Linux is designed to be tinkered with, so it probably wasn’t worth me mentioning it, but yes - I’ve always found it necessary to tweak the appearance and basic behaviours of Windows computers.
In Windows XP, for example:
-The balloon messages for the Desktop cleanup wizard were driving me crazy, so I had to work out how to turn them off.
-I turned off automatic updates (because they either demanded a reboot at the worst possible time, or just broke).
-I didn’t like the XP default start menu, so I reverted it to classic,
-I had to add some Windows features that weren’t installed by default, and I chose to remove some that were (that I would never use)
I don’t recall ever setting up a new computer and not having to spend an evening or afternoon making it comfortable to use.
Wow, I thought it was just me. I haven’t installed Windows on a machine at home since Win 2000, and I actually thought that interface was damn good, even if I wasn’t too crazy about the rest of the o/s (I’m looking at you: binary, monolithic config file). On my Linux installs, I usually configure the gui to work a lot like it. I do use the server versions of Windows at work some, though. The changes to the interface usually range from ok, (the use of .msc’s to control things was actually nice), to irritating, but manageable (why, oh why do the network settings get pushed down further and further).
Windows 8’s default interface is a big step back for any computer with a mouse and keyboard, and it would have been trivial for them to have not made it so. Just make the installer sense whether the machine has a touch screen interface, and load a touch or standard old UI accordingly. To do it any other way is pretty damn dumb.
Servers really should have a command line interface, though. I don’t think a gui isn’t really necessary or useful to running one. Windows has a better one than it used to, but it’s no bash.
I think that I turned off the cleanup wizard and updates, eventually, but I’m pretty sure that it took me no longer than half an hour. XP was far more intuitive for me than Win7 is.
The people who designed this one are fucking idiots. I have to remember to press the windows button then the c button then the settings button just to shut the computer down.
A server OS should have a command line interface first and every UI action should simply map exactly to a text command with parameters.
Tangent:
And the commands should be named in a logical organized manner. OS400 and now windows powershell have a verb-object command naming structure which makes it very easy to predict and remember commands.
I’ve been using computers for quite a while myself. And Windows 8 is the first product since DOS where I had to go out and buy a manual so I could figure out how to use it.
I’m not saying those few things took me all evening - other aspects of unboxing and making ready inevitably include installing stuff and transferring files/shortcuts, etc - But Windows 8 didn’t take me longer than Windows XP to get to comfortable usability.
Count me as the one guy in the thread who likes windows 8, doesn’t hate the metro UI at all, finds 8 to be a vast improvement in many ways over 7 (especially in regards to speed booting up and general speediness of things), and didn’t have to change any of the settings.
However, I did have to google how to shut down my computer and a few other things, and sometimes I still get lost with how to do something.
That being said, I’m not going to sit here and tell you all that you are all WRONG and that Microsoft is INFALLIBLE. They aren’t. And the vast majority of people hate windows 8. Hopefully 8.1 fixes things for everyone!
What’s the point of arguing with you if you’re just going to say that the examples he gives don’t count?
Things that are awesome about Windows 8:
Speed. My desktop (with SSD) boots up from a cold start in 8 seconds flat.
Skydrive integration. I have a desktop and a laptop, each of which is used daily. I don’t need to worry about copying my documents onto a flash drive anymore. Anything I save on my laptop is there when I log onto my desktop, and vice versa. I realize doesn’t help people who work with very large files or are extraordinarily paranoid about NSA spies, etc, but it works for me, and it’s awesome.
File copying dialog. Much improved.
Multi-Monitor support. Handled more intelligently than Windows 7 did.
Metro Apps: HOLY FUCK WHERE’S THE START BAR AND THE RED X I CAN’T EVEN CLOSE THIS OMG WORST THING EVER. Yeah, they’re a little different. Some of them, frankly, suck. But, some of them are very nice, and you don’t have to use them. (Almost) Every app that worked in Windows 7 works in Windows 8. When you first installed 7, did you bitch about how much IE8 sucked and how terrible MS was for making you use it, or did you install FF or Chrome and get on with your life?
There’s more, but I’ll see if these reasons actually count before putting them out there.
I’m not saying Windows 8 is perfect. It’s not. I had to put some work into figuring out how to use things when I first installed it. But, if I didn’t want a new operating system, I wouldn’t have gotten one.
I wouldn’t have bought a new operating system either - if I had been given a choice. It’s not like Microsoft will let you buy a new computer with the old version of Windows you’re used to. So if you buy a new PC system, you’re stuck buying whatever version of Windows Microsoft is currently selling.
I bought a new laptop earlier this year. In retrospect, knowing what I know now, I would have given serious thought to buying a Mac.
I just ran across the “your computer is rebooting in 15 minutes and there’s nothing you can do to stop it” idiocy.
I can’t believe that anyone would design anything so stupid as that and not see how deeply problematic that would be. Luckily, I wasn’t doing anything important and it only annoyed me. But if I’d been in the middle of something that couldn’t be interrupted, I would have been livid.
For the most part, it’s not too bad. But there are just some incredibly stupid design decisions that make me wonder whether someone was high when they made those calls.
The Metro UI is a swanky looking interface that is meant to make tablet and mobile use easy. There are many apps on it that differ from traditional Windows apps. So if you don’t alter settings when you play a song you get this song player app that is kinda shit, and if you open up a photo you get a similarly shit app that displays the photo. I have changed settings now so good ole Windows Media Player plays my audiovisual stuff and Windows Photo Viewer opens up my photos. All within the desktop environment. The metro apps are all full screen, badly integrated into what most people like about the Windows Desktop.
