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Windows 8 is simultaneously a failure and awesome at the same time

3K views 37 replies 7 participants last post by  zepp 
#1 ·
I downloaded the Windows 8 Consumer preview yesterday, and have it installed on a VM.

First, it seems to run very smoothly, even in a VM with only 2GB of RAM allocated. The problem with it is that A. there are a lot of unintuitive factors with it (like shutting it down, going to different menus, etc.) and using it with a keyboard and mouse is an enormous UI failure.

However, being so frustrated with it on a desktop, I kept thinking "wow, this actually will be pretty nice on a tablet".

Really, I think MS is making an enormous mistake if they plan to carry this through as a universal OS for both tablet and desktop/laptop. They really should separate the two.

As it stands now, I find myself really wanting to try a Windows 8 tablet, but am terrified of having to support this for users of desktops and laptops.

Windows 8 Server, on the other hand, is looking pretty damn cool.
 
#2 ·
The best things that they can do IMO is get rid of the incremental versioning (Home, Pro, Ultimate, etc), make one desktop version of Windows 8 loaded with features for the "power user" like a powerful BASH style console, etc, and turn the Windows App Store into a more powerful package management system and keep it open (like the ability to add new software sources). Windows 8 could be pretty sweet if they really market it towards the nerds, and Windows 8 Tablet Edition could be for the everyday tablet wielding consumer...because that seems to be the way things are changing.

With a bit of inspiration from the GNU/Linux world and some interface improvements Microsoft could have a winner, but Windows 8 is not looking good to me.
 
#4 ·
Which I think is a mistake. I feel like most people that use a desktop computer for actual work would not enjoy
touching their monitors. What about the graphics guys for instance? Now, of course Windows 8 doesn't lock you to using Metro, but still it's a bad idea.

Now Metro on a tablet? Quite possibly badass.
 
#8 ·
I haven't tried the Consumer Preview yet but I do feel that Windows 8 feels pretty disjointed. I tried the Dev Preview when it first launched and I really liked a lot about the Metro UI in full screen but I hated the fact it switched to desktop mode for anything outside of the small amount of things that supported Metro... I feel like they could actually build a completely Metro interface for desktop usage and software that takes on this look could still be extremely functional, but I think including desktop mode in this version is really going to hold it back, and quite frankly I think having the 2 modes is going to prevent people from buying Windows 8. Windows 7 is pretty solid, it works well and when you get used to the changes it feels completely natural. I don't think Windows 8 has that...
 
#17 ·
Disjointed is a good descriptor. The move from Metro to the desktop interface is jarring, and completely inconsistent. They really ought to be designing for two different products, not one OS to go on everything.

People are still super clueless :lol:

I think the shift is more of a "OMG tablets! I can use facebook on that! Fuck my PC!" thing...
I think the real issue in general is that most people never needed a full PC to begin with, therefore an iPad or {InsertAndroidTabletNameHere} is fine.

If all you're doing is surfing the Internet, updating Facebook, watching videos, and playing a few simple games, WTF do you need a full computer for? An iPad for $500 or even an IdeaPad for $200 is all you need.
 
#14 ·
People seem to have a better "surface" undestanding of what is going on. They seem to know what software is better, and that sometimes a poorly running system is just because of using garbage software. People understand file storage a bit better. But overall, they still ask you to use your UBERSMARTCOMPUTERGUYSKILLS to run a damned virus check :lol:
 
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