# Why Windows 8 is a failure. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 24, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-windows-8-is-a-failure/659269 "2013-05-24T22:24:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-windows-8-is-a-failure/659269/241 "2013-06-20T15:50:11Z")
> [@Caffeine.addict](#): > > My one beef with Windows 8 is that apps such as Skype require you to shift back to the Metro screen which makes it a pain in the ass if you want to toggle between Skype and a web-browser. > > I’m using Classic Shell which otherwise makes Windows 8 feel like Windows 7. You can still use the desktop Skype program you know. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-windows-8-is-a-failure/659269/242 "2013-06-20T15:52:38Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > The new stuff looks like a toy, and Windows has been getting less customizable over time. Even in Win7, I can’t figure out how to do things I would have done as a matter of course in XP, like customizing my icons so I can differentiate different file types that open with the same program. > > If Microsoft abandons working computers for plastic toys, and Apple for glorified Walkman, who builds computers? Your inability or unwillingness to learn new things does not mean those things don’t work. ---
**Author:** ![chewsick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@chewsick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chewsick)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-windows-8-is-a-failure/659269/243 "2013-06-20T20:16:05Z")
> [@Caffeine.addict](#): > > I’m using Classic Shell which otherwise makes Windows 8 feel like Windows 7. Classic Shell does work absolutely. I find it might be responsible for the crashiness of my 64-bit netbook, but the experience once you get to the desktop on startup is very very close to Win 7. Not at all sure if it isn’t just the crappy netbook I had to buy a while ago while I was fixing my other Win7 crappy netbook, but I have some suspicions which are like ungrounded. Still, no FreeCell. And I’d like to not just “hide” the Metrowhatever and all those idiotic “Apps,” but eliminate them from orbit from the OS. Kind of like how people used to get in behind the seams of Win98 and XP and remove IE completely. Just don’t want it there, in case, god forbid I should have to repair something in the installation and see it’s ugly mug just hanging out. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-windows-8-is-a-failure/659269/244 "2013-07-02T15:20:16Z")
I totalled my laptop and had to buy a new one much earlier than I expected. I just _needed_ to shout " **Fuck you, fucking windows8**!!! I feel better ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-windows-8-is-a-failure/659269/245 "2013-07-02T16:45:01Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > If Microsoft abandons working computers for plastic toys, and Apple for glorified Walkman, who builds computers? Microsoft should also be realistic and recognize it’s not capable of competing in an open market. They own the PC market because they killed off the competition years ago and make sure no new products can enter. But entering a new market that they don’t already own? Like video games or internet browsers or search engines or high definition television? Breaking into these markets requires developing innovative and superior products - which is not Microsoft’s strength. So trying to compete against the iPad will only end in tears for them. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-windows-8-is-a-failure/659269/246 "2013-07-02T16:50:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Microsoft should also be realistic and recognize it’s not capable of competing in an open market. They own the PC market because they killed off the competition years ago and make sure no new products can enter. > > But entering a new market that they don’t already own? Like video games or internet browsers or search engines or high definition television? Breaking into these markets requires developing innovative and superior products - which is not Microsoft’s strength. So trying to compete against the iPad will only end in tears for them. Yeah, their video games consoles have been terrible failures… Although I’ll grant that they’ve been trying hard to fuck up the next one. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-windows-8-is-a-failure/659269/247 "2013-07-02T18:49:49Z")
> [@chewsick](#): > > And I’d like to not just “hide” the Metrowhatever and all those idiotic “Apps,” but eliminate them from orbit from the OS. Kind of like how people used to get in behind the seams of Win98 and XP and remove IE completely. Just don’t want it there, in case, god forbid I should have to repair something in the installation and see it’s ugly mug just hanging out. Yeah. Even if I never touch all that crap, just \*knowing \*that it’s there, somewhere inside my hard drive, festering… it just feels dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-windows-8-is-a-failure/659269/248 "2013-07-02T20:26:26Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Yeah. Even if I never touch all that crap, just \*knowing \*that it’s there, somewhere inside my hard drive, festering… it just feels dirty. Yeah, it’s not like I had any other plans for those 20 GB of my hard drive. I might as well just store a product that I’ll never use there. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-windows-8-is-a-failure/659269/249 "2013-07-02T20:27:28Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Although I’ll grant that they’ve been trying hard to fuck up the next one. Give them credit. They’ll keep trying until they get it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-windows-8-is-a-failure/659269/250 "2013-07-04T19:17:45Z")
I’m on record as a big Win8 hater, and I’m going to add a complaint that I don’t know that I mentioned before - there are these “motions” that are clearly designed to be done by a finger in a touch-screen interface…but they also happen when you move your mouse that way on a normal laptop. Unlike the finger-users, who might remove their finger from the surface of the touch screen to go from point A on the screen to point B on the screen, moving the mouse requires moving it across the screen, so I accidentally get these unwanted effects when I just want to move my mouse pointer. It’s not fatal, but it sure is annoying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-windows-8-is-a-failure/659269.md?page=12)