Windows 8 Adoption Poor

gareth170 · 22 Apr 2013 at 17:48

KIA said:
Perfection.

maybe to you...

to me it was awful. it was way overdue for a new UI

V F · 22 Apr 2013 at 18:01

lunarwolf said:
I guess why ppl havent ugraded is

1. ppl usually try and avoid change in their routine, just look at the stink the new start page caused, when in reality it is nothing as drastic as some made it out to be.

2. most users would be fine using XP as most only browse internet, email, use word processor or store their photos/music on their pc. So there is no need for them to upgrade

3. most ppl only upgrade their os when they buy a new desktop. Due to economic climate of last few years many just stayed with XP. And instead of needing a new pc they have been bullish on smart phones and tablets which are expensive in comparison.

Anyway I got win8 at launch for a too good to pass offer. It took less than a day to get used to it, and I am very happy with it so far.

My 2cents

I do wonder, if these are the same people that still right click and copy.

Fillado · 22 Apr 2013 at 18:13

Aaaaaand all my hopes have been quashed!

http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/22/4251610/windows-8-1-start-button

It's basically just a dumb button back to the Start Screen

theheyes · 22 Apr 2013 at 18:19

Like I pointed out a few pages ago, it was never going to be anything else.

Fillado · 22 Apr 2013 at 18:26

But what's the point of bringing it back then? I would imagine most businesses want the Start Menu back simply because they want to ignore Metro. This won't appease them at all.

theheyes · 22 Apr 2013 at 18:34

Fillado said:
But what's the point of bringing it back then? I would imagine most businesses want the Start Menu back simply because they want to ignore Metro. This won't appease them at all.

They seem to be refocusing on discoverability i.e. bringing some of the 'chrome' back they tried to banish. The start button is just part of that effort. In the same way the search icon in the Mail app simply invokes the search charm, the Start button will invoke the Start screen.

No it won't appease businesses or users who want the Start menu back, but that's not what they're attempting to do with Blue.

Infidelus · 22 Apr 2013 at 18:34

Fillado said:
But what's the point of bringing it back then? I would imagine most businesses want the Start Menu back simply because they want to ignore Metro. This won't appease them at all.

I'd guess it's to make it obvious how to get back to the start screen for those that are unfamiliar.

Macro · 22 Apr 2013 at 18:37

Fillado said:
But what's the point of bringing it back then? I would imagine most businesses want the Start Menu back simply because they want to ignore Metro. This won't appease them at all.

That's really not the case. Most businesses aren't wholesale moving to 8 because they have either only just finished or are still in the process of deploying 7 and generally skip a OS.

Uninstall the metro apps if you don't want them, just install your old Win32 apps and the start button will open a start page with a list of apps - nothing to worry about or retraining to be done.

Macro · 22 Apr 2013 at 18:40

theheyes said:
They seem to be refocusing on discoverability i.e. bringing some of the 'chrome' back they tried to banish. The start button is just part of that effort. In the same way the search icon in the Mail app simply invokes the search charm, the Start button will invoke the Start screen.

No it won't appease businesses or users who want the Start menu back, but that's not what they're attempting to do with Blue.

Actually it's quite a sad state of affairs when (although you can't see it the start button is still in the bottom left corner, move your mouse there and the start button pops up" is too complicated. I'm all for choice and people have the choice of the old style legacy UI with Windows 7 or new style with 8. It's a shame the choice to go with something new in 8 has to be compromised, I really don't get why people want to make 8 work like 7, just stick with 7, job done.

I despair for ever making progress at this rate. The funny thing is the same people will later call Microsoft out for not innovating and only ever playing the safe option and copying others...

theheyes · 22 Apr 2013 at 18:50

Macro said:
Actually it's quite a sad state of affairs when (although you can't see it the start button is still in the bottom left corner, move your mouse there and the start button pops up" is too complicated.

But to be fair, on a vanilla install you're never explicitly told it's there. The guideline is simply 'move your mouse into any corner', which is not even actually true, because different corners serve different purposes.

To most users the concept of a hot corner is a bit alien. So while the UI, once learned, is nowhere near as bad as it's made out to be and is actually quite simple, Microsoft did a poor job of the OOBE. I actually remember when I first installed the RTM build thinking 'this is not enough'.

The changes in Blue should make the transition a lot smoother for your average user, which can only be a good thing.

Glaucus · 22 Apr 2013 at 18:56

Totally agree with that, plenty of time for a proper demonstration/video while windows are installing. Also needs explaining that charms menu is specific to each app, so search, searches within that app, settings is settings for that app. It's was far to basic and I don't understand why. Could easily have a proper demonstration while installation takes place, or even better once you boot in an app that explains loads of stuff, so people can keep going back to it. Then uninstall it, when they feel comfort.

gareth170 · 22 Apr 2013 at 19:31

Fillado said:
Aaaaaand all my hopes have been quashed!

http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/22/4251610/windows-8-1-start-button

It's basically just a dumb button back to the Start Screen

good!! i'm glad

Elevon · 22 Apr 2013 at 19:39

Glaucus said:
Totally agree with that, plenty of time for a proper demonstration/video while windows are installing. Also needs explaining that charms menu is specific to each app, so search, searches within that app, settings is settings for that app. It's was far to basic and I don't understand why. Could easily have a proper demonstration while installation takes place, or even better once you boot in an app that explains loads of stuff, so people can keep going back to it. Then uninstall it, when they feel comfort.

Reminds me of good old Linux distro's,ie things different with the Linux UI depending which distro you use and even no start button on some etc but as I stated earlier not a big deal,I just learn the UI in question regardless of Windows or Linux,was it hard hell no infact installed two Linux distro's today and did not have any problems navigating even installed Steam

.

I sometimes wonder and think its not the OS but the user that is the weakest link.

V F · 22 Apr 2013 at 20:56

Macro said:
Actually it's quite a sad state of affairs when (although you can't see it the start button is still in the bottom left corner, move your mouse there and the start button pops up" is too complicated. I'm all for choice and people have the choice of the old style legacy UI with Windows 7 or new style with 8. It's a shame the choice to go with something new in 8 has to be compromised, I really don't get why people want to make 8 work like 7, just stick with 7, job done.

I despair for ever making progress at this rate. The funny thing is the same people will later call Microsoft out for not innovating and only ever playing the safe option and copying others...

I still do chuckle at the fact how ridiculous it is. Let alone saying it out loud to someone.

See if someone said such things on the OcUK forums before 2007 and earlier. You would have been the laughing stock. The fact something so simple is apparently so complicated.

Think about it. Someone's life cannot function without a start button. Thats so bad.

3rd party apps are fine, there's your options but don't make something old become a standard.

I was chuckling at the Neowin forums a few hours ago...

No he isnt, the start screen is actually quite usefull.
Problem is the approach Microsoft took and now the haters are following. They see it as a new start menu. While its much better to see it as a new desktop! No more tiny randomly sized cluttered icons over a background image/color. But simple obvious square tiles with the possibility of life information. The 'icon' is not just an 'icon' anymore, it also became a widget. And more!
Its nothing more then a unification of several different parts of Windows 7... the Desktop, Start Menu and Desktop widgets all in one....
It's really useable, I find myself just scrolling and clicking the tile allot more often then i used the desktop icons on Win7. Win7 with its big fugly cluttered start menu (really, keep an install for a few years with tons of games, software and tools installed, used, tested... and its an abomination to use!) I only did winkey+ start typing + enter. I never bothered to open Programs or anything else. Even for shutdown I started tying the shutdown command as it took untill SP1 before the default power options button become shutdown instead of hybernate/sleep.
But hey, people seem to really hate this new approach, instead of seeing what it actually is, and that its barely anything different from previous Windows' except its combined instead of seperate.

linktoinsanity · 25 Apr 2013 at 16:48

gareth170 said:
well I hope so

the old start menu was small, easy to miss click things, looks **** / boring

Easy to miss click things? What?

Rroff · 25 Apr 2013 at 16:59

V F said:
I still do chuckle at the fact how ridiculous it is. Let alone saying it out loud to someone.

See if someone said such things on the OcUK forums before 2007 and earlier. You would have been the laughing stock. The fact something so simple is apparently so complicated.

Think about it. Someone's life cannot function without a start button. Thats so bad.

3rd party apps are fine, there's your options but don't make something old become a standard.

I was chuckling at the Neowin forums a few hours ago...

Not saying the Windows 8 start screen isn't useful... for some people. Personally I have no use for the widget, etc. extra functionality, I purposefully don't have auto-hide on the taskbar, etc. its not a case of adapting - the Windows 7 setup is optimal for my workflow - the start menu doesn't take up a lot of the screen, I can quickly pull it up with one click and alt+click a task to start it in the background without the application I'm currently working in being off the screen for even a moment - all Windows 8 does is add extra steps into my every day workflow.

gareth170 · 25 Apr 2013 at 17:16

linktoinsanity said:
Easy to miss click things? What?

click the wrong thing, example if you want to open something let's say MS word, you'd have to carefully select it from the start menu which as not must space for error. some people move the mouse by mistake when clicking so they would be opening something they didn't want.

gareth170 · 25 Apr 2013 at 17:22

Rroff said:
Not saying the Windows 8 start screen isn't useful... for some people. Personally I have no use for the widget, etc. extra functionality,

all Windows 8 does is add extra steps into my every day workflow.

people need to remember windows wasn't made just for them tho.. your 1 out of 1xxxxxxx

it's like with any other os, if a new os has some features / improvements u want then u would upgrade. if the os doesn't have features / improvements u want then no point upgrading.

Elevon · 25 Apr 2013 at 17:32

gareth170 said:
people need to remember windows wasn't made just for them tho.. your 1 out of 1xxxxxxx

I can see your point of view ,however first thing I do with any OS even Linux is make shortcuts,organize what I want and will be using etc... so easy to find and just one click away.

I can understand in a work environment you will be dealing with many different things so this may not be ideal.

End of the day no OS is perfect and you'll always have a slight niggle with something or compromise in something even in Win7 or any OS you can name.

gareth170 · 25 Apr 2013 at 18:15

Elevon said:
I can see your point of view ,however first thing I do with any OS even Linux is make shortcuts,organize what I want and will be using etc... so easy to find and just one click away.

I can understand in a work environment you will be dealing with many different things so this may not be ideal.

End of the day no OS is perfect and you'll always have a slight niggle with something or compromise in something even in Win7 or any OS you can name.

yes that's very true.

personally win8 is the best windows OS so far. it's made things much better for me due to metro. I use the start screen as a start menu. the titles makes opening programs easier and far less of a chance clicking on a wrong thing to open.