[Mongoose]

That screenshot of the Metro start screen is pretty much an abortion of UI design.  It's like Baby's First Computer.

[Droid803]

Metro start screen assumes every monitor is a touchscreen monitor.
Unfortunately, not every monitor is not a ****ing touchscreen monitor.

It's just clunky as hell to navigate by mouse because it just takes up way too much ****ing space, and looks ugly as sin.
HERP DERP COLORED BLOCKS I'M A FIVE YEAR OLD.

Sometimes I wonder if the people making this **** have taken a basic design class.

[z64555]

It's the next generation OS made by the next-generation of coders. 

[Klaustrophobia]

I'm sure you all know this, but I feel it needs to be said (typed) out loud in this thread.   As noted by Flipside a couple posts ago, Win7 still works fine.  It's not going to magically break when 8 comes out.  "It's not THAT bad, I'll get used to it" is a TERRIBLE reason to drop a lot of money on something you don't need.  If there is something in 8 that you REALLY want/need, then sure, go ahead.  But if you just want it because it's the newest, then you and your kind are pretty much the reason Microsoft CAN shaft us with terrible designs and unneeded "upgrades." 

So, for a DESKTOP pc, what in Windows 8 is so great that it would warrant buying it with the knowledge that you really don't like the UI?

[achtung]

Desperate attempts to unify UI design across many distinct devices, and create a "write once, run everywhere" ecosystem is going to result in a product that is marginal at everything, but great at nothing.

Surprise!

[NGTM-1R]

It's the next generation OS made by the next-generation of coders. 

I weep for what shall be inflicted upon my computer.

[Mongoose]

I'm sure you all know this, but I feel it needs to be said (typed) out loud in this thread.   As noted by Flipside a couple posts ago, Win7 still works fine.  It's not going to magically break when 8 comes out.  "It's not THAT bad, I'll get used to it" is a TERRIBLE reason to drop a lot of money on something you don't need.  If there is something in 8 that you REALLY want/need, then sure, go ahead.  But if you just want it because it's the newest, then you and your kind are pretty much the reason Microsoft CAN shaft us with terrible designs and unneeded "upgrades." 

So, for a DESKTOP pc, what in Windows 8 is so great that it would warrant buying it with the knowledge that you really don't like the UI?

You have a good point there.  I mean, my system could probably handle running 7, but cost aside, I've never felt the need to upgrade simply because I haven't run across anything that would require me to.  If the corporate world is as reluctant to adopt 8 as it was Vista, then MS will probably have to keep updating 7 for a long time, just like they've done with XP.

[Fury]

If the corporate world is as reluctant to adopt 8 as it was Vista, then MS will probably have to keep updating 7 for a long time, just like they've done with XP.

XP life cycle was/is more of an anomaly than anything else. It is highly unlikely MS will let so many years pass until next OS release again. XP should have died many, many years ago if it wasn't for MS' blunder.

[headdie]

If the corporate world is as reluctant to adopt 8 as it was Vista, then MS will probably have to keep updating 7 for a long time, just like they've done with XP.

XP life cycle was/is more of an anomaly than anything else. It is highly unlikely MS will let so many years pass until next OS release again. XP should have died many, many years ago if it wasn't for MS' blunder.

I dont know about it being an anomaly, win 98 was viable and preferred by both business and private individuals until XP was released and patched up.

[karajorma]

I'm sure you all know this, but I feel it needs to be said (typed) out loud in this thread.   As noted by Flipside a couple posts ago, Win7 still works fine.  It's not going to magically break when 8 comes out.  "It's not THAT bad, I'll get used to it" is a TERRIBLE reason to drop a lot of money on something you don't need.  If there is something in 8 that you REALLY want/need, then sure, go ahead.  But if you just want it because it's the newest, then you and your kind are pretty much the reason Microsoft CAN shaft us with terrible designs and unneeded "upgrades." 

So, for a DESKTOP pc, what in Windows 8 is so great that it would warrant buying it with the knowledge that you really don't like the UI?

Well one point you've missed is the one I hinted at. It will become increasingly hard to buy new PCs that don't have Win 8 on them as time goes on.

Another is that there are almost certainly other PCs you use beyond the one you have control over. Sooner or later you will have to use Win 8.

So while I agree with your point when it comes to your own computer, this is an issue that will affect you even if you decide not to install it on your current machine.

[Admiral LSD]

Well one point you've missed is the one I hinted at. It will become increasingly hard to buy new PCs that don't have Win 8 on them as time goes on.

Not necessarily. MS typically includes a downgrade clause in the license that would let OEMs at least continue to ship machines with 7 even though they're licensed for 8. Worst case, if even normal people reject Win8 en masse OEMs will simply use the downgrade clause to keep shipping machines with 7. This same thing happened with Vista, OEMs simply used the downgrade clause to keep shipping machines with XP. The really genius part about this though is that, in order to actually do this, the OEMS still have to first buy licences for 8 which means that, whatever happens, MS can claim 8 to be a success. This is why, despite the low public opinion, Vista wasn't technically a flop, MS were selling vista licence regardless of whether the machines actually shipped with it or not.

[Kobrar44]

Well, I heard someone made it doable to install a KDE over Win8 so that you don't have to use Win8 UI at all.. This would eliminate the major disadvantage.

[Scourge of Ages]

Well, I heard someone made it doable to install a KDE over Win8 so that you don't have to use Win8 UI at all.. This would eliminate the major disadvantage.

This is what I'm wondering, or waiting for. If 8 ever will come with a first-party (or easy and clean third-party) option for switching back to (and staying on) a more usable interface, that will remove the barrier to entry.
It's baffling that they haven't already built that in, but there's still time before the proper release, right?

[LHN91]

Windows 8 RTM has been out since August 1st, and MSDN should have the RTM on the 15th. So unless they changed it significantly from the Release Preview (And from the leaks, no-ones commented saying they have) that option isn't going to be there.

[MP-Ryan]

I fail to understand how Microsoft failed to realize that inflicting a simplified tablet/phone UI onto PC users, and making it more difficult for advanced PC users to do the simple tasks they used to do with only a few keystrokes/clicks, wasn't going to go over well.

It's all well and good that there's a desktop button which allows you to access some semblance of the efficient Windows UI we've all become accustomed to (which is even more efficient now that Windows 7 added jumplists), but why someone would figure that a touchscreen interface would be a good design decision on a PC is beyond me.  We use various devices in different ways.  I'm all for unified architecture when it comes to application environment and cross-platform/device compatibility, but there is no conceivable reason why Microsoft could not simply offer a feature in Windows 8 called "Revert to classic desktop" allowing for a reversible change between UI environments.  New users could still with the Metro UI; power users can stick with the desktop environment that is far more functional.

Windows 7 was such a leap forward from XP/Vista that this is very disappointing.

[Klaustrophobia]

I think the bottom line here is not even Microsoft gives a **** about the desktop PC market anymore.  They don't care too much if they piss off the comparatively tiny PC power user market when they have all the idiots who buy new smart phones and tablets every year to check their email and facebook with.  Why bother with quality when you can just market and sell a trend?  I don't see businesses as having much impact either, because from what I've seen, they tend to not upgrade for the hell of it anyway.  Any competent business isn't going to drop a ton of money for new licenses for all their computers if they don't need it.  At my office, even the damn government that LOVES to waste money still runs XP on nearly all the computers. 

[redsniper]

Guys seriously, this is all just part of the pattern. Every other Windows sucks. All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again. Win 9 will probably be slick.

[Klaustrophobia]

the difference this time is that instead of instability and shoddy coding, it's willful design decisions, and in my eyes microsoft pretty clearly signaling they intend to go a direction we don't want them to. 

[Nuke]

i really dont care what windows 8 will or will not be. windows 7 has plenty of life left. and when that life is sapped and raped by the evil empire and nothing remains, i will have long since jumped ship. i will be using reactos assuming it has gone beta before that happens. and if not, linux has no doubt gotten better since last i attempted to use it (especially with steam jumping on board). ive always hated phones and tablets. their interfaces lacked control, speed, and grace. a full size keyboard with full size keys, a mouse, and a good joystick, a big ass screen and a box to plug it all into, with a cpu installed by my own hand, and a gpu the likes of which god has never seen. destroy that expirience, and i will nuke your city and put your heads on spikes.

[BrotherBryon]

If the corporate world is as reluctant to adopt 8 as it was Vista, then MS will probably have to keep updating 7 for a long time, just like they've done with XP.

XP life cycle was/is more of an anomaly than anything else. It is highly unlikely MS will let so many years pass until next OS release again. XP should have died many, many years ago if it wasn't for MS' blunder.

Another contributing factor is that a lot of legacy software won't run properly on Vista or 7. The company I work for is stuck on XP due to several business critical applications whose vender's have yet to push out a proper fix. That is what happens when you get locked into propriety software contracts and the developer goes off in a different direction with their core product and tries to dump the heavily customized product they sold you years ago.