Windows 8: The Thread

[Pirx]

The market has changed, but PC's and Laptops are still there, making an OS which alienates these users, and targeting a market they have little or no no share in is completely suicidal. Accommodating both users yes, but alienating your core customer base just to please a load of apple/touchscreen fanboys is wreckless to say the least.

Couldn't have said it any better. There is no doubt that they should try to gain at least some foothold in the emerging tablet market, but there was no reason, none at all, to do so at the expense of their existing base. The pigheadedness with which they are going down that path, after a reception for Win8 on the desktop/laptop that is nothing short of a disaster, simply boggles the mind.

[spacecowboy]

Couldn't have said it any better. There is no doubt that they should try to gain at least some foothold in the emerging tablet market, but there was no reason, none at all, to do so at the expense of their existing base. The pigheadedness with which they are going down that path, after a reception for Win8 on the desktop/laptop that is nothing short of a disaster, simply boggles the mind.

IMO they really need to keep the start orb, at least for this release. This keeps current functionality, whilst introducing the new Metro GUI giving people time to get used to it. A transitional period if you like. They've got the original desktop there along with Metro for petes sake!! I never used the developer preview, but from what I understand it was included, so it's not like they can't include it. As you say, forcing it as it is, after the reception they have received certainly does boggle the mind, especially seeing the disaster that was Vista from a Google Page Ranking point of view. I used Vista, really liked it, over time it was a very usable and capable OS, but such was the disaster in the beginning, it never recovered, and people wouldn't use or buy it due to negative press in the beginning. I think they seem to forget that sh!t sticks, and it wasn't to long ago it stuck on them with Vista.

[Mats]

The fact that MS gives us yet another preview is intriguing. I doubt they'd do this just to show off a slightly more stable version.

[MoabUtah]

IMO they really need to keep the start orb, at least for this release. This keeps current functionality, whilst introducing the new Metro GUI giving people time to get used to it. A transitional period if you like. They've got the original desktop there along with Metro for petes sake!! I never used the developer preview, but from what I understand it was included, so it's not like they can't include it. As you say, forcing it as it is, after the reception they have received certainly does boggle the mind, especially seeing the disaster that was Vista from a Google Page Ranking point of view. I used Vista, really liked it, over time it was a very usable and capable OS, but such was the disaster in the beginning, it never recovered, and people wouldn't use or buy it due to negative press in the beginning. I think they seem to forget that sh!t sticks, and it wasn't to long ago it stuck on them with Vista.

Vista was such a Google Page Ranking disaster, MS is ending mainstream support for Vista this month. I used it from Beta to RTM SP2, very painful experience.

Microsoft Product Lifecycle Search

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[TANWare]

What I find amazing is the article touts the CP has prompted 100,000 changes but what about the one that seems to be generating the most vocal complaint(s)?

[Pirx]

What I find amazing is the article touts the CP has prompted 100,000 changes but what about the one that seems to be generating the most vocal complaint(s)?

I tend to take such claims with a grain of salt. What are the "100,000 changes"? Maybe 100,000 bytes have changed?

P.S.: Note that the article says that it was the Developer Preview, not the CP, that had prompted those "100,000 changes". One of those 100,000 changes thus was to take away the ability to revert to the Win7 Start Menu.

[Sagar Jacky]

The market has changed, but PC's and Laptops are still there, making an OS which alienates these users, and targeting a market they have little or no no share in is completely suicidal. Accommodating both users yes, but alienating your core customer base just to please a load of apple/touchscreen fanboys is wreckless to say the least.

You are talking based on how you navigate through Windows 8 on current hardware designed for non-touch OSes like Windows 7 & Vista. Windows 8 will usher in whole new breeds of laptops that have touch screens or enhanced trackpads to better navigate its start screen. There will be tablet-laptop hybrids & convertibles. Touch screen desktops (all-in-ones) will become more meaningful too. The Windows 8 user experience on new hardware will be far superior than on existing hardware.

The PC market is stagnating due to lack of innovation. If Microsoft, Intel & their OEM partners continue along the same lines and release Windows 8 as another minor variant of Windows 95, the PC industry will be crushed & reduced to a niche market by the tablet juggernaut in a few years time. With Windows 8, they're trying to evolve the PC both on the software & hardware fronts.

[Bullit]

Then what is the problem of a user to choose what it wants?
Microsoft wants to force feed the metro apps to everyone, i would say it wants to kill the desktop and the freedom we have in PC.

The PC market is stagnating due to lack of innovation.

And? PC market will be probably decreasing because to only see a webpage there isn't need of a PC.

[Sagar Jacky]

Then what is the problem of a user to choose what it wants?
Microsoft wants to force feed the metro apps to everyone, i would say it wants to kill the desktop and the freedom we have in PC.

And? PC market will be probably decreasing because to only see a webpage there isn't need of a PC.

Who is Microsoft forcing? If you don't like Windows 8 you can always stick with Windows 7.

[Mitlov]

Stumbled upon this gem. In 2010, the New York Times asked for a Windows Phone-like interface for Windows PCs.

Yet all of the gloss and glitter doesn’t hide the fact that both operating systems [OSX and Windows 7] are still pretty geeky and difficult for many computer users to navigate. I frequently get calls from family members asking why the font size on their Web browser suddenly changed or where they should look for the photos they have just downloaded from their digital camera.

I never get that kind of call about Apple’s iPhone.

The iPhone, although locked and frustratingly placed into a walled garden, is the epitome of simplicity. You control it by touching the screen — an intuitive interface that even a toddler can figure out. It’s virtually impossible to change key settings by accident. And if you do somehow mess things up, it’s a cinch to reset the machine back to its pristine, out-of-the-box state.

Why can’t PCs work that way?
...
And in Microsoft’s case, what if the company scrapped the front end of Windows 7 and the troubled Vista OS and moved to the new, elegant interface it is using for its Windows Phone 7 Series mobile phones? Would users really be upset?

Why Can't PCs Work More Like iPhones? - NYTimes.com