"How Real People Will Use Windows 8"

Earlier today I decided to look at W8 videos and found this:

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I found this hilarious and thought I'd share

Personally, I will be skipping W8 altogether as I find W7 as a much better OS (my opinion).

 

Microsoft is making the exact same mistake they made when they designed and attempted to redesign the UI for Windows Mobile. Some of the features of W8 are really great but the UI shift is a disaster.

 

It appears a tablet OS on a desktop is as bad as trying to remote into windows system from a IPad. Our company IT system is an outside Citrix based service. Trying to move the mouse pointer and select items with a tablet is painful at best. Hope someone can get it right.

 

Similar response from a couple cousins, and a customer when I let them use W8.
It is poor.

 

It looks like this video was intentionally made to make fun of Windows 8. That glossy screen makes it even worse to find stuff on the screen.

 

I bet on a tablet it is easier to use Win 8. Probably on a tablet you just have to swipe some way to get back to the home screen. But for a desktop they need a dedicated virtual button to always go back the "Metro Menu," or whatever it is called.

 

I noticed that nobody here has come to the aid of that poor guy. Does anyone know how to do what he was trying to do?

 

I wouldn't say the UI is a disaster, there are some things that need addressing, but i've been using windows 8 as the main OS for "normal" usage for about a month now and i got used to it. Ironically, the gestures do feel natural enough with a touchpad, with a real mouse, ti's awkward though.

Microsoft needs to make one hell of a tutorial for windows 8 though, otherwise people will be pulling their hair out. Knowing MS, they'll fail at that unfortunately.

The hot corners do work, but almost no one will know they are there at launch.

To be honest, i though i'd loathe windows 8 and i don't. Some things i really don't like, but as a whole it's still not a bad OS.

 

The UI might not be a disaster but it definitely has an identity crisis. Between the watered down desktop mode and Metro you have essentially two different UIs that present diverging views of the same OS. Microsoft is trying to do right by both paradigms but as a result they fail in both. Don't even get me started with how developers will have to release two versions of the same application (Metro and desktop) if they want to give the user maximum flexibility and as a result we will see more fragmentation that further confuses the user.

Furthermore MS is also trying to make the OS compatible with two completely different methods of user interaction (keyboard/mouse and touchscreen). Again, they try to do right by both and they don't quite get it with either. At least with the consumer preview I had to mimic an upward swipe with my mouse just to get to the log in screen. Fail (but one I don't think I've seen with the RP). Each new aspect of the OS does do some stuff right (Metro launch screen is awesome for instance) but there are just too many drawbacks to the entire OS.

I've used the W8 CP and W8 RP enough to know that my productivity would be substantially diminished. The only reason this OS is going to sell well is because Microsoft has virtual monopoly in the consumer market. That being said...Apple just might start to steal marketshare once W8 comes out and THAT might get MS to accelerate the development of W9 (much like XP came out a year or so after ME's release).

Argh.

 

Aww he's cute. As soon as I saw how small the boxes were, I knew the thing was at 1080. Poor guy, don't know if the kid wanted to torture him with such high resolution, or if it's the actual OS itself.

I'm surprised about the Windows 8, since I haven't read much about it. So the whole "tile" interface thing is just a cover, and when you launch one of those applications, it takes you to the traditional view?

 

I agree with you on the identity crisis. The problem isn't the duality it's that by default you switch between both if you ask me. For instance, by default, music, videos, etc launch on metro even if you're on the desktop. To me it would make sense to launch on the desktop because if you're on the desktop that means that you have stuff to do there and you'd definitely rather not go to metro and back to the desktop just for double clicking on a music file. This is my main gripe with windows 8, you switch too often between the two by default.

It isn't bad, but like you said, it's full of not quite. I do like what is under the hood though and if MS accelerates development of windows 9 and can actually learn from their mistakes, i'm willing to bet 9 won't be so bad.

Also, as i said before, window s8 will need a serious tutorial for the average joe.

Not quite, in a sense, windows 8 is two OS in one, you have metro (that tile thing) and then you have the classic desktop. On metro, there are apps to watch videos, listen to music, etc., like there would be on a tablet, but on the desktop you can have your programs more oriented towards productivity like MS office, adobe CS, etc. Using metro as a start menu and to search for programs isn't really a problem. The problem stems form the fact that even when you're on the desktop some things default to metro too often which like Greg said disrupts workflow. You can get used to it and learn some workarounds like changing default programs, but ultimately, it will be a hard adaptation for a lot of people.

Note that i run windows 8 on a SSD so to me everything feels snappy and not so disruptive as a result. Still i shouldn't have to change the default programs to avoid leaving the desktop when i'm in the middle of working on something on the desktop.

I definitely like what is under the hood of windows 8 though. IF you thought 7 was fast on a SSD, check windows 8 on a SSD it's somewhat impressive.

EDIT: I played mostly with the release preview which seems to have fixed quite a few things compared to the previous releases.

 

Honestly, what's wrong with windows 7? I'm not trolling but asking a legitimate question. Is it because it's a couple of years old, people think that it's "out-dated" because Microsoft is coming out with a new version?
My opinion is, it works fine, it does the job, and I honestly see no reason to upgrade. You can even get the Microsoft Touch Pack if you want touch screen functionality. To me W8 seems like they're trying to reinvent the wheel, and as others have noted, attempting to appease both the touch and desktop crowd they are failing at both.

 

Thanks for the explanation. I'm still not sure about this whole Windows 8 thing. I have an old Fujitsu laptop/tablet convertible with Rainmeter's Omnimo UI installed to mimic the Metro theme; clickable tiles, live tiles to show weather, time, dates, rss, integrated Zune tile, etc... Everything launches on the desktop without having the need to go into this whole dedicated Metro UI thing.

 

There is nothing wrong with windows 7, but keep in mind that updates and improvements have to be made at some point. I mean you could have asked what is wrong with XP when Vista and 7 came out. Yet 7 brought improvements. It's not a matter of whether there is something wrong with 7, it's a matter of improving the OS, adding extra functionality. In short to make a better product and to stay up to date with the times.

Now i'm not saying windows 8 is all that, i'm just voicing my take on why we need an OS refresh every few years. Whether the company that makes the OS manages to do that is a whole other story, you just have to look at what happened with Vista at launch to see an example of a badly launched OS. Vista eventually got alright, but it never quite achieved what it was supposed to do, 7 fixed that.

I have a feeling that Windows 8 will be somewhat another Vista as in not a bad OS, but there will be quite a few things that will fall in the not quite category. This time around though, it will be the UI rather than the OS being slower and heavier.

Maybe MS will surprise me, but i don't think so, i have a feeling windows 8 will bring a lot of good things, but it will also bring a less friendly UI.

 

What a persuasive video! Because no senior citizens have EVER been confused by Windows 7 or XP. Not at all. "OMG here's an elderly person who is struggling with it" is not a meaningful knock against any particular operating system.

If by "what's wrong with Windows 7," you mean "why should I upgrade," the answer is, if you don't want to, you don't have to. If you mean "why did Microsoft make Windows 8," there are numerous reasons.

(1) The market is moving towards tablets and tablet-laptop hybrids (just look at all the tablet-and-mobile-esque features in OSX Lion and Mountain Lion), and Microsoft wants to lead instead of follow.

(2) If you're using the Windows start menu by pinning programs you like in an organization that makes sense to you, instead of by navigating through the sub-folders, then having a full-screen start menu where you can pin programs wherever you want actually works better. Microsoft did studies and found that most people who use the start menu (instead of just using pinned programs on the taskbar, etc) use it to launch pinned programs instead of navigating through the folders XP-style.

(3) Outside of UI differences, there are numerous security and performance improvements over Windows 7.

(4) Windows 8 integrates better with Microsoft's cloud service (SkyDrive) and the ecosystem of Microsoft devices (Xbox first and foremost; also Windows tablets and phones) than Windows 7 does. The market is becoming more ecosystem-oriented instead of just being stand-alone devices. Google is doing this (Nexus Q); Apple has traditionally led the way on this front; Microsoft would be dooming themselves to obscurity if they didn't move forward on this front as well.

 

There's a lot I like about the simplicity of tablet UI's but it has to be implemented with sensitivity, and with none of the swiping garbage, point and click is as efficient as you can get. The way MS is so conspicuously shoving the tablet thing onto people is going to blow up big time. In their attempt to corner the tablet market they're going to alienate their biggest consumer base, business desktops. What's this? 2 different apps for everything, what the hell is going on? I really think this thing is going to bomb.

You can talk about performance and security improvements, but in the end it just has to work.

 

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Two different apps for everything for business users? Not at all. In Windows 7, consumers used Windows Live Mail, whereas businesses used Outlook or something similar. In Windows 7, consumers used Windows Live Photo Gallery whereas businesses used dedicated AV software. In Windows 8, businesses will still use Outlook and dedicated AV software. I don't anticipate Metro apps being used at all on the business side of things. The Start Screen will be, from the business perspective, just a full-screen, highly-customizable start menu where you can configure and pin software and shortcuts however you want. Metro apps will be for entry-level consumer software, not businesses.

 

I wasn't really talking about businesses but making an aside, granted I don't see why businesses would flock to upgrade to begin with, since both vista and 7 are competent enough.

 

I guess I'll wait to see how Windows 9 develops...

 

RTM for windows 8 is coming soon i think (unless it was the release preview). Anyways, if you have a spare HDD, then it's worth swapping drives and giving a try if you can.

 

OMG; best laugh I've had all day. Thanks...................

 

Businesses have never flocked to upgrade on day one to ANY version of Windows. EVER. Hell, my office is still primarily using Windows XP, and I know we're not the only one. That's not a good litmus test for anything.

What I do see happening in this case is businesses jumping on Win 8 and Win RT tablets as more business-friendly alternatives to the iPad (which currently dominates the white collar tablet market), and eventually, down the line, upgrading to their desktops to be consistent with their fleet of tablets.

 

I also believe it will turn out like Vista and people will just stick with W7 until W9 is released. When W8 becomes the standard in new laptops, they should give users the option to downgrade to W7, because to me, W8 is going to push people away from purchasing a Windows based computer. Those who never considered OSX before may have to rethink their decision.

I wonder if resellers will offer this option. You'll have no problem if it's a Sager since they do not come with an OS - you pick, but for other manufacturers, it's already included. I think the only way Microsoft can recover from this disaster is giving a consumers a choice between both. Maybe resellers (Asus; MSI) and companies that offer customizations (Dell-AW; Lenovo; HP) should give customers the option and those pre-built sitting on store shelves should have the downgrade option.

The person who 1-starred this thread must be a die-hard W8 fan

Personally, I enjoy W7 > OSX Lion > XP.

 

Skipping this one.
Win8 seems to be destined to join ME and Vista

 

What I find interesting is the near-silence around Win8 in this and some other related forums these days. Given that Win8 is the new version of Windows due out in just a few weeks, this is more than just a little remarkable, and it's quite unlike any other version of Windows was treated at this stage. There was widespread criticism of Vista at this stage, and almost enthusiastic expectation in the case of windows 7. For Windows 8, we have seen intense criticism of Microsoft's UI decisions there, plus some praise for a number of behind-the-scenes improvements, mostly when the Consumer Preview was released. By now, however, what we see is people mostly ignoring Windows 8. Maybe you and I are not the only ones who have come to the decision that Windows 8 is not for us...

 

I'd say there's quite a bit of discussion on Windows 8 going around, particularly after the Windows Surface Pro slate was announced.

 

For me it is called "I give up"! no matter how hard I complain M$ will do as it does. Now I'll just have to do as I do. It is funny M$ is trying to get Vista and 7 users to disable the gadgets. This is one feature that makes Metro a total waste as most if not all functionality is there already.

M$ claims gadget vunerability, well that has been known since day 1. M$ touted how great gadgets were at the time just like they are touting how great metro apps are now. Come on M$ gives us some credit for seeing through the bull.................

Maybe I'm wrong and metro applets are just that impervious to malicious code or applications etc............

 

Maybe after our 1,372-post discussion, both the enthusiasts and the haters have said everything they have to say and are getting tired of rehashing the same old debate. I'm going to buy it; you're not. I've said everything I like about it, and you've said everything you hate about it. What else is there to discuss?

 

Im going for it. Im getting the new acer 27" touch screen all in one, loaded with win 8. that unit is replacing my mac mini and 27" cinema monitor. I am hoping the touch screen interface will be very cool for my 5 yo with autism. I am also looking at the surface as well as the new acer 14" touch screen laptop. I am excited for win 8. it looks very interesting.

 

I am going to get it as it is going to cost less at first and then go up. Think win 7 did this also. Windows 8 Pro comes with downgrade rights.

http://www.anandtech.com/Show/Index...=1&slug=windows-8-upgrade-will-cost-just-3999

 

I bet it will be great. My son (5) is high-functioning autistic and he just loves his second-hand iPad 1. The interface is great for him. I think Win RT/Win 8 will be the same.

 

But see, that's just the point: Other than the two of us, nobody cares...

 

Actually I am one of the people who cares about windows 8.
I have been using it since the beta version (I know I shouldn't) as a main OS, and for me is getting easy to use day by day.
I am agree about having back the start button to see the full list of programs, and I do miss it, but as a replace "function" is enough to digit the first letter on the search box, and its working just fine.

I am following the windows 8 threads generally, but sometimes just as I reader.
Most of the time is annoying just to hear windows 8 is bad, and bla bla bla..

I would just say we need to get used to it. That's all. At the end it might not be so unconvenient to use, but its blazing fast for me and not only about booting time..

 

There is no meaningful difference in "speed" between different (Windows) operating systems, particularly on modern SSD-based systems. It's all about little mind tricks, such as how to do various kinds of animations on opening/closing windows and things of that nature.

 

True.

Maybe its just me but using windows everyday for video (sony vegas) , music editing (reason, Pro Tools) and games (skyrim, FIFA 12), I do feel its much snappier than windows 7.

 

I'm not excited for Windows 8, but it's been running on my secondary laptop that i use for internet and some mild word processing. I have to say i really don't mind windows 8 at all, but it doesn't do anything that makes me want to switch from 7 to 8 either.

I do like the square look and it does some things right, but it also does some other things wrong because of it's duality. It's gonna need some tweaking to get it to work the way i want in terms of default programs, etc. when i get a new laptop running windows 8.

I gotta agree here, it's not so inconvenient, but some things i don't like still. Overall i don't mind it though, i feel more like it's a step on the side than a step forward.

 

I used it on my tabby when the Dev Release came out. After about 2 days I loved it. I only went back to Win7 because I gave the tablet to one of my sons for high school. I haven't tried it on my lappys yet, but I did use it with BT mouse and keyboard, and yeah, it took a bit to get used to the changes, but I went through that when I went from Win 3.1 to Mac to Win95, XP, and then 7. I will try it on my Sager later because I am interested in how it works on a laptop. But it was very fast on my tablet. I was impressed.

 

Bear in mind, even though we've been seeing pre-release versions of win 8, we haven't seen the final product yet. Is it going to take getting used to? Yes, but so did Win 7 and XP. its definately a 1st cycle OS though, so its probably not not going to make as a 2nd cycle one since its more of an innovative than an improvement OS (ME, Vista vs XP, Win 7)

Personally, I'll be using the 14.99 upgrade to put it on one of my laptop's HDDs and keep Win 7 Enterprise on the mSata until most of the bugs are worked out and I decide if it's worth keeping.

 

Agree, is definitely not the final product yet, but as it happens in the past, between the RC and the final built Microsoft doesn't change much usually, even thus I hope this time will surprise us..

Anyway for 40 dollars upgrade I will definitely go for it.

 

Well, some people will be surprised, even though Microsoft has announced this already, to see that Aero on the desktop has been removed in the RTM version, and replaced with that nice bland 1980s DOS look.

 

There is not such a thing that can pleases us all, isn'it?

 

Exactly, which is why there's the concept of giving people a choice. That, by the way, is the cardinal sin that Microsoft is committing with Windows 8: Frivolously taking away choices from people. If this was Apple, sure, Apple users are used to, and expect to be jerked around at will. Windows users, on the other hand, have grown to expect being given choices, and Microsoft bending over backwards, even to a fault, to make this possible. The extreme reversal of that philosophy we're now seeing with Windows 8 lies at the heart of the controversy around it.

See, nobody would care about that silly Start Screen, or Metro, if it was possible to avoid that nonsense in the same way Microsoft had given people such options in previous versions of Windows. Heck, I bet more people would be willing to give that interface a chance, if they felt they were in control of this choice. It's the forced change that grates people, and that will come at a price for Microsoft.

 

Also, people would care less about Microsoft hard-lining a new UI if the new UI was actually good. Metro is a bit of a disaster. It's becoming painfully clear that it isn't going to mesh well with a mouse and keyboard.

 

M$ has hard-lined every GUI since it has been utilizing GUI's. This actually is the first OS of theirs that is not doing so. With Win8 and MinWin the desktop is no longer embeded. Before everyone had to just add onto or try and bypass the existing explorer.exe.

Outside vendors can create an entirely new UI now from the ground up. In time we actually may have better options available to us. People are upset that we are taking that step backwards without the leap forwards immediately presenting itself. Personally I will wait untill that leap ahead is available or at least around the corner.

Metro is not a disaster just so far it is a bit of a disappointment. In time that too may change but I am not holding my breath. I am upset M$ see's fit to try and scare consumers with the side bar of older GUI's. Everyone knows, and M$ has stated for years, not to install unsecure gadgets etc. As in any app given web access malicious code can wreak havok. M$ timed and recomended the app to disable the sidebar with Win8. IMHO this has M$ just blowing donky snott up our various orrafices.

I want though a new pc soon. I am just hoping Win8 will not be foreced down my throat. If history is proven true though it may be inevitable. So very shortly I have to position myself with a machine that can survive the next 4 years or so just in case.........

 

Well you sort of answered your own concern. As you so humbly mentioned that Apple's customers are used to being jerked around at will... ...what you're not realizing is this is a successful venture in terms of how Apple runs their business. Microsoft's customers are so used to Microsoft letting them stay so far away from the future that Microsoft can't achieve any type of stronghold on their own business.
Windows customers remain deep in the legacy world and a large chunk of them are still using aged technologies such as XP. For the most part consumers are really the only ones running 7 because they were forced to when they bought a new PC.
Microsoft sees that Apple's formula for doing business works such as designing a simpler system for the customer to use rather than the customer to tweak, hack and screw up leading to poor experiences.
Outside of these geek forums the rest of the world are novice to basic computer users that still can't quite grasp email. Trouble with these forums is the members think they are the only computer customers on the planet and how dare a company decide to change the system that they are used to spending the entire weekend digging down deep tweaking.

Although I personally think Metro is another sad joke from Microsoft at least they are trying to move forward even though the product may not be good, at least the idea is in the right direction.

 

You may or may not be surprised to hear that I agree with much of what you wrote (including the parts I did not quote). It's no secret that I dislike Apple and the way they do business, but there is no doubt that they must be doing some things right. I do disagree with some of the details of your analysis, but that's off-topic here. And while I agree that Metro is a sad joke, I am not sure it even goes in the right direction, depending on what direction it is you are referring to. An operating system is a multi-dimensional entity, so there are a number of coordinates that determine what you call "direction" here. Some of those coordinates may be right, quite a few of them are completely wrong, in my not so humble opinion.

 

Pirx wrote

Excellent.

 

Easy, Windows 8 without a start menu, who cares, most people I have seen just have a few icons on their desktop and ignore the start menu.
If the UI on Windows 8 or aka Metro is so terrible, if you have an Xbox 360 then the UI looks much the same, those people are not phased. Sure different platform but the idea is much the same.
Personally I am looking forward to the official release of Windows 8, and in fact I liked Vista when that too was released, it was a departure form Windows XP offering something new.
Basiscally it is what you make of it, if this is what is is for most people here, then I guess that is just to bad.
Btw. The video I can clearly hear the voice of that über geek Chris Pirillo. Haha he used his own dad to make him look incompetent at using a computer with a change.

 

This is hilarious...what a disaster in the making....

As for the whole "choice" thing the difference is that when Apple makes a choice they usually have good intuition as to what people WANT.

2nd even if people are skeptical Apple is able to explain the changes they made and more importantly show the usefulness of such changes.

MS made a change. It hasn't been well received so far. And yet they are sticking with it. Instead of looking at their abysmal Windows Phone sales and thinking to themselves "maybe something isn't meshing with the tiles/Metro" they think that we just don't get it.

Will be waiting for MS to either offer a fix which allows us to completely disable Metro or a 3rd party solution which disables it completely and gives me back the orb.

Otherwise I'm gonna have to wait for Windows 9 and hope Microsoft comes back to its senses by then.

I wonder if the new Microsoft Office is any good...2010 has been driving me insane lately. Especially Word and auto correct....

 

Surprisingly enough, there are those of us who have this idea that a computer is not the same thing as a gaming console. You know, the kind of people who do work on computers. But maybe that's just us.