Do you think Metro will make Windows 8 a flop or a great success?

But you can't, that's the problem.

 

For many people, the OS isn't the problem. The problem occurs in the ecosystem around the OS.

Many people can't switch from their current smartphone to another because they have made a significant investment in the application store for the phone. Not to mention any lock-in that occurs with music (iTunes).

The same is true at the desktop OS. Applications have traditionally been an Achilles heal. The legacy applications keep people tied (ball and chain style) to the OS. Windows XP is a great example. There are millions of custom applications that won't be ported to Windows 7 or Windows 8.

The same thing is happening on the Mac and OS X. I have children that are firmly locked into the Apple ecosystem.

Windows 8 certainly has some stuff I don't like. But there is a lot to like, too. As much as I would like an option to turn off Metro, it isn't going to happen. But I have been running the RP since it came out and I see Metro at boot. After that, I rarely see it the remainder of the day.

The thing I am worried about most is training my family and friends to use it, not application compatibility.

 

Exactly. You can't "turn it off" (any more than you can "turn off" the Start Menu in Windows 7), but you can "avoid it" (just like you can avoid navigating through the start menu in Windows 7).

By the way, in my poll of how people launch programs in Windows 7, only 7% said their primary method was navigating through the start menu's folders. For the 40% who primarily rely on the taskbar and the 15% who rely on text searches and the 7% who primarily rely on desktop shortcuts, the interaction doesn't change at all. For the 22% who use programs pinned in the start menu, interaction is enhanced because there's more room to pin programs and it's easier to group and re-arrange them. It's only for the 7% who rely primarily on navigating through folders in the start menu that things are really changing.

 

What I miss in the Win 8 desktop, is the ability to search directly from the desktop, without switching over to the metro screen.

 

Just so I understand bettor your workflow, are you looking at other open windows while you're searching? Personally, I hit Windows key and type the name of the program (or part of it) then hit enter, which works exactly the same in Windows 7 and Windows 8. I'm not trying to read other stuff on the screen during the half-second that I do that, so for me, it's immaterial whether it's a menu or a screen that comes up when I hit the Windows key. Do you use the search field differently?

 

You have to remember alot of people do not realize every time they open mydocs or picture folder etc they are also launching programs by double clicking the picture etc. Even if the primary is taskbar etc and usually for this they go to the start button. You really need a poll "If other than to shut down do you use the start button at any other times"

 

Just as "documents" and "pictures" are pinned to the start menu by default, they can be pinned to the start screen. Indeed, other directories that you use frequently (for example, the folders corresponding with my half-dozen most active cases at any given time) can also be pinned to the start screen, providing even greater flexibility than the start menu for people who use "start" to open directories.

I'd like to see Windows 8 pin these directories to the start menu by default instead of making the user do it. But it's an easy fix if that's what you use "start" for. The first column on my start screen is made up of commonly-used Windows Explorer directories--the ones that appear in the start menu of Win 7 and a few others I'm continually using. It's really, really handy.

 

Just as how many use open with or edit instead of open etc. My boss's at my old job just could never use this as they litteraly would have hundreds of folders to place on the task bar. They would fill the desktop with folders and use those, which could be done with Win8 as well exept then everytime they go to metro they would loose sight of the desktop. Trust me there are many nightmares for the unorganized ahead. Not that there were not before but now they will be just that much bigger.

We here are usually very proficient with our systems and organization. People downloading the beta's etc. are about the same as well. Wait until the people who hunt forever for a file or never know what to do get a hold of this. Especially in the work/productivity groups. While we easily translate functionality to our work proccess they will not. This is an epic failure just waiting to happen.

Now for tablets and the like I agree it looks to be a great option but again those are not work/productivity devices. At least not yet but if they become one then maybe windows 8 will be a success there too.............

 

What is the need to switch to the metro screen, when my programs are going to run in the desktop?
Metro UI still looks like a half baked UI, which is not connected seamlessly with the desktop.

 

Exactly, it feels like the Metro UI is just bolted onto the desktop.

 

Parallel: what is the need to open the start menu in Windows 7, when I'm going to run my programs on the desktop instead of inside the start menu?

So long as you don't choose to run Metro apps, you can just think of both as program launchers. Both are just as quick to open and close (they open with a strike of the Windows key; they close automatically when you launch a program, either a pinned program with a single click, or a program from "all programs" with a couple of clicks).

 

The start menu does not take up the entire screen and is a list, not a collection of colored tiles. That's really the main contention, isn't it? There's this new system that complicates things for essentially no benefit to desktop users.

 

Same here. Metro UI looks like another OS on top of the desktop, just to complicate things. For example, the IE metro app has very limited options when compared to the desktop IE.

 

Hey Mitlov, here is your friend again: " Eventually our desktops, smartphones, tablets and televisions, will all look relatively indistinguishable from their much younger mobile cousins. And just like of the erosion of the command-line input on early computers was a good thing. The death of the desktop operating system will be too."

Personally, I think the guy's completely clueless, but you'll like him, I'm sure. Looks like he needs some help with his writing, too...

 

The start menu makes things faster because of the smaller viewing area. I do like metro, when I work with a tablet. I think that MS sould rethink about dropping the start menu, because of all the negative feedback received.

 

If Microsoft thinks they can charge the oems $85 a license and beat the iPad they gotta be insane!

 

The Windows RT license includes a copy of Microsoft Office, which would cost you $120 if you bought a Windows 7 or 8 computer/device and then had to go buy Office.

 

My feeling about Metro is that it borderline sucks.

The hot corners are poorly implemented. Often apps launched under metro startup slow. I keep forgetting about the desktop tile and always look for a shortcut to get out of metro.

The live tiles are not as live as I'd like them to be. I never had a W7 phone so I can't compare the tiles on that, but I was expecting the type of liveness like W7 desktop gadgets and Android widgets have. Metro tiles seem to only go back n forth with only two screens of info, usually one with pic display and the other just text. Other Gadgets/Widgets rotate and update through much more.

Haven't had much time to play with it yet so I won't count it out yet. But so far it's not looking good. If this flops, it will also turn potential customers away from W7 phones.