Windows 8, whats it like?

It's terrible for desktops and laptops.

fact that people have to download classic shell and start8 to make it behave a bit more like windows7 says it all.

 

They've dropped a b*llock with it I reckon because they've tried to go for a one size fits all approach to a number of devices that work very differently - I use a desktop PC basically as a workstation and when I first installed Windows 8 it was taking me ages to find and load apps, I now have all the main ones locked to the task bar so it's not so bad but I wish they'd have offered a more business orientated version of it.

Other than that though I think they've made a decent job of it, I waited until 8.1 came out before buying it as no doubt there were some bugs to iron out but I'd say performance is much better than in Windows 7.

 

If you like mobile phones, it's fine. It's pretty much apps rather than start menus and such.

I genuinely loathed it to start with, but now I getting used to it, I only find it slightly irritating. On the plus side, protection and stability is light years ahead of earlier versions.

 

Agreed 100%.

I have classic shell and it is better but still not a patch on xp or 7 IMO

 

I think that is the problem in a nutshell isn't it - it was written for the tablet and mobile world because the perception is that this is where everything is heading. I think that was their mistake, and why the take up of W8 is very slow because

a. A signficant percentage of desktop users are business related and there will continue to be a requirement for desktop use of computers for the forseeable. Whilst there is a huge shift towards 'bring your own platform' applications even in the business world, it will be some time before people use anything other than a desktop for knocking up a spreadsheet for example.

b. The business world are slow to take up because it results in a significant training cost, and a significant efficiency loss for a period of time while people digest how different it is. I saw an element of that relating to the jump to office 2007+, but the jump to W8 is on a different scale altogether.

Many customers I work with are large universities with many hundreds of administrative desktop users, and each upgrade is a significant undertaking - they often tend to skip one and shift 2 upgrades at a time to reduce the burden, particularly with "lesser" application upgrades rather than platform upgrades (such as versions of MS office). There are some customers I know who have only migrated to W7 from Windows XP in the last 12 months.

We are a software house, so very IT orientated, and we haven't migrated to W8 yet. Due in the next 6 months apparently.

 

I hear all these folk ditching their laptops and PCs for tablets (mainly iPads) and I suppose that's fine if all you ever did on a computer was load up a web browser, but what about the people who actual do something productive? Just navigating a spreadsheet on a tablet is a right ball ache, I can't imagine trying to any editing or writing formulas, that would be a nightmare and with touch you are never going to get the speed and accuracy of a mouse or the real feedback a keyboard gives you where you know exactly where your fingers are on it - can anyone honestly type on a screen keyboard without looking?

Microsoft's problem with getting people to upgrade is that XP was an absolute beast of an operating system and the majority of businesses would still be using it today if Microsoft hadn't killed it themselves by ending support for it.

 

Just did that myself a couple of months ago. Windows XP provided everything I needed, it was stable (I never had a blue screen in the 8 years I used it) and with free, third party security software, I never had a virus or any spyware of any significance. However, XP did not support the new version of Photoshop, so in order to upgrade to that, I had to make the jump to Windows 7. I'll keep using it as long as my PC keeps going, which is now 8 years old, but still capable of running the industry standard image editor at a very reasonable speed, and it's not like it was state of the art when I bought it. The only problem I envisage is that Adobe will scrap the 32-bit versions of their software (they already have with video editing) at which stage I'll need a new machine. It felt like I'd got one when I upgraded to windows 7 as it now runs faster than it ever did with XP. I don't want an operating system designed for tablets though. I want a desktop operating system. I'm hoping microsoft will see sense and provide two separate operating systems by the time I need a new computer, giving people what they want, rather than forcing them to have something they think people need.

 

For most business users there is no stand out compelling reason to upgrade so the only way MS can make them is to end support for older versions. I don't know of a single significantly sized business that are customers of ours and that I visit that have upgraded to Windows 8. We are talking about doing so in the next 6 months ourselves, with a pilot currently in place, and if we do, we may be the first one I know, nearly 2 years after it was released.

 

Yeah we've only been on Windows 7 at work for about 8 months, I did expect some of the old bespoke software we occasionally use to not work after the upgrade but it's been pretty seamless and even the folk who aren't that comfortable on a PC didn't have a problem with the transition which would never be the case with Windows 8.

Amazingly, mainstream support for Windows 7 ends a year today. Extended support until 2020 though, not sure what the difference is.

 

I really don't like it one bit. There aren't too many operating systems that I hate but Windows 8 is one of them. Like others have said it may just be a case of getting used to it but on first impressions I think it's horrible.

I have 7 on my work laptop and that is significantly better in my opinion.

 

You may be in luck!.

Windows 9 is on it's way by all accounts...code named "Threshold"

http://www.zdnet.com/more-on-microsofts-sku-morphic-windows-vision-7000024092/

Talk is that it will have a common windows foundation underpinning the OS, but then multiple versions of the interface. There could be

A modern consumer interface (i.e. along the lines of what it looks like now), lilkely to be focused on touch devices such as mobile and tablet.

A traditional consumer interface, aimed at PCs and using a normal desktop feel, optimised for mouse use.

A traditional enterprise interface, same as above, but with enterprise requirements like updates through group policies not through windows store.

It's what they should have done from the outset, but they do say that every second MS operating system is a dud:

XP - good
Vista - Awful
7 - good
8 - not so good.
9 - good?

Some more here.... http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2014/01/11/windows-9-due-april-2015-windows-8-tanking/#!r7mH7

 

I'm not sure which users they talked to when they designed it, but they must have been a bunch of raving loons.
Steer clear.

 

Hate it - it works on the Xbox but not a PC. As someone said they've tried to import it across all their devices and it doesn't work

 

Simple answer. Bite the bullet, pay an extra few quid and buy a mac. They are FAR superior.

Bought an I Mac at the start of December. It's awesome. The laptops are just as good, Hemsy.

 

Cheers for that mate.

 

Have to agree with everything here. W7 all the way.

When I next get a laptop, I'll be binning W8 and installing W7 in its place.

 

Underlying software is essentially W7

But looks and feels totally different. Not appropriate for a device without touch screen in my opinion.

You can disable silly things like the "charm bar" and the main start page etc and if you install "Classic Start Menu" it can be made usable.

 

its not too bad, but have patience with it at first as can take some time getting used to.

like everything that's new or different it take time and once you get used to it you will like it.

I mean look at the melt down when BBC Sport changes format our when we changed forum style

 

It is really designed for the touch-screen market as they must see that as the future. You will be hard-pushed to find Windows 7 on a new computer now. Mine is 8.1. It really does take some getting used to, but, if you are the type of user at whom the product is aimed (and I am not), you will end up loving it. Mine initially kept freezing to the point that I was going to take it back, but this looks as though it was the blessed McAfee security trial package, which I did not want, as I already had a deal with Panda. Once I had managed to uninstall McAfee, it has worked fine. I got mine from John Lewis as they offer a free post-purchase technical support programme, as well as a 28-day return and two-warranty over and above manufacturer's guarantee. As some Windows 8 computers have crashed soon after purchase, this looked a good deal.

I was going to buy another Dell, but the reviews for the 9400 were dreadful, so I opted for Toshiba Satellite.

I pity you choosing with the pressure of choice out there. Just set yourself a price and decide on four, or five priorities and go for it. I used Which magazine on-line trial for one pound, but was non the wiser at the end, as their top option for my spec was nowhere to be found, not even on Amazon.

Good luck with it, fella!