Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 9th Jul 2012 21:44 UTC
Jeff Atwood: "In the post PC era, Microsoft is betting the company on Windows 8, desperately trying to serve two masters with one operating system. The traditional mouse and keyboard desktop is no longer the default; it is still there, but slightly hidden from view, as the realm of computer nuts, power users, and geeks. For everyone else, the Metro UI puts an all new, highly visual touch and tablet friendly face on the old beige Wintel box. Will Microsoft succeed? I'm not sure yet. But based on what I've seen so far of Windows 8, its pricing, and the new Surface hardware - I'm cautiously optimistic." So am I. However, a lot - and I mean a lot as in 'everything' - will depend on the quality of the Metro applications. So far, the quality has been utterly abysmal, both for first and third party ones. Microsoft is promising Metro application goodness for RTM, but I'll believe it when I see it.
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Member since:2005-11-13
I mean, I expect a Vista style debacle where for about two years on, there will be calls for Windows 7 rollbacks
Well, people might not be in line at launch day to buy Windows 8, but why would there be calls for rollbacks? Vista was pretty much broken out of the box, and a resource hog compared to XP. But anything that worked in Windows 7 should still work in Windows 8, and it's not SUPPOSED to be any slower. And it's not like you have to use Metro... just hit the 'Classic' icon and you're good to go. And there are still new features other than Metro:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windows_8
So I can't imagine anybody who gets it on a new PC is going to be pissed that they're not running Windows 7 still.
And there's still the possibility that Metro might catch on with the tech tards, who might prefer it over classic, if it can do all of the basics that tech tards normally want to do. Afterall, you don't need 8gb of RAM or 'true multitasking' to do your taxes or organize a photo album. Sure, it may seem a little far-fetched that ANYBODY would want to use Metro on the desktop, but considering people stood in long lines to buy the first iPhone before it could even run apps, I never underestimate the stupidity of the average consumer anymore. Truth is, us geeks are terrible at predicting what will catch on with the mainstream, so we'll just have to watch and see what happens.
Edited 2012-07-10 05:51 UTC
Member since:2006-02-15
As I've said before, I believe that Average Joe and his peers will possibly whine a little at first, but eventually they'll just settle in to Windows 8. And that's actually a good thing: with Windows Store being now an integral part of the OS Average Joe and his peers will quite likely start looking there for apps first and only then on the Internet, meaning that they're much less likely to catch malware or viruses.
Overall I do not see a huge "I want that!!" - reaction from the crowds like they mostly have for the iPhone, for example, but no "I definitely do NOT want that!!" either.
Member since:2012-06-22
But anything that worked in Windows 7 should still work in Windows 8, and it's not SUPPOSED to be any slower. And it's not like you have to use Metro...
You probably should have tried windows 8 before writing about it.
The start menu isn't there and neither are the gadgets.
You are forced to boot into metro and use it when you want to search or launch a program from the start menu.
If you think metro is a functional equivalent to the start menu then you don't use that many programs. It really is as simple as that.
Windows 8 will fail and Jeff will be one of the few Windows bloggers who didn't call Windows 8 a piece of crap.
Features
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
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Member since:
2008-04-10
I'm optimistic about Windows 8, too. I mean, I expect a Vista style debacle where for about two years on, there will be calls for Windows 7 rollbacks (though whether or not Microsoft will bend to that is another story), but I think, if Microsoft can make it remotely usable with a keyboard and mouse, there may be some promise for Metro yet.
Throwing an app store at the problem is no guarantee of success, though, and users of Windows are probably well entrenched in the traditional way of getting programs. Googling for them, installing three fake ones full of malware, and then giving up. (Source: I work in a computer store, and the number of computers I have to "fix" after someone has tried to convert media files is astounding)