Microsoft Can't Sell Windows 8, So It's Giving It Away

[King Arthur]

Doesn't classic shell and other windows 8 "start menus" get rid of metro completely?

You would be wrong. Yes, you get a Start menu (of varying quality depending on the program used) and possibly an option to skip Metro on boot, but you still need to go into the Metro side of things for things such rudimentary things as changing your user account's password, choosing what network to connect to, and so forth.

 

[nobodyspecial]

calling it windows 8 very deceptive practice should be called windows tablet edition 1 and 8.1 should be called tablet edition 1.1 or 2 if they want to increase sales by use of a higher number ( higher number =/= better ) but you catch my drift

 

[computergeekguy]

I had windows 8. Had being the key word. I couldn't figure out how to get into the bois. Apparently was done from the operating system. That was weird. There was probably a way to get there before the os but all my standard F2 ESC F8 and any other button i could think of didn't work.

Also I tried to upgrade to windows 8.1. So you go to the windows store app. It never showed up. Windows said try installing updates. I told Microsoft I did TRY to install updates. It sat there at 0% for hours and never did anything.

Later i turned it on and just let it sit there for a day. It finally worked. It turns out it was doing something even though it was at 0%. So im thinking to myself COME ON!!! IS THE PROGRAMMING IN THIS OS THAT BAD!!! Than it gave me the unhappy face BSOD. Yup.

The last straw was when i was expected to buy everything that SHOULD have come with it. You want windows media player? Well $10 please. Plus many of the programs i was trying to run on it were INCOMPATIBLE.

I know many people who said give it a chance. I did. But i never had to give windows 7 a chance did i? It worked from the beginning. Now you can get free Windows H8 upgrade from wonderful windows 7. You see I paid $100 for windows 7 to get away from 8. Why would I go back? Even windows 7 blue screens are better .

O well thats my rant

 

[Gary]

Nah, You need not use the cloud. And Bing is OK - or install Chrome.

I would install Firefox or Pale Moon before Chrome.

 

[3D Jed]

When they've coerced us all to migrate to W8, they'll disable WMC. No TV on your pc ? - hey buy movies etc from MS. WMC is being phased out IMHO. Anyone remember when they turned off WMC EPG about a year or so ago ? Probably a test run for shut down. WMC is already a paid for extra for W8. Separating it from the OS makes it easier to get rid of. Shame, it's one of the best things MS have produced.

Windows - used to be an OS, now a shop.

 

[3Colors]

WindowsXP and Windows7 are here to stay forever.

The reason, perhaps, because has remained the way of interacting with the system(W95, to W7).

 

[strollin]

When they've coerced us all to migrate to W8, they'll disable WMC. No TV on your pc ? - hey buy movies etc from MS. WMC is being phased out IMHO. Anyone remember when they turned off WMC EPG about a year or so ago ? Probably a test run for shut down. WMC is already a paid for extra for W8. Separating it from the OS makes it easier to get rid of. Shame, it's one of the best things MS have produced.

Windows - used to be an OS, now a shop.

I certainly don't miss WMC, thought it was a joke of an app anyway. It is probably the clunkiest piece of software I've ever used.

 

[gregrocker]

The best 8 start menu I've found is Windows 7 explorer for Windows 8 which only works on 8 and not 8.1 the last I checked. SIW2 may know better since he knows most of these developers.

That particular Ate start menu grafts on the actual Win7 Start menu from it's disk, however this does not replace the functions which 8 has restricted to Metro, including most of the crApps which must each be reset from default to WMP, your Reader, Windows Picture viewer, etc. So giving a friend that Start menu is a favor, until they start calling to replace every crApp that pops up (and can't be closed).

The solution as always is to upgrade to Win7. The horrific part of this is that MS never paused to realize they had created the best OS ever in Win7. When I would mention this to them at Summits I would get a blank stare and reminder that "we're moving on." I deeply regret that more MVP's did not speak up but we were ashamedly cowed by blunt insistence that our input wasn't wanted on Ate. When we finally did speak up after top forums' producers were invited into a Focus Group at November's Summit, they agreed with our blunt assessments but inferred it is too late.

So the new campaign asking customers to "be brave" to buy their products has a double meaning to me. I show how big my brave is now but it is too late. Nevertheless we have an even more important mission as its defenders here at the home of Win7, which just happens to be the top tech forum on the web in history.

▶ Sara Bareilles - Brave - YouTube

 

[MrWhoopee]

I believe that Win 8 opens the door for more people to switch to Macs. If they're going to have to learn a new UI, might as well be one that gets good reviews. The only saving factor (for M$) is that most of the new purchasers don't realize what they're getting into until it's too late. Almost every 8 machine I work on gets Classic Shell installed, to the great relief of the owner.
Running Windows in general is like living in a town where they rename the streets every 3-4 years. If you're familiar with the streets, the name changes are not a problem, you can still get where you're going. In Windows 8 they MOVED the damn streets!

 

[whs]

I believe that Win 8 opens the door for more people to switch to Macs

Absolutely, I know only 1 person who had to buy a new PC because his old ME system was really dated - and he bought a Mac. He got scared of 8 although I kept telling him that 8 is not all that bad.

So my statistical sample says that all sampled users buy Macs, LOL.

 

[SIW2]

Not sure there will be a mass migration to Mac. An £1100 plus macbook is not a viable substitute for people with £400 to spend. I wondered if TC might bring in something more affordable to appeal to those buyers. It would have sold in huge numbers. He decided not to.

Uncle Tim has something else up his sleeve. Lot of activity has been going on over there. Big spending, I believe. Top fashion names advising. Has to be the wearable market.

Whatever it is, Apple won't have a lot of breathing space. Samsung will after them like a ferret up drainpipe.

If TC thinks it is going to be big, I wouldn't bet against him.

 

[NoN]

Back to the first step after dancing some rounds! Windows 9 is coming along early next year so if Microsoft likes jumping those steps too quick i'll will do a favor waiting for that next OS. My actual machine is fine and not ready Windows 8-8.1 And I surely not will buy a MAC sooner or later 'cause I'm in the slice of people couldn't afford it!

 

[King Arthur]

Nah, You need not use the cloud. And Bing is OK - or install Chrome.

I would install Firefox or Pale Moon before Chrome.

Chromium is a nice alternative to Google Chrome. Chromium is the open source base web browser that Google Chrome is built from; in other words, Chromium is Google Chrome without all the Google-related crap bolted onto it.

I have Chromium installed as an alternate browser to Pale Moon (my main browser) for web dev testing purposes as well as to act as a speedy alternative to Pale Moon when I just want to play some Flash games over on Kongregate.

 

[Solarstarshines]

Back to the first step after dancing some rounds! Windows 9 is coming along early next year so if Microsoft likes jumping those steps to quick i'll will do a favor waiting for that next OS. My actual machine is fine and not ready Windows 8-8.1 And I surely not will buy a MAC soon or later 'cause I'm in the slice of people couldn't afford it!

They were talking sometimes fall 2014 from what i read Could the Windows 9 release date be October 2014? | News | TechRadar


http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-complete-development-windows-9-october-2014/70124.html

 

[nobodyspecial]

The best 8 start menu I've found is Windows 7 explorer for Windows 8 which only works on 8 and not 8.1 the last I checked. SIW2 may know better since he knows most of these developers.

That particular Ate start menu grafts on the actual Win7 Start menu from it's disk, however this does not replace the functions which 8 has restricted to Metro, including most of the crApps which must each be reset from default to WMP, your Reader, Windows Picture viewer, etc. So giving a friend that Start menu is a favor, until they start calling to replace every crApp that pops up (and can't be closed).

The solution as always is to upgrade to Win7. The horrific part of this is that MS never paused to realize they had created the best OS ever in Win7. When I would mention this to them at Summits I would get a blank stare and reminder that "we're moving on." I deeply regret that more MVP's did not speak up but we were ashamedly cowed by blunt insistence that our input wasn't wanted on Ate. When we finally did speak up after top forums' producers were invited into a Focus Group at November's Summit, they agreed with our blunt assessments but inferred it is too late.

So the new campaign asking customers to "be brave" to buy their products has a double meaning to me. I show how big my brave is now but it is too late. Nevertheless we have an even more important mission as its defenders here at the home of Win7, which just happens to be the top tech forum on the web in history.

YOUTUBEYOUTUBE

Dear gregrocker
is youtube video something you will be putting after every post i have bad eyes so screen enlarged and your post made me have to use middle scroll wheel to read all post on right i think first time this happen on this great forum there is video section i believe no thank you nobodyspecial
ps nobodyspecial find solution in usercp turn off all signature :]

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
I actually LIKE windows 8.1 -- provided you set to Boot to desktop and create some custom toolbars I prefer the menu system to that of W7.

I don't particularly like Metro type stuff on a PC but I quite like touch support where it's appropriate.

The main problem with W8.1 is to get it working as a proper desktop OS straight out of the box -- the user has to do a bit of work and most normal Windows users don't want that (rightly so IMO). A decent desktop OS should be fit for purpose straight after install --it shouldn't require a lot of user tinkering - although experienced users should be able to do further customisation if required.

You can easily create any level of cascadable menus in W8.1 simply via toolbars -- here's an example of a big one. You can choose your own pgms etc -- much more flexible than the W7 system.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Jonguy30]

Doesn't classic shell and other windows 8 "start menus" get rid of metro completely?

You would be wrong. Yes, you get a Start menu (of varying quality depending on the program used) and possibly an option to skip Metro on boot, but you still need to go into the Metro side of things for things such rudimentary things as changing your user account's password, choosing what network to connect to, and so forth.

Well, that sucks. So it's just a band aid fix to the problem and doesn't fix it completely.

 

[Layback Bear]

I keep thinking. What does Windows 8.xx have that I want.
Booting a few seconds faster is no big deal.
A bunch of tiles to poke or tick. No thanks Icons work just fine.
A third party programs to make Windows 8 to work something like a computer. Not for me. Windows 7 already works like a computer.
A bunch of rent or lease programs. No no. If I want them I want to buy them and own them.
If I want something on my lap I can poke she will be over 40 years old ect.
I have a friend that just bought his wife a new laptop. All he mentioned to me was; his wife no longer wants to use the computer.
She uses it to pay bills on line a little email. The rest of the time it just sits.
She use to do news letters. Print them and post them online for the Post I belong to. Keep track of the Posts kitchen supplies and do the ordering and many more things. She use to help the Auxiliary part of the Post with their computing needs but no longer.
That is what Windows 8 did to a non tech user.
I tried to convince her into Window 7 but she is not gun shy.
She went from XP to Windows 8.

 

[nobodyspecial]

I keep thinking. What does Windows 8.xx have that I want.
Booting a few seconds faster is no big deal.
A bunch of tiles to poke or tick. No thanks Icons work just fine.
A third party programs to make Windows 8 to work something like a computer. Not for me. Windows 7 already works like a computer.
A bunch of rent or lease programs. No no. If I want them I want to buy them and own them.
If I want something on my lap I can poke she will be over 40 years old ect.
I have a friend that just bought his wife a new laptop. All he mentioned to me was; his wife no longer wants to use the computer.
She uses it to pay bills on line a little email. The rest of the time it just sits.
She use to do news letters. Print them and post them online for the Post I belong to. Keep track of the Posts kitchen supplies and do the ordering and many more things. She use to help the Auxiliary part of the Post with their computing needs but no longer.
That is what Windows 8 did to a non tech user.
I tried to convince her into Window 7 but she is not gun shy.
She went from XP to Windows 8.

nobodyspecial agree with woman part
[FONT=Courier, Monospace][FONT=Courier, Monospace]cd ~/woman40.1
/woman40.1
/su && configure && make poke && chmod -f -R woman40.1
laybackbear very happy
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Courier, Monospace][/FONT]

 

[Dallas 7]

I believe that Win 8 opens the door for more people to switch to Macs. If they're going to have to learn a new UI, might as well be one that gets good reviews. The only saving factor (for M$) is that most of the new purchasers don't realize what they're getting into until it's too late. Almost every 8 machine I work on gets Classic Shell installed, to the great relief of the owner.
Running Windows in general is like living in a town where they rename the streets every 3-4 years. If you're familiar with the streets, the name changes are not a problem, you can still get where you're going. In Windows 8 they MOVED the damn streets!

Exactly. I like W7 and I'll run it as long as possible, but eventually if the choice comes down to running Microsoft's tablet OS or switching to a Mac, I'll go with the Mac.
I wouldn't run 8/8.1 if they paid me.

Microsoft believes they're the biggest kid on the block, so they've taken this bully attitude that they can push their tablet OS down our throats. MS isn't listening because they don't care.
Somehow I suspect Mac might be a little more appreciative of their customers than that.