Windows 8 is so ugly

gregrocker · 01 Mar 2013

To me, the WIn8 test is if it carries on the Windows tradition of providing an optimal "Desktop Experience" which is a term used to describe ease of productivity on the Desktop.

Win7 has a perfect Desktop Experience. You can be as productive as you want, as fast as you want to be, customize features which allow me (for example) to drag links into posts by the dozens like a Benihana chef, work effortlessly between multiple browser windows, word processing, messenger, various tools - all without hanging, missing a beat or leaving the Desktop.

Win8 has virtually zero Desktop Experience. In fact they tried to do away with the Desktop in an overreaction to the Ipad social media touchscreen interface. So the Desktop is just one of the buttons, once you get there you are burdened with buggy crApps, can't reach effortlessly for a Start button without slamming down a jarring Wall of Buttons on your work. There is no fluency, flow or intuitive anything when you continuously reach for a Start button that isn't there, and then get lost trying to find where they hid functions that had become intuitive to Windows users for years.

I say this as someone who has benefited greatly from Windows 7 Desktop Experience, spending 6-8 hours per day in productive work that provides a perfect test for other platforms. Windows 8 fails so badly I cannot use it, unless I spend all the time necessary to customize it to work like Windows 7. Why on earth should anyone have to do this?

Business like most consumers is just now migrating en masse to Win7 which they love. They will not even consider Win8 for these reasons.

jadinolf · 01 Mar 2013

LittleJay said:

King Arthur said:

I personally found Windows ME a joy to work with (no sarcasm), but I also realize I'm in the clear minority here. However, I think we can all agree Windows ME is still better than Windows 8, or at the very least less controversial. :P

Windows Millenium was a total disaster for me, while Windows 8 runs like a champ on my PC. I use the Windows 7 start menu on my Windows 8 installation and it runs just like Windows 7 for me, but with the added security of having Windows Defender built into the OS, rather than having to install Security Essentials, or some other third party AV.

And a total disaster for me too.
I probably used it for a week. One morning I turned on the computer and went back to the kitchen to make coffee.

When I returned to the computer all of the icons on the screen had turned into the recycle bin icon. Good-bye ME.

Correct me if I am wrong but as I recall, it didn't ask for as many drivers that previous versions of Windows did.

Oh well, live and learn.

mitchell65 · 01 Mar 2013

I've got Win 8 on a virtual machine just so if members of my small computer club get problems with it i can help them out. I must admit i have installed the freebie "Clasiic Look" so I open into the Desktop which looks and works the same as Win 7. But as Greg says why should we have to do this. I know when a few more of my members get new PC's with 8 pre installed one of the first quesions I am going to be asked is "How the h**l do I switch this thing off?"
I await the future with trepidation

DeaconFrost · 01 Mar 2013

Lady Fitzgerald said:

Which enthusiast sites are using it exclusively? Certainly not this one (which blows you claim for all out of the water).

I wouldn't classify this as an enthusiast site. This is more of a help and support site. Maximum PC, for example, is doing all of their online and print content using Windows 8 as the baseline system. Their benchmarks for hardware and software are done on Windows 8 systems. MaxPC is one of the most well known, and probably the most popular enthusiast print mag left, especially since CPU basically became paid ad space.

It's absolutely laughable for anyone to bash Windows 8 and say it isn't a good OS. It may not suit their tastes, but comparing it to WinME shows a very distinct lack of knowledge. WinME had serious stability issues. Windows 8 runs very well and is extremely stable. Just because a person doesn't like the default UI and can't figure out how to install one of many apps to change default UIs to a standard desktop...doesn't mean it is a bad OS.

gregrocker · 01 Mar 2013

I don't see bashing of Win8, but very real comparative concerns with Win7 which I outlined earlier.

As for whether these concerns are laughable, I think what settles it are the sales. Win8 isn't selling, business won't even look at it, and stores where only Win8 is on PC's are seeing sales bottom out and report customers won't even touch them - or they try to press the buttons to find they are not touchscreen machines, so move to the Ipads. If OEM's had confidence in Win8, why are they not rushing touchscreen PC's to market?

Meanwhile Win7 sales are climbing, especially as business migrates full steam with the end of XP support.

There's another unspoken myth at work there: that the end of the desktop is coming. If that's the case why are there more desktops than ever being promoted in my daily TigerDirect, buy.com and NewEgg emails - aren't those real-world, even cutting-edge indicators?

I still believe what MS CEO Steve Ballmer said two years ago: "We all realize desktops are where the real work is done." I wonder if he still believes that?

DeaconFrost · 01 Mar 2013

gregrocker said:

If OEM's had confidence in Win8, why are they not rushing touchscreen PC's to market?

It's the usual circle. Touchscreens are still very expensive, so their adoption is slow. You also need an OS to really take advantage of a touchscreen, which hasn't been available until recent months. Yes, I know Windows 7 could use a touchscreen, but Windows 7 was never designed for one.

Something had to come first...either the chicken or the egg. Would touchscreens be common place and drop in price if there was no OS to support them? Who's going to create an OS for touchscreens when they aren't that common? See what I mean? Who's going to break the circle and go first. Apparently, Microsoft.

Windows 8 works absolutely wonderful on a desktop computer. I couldn't tell you the last time I even looked at the Metro UI or whatever you want to call it. If there's any fault to find with Windows 8, it's that the user should have been given a choice (built-in choice) between the two UI versions. However, fact is, it's a very simple problem to resolve. Once you do, it runs every bit as well or better than Windows 7.

Britton · 01 Mar 2013

Yeah I grabbed up a copy off the internet for free just to try it out in the virtual machine, thank god I didn't waste any money on that garbage. It's a total nightmare especially when your used to the normal taskbar/start menu. I honestly don't see much of a future with Windows 8 for the desktop and non touch screen laptops/tablets. I do like the new task manager and the ribbon's thing for file explorer, but the removal of the start menu in favor of that ugly start screen just turned me off as soon as I tried it. Not to mention they moved tons of system links that used to be accessible in a click or two, now I can't find them or have to really dig around to get to common tasks.

Some folks will love it and swear by windows 8, but I'm happy with 7 and will continue to use it for years to come. Shame Microshaft had to go and ruin a good thing.

Slartybart · 02 Mar 2013

Deacon: I haven't played with Eight, but I agree with your position that Eight is a fine Os that will take people time getting used to.

How about poviding a little more information on "it's a very simple problem to resolve", I know there are third party solutions; which ones have you tried and which do you consider the most viable. Or is there a native registry tweak/hack?

Maybe SF isn't the place, a tutorial or detailed post on EF would be more productive. Maybe there is one?
Bill

DeaconFrost said:

If there's any fault to find with Windows 8, it's that the user should have been given a choice (built-in choice) between the two UI versions. However, fact is, it's a very simple problem to resolve. Once you do, it runs every bit as well or better than Windows 7.

whs · 02 Mar 2013

I wasted the $40, stuck it into a virtual partition onto an external disk and that's where it is sitting since weeks. I thought I might use it, but it is just too much trouble to properly operate. I rather run my Linux which is sitting on the same external disk.

gregrocker · 02 Mar 2013

Bill the perfect Start screen which also toggles off Metro is Windows 7 Start Menu for Windows 8 mainly because it grafts on the actual Win7 Start Menu from the disk, or grabs it from a Win7 partition including your customizations.

It also seems to make Win8 a bit faster since Metro isn't loaded into RAM. But you'll need to change defaults to your Reader, WMP, etc. to replace the crApps which I believe are also toggled off.