot of applications on my system and to see them all i have to scroll, (I have to do the same when I hit start menu in Window 7 however), but its just a small middle mouse wheel swipe back and forth, and I don't get a finger cramp. If you leave applications in the default position after install, yeah, you might have a hard time finding things, but I move the tiles for the most use applications to the first and second grouping of tiles, thus eliminating the arduous wheel scrolling, to me this isn't much different than pinning things to the taskbar in Win 7 to avoid the start menu. Alt+Tab and Windows+tab work fine, and the ability to start typing to search out of the start screen is nice once you know its there. I'm not overly fond of the file browser in "metro" or it may be just Google implementation of it in Chrome. After 4 months I have gone from skeptical to seriously considerding upgrading my work machines when it is released.

If it takes an experienced user 4 months to adjust to the new interface, how long do you think it will take the average, less tech savvy user, and how many do you think will take the time? I haven't used it since I don't use Windows in any flavor on a regular basis except at work (They still use XP). I'm sure that for a $40 upgrade fee I'll upgrade the Windows 7 partition on my machine, if for no other reason than curiosity and the ability to be ready if we upgrade at work or I buy a new machine. I still think MS might have an uphill battle getting widespread acceptance of Win8.

He said he's been running it for four months. He didn't specify how long his adjustment period lasted.

why bring up the 4 months at all if the adjustment period was much shorter? It's be nice to hear from him how long it actually took before he felt comfortable. Personally I don't care much as, while I'll get a copy, I doubt it will ever be my daily OS of choice. Win7 is nice, but after 6 years of running Linux I can't conceive of ever going back to Windows. I do, however, have to use it at work.

Wrong branch.

And Windows 7 load disc for those preinstalled systems.

I guess I can be resistant to change, but I wholeheartedly agree with the problem of scrolling across light-years of desktop looking for icons is a killer experience. And I constantly open a specific window, such as Control Panel, and look for the program I need whose name I can never remember. So typing in the name of an app I want just cannot work.
Also, I do a lot of video and audio work, so touch-screen isn't an option, much less any under-powered tablet or something. I need to maximize efficiency, not water my PC down to "pretty pictures" that delight casual users only interested in browsing something. I need to get some serious work done, and Metro makes that painful. Someday I may have a device with a touch screen and use Metro just fine, but that will be because I then own something (for some reason) with limited use and applicability for times when I'm not at my computer.
I like what I see so far in Windows 8, but I really need the start menu back. Other than that I'm good to go...

Since I got it through my college, I took the plunge and installed the release version of Windows 8 Pro RTM over my existing Win 7 Pro install. Installation was pain-free, with the minor exception of having to re-download an ATI Catalyst driver, which worked fine after a reboot. Watching the short tutorial on what mousing to the corners did showed me most of what I needed to know about the UI changes. My findings:

1) The Desktop is (as we all knew) still there. All my Win 7 program icons were right where they were prior to install. All my programs worked, including Adobe Master Suite 6 and my games. No problem. In fact, I got a 5-6 fps boost in Diablo III. Minor, but noticeable--and a boost is a boost.

2) It is EASY to switch back and forth between TUFKAM (The User-interface Formerly Known As Metro) and the Desktop. Tap the Windows key. Done. Tap it again to switch back. Takes less than a second.

3) True, there is no "Start" button any more on the Desktop. But if you move the mouse a little lower to the left, into the corner, you can get to the TUFKAM Start screen and do whatever you wanted to from there. Right-click to access the All Apps list instead of the All Programs list.

4) You aren't FORCED to use TUFKAM exclusively. It is, however, a fairly nice way to keep up on the "light" computing tasks you'd normally use a tablet for. (Email, web surfing, Facebook, solitaire and other simple games--which are gorgeous, btw) The constantly-updating Tiles are a nice way to get info-at-a-glance on weather, stocks, sports, news, etc., but all your Desktop ways of getting to those things are still there and they still work. Would I want to work in TUFKAM exclusively? Not yet--I'm still too used to the old way of doing things, so a Surface tablet is not in my immediate future, but if Surface Pro gives me the same Desktop option, I'll definitely look at it when it comes time to replace my iPad 3.

In short, I just don't see what all the doom-n-gloom is about. It's not a "disaster"; the sky is not falling. It's less of an abrupt shift than Win 3.1->Win95 was, and it appears they've gone to great lengths to make the hybrid experience as smooth as possible. When I want to work, I work on my Desktop just like I did a week ago. When I want to take a break and surf, I tap over and enjoy the simplicity of the new interface. But when break time's over, switching back takes all of a second, if that much. $40 for an upgrade is a steal--until they take the deal away in February. I plan on upgrading all my Win 7 machines to it in October (I only got one free key through DreamSpark, otherwise I'd go ahead and do it now.)

(nt)

Without editing the Registry is there a way to boot directly into the conventional desktop?

I don't think there's a way to do it WITH editing the Registry. There was in the first beta, but MS took it out in subsequent versions. We'll start with Metro and damn well like it, apparently.

It is really quite simple to move from Metro to Desktop and back on the fly. Takes one button press, and you're done. I like having Metro as the startup screen so I can see if there are any email/social/whatever things I need to take care of at a glance, then tap over to the Desktop to work with all my regular Win 7 programs. It literally takes all of one second to switch back and forth.

and my e-mail is in Outlook, over on the classic desktop. I haven't seen anything on the Metro desktop yet that is of use to me. I realize that's me, but Metro is just something I'll have to bypass repeatedly.

Put the Desktop tile in the top left, and all you have to do is hit "Enter" on your keyboard at boot - tada, no clicking or swiping or registry tweaks needed.

If you've been booting directly into a conventional desktop, you have some serious security concerns. You've always had to step through hoops (authentication mostly, on every OS) to get to your desktop, and this is nothing new. Enter your password and press enter twice.