Windows 8... lol

http://mobile.news.com.au/technolog...elease-windows-9/story-fnjwukfu-1226801625812

Apparently Microsoft is planning on ditching Windows 8 and moving on to Windows 9.

Can't help but say that I saw this coming...
Essentially porting a tablet OS to use on PCs was a terrible idea!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't like Windows 8 and thought it was a bad idea. I have a buddy who works for AT&T and got to test the Nokia phone with the old Win Mobile 7. With what he showed me I was sorely tempted to move to that platform it was really slick, but then they decided to put that on computers as well as mobile devices. I really didn't like the idea and stayed away from the whole thing. Glad I did too after hearing so many complaints about the whole thing.
 
Blizzard shuts down the Diablo 3 real money auction house.

Microsoft reverses always-on requirements for the Xbone.

EA adds an offline single-player mode to SimCity.

And now Microsoft may abandon Windows 8?

Could it be that companies are finally, finally starting to pay more attention to the customers--you know, the people whose money keep them profitable?

Let's hope!
 
I said is months ago, ill say it again... Win 8... RUN!!! Its designed for phones and tablets, not PC's, and especially not PC nerds.
 
I will adamantly state that:

Windows 8 is awesome on desktop regardless of touch
Windows 8 is definitely geared towards power users however my aging parents can use it fine
Windows 8 Tablets are awesome
I love my Nokia 810 Windows Phone

And this is not a surprise and its actually a big trend for microsoft to shorten their production cycles across the board.

My qualifications: IT for 10 years and experience in windows, linux, mac, running servers on all 3 platforms, and I work day to day with domestic, international, young and old.


Sorry if this sounds curt but I really feel a lot of people just got on a hate bandwagon and didt even give it a chance. just my opinion >.>
 
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Sorry if this sounds curt but I really feel a lot of people just got on a hate bandwagon and didt even give it a chance. just my opinion >.>

I agree and disagree. I think alot of people (mostly gamers) hate on it without having tried it. But I also think that microsoft made a product with an interface for tablets and for non-gamer users and tried to market it to gamers that already had a wonderful OS for gaming.

But this has also been an opinion and my qualifications are that I set up a router once. :p
 
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I don't "hate" Windows 8 and I use it at home, but it's a far cry from "awesome".
 
Unlike the other big company mistakes I wonder if Microsoft really cared if Windows 8 was a smashing "success". The way some big software companies are they eagerly release a new version on a regular basis whether they've made significant improvements or not (Adobe you aren't making advancements in Photoshop worth a few hundred dollars every 1-2 years -_- ). With Microsoft a sleight variance in Windows 8 only gives them more reason to make Windows 9, it's the New Coke effect. "You didn't like Windows 8's look so we fixed it with Windows 9 which looks more like Windows 7!" and people rejoice they fixed their own mistakes... for another few hundred dollars XD. I can't remember specifics but back when I got Windows 7 I remember feeling like they hid things in new locations just to look new (maybe I felt it more because I had read a large book on XP IDK). Then there is AVG reshuffling the whole UI every time they add a tiny new thing.

Bottom line: Maybe Windows 8 was a honest experiment in something new and different that just failed, maybe New Coke was too (I don't care what Snopes says either way) but I'm 100% certain some big companies play psychological games to milk every last dollar out of customers. There is to much known greed from them to ever think otherwise.

For me you have to do something more substantial, more necessary, than a UI improvement to get me to shell out hundreds of dollars every few years.
 
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You know, I think the main thing about Windows 8 is that, unlike past operating systems, this was targeted specifically at tablets. Most past versions of Windows had a variety of releases for each version that came out. However, every edition of 8 was targeted at tablets. Of course, that's not to say you were limited. Developers were coming out with plenty of tablet applications for people who wanted to use a tablet. However, users used to using their computers in a specific way would probably end up feeling encumbered by the fact that they couldn't do what they wanted the same way and had to find a new way to do it.

As such. I don't think Windows 8 was positive or negative. It was just designed for a specific type of user. Everyone else just expected it to be useful on any type of system because it said Windows.
 
My first encounter with Windows 8 was when my mother (I'm a geezer so that gives you an idea how old she is) was having problems with her new laptop and printer interface. My first reaction to the ui was, "what is this trash?". It was awkward and lacking the intuitive feel of other Windows iterations. I solved the problem, but it took me twice as long to do so. Personally if the only choice was either my current Vista or 8, I would choose Vista. I have experience, kinda old, with RPGII, Cobol, Fortran, Advance Basic, ASCII coding, also used to rebuild and refurbish comps for give away to needy children. Have used everything from DOS 3.0 to Vista. Will just wait on update for Windows 9.
 
Something to keep in mind with Windows 8 is that they are going after a bigger picture function of the UI and are slowly trying to train people. There is a reason you can hit the start menu and begin typing the file or program that you want. Also there are more short cuts than ever before.

By microsoft doing this, like other OS makers, allows for them to move closer to a speech-to-command type interface by streamlining shortcuts and access to programs and files. Its a movement in the Microsoft OS since 2006 and their finally making changes to allow these types of updates to happen but also train users to have a full UI experience using a keyboard/mouse, touch, and then finally an auditory experience. Besides the flowery ideas of grandeur UI experience, every sci-fi show and movie has voice commanded computers, just saying.

Even though Win8 might not be perfect, it actually is more intuitive than previous ones and most clunkyness is for the better good.
 
This last semester I took a class called human factors - it essentially examined how people interact with the products we build (e.g., cars, computers, keyboards, etc.). Windows 8 is radically different from 7, Vista, and XP, and for an OS that was [clearly] intended to be used on a tablet, then that's fine -- there are no preconceived notions for how it is supposed to work. But on a PC where a mouse is needed, people have established preconceived notions (or mental models, which are hard to change) and thus it is unnecessarily harder to work with.

At school I work next to a computer lab, and recently all of the computers in it have been "upgraded" to 8. You know it's legitimately bad when college students regularly walk into your office and ask how to log off the computers.

Also - I think Gerbil could be right. I think this is an experiment by Microsoft to see what they could get away with in regards to new technology. If we were in some alternate universe where Windows 8 took off an was madly successful, Microsoft at that point would literally be printing their own money to stuff in their wallets. Fortunately we aren't in that alternate universe, we are in ours where garbage like Windows 8 doesn't fly.

TL;DR - People shouldn't have to give an OS a chance to grow on them now-a-days. An OS should just work. Anything less than that is simply an excuse for failure.
 
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This clearly follows the Windows release pattern so far.
-Release an OS and get lots of bad press (I think they might even create the bad press themselves to reinforce how horrible the OS is)
-let people adopt and get used to it
-Release the next OS and everyone praises them for basically releasing the same OS but with fixes and a new name
-create infinite upgrade possibilities and pricing tiers with "clean" installs being the most expensive
-profit
 
I run the computer lab for international students at Washington State University and we run windows 8. Havent had a single complaint. That might be from a lack of language skills but even the english competent students havent complained.

Considering a majority of the shortcuts, control panel, and core features of XP,Vista, and Win7 are all there and are faster to get to (not easier but faster), i cant say windows 8 is radically that different.

Also consider OSX Lion has the exact same interface with the exception that it can be turned off.
 
Something to keep in mind with Windows 8 is that they are going after a bigger picture function of the UI and are slowly trying to train people. There is a reason you can hit the start menu and begin typing the file or program that you want. Also there are more short cuts than ever before.

By microsoft doing this, like other OS makers, allows for them to move closer to a speech-to-command type interface by streamlining shortcuts and access to programs and files. Its a movement in the Microsoft OS since 2006 and their finally making changes to allow these types of updates to happen but also train users to have a full UI experience using a keyboard/mouse, touch, and then finally an auditory experience. Besides the flowery ideas of grandeur UI experience, every sci-fi show and movie has voice commanded computers, just saying.

Even though Win8 might not be perfect, it actually is more intuitive than previous ones and most clunkyness is for the better good.
Ugg. Voice commands are such a terrible idea. . .

Especially for those of us who have to work in cubicles. You may notice that characters in all of those sci-fi shows (I'm looking at you Star Trek) "conveniently" never had need to speak to the computer at the same time.

Even at home I don't want to have to talk to my computer (other than my regular ramblings - and angry outbursts). By the time I would have muttered the command I wanted I could have done it manually. And I know I am not alone in my distaste for dealing with automated (voice recognition) phone routing. I usually opt to use the keypad if I have the option because I don't like to sound like an idiot - repeating myself over and over before breaking down and screaming at the phone.

I, personally, opted for Windows 7 on my home computer even though Windows 8 had already been out for several months when I was buying.
 
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This clearly follows the Windows release pattern so far.
-Release an OS and get lots of bad press (I think they might even create the bad press themselves to reinforce how horrible the OS is)
-let people adopt and get used to it
-Release the next OS and everyone praises them for basically releasing the same OS but with fixes and a new name
-create infinite upgrade possibilities and pricing tiers with "clean" installs being the most expensive
-profit
just what i was thinking
 
This clearly follows the Windows release pattern so far.
-Release an OS and get lots of bad press (I think they might even create the bad press themselves to reinforce how horrible the OS is)
-let people adopt and get used to it
-Release the next OS and everyone praises them for basically releasing the same OS but with fixes and a new name
-create infinite upgrade possibilities and pricing tiers with "clean" installs being the most expensive
-profit

Sounds about right.

You just aren't going to come up with a "needed OS" on a regular basis so you do anything to get attention. It doesn't really matter if Windows 8 is actually bad or not.

Ugg. Voice commands are such a terrible idea. . .

Especially for those of us who have to work in cubicles. You may notice that characters in all of those sci-fi shows (I'm looking at you Star Trek) "conveniently" never had need to speak to the computer at the same time.

...but, but it's new it has to be better right? :p

I think I have resentment being pushed along in the flow of what every one else is doing. It's like when I went to try to get new glasses and every frame in the store (hundreds of them) was square. I like round glasses yet this very simple, and previously established, thing is now forbidden because everyone likes square ones (unless you pay for cutting them custom). I don't have to be different to be different I just want to be me. If you don't like Window's new UI would it hurt to have an easy way to use what you like, what you've already been using? It probably would hurt because the masses might ask just what feature am I buying this for if not the UI. No says Microsoft, we are the only kid on the block and you will use the new UI, no room for dissent... at least until you shell out more money to replace it.
 
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I have a Nokia 920. Love Windows 8 on it. My father recently installed windows 8 on my windows 7 computer. Despise it.

I don't want to do anything with Xbox on my PC! If I want to do something with Xbox, I'll get an Xbox, darn it!
 
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