Windows 8 Sucks.

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I just think you're overestimating the number of people who need (and actually use) multiple windows on their screen. Especially if you intersect this with the people who use the OS default applications to open whatever files they happen to work on.



You can use Win 8 with desktop applications out of the box just as you would with Windows 7 - OK, you have to click on the "desktop" tile, but even that can be remedied like you said. I don't see adjusting file associations as a new problem. I use a custom application for pretty much all file types anyway.
I don't think having multiple displays is ridiculous at all - I use a second display even though my first one has 30" and a high resolution. I find it a much preferable experience compared to having to awkwardly arrange multiple windows on one display manually (I do use split view in IDEs though).

So, I guess it all depends on how you tend to use your OS. and personally I don't think these issues are going to be a huge problem for MS in the end.
Anyway, even if it doesn't work out, sometimes you just need to make a bold move and try something new. Worst case scenario is a lesson learned.

I agree that it depends on how you use your OS. We disagree on how many people use their desktop PC in a way that Metro is disruptive to Multi-monitor isn't feasible for the (majority?) of users who just use a laptop with the built in monitor and keyboard. Many of whom are also iPad owners. Each device has a use.

If all this is true, it sounds like my next computer will be running Ubuntu (or some other Linux distro) instead of Windows 8. I don't really like tablets or smart phones, so making my laptops function like them is a big turn off. I am hoping that they will at least have a legacy mode to make it function like older versions of Windows, much like they do for the pointers and such now (XP look FTW on 7).

Considering that the average user uses their PC mainly for email and web browsing and perhaps the occasional word processing task, I doubt most users will care if the programs are full screen by default as long as they are easy to use.

This issue is really part of a broader problem. Commercial software is usually not very configurable and exhibits a "we know what is best for all users" philosophy. This often means everyone is stuck using the default settings (which are sometimes bad). Another problem is that commercial software is usually aimed at the lowest level of users since that's where most people are. More advanced users are usually out of luck in these cases.

Unfortunately, Ubuntu was ruined by their Unity disaster. We're in sort of a nuclear winter of desktop environments at the moment. I never thought I'd look back fondly to the confusing mess of Workplace Shell on OS/2 Warp, but Ubuntu's Unity and Red Hat's Gnome 3 are both user interface disasters that make Warp look good. Both Unity and Gnome 3 sacrifice all the workflow features of the desktop that help you get work done, in exchange for making the desktop look like a smartphone. I do not understand it. As a professional who uses my computer to get work done, this trend is not good. Right now, KDE hasn't been ruined and is the only usable Linux desktop environment left. A few other also-ran desktop environments are getting a lot of traction as more people abandon Unity and Gnome 3.

On top of this, Windows 8 is going to ruin the Windows environment. Not a good time for people who want to get work done with a computer.

FYP

Actually, consumer grade software is basically configured as you have mentioned, due to the fact that the average home computer user doesn't have a clue as to how to setup software, and has no desire to. --They just want it to work for whatever tast they're up to.

Professional level software such as Photoshop, Cubase, ProTools, and professional level CAD, desktop publishing software and other generally expensive applications assume that the user has some idea of how to use set their system up for what they need to do. --If you want configurability you pay for it, otherwise you get treated like a clueless idiot.

I'm sure that when the real version of Win8 comes out, there will be the basic version of Win8 that's configured like the OP has mentioned, plus the more expensive enterprise version which will be a bit easier to setup to get a traditional desktop environment.

Then again, MS has a long tradition of making their newest UI with all the useless eyecandy turned on the default setup upon login, so might very well be wrong with my above statement, but I will still say that it will be easier to setup a traditional desktop environment.

Actually I wouldn't actually consider LXDE and XFCE to be 'Also Ran' desktop environments, so much as they're actively developed desktop environments and gaining adoptees due to the Unity/Gnome3 disasters. This article pretty much sums up the opinion of a lot of GNOME users.

Then again there is hope with projects such as Mint's Cinnamon, as well as Ikey Doherty from SolusOS's take on what can be done to restoring sanity to the mess that the Gnome Development team have gotten themselves into. With Win8, there is always the possibility of the end user abandoning the Windows Explorer /Metro environment for alternative shell environments such as Emerge Desktop, and possibly KDE when KDE4Win matures.

You guys all seem to me to be underestimating the sophistication level of a large number of users. I believe this perspective is somewhat outdated and is a common fallacy among developers and power users. These days there are a *lot* of users who actually do know what they're doing to a reasonable degree and can tell quality from s**t. This was less true 10-20 years ago. I believe this is part of what caused Windows Vista to fail and 7 to succeed. Yes there are also still a lot of users who do not know what they're doing at all. They're an aging demographic, like Republicans.

Many laptop owners also own a tablet, usually an iPad. They each have a purpose. No amount of ease of use is going to make me want to write a thesis on an iPad.

I will be continuing to use Windows 7 for most purposes. Like Windows 2000, it's a world class operating system with relatively few gimmicks. I believe Windows 8 would be a natural progression of this, if it were simply stripped of Metro. In fact, Metro could pretty much be distributed as an application for all versions of Windows, because that's essentially what it is on a technical level.

Last edited by MyFutureSelfnMe on 11 Oct 2012, 2:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I will admit that Gnome 3 is a fart, but once you get used to it, Unity is quite good.

I never liked Unity, but then going all the way back to the early 90s I've never liked any desktop environment for Linux or any POSIX based system. I've also never liked any version of Mac OS X, and use Windows only with reservations as it's the least irritating environment for me.

I was ok with NextStep in the early 90s but that was then.

I should really develop my own desktop environment. I think I could school people quite a bit in how it's done.

There are a lot of users who like to act like they know what they are doing but most of them are actually just as clueless as the users who don't bother trying to fake it. Also, many users ineptness results from them being extremely lazy and unwilling to do simple and obvious things like using Google to solve their problems. I am always amazed by how many stupid questions people ask me that can be answered by a quick Google search.

Anyway, this debate can't really be resolved unless someone finds some actual data rather than anecdotal evidence.

I'm running Windows 8 in a virtual environment. It sucks as a desktop OS, but it will thrive on a tablet.

Or we can just wait and see how Windows 8 is received in the PC sphere. My money is on "not well".

I will never use a "mobile computer" over a desktop one. Certainly not for gaming.

I despair for gaming if that's the way it's headed, and it looks as though it is. All the original virtues of the desktop are being derided by stockholders and spreadsheet cell values.

Windows 8 looks to me like Microsoft's Vietnam.

I think you should settle down. Nobody is making people buy these things. I certainly wouldn't try to use a laptop on a crowded subway.

I wasn't particularly unsettled....