Windows 8: Put Simply

Lee MorrisLee Morris Posts: 2,824
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Hi! All
Last September I purchased a Packard Bell laptop from Ideal World, why?, the reason being that it came with an offer to get Windows 8 for £15 so I thought good it will be future proof.

Then I have recently been looking at these forums here on DS and seen various comments regarding what people think of Windows 8, any despite being in two minds and although I did experience some problems downloading it which I overcame I took the courage to download it last week.

My Thoughts:
Well to put it simply I can understand some of the negative comments especially if you do not use anything involving working with apps such as a smart phone or tablet, however for those of us who do have a smart phone as well as a tablet I feel Microsoft are on to a winner.

I mean this is another thing as when it comes to Windows 8 being on laptops and main pcs who is it aimed at?, well I feel it is aimed at the users of smart phones as well as tablets so take teenagers and some young kids. They might not be brought up with a pc or laptop but instead a smart phone or tablet.

Also consider the following - there are a few cameras on the market that have wifi and so you can send pictures wirelessly to a tablet or smart phone via downloading an app.

So there you have it as the negative comments will come from those who are not into the above equipment, where as for those of us who are I think it will be a big wow.

Also I took some time to have a play and you can move the arrow over to the right top or bottom corner and bring up a menu via which you can such down by going to the power menu, and if you move the mouse to the left you can see what windows you have open.

Anyway I now leave others to comment.
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Comments

  • BrokenArrowBrokenArrow Posts: 21,665
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    The biggest issue is the name...... "Windows 8".

    If they had called it "Window 8" there wouldn't be a problem.
  • Kolin KlingonKolin Klingon Posts: 4,296
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    So kiddies and their silly gadgets and games V Adults who have to get on with real work.
  • cnbcwatchercnbcwatcher Posts: 56,681
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    Windows 8, put simply, is a steaming pile of dung.
  • wacky joewacky joe Posts: 1,959
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    My old XP pc gave up the ghost after 8yrs so i decided to upgrade.
    I am no computer expert so was a bit scared reading the reviews of Win 8 but went ahead and purchashed a new Win 8 pc.
    I have been using a htc smart phone for 3yrs and am well used to apps.
    Set up new PC,took 10mins,it was an eye opener ať first getting used to Win8, after couple days i was really starting to enjoy it.Like everything new i think u gotta give it time.
    If u really can't get used to it just download classic view.
    But please give it time,i have it about 2wks now and still on a learning curve which i find great.
  • irishguyirishguy Posts: 22,172
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    Windows 8, put simply, is a steaming pile of dung.

    Wow - you really must not like it! What specifically it is that provokes the hate?
  • TheBigMTheBigM Posts: 13,125
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    irishguy wrote: »
    Wow - you really must not like it! What specifically it is that provokes the hate?

    A love of partially bitten fruit.
  • call100call100 Posts: 7,264
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    I agree with you to certain extent. When it's working it's fine and I have no problems with it.
    On my office desktop everything is working nicely, the PC came with W8 installed. However I downloaded W8 onto my laptop and some elements I just can't get to work - like video in youtube etc apps - no matter what I try. As I can't return to W7 I just added startmenu X (I prefer it to Classic shell) and everything works as it did.
    I think that maybe, if I had just the experience of the laptop conversion, I may not be in the like it camp.
    When I get my new PC at home, I'll do a W8 reset on the laptop to see what happens there....
  • cnbcwatchercnbcwatcher Posts: 56,681
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    irishguy wrote: »
    Wow - you really must not like it! What specifically it is that provokes the hate?

    The Metro interface mostly. It looks ridiculous on a desktop or laptop without a touchscreen and it seems a bit too dumbed down and simplified but at the same time clunky. It might be more usable with Classic Shell though but I hear that a lot of older programs are not compatible with W8. Too much change too soon really. MS seemed to get something right with Windows 7 but they messed up a bit with Windows 8. They should have done a version with the Metro interface for tablets and touchscreens and a version with a normal desktop for ordinary PCs without touchscreens.
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    I've been away from home all week and have been using W8, today back home I opened up W7 and to be honest...it just looks so dull compared to 8. I like the metro tiles, I like the look, I like the feel, its sharp to look at and slick to use with a mouse. I won't upgrade the rest of my home network to W8 because all the other PC bases are plugged into TV's so we have net access throughout the house, it works so why change. However on any new machines I'll not go back to W7, for me it would be a backward move.

    Windows 8 is here to stay, Windows has moved on and its about time some people moved with it. The development/changes in past Windows versions has gone from slow to extreme and I can see why some users would be worried jumping from XP/Vista/W7 to W8, it looks radically different but fundamentally its all very similar really.

    I remember when W7 came out and the Xp users / Vista bashers moaned then, things don't change much really lol.
  • StigglesStiggles Posts: 9,618
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    Windows 8, put simply, is a steaming pile of dung.

    But then so is OSX. Terrible.

    Windows 8 is ok. I use it on my new laptop and i get on with it.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 109
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    Windows 8, put simply, is a steaming pile of dung.

    Your constant trolling of Windows threads is really getting quite tiresome now.
  • irishguyirishguy Posts: 22,172
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    Your constant trolling of Windows threads is really getting quite tiresome now.

    I can see their problem with the metro interface though... a lot of people really dont like it.... but I don't think its so bad that it makes the OS a piece of crap! There's plenty of useful features besides that and you can avoid it by sticking to the desktop mode
  • RichmondBlueRichmondBlue Posts: 21,279
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    neo_wales wrote: »
    I've been away from home all week and have been using W8, today back home I opened up W7 and to be honest...it just looks so dull compared to 8. I like the metro tiles, I like the look, I like the feel, its sharp to look at and slick to use with a mouse. I won't upgrade the rest of my home network to W8 because all the other PC bases are plugged into TV's so we have net access throughout the house, it works so why change. However on any new machines I'll not go back to W7, for me it would be a backward move.

    Windows 8 is here to stay, Windows has moved on and its about time some people moved with it. The development/changes in past Windows versions has gone from slow to extreme and I can see why some users would be worried jumping from XP/Vista/W7 to W8, it looks radically different but fundamentally its all very similar really.

    I remember when W7 came out and the Xp users / Vista bashers moaned then, things don't change much really lol.

    I think that's where most people would take issue with you.
    I've spoken to teenagers who don't like it on non-touchscreen devices, they certainly don't find it "slick to use with a mouse".
    I don't think it's an "age thing", it's just attempting to use an interface that was actually developed for something else.
    If touchscreen is indeed the future, then Windows8 is a good starting point..it could still look a lot better, but that's a matter of opinion. But without a touchscreen it's just an unnecessary pain, something new to learn that doesn't bring any benefits.
  • d'@ved'@ve Posts: 45,452
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    neo_wales wrote: »
    its sharp to look at and slick to use with a mouse...

    I hardly think being sharp to look at (which is a matter of opinion) is a recommendation for serious desktop users wanting productivity out of their system.

    As for "slick to use with a mouse", I laughed out loud when I read that as it's literally all over the place with a mouse, and much slower to launch any serious programs.

    To launch the occasionally used Windows Media Encoder from the desktop with a Start Button add-on took me 4 seconds, first time. Very few clicks and almost imperceptible mouse and eye movements. To launch it from the Metro screen took me 8 seconds after dropping into the small-tiles screen, practising several times, and with mouse and eye movements all over the place (which on a 27 inch screen isn't exactly restful). It was slow and in the end, dumped me onto the desktop anyway! May as well have started from there, obviously!

    So it's back to Classic Shell again for me and now, without Metro, W8 actually is "slick to use with a mouse".
  • John259John259 Posts: 28,325
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    Those who care about eye candy tend to regard the loss of Aero as a significant drawback of Windows 8.
  • user123456789user123456789 Posts: 16,589
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    John259 wrote: »
    Those who care about eye candy tend to regard the loss of Aero as a significant drawback of Windows 8.

    Aero was just a waste of GPU, even on Windows 7 I had this turned off to have more speed in the UI.
  • John259John259 Posts: 28,325
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    anniebrion wrote: »
    Aero was just a waste of GPU, even on Windows 7 I had this turned off to have more speed in the UI.
    I never cared for it either - just saying that it matters to some people who think that appearance is more important than functionality.
  • R410R410 Posts: 2,991
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    After using W8 for a few weeks, I have come to the conclusion that W8 is not as fast as W7 on my laptop, especially when it is not plugged in.
  • emptyboxemptybox Posts: 13,917
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    anniebrion wrote: »
    Aero was just a waste of GPU, even on Windows 7 I had this turned off to have more speed in the UI.

    You'd have to have a very old or low spec machine to notice any slowdown that Aero made to the UI.
    (I presume by "UI" you mean the speed of opening and closing windows and dragging windows across the screen etc?)

    I've got Windows 7 on a 7 and a half year old Pentium 4 machine, and Aero on that runs just as slick as XP did on the same machine.
    Also I upgraded a 2 year old i3 machine from 7 to 8, and 8 doesn't run any slicker without Aero Glass.

    Fair enough if people don't like the look of the transparent Aero blur, but the GPU load excuse is spurious.
    I mean if your GPU can't easily handle Aero then it's got no hope playing even the simplest of video games. :D

    To my mind Aero Glass (transparency, blur) is the best looking desktop theme.
    Yes all versions of Linux can handle transparency through compiz, but I've never seen the blur effect in Linux.
  • cnbcwatchercnbcwatcher Posts: 56,681
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    Stiggles wrote: »
    But then so is OSX. Terrible.

    Windows 8 is ok. I use it on my new laptop and i get on with it.

    I find OSX ok, but I guess it depends what the user prefers really. Do you use Classic Shell or one of those utilities with it?
  • user123456789user123456789 Posts: 16,589
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    emptybox wrote: »
    You'd have to have a very old or low spec machine to notice any slowdown that Aero made to the UI.

    Acer Revo 3610, Win7 running under VMWare, old Server running Win7.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    I find OSX ok, but I guess it depends what the user prefers really. Do you use Classic Shell or one of those utilities with it?

    OSX is really dumbed down, just like iOS. Apple like to keep UI simple for their users.
  • emptyboxemptybox Posts: 13,917
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    anniebrion wrote: »
    Acer Revo 3610, Win7 running under VMWare, old Server running Win7.

    I wouldn't have thought the Acer Revo would struggle with Aero, although surely VMWare would slow it down anyway?

    I did have an even older P4 desktop that seemed to be a bit slower under Windows 7 than XP. But that was in opening applications etc rather than the UI as such.
    Anyway that one has now had a motherboard upgrade and is now running Windows 8 64bit. :D

    But I'd still like the option of Aero Glass just to get rid of the dull (XP like) look of taskbar and Windows borders.
  • John259John259 Posts: 28,325
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    emptybox wrote: »
    But I'd still like the option...
    Ain't that the story of Win8?
  • IvanIVIvanIV Posts: 30,301
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    Windows 8, put simply, is a steaming pile of dung.

    Yeah, ride that bandwagon, baby! Would be nice if you actually used W8 longer than five minutes.
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