I'm done with W8

[cogrady84]

Dont know about anyone else but I wouldnt employ an IT tech who bought a Mac because the new Windows was too hard to figure out.

 

Finally some responses on my wavelength!

[Gatt]

I've actually gone back to Win8

Apart from the issues with proxies - It's not a bad OS - ok so TIFKAM is a tad annoying at times, but the underlying OS is decent enough and at times better than Win7

 

Example - watching streaming media (iPlayer for example) and general booting up is quicker

[Quackers]

This is what makes me laugh, people are willing to learn to use a mac but complain because they have to learn to use Windows 8. Is it really because Microsoft isn't a cool company?

 

Its because Windows 8 is NOT a nice experience to use. Thats the underlying problem. I have had it on machines, and i can navigate around it, but its just a pain, being flicked in and out of TIFKAM is jarring. All the good things Microsoft have done under the hood on 8 have been wasted because of a dire interface. If its not that dire why are they back tracking on the way the Start Screen is launched, and all these other tweaks to the Start screen coming in the Blue update?

 

If they had just kept the standard windows interface for Home/Pro/Ent and put TIFKAM on the Tablet version the adoption rate and liking for the product i think would be a lot higher.

[Guest Guest]

If its not that dire why are they back tracking on the way the Start Screen is launched, and all these other tweaks to the Start screen coming in the Blue update?

 

It's a brand new way of working/interfacing - was the first start menu perfect from day 1 or did some people want program manager back?

 

I'd hardly call making the "start button" 30 pixels wide instead of 10 "tracking back" - it's just a move to con the gullible.

 

 

I just don't get what the issue is. Surely all your frequently used apps are pinned to the taskbar? Anything else you press windows key + [whatever] - we are all techies and ain't scared of a keyboard? I've been running 8 on my non-touchscreen desktop for a good while now and I can't have been sat in the metro interface for longer than 2 minutes all added together - apart from I tend to run one app pinned to the side of screen playing music. On a touch screen it makes perfect sense.

 

My car has fog lights. In the 8 years I've owned the car I can't have had them on for more than 20 minutes. Just because something is there but you don't use it doesn't make it a stupid idea - so long as it doesn't get in the way, which I'm sorry, but metro just doesn't.

Edited June 19, 2013 by Guest

[superatticman]

For home use, I absolutely love Windows 8 professional. Have it installed on a 5 year old Dell Laptop with an SSD and it flies along. No real issues with any software not working, although I only really use the laptop for internet browsing, Office, Photoshop and a few other bits.

 

But we're in no rush to roll it out at work. Windows 7 provides a stable and manageable environment, although we may well be going with Windows 8 on some tablets in the near future.

 

For home use though, most of us simply want something that works and aren't constantly having to patch, tweak and hack to get an acceptable experience. If you are one of these IT types that lives and breathes computers good luck to you but when I get home I just want to use my IT kit as most users use theirs at work.

[bodminman]

Dont know about anyone else but I wouldnt employ an IT tech who bought a Mac because the new Windows was too hard to figure out.

 

It isn't a case of being too hard to figure out. It's a case of personal preference. I have had Win8 on my laptop since it's its release and I think I have a pretty good handle on it. However, I still do not 'like' it and today I have re installed Win7 onto my machine because on a day to da basis I feel that this OS suites me more than Win8.

 

If a user isn't happy about an OS then he/she has every right to go and buy what ever they blooming' well like and it's not for you or anyone else to be casting judgement over this.

 

Crikey, let's not disclose what cars we drive and why as that'll really open a can of worms!

[superatticman]

 

If a user isn't happy about an OS then he/she has every right to go and buy what ever they blooming' well like and it's not for you or anyone else to be casting judgement over this.

 

Here Here. Like me, you just want something that works and something that you like. Especially for home use. Whilst IT types are supposed to fit a certain description and be obsessed with computers 24/7, some of us are a bit more relaxed about our profession. I don't recall plumbers or electricians constantly fannying about with their home plumbing or wiring system. They just want something the works. Leave the head scratching for the day job.

Edited June 19, 2013 by superatticman

[robjduk]

of course personal preference is a huge part of everything we do in life and I often subscribe to the "leave it the hell alone" philosophy for an easy life but... There are still schools out there on XP because the network manager wanted an easy life and now they are paying the price. Also the difference between us and a plumber is a plumber will fix the same pipes every day for his life with little change where our industry will guarantee a large innovation at least every 2 years.

We are meant to follow the innovators, not fanny about with ancient software. Yes 7 is/was great, stable and easy but are the haters going to be one of those XP schools running 7 in 10 years time?

[bodminman]

Change is also motivated by money and I have been to schools where no matter how much you try to convince the SMT about upgrading the OS and/or Office, they say why should we when it won't change how we are doing things now other than the look and feel of things and the fact that it'll leave a huge dent in our pockets.

 

This is a situation that I reckon a large number of schools are in.

 

Yes I agree that there will be techies who don't feel confident to make the change themselves but hey, this is one of the things Edugeek is for, a place for them to come and ask for help and guidance. So in my opinion we should be careful in how we put things across on here so as not to put these people off from asking the questions in the first place!

[superatticman]

I think the answer is somewhere between the two. If I was to simply freeze my skillset in 2006 I'd probably be out of a job by now. Absorbing new technologies is indeed part of our job. However, implementing technology on the basis that its new or different and maybe exciting for hardcore IT Professionals is not always the best thing for the customer.

 

IT helpdesk teams are usually a healthy mix of hardcore geeks and more relaxed IT professionals who bring other factors to the table such as organisation, project management and customer service. The former don't like being constantly reminded about their lack of tidyness or organisation and the latter about not being up with the latest gadgetry at every level!!!

[psydii]

They're introducing a radically altered security model and API environment for applications and they got the UX badly wrong, it is disjointed. I have work to do, so do my users. Disjointed is bad. Windows 7 built on past experience. I'll let others fight their way through the problems and wait till MS fixes them (IMHO to likely be in the Office 2015 IE 11 W8.5 timeframe), perhaps then it will be ready.

 

I note that not one of Microsoft's operating systems in the last 15 years has been truly ready for use in the enterprise until several months after the release of the updated Windows Internals book.

 

Last time they got it wrong like this I went off to learn and deploy the mac stuff, it fitted well with strategic aims of the organisation at the time. This time around I'm keeping a warey eye on IOS... however long term I suspect that Windows touch stuff may well yet really come through.

[LosOjos]

Dont know about anyone else but I wouldnt employ an IT tech who bought a Mac because the new Windows was too hard to figure out.

 

Nor would I employ one who wanted to upgrade everyone's OS just because they could. It's about taking a measured response, deciding what's best for you and your users and acting accordingly.

 

In fact, I'd argue that there's a very strong case not to deploy any OS until the first major update has been released to give the vendor time to patch any inevitable security holes discovered "in the wild."

 

EDIT: to clarify, I'm talking in work terms here. What choices anybody makes as to their personal OS is their own choice. Personally, I do use W8 but I'm not happy with it. The only reason I've not yet rolled back to W7 is I prefer to spend the time it would take doing things with my family.

Edited June 20, 2013 by LosOjos

[Gibson335]

Surely the approach is 'First do no harm'. Do the benfits of W8 outweigh any negatives (from the perspective of your users) and can a deployment be justified? Many of our admin users and teachers would be/are mortified by W8, and whilst of course they could be taught how to use the new OS, why would we foist this on them unless there were overwhelming practical and/or technical reasons for doing so? We should never assume that just because we can cope that our users can as well - in fact, we should err on the side of caution unless there are valid reasons for change IMHO.

[superatticman]

 

I note that not one of Microsoft's operating systems in the last 15 years has been truly ready for use in the enterprise until several months after the release of the updated Windows Internals book.

.

 

My personal preference (as someone above is suggesting) is to wait for the first service pack to be released before implementing.

Edited June 20, 2013 by superatticman

[Gibson335]

My personal preference is to wait for the first service pack to be released before implementing.

 

Agreed - at the very least.

[psydii]

It is usually the second or third service pack that brings the real stability/performance/reliability. First service pack allows early adopters to build test labs that aren't too horrifically broken.

 

Anyway Service Packs are a thing of the past now. Monthly/Quarterly Update Roll-ups (or Cumulative Updates for Exch/Lync/SQL etc) are the new thing.

 

Historically the development of the Second/Third service packs usually coincides with the research by the Windows Internals book team. To me it looks a lot like that in developing the public facing documentation, the actual internals are brought into line with expectation.

[Sheridan]

Ah I've obviously been doing this wrong. All the issues I have with W8 are due to my inability to do my job properly. The bugs with IE10, the Windows update that doesn't work, the mess of group policies, the inability to specify proxies properly, the driver issues, the inability to manage Metro Apps across a domain, the fact you can't disable UAC with disabling some Apps - amongst many others; these are all my fault.

 

At least thats cleared that up. Just as well there are some W8 experts here to keep me right.

 

 

Its been one of those days.

[superatticman]

Ah I've obviously been doing this wrong. All the issues I have with W8 are due to my inability to do my job properly. The bugs with IE10, the Windows update that doesn't work, the mess of group policies, the inability to specify proxies properly, the driver issues, the inability to manage Metro Apps across a domain, the fact you can't disable UAC with disabling some Apps - amongst many others; these are all my fault.

 

At least thats cleared that up. Just as well there are some W8 experts here to keep me right.

 

 

Its been one of those days.

 

Don't let some of these know all techies get your spirits down. IT is rife with these types. Thankfully though they've bailed me out a few times on here so lets just try and exist happily together!

[Tall_Paul]

I would say the one thing we can all agree on is Windows 8 polarises opinion!

[Gibson335]

I would say the one thing we can all agree on is Windows 8 polarises opinion!

 

Sorry, I don't agree!

[Simcfc73]

I installed it on my laptop last night so i could have a play and load a few games on. I was watching the midnight garden with my daughter at the same time so Metro fitted in quite well with the baby stuff.

 

Funny thing, I was tired last night and just wanted to shut the thing down... where is the shutdown button? I ended up closing the lid so its probably gone to sleep.

Edited June 21, 2013 by Simcfc73

[LeMarchand]

where is the shutdown button?

 

Alt+F4 on desktop. Alternatively Win+C or swipe in from right to bring up Charms. Then Settings>Power. Or Win, start typing Shut and switch to settings. (May not be necessary to switch in 8.1).

 

Or don't shut down - power management is supposed to be much better. That said, it's so quick to start that it seems a waste of power not to shut down when finished - it's not like you have to wait an age to get to a useable state again from a cold boot.

[CAM]

I actually gave up searching for how to power it off on my home PC and let ACPI deal with it. Now it's (bad) habit.

 

Win 8 doesn't actually shut down though unless you disable FastBoot in power settings. It goes into a hibernation that caches stuff on disk for a quick start next time you power it on. It can be disabled but Win 8 will take an age to start up. Restart also doesn't work with FastBoot (try it, a Win 8 machine will boot considerably slower on Restart then Shut Down).

 

For most home users this isn't an issue. It's only a potential issue if you run a second OS alongside Win 8 and want to access the partition with cached startup data on it.

[robjduk]

I am first to admit I often lack confidence in my ability to network manage but seeing some comments here about how a start menu redesign is like an IT holocaust to some, I feel I can achieve anything again.

[zag]

I am first to admit I often lack confidence in my ability to network manage but seeing some comments here about how a start menu redesign is like an IT holocaust to some, I feel I can achieve anything again.

 

I think the point is that we are not resistant to change, just that we have worked out that windows 8 (like vista and ME before it) is a duff release.

 

History will not treat it kindly, but fair play to anyone who has spent the effort in upgrading their organization and is reaping all those benefits from the metro interface