I just hope it has built-in games, like in Windows 7. My favorite is the balloon that pops up and tells you that you need updates or something, and to click on it. It stays there, annoying you, until you give up and move your mouse to click on it, but then it disappears before you can.
Seriously, I think Windows8 is going to be their biggest fiasco since WindowsME. Way, way worse than Vista.
When Office 2007 came out, I screamed as loud as anyone who was used to things being where they were – because obviously it’s frustrating if you know how to do something without a second thought and then suddenly you don’t.
That said, “We’ve always done it this way” doesn’t really argue that you’re doing it the best way – and if you don’t already know Office 2003, it doesn’t compare favourably with 2007 or 2010 in the logic and intuition departments. Everything is buried in nested menus, and it’s not always obvious (and sometimes entirely counter-intuiitive) which top menu you should start with.
Once you have the [migration guides](” Excel help & learning) handy, any frustration you have with trying to find something you used to know how to do pretty much evaporates – and if it’s a new product to you, everything is laid out much more logically and visibly.
Hell, it’s customizable, you can put the things you want quick access to somewhere that makes sense to you. Sure, I was used to going Tools -> Macro -> Macro fifteen times for each report I produced each month, - but now I just click “Macro,” because it’s right there – and same with anything else that I want just a click away instead of scattered all over the place.
Huh? Where do you get that? I am the only IT support for fifty people - they are certainly not shy about complaining about anything that gets in the way of doing their job.
They didn’t complain, because I made sure up front they had instructional tools that made the transition very painless, so they didn’t have to waste much time flailing around with the unfamiliar interface - it takes only a few seconds to find the 2010 equivalent, using the familiar 2003 interface instead of fruitless web searches or looking something up in an index.
As for the cranky old lady who complains about everything, I actually do my best to accommodate her by allowing her to cling to the familiar until it just stops working because the world has moved on. She only moved away from IE6 this year, when the bank website refused to support it any longer - and she had hysterics until I set it to never use tabs under any circumstances and showed her how to make it more closely resemble the ancient version in a number of other ways.
The move to Office 2010 was partly in response to complaints from new hires that 2003 was completely baffling, given that they’d learned on Office 2007, which was already a few years old by then.
As a technical writer, I have no idea why they’ve decided to hide critical parts of the interface. In a manual, it’s reasonably straightforward to write, “Click the Windows icon at lower left and then select ‘Control Panel’.” Now what are we going to write, “Move your mouse to the empty lower left corner of the screen and wait for the invisible button to appear…” :smack:
No. A better analogy is that they added AC, put a more powerful engine in, made it more fuel efficient and made it easier to park. Does a bigger engine mean it’s also easier to get into accidents? Sure, but there’s a whole bunch of advantages too. Nearly all the time, the benefits outweigh the negatives.
I know I move from my phone to iPad to my computer all the time. A consistent interface would make things more consistent and familiar. I could have a record player, a CD player and a cassette player and all have there own advantages and disadvantages, but why not just use MP3s for everything? Because consistency is very useful
The ribbon was was not better or worse FOR ME. I expect that the vast majority of users found it more useful. I don’t know what the average opinion was. Maybe it was dumb, but they haven’t changed it, so it must be better for most people. Like I said, I’m indifferent.
Also, as a tech support person, you must realize that your experience and needs are MUCH different from the vast majority of users. You might prefer Linux to all over operating systems, but I don’t imagine you’d complain that not everyone is using it. Windows has to meet the needs of many kinds of users. It will never satisfy those at the ends of the spectrum. But I think it does a pretty decent job at meeting the needs of most people.
I just checked out that video, that is pretty damn funny.
Or just “Move mouse to lowest left corner. Click.”
All criticism about Windows 8 that I have heard involves the tablet-friendly Metro UI, which can be solved by simply clicking the Desktop App immediately after booting up. Hell, I’m sure there will be a setting to boot directly to the Desktop. So tablet users get a major advancement, and Desktop or Laptop users can choose to use the UI or not. Assuming those who choose to use it think it is better, it is a net gain overall. The people who have a hard time figuring out new features most likely never understood all the features of the last installment either. Some people aren’t willing to learn, and progress can’t be stopped having to wait for these people.
I’m still waiting for the bugs to be worked out of XP.
Well I have tried Windows 8 on my computer, It has some nice things but still, Microsoft has a lot to work on it… it looks like an OS for tablets ^^
XP is in “extended support” phase, so only critical security patches will be issued. XP is 11 years old. It’s had its day.
there might be something to that… I guess the fairest way to look at Windows 8 is that it’s a “transitional” release. Maybe it can be considered their “OS X 10.0,” in that they’re trying to dump as much legacy stuff as possible and trying to make the pain as brief as possible.
shrug I don’t see the fuss. I figured out the big changes (hot corners, start screen) within a minute, and with another minute of reading I had pretty much everything else figured out (docked apps, etc.)
If they put together a friendly guide, that might help people ease into the transition.
Humor.
It is a difficult concept.
I’ll have to check for when I’m scheduled for a new laptop. I assume I’ll have no choice except 8 if I stick with Windows.
we learn by doing.
I believe XP was perfect. 7 gives me no problems, but I see no advantages over XP.
How many folks think that coming out with new versions of Windows is an effort for Microsoft to make more money?
As opposed to what? They don’t pretend to be a charity, I’m pretty sure everything Microsoft comes out with is an effort to make more money.
Of course, but you can still by parts and folks still work on Pontiacs.
Buy parts
anyone with a functioning brain. they’re a for-profit public corporation. their job is to find ways to make more money.
From a business users viewpoint I think Win 8 will be a massive failure. Ever since Win 2000 it seems like Microsoft has abandoned the Corporate World.
I just don’t understand it. We buy Volume licensing. We can be audited under the Vol licensing program. There’s almost no piracy of Windows in the Corporate and University worlds.
Yet they’ve turned their backs on us. All Microsoft cares about is multimedia, tablets and all this crap that is useless in a Corporate world. We have payroll, accounting, human resourse applications to run.
The Corporate world needs to find a Stable, no frills desktop solution. I know we’re looking more and more at Linux.
yet Windows maintains its grip on enterprise computing.
explain to me how these will stop working on Windows 8. No, don’t bother, 'cos they won’t.
Yeah. Sure you are. All those "payroll, accounting, human resourse (sic) applications won’t run on Linux, but they will run on Windows 8, yet you’re looking at switching to Linux? Tell me another one.