Why no love for Windows 8

Guys, I have been browsing in the Alienware US site and something struck me: the M18X only comes with Windows 7, and if you want Windows 8, you have to add it as an "option". I have been wondering why is that? The new OS has been out for the last 2 months but nothing in the Alienware side. Most of the standard computer manufacturers have jumped onto the W8 bandwagon, why does Alienware not join? Is there a deeper reason? From what I heard W8 is supposed to be better than W7... I am puzzled and since I am about to buy an M18X, I just want to know before I jump into the water.

 

There is a lot of resistance to win 8, mostly due to the new GUI so I am not surprised it's still an option to stick with 7.

 

I got mine with win8. No intrest in fidiling with it i downgraded to win7

 

The majority of people buying Alienwares in general, and M18's in particular are gamers. Gamers have long memories and remember some of the fiasco's that took place in past "upgrades" to the Windows OS and how it destroyed the ability of your system to play some games. I think a lot of people are going to wait until the guinea pigs are done playing with it and have some sense of confidence that it won't keep them from playing Skyrim, BF3 et al before they accept it and start using it themselves.

 

Software developers need time to adjust to the new OS. As a result of immature software, games and benches may get lower FPS/pts. Plus, the new GUI, which in itself requires some learning curve. Personally, I like the new OS, both feature and interface like. But I miss aero.

 

Try Windows 8 and y'all will see why it gets no love.

 

Re: Why no love for Windows 8 - do we have all day? I bet this turns out to be a very long thread. Brilliant subject, by the way. (I'm not being facetious.) So, here is my "review" of Windows 8 Pro.

For starters, let's not forget that in order to be "certified" by Microsoft for Windows 8, it needs to carry some garbage along with it that performance enthusiasts might not be enthusiastic about. In particular, UEFI and Secure Boot, both of which can be an impediment to using drivers and hardware mods that Windows 8 does not "approve of" LOL. We have already seen a fair amount of drama in these forums with something as simple and rudimentary as installing SSD in RAID0 and/or doing a clean installation of Windows 8, and we are just barely getting started. We have seen draconian security measures prevent or drastically complicate simple things like swapping drives or flashing the BIOS. Welcome to UEFI and Secure Boot. You can go from zero to desktop in 2 seconds flat, but cannot do anything else faster with UEFI or Secure Boot... at least nothing I have identified yet. I am open to having my mind changed, but it looks like a pretty bad trade so far. I am still looking for something to make the change to UEFI and Secure Boot seem like an attractive proposition. What is really great about this is that Dell/Alienware have been kind enough to give us the ability to choose. Some of the other brands don't allow a choice.

Windows 8 is a fine operating system in many ways. I am dual-booting it with Windows 7. There are things I like about it, and things that I don't. It is fine for an average user that powers on a computer, uses it, then power it off or put it to sleep. The Start (Metro) UI is an ideal environment for preschoolers and elderly citizens that have no computer skills. It has a lot of fancy looking things that add a perception of value to a tablet or touch screen device... not something that all performance enthusiasts and hardcore gamers are fascinated with... mostly a novelty for web browsing devices. It's a "safer" user friendly (dumbed down) OS for tech noobs, and potentially a scourge for geeks. I think it is worth noting that anything "important" that needs to be done gets the user immediately whisked away from the Metro UI to the desktop, (by Windows 8,) where more serious tasks can take place.

Because I want my beast to run like a beast, I am still dual booting Windows 7. Windows 8 seems to hinder CPU performance and framerates are a tad lower in games. My benchmark scores are lower and the CPU does not overclock as well. Tweaked drivers will only install with Driver Signature Enforcement disabled. (We had a bit of that with Windows 7, but not anywhere nearly this restrictive.) But, Windows 8 does everything else on my system fine. All 119 of my Steam games play without problems, and all of my legacy non-Steam games that are "portable" (in saved folders that run without registry entries)... about 130 games in total... have run OK in Windows 8. A few have required compatibility mode or a tweak, but the bottom line is they all work.

The thing I like best about Windows 8 is I don't have to use it the way the design team probably expects me to use it. I use Windows 8 almost exclusively on the legacy desktop with an added start button. I very seldom use the tiled Start (Metro) UI. I will admit that it was fun to explore and play with for a couple of days, but quickly became boring as a cumbersome and inefficient interface that takes longer to use than the desktop and a classic Start menu. And, there are some nice features to the Windows 8 desktop environment that would have made Windows 7 a better OS. It's kind of a love-hate thing and I expect I will end up ditching Windows 7 at some point, as long as they don't make it more restrictive. I will probably decide when we are blessed with SP1. I don't want to have to "jail break" my PC to use it my way. As much as I like it, I am fickle enough that I won't hesitate to reclaim the partition it is using for Windows 7 the moment I discover something I that want to do with it and can't. This might be the big break that Linux fans have been waiting for. (Once they find a way to make all the flavors of Linux function correctly with UEFI and Secure Boot.)

I like it enough that I upgraded 4 of 6 systems in my household to Windows 8. My family members that are running it like it, and had no trouble adjusting to the UI changes. But, it comes as no shock, they gravitated back to the desktop environment, even my kids, and wanted a Windows 8 start button like dad's beast after a couple of days. Once the sparkle faded, they all preferred the more efficient "classic" environment over the pretty pastel colored tiles. Go figure.

This was an example of someone in a position of power, with a pet project at Microsoft. A guy that had a dream and expected everyone on the planet to like it his way. He does not work there any more, or so I hear. But, he has made his mark in time. The developers probably did not stop to think that many Windows users don't want their favorite OS screwed with, or maybe did not want a smartphone UI on their desktop or laptop. After all, Apple does things that way. They know what's best for everyone, right? Microsoft forced "partners" into very strict guidelines for certification and in some cases dictated a great deal about the hardware design of Windows 8 tablet prototypes. And then, in the 11th hour, surprised their partners with the fact that Microsoft would be selling products directly competing for business with their "partners" in the hardware space.

And the really silly part is, their crippled expensive RT devices offer nothing of value over Android-based products. They work just as well, with fewer restrictions, for half the cost of Microsoft's computer-like appliances. I'm still a huge Microsoft fan, and prefer their software products over anything the competition offers in the world of real computers, but this just was not a good example of graceful execution. They should have known better than to compete with cheap, disposable appliances. People buy those because they are cheap devices that do stuff that only requires a cheap device. That's definitely not in typical "Alienware" style... at least not the kind I am most familiar with.

The funkiest part about all of this is, the restrictive "security" features that Microsoft insists are necessary for "Windows 8 Certification" are totally unnecessary. My guess is that Alienware knows that the geekiest of its client base are the true performance enthusiasts and big spenders that love 17" and 18" DTR systems, and they are likely to be very unhappy--unenthusiastic--about running into impediments when they want to change something. I am taking another guess here again, but Windows 8 may also be optional because Alienware knows that it is not the best choice overall for people that are going to be bombarding Tech Support because their Alienware systems are "broken" and behaving exactly how the Microsoft model expects them to behave as a "certified" Windows 8 system.

If I had to choose one word to describe it, I think it might be "MEH" or "whatever." I am typing this post in Windows 8, so don't mistake me for a hater. I just acknowledge it for what it is: a more restrictive, rather inflexible product. It is protecting me from me, and for that I am so very grateful. (Now, with that last comment, I am being facetious.)

So, that is it for my Windows 8 <strike>rant</strike> review. I hope this helps someone contemplating an "upgrade" make a decision or have a better idea what they are about to get involved with. I actually enjoyed finding out for myself. And, I expect all my fellow geeks to not be able to resist the temptation to follow suit. It's what we do.

 

You bet we do!

Sure sounds like y'all are, but considering the topic, that's not at all a bad thing.

When I first played with Windows 8 on the floor model notebooks at Fry's, my first thought was literally, "What the hell is this?" There are things about Windows 8 I like, namely UEFI and fast-boot. I know UEFI will need to be honed and tweaked to work with more customizable systems like Alienwares and Sagers, but I think it's great in concept, just needs some refining. Secure boot is Microsoft's attempt to lock down their OS to limit the sometimes disastrous effects of us users rooting around in their circuits. Nice try!@!

I think my whole problem is I expect a new OS to have marked improvements and innovation without removing any of the basic elements which I'm used to. Metro would have been good if they had just kept it on the tablet side of Windows 8, and left the Start Menu alone on the desktop version. Forcing Metro into both Windows 8 revisions is just Microsoft's way of trying to one-up Mac OS/iOS in the user friendly category. Hopefully Microsoft is realizing that is extremely difficult to do. Windows 8 is no Mac OS.

Bottom line: I decided to take a wait-and-see approach. I know very well that all new Windows revisions are released with issues...but I see them more as growing pains. Windows 7 had issues with older XP software, XP with even older legacy software (yes there's also that tumor Microsoft created between XP and 7...but I will not mention the NAME!) Watching how Microsoft handles those growing pains will determine my course of action, whether I stay with Windows 7 or move to Windows 8.

 

Theres alot of opertunities with win8 and fun things you can probly do with this os. They should have made a specific desktop version or something if you know what i mean lol

 

Here is some relevant information from a different thread. It's consistent with my own observations. It's a new OS and I expect it will get better with time. They always do.

 

Except for vista, that one was beyond repair, lol

 

it adds no extra cost to add windows 8 during customization.
Personally I will be getting Windows 8 even though I like 7 more atm because of the faster boot time, smaller ram usage by the OS, better security, optimization, and a couple other reasons. I won't use the "metro" ui though. Screw that. I'm downloading a third party app that acts as the start button.
After a while I might use the metro if it grows on me. I have decided on getting a clevo NP150 with a 95% color gamut glossy screen. I imagine the colored tiles of the metro UI will literally pop off the screen after some fiddling with the screen color optimization settings with a display like that.

and Windows ME lol.

 

ME was the worst, crashed one out of every 2 times it booted for me.

Vista was fine so long as you threw enough ram at it.

 

AHHH! You said it's name !@!

 

Ha ha! Too funny. I thought you were referring to WindowsME as the one whose name you would not utter. I thought ME was worse than Vista, too. I kind of agree with Meaker about Vista being "OK" if you installed enough RAM. Anything less than 8GB and it was too sluggish for me. I think Vista had too much focus on trinkets and eye candy for where we were at that point in time with system performance. 8GB of RAM was considered insane at that time. With it came Aero, which I dearly enjoy, and is notably absent from the Windows 8 experience. But, the under-powered turd hardware Windows 8 was designed to run best on cannot handle too much overhead. I suppose they had to make it the way it is or everyone would despise how slow it would feel running on tablets. It would basically cripple those devices.

 

Never dealt with Windows ME. I went straight from that Windows 98SE nightmare to Windows XP. But I can certainly elaborate on why...it...was such a plague on my life. My boss bought a new Toshiba Satellite notebook back in 2007. It came preloaded with...it...starter edition. Boy that thing didn't want to boot up. When I finally got it to boot without using safe mode (from software errors, none of them were caused by drivers, mind you), there was so much bloatware when I finally got to the desktop, I just decided to do a clean install. Well, it didn't want to do a clean install, or at least the starter edition didn't want to. Had to actually buy the Home premium edition (retail version) in order to get a clean install.

After another sleepless night of clean installing Home Premium and fixing all the .Net and Visual C++ errors by applying patches in safe mode, I got to the regular desktop and installed Microsoft Office 2007. No dice . Office 2007 would install, but if you opened any of the programs, the install wizard would show up and ask for the Office 2007 CD. I would insert it, and the app would try and figure out what it wants to do...then the whole thing would freeze. I tried uninstalling Office 2007, but that messed up something with Windows Desktop Manager and I could no longer make it to the desktop in regular or safe mode. After a "long discussion" with MS support about what to do, they said Office is not meant to work with Home Premium. For that I would need to buy...it...in the Professional Edition.

What? Are you you Microsoft and your !

Suffice it to say I was very pissed and immediately installed Windows XP. After that, no issues. He was even able to use Office 2003 without a hitch. I just didn't want to take the chance with Office 2007. Now, I'm not saying Windows 8 is anywhere near as bad as Windows ME or...it..., but I bet all y'all have some horror stories to tell that would make all the little nuances of Windows 8 seem like nothing.

 

The most stable operating system of all times from Microsoft - windows xp (home and pro - more efficient)

 

Because windows 8 sucks and it is ugly. Used it for 3 weeks with my Vaio s13 and the only thing i liked about it is the new task manager and the ability to lock the screen while your downloads are still working in the background.

 

See, I've been using Vista for the last 4 years or so (however long it's been) - so I can't help but think that anything is going to be an improvement for me!

 

Here is one thing that really it sucks about Windows 8. Even with UAC disabled, I still see this sort of crap... and I really hate it. I have UAC disabled because I don't want Windows "help" with anything.

 

That kinda crap is rather annoying. I'm kinda hoping for some major changes to Windows 8 in the first service pack. Changes I would like made include removal (or ability to remove) the above kind of crap "nannying"....I would also like to see the Start Orb back where it should be on the desktop (or at least the choice of having one instead of using 3rd party apps to do it). I'd also like to have the ability to boot right to the desktop instead of Metro GUI - pointless really because as soon as I get there, I exit it anyways......no good to me as I don't have a touchscreen device - nor would I want one for a PC...smartphones, yes - PC's - no thank you Bill.

I could go on but I'm just hopping that Microsoft bring back or enable some of the user friendliness of Windows 7 - Windows 8 sucks at being PC user friendly. It's OK, but I'm really tempted to roll back to Win 7 right now......

 

The third-party Start button apps enable booting to the desktop, but I agree... should be standard as a selectable option. They should include that option when you right click the Windows taskbar and select Properties, the same as when you do that with Windows 7. There is no reason for them to NOT provide it, and it is really stupid that it was omitted.

 

When you start forcing rather than encouraging people as an OS designer, you know you are going the wrong way.

 

for the nannying --> disable Windows SmartScreen from Action Center
start orb, boot directly to the desktop --> lucky for you, both these features are added in Windows 8.1, right on the taskbar properties menu...wow....they sourced their survey here..........apparently..

 

I figured out how to disable SmartScreen shortly after posting that, so it's no longer an annoyance. It is silly that disabling UAC does not disable that too, but it's not a big deal to turn off either one.

The Start orb in Windows 8.1 is actually not what it appears to be. It is merely a worthless shortcut back to the icky Modern UI. I am running Windows 8.1 Preview (Windows 8 SP1) on a little 48GB partition at the edge of my 120GB mSATA caching SSD. It's not a remarkable improvement. It is still pretty screwed up in its default form, but so far all of my tweaks that made Windows 8 a tolerable OS, including a fully functional Start menu, are working on Windows 8.1 so its not the end of the world.

 

My system comes with Windows 7 Home Premium, but I decided to buy Windows 8 Pro through my University (it was dirt cheap). I'm on the fence of whether or not I should upgrade. I was actually supposed to get Windows 7 Ultimate, but didn't feel like cancelling and re-ordering.

Windows 8 just seems so...superfluous. As there are just so many nonessential changes and features, especially for gamers. Although, it would be kind of ridiculous to install Ultimate over Home Premium just to have the 32GB RAM capability. I might as well give Windows 8 Pro a shot...

 

Some people really like it. The nice thing about it is that if you don't like Windows 8 is that you can hack it to bits and make it look and feel like Windows 7. On the modded desktop it's pretty much the same look and feel once you take the time it needs to hack everything. Even on the default desktop, the lack of native Windows 8 customization options is downright pathetic.

The way Micro$oft would like us to use it, I think it sucks real bad. The apps are a joke and the Modern UI is an ugly pastel mess. I feel like I should be hunting for easter eggs instead of computing whenever I am navigating the Modern UI.

 

Yeah, true enough I guess....but if you like/enjoy Windows 7 and it fulfils all your needs, why even bother with Windows 8.....

IMHO, Windows 7 is similar to a fillet steak....you can't get better. I wouldn't *pay* money for Windows 8, only to have to hack it to bits and try and 'reform' some kind of 'minced chuck steak' into something that tries to emulate a fillet steak.....just not worth the effort.

However, each to their own.....

 

The hardest part for me to tolerate is the sucky W8 Modern UI and full screen adware apps. Thankfully, the vast majority of W8 atrocities can be effectively emasculated with registry tweaks and third-party utilities to become like a W7 service pack with a few extra features. The lack of UI customization with an untweaked W8 is unforgivable. The over-utilization of white and limited pastel color schemes is unpleasant and feels like a cartoon bomb went off inside of my computer. If you have already spent the money, then it is worth the effort to avoid starting over. If you have not, then I agree with the sentiment that it isn't worth the effort. There is almost nothing to be gained by side-grading. (By "side-grading" I mean that it's neither an upgrade nor downgrade... probably best described as unnecessary OS revision with an ulterior motive of enabling strict Secure Boot compliance which Micro$oft does not have with W7.)

 

Do any of you guys have any problems with windows 8 and alienware command center and osd? My stealth button sometimes isn't working and I have to reboot and power drain. Did not have this problem with windows 7.

 

Hi Everyone,

I am running Windows 8 Pro on the M17xR4 in my signature, and have been for a year (or so ) now. I would not go back to Windows 7, as there are too many things that make Windows 8 so much faster than Windows 7. For example, my laptop goes from off to login screen in 20 seconds, and all I have is a caching drive. Under Windows 7, it took 60 seconds for the same feat. The "smart" loading of background drivers seem much more efficient under Windows 8, so I can go from off to working in around 45 seconds, under Windows 7 I still wouldn't have finished booting. Yes, there are some annoyances (and I have posted about some of my issues here ), and the lack of a start menu caused some initial resistance, but I rapidly got used to it. The Modern Start Screen is just a big start menu, and I use it as such. The only modern apps I use are, well none. I live pretty much in Desktop mode on Windows 8, and only go to Modern for some settings. Game performance pretty much feels the same between Windows 7 and Windows 8, and the only issues I have are with some apps that don't behave with Enduro turned on, forcing me to switch to single GPU mode, which as mentioned before is a total cost of around 45 seconds. I like Windows 8, is it perfect, heck no! But Windows 7 was not perfect either. And just for informational purposes: Windows XP = Version 5.1, Windows Vista = Version 6.0, Windows 7 = Version 6.1, and Windows 8 = Version 6.2

This post is my opinion, but I would suggest that anyone who hates Windows 8, should give it a try before passing judgment based on what you "hear." I don't how many of you were around when Windows XP first came out, but the hatred we see today with Windows 8 (and actually Vista before it) are remarkably similar to the hatred of XP when it first came out. Many of the same complaints of Windows 8 (minus the Star Screen thing) were also raised against Windows XP. Change is hard, but sometime necessary. Good luck!

Rich S.

 

I've just installed Windows 8 Pro on my AW 17. Took me a couple hours, but I figured out how to make it tolerable.

Let's just hope it is worth the trouble, gaming wise.

 

Every new OS meets with hatred and resistance to change. I loved DOS and thought Windows was for sissies when it first came out. I refused to use it until around version 3.1. Real men used a command prompt, LOL. I still like using a command prompt for some things.

Other than Windows ME, every new version of Windows has been an improvement over the prior version IMHO... including Vista. I have been using Windows 8 for almost a year. I still don't particularly like it, but this is 99.9% due to aesthetics. I think the Windows 8 UI looks repulsive unless you tweak the snot out of it. Windows 8 does have some really nice new features. Other than the boring ugliness of the UI, (especially the ridiculous colorization limits,) the Windows 8 desktop is absolutely fine. I'll probably never get used to living without a Start menu because I hate the Modern UI Start screen and charms bar so much that I avoid both like a plague. However, they are not difficult to use by any means. I do find them inefficient to use. (They require extra navigation steps through layers of nonsense that make no sense with a keyboard and mouse.) My charms bar is more or less disabled on the desktop because I find it to be a massive annoyance to have it popping out when I have no interest in accessing it. I know where to find it if I need to use it for some reason. Otherwise, I never want to see it... ever.

As far is it being worth the trouble game wise, it should not be an impediment at all. It will not enhance gaming at all, but it won't hurt it either... more or less irrelevant in that regard. You may find one or two older games or benchmarks that need to be run in Windows 7 compatibility mode. I still find one now and then that needs XP compatibility mode to work right.

 

Here is another good reason why no love for it...

Windows 8 Drive Performance Tests

Windows 7 Drive Performance Tests


TRIM testing of SSD RAID 0 consistently fails under Windows 8. Reboot to Windows 7 and it consistently passes TRIM testing.



Check what many SSD manufacturers have posted on their web support FAQs and other documentation.
You will frequently something like "TRIM feature not supported with Windows 8" or "Windows 8 TRIM not supported using RAID"

 

My suggestion is to just try win 8 rather than reading other people's experiences with it, form your own opinion of the OS. Just go into any install process based on the hardware/drivers available and see if there's any issues with any hardware/software that you currently use. I had no problems with windows 8 myself and was actually quite amused at how people got their panties in a bunch over the perceived flaws of the OS.

 

Actually, they are more than just perceived flaws in my opinion.

1. Secure Boot
2. Decreased preformance - especially considering the numbers Mr. Fox just shared with us all.
3. That ungodly excuse they like to call Metro UI. - If i want an Xbox style GUI, I will play an Xbox!

Just because it boots faster, doesn't really mean that its better.

I'm just glad that Ballmer is gone. Now maybe they can quit screwing around and actually do something worthwhile.

 

That's been my experience too. So far, at least on less technical sites, any resistance I've seen to it has come from ignorance, not actually anything to do with 8.

Regarding the TRIM claims later in the thread, that's VERY hard for me to believe. It appears 8 handles things even better than 7 did.

At any rate, there's no way I'd go back to 7, even if just because 8 should have 3 more years of support, and the usual updated support for newer hardware, like built-in USB 3.0 support, etc.

 

It is difficult for me to accept, but I believe it because I can see it and confirm it on my own hardware (regarding TRIM). If you look at the technical details on many SSD manufacturer web pages you will often find a disclaimer about TRIM being supported with Windows 8.

I am an early adopter with about 25 years of advanced technical skills and it has nothing to do with ignorance. Aesthetic UI preferences included (which I have fixed on my own Windows 8 systems) it's a fact... Windows 8 is more like an experiment in social re-engineering than an upgrade, and in some ways it is a mess. I have been using it about a year and I am running Windows 8 on six systems in my home. It was seven systems, but after about 10 months of using Windows 8 my wife asked me to put Windows 7 back on her laptop. She learned to tolerate it, but never really liked it.

I actually believe the opposite is true and acceptance of Windows 8 may be a greater demonstration of ignorance than rejecting Windows 8. I think it is a pretentious error in judgment to attribute the failure to accept Windows 8 carte blanche as evidence of ignorance. It certainly can be, but you can't paint everything with that brush and ignore the facts. User preference is a big deal and Micro$oft needs to set their agenda aside and start paying attention. The old story of the naked emperor comes to mind here.

I've made it a good OS through dozens of hacks and tweaks, but Windows 8 as deployed by Microsoft is a piece of garbage in my opinion. I am running a dual-boot configuration on my M18xR2 and other than a few nice features (such as the Win-X menu) Windows 8 is a step backwards. I am continuing to use it for reasons other than liking it or the belief that it is a better OS, but I am OK with the fact that some people like it... nothing wrong with that. Some people like Apple operating systems and some like Linux. This is really no different than hate for 8. If you don't like the Cherry Kool-Aid, try another flavor.

 

Nothing surprises me regarding TRIM, not too long ago TRIM wasn't even available in RAID. I've had problems with TRIM in various SSD's since Vista and it continues varying with what drive, OS, etc.

Regarding Win 8 what's listed as problems can often be called features by some, regardless whether I agree with them or not.

Personally I'm cognizant of the flaws of windows 8, most of them relate to the schizoid GUI. You have essentially two different interfaces with different UI and inconsistent gestures/navigation. It leads to usability issues and obviously confuses users.

I understand why the OS was built in this matter, the concept of unification across multiple and varied devices which is a current and continuing trend across multiple OS's. The implementation as others have mentioned is an unfortunate problem. I don't understand why Windows 8 was released without regard to users to provide built in customization/flexibility and a consistent interface.

I can't argue facts such as benchmarks or problems with TRIM, those things happen regardless of OS in my experiences. If there's a problem with a device or with TRIM in an OS, those things definitely happen. There's always devices that have issues with new OS's and that's never been a surprise, that's why when upgrading you must take into account all your hardware and software and whether upgrading is worth the associated risks.

I see the flaws of Windows 8 and just think people have made bombastic statements regarding how bad it is and while it does have various problems they are surmountable via free and third party tools.

 

Another reason to stick with a nice large single drive imo, not an excuse for it but you will get less issues.

 

It's not just the flaws that annoy, Microsoft's policy decisions (e.g. how software should be licensed and distributed) and their vision of moving towards becoming a "devices and services" company (and molding their software accordingly) are, frankly, far more annoying (at least to me, YMMV).

 

I agree with that... Micro$oft's posture has really changed in the past couple of years. When Gates backed away from controlling everything is when the company started its massive decline. They have taken a very anti-customer approach in numerous ways including their push for Secure Boot and Secure Flash to be required on all systems... effectively giving Micro$oft control over what OS (and hardware) are bootable. This even affords them the ability to set an expiration date on the BIOS. If they arbitrarily decide on 2 years or 3 years, or whatever, they can basically brick your system on a predetermined date if they want to. They were once open to innovation and ingenuity, but now it's looking like an "our way or the highway" approach to business. This is unacceptable. If I wanted that I would already own Apple products. I have always shunned them because of this approach to technology, so I may need to reassess the situation if Micro$oft continues on their current path. If I have to put up with that kind of nonsense in the future, there is no reason to choose a PC over a Mac... if both are locked down and limited, what difference does it make?

 

I couldn't agree with you more. That was precisely why I made the comment I made about Ballmer. Microsoft has slowly eroded choices. Force feeding their customers options (non-options) that they want, just makes them another Apple. In the past 10+ years under his control, things have went down hill. It has been a constant stream of playing catch-up and fixing screw-ups. (ME/Vista) Focusing on hardware instead of their software.

If Microsoft would have built a mobile OS that focused on syncing all data to a laptop from the table interface, I think that would have been the way to go. Basically all a table is a really nice net-book replacement. You are not going to do any heavy computing on a tablet anyways. Things might change later on, but at this point tablets are not really for work. I can do spreadsheets on my android!

my .02

Interesting reading.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/windows-os-software/733780-8-1-start-button-ms-still-pouting.html