Windows 8 Just Needs A Chance

August 15, 2012 All Posts, Windows

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Over the course of the last 9 months or so I have been running the Windows 8 previews in various configurations on my hardware to test things out and learn the new OS layout.  Along the way I have posted a couple of walk through videos to share how things work in the new OS.

As expected there have been mixed reactions in the comments of those videos but a more common theme is starting to emerge and that is to just give Windows 8 a chance.

In other words – take the time to learn the new OS and how to navigate it/use it before pronouncing judgment on it and the new Metro UI – ummm sorry – Modern UI.

I am a long time Windows user dating back to Windows 3.X and can remember the transition to Windows 95 and how challenging it was to get used to that Start button as well as this concept of Folders for storage. Today that all seems second nature to most of us. Of course, the move from Windows 95 to Windows 98 to Windows Me to Windows XP to Windows Vista to Windows 7 was fairly straight forward as the overall operation and interaction with the OS remained the same.

That brings us to the last 14 months or so and the development of Windows 8.  The changes to this OS’s user interface are as jarring as the move from Windows 3.X to Windows 95 and I do not just mean the Modern interface in the form of the new Start Screen.  Even in desktop mode starting up and shutting down your system is on the other side of your screen real estate and it takes a while for muscle memory to re-learn that position.  That alone elevated my frustration level when I first started using the Developer Preview back in December of last year. I now rarely go to the lower left corner of my main screen anymore to shutdown or restart my PC.

I have been running the Windows 8 Release Preview in two hardware configurations since it came out.  One install is on my Acer Iconia Tab W500 tablet and the other is my main desktop PC.

The tablet probably gets used in full touch mode about 75% of the time and using a mouse and keyboard the rest and I use a mix of Windows 8 apps and legacy desktop apps. On my desktop, which is not touch enabled at all, I run almost exclusively in desktop mode running legacy apps.  I may test out Windows 8 apps on the desktop but rarely do I use them as a routine.  Now I do not consider this to be a verdict on the usefulness of Windows 8 apps in a pure keyboard/mouse environment because they can be used as easily with those as they can with touch. It just happens to be the way I use my desktop system at the moment.

To me that pokes huge holes in one of the common complaints I have seen about Windows 8 and its lack of desktop ability which could not be further from reality.  The ability to use Windows 8 and never go to the Start Screen, except on a restart of course to press the Desktop tile, or to not use a Windows 8 app is there and it is just as useful as Windows 7 is. Plus all your previous software that ran on Windows 7 will run on Windows 8 as well.

Bottom line is that change is the hardest thing for most of us to adapt to.  We are creatures of habit and muscle memory (think about typing in your password) so it takes some time for our bodies to respond to that change but it will adjust.

Just don’t write off Windows 8 and what it brings to the table as a transitional OS between touch and the traditional keyboard/mouse environment.  Give it an honest try – which means more than just looking at screenshots of the OS or booting it up once or twice.  It could take a few months to adjust to it so be patient with yourself and the OS.

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About Richard Hay

Richard is the Owner of WindowsObserver.com and has been involved in tech for nearly 30 years. His first website – AnotherWin95.com – came online in 1995. Back then he used GeoCities Web Hosting for it and what you see here today is the result of the work he has continued on the site since 1995. In January 2010 his community contributions were recognized by Microsoft when he was awarded the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award for Windows Desktop Experience. In January 2011 he was renewed as a Microsoft MVP but in a new category called Windows Expert - Consumer and in January 2012 and 2013 he received the award for the third and fourth time respectively.
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  • Thomas Messimer

    So if you are running in desktop mode using legacy apps, why are you using W8?  I don’t understand.  I don’t particularly subscribe to all the hoopla around W8.  To me there is no benefit at all to install it other than trying to figure out how to use it as I used W7.  I don’t use fancy cell phones with cameras, a million apps as do millions of sheeple.  Matter of fact I don’t use a cell phone at all.  I guess I just don’t get it.  Anyway from what I have seen of W8, it looks just like a cell phone.  The start button and the concept of folders confused you?  Folders were merely directories and subdirectories.  The start button was kind of cool.  The transition from 3x to W7 was fun with the exception of trying to get Vista running which I did.  Those versions generally followed the same path.  You could install one and “know” how to use the next version, at least be somewhat productive while digging for all the new goodies.  W8, to me, is a radical change.  I suppose when MS stops supporting W7, I will just have to live with unsupported software and I suppose not buy any new computers.  I haven’t found one good reason to upgrade to W8.

    • http://www.windowsobserver.com/ Richard Hay

      I am now finding since I am testing RTM and the apps that are being added to the store that I am using apps more often now on my desktop.

      I think that will be the norm for many as the apps provide services and functionality.

      Under the hood Windows 8 has improved with security and speed enhancements that make it worthwhile to upgrade from Windows 7.

      I also understand that many Windows 7 users will stay put just like Windows XP users did.

  • Constantin Sime

    I haven’t had the chance yet to see how Windows 8 works, but up to this day Windows 7 hasn’t won me over. I’m still using XP Professional on my desktop PC – and love it! I also have Windows 7 installed on my (pretty performing) laptop but I find it just (unnecessarily) more complicated, less user friendly than XP Professional. I’m still using the more user friendly Outlook Express (can’t see any advantages in using Microsoft Outlook instead), and my FREE Fax talk Communicator SE software 4.5 (for XP) is far more user friendly than the Fax talk Communicator SE software 4.8 (for Windows 7). Also, if you have computers with different OSs at home/office, the XP wizard will DO set up a computer network for you, but Windows 7 won’t unless all your computers are running on Windows 7. And again, with Windows 7 I have never managed to make my desktop look as I’d like it to, but I can do that easily with XP.
    I can’t wait to see what Windows 8 can do.

  • Nathan0o

    I still run one computer with Win98 because direct x8 was not compatible to dx7 games that have fallen into the abandon-ware pit of death. Newer  doesn’t mean better. I have been running win8 x64 on a destop and it runs portal 2 very well, but not my older/retro stuff. i also donot have an msn/hotmail email account so it won’t let me use most stuff on the start screen, like the callender.

  • Ramblinflebro

    I enjoyed your article. I also have been running W8. I never could understand what all of the fuss is about. I like W8, especially the fast boot. I like the way it looks. I’ve been waiting for Windows to come up with something new, not just a make over of a previous OS. Although, I do like W7, and will keep it on my laptop and will buy a new laptop with W8.

  • LB

    I like your article. It frustrates me to no end when people automatically write off anything new because it’s unfamiliar. Most genuine invovation involves breaking old traditions. I remember a poster we had in our lunch room years ago  – ” If you’ve always done it that way, it’s probably wrong”

    Maybe Windows 8 will flop, but I’ve been playing with it for about six months and it really isn’t that hard to adapt to. It has some new philosophies that we need to get used to but that’s the only way for us to break loose from the old Windows 95 tradition. I remember going from DOS to Windows 3.x. That was harder.

    We’ve been telling MS for years to break the chain that ties them to the Win 95 trail. Now they’ve done it and everybodies mad. Give us a break. Judge it two years down the road, after the hype settles down.

    • http://www.windowsobserver.com/ Richard Hay

      LB,

      I agree. To me it has seemed that people just started up Windows 8 a few times and made their judgment.  I was thrown off big time when I started with it back in December but, like you said, after some time in there and learning how it really works I like it as an OS.

      It has just as much desktop functionality as it does touch.  When you add the speed and system enhancements and the price of $40 an upgrade to it makes total sense!

  • Ptybill

    I am a geezer geek who took almost a year to move from DOS (I think is was 8) to windows 3.1.  My X wive finally kicked me in the butt and said get with the program you old fool.  :-(   Well since then I have always been an early adopter and taken the time to dig in and enjoy the latest and greatest.  I even crossed the line and tried an iTouch and gained a whole new level of respect for what Apple has created.  I am still a hardcore PC user but thanks to your article and poke in the butt I guess its time to “get with the program” and give Windows 8 a good shot.  One of the reasons for moving so slow was I had a hell of a time finding the eventual upgrade price and also any details on what might happen to everything currently installed on my system.  I still have not been able to find details on the upgrade process?  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

    Bill

    • http://www.windowsobserver.com/ Richard Hay

      Try this story out by Paul Thurrott – http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-installfest-144043

      He installed/upgraded from a handful of scenarios – might be one there that is similar to your situation.

      Let us know how it goes.

      • Thomas Messimer

        So, let me understand…  If I upgrade to W8 and something goes wrong down the line then I will have to reinstall W7 and then run the upgrade software again to get W8 running again?  This is what happened to me when I upgraded from XP to Vista and then to W7.  For me to get a fresh copy of W7, I have to go all the way back to XP and esentially reinstall all three OS.  Then wait for a day while updates are downloaded and installed. 

  • Shane Gowland

    When i need to determime whether an interface is decent, i immediately turn to my father. He’s one of those old people that kind of gets computers, but shouldn’t be left unattended. Everytime I’m working on an app interface, i sit him down and make him use it without any help. I do the same with operating system for our combined amusement.

    When he sat down in front of Windows 7, he immediately knew how to use it. The same thing happened with OSX, Google Chrome and Android. When he first used Windows 8, he was both lost and enraged. It was quickly established that any attempt to update his PC to win8 would be met with certain death.

    Herein lies the problem with Windows 8: new user interfaces should be a pleasurable experience, that we inherently know how to use. They are not something we should need to “learn to live with.” That’s why Windows 8 doesn’t deserve chance.

    • http://www.windowsobserver.com/ Richard Hay

      Shane,

      I appreciate the reply and understand the perspective. I think there is a need at times to innovate and that will sometimes mean changes to how we do things and the associated learning curve that comes with it.

      Without innovating things will become stale.

      It has happened throughout history in the industrial age and now the age of technology.  Every once in a while a leap is needed and I believe Microsoft has chosen Windows 8 to be at least the bridge between two styles of computing.

      I think Windows 9 may move us completely off the desktop and put us in apps to do everything.

      • Shane Gowland

        The problem with apps is that they really don’t multitask all that well. Microsoft would have been better served porting the desktop paradigm to apps, not the app paradigm to the desktop. That would be groundbreaking – much more so than grafting two opposing interface types together in such a hackish manner.

        • http://www.windowsobserver.com/ Richard Hay

          I agree there needs to be better multi-tasking app wise although in comparison to what is out there they have at least put in the ability to run multiple apps a once.  I would like to see the interaction between them improved for sure.

          It will be interesting to see how this develops to say the least.

          Thanks for the great discussion.

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