When Microsoft's design teams were sane....

1 hour ago, jinx101 wrote

I have my fair share of complaints about Windows 8 that I feel are warranted and reasonable.  I gave it a fair shot, it frustrated me a lot.  That said, I have found 3rd party utilities that add or change the behavior of Windows that have taken away most of those frustrations and allowed me to use Windows 8 like it was Windows 7 and STILL have the ability to get into the Metro apps if I want (which is rare, but there are a few I do use).  In fact, some of the utilities are customizable enough that they allow me to pick and choose to do more easier than Windows 7 (I love the ability to choose and not have something I don't like forced on me if I want to stay current).

I'll leave the "Microsoft should have and still should" rant out, but there are software packages that have at least made Windows 8 work like I want it to work. 

I understand people who think the Start Screen was a bad decision from a abstract standpoint -- saying it introduces incongruency, novices might not 'get' it, businesses would need retraining, etc..

What I don't understand is people who are good at computers, plenty capable of figuring out how things work, spending their effort turning it off. Its frustrating? Really? Its pretty damn easy.

4 hours ago, brian.​shapiro wrote

What I don't understand is people who are good at computers, plenty capable of figuring out how things work, spending their effort turning it off. Its frustrating? Really? Its pretty damn easy.

It's totally superfluous, completely distracting, and annoying. It's result of marriage between the movie Dumb and Dumber, and the Play Doh Fun Factory.

1 hour ago, JoshRoss wrote

*snip*

It's totally superfluous, completely distracting, and annoying.

That's what I was expecting it to be like. That's what my opinion was based on what I'd seen in the DP and CP.

But after actually using Windows 8 for an extended period of time, I can say it's really not. Superfluous you can argue about (though I actually really like some of the live tiles; my one wish for Windows "Blue" is to have the ability for desktop apps to have live tiles, as Outlook really needs one), but I don't actually find it distracting or annoying, even though I went in with the expectation that I would.

@Sven Groot: I've been running since CP, here is my start screen.

@JoshRoss: So, you've stripped everything that might possibly have added value from the start screen, and are now complaining that it has no added value?

10 hours ago, Sven Groot wrote

 my one wish for Windows "Blue" is to have the ability for desktop apps to have live tiles, as Outlook really needs one),

+1 I don't like how programs are represented as tiles with embedded icons on the start screen. It just doesn't look good. Additionally, it'd be nice if they could somehow bring back jump list functionality on the start screen.

18 minutes ago, Sven Groot wrote

@JoshRoss: So, you've stripped everything that might possible have added value from the start screen, and are now complaining that it has no added value?

+1 lmao

Here's my start screen on my desktop PC:

As you can see, I have five groups. The first is useful live tiles and (somewhat) commonly used Metro apps (Rain Alarm is cool; not only does the tile display the proximity and intensity of any nearby rain (there's none at the moment), it also uses the Win8 notification system to warn me if rain is approaching). The second group is less used Metro stuff (Bing and Travel are really only in there because they look cool ). The third is office and development. The fourth is games. And the last is other frequently used tools.

I spend 99% of my time in desktop land, and the really frequently used stuff from here (like Outlook, VS, OneNote and PuTTY) is also pinned to my taskbar. But it's nice to get an overview when I turn the computer on or press the windows key. And I've been training myself to click the Outlook tile after starting my PC rather than go to the desktop and then click Outlook on the taskbar.

15 hours ago, brian.​shapiro wrote

*snip*

I understand people who think the Start Screen was a bad decision from a abstract standpoint -- saying it introduces incongruency, novices might not 'get' it, businesses would need retraining, etc..

What I don't understand is people who are good at computers, plenty capable of figuring out how things work, spending their effort turning it off. Its frustrating? Really? Its pretty damn easy.

Someone got frustrated quickly.   I don't like being taken out of context when I'm doing something and having the whole screen taken over.  I don't like having to scour through 3 or 4 different places trying to find settings.  I don't like hidden tiles I have to hover over or hover then slide up half the screen to find a button.  So ya, it is frustrating.  I found a way around it with 3rd party software and now it works exactly like I want it.  I now can have the best of both worlds, and why should that be a problem? 

And, I did figure it out and I didn't like it.  Figuring something out doesn't mean I have to prefer it that way.  There are plenty of things I can figure out I don't like. 

17 hours ago, jinx101 wrote

I have my fair share of complaints about Windows 8 that I feel are warranted and reasonable.  I gave it a fair shot, it frustrated me a lot.  That said, I have found 3rd party utilities that add or change the behavior of Windows that have taken away most of those frustrations and allowed me to use Windows 8 like it was Windows 7 and STILL have the ability to get into the Metro apps if I want (which is rare, but there are a few I do use).  In fact, some of the utilities are customizable enough that they allow me to pick and choose to do more easier than Windows 7 (I love the ability to choose and not have something I don't like forced on me if I want to stay current).

I'll leave the "Microsoft should have and still should" rant out, but there are software packages that have at least made Windows 8 work like I want it to work. 

Seriously you find hitting the windows key and typing an application name confusing? Righto!

Your always going to have to have stuff forced on you, it's called progress. Software gets updated from time to time, deal with it.

Your always going to have people who prefer other ways of doing things than what's forced on them.  Take your own advice, deal with it.

Also, I didn't say it was confusing (you perhaps read another post and "confused" it by thinking I said the start screen was confusing, which I didn't say).  Confusing and frustrating are two different things.  You think that because I don't like it that I don't understand it.  I do understand, but I don't like it.

Why do you care if people don't like it and find 3rd party solutions anyway to make Windows work like they have come to expect it to? 

3 hours ago, leeappdalec​om wrote

*snip*

 

Seriously you find hitting the windows key and typing an application name confusing? Righto!

Your always going to have to have stuff forced on you, it's called progress. Software gets updated from time to time, deal with it.

You know what is confusing ... if you search for "Event" expecting the Event Logs or View Event Logs to come up and it doesn't come up under apps on one system, but it does on the other and then you have to switch to Settings to find it ... and you scratch your head wondering why it works on one system but not another ... then you remember that you did something on one system to show Administrative tools in the Start Screen, and that made them available to the App search charm ... that kind of thing is confusing.  I can deal, but it's stuff like that which should be ironed out over the next while. 

7 hours ago, jinx101 wrote

*snip*

And, I did figure it out and I didn't like it.  Figuring something out doesn't mean I have to prefer it that way.  There are plenty of things I can figure out I don't like. 

No, its just that, for me, its pretty easy to use, not just pretty easy to figure out.

9 hours ago, Sven Groot wrote

@JoshRoss: So, you've stripped everything that might possibly have added value from the start screen, and are now complaining that it has no added value?

There was only one tile that I would ever end-up clicking on, so I just got rid of the rest. It makes it easier to find. After I posted the image, I realized that I could remove the desktop tile too and just click on the bottom left to get to the desktop.

-Josh