Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong - InformationWeek

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Comments
Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong
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jonesk
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jonesk,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/23/2013 | 2:07:03 AM
re: Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong
Most people don't like change. The biggest problem with Windows 8 is the UI change, which I believe is hindering wide spread adoption. An OS should be intuitive enough that anyone can start immediately using it without a 10 minute introduction. That is why the iPad is so popular - a 2 year old can figure out how to use it in a couple of minutes.
When I rolled out Office 2007 with the new ribbon interface, my users were ready to kill me, especially the person editing publications who did not have time to learn a new interface. Windows 8 has the same problem. It should have been built with the option to use the new interface or maintain the original Windows 7 interface.
Palpatine
50%
50%
Palpatine,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/2/2013 | 6:23:51 AM
re: Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong
It was funny 12 months ago ballmerboy. Now each time Redomnd PR says "you have not used it" it means "MS is not relevant anymore". Have fun on TechNet... oh, sorry, ballmermonkey just killed it...
sjacks982
50%
50%
sjacks982,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/2/2013 | 1:57:37 AM
re: Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong
Did you like how Microsoft tried to ram Vista down our throats? Win8 is the same 6.x codebase, including the same bugs!
sjacks982
50%
50%
sjacks982,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/2/2013 | 1:45:15 AM
re: Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong
"Last time I checked most people would rather have a stable, fast, ...version released not something that's not ready." Isn't that why users want Windows 7 instead of Win8?
Terabyte Net
50%
50%
Terabyte Net,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/1/2013 | 4:50:54 PM
re: Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong
The fact is Win8 users DO have a choice, you're just unwilling to make that choice. It's the same choice EU users have with IE, if they don't like what comes with Windows install Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc... It should not have been Microsoft's problem if users were too lazy or not keen enough to know how to change how they browsed the Internet, but MS was slammed for not allowing others to make $ on their OS (when was the last time a EU car maker was forced to use non-OEM filters, glass, seats, brakes, etc... in their vehicles?). Come on, if you don't like Metro change it. You DO have a choice.
TubaOrNotTuba
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50%
TubaOrNotTuba,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/1/2013 | 4:16:38 PM
re: Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong
Really? You don't need any 3rd party apps to make Win7, Apple OS/X, Linux, etc... usable? Hmmm.... How do you create documents, browse the web (unless you use IE, Safari, Linux has no native browser), send an e-mail, etc...??? Come on people, an OS is useless unless without add-on programs whether they come from MS (Office, SQL, etc..) or from a 3rd party (OpenOffice, Firefox, Chrome, Classic Shell, etc...). People need to get over this claim, it doesn't hold water.
TubaOrNotTuba
50%
50%
TubaOrNotTuba,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/1/2013 | 4:11:32 PM
re: Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong
Wait, those who need back to school computers are going to buy no matter what. Christmas is optional buying season. That's the season they need to hit. That's why October is the target date.

As for bi-annual updates, clearly most here don't seem to realize just how many lines of code Windows has. There are lots of estimates out there for XP/2003 that range up to 50,000,000. Vista/7/8 almost certainly have more. Just as Apple doesn't release a new OS for their desktops every year, neither can Microsoft, it's just not possible to first code any changes then test. iOS is a toy OS as is Android. They're tiny code base makes changes easier, though Apple and Google have both proven how badly they can screw up by rushing things to market too soon (iOS 6.0 and Android 4.0 were both bug laden). Get over the desire for twice yearly full updates, they're not going to happen.
Terabyte Net
50%
50%
Terabyte Net,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/1/2013 | 2:13:13 PM
re: Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong
Michael, was Windows 8 a surprise to Dell, HP, Toshiba, Sony, etc...? NO. It was on the horizon for years. I recently bought a $600 Dell Latitude 10 running Win8 Pro that's 10x the tablet that my $600 iPad ever was. I can run Office 2013 and essentially any other app I want. Yes, it has a slow Atom CPU, but tablets are not extreme gaming systems. I also deliberately did not buy a keyboard to force myself out of the traditional keyboard/mouse world. For the past month I've used it exclusively for things I would have used my iPad for as well as for mundane tasks like e-mail and web browsing. I've also used it to edit Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and even a couple of PowerPoint presentations. I also remote to my desktop and have toyed with, though admittedly not very successfully, Sibelius 7 to edit a couple of music scores (that really requires a mouse for ultra fine dexterity).

Anyway, I've said this before, the press has more to do with adoption than anyone else. If you guys had taken the time to use Windows 8, customize it, and share what works with the public rather than just deriding it from day one people would be much happier. Take Vista for example, you guys jumped on board with the Apple commercials hook, line, and sinker and yet if you were running the right hardware Vista worked, and continues to work well, but positive press has been proven to not drive viewers. If it did CNN, Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, etc... would report on good things going on in the world instead of jumping from one negative story to the next day after day minute after minute.
Terabyte Net
50%
50%
Terabyte Net,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/1/2013 | 2:03:11 PM
re: Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong
The ability to skip Metro is alive and well despite your claims. Every Start button replacement product, including my favorite Classic Shell, does this. So while MS may have changed the registry, you forget that it is THEIR product NOT your product, but they clearly allow it or Classic Shell wouldn't work.
Terabyte Net
50%
50%
Terabyte Net,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/1/2013 | 1:59:02 PM
re: Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong
@Palpatine, really? Care to wager on some of your claims?

1) "You have not the choice to skip Metro UI." I skip Metro on every Win8 desktop I touch. It's called Classic Shell. So you ABSOLUTELY have a choice to skip Metro.

2) "You cannot disable it". While technically true, I NEVER see Metro on any Win8 desktop I see and Win8's shell uses less RAM than Win7's shell so you don't need to disable it.

3) "You cannot avoid to jump to Metro world each time a Metro apps start, good luck in finding them and changing them to desktop apps." What Metro app can't be changed to a desktop App? Acrobat opens PDFs for me. IE 10 or Chrome, depending on my mood, open websites for me, and not the Metro version of IE (I'm writing this in Chrome BTW). The only Metro apps I ever see are ones written for Metro like Weather, but then again you can't avoid the Weather Channel's GUI if you want to use the Weather Channel app!

4)"You cannot access to controls MS decided to move to Metro" Which controls would that be? The complaints have been the opposite. Many of the controls for Windows can only be accessed from the traditional Control Panel. Yes, some of the controls like connecting to a Wi-Fi network have the "modern" GUI, but who cares what the GUI looks like when you need to enter a PSK, just enter it and go on.

5)"new wonderful MS mices that integrates a button for getting you straight to Metro" Hmmm... I guess MS should make their mice for Apple and Linux fans huh? Come on, you're just grasping at straws here. If you don't like Microsoft's mice don't buy them. There are an endless array of options out there for mice.

In the end, if you don't like Metro there are ways to customize it. Just like you could write that latest business proposal in Notepad, you're much more likely to use an add-on product like Office or OpenOffice, adding something like Class Shell to skip Metro is NOT a stretch despite what some detractors would demand you believe.
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