

Changes to "key" parts of Windows 8 are coming - nealabq
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/07/windows_8_u_turn/

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siger
Nowhere does it say Windows Blue will include the Start button. It's purely
speculation based on this:

"In a separate interview with Mary-Jo Foley, Reller said simply that Blue
would “address customer feedback” Microsoft has received on Windows 8 and
Windows RT."

A poor article with a sensationalist headline against MS: great for HN!

Edit: at the time of this comment, the submission title was "Microsoft: All
RIGHT, you can have your Start button back"

~~~
cpleppert
It is a Register uk tongue in cheek article title, it isn't meant to be
sensationalist.

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greatergoodguy
Microsoft is pointing the finger on everything but the actual product. The
bigger issue is the poor usability of the product and the benefit of this
product is poorly understood by both consumers and microsoft. What's
interesting is the Windows 8 overall concept is pretty much the same as a year
before Windows 8 was released. You had the metro interface, the desktop app,
the lack of a start button... How could they not figure out solution to these
issues after having ALL THAT TIME.

"Reller reportedly admitted that Microsoft hadn’t done enough to close the
knowledge gap by training staff in outlets selling Windows 8 machines or by
educating customers in the run-up to last October's launch."

"There also seems to be a hint Microsoft recognizes it slipped up by not doing
enough to persuade PC makers to build hardware actually capable of using
Metro’s UI, which is largely irrelevant on machines lacking touch screens."

~~~
canthonytucci
>. You had the metro interface, the desktop app, the lack of a start button...
How could they not figure out solution to these issues after having ALL THAT
TIME.

I don't get why people are so upset that the start button is gone. To launch a
program I just hit the windows key and start typing the name. This is exactly
what I did on windows 7 (though I never used it as my primary OS). The things
that show up on the screen are somewhat different, but the result is
identical.

As a longtime Alfred user on the mac, the winkey+typing method feels quite
natural and works well.

~~~
arenaninja
The workflow change resulting from the removal of the Start menu is very real,
but there are other issues as well. When I opened some System menu, I could
only Alt-Tab out of it, there was no visible option to close it. It turns out
that you can Alt+F4 to close, but this occurred to me after continuously using
WinKey -> Desktop -> Window that I want. The removal of Aero is also
questionable -- the Square UI looks terrible in comparison, and I'm left to
wonder why they wouldn't leave it as a choice.

~~~
sixothree
The lack of shadows behind windows is what bugs me the most. My eyes get lost
in a sea of square garbage.

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727374
I'm not by any means a MS Hater but here's my vent:

Windows 8 is represents the worst of Microsoft - new products/features for the
sake of "new". Every tech enthusiast relative I have has been very excited to
get a win 8 computer and then has had the exact same reaction to the new OS -
"how do I use this"? Why does MS feel the need to re-do a UI, which wasn't
broken and force all it's users (many of whom aren't tech enthusiasts to learn
something new). Please, just stick with Win 7 and improve it's actual
components. E.g. the builtin search isn't as good as spotlight on my Mac. So
fix search, but please leave the start button unchanged because it's not bad.

~~~
smacktoward
You're half right -- it does represent the worst of Microsoft, but not because
of new-for-the-sake-of-new. It represents the worst of Microsoft because it's
entirely designed around _what Microsoft needs_ rather than what the _user_
needs.

Windows 8 is the way it is because of two things Microsoft needs:

\- Microsoft needs to be relevant in the world of tablets; and

\- Microsoft needs the market for traditional PCs to not evaporate.

So they built a product that is focused entirely on reconciling these two
needs -- a product that tries, awkwardly, to serve the needs of both kinds of
devices. A product that tries to make Windows relevant to tablets while at the
same time not making tablets _so_ awesome that people stop buying traditional
PCs for them.

The result leaves users cold, because _it wasn't designed for them._ It was
designed to meet Microsoft's corporate strategy imperatives rather than to
solve a problem actual users have.

It's the worst of Microsoft because of this classic BigCo thinking -- the
thinking that the problems products need to solve are the ones that are
worried about in the BigCo's executive suite, rather than those the customers
are worrying about out there in the world. It's inward-looking product design,
which rarely works.

~~~
727374
Your point is well taken. But, from a user perspective, it's simply
unsolicited change with non-obvious benefit.

~~~
freehunter
From a user perspective, it's exactly what people have been asking for when
they started buying iPads to replace their desktops.

------
ambiate
Just the amount of effort required to put the computer to sleep... ugh.

The instructions are:

1) (Sometimes) when you hover in a corner a menu will popup or press WIN + C.

2) Click settings (in the midst of 4(?) other options)

3) Click the power button.

4) Click the desired state.

Way too many paths in that state diagram for a typical user. For the common
tasks, I expect to make two-three transitions with limited, unambiguous,
options. Some of my workflow has transitioned to passing four to five states
(usually in Metro at this point), back to desktop, to Chrome to locate help,
back to the beginning of the state diagram to perform my original task.

~~~
dangrossman
Why don't you just close the lid or press the power button on the computer?

<http://i.imgur.com/allxzAQ.png>

The reason this stuff is buried in a 2nd-level menu is that you're not
supposed to need it. It's power-user stuff. Normal users are expected to
either close the lid or press the power button, as they do on every other type
of computer-y device now (phones, tablets, ereaders, etc). Software power
buttons were a UX mistake this OS is correcting.

~~~
ambiate
I was using my wife's experience as content. I have a different perception of
how to attack problems. She knows there is a power button 'somewhere' in the
desktop environment. She knows clicking the mouse twice turns on the computer.
However, luckily, clicking the mouse twice does not turn off the computer. Our
power button is not easily accessible or recognized from the restart button
(case design issue).

On your edit, I believe 'power-user' is a strong term. It was only a decade
ago when pressing my power button could mean corrupting documents. These ideas
stick.

Locking the computer when I walk away at work is common work. Leaving an
unlocked computer at a financial institution is a dangerous scenario. These
are Excel wizards, data entry, and so on who might be baffled by the premise
of anything that is not Excel or Word.

Hitting the power button is not as intuitive as closing a laptop lid. The
power button is considered dangerous except for turning on the computer by
most normal users.

------
Ueland
Now, if Microsoft could bring back ClearType so the fonts don't look all
borked up on normal PC screens anymore...

There has been a lot of strange things happening over at Redmond lately.

------
yuhong
I still remember the developer preview that still had the start menu, which
reminds me of this (see responses by Brandon Live in particular):
[http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1081755-do-you-like-or-
hat...](http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1081755-do-you-like-or-hate-
windows-8/page__st__435)

------
acturbo
too late.

~~~
recoiledsnake
Too late? Windows 8 already sold 100 million licenses despite the slowdown in
PC sales because of tablets, on par with Windows 7 at release.

Meanwhile, Google does not release Chromebook numbers and web share stats show
sales are much worse than even WindowsRT, yet we don't seem to hear how
ChromeOS is a total failure.

~~~
rmk2
While Windows 8 total sales might be on-par with Windows 7 sales, the total
number of _devices_ is not. This essentially suggests a decline in overall
(total) market share for Windows.

~~~
illuminate
"While Windows 8 total sales might be on-par with Windows 7 sales, the total
number of devices is not. This essentially suggests a decline in overall
(total) market share for Windows."

Or a shift away from desktop PCs, perhaps?

