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Re: Windows 8 is a flop
@dpbsmith, My nearly 80 year old mother did the same thing. She has very little knowledge. Opened her HP, widnows 8 laptop. Turned it on, and had no problems using it over windows 7. The only thing she had to note was that it had the extra functionality of a touch screen, and that she could SWIPE, like you do on many touch tablets, phones, ipads etc. She very quickly found out that you press the DESKTOP icon or WINDOWS BUTTON, and it takes you to a traditional looking desktop.
My mother loves windows 8, and for the most part hangs around the windows 7ish looking desktop. You like every other PARROT, out there (and that's what you are), parrot this silly notion that somehow windows 8 is so different, even though you can leave it in desktop mode and it acts pretty much like windows 7. And you are apparently one of the slowest parrots. The first parrots squalk and junk comes out of their beaks. Finally it trickles down to people like you, last in line. When you see a lot of win8 hate, you and your wife figure you might as well jump on the hate wagon.
When you say she hates it, you don't give compelling enough reasons as to why she hates it. You just state "it's a flop". Her comment on it not making "anything better" is typical of ignorant people who think improvements are esthetic or in the looks department. Or they expect some colors or something. A majority of apple fans are this way. There are thousands of improvements in windows 8 over say XP that give it more functionality that people take for granted. This comes from an expert, not your wife. If you don't know what you're talking about shouldn't be giving opinions as if they are important. Yes everyone's entitled to an opinion, but stop acting as if you are warning everyone and because your wife didn't like it, we should all quit using it.
Key combinations? We don't need to memeorize key combinations any more than any other version of windows. And device settings only available through the charm bar? Not true. but what is your shrugging, non-informed wife mucking around with devices for? Even in windows 7, you must rioght click on computer go to control panel. Or access it through the menus. Yet you act as if there's nothing to it. ONLY ONE window at a time? Now you're caught in a lie. I don't know anyone who can't open more than one window within windows 8. The icons for them appear at the bottom just as they do in windows 7. So if she liked that, she'd be fine with windows 8.
Next you say you haven't figured it out, "but listening to her". Meaning you KNOW NOTHING! and are relying on your wife who also knows nothing! OMG, blind leading blind? Yet giving out your opinion on it? Then you say some sites work on one IE but not the other etc, but you are "unsure" and you "could have it all wrong". Which you pretty do, because you don't get it. And when she complains what you are saying is the other parrots complain too? haha, why is that not a surprise to me. The thing is with parrots is this. They are weak minded people. They want to fit into the group and be liked. So if the majority say they don't like it, they will all agree and do so LATE. When you ask them why you get stupid answers because they are basically stupid. Had everyone said they loved it, she would have raved about it and so would you, and you'd be a year late doing so, because again, you are in with the slower parrots. But this is how apple fans and haters do it. They start with some little issue like a worry over the START button. Then they amp it up and exaggerate the problem times ten. Then the parrots in the cage start to squalk.
The fact that you say "such a disaster" has INSTANTLY put your self in the group with the worthless opinions and iUsers. The people who can't give any really good reasons, and tend to exaggerate over practically nothing. as for seeing disasters, what about Vista?? Actually there is nothing much wrong with it, but it was on the poo list too. Once on this list, people just blindly bash it and "parrot" that sentement, over and over so they can can blend in with the crowd. Like cookie cutter, copy and paste sentiments. There's some people who believe every other version of windows is great. But only every other version. And there are people who believe in ouija boards too.
Meanwhile, everything is changing. There are peoplel using touch screens, tablets and phones every where you go. Windows 8, is part of that movement, and the idea is to integrate all functionality. You want to stay desktop, you can do that. You want to swipe from the right side and visit all those icons, you can do that too. Not hard to get really. The reason my nearly 80 year old mother was so succesful with windows 8 is because she knows all about the parrots, and ignores them. She just tries to use it and it was a no brainer for her.
If there is any disaster, it's the human race, which is quickly going down hill. People are so illiterate, that they now rate products based on how well the brainwashing in the advertising works and looks and what parroted comments have been started by haters who favor the opposing platform say. Or simply other parrots that follow the 1st parrots. They don't base it on what good features or merits it may have. What do I do with windows 8? I run a recording studio and use the touch screen to fade and mix albums on wireless touch pads. You sound like a real drip.
My mother loves windows 8, and for the most part hangs around the windows 7ish looking desktop. You like every other PARROT, out there (and that's what you are), parrot this silly notion that somehow windows 8 is so different, even though you can leave it in desktop mode and it acts pretty much like windows 7. And you are apparently one of the slowest parrots. The first parrots squalk and junk comes out of their beaks. Finally it trickles down to people like you, last in line. When you see a lot of win8 hate, you and your wife figure you might as well jump on the hate wagon.
When you say she hates it, you don't give compelling enough reasons as to why she hates it. You just state "it's a flop". Her comment on it not making "anything better" is typical of ignorant people who think improvements are esthetic or in the looks department. Or they expect some colors or something. A majority of apple fans are this way. There are thousands of improvements in windows 8 over say XP that give it more functionality that people take for granted. This comes from an expert, not your wife. If you don't know what you're talking about shouldn't be giving opinions as if they are important. Yes everyone's entitled to an opinion, but stop acting as if you are warning everyone and because your wife didn't like it, we should all quit using it.
Key combinations? We don't need to memeorize key combinations any more than any other version of windows. And device settings only available through the charm bar? Not true. but what is your shrugging, non-informed wife mucking around with devices for? Even in windows 7, you must rioght click on computer go to control panel. Or access it through the menus. Yet you act as if there's nothing to it. ONLY ONE window at a time? Now you're caught in a lie. I don't know anyone who can't open more than one window within windows 8. The icons for them appear at the bottom just as they do in windows 7. So if she liked that, she'd be fine with windows 8.
Next you say you haven't figured it out, "but listening to her". Meaning you KNOW NOTHING! and are relying on your wife who also knows nothing! OMG, blind leading blind? Yet giving out your opinion on it? Then you say some sites work on one IE but not the other etc, but you are "unsure" and you "could have it all wrong". Which you pretty do, because you don't get it. And when she complains what you are saying is the other parrots complain too? haha, why is that not a surprise to me. The thing is with parrots is this. They are weak minded people. They want to fit into the group and be liked. So if the majority say they don't like it, they will all agree and do so LATE. When you ask them why you get stupid answers because they are basically stupid. Had everyone said they loved it, she would have raved about it and so would you, and you'd be a year late doing so, because again, you are in with the slower parrots. But this is how apple fans and haters do it. They start with some little issue like a worry over the START button. Then they amp it up and exaggerate the problem times ten. Then the parrots in the cage start to squalk.
The fact that you say "such a disaster" has INSTANTLY put your self in the group with the worthless opinions and iUsers. The people who can't give any really good reasons, and tend to exaggerate over practically nothing. as for seeing disasters, what about Vista?? Actually there is nothing much wrong with it, but it was on the poo list too. Once on this list, people just blindly bash it and "parrot" that sentement, over and over so they can can blend in with the crowd. Like cookie cutter, copy and paste sentiments. There's some people who believe every other version of windows is great. But only every other version. And there are people who believe in ouija boards too.
Meanwhile, everything is changing. There are peoplel using touch screens, tablets and phones every where you go. Windows 8, is part of that movement, and the idea is to integrate all functionality. You want to stay desktop, you can do that. You want to swipe from the right side and visit all those icons, you can do that too. Not hard to get really. The reason my nearly 80 year old mother was so succesful with windows 8 is because she knows all about the parrots, and ignores them. She just tries to use it and it was a no brainer for her.
If there is any disaster, it's the human race, which is quickly going down hill. People are so illiterate, that they now rate products based on how well the brainwashing in the advertising works and looks and what parroted comments have been started by haters who favor the opposing platform say. Or simply other parrots that follow the 1st parrots. They don't base it on what good features or merits it may have. What do I do with windows 8? I run a recording studio and use the touch screen to fade and mix albums on wireless touch pads. You sound like a real drip.
Re: Windows 8 is a flop
My wife is neither a technophobe nor a technophile. She doesn't have ideological opinions about Microsoft. She is the kind of user who shrugs, mostly accepts default settings out of the box, and just goes ahead and learns how to use her computer. She liked MS-DOS, Windows 95 SE, and Windows XP.
She went into Windows 8 consciously--choosing not to attempt an upgrade, choosing to buy a new machine with Windows 8 preinstalled, and choosing it IN PREFERENCE TO Windows 7 machines (which at that time were still available). She knew the UI was different. She shrugged and said, "Well, I'll learn it." She went to a Microsoft store and (in my opinion unfortunately) did not insist on doing personal hands-on, but she did spend ten minutes having someone in the store show her Windows 8, so she was aware just how new the UI was.
She hates it. She tells all her friends how badly she hates it. When the 8.1 upgrade came out, she installed it, and still hates it. She says that Windows 8.1 changed a lot of things without making anything better. She says all Windows 8.1 did for her was make a few things she had finally learned stop working--and remove the one thing she actually enjoyed in Windows 8, namely having the Bing Picture of the Day for her wallpaper.*
Her beef it "it's different' or "there's no start button." It is: a) having to memorize key combinations; b) not being able to find invisible controls unless you already know where they are; c) having a bunch of device settings, preferences, etc. that can only be accessed through the Charms bar and another bunch that can only be accessed through the Desktop screen; d) mostly being unable to open more than one window at a time--there's a special-case trick which I think works on some applications but not all that lets you open exactly two; e) being forced to deal with a mix of Metro and Desktop applications, with different user interfaces, _even if all you do is use Microsoft's own applications._ I haven't quite figured this out myself but listening to her it sounds as if Microsoft has actually included two different pieces of software called "Internet Explorer," one Metro and one Desktop, and some websites only work properly with one and some only work properly with the other. I may have that all wrong, but that's what it sounds like.
When she complains about it, if any of the people she is talking to have used Windows 8 they, so far, have already agreed--they hate it, too. And they've all had a lot of time to get used to it and figure out where the Charms Bar is.
I've never seen such a disaster in term of user dissatisfaction among ordinary users. My wife feels completely betrayed by Microsoft.
*About a month later she figured out how to get it back. It's necessary to find and reinstall what is now an optional Windows 8.1 component. But why on earth did they just unilaterally delete it? Why wasn't there a dialog box in the upgrade installer saying "We see you have chosen to have the Bing Picture of the Day as your wallpaper. Do you still want this in Windows 8.1? [ ] yes [ ] no." What is so hard about "don't undo or wipe out any choices you know the user made intentionally?"
She went into Windows 8 consciously--choosing not to attempt an upgrade, choosing to buy a new machine with Windows 8 preinstalled, and choosing it IN PREFERENCE TO Windows 7 machines (which at that time were still available). She knew the UI was different. She shrugged and said, "Well, I'll learn it." She went to a Microsoft store and (in my opinion unfortunately) did not insist on doing personal hands-on, but she did spend ten minutes having someone in the store show her Windows 8, so she was aware just how new the UI was.
She hates it. She tells all her friends how badly she hates it. When the 8.1 upgrade came out, she installed it, and still hates it. She says that Windows 8.1 changed a lot of things without making anything better. She says all Windows 8.1 did for her was make a few things she had finally learned stop working--and remove the one thing she actually enjoyed in Windows 8, namely having the Bing Picture of the Day for her wallpaper.*
Her beef it "it's different' or "there's no start button." It is: a) having to memorize key combinations; b) not being able to find invisible controls unless you already know where they are; c) having a bunch of device settings, preferences, etc. that can only be accessed through the Charms bar and another bunch that can only be accessed through the Desktop screen; d) mostly being unable to open more than one window at a time--there's a special-case trick which I think works on some applications but not all that lets you open exactly two; e) being forced to deal with a mix of Metro and Desktop applications, with different user interfaces, _even if all you do is use Microsoft's own applications._ I haven't quite figured this out myself but listening to her it sounds as if Microsoft has actually included two different pieces of software called "Internet Explorer," one Metro and one Desktop, and some websites only work properly with one and some only work properly with the other. I may have that all wrong, but that's what it sounds like.
When she complains about it, if any of the people she is talking to have used Windows 8 they, so far, have already agreed--they hate it, too. And they've all had a lot of time to get used to it and figure out where the Charms Bar is.
I've never seen such a disaster in term of user dissatisfaction among ordinary users. My wife feels completely betrayed by Microsoft.
*About a month later she figured out how to get it back. It's necessary to find and reinstall what is now an optional Windows 8.1 component. But why on earth did they just unilaterally delete it? Why wasn't there a dialog box in the upgrade installer saying "We see you have chosen to have the Bing Picture of the Day as your wallpaper. Do you still want this in Windows 8.1? [ ] yes [ ] no." What is so hard about "don't undo or wipe out any choices you know the user made intentionally?"
RE: Windows 8 is a flop
My problem with the evolution of the Windows OS is that it's getting closer to os-x. The apple interface is designed for 'users' and makes life difficult for the rest of us. Too many layers of "helpful" stuff overlaid on the base OS. So, the ways to vote with the wallet are to go to Chromebook or Linux. They are nice but they do limit the software you can run.
So MS can add all kinds of tiles, metros, charms, etc. for the basic user but please leave more direct access available to the OS for the rest of us that don't want so many "helpful" features that make it harder to do what we want to do.
So MS can add all kinds of tiles, metros, charms, etc. for the basic user but please leave more direct access available to the OS for the rest of us that don't want so many "helpful" features that make it harder to do what we want to do.
Re: Windows 8 is a flop
All web apps can't keep up with these new versions of IE. I'm just opposed to the way they are forcing them out there. Windows 8 can't run anything under IE10 and 8.1 IE11.
We have an ERP application that is not validated on IE11 yet so Windows 8.1 is out if the question right now for that reason. Unfortunately it doesn't run on any other browsers yet.
We have an ERP application that is not validated on IE11 yet so Windows 8.1 is out if the question right now for that reason. Unfortunately it doesn't run on any other browsers yet.
The compatibility mode isn't good enough when we are talking about a system that runs the company.
Re: Windows 8 is a flop
Out of curiosity-- why the opposition to the new version of IE? I've found it to be better than earlier versions of IE, though I still find myself using Chrome a lot. I know some people have apps written for earlier versions of IE, but the new compatibility mode should help address that, at least for commercial users.
Re: Windows 8 is a flop
I too can appreciate the fact that there are people who have that "philosophical opposition" to MS. That is a different story than trashing Windows 8.1. I haven't installed the update yet but plan to soon. I didn't give Windows 8 a try until 8.1. I have it acting pretty much like windows 7, which is how I like it. So far I am pleased with it. I think I said this before but pushing the latest version of IE is a mistake. There is a work around for that though. Use a different browser.
Re: Windows 8 is a flop
"I'm curious how many people that trash windows 8 have actually tried it."
I think this is a big challenge for Microsoft. There's a ton of bad karma out there. Some of it is due to Windows 8, some of it is Ballmer resentment that just accumulated over the years among certain customer segments, some of it is resentment over what many people perceive as recent-strong arm tactics (e.g. you can buy a really expensive standalone Office license, or you can subscribe to Office 365).
For me, the issue with Windows is how many people have tried Windows 8.1 Update, specifically, not just Windows 8.
I think a lot of people who have never tried Windows 8 trash it because public perception is so poor; they're just repeating the consensus. Within this group, some people are only aware that there are a bunch of tiles and no Start menu (both things that remain true even after 8.1 and Update). Until at least one of those things changes, I'm not sure Microsoft can win those customers back.But I think some other people tried the original Windows 8 (which was admittedly pretty bad), and then just gave up on the entire Win 8 franchise. Windows 8.1 Update is meaningfully different than Windows 8, and much better. I wouldn't say it's perfect or amazing, and I like OS X (which also has flaws) more overall-- but I've found Windows 8.1 Update to be perfectly usable and productive.
I can appreciate that some people have a philosophical opposition to Microsoft's Windows strategy-- and if you're in that camp, more power to you. There's still power to voting with your wallet.
But if you were scared off by Windows 8's initial usability problems, that's a different story. There's still a learning curve, but we're talking a few minutes, at most-- and the majority of that learning curve involves configuring preferences like those listed in this article.
I think this is a big challenge for Microsoft. There's a ton of bad karma out there. Some of it is due to Windows 8, some of it is Ballmer resentment that just accumulated over the years among certain customer segments, some of it is resentment over what many people perceive as recent-strong arm tactics (e.g. you can buy a really expensive standalone Office license, or you can subscribe to Office 365).
For me, the issue with Windows is how many people have tried Windows 8.1 Update, specifically, not just Windows 8.
I think a lot of people who have never tried Windows 8 trash it because public perception is so poor; they're just repeating the consensus. Within this group, some people are only aware that there are a bunch of tiles and no Start menu (both things that remain true even after 8.1 and Update). Until at least one of those things changes, I'm not sure Microsoft can win those customers back.But I think some other people tried the original Windows 8 (which was admittedly pretty bad), and then just gave up on the entire Win 8 franchise. Windows 8.1 Update is meaningfully different than Windows 8, and much better. I wouldn't say it's perfect or amazing, and I like OS X (which also has flaws) more overall-- but I've found Windows 8.1 Update to be perfectly usable and productive.
I can appreciate that some people have a philosophical opposition to Microsoft's Windows strategy-- and if you're in that camp, more power to you. There's still power to voting with your wallet.
But if you were scared off by Windows 8's initial usability problems, that's a different story. There's still a learning curve, but we're talking a few minutes, at most-- and the majority of that learning curve involves configuring preferences like those listed in this article.
Re: Windows 8 is a flop
Having gone through the effort of pruning my start screen to the point where it is useful, I don't mind it. The changes are enough for me to take a look at metro apps again. I haven't seen any that looked better than existing desktop apps but at least I now feel good enough about the ease-of-use that I can try some metro apps.
My question: Do the Metro apps still uninstall only for the current user and when a new user logs in every one of them is there? or was that fixed in 8.1U1?
My question: Do the Metro apps still uninstall only for the current user and when a new user logs in every one of them is there? or was that fixed in 8.1U1?
Re: Windows 8 is a flop
That was my first reaction to Windows 8 but I have changed my mind. Windows ME was a flop. 8 is nowhere close to that. MS is finally fixing issues and I give them credit. I think people are hung up on the fact that these issues shouldn't have been issues if MS just listened to its users in the first place. The fact is they are listening now. I'm curious how many people that trash windows 8 have actually tried it.
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10/22/2014 | 1:01:35 AM