Windows 8

[undeterred]

41 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Another great Operating System from Microsoft
	1 (2%)
	What the hell were they thinking?
	18 (44%)
	I haven't used it yet
	9 (22%)
	It makes me long for Windows 98
	0 (0%)
	It makes me feel stupid
	1 (2%)
	It makes me want to throw my laptop against a brick wall
	0 (0%)
	Thats what you're stuck with when you don't know Linux
	4 (10%)
	Meh
	2 (5%)
	I'm still using XP and dialup
	3 (7%)
	OTHER
	3 (7%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[2on2u]

1. When Windows XXIV arrives I might consider giving it a whirl. n/t

[hlthe2b]

2. I registered for the $14 Win8 update with a windows 7 laptop purchase...

I've gotten at least a half dozen "reminders" from Microsoft, but based on everything I've read, I have no real desire to follow through with the purchase or upgrade.

I like Windows 7 ok, but still miss one hell of a lot of features from Windows XP, which to me was always more intuitive (one of my two laptops still has it and I tend to migrate to it, even if it is slower).

[undeterred]

4. I found a lot to like about Windows 7 once I got used to it.

Windows 8 is a piece of shit. It is a downgrade. They have made it totally confusing to do everything you knew how to do with your computer, for no good reason.

[yourout]

5. +1......they should have at least given you the option to run in "Windows 7" mode that.....

would have let you use it with the same menu structure as W7.

[cilla4progress]

14. I agree

a shitload of bells and whistles resulting in "what the hell did they do with the damn [fill in the blank]...oh there it went."

Waste of time changes.

Glad those young punks are bringing in the big paychecks for this, though.

[HappyMe]

3. I haven't used it.

[Science Geek]

6. I used windows 8 for a grand total of 20 minutes

on my brother's new laptop. Nothing too hard about it, once I got used to a couple of required gestures, at least required the way he had it set up.

I did notice that the disk was partitioned very strangely, with abut 8 partitions in all, and that VSS was constantly in use on several of the partitions. I'm not sure if that's a Microsoft thing, or the laptop manufacturers doing. I had wanted to make an image of his entire drive, but that was not possible as my drive imaging software uses VSS too, so I could only back up about half of the partitions. It looks like some kind of constant backup scheme was employed, but I really don't care for stuff like that, it hardly ever really works.

[crazyjoe]

7. I like it, you just need to figure out (once again) where everything is.

it's basically windows 7 with no start button. the fact that the same os runs on tablets, phones, and pc's is pretty cool. match it up with some type of dropbox, skydrive is probably the best option since it is also windows, and you are basically totally in the cloud.
it doesn't matter if your on your laptop, tablet, or phone.
It's the future of computing.

[Cobalt Violet]

11. And it's fast!

I was a start button queen but I'm fine without it now. Very easy to use.

[undeterred]

12. Remember when they used to give you the OS disk

along with the computer? And an instruction book that you were too cool for? Well now there's absolutely nothing in the box except a warning that if you ever try to open this computer like to swap out the hard drive, you will void the warranty. Its supposed to be a complete mystery and I guess the use of the computer is supposed to be intuitive - but when you're used to using a different operating system, its not.

[cilla4progress]

15. thing is

i only have a laptop

yah, stone age

[backscatter712]

8. And this is why I'm running Kubuntu Linux on my system.

Bypasses the problem entirely, and I have total control over my system.

[nmbluesky]

9. Mac rule

Window screw up

[Cobalt Violet]

13. Wasn't in my price range.

Some day maybe but in the meantime I have to live within my means.

[GObamaGO]

10. My laptop (XP) had died recently and I bought a new laptop in December

Before I bought the new laptop, I "played around" with a Windows 8 laptop at the local Walmart. I decided then, if I could, I would see if I could still get a laptop with Windows 7 on it. Thankfully our local MicroCenter had a fair amount of units left in stock that were Windows 7 machines. The bonus? I got a $100 discount for buying a closeout! I do not regret it.

[Motown_Johnny]

16. it seems like every 2nd one kinda sucks

Just my opinion, but....


8 (kinda sucks)

7 (not bad)

Vista (really sucked)

XP (pretty good)

2000 (kinda sucked)

98 (had troubles but was improved in 2nd edition)

95 (worked well, I would say the pattern breaks down here)

NT (good one)

2.0 (where it started to be popular)

1.0 (the original add on to DOS but worked well

[nc4bo]

18. Forgot the wonderful Windows Millennium - WinMe...

Dreadful OS, just dreadful.

[GObamaGO]

24. WinME was an abomination.

[Aerows]

84. Windows 8

Makes WinME look downright wonderful.

[GObamaGO]

91. HAHAHAHA

Man, you are right!

[undeterred]

25. You've got it right.

Windows NT was a huge improvement for its time but I don't think it ever hit the home market. This is why XP has lasted so long... XP Professional has been in offices for 10 years. I would hate to work at a place that migrated to Windows 8 instead of Windows 7.

Its just very frustrating that individuals don't get much of a choice when you need to buy a new computer. The old OS can be better than the new and can still last a long time.

[graham4anything]

76. speaking of DOS, I still use lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet the way I learned it, DOS commands

/ds for sorting data on the spreadsheet
except for space limit, 123 always was easier than word
(no I don't listen on 8track or have a betamax)

123 is like comfort food.

[BlueJazz]

17. Quite fond of it. Just need to learn the basics to see all the good things it's capable of doing.

Also...my laptop runs much faster.

[bluestate10]

22. I find Windows 8 brutally non-intuitive. A person that has work to do and don't

have time to play around figuring out obscure "tricks" in Windows 8 will despise the version, I promise people that will be the case.

[BlueJazz]

32. I agree but for me, it's rather fun learning all the differences. It's also like...

...a strange puzzle.
It forces the average user to learn short cuts that he/she might never learn ordinarily.

IE: Windows explorer = Windows key + E

Keep in mind though, as a computer tech, I HAVE to learn new stuff even if (I admit) sometimes it's a pain-in-the-ass.

[sweetloukillbot]

57. I imagine that it is a monster on a tablet

I find the swiping and charms bar bothersome, but I'm getting used to them. I don't mind the lack of the start button, and there are plenty of add-ons out there to restore it. Once you get out of the Metro interface it runs just like Win 7.
That said, I don't see any purpose in using the Metro versions of IE or the Metro mail program. I just run everything through the old desktop.
It loads and runs faster, I like that anti-virus is incorporated into the O/S as well.
It's not a home run, but it isn't the dog it's made out to be. I don't see businesses transitioning to it easily though. Doesn't seem office friendly.

[crazyjoe]

83. It's really made to be used with a touch screen monitor.

[undeterred]

80. "brutally non-intuitive"

+ a brazillion

[bluestate10]

19. Navigating from one application to another is difficult in Windows 8. I figured out

how to copy files from one directory to another directory only after beating my head against a wall. Windows 8 is the least intuitive Microsoft offering yet. I didn't think Microsoft could do worst than Windows 7, but Microsoft proved me wrong. Microsoft seems to have learned NOTHING from past user interfaces failures that were patched to work well. It's like the Windows 8 development team was dumped on an isolated island as babies, then once they were adults, told to develop Windows 8 without the benefit of learning from past Windows versions. Maybe the person that wrote the script to the new horror movie "Mama" used Windows 8 as inspiration.

[GObamaGO]

23. I have just moved from XP to 7

And I really like Windows 7. I am not having any difficulty at all adjusting to where stuff is in Win7.

[randome]

45. W7 makes it MUCH harder to organize things on menus.

And the double-barred taskbar is cluttered and completely unnecessary. But the OS does run faster.

[GoCubsGo]

20. I like it fine.

It's nowhere near as bad as it's being made out to be. I wouldn't call it "great", but I have yet to see any operating system that is great IMO.

[DainBramaged]

21. Tanking faster than they can load the lifeboats.....

[cantbeserious]

26. Classic Shell Makes Windows 8 The Best Microsoft Operating System To Date

Classic shell can be found here:

http://www.classicshell.net/

[undeterred]

30. you are wonderful

[cantbeserious]

39. You Are Welcome - Thanks For The Hug - Enjoy

eom

[undeterred]

75. Well I appreciate the link

but I had to reload the machine from scratch an hour later.

Which is not a huge deal, since I've only had the machine for a week. But it was not going to tolerate me fooling with the OS. So I still hate Windows 8. And the idea that I have to sign in with a Microsoft account just really annoys me.

[drm604]

77. You have to sign into Windows with a Microsoft account?

[undeterred]

79. Yes.

Well the first time I set up the machine I said no because I wasn't online yet - not connected to my wireless. But the second time I connected automatically to the internet. When I said no to the Microsoft account it didn't connect. No other choice.

So I used my Microsoft account. There may be a way around it but I did not see one. Just one more thing that pisses me off.

[drm604]

88. That would be a deal killer for me if I had any other choice.

What exactly happened? Did you get a popup insisting you log in before you'd get access? Was this before or after you started your browser?

[undeterred]

90. You have to log in to the machine to have a profile.

I would recommend for anyone else to set it up like I did the first time - just make up a name and password and do not connect to your home network.

Then you can probably avoid giving them a Microsoft account. I am pretty sure I can go back and change it. But the second time - since I was already connecting to the internet via wireless and it wasn't letting me in I just gave it one.

They want to sell you more stuff.

[KittyWampus]

27. Other- i'd be fine with it except for its visually & functionally cluttered desktop.

Who the heck wants to see a screen of ugly colored boxes?

Who wants all that info staring at them all at once?

[Cobalt Violet]

33. That's the start page.

Not the desktop. All those boxes that aren't useful can be removed. Others that are more useful can be added. The ones I have left are the same programs I had pinned to my start menu in other windows OS plus a couple more that I like to having like my local weather.

[KittyWampus]

92. Very good to know. It'd be ideal if one could customize what those boxes look like. And put them on

"shelves" the same way you can customize your itouch screen to have all kinds of pretty boxes on pretty shelves. IYKWIM

[bluerum]

28. I bought a copy of Windows 7 for my new pc.

Windows 8 was designed for touch screen phones and tablets.

And it is a crappy OS.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

29. Gave my daughter a new laptop for Christmas...

like me she has simple uses for her computer. When I was researching which unit to buy, I found several reviewers who said that Windows 8 works well on the Toshiba, and horribly on the Sony...so I got her a 17" Toshiba. So far she loves it.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

31. Not user friendly, but maybe they will keep some idiots off the Internet. nt

[undeterred]

36. The internets.

Its a series of tubes, you know.

[Skittles]

34. pandering to idiots and their hand-helds

fucking bad idea

[mythology]

35. It's a fine operating system

It works much better if you have a touch screen laptop than if you don't. But I'm OS agnostic and I never found Vista to be as bad as everybody said (post SP1).

[Owl]

37. I'd like to love it and buy a new computer, but Win 8 looks like a disaster.

[undeterred]

81. Try to find some discounted old stock with Windows 7 on it.

Windows 7 is a great OS, much easier to learn and you will be much happier with it and save some money on the computer.

[RedCappedBandit]

38. Other: More of the same. eom

[eppur_se_muova]

40. Need to specify whether first option is snarky or non-snarky. nt

[undeterred]

86. Non Snarky

I always figure there are a few people who genuinely love Microsoft.

[eppur_se_muova]

96. Wow ... I guess it really does take all types ...

[PoliticAverse]

41. Stick with 7 until 8 SE is released... n/t

[xoom]

42. Using windows 7

[MattBaggins]

43. Other: It is the first two simultaneously

Something only MS could pull off.

Trying to smush a PC and mobile interface together was brain dead.

They did make the system faster and utilize memory and resources.

I do want to say double triple and quadruple FU for taking away my F8 key on boot up, making me dig through multiple screens to be able to boot with options, and then have to repeat for every option... SINCE YOU GOD DAMN KNUCKLE HEADS DECIDED TO ONLY ALLOW ONE OPTION CHOICE AT A TIME AND HAVE THE COMPUTER REBOOT THE FUCKING SECOND YOU SELECT IT

assholes.

[randome]

46. Sweet Jesus, did they really do that? That sounds unbelievably class-less.

[MattBaggins]

47. Yes it is true

F8 on boot no longer works. Go to charms from desktop or start screen->settings->change pc settings->general->scroll to advanced start up (the comp auto restarts because giving the user restart options BEFORE restarting is a concept MS is incapable of grasping) If I want to move a fricking icon on my desktop MS wants a confirmation but auto rebooting to recovery is fine and dandy.... BRILLIANT

Once options comes up you can do safe mode, recovery advanced.

If you want turn off driver signing and turn on logging at the same time you can forget it because the second you click on an option the system reboots.

No YES/NO/MAYBE confirmation. The system just reboots.

Oh and want some real fun? Click on advanced options and have the system instead magically decide to reboot into automatic recovery mode. Want to cancel that? Click cancel... oh shit no cancel button. When it asks you to log in under an account say I don't see my account (even though you do) AND THEN get an option to restart the comp and pray it doesn't loop back (it doesn't, but knowing MS that is probably a bug)

[Recursion]

50. UEFI! It's ****ing evil!

Was there something wrong with BIOS booting? Was there some need we have that BIOS booting wasn't meeting?

[MattBaggins]

51. RIAA, MPAA.. Fucking Lars Ulrich

Secure booting in some silly ass attempt to protect DRM.


Virus protection my ass. It's about DRM and money. But it won't work.

Just like my rooted Kindle Fire and my Nook HD running Cyanogenmod. It will be cracked.

[MattBaggins]

58. And another thing

It's 2013..

I still can't make c:\users\documents\books\Weiss, Peter\The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade.epub, without windows puking all over itself, nor have they come close to the WinFS filesystem they have promised since Vista , so I could just use the meta data instead.

[Recursion]

60. Best. Movie. Ever.

In fairness, everybody from Microsoft to Apple to the Linux ExtFS team to Hans Reiser has been saying "we'll have a queryable filesystem in the next release, really" for about... oh... 10 years now.

[MattBaggins]

63. Well Hans has a lot of free time to work on it now...

Sorry couldn't resist.

Man he was brilliant and reiserfs was a great filesystem.

[XRubicon]

44. I have it on my phone and I like it

Not sure about a computer or tablet though...

Because its not an Iphone. That's enough for me.

[Recursion]

48. It's my least favorite operating system yet for downloading Linux

(That's what I use all non-Linux OSes for)

[MattBaggins]

53. The proper way to download linux is

to grap source package by package from a shell prompt and compile everything by hand editing all the makefiles in nano.

[Recursion]

56. Nano? Ha! It's ed or nothing.

(I do tend to roll my own distro for servers, mostly because I haven't yet found a package management system that doesn't drive me insane in one way or another.)

[MattBaggins]

59. I have no idea why it's nano for me

Even on my phone if I need the terminal for editing something I will use nano.

[Recursion]

61. I use vi on phones and very very dumb terminals; otherwise I'm an Emacs guy

Have you ever tried pico? That's what I usually use as my mail editor.

[MattBaggins]

65. Not anymore

I don't do much anymore that requires it.

I just use CLI and linux/bsd a few times a month when I need to fiddle with one of the few NAS's I built for some friends or hack my router.

I used nano for the first time in ages yesterday to edit some outputs on one of the new Nooks. They made them with screens from different vendors and I was sending info to devs that are trying to get Cyanogen working on them.

[Phillip McCleod]

72. emacs -nw thank-you-very-much.sh

[SteveG]

49. win8

sucks. Sorry, but it does. It's a touch screen oriented OS, and most desktop monitors are not touchscreen, and most corporate users aren't going to shell out the bucks for new monitors when the old ones do 99.9% of what they need to do.

[Amonester]

52. I hate touchscreens, especially when I eat peanut-butter sandwiches...

Looks like I'll give Linux a try sooner than I expected...

'nuf said.

[1KansasDem]

54. Bought a new laptop with windows 8 a few days before Christmas

Returned it about 10 days later for a full refund. Absolutely hated windows 8.

[5X]

55. I hate polls,

they don't show up right on this black and white tv.

[longship]

62. At least Linux works.

Here's one of the latest Linux computers, the ALMA Correlator:


It's one of the largest supercomputers in the world -- none of which run Microsoft; many of which run Linux, including this one.

Microsoft operating systems are utter rubbish. Insecure, monolithic garbage.

I have run Linux exclusively for over 15 years and have never installed a virus detector, and have never had an OS crash that wasn't because of hardware failure.

Ubuntu Linux works (my choice these days, although I have used many others).

Cast off corporate Microsoft bloatware and go with stability. It just works.

[upi402]

66. It seems daunting to pick up

I've wanted to use linux for 10 years. I just don't have time to trudge through the learning curve that I've read about.
Thoughts?

[Recursion]

67. Honestly? It's less of a learning curve than Windows 8, probably

Stick with "friendly" versions like Ubuntu and it's pretty much entirely straightforward. With the plus side that things do just what they say they do.

[upi402]

69. Ubuntu collects your search data & IP address - and sells it!

Ouch.

From Wikipedia:

In its default configuration, version 12.10 also assumes that users have agreed to allow Ubuntu's parent company Canonical to collect user search data and IP addresses and to disclose this information to third parties including Facebook, Twitter, BBC and Amazon, ...

Is there a way to block that?

[Phillip McCleod]

74. use linux mint instead.

most users prefer mint's cinnamon interface to ubuntu's unity anyway.

[BadgerKid]

78. As dismaying as Ubuntu's move is,

I use 12.04 LTS where supposedly I have all this tracking and history deactivated. I will be moving to a different host OS eventually.

[Phillip McCleod]

73. the learning curve is pretty much gone these days.

just in the last few years leaps forward in ease of use for the casual user. ever install windows? installing linux is a snap in comparison these days. works out of the box on most machines no more searching for drivers! even dual boot isn't that hard to install.

for noobs i personally recommend linux mint cinnamon. for older machines try mint 12 or mint debian with xfce. you won't go back except to gloat.

[flobee1]

82. and have never installed a virus detector

Its fun to laugh at windows users when you hear them talk about how they have to buy virus scanners and adware stoppers

[theKed]

64. Well, you know what they say

[quinnox]

68. let's put it this way

I'll consider using Win 8 on my computer when hell freezes over.

Until then, all future new computers I get will be custom built by independent computer makers, and I will specify that no operating system is loaded on them so I can put my preferred version of windows on them myself.

[BuelahWitch]

70. I bought a new computer last summer

There was some flyer in the box offering a really cheap upgrade to Windows 8 once it was released. I did not take advantage of that offer and am glad I didn't.

[pansypoo53219]

71. thank you for reminding me to get mac.

[tblue37]

85. My new computer, which just arrived, is a Mac.

I'd avoided getting a Mac because I didn't want to learn a whole new operating system, but since I would have to now anyway with W8, I decided to go ahead and get a Mac this time.

[undeterred]

87. I thought about offering a Mac choice

But I didn't think Mac types would even click on this thread.

[Poiuyt]

89. Well I did

I was looking for the Mac option too.

[tblue37]

93. But I am not a "Mac type"--just someone who just got

her first Mac ever--and one of my deciding factors was the idea that I was going to have to adjust to a new OS anyway, so I might as well go ahead and take the plunge.

[IDemo]

94. I had considered an iMac this time

Only to find out that Apple decided to really enforce the "no user-serviceable parts inside" this time by gluing the screen bezel to the chassis. I assemble and work on computers for a living, and the idea that I cannot do something as elementary as troubleshooting or upgrading drives and memory makes it a non-starter for me.

My new Gigabyte board and Intel cpu from Newegg should be here by Tuesday, and will get a dual-boot Win7/Linux Mint install.

[Coolest Ranger]

95. I haven't used it yet as well

I'll wait until they get all the bugs out of it