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Windows 8 is fine. Like its actually fine. I use it at home every day. I use Win10 at work. I can't even tell them apart. Edit: Fuck your downvotes. You can't

Windows 8 is fine. Like its actually fine. I use it at home every day. I use Win10 at work. I can't even tell them apart. Edit: Fuck your downvotes. You can't provide an objective list as to why Win8 is garbage because it's not. If you simply ignore the metro screen and swap out the Start Menu with Classic Shell it's the same damn thing as Win7 but with a variety of minor improvements.

michaelmrose 11y ago
You understate the difficulties actual people have. My parents were VERY confused and frustrated with windows 8 until I "fixed" it to work exactly like 7 which they could not figure out how to do on their own. Most users don't even change defaults or even know how to find and install alternatives this is why software intended to be used by noobs really requires good defaults.
cm2187 11y ago
Let's start a list (a mix of 8 and 8.1): Notifications appear as big banner accross the screen which is extremely disruptive When you do a right click, the contextual menu appears at the bottom of the screen, very very very far from your mouse on a 4k monitor. Full screen apps, with often no intuitive way to get out. Why full screen apps in a world of 4k monitors??? When you install the system you have to click on some really non obvious sub menu to opt out of using microsoft accounts over local accounts. I am not completely computer illeterate and I missed it the first time. This is really cavalier. Two control panels, like if the win7 control panel wasn't confusing enough already. Enormous buttons that look ridiculous when clicking them with a tiny mouse cursor. Hidden (but critical) buttons requiring to move the mouse to the edge of the screen, again a long way on a 4k monitor. I am sure that if I start using it again I can double this list. There is a reason why Microsoft fired the head of the windows division shortly before he even announced windows 8.
- alkonaut 11y ago
  Full screen apps: Do you mean "modern" UI apps/tools that ship with Windows? Don't use those. You likely don't need any of the built in win8 apps like Mail. And you never ever need to go to the start page or any other part of the modern UI. Everything can be done from desktop (I'm talking about Win8.1 now, not 8). I agree the control panel thing is a fiasco (barely sorted in win10) but have found the classic one to still cover e everything I need. 4K: In Win7 I thought you couldn't even have per-screen scaling settings, so 4K was practically useless unless you were on a single screen or all screens had the same dpi scale? At least in win8 that feature is clearly better than win7.
  - cm2187 11y ago
    On modern apps, I agree, I actually created this very morning a script to uninstall all of them in one go. But I still have to fight windows' defaults, and reassign a decent default application for each extension. On 4k, some people use 4k to get high dpi, I am rather into the big screen, native resolution category. I need the real estate space more than the high resolution (provided the screen is big enough to allow it). As probably most people who do any development.
bsder 11y ago
> If you simply ignore the metro screen and swap out the Start Menu with Classic Shell it's the same damn thing as Win7 but with a variety of minor improvements. Yes, you can do that stuff now. The problem was that it took Microsoft several years to get to that point all the while they were jamming Windows 8 down everybody's throat. The problem is that Windows 8 may very well be a decent operating system NOW, but Microsoft burned its opportunity. When people upgrade and then have to downgrade to get back to a usable system, they're not going to upgrade ever again short of a nuclear bomb.
- zuminator 11y ago
  Several years? Classic Shell came out contemporaneously or nearly so with Windows 8.
Maarten88 11y ago
I actually miss the Windows 8 "Charms" (the menu that appeared when swiping in from the right) and Metro IE when using it as a tablet without keyboard. On the desktop, Windows 10 is a relief compared to non-tweaked Windows 8.
- james-skemp 11y ago
  I still swipe from the right when I want to shut down or restart my laptops. Probably doesn't help that I'm using a server edition of Windows that still has that at work. Glad I'm not alone in missing that.

michaelmrose 11y ago

You understate the difficulties actual people have. My parents were VERY confused and frustrated with windows 8 until I "fixed" it to work exactly like 7 which they could not figure out how to do on their own. Most users don't even change defaults or even know how to find and install alternatives this is why software intended to be used by noobs really requires good defaults.

cm2187 11y ago

Let's start a list (a mix of 8 and 8.1): Notifications appear as big banner accross the screen which is extremely disruptive When you do a right click, the contextual menu appears at the bottom of the screen, very very very far from your mouse on a 4k monitor. Full screen apps, with often no intuitive way to get out. Why full screen apps in a world of 4k monitors??? When you install the system you have to click on some really non obvious sub menu to opt out of using microsoft accounts over local accounts. I am not completely computer illeterate and I missed it the first time. This is really cavalier. Two control panels, like if the win7 control panel wasn't confusing enough already. Enormous buttons that look ridiculous when clicking them with a tiny mouse cursor. Hidden (but critical) buttons requiring to move the mouse to the edge of the screen, again a long way on a 4k monitor. I am sure that if I start using it again I can double this list. There is a reason why Microsoft fired the head of the windows division shortly before he even announced windows 8.

alkonaut 11y ago
Full screen apps: Do you mean "modern" UI apps/tools that ship with Windows? Don't use those. You likely don't need any of the built in win8 apps like Mail. And you never ever need to go to the start page or any other part of the modern UI. Everything can be done from desktop (I'm talking about Win8.1 now, not 8). I agree the control panel thing is a fiasco (barely sorted in win10) but have found the classic one to still cover e everything I need. 4K: In Win7 I thought you couldn't even have per-screen scaling settings, so 4K was practically useless unless you were on a single screen or all screens had the same dpi scale? At least in win8 that feature is clearly better than win7.
- cm2187 11y ago
  On modern apps, I agree, I actually created this very morning a script to uninstall all of them in one go. But I still have to fight windows' defaults, and reassign a decent default application for each extension. On 4k, some people use 4k to get high dpi, I am rather into the big screen, native resolution category. I need the real estate space more than the high resolution (provided the screen is big enough to allow it). As probably most people who do any development.

bsder 11y ago

> If you simply ignore the metro screen and swap out the Start Menu with Classic Shell it's the same damn thing as Win7 but with a variety of minor improvements. Yes, you can do that stuff now. The problem was that it took Microsoft several years to get to that point all the while they were jamming Windows 8 down everybody's throat. The problem is that Windows 8 may very well be a decent operating system NOW, but Microsoft burned its opportunity. When people upgrade and then have to downgrade to get back to a usable system, they're not going to upgrade ever again short of a nuclear bomb.

zuminator 11y ago
Several years? Classic Shell came out contemporaneously or nearly so with Windows 8.

Maarten88 11y ago

I actually miss the Windows 8 "Charms" (the menu that appeared when swiping in from the right) and Metro IE when using it as a tablet without keyboard. On the desktop, Windows 10 is a relief compared to non-tweaked Windows 8.

james-skemp 11y ago
I still swipe from the right when I want to shut down or restart my laptops. Probably doesn't help that I'm using a server edition of Windows that still has that at work. Glad I'm not alone in missing that.