Windows 8: Why the Hate?
I'll be the first to admit, when I saw Windows 8 and the Metro (or whatever they're calling it now) interface, I almost laughed. I thought they were joking, or at least that it couldn't possibly be the final design for the new Windows. After it was made final, and after its release, I hesitated in buying it. When I say hesitated I mean I refused to partake. It was different and it seemed awful. It looked so unintuitive, it looked so amateur, it seemed like every new idea it had was pointless and a step backwards. The final straw when when in every comparison it wasn't any faster than Windows 7. Why would anyone switch to this? It made sense for tablets, especially if it meant running real applications on a mobile slab, but for a desktop, there was no draw.
Then I bought a new laptop. It came with Windows 8, and I actually bought a Windows 7 disk to 'downgrade', but I figured I'd give it a shot for a few weeks. I do tech support I figured it would help me help my customers if I could navigate it. So I started playing around with it. I started learning it. Slowly my opinion turned around. I never expected it, I only thought I'd keep it for a few weeks. Now I don't really see why I had such animosity towards it, I've since installed it on my main desktop as well.
I guess I can see where a lot of the hate comes from, in regards to it's a big change that's 'forced' upon people. The start menu as you know it is gone and instead is replaced by the tiles of a start screen. Sometimes when you just want to find a simple program you use often, it seems counter productive compared to clicking the start button and accessing a list of programs. When you really get down to it though, you're still doing the exact same thing, with the exact same steps, but just doing it a different way.
The start menu seems to get the most amount of disdain. The fact that you can't natively boot to the desktop has a lot of people in arms, there's already a ton of apps that allow this function. There's even word that Microsoft is planning on allowing this in Windows 8.1. To me it's really not a big deal, in fact I actually like it. I know that's almost blasphemous to say around the technosphere. Here's the thing, often times I boot my computer just to check my email, Twitter, and Facebook. All of these things I can do right from the start screen without ever having to go to the desktop. In fact if Steam ever makes a Windows 8 app, when I want to game I won't ever need to go to the desktop.
This is something that really shines on the tablet side of things, but even for desktops it works well in a lot of circumstances for general use. Now anytime you change something, there's going to be backlash, and I get there's a lot of reasons people have to boot straight to the desktop, but I do not understand the overwhelming amount of hate it receives. People are calling it a failure and the worst Windows ever, and using all of this hyperbole which seems so misplaced. Now Microsoft could have made this launch smoother on themselves and everyone else by offering a choice and not forcing the Start screen on everyone, but to deem it a disaster is just going over the top.
If you actually look at Windows 8 there are some improvements over Windows 7. In particular the notifications are a lot easier to dismiss, which may sound trivial, but it makes the whole thing seem smoother and more refined. It is also a lot easier to manage the personalization options, which are expanded. This is personal but to me another improvement is the sounds and presentation in general. It feels like a more mature OS and it sounds it too. It's warnings and notifications sounds are much more pleasant an no where near as abrasive as in the past. It's a very welcome change.
If I have any real complaints about Windows 8 it's two things. First the lock screen that automatically appears before the login screen is pointless in a non-tablet environment. That is one thing that gets annoying fast. The other is the charms bar and the corners are too sensitive sometimes. Often when I'm trying to close a program and I put the mouse in the upper right I end up with the charms and have to move the mouse and start again.
I really think people need to start giving Windows 8 a try, and go into it with an open mind. If you go into with the mindset that Windows 8 is worthless, you're probably not going to change your mind. It needs some improvement yes, but let's be real, it's not Vista, it's not ME. It is structurally and mechanically sound. It doesn't offer performance upgrades per se, but it does offer at least the same performance as it's predecessor. It's not bad by any measure, and I feel like the industry needs to cool it. Give Windows 8 a chance.
Then I bought a new laptop. It came with Windows 8, and I actually bought a Windows 7 disk to 'downgrade', but I figured I'd give it a shot for a few weeks. I do tech support I figured it would help me help my customers if I could navigate it. So I started playing around with it. I started learning it. Slowly my opinion turned around. I never expected it, I only thought I'd keep it for a few weeks. Now I don't really see why I had such animosity towards it, I've since installed it on my main desktop as well.
I guess I can see where a lot of the hate comes from, in regards to it's a big change that's 'forced' upon people. The start menu as you know it is gone and instead is replaced by the tiles of a start screen. Sometimes when you just want to find a simple program you use often, it seems counter productive compared to clicking the start button and accessing a list of programs. When you really get down to it though, you're still doing the exact same thing, with the exact same steps, but just doing it a different way.
The start menu seems to get the most amount of disdain. The fact that you can't natively boot to the desktop has a lot of people in arms, there's already a ton of apps that allow this function. There's even word that Microsoft is planning on allowing this in Windows 8.1. To me it's really not a big deal, in fact I actually like it. I know that's almost blasphemous to say around the technosphere. Here's the thing, often times I boot my computer just to check my email, Twitter, and Facebook. All of these things I can do right from the start screen without ever having to go to the desktop. In fact if Steam ever makes a Windows 8 app, when I want to game I won't ever need to go to the desktop.
This is something that really shines on the tablet side of things, but even for desktops it works well in a lot of circumstances for general use. Now anytime you change something, there's going to be backlash, and I get there's a lot of reasons people have to boot straight to the desktop, but I do not understand the overwhelming amount of hate it receives. People are calling it a failure and the worst Windows ever, and using all of this hyperbole which seems so misplaced. Now Microsoft could have made this launch smoother on themselves and everyone else by offering a choice and not forcing the Start screen on everyone, but to deem it a disaster is just going over the top.
If you actually look at Windows 8 there are some improvements over Windows 7. In particular the notifications are a lot easier to dismiss, which may sound trivial, but it makes the whole thing seem smoother and more refined. It is also a lot easier to manage the personalization options, which are expanded. This is personal but to me another improvement is the sounds and presentation in general. It feels like a more mature OS and it sounds it too. It's warnings and notifications sounds are much more pleasant an no where near as abrasive as in the past. It's a very welcome change.
If I have any real complaints about Windows 8 it's two things. First the lock screen that automatically appears before the login screen is pointless in a non-tablet environment. That is one thing that gets annoying fast. The other is the charms bar and the corners are too sensitive sometimes. Often when I'm trying to close a program and I put the mouse in the upper right I end up with the charms and have to move the mouse and start again.
I really think people need to start giving Windows 8 a try, and go into it with an open mind. If you go into with the mindset that Windows 8 is worthless, you're probably not going to change your mind. It needs some improvement yes, but let's be real, it's not Vista, it's not ME. It is structurally and mechanically sound. It doesn't offer performance upgrades per se, but it does offer at least the same performance as it's predecessor. It's not bad by any measure, and I feel like the industry needs to cool it. Give Windows 8 a chance.
I think a lot of the hate (as inferred from discussions on Reddit) is that it is terrible option for businesses. Seeing as this is where Microsoft makes most of its money, its a terrible call. It would cost them millions to retrain all employees on two interfaces when they gain no real benefits. Most businesses are still on XP and just upgrading to 7.. so they have absolutely no desire to do that again for way more money for virtually no reason. Personally, I am an avid linux user and laugh at all of the chaos LOLZ. I still dualboot 7 though for the times when a windows program isn't running well on linux. I just bought a new lenovo ultrabook that is lighter and thinner than the Air, and its gorgeous, complete ssd. It boots Windows in like 15 seconds and linux in about 10. I would have upgraded to 8 for the 40 bucks they originally offered but now that they want 200 i say screw them.
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