What about Windows 8?
Posted by: Jon on 05/29/2013 12:44 PM
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Windows 8.....People are so polarized on the subject that it seems to be like some epic good (Win7) Vs. Evil (Win8) battle and if you are not 'with us' you are certainly 'against us.'
Sky news provided this random selection of user experiences.
“Used it briefly, found it to be totally unintuitive and frustrating” ... “It makes Vista look good, it's counter intuitive and riddled with bugs” ... “Probably the worst piece of software I have ever used that was released as a paid product by a major company.”
This subject is so hot that people are going as far as making lists of gripes about Win 8, and Information Week posted 5 such gripes 3 of which need no explanation, but the top 2 pretty much cover it for me.
1. Windows 8's learning curve is too confusing.
Many Win8 features rely on hidden controls, such as the Charms Bar, which is central to navigating the OS but only accessible if users know how to swipe it into visibility. This sort of absence of visual clues or other guides has contributed to Win8 user frustration, and many will expect Microsoft not only to implement key features -- such as a "boot to desktop" mode -- but also to make the OS more intuitive from top to bottom.
2. Windows 8 is too schizophrenic.
This criticism is related to the above but deserves its own breakout category. For all the success Microsoft users have enjoyed syncing documents across devices via SkyDrive, it's ironic that cohesion between Win8's two interfaces is so poor. Internet Explorer is a particularly notable offender; if a user switches from IE in the Modern UI to IE in the traditional desktop mode, the Web browser will behave like a distinct app in each environment. Open tabs can't be synced as the user jumps from one UI to the other, for example. Windows 8.1 is rumored to include IE11, so Microsoft will have a chance to address this problem, and it's also rumored to include similar fixes, such as making the Control Panel equally accessible in each environment.
3. Windows 8 doesn't have enough apps.
4. Windows RT seems pointless.
5. Windows 8 offers nothing for desktop users.
I am curious as to what you think, so leave a comment about your thoughts on Windows 8.
Sky news provided this random selection of user experiences.
“Used it briefly, found it to be totally unintuitive and frustrating” ... “It makes Vista look good, it's counter intuitive and riddled with bugs” ... “Probably the worst piece of software I have ever used that was released as a paid product by a major company.”
This subject is so hot that people are going as far as making lists of gripes about Win 8, and Information Week posted 5 such gripes 3 of which need no explanation, but the top 2 pretty much cover it for me.
1. Windows 8's learning curve is too confusing.
Many Win8 features rely on hidden controls, such as the Charms Bar, which is central to navigating the OS but only accessible if users know how to swipe it into visibility. This sort of absence of visual clues or other guides has contributed to Win8 user frustration, and many will expect Microsoft not only to implement key features -- such as a "boot to desktop" mode -- but also to make the OS more intuitive from top to bottom.
2. Windows 8 is too schizophrenic.
This criticism is related to the above but deserves its own breakout category. For all the success Microsoft users have enjoyed syncing documents across devices via SkyDrive, it's ironic that cohesion between Win8's two interfaces is so poor. Internet Explorer is a particularly notable offender; if a user switches from IE in the Modern UI to IE in the traditional desktop mode, the Web browser will behave like a distinct app in each environment. Open tabs can't be synced as the user jumps from one UI to the other, for example. Windows 8.1 is rumored to include IE11, so Microsoft will have a chance to address this problem, and it's also rumored to include similar fixes, such as making the Control Panel equally accessible in each environment.
3. Windows 8 doesn't have enough apps.
4. Windows RT seems pointless.
5. Windows 8 offers nothing for desktop users.
I am curious as to what you think, so leave a comment about your thoughts on Windows 8.
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