Windows 8ifying of everything, why?

[tggzzz]

I don't think Windows 8 is all that bad. Just takes a little longer to cook it.
You don't use any Windows raw.

The "folders" model of working with files is fundamentally useless in any sort of production environment, so a file manager is the fist thing to install.
The start menu/metro screen is rarely ever seen, since the work programs are started from the file manager, and the documents are opened by clicking on them, thanks to type association.
A quick launch panel is easy to obtain, by many means.
The control panel is easy to navigate thanks to a search bar (i used to know where things were on XP, never learned on 7+, but thanks to a search bar it's not a big problem).
"Windows Store"? Never heard more than rumours of it.

So in the end, all Windows look the same when cooked.
Don't hate - hack and adapt.

With the change Vista made in moving things around, I just started learning the commands to get where I needed to be and they work on all versions of windows from 2000 to 8.1

First you hit [Window Key] + R  to pull up the run menu and type one of these commands:

--Windows Utilities--

Cmd                     Command Prompt
Appwiz.cpl           Add/Remove Programs
Devmgmt.msc     Device Manager
Compmgmt.msc  Computer Management (manage my computer)
Sysdm.cpl            Advanced settings (rename computer, join a domain, adjust performance)
Services.msc       Start/Stop services menu
Ncpa.cpl              Network settings
Control                Main control panel
Powercfg.cpl       Power management settings

-- Programs --

Excel                (Duh)
Winword          Microsoft Word
Msaccess         Microsoft access
Powerpnt         Microsoft Powerpoint
Outlook           (Duh)
Mspub            Microsoft Publisher
Pbrush           Windows Paint (useful for quickly pasting a screenshot and adding an annotation)
Snippingtool  Windows snipping tool (screen grabbing and cropping)
Powershell_ISE  Launch the powershell integrated scripting environment

So if you just remember those, you don't have to really deal with the UI much on any windows version

Apparently, in the Microsoft world, this is "progress"!

I thought it was the power shell that was the real progress Back to the future!

[Stonent]

I'm really loving powershell. After learning C# I mentioned to my boss that I'd like to write some utilities with it and sort of got a somewhat tepid response. The concern was writing compiled software makes them nervous.
I had shown him a program I wrote that completely replicated in every detail the function of one of our digital signage displays.

So over Christmas break I taught myself powershell and rewrote the full graphical program in it. He seemed pretty amazed that you can write a full guied application in powershell. It was because you can easily make .NET calls from it. So  we are testing it now.

So a full program with WPF running in powershell.

[electronics-whiz]

As an I.T person to many of us win 8 was MS just being cheap. XP was set to end, they wanted mobile OS, instead of putting in work for two versions they said send it out as is. Win 10 will be free for personal use if upgrade from 8.1 or 7. They seem to be listening to customers a bit more now. They were going to do a cloud OS many said no that is now a dead idea.

I think MS has another 5-10 yrs of real market. I think linux is going to end up destroying them. The fact that they had all these plans then people went against it it seems they know they have an enemy to fight. (Linux, and apple to a degree.) I think had win 10 upgrade been like $100 like win 7 new, or 8 upgrade. I think many would say i'll stay put or go to linux. If people start going to something else and figure out linux, etc they probably won't go back to MS, and office, etc is a huge $$ for MS. Give out OS, they buy the other stuff.

[miguelvp]

I think MS has another 5-10 yrs of real market. I think linux is going to end up destroying them.

I keep hearing the same thing for at least the last 20 years

[tggzzz]

I think MS has another 5-10 yrs of real market. I think linux is going to end up destroying them.

I keep hearing the same thing for at least the last 20 years

Just so.

I remember hearing that MS+Intel would destroy IBM, often under the moniker of "the march of the killer micros". It didn't happen of course - although if Cringely is right, 25% of their employees might beg to differ.

But MS will be supplanted by alternatives that for many people are more attractive than a full blown OS. MS core product revenue growth will be greatly reduced, but it won't die. I don't count the revenue MS gets from Android sales as core product revenue.

All the signs are there, just as they were for IBM. But it will take a generation, just as it did with IBM.

[rollatorwieltje]

I think MS has another 5-10 yrs of real market. I think linux is going to end up destroying them.

I doubt it. The greatest strength of Linux is also it's greatest inhibitor for mass use. Imagine if Windows wasn't here, every PC manufacturer would have it's custom flavor of Linux. This would be a pain in the ass to support. It's not just the look and feel, it's stuff like a driver model that keeps changing. Can I write my software to use DBus or not? Do I have udev? Or do I have eudev because someone didn't like udev? Maybe my system is old and still uses hotplug? What graphics toolkit is installed? Qt? GTK? Maybe something else?

"Linux" solves the driver issue by wanting everything open source, so they can maintain their drivers to always work with whatever change they came up with. This just doesn't work for HW vendors, many drivers contain proprietary stuff. I don't think closed source licenses are going away anytime soon.

Same for the actual software packages. Try installing something that's not in the repository. How do I have to package my software? .deb? .rpm? How do I define dependencies? Companies like Debian maintain these packages and dependencies, but they only maintain open source stuff. Imagine MS being responsible for maintaining every piece of software available for Windows... They are barely able to maintain their Xbox game store...

[andersm]

I think MS has another 5-10 yrs of real market. I think linux is going to end up destroying them.

I keep hearing the same thing for at least the last 20 years

Surely this will be the year of Linux on the desktop?

[Zero999]

[Still want to use Windows XP? Fine but then you have to put up with new software not running on it, lack of security updates or AV software. Whether you like it or not, you'll end up being forced to use Windows 8 at some point.

Nope, not me.  I use Wiin 7.  I fix issues on WIn8 for SWMBO and stepdaughter but won't use it myself.  I have a sacrificial laptop to upgrade to WIn 10 before I update my main computer. 

That's true but perhaps I should've said a newer version of Windows rather than specifically Windows 8. Whatever you do, if you want to keep using the latest hardware and software, you'll be forced to upgrade to the latest Windows version sooner or later.

[Corporate666]

I used to get irritated by every new release of Windows, because it was "different".  But I've found, over the years, that if I just suck it up and roll with it... I generally end up liking the changes better. 

I still believe one of the reasons most people hated Vista is that it was different from XP... but liked 7 because it was almost identical to Vista. 

I run Windows 7 at work and Windows 8 at home... I like Windows 8 a bit better because it's faster, but I also learned (after trying to roll with 8 for a while) to just install Classic Shell and get the start button back.  That truly was a mistake on Microsoft's part.

I find the latest version of MS Office to be absurd.  Whoever designed the UI needs to be taken out back and shot.  Example - if you're in a document in Word but want to open another... you click File->Open.  Your whole screen disappears and you come to a new screen that shows your recently opened documents.  Then you have to click "computer", where it shows you recently opened documents on your computer.  Then you have to click "browse" before you FINALLY get a folder window to let you see your drives/folders.  And if you want to exit out of this nonsense, you have to click the back button at the top left of the screen.  It looks like MS Word opened up a whole new window because your document has disappeared, but if you click "close" or the Windows X button, it will close MS word completely... when did a back button become standard on a UI?

It's completely confusing.  It seems designed for idiots who don't know how to use a computer - and (forgive me Apple people) I think MS is going after the Apple "need to be told each day how to tie your shoelaces" crowd you have no clue how to use a computer.  But for someone like me with organized folders on his computer, it's a huge PITA.

Lots of other examples too.  It irritates me when I look up how to do something and it says "swipe in from the right side, and type 'networking' in the search box".  I don't want to have to search for everything, I just want it logically located in a control/settings folder like before.

And speaking of which, why is MS always moving stuff around the control panel?  Every different version has a different location and method of setting up networking.  Infuriating!

[Howardlong]

Corporate666:

I can't think of one thing I'd disagree with in that. I also recently "upgraded" to Office 2013 from Office 2010, I just don't get it, what were they thinking? Who are these so-called UI experts?