Windows 8 Sucks.

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They should have named it Full Screen 8, because the packaged apps are now all full screen only and there is no way to make them be in a window. This includes the start menu itself. This makes sense when running on an 8" tablet, or a large TV that is far away, or especially on a phone, but what doesn't make sense is that MS deliberately disabled the ability of these apps to run windowed. Even though features are included that were missing from 7 like a built in PDF viewer, if I want to view a PDF file in a window, I have to install Adobe Reader. This defeats the purpose of having a built in PDF viewer. When I am using a 24" display that's a foot from my face, every goddamn program I run needs to be able to run windowed.

Also, these full screen apps must be downloaded from the MS app store.

Also, this means there are now two types of Windows apps, and there is a standard desktop sans start menu in addition to the tiled start screen. This means that this is now a tablet OS grafted onto Windows. The staples and stitches are all showing like some kind of gross Frankenstein.

On the positive, it boots faster than 7, and seems to be faster than 7 in some areas. But I ran the beta of 7 for eons before 7 was released, because even the betas were better than the "stable" Vista, and XP was becoming ancient. I have a feeling I will be in the same boat with betas of Windows 9 after MS backtracks on all of this.

Nice try Microsoft, but some of us are actually using PCs. You know this because the version of Windows 8 I am running is intended for a PC. What were you thinking! All you had to do is provide the option of running full screen or windowed, instead of forcing it.

Addendum: I know why MS did this. It's because all market data points to mobile devices as the future of computing.

There was just no value in them throwing PCs under the bus. It was not necessary.

I'm surprised the media hasn't made a big deal out of what MS is doing with Windows 8. They're trying to monetize their user base by tracking them. Sure, MS wants Do Not Track turned on by default. They don't want anyone else tracking their users so their own tracking data is more valuable.

The don't-call-it-Metro desktop is filled with apps that require a Bing signon (I'm not sure what MS calls it now) and won't even work if you're not signed on. It's difficult to set up Win8 without a Bing signon. MS wants you to quit using your local computer and let them see what you are doing by driving you to their "cloud" of services. Even MS Office will default to saving your files on MS's computers instead of locally.

This is the beginning of the end of general purpose computing. I expect Windows 9 will have a Consumer Edition that requires a Bing signon and will not run local software, and a Legacy Edition for corporations that requires AD and will run legacy apps.

Only the wholesale rejection of Win8 (which could happen) might slow this down.

I don't see it as the end of general purpose computing, I see it as Microsoft moving to abandon the PC space, which may or may not make sense from a business perspective. My opinion is that it doesn't make sense, especially because there are ways they could have pulled off a single OS across multiple classes of devices without completely blowing it on one of them - one of the simplest things they could have done to accomplish this would be to not force Metro apps to full screen, at least on PCs.

Windows 8 does strike me as a fairly respectable tablet OS, although not radically different from other products that are already established in that market. If I had to guess, I see them floundering in the tablet market for that reason, in addition to floundering on PCs because they basicallly threw away that market. I don't think this is the end of general purpose computing, but they did just throw a giant bone to Linux and Mac OS. Linux will probably fail to catch it. Apple probably won't.

I don't think users take tracking seriously. I know I don't, but then I don't pay for apps and tend to identify myself online as Bill McFuckery etc.

On the other hand, the presence of Office might help MS dominate the tablet market. I can always be wrong. I predicted the iPad would fizzle because it was just a laptop without a keyboard and with a halfassed OS. What I forgot to account for was that Steve Jobs obviously already knew that and still moved forward. Don't second guess people who already know what you do and then some. The difference here is I genuinely think someone is asleep at the wheel over at MS, and they are making a horribly clumsy move in what is for themselves the right direction. People who are awake execute better.

First of all, I just have to say, I LOVE your screen name, OP.

Secondly, This makes me glad I still use XP.

The reason why tablets are so damn popular is because they're more portable, and most people are idiots who don't have any idea how to manage a computer or type. Apparently the tablet is slightly more idiot proof than a PC(not that it's even remotely difficult to manage a computer in the first place, it's just that the average person is incredibly stupid).

That said, I will never use a tablet. I already sorta hate that the internet is even mainstream... I was on this damn thing back when all the "cool kids" would ridicule you for even knowing how to get on the internet. What's changed since then? Flash ads are f*****g everywhere, and the internet is full of morons. So what's going to happen when PCs get fazed out, is basically the internet will be flooded with even more idiots, and probably a ton more ads. I guess if that happens, I just won't be on the internet anymore then because I refuse to have a tablet.

I've been using Windows 8 since June. It's been fine by me. Real nice, actually.

Probably not abandon, but I see them splitting into the higher-margin corporate arena where they will sell business-class tools and servers, and the low-margin commodity computer market for consumers. Even for consumers, I think MS wants to make their own overpriced computers like Apple does and raise their margins a little.

BTW Windows 8 didn't strike me as a tablet OS - it more gobsmacked me

Win8 has a really good chance of tanking horribly if consumers reject it. Businesses will not touch it at all. I think it will bring Steve Ballmer's regime down. I'd like to be Apple right now. I'd ramp up MacBookPro production and refresh my desktop Mac, and run some ads about how awful Windows 8 is.

On a PC? I've heard from a few people who felt that way, but I can't understand it. I need things to be in a window, I cannot tolerate full screen apps. My normal work flow involves switching apps constantly and I want to use my screen real estate.

You are correct that no corporation is going to purchase Win8 for installation on desktops. That alone leaves me puzzled by this decision on the part of MS. All they really had to do to make it palatable is to do what the name of their software implies - have windows.

I had my reservations about Windows 8 as well, but I've been using it for a few weeks now, and I don't regret it at all.

TBH, if you find it difficult to switch between the full screen Metro apps and the regular ones, well, I think it has more to do with some fault in your own psychology than anything else. Some people just have to have something to despise.

Like I said, I bought a 24" monitor so that I could use the screen real estate. Viewing a PDF with the characters 2 inches high is not a good use of that real estate. Especially if I want to do side by side comparisons. You're implying that one of the most significant user interface developments in modern computing, the window, isn't beneficial.

It seems to me that the metro full-screen apps are probably going to be good enough for 95% of the users. The truth is that the majority of people are confused and uncomfortable if they have too many options and they prefer something simple - this is clearly evidenced by the success of devices like the iPad.
If you're a power user who needs adjustable windows and other features, you can just use normal desktop applications instead - and/or use a multiple monitor setup.

[Prediction]

It will fail and cost Microsoft a but lode of money.

[/Prediction]


[Prediction]

When the above happens, I will laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

[/Prediction]

You don't need to be a power user to use a desktop PC. Most people need one for the office. Students need them. I wouldn't want to write a document in Word on a tablet. I wouldn't even want to edit one on it, and I definitely wouldn't want to do cross referencing. Likewise, power users use iPads. There's a place for an iPad and a place for a desktop PC. The difference is, tablets are a growth industry and PCs have stagnated.

In order to get a windowed desktop experience on Win8 you have to hack the s**t out of it - first by removing all file associations with Metro apps to prevent one from accidentally being loaded, and then by installing Start8 to avoid getting a full screen start menu. Not a desirable situation, and the end result is scarcely different than Win7 minus Aero transparency and the occasional "accident" that puts you back on the start page when you now have a start menu. Alternatively you can buy multiple physical displays and use each one as a "window" - but that's ridiculous.

As a software developer I've often found this to be the case. While some users want ever more complex features adding to my software some find the most trivial thing confusing. I swear that if you gave users an interface consisting only of two big buttons, one marked "Open my document" and the other button marked "Launch a nuclear attack on a random country" I would get complaints from some users saying that they have accidentally wiped out several small countries but still haven't discovered how to open a document. I really am not exaggerating. You would have to see some of the feedback I get to comprehend just how ignorant and stupid some computer users are.

I once read that most problem telephone calls received by computer support desks over the Christmas period from people who have just purchased a new computer were generally solved by telling the customer that they needed to turn the power on to their computer! As daft as this sounds it does not surprise me in the least.