Hi all,

I've never actually posted on a forum before, yet here I find myself. My laptop died Christmas day, and I said goodbye to the world to laptops.. I longed for the days when I had XP on an old desktop and my life with productively using computers was simple, figuring a tower set up to display thru my nice shiny 47" would be more suitable to my life but put too much stress on a laptop running it as dual display.

That's what I wanted.... being a broke ass student who cant afford a Mac and windows vista, and even 7 machines no longer being sold, what I got was Windows 8 :(

Been giving it a chance for a few weeks but it's simply not there yet.... I am terribly depressed that the technology I so desperately need to use efficiently and with ease has let me down to this point. As a university student and paid researcher I need my desktop to function and multi-task seamlessly between multiple open windows, not apps! of each: pdf's, Excel and Word... yet that's not the case here. On paper I have the biggest and baddest computer I've ever owned...yet in reality I have a operating system on steroids that models its self after a game....just great! (so not!)

And I'm not saying I hate what they've "developed" I just wish Microsoft as a Brand had of created something original instead of layering the pre-existing x-box operations and app-centric-ness overtop of a cut to shreds version of windows 7. Its a great concept, but it's just that: a concept! I get that its to integrate touch technology and be more fluid in transition from tablet to pc to phone but none of the attributes  (need for quick changes between apps and dinky icons required by the limited screen space available to those mediums) a tablet or phone or an x-box has so its really pointless. pretty sure everyone out there doesn't just dream of owning a touchscreen pc- I've distinctly made the choice not to many a times over the past few years for this very reason of touch integrated tech not being compatible with the basic function and ease of use for academic or business applications. 

This system does not function, there is NO ease of use for the more professional or business minded user. Microsoft you have successfully eliminated your core users in effort to appeal to children, the elderly and the social media obsessed...Id give you credit for appealing to the art crowd with your new approach to photos but lets face we all know Mac has long held that market...so really u had the business and education sector to appeal to with your networking computer concept and you blew it. thanks for nothing, Im now taking my brand new computer to see if a person who likely is your past employer can erase all traces of this near viral operating system and go back to one of your older operating systems. I wish I had of bought a Mac, and can now safely say I will never purchase a Microsoft product again.

And worse I'm computer il-literate when it comes to code so the dream I have for windows 8 is unattainable- messing with registry is not a option for me- registry errors are usually the source of my issues not the solution. I've learned to avoid anything to do with it like the plague.

Still available: HP ENVY Pro Ultrabook w/ Windows 7 Professional

If you are looking for that Windows 7 or XP-like interface, there are a number of third-party apps that will do just that for you. Read this post:
<http://social.Technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w8itprogeneral/thread/b5f19449-f992-466b-b549-ce1452fd5a39#b5f19449-f992-466b-b549-ce1452fd5a39>

and this (my personal favorite and what I use on my Win8 system):
<http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/157302-windows-7-explorer-for-windows-8/>

And, I sort of take offense at your statement of "effort to appeal to children, the elderly and the social media obsessed". I fall into the "elderly" part of that (only by chronological age, not by attitude :-)  ), and I find the new UI appalling. I would have been perfectly happy with a Microsoft choice of how Win8 would start, either to the Modern UI for those that like pretty tiles, or to a more recognizable, usable interface with a "REAL" start menu and program list. And a number of other like-aged people I know haven't bothered upgrading from Win7 to Win8, and some are still on XP. I even know one lady who still uses Win98SE and refuses to budge from it. What the hey, it works for her :-)

The only reason I upgraded to Win8 from Win7 on one of my machines was mostly curiosity; I worked in IT for over twenty years before retiring, and still can't resist trying something new, and if I don't like it, either get rid of it or change it to something I like (or at least, can use). The day I quit trying and learning is the day I don't get out of b

Welcome to the "group."

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback for Windows 8.  You can go to our feedback website to submit your suggestions:

http://connect.microsoft.com/

Thank you  for your cooperation.

Hello,

I am hating Window 8 running on my desktop.  When is MS going to learn that running a desktop OS will not work on phones and the industry will not embrace it no matter how much the big gorilla tries to pony the product to the public.  On the same token a tablet OS is not going to work on the desktop.  Forcing it down peoples throats is only going to increase resentment and create  fertile ground for competitors to steal even from among the loyalist base of users.

Continue down this path and all you are doing is making people want to buy more Macs and opening the door wide for the deep pockets of companies like Google to come and give you guys at MS marketing team that wags the whole company to their wishes a good whopping.

Hello DarienHawk67!

Recognizing your handle from "way back when" Win7 was undergoing beta, remember the excitement, the promise of the new OS, and most importantly, the number of things it got right compared to the number that were wrong?

I'm not sure where you committed yourself to Win7, for me is was within 3 hours of installing the earliest beta.  It was on my Vista ultimate machine (I build all my own except laptops of course) and thanks to having 2 high performance computers on the same desk, I was comfortable embracing Win7 and running it full time so I could delve into the depths as opposed to just the quick look-see.

The most impressive part early on was how fast and fluid Win7 was.  Normally with XP I put all the tricks into place to conserve CPU throughput, turning off services, minimizing open/close application annimation, basically all the tricks we video editors used to squeeze out the last drop of XP performance.  With Win7, it was fast, more fluid and I had to tweak NOTHING to improve it.  That says a lot right there.

But as we got closer to release, I built identical I-7 920 machines on the Asus P6T platform for my wife and I.  Keep in mind, my wife accomplished a lot on XP, but it seemed to average maybe 3 questions or so per week on how to accomplish something or other.  It stopped DEAD with Win7.  I bought her a new color laser prn, went down to install it on my machine, came back upstairs and there were (2) test pages.  Yes, she installed it on her own, with no guidance of any kind.  Trust me, this never would have happened on XP.

And so it went, she was truly happy and comfortable with Win7, even explored a bit and had things to teach ME. 

Fast forward to the Win8 DP.  Once I got it installed on a VM, I invited the wife downstairs to give it a spin.  Her first words were "what am I supposed to do".

After giving her some direction on what should need no direction, she found the desktop and asked why it looked so flat and "why is everything square-edged again?"

Very long, very frustrating story made short, she quite emphatically stated "please tell me we don't have to upgrade to this crap", language not characteristic for her at all.  The not so surprizing part?  I know of (2) people (Comer and the guy who uses workarounds to turn his Win8 back into Win7) who disagree with her heart-felt assesment.

Microsoft best abandon this and get back to computing, this tablet OS is unsuitable by any measure.

DAS

I'm a PC, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86JMcy5OqZA&feature=player_embedded

If you are going to pitch the iPad as a more polished consumer product, then at least, link the official MS advert.

bull shit

Windows 8 sucks. LOL 

Why don't they just refund everyone who bought a computer with windows 8? (Me with no extra money) thought I would learn to like it, missed refund. Someone who does not think like 80 per cent of the population must have some power. I bought the desk top because it was so inexpensive. I had never heard of windows 8. MISTAKE on my part. 

Folks who were accustomed to Windows 98 said the same thing when Windows XP first came out...

Good to see you have been using Windows 8 since the Developer's Preview back in Sep' 2011.  Likewise, I have been doing the same; running Windows 8 (natively and virtually) since the release of the DP.

Currently, I am on Window 8.1 Professional at work and at home.  Even with all of Windows 8.1 improvements, I think I am still going to opt for StarDock's Start8 when it RTMs (unless something "wonderful" happens).

Believe me, I understand the confusion that others may have.  Like you, I have placed Windows 8/8.1 in front of my wife, friends, and coworkers (most of whom are IT professionals such as I).  What happened?  The same response you received: "What the [expletive deleted] am I supposed to do now?"

I gave some selected power-users at work the option of having their work laptop imaged to either Windows 8 or Windows 7.  Six took the challenge.  Within a week, five came back requesting to have their system imaged with Windows 7.  The sixth decided to stick it out (however, he clearly exclaimed his disdain for Windows 8 and the Start Screen in particular).

Enough said . . .

UseStartIsBack+ which is better and cheaper:

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/163489-startisback-rc0/

StartIsBack looks great.  Personally, I enjoy StarDock's Start8 if for no more reason than the company has been around a long time and has a very good reputation with their WindowBlinds applications from years back.

Nonetheless, I will give StartIsBack a try so that I have something with which to compare.

WindowsBlinds is slow because it replaces DWM completely. I use this DLL which only replaces some functions in DWM to get Aero back:

http://glass8.berlios.de/

And StartIsBack offers 2 features that no other tool offers. You can rename Start to Apps and this only shows Modern App Tiles on the startscreen and rmeoves the useless links to desktop programs. ALos you can configure to go to Desktop after closing apps. That are the killer features of StartIsBack. And it is also cheaper.