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creb · 2012-03-02, 02:57

Nothing really forces you to use the Metro UI, so complaining about it seems really silly.

My only real complaint with Windows 8, so far, is that they did next to nothing to enhance the 'normal' UI, which is essentially 95% similar to the Windows 7 UI. Not that I have anything against the Windows 7 UI; in fact, I really like Windows 7, but if I'm going to shell out $200+ for an OS upgrade, and after seeing the ton of work they put into the Metro UI, I really was hoping for SOMETHING to have been done to the 'normal' UI as well, though the little changes they've added to the Windows 7-like UI that revolve around mouse actions at the edge of the screen are actually quite nice.

Now, that said, I am in love with the Metro UI for tablets/smartphones. While I do enjoy my Android phone (I am practically wed to mine), I've always found the Windows phone UI to be superior, and have secretly been a tad jealous of it. There are Android apps that attempt to bring that to your Android phone, but they don't quite do it. If Microsoft had a robust app store, I probably would ditch Android in a heartbeat. They don't, so Google safely has me in their thrall for the conceivable future in that market.

Even though I don't see myself using the Metro UI on my desktop (which is still my main computer, despite all the pundits claiming the death of desktops), I still am very impressed with Windows 8. Especially as I hope it brings more focus to bringing us a truly integrated tablet capable of actually doing real work on it. I know it's inevitable that technology will bring us such a machine eventually, but it's looking very real now.

Sure, I'm not too keen on how dumbed down OSes have gotten over the years, where it takes more and more mouse clicks to get to the nuts and bolts, but I'm a realist and realize that the average consumer dreads nuts and bolts, hence why they get buried more and more. I could hit Windows 8 over this, but it's like railing against inevitability. Pointless.

Now, in the interest of keeping an open mind, I am trying to see if I can adjust to using the Metro UI as my main UI on my desktop PC. I don't think I can, but I'm forcing myself to do so for at least a week. The biggest thing is redoing the 'Start' page, and since none of the applications I ended up placing there were actually made for Windows 8, it's very static. I can envision that changing, however, when applications are updated to take advantage of being 'live'.

I used to think the Ribbon on Office was the dumbest thing ever, but once I learned where everything was again, I rather enjoyed it. I'm open to the possibility the same is true for Metro on a desktop setting. And, even if it doesn't, there's still the Windows 7 interface behind it all. While that might beg the question of why I would bother upgrading to 8 then on my desktop, who am I kidding? I'll always upgrade, as long as it's not a big step down in performance. And, so far, I haven't noticed much in the way of performance downgrade outside of the expected when you do a Windows upgrade, rather than a clean install.

I am digging the cloud aspects. I couldn't care less if they require a Microsoft account. I'm not going to get all emo and pretend I didn't already have one for years and years (even if I haven't used it since the days MSN messenger was relevant), and it's really no different to how I currently sign into Google for so many things through a browser. I am planning on installing 8 on my laptop and work laptop to test out the syncing. I may never end up using the Metro UI on my desktop/laptops, but if the syncing works, that alone will be enough to make me feel like I didn't waste my money when I inevitably upgrade to 8 upon release.

As far as compatibility goes, I haven't had any issues so far. I did have to re-install my audio drivers manually (Creative). The only real issue I've had so far is that magnet links for torrents no longer seem to automatically open utorrent, while using Chrome. However, this seems to be a Chrome issue, as I have no problems when using Internet Explorer 10. As a sidebar, I am not seeing anything new about Internet Explorer 10, which seems to me to be exactly like Internet Explorer 9, so color me disappointed there, especially after reading various blogs that had claimed it was 'new' and 'fresh' and other adjectives they should be embarrassed to use.

Also, I really think they need to add 'Pin to Start' when right clicking an open application in the taskbar under the 'normal' UI. It's a relatively minor issue, but I have like 12 programs pinned to my taskbar in Windows 7, and they are still pinned there in Windows 8. They were obviously the first candidates for pinning to the Metro UI's Start screen, so was a little puzzled why I couldn't do that by right clicking them in the taskbar. Had to go dig down to the actual executables.

The learning curve is also a lot more than 'ten seconds' as some gushing pundits are claiming as a preemptive attack against those who seem to care whether or not their parents (ie: the clueless masses), are going to be able to handle the change. I am here to say that your average, computer illiterate PC user, who's been using Windows since...oh, let's say 95, is going to shout howls of frustration over the amount of change, and that's mainly because, even though the Windows 7 UI is still essentially there, most of those people haven't even transitioned to 7 yet (my parents will likely be on XP for a few more years), so both the Metro UI and the alternative Windows 7-like UI will be strange to them, assuming they upgrade, keeping in mind that the typical clueless member of the masses only upgrades their OS due to it coming pre-loaded on their new computer when they eventually replace their old one.

I am also not going to embarrass myself and tell you all how long it took me to find out how to get to the Control Panel, for instance, especially since the fluffy 'Settings' is apparently considered the Control Panel now, even though the real Control Panel is still there. Just a bitch to get to.

I can only imagine the frustration of someone who's computer illiterate.

Now, a person who's had no years of Windows conditioning, while being computer illiterate...well, I think they'll be just fine.

Lastly, there is so much misinformation in the majority of complaints about Windows 8 (memory leaks as a feature :eyeroll:, have to use Metro UI, have to touch your desktop screen, etc), that as much as I like the OS, I have a hard time seeing it succeed. Though, to be blunt, their success or failure isn't going to affect me in any way as I don't own any shares in the company.

I'll be merrily using it, just like every previous iteration of Windows.

Oh, I suppose I did have another real complaint, and that's the continued waste of potential in Windows Media Player, and now their 'Video' app. I love the minimalist UI that fades away of WMP, and was forced to switch to PotPlayer when the anime community went to 10bit, as PotPlayer is the only scene player I've found that does the UI as a fadeable onscreen UI well. I realize it's probably too much to hope for more esoteric support from Microsoft when their focus is on the computer-illiterate masses, but I was holding out a little hope there'd be some changes there so I could return to the minimalist UI. There haven't been, and neither the 'Video' player or WMP on Win 8 can handle 10bit, though the 'Video' player is essentially Windows Media Center's, and it has a far more obtrusive OSD UI than WMP, which I never understood, seeing as Microsoft makes them both (ok, I lied, I'm sure it's a result of the behemoth the Windows department has become, and a case of separate groups not communicating as well with each other as they should).

And, yea, that's my roundabout way of saying the most important thing-watching anime

-continues to work just fine on Windows 8.

Edit: Is there an accepted name for the non-Metro UI? It's cumbersome to call it the 'normal' UI or the Windows 7-like UI. :/

2012-03-02, 02:57	Link #27
creb Hiding Under Your Bed Join Date: May 2008	Nothing really forces you to use the Metro UI, so complaining about it seems really silly. My only real complaint with Windows 8, so far, is that they did next to nothing to enhance the 'normal' UI, which is essentially 95% similar to the Windows 7 UI. Not that I have anything against the Windows 7 UI; in fact, I really like Windows 7, but if I'm going to shell out $200+ for an OS upgrade, and after seeing the ton of work they put into the Metro UI, I really was hoping for SOMETHING to have been done to the 'normal' UI as well, though the little changes they've added to the Windows 7-like UI that revolve around mouse actions at the edge of the screen are actually quite nice. Now, that said, I am in love with the Metro UI for tablets/smartphones. While I do enjoy my Android phone (I am practically wed to mine), I've always found the Windows phone UI to be superior, and have secretly been a tad jealous of it. There are Android apps that attempt to bring that to your Android phone, but they don't quite do it. If Microsoft had a robust app store, I probably would ditch Android in a heartbeat. They don't, so Google safely has me in their thrall for the conceivable future in that market. Even though I don't see myself using the Metro UI on my desktop (which is still my main computer, despite all the pundits claiming the death of desktops), I still am very impressed with Windows 8. Especially as I hope it brings more focus to bringing us a truly integrated tablet capable of actually doing real work on it. I know it's inevitable that technology will bring us such a machine eventually, but it's looking very real now. Sure, I'm not too keen on how dumbed down OSes have gotten over the years, where it takes more and more mouse clicks to get to the nuts and bolts, but I'm a realist and realize that the average consumer dreads nuts and bolts, hence why they get buried more and more. I could hit Windows 8 over this, but it's like railing against inevitability. Pointless. Now, in the interest of keeping an open mind, I am trying to see if I can adjust to using the Metro UI as my main UI on my desktop PC. I don't think I can, but I'm forcing myself to do so for at least a week. The biggest thing is redoing the 'Start' page, and since none of the applications I ended up placing there were actually made for Windows 8, it's very static. I can envision that changing, however, when applications are updated to take advantage of being 'live'. I used to think the Ribbon on Office was the dumbest thing ever, but once I learned where everything was again, I rather enjoyed it. I'm open to the possibility the same is true for Metro on a desktop setting. And, even if it doesn't, there's still the Windows 7 interface behind it all. While that might beg the question of why I would bother upgrading to 8 then on my desktop, who am I kidding? I'll always upgrade, as long as it's not a big step down in performance. And, so far, I haven't noticed much in the way of performance downgrade outside of the expected when you do a Windows upgrade, rather than a clean install. I am digging the cloud aspects. I couldn't care less if they require a Microsoft account. I'm not going to get all emo and pretend I didn't already have one for years and years (even if I haven't used it since the days MSN messenger was relevant), and it's really no different to how I currently sign into Google for so many things through a browser. I am planning on installing 8 on my laptop and work laptop to test out the syncing. I may never end up using the Metro UI on my desktop/laptops, but if the syncing works, that alone will be enough to make me feel like I didn't waste my money when I inevitably upgrade to 8 upon release. As far as compatibility goes, I haven't had any issues so far. I did have to re-install my audio drivers manually (Creative). The only real issue I've had so far is that magnet links for torrents no longer seem to automatically open utorrent, while using Chrome. However, this seems to be a Chrome issue, as I have no problems when using Internet Explorer 10. As a sidebar, I am not seeing anything new about Internet Explorer 10, which seems to me to be exactly like Internet Explorer 9, so color me disappointed there, especially after reading various blogs that had claimed it was 'new' and 'fresh' and other adjectives they should be embarrassed to use. Also, I really think they need to add 'Pin to Start' when right clicking an open application in the taskbar under the 'normal' UI. It's a relatively minor issue, but I have like 12 programs pinned to my taskbar in Windows 7, and they are still pinned there in Windows 8. They were obviously the first candidates for pinning to the Metro UI's Start screen, so was a little puzzled why I couldn't do that by right clicking them in the taskbar. Had to go dig down to the actual executables. The learning curve is also a lot more than 'ten seconds' as some gushing pundits are claiming as a preemptive attack against those who seem to care whether or not their parents (ie: the clueless masses), are going to be able to handle the change. I am here to say that your average, computer illiterate PC user, who's been using Windows since...oh, let's say 95, is going to shout howls of frustration over the amount of change, and that's mainly because, even though the Windows 7 UI is still essentially there, most of those people haven't even transitioned to 7 yet (my parents will likely be on XP for a few more years), so both the Metro UI and the alternative Windows 7-like UI will be strange to them, assuming they upgrade, keeping in mind that the typical clueless member of the masses only upgrades their OS due to it coming pre-loaded on their new computer when they eventually replace their old one. I am also not going to embarrass myself and tell you all how long it took me to find out how to get to the Control Panel, for instance, especially since the fluffy 'Settings' is apparently considered the Control Panel now, even though the real Control Panel is still there. Just a bitch to get to. I can only imagine the frustration of someone who's computer illiterate. Now, a person who's had no years of Windows conditioning, while being computer illiterate...well, I think they'll be just fine. Lastly, there is so much misinformation in the majority of complaints about Windows 8 (memory leaks as a feature :eyeroll:, have to use Metro UI, have to touch your desktop screen, etc), that as much as I like the OS, I have a hard time seeing it succeed. Though, to be blunt, their success or failure isn't going to affect me in any way as I don't own any shares in the company. I'll be merrily using it, just like every previous iteration of Windows. Oh, I suppose I did have another real complaint, and that's the continued waste of potential in Windows Media Player, and now their 'Video' app. I love the minimalist UI that fades away of WMP, and was forced to switch to PotPlayer when the anime community went to 10bit, as PotPlayer is the only scene player I've found that does the UI as a fadeable onscreen UI well. I realize it's probably too much to hope for more esoteric support from Microsoft when their focus is on the computer-illiterate masses, but I was holding out a little hope there'd be some changes there so I could return to the minimalist UI. There haven't been, and neither the 'Video' player or WMP on Win 8 can handle 10bit, though the 'Video' player is essentially Windows Media Center's, and it has a far more obtrusive OSD UI than WMP, which I never understood, seeing as Microsoft makes them both (ok, I lied, I'm sure it's a result of the behemoth the Windows department has become, and a case of separate groups not communicating as well with each other as they should). And, yea, that's my roundabout way of saying the most important thing-watching anime -continues to work just fine on Windows 8. Edit: Is there an accepted name for the non-Metro UI? It's cumbersome to call it the 'normal' UI or the Windows 7-like UI. :/ __________________ http://myanimelist.net/animelist/creb http://myanimelist.net/mangalist/creb It feels like years since they've been updated, btw. Also, cake. Last edited by creb; 2012-03-02 at 03:47.