Windows 7: Windows 8 -- Here's a Trick to disable the HORRIBLE metro apps GUI !!!

Hi all

I've just been playing with the developer edition of W8 download link in the news section of the Forum.

if you are like me and HATE those horrible square tacky icons that make this OS look more like a mobile phone than a desktop / workstation OS then this neat little trick gets back to the more "Claassical UI" windows look.

Once I've disabled the Metro UI I actually quite like W8 and it seems snappy enough on my system even as a VM.

To disable the Metro UI and keep the ribbon, etc, simply rename c:\windows\system32\shsxs.dll to something else and reboot.

This might only work for the current developer build but it suits me for the moment.

I always prefer totally uncluttered desktops with the minimal information on them at startup.

I hate the android phone default start up screens -- I'm using an HTC phone.

Nothing wrong with the phone but not everybody wants or needs zillions of apps on their screen !!!.

To any MS developers --remember this OS will also be used as a workstation / laptop OS so please don't turn it into a tablet only or "Iphone" look alike OS. Some peole like dynamically changing icons ("Metro apps" - why can't they just call them MOBILE apps which is essentially what they are) but others don't want them --leave some user choice. !!!!

Cheers
jimbo

And as software users, remember that you always have a choice as to whether or not you will use the system. Just because Microsoft pushes out a new version of Windows doesn't mean that I'm going to just move over to it. I skipped Vista more or less...and I don't care one bit for skipping Windows 8 and just sitting on Windows 7.

There are a number of us, who don't like tablets and don't want anything like a tablet. For those who want a tablet, get a tablet. For those of us who want a laptop or a desktop, leave us with something that resembles a laptop or a desktop.

I completely agree with pparks.

I actually happen to own an iPad and I can tell that it's just a toy for the baby - he's happy to watch cartoons on it, he can operate it completely (well, almost completely) on his own, choose cartoons saved on it or from YouTube (not that he's really allowed to browse that alone, but sometimes he manages). Oh, I forgot to say, he's 2.

I on the other hand need computers for work. What I gather is that typing on a keyboard is way faster than by using touch; using a mouse to click on something on the screen is way better than using my finger, basically because of the size of the finger; the list just goes on.

For work I need a desktop, maybe a laptop when I travel. What I need from the OS is speed in actual OS tasks - copying files, moving files, dealing with external devices. In my opinion playing music is not a task for an OS. But utilizing the theoretical bandwidth and/or disk read/write speeds in order to transfer files from one drive to another faster than 1MB/s is. From that viewpoint I don't care much about the GUI (except that please don't copy the MacOS and don't create this horrible menu bar on top of the screen that is supposed to apply to all windows at the same time). This Metro thing does not add anything to my computing experience. So if I can simply turn it off and get on with my work - that would be nice.

And of course, unless Windows 8 comes up with a significant advantage in speed, I see no reason to change from Windows 7 at all.

Thanks for the tip, now it looks like Windows 7 with a redesigned Windows Explorer.
Jerry

Windows 8 should be discussed at our sister site Eight Forums instead.