Jimmie76

How are the two IE versions working out for you? or do yo use Firefox etc.?

holtju2

I have learned long time ago NOT to touch any new Windows product for at least 12 months after its release. I was able to whether through the entire Windows Vista mess using XP.

Jimmie76

Skype will seamlessly integrate with W8, have larger pictures and be an always on application, and that won't get annoying at all or drain the battery on a tablet apparently

Jimmie76

Excellent, someone using a touch screen OS on a touchscreen device, now if they just weren't trying to ram that down the throats of non touchscreen users then it would be so much better.

SRQ Guy

FWIW, I installed it on my old non-touch desktop last night, and I like it. It took me few minutes to get used to it, but overall I think the interface is an improvement from the nearly 20-year-old Windows 95 start menu paradigm. While I can see how touch will make it even better, it works very well with a classic mouse and keyboard. I'll probably get a Microsoft Touch Mouse to take advantage of some of the multi-touch features, but I don't think its strictly necessary to enjoy the improved interface.

BearX220

I question the premise. Desktops and laptops are for information creators; tablets and smartphones are for information consumers. Not too many people write a white paper on a tablet. The workflows are fundamentally different. Why does the interface have to be the same? W8 is much more about Microsoft's agenda (extending hegemony to device categories where they have no real play at present) than the user's. If in the process of trying to plant a flag in tablets / touch they sacrifice bedrock usability conventions on the desktop/laptop, it's a net fail.

It's as if a BMW dashboard designer decided suddenly to relocate the turn signal indicator from the steering column to the center console, because that's where it is on their motorcycles and we have to have compatibility across BMW's spectrum of motoring devices. The hell you do.

I think user-centered, user-driven change is great. I think forcible change is not.

If they do for Skype what they did for Visio, aQuantive, Groove, etc ., etc., it won't work any more in a couple of years.

david55

A friend sent me a newsletter sent out by their IT home consultant. He strongly recommended that if his clients were in the market for a new PC they should buy now ( this was mid September)....before Windows 8 was factory installed. Most of his clients are elderly and he is concerned that the learning curve would be just to great for them.

bullroot

When you boot a PC, note that the desktop icon is on the top right of the screen. This is where the keyboard has focus when you log in.

So, press enter and you go right to desktop. Or the windows key does the same. You can skip the new start screen and go right to your old ui in less than a second.

WIRunner

I generally use Opera. But last night I was using IE (not sure which version). It loaded pages quickly, and didn't stutter like it had with 7.

The ironic thing is I forgot to charge it last night, and have to post this from our macbook! I remember when OSX came out 10+ years ago people freaked out because it was soooo different, they hated the dock, it was too glossy. After a while everyone calmed down and got used it and are now calling it one of the best OSs out there. This is the fundamental change that windows is going through, that massive change from the way it used to be to the new way. Yes you could dual boot OS 9 to OSX, but what was the point? (aside from compatability). The change was there, and everyone survived.

I think for someone who is not so great with computers this would be an easier system to use, especially if they stay in the "Metro" section. The desktop is for all practical purposes the same. My mother in law also sent me a newsletter saying to avoid the change because it would be a tough change to learn.

SRQ Guy

I think it's the change factor that's making some uncomfortable. The same thing happened with the introduction of the Start Menu in Win95. This is, IMHO, a positive evolution. I hope for Microsoft's sake that they aren't pushing too much change at once. That said, I like it.

Jimmie76

I meant a good one for MS not the consumer, having re-read the post I'm sorry that wasn't made clearer.

david55

Is this the new windows 8 look with large tiles?

ScottC

Upgraded all my machines yesterday - it was a larger learning curve than I expected, but I'm hooked now.

Of course, now I want to go out and shop for a new touch enabled machine to replace my Asus Zenbook

Jimmie76

That's true but then when MS introduced 95 it was seen as a revolution, however you could still have your program folders, they were just attached to a start menu as opposed to on the desktop. XP and everything that has come afterwards has been based around this idea, which has made it easy to upgrade. However you look at W8 and it isn't a similar experence to the one you're used to, and has some confusing features that some would say are counter intuative. Like having two IE versions that don't share Bookmarks Favourites etc. If they had offered an option of Metro Modern or traditional desptop in 8 and then went fully metro in 9 then that would be one thing but they haven't. I used to train people on software systems in a previous job and the main thing that causes heartache with average users is when things change out of all recognition. The lack of a hierarchical menu structure in Metro Modern is something that is going to be a right pain. If you're telling someone to look for a prog in 95 and beyond, chances are there will be something else (uninstall, readme, tools etc.) in either that folder or a subfolder. That's not the case in W8.

I was with a client last night who is a senior citizen, with a few laptops on XP dotted around the house. When the topic of W8 came up they said having seen it and played with it, the laptops would just need fixing or the hard drives cloning for any new machine as they would upgrading over their dead body. As they said "Damn thing looks like it was built for my grandchildren, not me."

Jimmie76

Metro was their name for the tiled interface on Windows 8 which they then discovered they were going to be getting into legal tangles if they used it. So having called it that pretty much since announcing it to the world they went through a massive rebrand and I understand the GUI is now called Modern instead.