It'd not as bad as it seems. All non metro apps run from the regular Windows desktop. Pressing Windows + Q brings up a search box under Metro where you can search for programs you want to run. if you install one of the various programs which bring back the start menu, you won't ever have to use the Metro interface.
I upgraded to win7 from XP because it offered some features I wanted to use. I don't need the latest and greatest unless it offers something I need or want. So far win8 offers nothing compelling. I will use whatever I feel does the job the best, regardless of anything facts or opinions. Sul.
Upgraded really because it was cheap and it offered some pro features (like the ability to set up SRP) I had not been able to afford before. I use Start8 so it looks and feels fairly similar to 7 for me. Boots much faster and shuts done quicker and in general feels a little zippier though. I understand why some feel it is effectively a downgrade but for me who's used to Home Premium versions of Windows it has a few more things to play with. Cheers
tried the Metro UI or windows UI or whatever its called these days! its decent and eye catchy but got the good old start menu back purchased "Start8 by stardock" works like a charm.
In my case, it's the exact opposite. My machine runs on Windows 7 Ultimate and I use AppLocker. AppLocker is not available on Windows 8 Pro, but only Windows 8 Enterprise edition. Basically this means that if I were to ever 'upgrade' to Win8 Pro, I'd have to forgo AppLocker and revert back to using SRP. I know some members here use AppLocker on Win7 too so I wonder what's their take on this...
I have used AppLocker on 7 at times but I don't currently use it, but yes, if I were an AppLocker user, I'd be disappointed with the lack of it in 8. But then again, I wouldn't be caught dead using 8. I tried it for several weeks, and I can only say I am very glad I decided not to buy into the 8 nonsense... and the more I read and hear every week, the happier I am that I'm sticking with 7.
It seems to be that way unfortunately as both Windows 8 and Vista are excellent operating systems. A lot of people hate Vista, but when it is working properly it is much better than XP.
After an initial period of drivers problems (thanks for that ATI!), i have now reached a point of having a perfectly stable Win7 system, every application works fine, i have automatic wallpaper changer showing me beautiful wallpapers instead of MS tiles when i don't have full screen window open, i use the nice Win7 weather gadget with a 20% opacity to show me the weather, i can click my way anything with 1 hand, why would i want to ruin all that? I mean, i understand, MS hopes that i install Win8, so that when tomorrow i go to buy a tablet, she may have a chance that i pick a tablet with Win8 instead of the usual Apple, but that's MS' interest, not mine. My interest is making my life easier and my PC more pleasant, not trying to hack between 2 UI on the same OS. And for MS, ideally, people would change OS every month, so she could sell again and again and milk you every month, but again, that's MS' interest. So, let me see... I have to choose to boot into this: http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17ewjj12vb3k1jpg/original.jpg Or into this: http://i48.tinypic.com/2psn77t.png It's a tough call, but...ummm...yeah, i think i will pick the 2nd one. So, no Win8 for me i am afraid. Bring me more tiles and i may re-think it. Besides, with 7, you can use one hand on the mouse and the other hand to hold your hotdog (this alone should have made all Americans boycott 8 ). No windows key or other key needed to be pressed in 7!
Could be a secret agreement between Obama and Microsoft: Put out an OS that in order to get basic functionality, people pay for add-ons. The economy needs money flowing, Microsoft is thus helping the US economy (secret Obama's stimulus plan).
Win 8 has convinced me to start looking more seriously at linux. Thanks to Yumi, I've been looking at about half a dozen distros each week, trying to get some idea of what the differences between them are. For someone who doesn't keep up with linux, the selection and choices is mass confusion. So far, xfce distros are looking very good to me. PCLinux is definitely in the running. When I do upgrade my default OS, it will be to one of those. For me, with deep roots in the 9X systems, it's going to be quite a learning curve. At least those look like something that belongs on a desktop.
The bad thing with the tiles, is that after 6 months, they will be the same tiles on the same green background. With 7, i have set random wallpaper change (comes with the OS, so nice). Every day or every few hours, i am greeted by a new random wallpaper of my HD wallpaper collection, which i, not MS, decided that i like visually. I consider it a daily gift to myself. Also, the weather gadget in 7 (which was eliminated in 8 ), was one of the most pleasant things when i moved from XP. I remember in XP i was struggling with bugs or CPU spikes in Weather Watcher and Weather something. It's all fine now. And immediately i have access with 1 click to 3 more desktops. It's all i want from an OS. Clean desktop with a variety i like (wallpapers), quick click functions, my main applications ready to launch. That's it. Combined with this visual effects combo: My main problem with 7, was that XP was feeling "snappier". Windows poping up quicker, directories opening fast... That was because XP didn't use any fancy visual effects requiring video card acceleration. But with the above settings, even with very weak VGA, you get XP-style snappy Windows and transparencies of 7. I see people saying "8 is snappier". 7 can be snappy too, while maintaining some "eye candy", that makes it look modern and nice. The default Win7 settings were too slow for my taste, but hey, it can be fixed without paying add-on.
XP and 98SE are the last version of Windows I'll be using. I'm not buying an OS that I have to fight with in order to make it behave the way I want. AFAIC, Windows has been going in the wrong direction for some time. The OS itself might be more secure than its predecessors, but it's become outright hostile to the users privacy. That aside, I see no reason why anyone should have to adapt to Metro or install additional software just to undo it. I want a real desktop that behaves the way I tell it to.
noone, you may really like linux, many here in the forums do.. I've used it off and on for 6 years or so, and it has really become much more user friendly over time. Don't expect it to be trouble free though, in fact, I'd say it's rougher around the edges and much less "polished" than Win, in general. And don't think you won't be fighting with it at times either... But that said, it's definitely a viable alternative if you're fed up with MS and Win.... I personally have decided to just stick with 7x64 until this machine dies. I'll have to figure out what to do when that time comes, but I'm hoping I'll be good for at least a few more years...
If you can switch to Linux, like you said, it's probably the best thing to do. The way things go, probably i will have to go to Linux too at some point in the future. In every new release, MS's big brotheresque shadow gets bigger and bigger. Just did a quick googling: http://www.geekosystem.com/windows-8-tells-microsoft-what-you-installed/ http://www.eightforums.com/user-acc...-there-any-way-turn-off-big-brother-mode.html Not sure if it's 100% true, but I am sure that with next releases, these "first steps", will go a "step further", specially with the spread of the "cloud". At the end, the cloud will know if you sneezed. So either you stick with XP/7 or you move to Linux or dual boot. I will probably end up dual booting in the future. The problem with Linux is that it has been handled as "geek toy", to break and play and it's too much fragmented, so every distro is like a new learning curve and at some point, you need to know command line to fix things. But, i guess, one may try to find something that can suit better his needs and without spying on him.
Until recently, my experience with linux has been very casual. It either worked or it didn't as I had no clue how to work with it. Trying different versions was a hassle, having to burn CDs. On 2 occasions, I tried installing a promising distro, and caused myself major problems that required rebuilding the entire drive. The installs didn't recognize that I already had a bootloader and added another. You can guess where this lead. IMO, the hardest part is figuring out where to start and trying to set criteria on which to base a choice. Most of the names mean nothing to me. An article that says it's a Mate, Cinnamon, or LXDE desktop tells me nothing when I don't know what they look like or how they act, a lot like reading a foreign language when you don't know half the words. Right now, I'm focusing on xfce distros. First criteria is recognizing my hardware and working properly on it without being a fight. It needs to be light and fast. I'll figure out the security details later. Ubuntu variants are off the list. Mint is odd. I can get sound from one media player only. Crunch Bang looks primitive, like an old black and white TV, but everything works. Will get a 2nd look. PC Linux is very promising. At the moment, trying Bodhi. So far, looks good. Command line on linux is not something I'm looking forward to. Command line itself doesn't bother me. I've used DOS forever. Breaking habits I've learned with DOS will be the hardest part as the syntax is so different. If I'd never learned DOS it would be so much easier. Fuzzfas, The "big brother" behavior of Windows has been going on a lot longer than that. Windows has been steadily becoming spyware since the 9X days, with each version worse than the one before. With each new version, Windows stores more usage data, calls home more, takes more low level control away from the user, and presents a larger attack surface that's harder to reduce. Fighting with a system to get it to do what you want is one thing. Fighting to make it stop unwanted behaviors is another, one that shouldn't be necessary. IMO, trying to make Windows respect your privacy is a lost cause. It's just not worth it any more. Until I do make a switch, XP and 98SE will be what I use most of the time, the first for play, the 2nd for work.
The behavior described by some paranoids here as "big brother" is there only to help improve things for the billions of users of these mainstream products designed for everyone, not necessarily for dark niches of weirdos. Unlike the fantasies from some sick minds, nothing of that kind is being used for "criminal", "evil" or "bad" purposes. The moment it starts to be used in that way, will be the moment that Microsoft's business isn't viable anymore. The probability is so small, such thing is so highly unlikely to happen, that fear from it can be safely classified as a symptom of some disease IMO.
Reporting everything you install doesn't benefit anyone. Keeping records of every page visited, every document opened, and every app runs doesn't benefit anyone.
You can't see the benefits because you think only about the "possible" unlikely harms. Your paranoia closed your mind. I can see benefits in each of those things - better tracking and prioritization of bugs/issues, better performance optimizations, more relevant searches, more intuitive user experience, etc.
