Ex-Microsoft Employee Launches 'Fixing Windows 8' Campaign

[Scallica]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/251820/e ... paign.html

[STC]

♩ ♪ Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strain) Ch-ch-changes.... ♫ ♬ ♭

[Beradon]

I have to agree with the statements made about the user interface in Windows 8 leaving a lot to be desired.

Microsoft is so constantly trying to make one thing to blankets all things but they end up doing each thing half-assed.

I installed the consumer preview myself and I wont be using it as a desktop operating system, we're going to end up with another XP-esque issue here like they did going to Vista. Vista was so bad that everyone stuck with XP and indeed they extended support and EOL for XP because of it. With Windows 8 everyone is going to stay with Windows 7 for the desktop experience because Windows 8 does not lend itself to a decent desktop user environment.

It has this tendency to force you into the live tiles (MetroUI) arrangement even when you go to the desktop mode, and many of the more advanced options were moved around just for the sake of moving them around, not because they make more logical sense in their new locations in Windows 8.

In particular I hate the 'ribbon' that they added to the top of the folders like has been in Microsoft Office in the more recent few releases. It is the biggest thing I hate about the new versions of Office and the addition of that to the standard folder interface in Windows is like scratching out my eyes, in addition to beyond frustrating. I went to OpenOffice more because of the ribbon UI than because of the cost, which is saying quite a lot, because MS Office is not cheap.

I'll reserve judgement on it for a tablet environment until I have a chance to try it, but Windows 8 is not a viable Desktop OS unless you want a poor half-baked user experience.

[newfiend]

Seems like they always have a hit or miss with Windows.. It seems that every other version is good.. Win 98 SE Good, Windows ME Suckage, XP Good, Vista Suckage, Windows 7 Good,... I see a pattern forming... and Windows 8 seems to be landing more and more in the suckage department... Reviews seem to be very mixed. Looks like I may be holding off for Windows 9.. Probably devoid of Media Center all together. Bummer.
newfiend~

[bluezr1]

Windows Me and 98 are the same OS. People disliked Me because everyone started getting a taste of windows 2000. The reason why windows 2000 gained such popularity was because you could leave a PC running for months at a time with out the need of a reboot. Back with windows 95, 98 and Me you would reboot your machine around once an hour, otherwise it would slow down to a hault. Windows NT, 2000 and XP have Hal, where the OS keeps programs from trying to use the same space in memory. That's why the other versions of windows were notorious for the BSOD.

Windows XP was based off of windows 2000 (that was based off of NT) and was intended for business PC's. When 2000 came out everyone including myself was running it on our home PC's. We didn't complain when most of our programs didn't work (well at lest I didn't,) because we knew that we were running an OS that was built for a business environment. If you ask me that was the hardest change of any of them, but the performance benefits outweighed the loss of some programs from running. That's when duel booting was more of a mandatory thing, than just for the sake of doing it.

Windows vista and windows 7 are the same OS. The reason why windows 7 didn't catch as much heat as windows vista did, was because by the time windows 7 came out the problems in windows vista were already corrected. The biggest problem that windows vista had when first launched, was that it didn't play very well with most video cards (the BSOD was back). At that time Microsoft was pushing to have the CPU and the video card one of the same. They wanted to eliminate the need for a graphics card. This didn't go over very well. That's when they ended up with an OS that wasn't built to run with your stranded graphics cards and the reason why it was so disliked at first.

The reason for the release now is so they can have people test it out and give feed back, while at the same time not have to worry about giving out support (nobody's calling them for problems on windows 8). You install it at your own risk. Just like any other early release. The first official release will look and work much better than in its current form.

What they're doing is very smart if you ask for my opinion. Just because your desktop PC looks the way it does today, it won't look that way in the near future. It's gonna come down to everyone saying, why would you buy a monitor if it doesn't have a touch screen?

[rantanamo]

still not getting the hubub. Have been using 8 for weeks, and Its pretty much the same experience as 7 with some actual cool changes. I rarely even go into metro. Mainly for the weather app and the music app. Even those can be docked to the side. If I need control panel or can find a program, you can actually just press the windows button and type in what you want. Don't get what's so hard about this. Didn't get the problems with Vista either. Its like people whine about the changes, but then when the next one comes out looking and acting the same, they are happy its "new" psychologically.

[barnabas1969]

I haven't tried Windows 8, but I have to agree with Beradon above... I HATE the ribbon in Microsoft Office. The menus and options in Office were the same since I first started using Office back in the 90's. Why in the world M$ would change the way a business interface works... after so many people had been using it for decades... really doesn't make sense. So, why in the world would they force us into a new UI in Win8? I think it would make more sense to use the Metro UI on a tablet, but for the user to be able to disable it and use a Win7-like UI if he/she chooses.

[bluezr1]

I would place a big bet that when when it's released it'll give you the option to disable it. Also, we're moving over to touch screens if you haven't noticed. The option to quickly switch between the two would only make more sense than not. As far as office goes with the ribbon, does it really matter? Once you get used to it it's still Microsoft office. If they keep things the way they are they'll get taken over by google. Don't think that it can't happen, because it can - and quickly. Then the same people complaining about the changes, will be the same people saying that they seen it coming.

[bluezr1]

You say that you've been using office since the 90's, yet do you recall what it was like back then? You had to go through layers of menus to get the simplest task done. It was no where near what even office 2003 is like today. For everything you had to do you had to open a new floating tool bar that would get in the way of getting anything done. One day you would decide to close some of them to clear space from your screen from the ones that you barely used. Then when you wanted it back you would spend 5 minutes trying to figure out how to get it back. Sometimes even longer.

Do you remember the installation process, I was three to four reboots per program. You spent more time watching it reboot than watching it get installed. Although that was the installation process.

[barnabas1969]

My point was that they just seem to move menu options around (like in the Control panel) at a whim. For those of us who have been using it for a long time, this is a real pain in the butt. Just leave things where they are. New users will find them if they need them... experienced users won't have to re-learn anything.

[seekrtz]

My point was that they just seem to move menu options around (like in the Control panel) at a whim. For those of us who have been using it for a long time, this is a real pain in the butt. Just leave things where they are. New users will find them if they need them... experienced users won't have to re-learn anything.

I actually like Windows 8 now that the Start Button (right-click in the bottom left corner) is finally condensed into a simple menu of the tools and utilities I care about. It is a power users dream IMHO. No more navigating through laborious dynamic menu lists of suck to access something like "Programs and Features", so I disagree that Windows 8 is a pain for long time users, it's more like a nice change long over due. Of course, a solid knowledge of MMC Snap-ins, command prompt commands, and Windows shortcuts should also be in the possession of the so-called "Power Users". The Charm bar is not perfect and some of the tools like "search" forces you back into the new Start Menu; which feels slightly annoying when I try to access it from the Desktop. I think that the only people who will find Windows 8 difficult are users who only know how to navigate Windows with just a series of mouse clicks and not much else.

[barnabas1969]

To easily navigate to "Programs and features" in Windows 7, simply press the Windows logo key on your keyboard, start typing the word Programs, and click on the 2nd result. Easy.

[richard1980]

Or press the Windows key and type "p f" and press enter.

[barnabas1969]

Or press the Windows key and type "p f" and press enter.

Nope, when I do that, my first choice is "Digital certificate for VBA projects". Most users probably won't encounter that... but this is my work laptop after all.

[richard1980]

Hmm...that's a bit odd. It works for me. In any case, it's really easy no matter what you type.