Windows 8? Sounds Confusing....

[ziggy29]

Both MS and Apple are getting into the idea of making their desktop/laptop computer OS more and more like their smartphone and tablet OS. I'm no Luddite and I'm not one to resist technological change but that is a trend I'm not liking. It feels like they are trying to force everyone into using tablets and smartphones for everything, but sometimes I want the full sized keyboard and large display.

 

[JoeWras]

Both MS and Apple are getting into the idea of making their desktop/laptop computer OS more and more like their smartphone and tablet OS. I'm no Luddite and I'm not one to resist technological change but that is a trend I'm not liking. It feels like they are trying to force everyone into using tablets and smartphones for everything, but sometimes I want the full sized keyboard and large display.

To borrow a phrase from a long time ago, it is a "MegaTrend". The trend in everything these days is "less but more".

• Less quality, but more music: MP3s have substandard quality, but you can pass them around or buy for a buck.
• Less function, but more apps: Apps versus desktop programs.
• Less to say, but more frequently: Twitter versus email or blogging.

Etc. So, the interface just echos the trend.

I could blather on a lot more about this, but I'll just start sounding old.

 

[rodi]

I first saw the metro UI when I was at a friends house last spring. He writes technical "how to" books for less than technical folks. So he's always running very early versions of beta software to get a handle on how it works, ahead of the release. He suggested that the metro UI was going to freak people out till they figured out how to get back to the desktop. I suspect he's right.

He has to be an early adopter - it's his job. And he has to be the guy who figures out how to do stuff without the instructions... again, part of his job. An interesting career. It would frustrate the crud out of me. I get very annoyed with large paradigm shifts in UI design.

 

[JoeWras]

He suggested that the metro UI was going to freak people out till they figured out how to get back to the desktop. I suspect he's right.

Yes it will. But once you find the tricks, it is easy to go back.

What really bugged me and freaked me out was the desktop was "almost" like it was before, but just enough was missing to be maddening. That's what convinced me that Win 8 is not sufficient for desktops.

 

[GrayHare]

A new generation is now coming into software development, people who were not around before things like windows and pull-down menus. They did not experience first-hand the struggle of computer life without such UI elements, so it does not surprise me now to see a drift away from those standards.

 

[pb4uski]

No plans to move to Win 8. What for? Win 7 does what I want and is stable......

+1

 

[Tyro]

We tend to stick with whatever comes with a machine when we order or buy one, until it dies and we have to get a whole new machine. Currently running Vista (without problems) with Office '07.

We've discussed going from one shared desktop machine to individual notebooks, but I've always liked having a substantial keyboard (I have sausages where other people have fingers) and large screen.

Sounds like we may be in for some significant culture shock next time around....

Tyro

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

I heard about a joke-contest for a new Twitter campaign for Windows 8. I submitted the following:

"W8 for Windows 9"

Somehow I doubt Microsoft will use it.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

We tend to stick with whatever comes with a machine when we order or buy one, until it dies and we have to get a whole new machine. Currently running Vista (without problems) with Office '07.

We've discussed going from one shared desktop machine to individual notebooks, but I've always liked having a substantial keyboard (I have sausages where other people have fingers) and large screen.

Sounds like we may be in for some significant culture shock next time around....

Tyro

Many laptops and all-in-one desktop PCs are now featuring touch screen displays to take advantage of Windows 8. Your "sausages" for fingers won't be a problem if your screen size is decent.

 

[ERD50]

I heard about a joke-contest for a new Twitter campaign for Windows 8. I submitted the following:

"W8 for Windows 9"

Took me a second, then LOL! Well done!


-ERD50

 

[Bestwifeever]

Many laptops and all-in-one desktop PCs are now featuring touch screen displays to take advantage of Windows 8. Your "sausages" for fingers won't be a problem if your screen size is decent.

I see people try to swipe non-touch screens all the time--have done it myself after using my new phone. Pretty funny.

My XP laptop is 6 years old now and its replacement will no doubt have Windows8 (and probably a touch screen ). I'm sure I'll get used to a new OS.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

I'm running the latest preview release now, and the app store is more fleshed out, and I'm actually trying some of the Metro/Modern UI apps.

I've been somewhat skeptical of Windows 8, but I'm starting to think this might work. Power users like me will gripe at first about the changes, but we can still do a lot the "old" way. By the time non-power-users are ready to let their rotting WinXP computers go the app market may be fleshed out even more, and the ability to have the same WinRT app run on PC, tablet an phone could turn out to be neat.

For power users, there are two really, really cool things about Win8:
- Hyper-V! In a client OS! (Assuming your CPU supports hardware virtualization.) You can even run Linux under Hyper-V.
- Boot the hardware to a virtual hard drive file instead of the physical drive.

Edit: I just got Gmail working in the Metro/ModernUI app. I didn't realize Google had an Exchange-like push interface available: http://www.neowin.net/news/got-gmail-and-windows-8-get-push-email-in-the-mail-app

 

[RonBoyd]

Here is a good overview of Windows 8:

Windows 8 Review – Complete Guide To New Features

 

[NW-Bound]

My brain stopped reading right there. I thought, "Man this Midpack guy is still running CP/M. Wow!"

That would be quite an accomplishment.

I'd bet Midpack is running a CP/M emulator under Windoz, and using Wordstar with his Diablo daisy wheel printer. Much nicer typeface than the dot-matrix Epson.

But what he uses for a browser, I couldn't guess. Oh, I got it; his iPhone!

 

[Tyro]

Many laptops and all-in-one desktop PCs are now featuring touch screen displays to take advantage of Windows 8. Your "sausages" for fingers won't be a problem if your screen size is decent.

That's not a substantial keyboard (it's not a keyboard at all) nor a large (24" or more) screen.

Touchscreens full of fingerprints are like my rear passenger window full of noseprints.

 

[samclem]

Less to say, but more frequently: Twitter versus email or blogging.

Some friends and I were discussing this last week. In the military 25 years ago it was a PITA to send a message up or down the chain--get out a form, load it into the typewriter, put in the special OCR ball, hand-type the message in accordance with the highly prescriptive format, carry it to the Comm Center where it would be scanned and sent--or rejected and you'd start everything again. Because of all this everyone thought long and hard before formally communicating. The phone got used, info shared, and nothing was "on the record" until somebody drafted a message. Because it was a PITA for the sender, a lot less junk got sent. Now, with email, inboxes are loaded with FYI and FYSA info that imposes a significant "cost" on info recipients and reduces time available to do real thinking/work.

Rant off.

 

[NW-Bound]

Looks like Win 8 is trying to make their desktop a tablet instead of a PC.

I really didn't appreciate my computer trying to act like a phone... Win 8 wants to act like a phone. You don't hook printers up to your phone. Q.E.D.

Both MS and Apple are getting into the idea of making their desktop/laptop computer OS more and more like their smartphone and tablet OS. I'm no Luddite and I'm not one to resist technological change but that is a trend I'm not liking. It feels like they are trying to force everyone into using tablets and smartphones for everything, but sometimes I want the full sized keyboard and large display.

Is MS making PCs with a big screen behaving like phones because the latter is hot, and they do not want to be left out? Humongous thinggies on the screen for me to tap, although my PC screen is big, high-res and I don't care to see those big rectangles in my face?

Why not complete the transformation and take away the big screen and to use just bitty phone-size displays? How long until businesses take away the large screens and to issue their employees bitty screens, and to have them tapping out documents and reports on the touch screen? Might as well, as that would save their employees the hassle of switching back and forth at work between their smart phone and the PC keyboard where they are supposed to do real work? Now, it is even harder to tell if one is working or playing at his/her desk.

Call me a curmudgeon over this (which I am) if you like, but I fail to see any advantage of turning a big-screen PC into a phone look-alike.

 

[JoeWras]

Why not complete the transformation and take away the big screen and to use just bitty phone-size displays?

Please don't give them any ideas.

I'd bet Midpack is running a CP/M emulator under Windoz, and using Wordstar with his Diablo daisy wheel printer. Much nicer typeface than the dot-matrix Epson.

But what he uses for a browser, I couldn't guess. Oh, I got it; his iPhone!

You forgot the 300 baud modem. I remember the first time I encountered a 1200 baud line. I nearly fainted it was so fast.

(P.S. Big Brother is parsing our words. At the top of my screen on ER is an advertisement for Microsoft Surface.)

 

[NW-Bound]

Ah, talk about how to relive the good ole days, I just remember one thing.

One should run an 8080 emulator first on a PC. Then, boot up CP/M with it. Then, run Wordstar and other CP/M apps under that like the Adventure game. That would bring tears of nostalgia to a geezer's face. Oh joy!

Here's an 8080 emulator written in C that I found: Toledo 8080 processor emulator. The author won an Award for C obfuscation. Check it out for yourself.

 

[easysurfer]

I thought I'd take a peek on how well Windows 8 is received thus far.

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Windows 8 System Builder DVD 64-Bit

That's very lukewarm to say the lease.

 

[ls99]

I see people try to swipe non-touch screens all the time--have done it myself after using my new phone. Pretty funny.

My XP laptop is 6 years old now and its replacement will no doubt have Windows8 (and probably a touch screen ). I'm sure I'll get used to a new OS.

I have XPpro on laptop and desktop. Sticking with it.

When I start to use whiteout on the monitor, will give up computers alltoghether.

 

[imoldernu]

I thought I'd take a peek on how well Windows 8 is received thus far.

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Windows 8 System Builder DVD 64-Bit

That's very lukewarm to say the lease.

Thanks for the link... the reviews ARE less than sparkling, for sure.

The future seems hazy at best. Will it all be touch screen? The tablet is too small and difficult for me...Arthritis and neuropathy, while not debilitating for most things, gets that way when playing with a 7 or 10 inch screen... Vision has a lot to do with this too.

After many years (even before Windows) of running every program I could get my hands on, am now mostly into browsing and reading "stuff" online.

Believe that for me, it's time to wait until it all goes to Google Glasses, and a neurologically controlled operating system...

I keep one computer alive with Windows 3.11, and still have a Hayes 300 modem. Now, if I can just find someone who is still running a bulletin board.

 

[Hermit]

I guess I'm in the minority around here. I just installed Windows 8 Pro. I had to upgrade Quicken to 2013 to install on Windows 8. Upgraded from Vista, so I have to reinstall all of my software.

I think I would agree with the reviews on Amazon. It will be OK and the machine and apps seem faster than when running Vista. Quicken is much faster starting up. So far I don't mind the Metro/Desktop interface. It will take some getting used to. It would be pretty neat to have a tablet with the same look and feel. That will have to wait for a while.

 

[ShortInSeattle]

I recently upgraded to Win 8. In fact, I got a new touch screen "all in one" PC with no tower. Pretty slick really. I'm a visual person so I love that you can create colorful "tile blocks" of files and apps. I have my tiles organized by category, including one section for productivity (calendar, to-dos, music) and another section for creativity (Photoshop, Powerpoint...) and another for metrics (quickbooks, business goals...) It's a nice little dashboard for how I think.

The navigation took a while to get used to, but now I find it pretty zippy and easy to use. For the first week it just ticked me off.

SIS

 

[coolowl]

I'm looking forward to buying the MS tablet in January that has the full-blown version of Windows 8. I use a Kindle Fire now and find myself using a computer less and less. A tablet that will run my spreadsheets is what I've been waiting for. Sitting at a desk to access the Internet seems so un-user friendly anymore.

I never thought it could come to this...but I may have already bought my last desktop or laptop computer. If I were still working I might feel differently but for what I need anymore a tablet seems the way to go. So, if Windows 8 on the new Surface will really run Excel and Word I'm all set.