Windows 7 continues to grow at a faster rate than Windows 8 and 8.1 - Polidicks

Windows 8.1 makes me rage whenever I have to use it. Even with stardock UI crap it still just gives me a headache. I'm just going to saying it......again, it looks like it was designed by an 8 year old in paint. Microsoft are forcing a bad design on consumers just as Adobe is forcing their poorly thought out Creative cloud subscription only service on consumers.Large companies seem to be focusing on what they want and trying to justify that rather than make products consumer want to buy. It's funny how everyone said they'll continue to make Windows 7 when windows 8 came out and 1 year they stop. The only thing I want from Microsoft a service pack for Windows 7 so I don't have to install a shit load of updates everytime I install it, Windows 7 isn't even that old, Windows XP got a service pack 3 when MS was pushing Vista on people. [QUOTE=Electrocuter;43382108]That's what Microsoft wants, same deal now as when back during Windows 3, 3.1 and 3.5.[/QUOTE]It's a free update which means it's just a rebranded service pack. Windows 3, 3.1 and 3.11 were different products, they weren't free updates, 3.5 was Windows NT (3.1 3.5 and 3.51). I mean they didn't give Windows 95a users a free update to 95b or c.

I really do not understand how people go "Microsoft has casualized Windows" and in the same sentence state how hard it was for them to complete simple tasks. I have been using Windows 8 and 8.1 for about as long as they have come out and the only issues I have had was : *track pad screen swiping (which you can disable) *the networks panel, which has never been a strong point of windows

i know it's just an argument about semantics but it irks me when computer programs are referred to as 'apps'

Metro doesn't work well on a desktop but its fairly easy to work around. Once you set your images and videos to open in desktop applications you never have to touch metro again (except for the start menu which works fine with a mouse and keyboard)

[QUOTE=No_Excuses;43386084]Metro is completely pointless on a desktop. I run a small repair business and I have people bringing me machines asking me to get rid of windows 8 "because it's confusing".[/QUOTE] it's basically a second desktop actually, 3rd if you have 2 monitors I find it literally impossible how anyone "Could be confused" by w8's start menu and yet think the other is any better. [editline]2nd January 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Thlis;43386201]I really do not understand how people go "Microsoft has casualized Windows" and in the same sentence state how hard it was for them to complete simple tasks. I have been using Windows 8 and 8.1 for about as long as they have come out and the only issues I have had was : *track pad screen swiping (which you can disable) *the networks panel, which has never been a strong point of windows[/QUOTE] it's because people don't want to learn slightly different shit and are stubborn

[QUOTE=J!NX;43386439]it's basically a second desktop actually, 3rd if you have 2 monitors I find it literally impossible how anyone "Could be confused" by w8's start menu and yet think the other is any better. [editline]2nd January 2014[/editline] it's because people don't want to learn slightly different shit and are stubborn[/QUOTE] "slightly different shit" They took one of the defining features of their OS and changed it from a menu in the corner to a beautiful fullscreen distraction that seamlessly breaks concentration and workflow. I can no longer throw my mouse in the corner and grab a notepad, I have to drop everything so Metro can flash at me and show me shit I don't wanna see. And you're damn right I'm stubborn. I hate pointless change, and that is exactly what this is, pointless change. There was [I]no reason[/I] for this and had it not even been announced I guarantee you there wouldn't be a single increase in "man, Microsoft needs to just completely redo their interface, its so [I]old.[/I]" threads. [QUOTE=redsoxrock;43382391]So you are one of those people who still use the start menu? Then Apparently win8 is not for you.[/QUOTE] And what the fuck is wrong with you? Did you miss the [I][B]89.7%[/B][/I] of the market that "still use the start menu?"

I really don't get people being so upset over W8, I've not had any issues other than when I've tried playing with stuff like OBS it doesn't work properly but all my old games work fine and even when KKND wanted DirectDraw stuff it installed it itself rather than just coming up with errors.

[QUOTE=Jojje;43386280]i know it's just an argument about semantics but it irks me when computer programs are referred to as 'apps'[/QUOTE] I know what you mean. It always brings flashbacks of those shady irc channels in the late 80's. --- early 90's? ... shit I forget...

[QUOTE=LarparNar;43385872]Search works the same way in 8.1 as it did in 7. Start button -> start typing.[/QUOTE] I still find it different, if im looking up a tutorial to find a games save file with a long name like "file_save556451ubc" or something, I could be reading it on a webpage hit the win7 start menu, and type the name of the file as I read it off the page, where as in win 8, since the start menu is fullscreen when searching Id have to either memorize the phrase carefully or waste extra time copy pasting it into the start menus search.

Windows 8 would have been better if they kept the Metro stuff to a specific edition of Windows for PC and Windows tablets. It was an unnecessary change they forced onto everyone.

[QUOTE=megafat;43387938]Windows 8 would have been better if they kept the Metro stuff to a specific edition of Windows for PC and Windows tablets. It was an unnecessary change they forced onto everyone.[/QUOTE] I can understand it being used for full-out tablets and "dockable/flip" hybrids, but on ordinary laptops and desktops it should've defaulted to a traditional win7-esque desktop along with a message box asking the user if they would like to try out Metro, or stay in their comfort zone. Would've been snazzy if they added a featurre for the "dockable/flip" tablets so that it automatically switches to desktop mode when docked, and to metro mode when undocked.

[QUOTE=J!NX;43386439] it's because people don't want to learn slightly different shit and are stubborn[/QUOTE] There's nothing to learn, it's just a shittier system. Instead of clicking on an icon that is always showing you and getting a small, non-obstructing menu, you click on a corner of the screen and get a full screen piece of shit ui in your face. plus "metro apps" can run in the background with no visual indication on the desktop, so if my younger brother gets on my computer he can open up a bunch of shit and have it be running and I have to manually check the top left of the screen.

Does anybody know if 8 has any problems programming-wise? E.g. "this api is gone and this library is deprecated so this and that program just plain wont work"?

I don't see why the fuck they couldn't just have a 'Touch Mode' and a 'Desktop Mode' toggle in the control panel. It would solve the main issue the majority of people have with Win8.

One big problem is that the new start menu isn't auto-filled. I don't have time to put all my programs in the startscreen. On Windows 7 it automatically put frequently used stuff in there and even newly installed programs with a different highlight. That was absolutely amazingly useful, but Windows 8 doesn't do that anymore as far as I can tell. A friend installed Windows 8.1 on my notebook because he's a huge MS fan, but while from a technical perspective it's very good and the new task manager is ridiculously good, I hate most of their Metro-related UI "additions". [QUOTE=Noss;43388292]I don't see why the fuck they couldn't just have a 'Touch Mode' and a 'Desktop Mode' toggle in the control panel. It would solve the main issue the majority of people have with Win8.[/QUOTE] I love how Android and Ubuntu have dealt with having one OS on many different devices. Never does Android look like a tablet operating system on a phone and never does it look like a phone operating system on a tablet, same goes for Ubuntu. It still has all the normal desktop features in desktop mode, but if you're running it on a phone or tablet it has a completely different, completely [B][I]seperate[/I][/B] UI. Why couldn't Microsoft do something like that? I really love some of their changes in Windows 8, but the whole Metro and Desktop UI mix is terrible. I want [B]ONE [/B]UI if on my [B]ONE [/B]device. [QUOTE=Nikita;43388238]Does anybody know if 8 has any problems programming-wise? E.g. "this api is gone and this library is deprecated so this and that program just plain wont work"?[/QUOTE] I'd be very surprised if it did have problems like that. Backward compatibility is very important to MS.

[QUOTE=Robber;43388451]One big problem is that the new start menu isn't auto-filled. I don't have time to put all my programs in the startscreen. On Windows 7 it automatically put frequently used stuff in there and even newly installed programs with a different highlight. That was absolutely amazingly useful, but Windows 8 doesn't do that anymore as far as I can tell. A friend installed Windows 8.1 on my notebook because he's a huge MS fan, but while from a technical perspective it's very good and the new task manager is ridiculously good, I hate most of their Metro-related UI "additions". [/QUOTE] How busy are you? It's a right click and a left click - boom. Normally when you install stuff, you even have the option to add a start screen shortcut.

[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;43388466]How busy are you? It's a right click and a left click - boom. Normally when you install stuff, you even have the option to add a start screen shortcut.[/QUOTE] Still is a overly spartan menu compared to glorious start menu. No compromises, no [I]"but"[/I], no [I]"if"[/I], bring it [b]ALL[/b] back.

I was a Windows 8 supporter (with it bringing innovations and such), and was tolerant with Metro claims because I was yet to try it... But then my GF bought a W8 laptop. Mind you, she also has a touchscreen monitor on it, and Windows 8.1 is STILL HORRIBLE.

hopefully MS will learn and backpedal with their horrible metro crap.

[QUOTE=Giraffen93;43384548]i always have a movie or show running and the 8 start menu blocks it, i don't like that and i might miss some stuff if it's blocking the screen too aaalso the slow slideout animations, ugh[/QUOTE]Win S in the solution for that.

[QUOTE=Nikita;43388238]Does anybody know if 8 has any problems programming-wise? E.g. "this api is gone and this library is deprecated so this and that program just plain wont work"?[/QUOTE] Well, good luck playing Manhunt and older games that already didn't work on 7, but that's about it afaik. [QUOTE=Robber;43388451]I'd be very surprised if it did have problems like that. Backward compatibility is very important to MS.[/QUOTE] Is that why their XBox solution is to plug your 360 in?

[QUOTE=gk99;43390863]Well, good luck playing Manhunt and older games that already didn't work on 7, but that's about it afaik. Is that why their XBox solution is to plug your 360 in?[/QUOTE] Its important to their WINDOWS devision. Besides, emulation of 360 software would be hell. It sounds hilarious, but the solution isn't Microsoft being a bag of dicks, they are giving legitimate, 100% accurate advice.

[QUOTE=gk99;43390863]Is that why their XBox solution is to plug your 360 in?[/QUOTE] A change in architecture for an embedded system like a console is pretty far and apart from a new version of a multi-architecture OS.

[QUOTE=theLazyLion;43387782]I still find it different, if im looking up a tutorial to find a games save file with a long name like "file_save556451ubc" or something, I could be reading it on a webpage hit the win7 start menu, and type the name of the file as I read it off the page, where as in win 8, since the start menu is fullscreen when searching Id have to either memorize the phrase carefully or waste extra time copy pasting it into the start menus search.[/QUOTE] It would be faster on both Windows 8 and 7 to just copy and paste the text.

Microsoft has dug themselves into a very, very deep hole. They have to deal with Metro fans and Start Menu fans now. Shows that they didn't think this through very well.

[QUOTE=Demache;43384393]I understand that everyone has their own "thing" for using a computer. But I don't understand the taking up the whole screen argument. You can't properly multitask with the old Start Menu since it closes as soon as you interact with anything. Personally, I don't look at windows while I'm using the start menu since I'm in there for a grand total of 3 seconds while searching, and if I'm using the mouse, I'm not looking at other programs anyway. It so full screen never bugged me. [/QUOTE] If I'm trying to search for a specific file, it's easier to be able to reference the name by looking at it and typing it into a search box. Fortunately someone isn't too retarded at Microsoft, as you can just press Windows Key + S and it opens up a charm menu on the side that doesn't take up all the space and lets you search without the entire screen being taken up.

Now that I'm more used to win8, the new start screen is incredibly more convenient, and the smartbar you get on the side has come in handy so many god damn times that will be extremely pissed if it's ever taken away. At first I was reluctant to accept the change, but now I've grown accustom and I wouldn't want it any other way. Especially since you can download legacy start menus for win8 while still having the new system at the same time. [editline]2nd January 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Coffee;43392542]If I'm trying to search for a specific file, it's easier to be able to reference the name by looking at it and typing it into a search box. Fortunately someone isn't too retarded at Microsoft, as you can just press Windows Key + S and it opens up a charm menu on the side that doesn't take up all the space and lets you search without the entire screen being taken up.[/QUOTE] The entire screen being taken up is nothing, though. you press escape and its gone instantly, you have a larger area to see what you're looking for. I never used windows search in older windows and now I use it all the time (mostly for settings) and bascially saying "i dont have a big enough attention span to remember what im looking for" isn't an argument at all im sorry.

[QUOTE=Meller Yeller;43384482]There's nothing wrong with it, but it's not enough an upgrade either which is kinda what you'd expect from a whole new OS. I use it on my new laptop and it's not worse, but "not worse" isn't going to make a hot seller. It seems worse at first though when you think there's no easy way to do something you used to be able to do. But the reality is, as multiple people above are pointing out, there's just new shortcuts that nobody is aware of.[/QUOTE] That's the reason most people with windows 7 don't want to upgrade too it. I used Windows 8 for a month and it felt slightly better but not a night and day upgrade like going from vista to 7.

I haven't used Windows 8 extensively yet but I feel like I'd stick with Windows 7.

You also have to go into perspective of the company's situation. I know a lot of federal and/or companies that rely heavily on applications cannot just jump to another operating system when they please. When they find a stable operating system (XP/7), they want to stay their for as long as possible until Microsoft cuts off Security Patches for them like they did for win XP. Because some programs used by these companies don't have an upgraded counterpart probably because either the company stopped supporting their product or closed down. The reason I know this is because this is what my work is going through right now. We are migrating to win 7 (yes just now from xp) and its an absolute nightmare. They have around 10,000 computers in corporate and plants that have to get migrated over to win7 while in the midst having to app test thousands of applications to make sure they aren't broken and properly function. To the average person upgrading to Win 8 isn't that complicated as for you just have personal things, but when it comes to big companies they never really want to leave an OS because that means they have to buy new Licenses, find new apps to replace old ones, etc. Whenever Microsoft announces they will no longer Security Patch an OS it is literally a big companies worst nightmare. ESPECIALLY FOSSIL/Electricity plants (May mercy be on Hydro plants' souls). You guys have no idea how costly those apps are. One program that wasnt compatible with Win7, we needed a similar program and we found it and it costs $25,000 per license. They needed 15 licenses lol. So yeah, big companies want to hold on to an OS for as long as they possibly can and be ready to fork over millions when Security Patches are cut. That is more than likely why there are so many XP and Win7's because companies are just now leaving XP to Win7 so don't be surprised for Win7 sales to keep skyrocketing until after July/August ish of this year.