Pros and Cons of Windows 8 over previous versions

[mbentley]

*edit: This is the continued discussion from Windows 8: The Times They Are a-Changin' which was off-topic from the original post.

if I own microsoft I do something about it. but i dont

til then I tell people to stay on Win7.

and I do so by letting them know what I think of win8.

so yeah, productive.

Semi off topic here but how is Windows 8 really that bad? I've been using Windows 8 since last November on my work laptop, home laptop and home desktop and I really don't see what the problem is. I launch programs slightly different by not having a classic start menu, but all of my apps I use are right up front where I put them for easy access. And then I just use it exactly as I did Windows 7.

I'm just curious if you have used Windows 8 for more than a minute or two because I don't see what all of the "OH MY GOD IT IS SO HORRIBLE!" hype comes from. It's not like they took away the idea of the start menu completely and changed the shell to Program Manger all Windows 3.1 style. There may be a few drawbacks of how Windows 8 works but in my eyes, the new features totally blow away any of the negatives about the OS if you ask me.

 

[trueblack]

Semi off topic here but how is Windows 8 really that bad? I've been using Windows 8 since last November on my work laptop, home laptop and home desktop and I really don't see what the problem is. I launch programs slightly different by not having a classic start menu, but all of my apps I use are right up front where I put them for easy access. And then I just use it exactly as I did Windows 7.

I'm just curious if you have used Windows 8 for more than a minute or two because I don't see what all of the "OH MY GOD IT IS SO HORRIBLE!" hype comes from. It's not like they took away the idea of the start menu completely and changed the shell to Program Manger all Windows 3.1 style. There may be a few drawbacks of how Windows 8 works but in my eyes, the new features totally blow away any of the negatives about the OS if you ask me.

you are probably right.

I gave it 3 weeks on my laptop. then I just had enough of the little changes and the VERY UGLY UI it slaps my face with everytime I turn on the machine. (yes, I already changed it, still ugly as sin)

System wise, it runs fine.
but unless anyone is using a tablet, I really won't recommend it.

 

[deathman20]

Pros and Cons of moving to Windows 8

Semi off topic here but how is Windows 8 really that bad? I've been using Windows 8 since last November on my work laptop, home laptop and home desktop and I really don't see what the problem is. I launch programs slightly different by not having a classic start menu, but all of my apps I use are right up front where I put them for easy access. And then I just use it exactly as I did Windows 7.

I'm just curious if you have used Windows 8 for more than a minute or two because I don't see what all of the "OH MY GOD IT IS SO HORRIBLE!" hype comes from. It's not like they took away the idea of the start menu completely and changed the shell to Program Manger all Windows 3.1 style. There may be a few drawbacks of how Windows 8 works but in my eyes, the new features totally blow away any of the negatives about the OS if you ask me.

With me its growing very little every time i have to fix a relatives computer but still really disliking how the UI is setup. I know 8.1 should change some things around and bring back a little more traditional option as well by default.

As for the benchmark pulling and the clock deal.. Wow very interesting. Looks like they didn't just jump at it at first to say somethings wrong but took time, gathered data and are now saying something. Wonder why MS would do a change like that to the system... seems very odd.

 

[Culbrelai]

Semi off topic here but how is Windows 8 really that bad? I've been using Windows 8 since last November on my work laptop, home laptop and home desktop and I really don't see what the problem is. I launch programs slightly different by not having a classic start menu, but all of my apps I use are right up front where I put them for easy access. And then I just use it exactly as I did Windows 7.

I'm just curious if you have used Windows 8 for more than a minute or two because I don't see what all of the "OH MY GOD IT IS SO HORRIBLE!" hype comes from. It's not like they took away the idea of the start menu completely and changed the shell to Program Manger all Windows 3.1 style. There may be a few drawbacks of how Windows 8 works but in my eyes, the new features totally blow away any of the negatives about the OS if you ask me.

What new features? The fact that spying is now built into the OS in the form of SmartScreen? Love that.

Looks like you didn't read my article on why Windows 8 should be avoided.

https://skydrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=8AEAB38DAE284041!209&app=WordPdf&authkey=!AIm5VSLwiM5QAF8

Screw Windows 8.

I hope it dies in flames and costs Micro$haft millions.

Never used it to bench in HWBot, thank god lol.

So you run Linux?

Windows 7 ftw.

This is amazing, it gives yet another reason for enthuasists like us to never use Windows 8.

 

[mbentley]

What new features? The fact that spying is now built into the OS in the form of SmartScreen? Love that.

Looks like you didn't read my article on why Windows 8 should be avoided.

https://skydrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=8AEAB38DAE284041!209&app=WordPdf&authkey=!AIm5VSLwiM5QAF8

Nope, I had not read your article on why Windows 8 should be avoided. I just read it. I think you're simply using Windows 8 incorrectly. You act like every single application has been turned into a Metro app which is obviously not the truth. The Metro start menu isn't hard either. Just arrange the icons how you want. Scared of Smartscreen? Turn it off. Don't want to use SkyDrive? Don't.

You're complaining about things you have control over. Just change them or how you use them. My desktop looks fully functional to me:



Metro start menu has all of the things I need in the first few rows:


If I can't find something, I just type:


It doesn't get any easier than that. By the way, that is exactly how I launched every application using Windows 7. Win button on my keyboard + typing. So much quicker than a mouse.

 

[I.M.O.G.]

Win button on my keyboard + typing. So much quicker than a mouse.

This is what I've done for quite some time too. I think since finding Gnome-Do, I started then by just typing the first few letters of what I want to run, then hitting enter. You kind of condition yourself to know how many characters it takes to get to that app, and it makes it quicker than any other interface... Keeping fingers on the keyboard is ideal.

 

[Culbrelai]

Nope, I had not read your article on why Windows 8 should be avoided. I just read it. I think you're simply using Windows 8 incorrectly. You act like every single application has been turned into a Metro app which is obviously not the truth. The Metro start menu isn't hard either. Just arrange the icons how you want. Scared of Smartscreen? Turn it off. Don't want to use SkyDrive? Don't.

You're complaining about things you have control over. Just change them or how you use them. My desktop looks fully functional to me:

Looks to me like you don't use any metro app, or very few, based on that picture of your "Start Screen", the first few rows have 16 non-metro apps vs 6 metro apps.

Perhaps you aren't using it correctly? Lmfao.

The real truth is that apps like the Metro ones were created for devices with much less resources than a fully fledged desktop computer (let alone an enthusaists, gamers, etc.)

To use much less featured options on a desktop computer is silly and you would probably be better off using a tablet.

It makes ZERO sense to split the operating systems, hybridize them in some sort of haphazard lazy way like Microsoft did, and hope they win over Apple's tablet market share with it.

In addition, it is not SmartScreen in itself that is the problem. I know I can turn it off, don't be daft. It is the entire idea of built-in-spying, analogous to Windows Genuine Advantage but already installed and unremovable.

In Windows 8 you need a registry hack to turn off UAC.

How long before you need the same to turn off SmartScreen and other associated spying?

Similarly, Skydrive, while not inherently bad, nobody is forcing you to use it, it's once again, the idea of it.

The idea (and practice in some Microsoft applications...) that SkyDrive is above the option to open and save as in your local computer.

The main point of my entire essay on Windows 8, aside from all of the ancillary points...

It makes no sense to have to go back and forth between two different operating systems (Metro and Desktop) to open a program, when Windows 7's was equally efficient and required fewer clicks to accomplish the same things, not to mention the unresponsiveness of the charms menu.

 

[mbentley]

Looks to me like you don't use any metro app, or very few, based on that picture of your "Start Screen", the first few rows have 16 non-metro apps vs 6 metro apps.

Perhaps you aren't using it correctly? Lmfao.

The real truth is that apps like the Metro ones were created for devices with much less resources than a fully fledged desktop computer (let alone an enthusaists, gamers, etc.)

To use much less featured options on a desktop computer is silly and you would probably be better off using a tablet.

It makes ZERO sense to split the operating systems, hybridize them in some sort of haphazard lazy way like Microsoft did, and hope they win over Apple's tablet market share with it.

In addition, it is not SmartScreen in itself that is the problem. I know I can turn it off, don't be daft. It is the entire idea of built-in-spying, analogous to Windows Genuine Advantage but already installed and unremovable.

In Windows 8 you need a registry hack to turn off UAC.

How long before you need the same to turn off SmartScreen and other associated spying?

Similarly, Skydrive, while not inherently bad, nobody is forcing you to use it, it's once again, the idea of it.

The idea (and practice in some Microsoft applications...) that SkyDrive is above the option to open and save as in your local computer.

The main point of my entire essay on Windows 8, aside from all of the ancillary points...

It makes no sense to have to go back and forth between two different operating systems (Metro and Desktop) to open a program, when Windows 7's was equally efficient and required fewer clicks to accomplish the same things, not to mention the unresponsiveness of the charms menu.

That is correct. I do not use many Metro apps at all. As a matter of fact, I do not use any on a regular basis. I would most certainly agree that Metro apps are designed to work with "the least common denominator" (in this case, low end, low powered RT tablets). I do agree that many Metro applications are just plain silly on a desktop and are fairly pointless but I do realize that Microsoft is going for a common interface among the devices. I think they're falling short there on the desktop as I don't really do anything with my desktop that deals with Metro (i.e. like a tablet)

I may just be a bit unfamiliar with the spying type of things that you say are going on so I'm not really going to address that as I don't really know where all you're coming from.

Personally, I do not have a problem with the level of UAC that Windows 8 has implemented but that is completely personal preference and I get that. It would have been simple to include the ability to turn it off.

You mention that the idea of SkyDrive is bad but I personally think it's great. I use Dropbox every single day, multiple times a day. It's great to have a product that syncs the files I want across my devices without having to do anything. Now I would certainly agree that the default save option in Office products shouldn't be SkyDrive. Users should have the right to not have that shoved in their face as I find the Save dialogs to be more difficult in Office 2013 than they have been in the past. They've added steps to doing something simple like saving a file and to me, that's a no-no. You don't want to go back on what you've made so easy.

I guess that my opinion of Windows 8 not being bad comes from the idea that if I don't want to use Metro apps because I think they're stupid (which for most of them, I do), I don't have to. I can do everything I normally did in Windows 7 without any issue whatsoever. Sure, Microsoft has added the ability to have Metro style apps but that doesn't prevent me from doing what I need to do on the desktop at all.

To me, the biggest selling point/question that needs to be answered for an OS is "Can I do what I need to do on a computer with this OS?". And for me with Windows 8, yes I can. I can do what I need to do and more with extra features not offered in Windows 7 that I use often (one of my favorite features being the synchronization of my settings between computers automatically). That's just where I am coming from.

 

[MattNo5ss]

Looks to me like you don't use any metro app, or very few, based on that picture of your "Start Screen", the first few rows have 16 non-metro apps vs 6 metro apps.

Perhaps you aren't using it correctly? Lmfao.

Use what you want the way you want, you have a choice. Using it the way you want is the correct way to use it.

The real truth is that apps like the Metro ones were created for devices with much less resources than a fully fledged desktop computer (let alone an enthusaists, gamers, etc.)

To use much less featured options on a desktop computer is silly and you would probably be better off using a tablet.

Then don't use them

It makes ZERO sense to split the operating systems, hybridize them in some sort of haphazard lazy way like Microsoft did, and hope they win over Apple's tablet market share with it.

Trying to unify an OS across platforms makes perfect sense for Microsoft. It's much easier more more efficient when you have one software version instead of 3+ when it comes to making software changes.

Of course, Microsoft isn't quite there yet with Windows 8, but you have to start somewhere or you'll never get anywhere.

In addition, it is not SmartScreen in itself that is the problem. I know I can turn it off, don't be daft. It is the entire idea of built-in-spying, analogous to Windows Genuine Advantage but already installed and unremovable.

built-in-spying...

Overreacting much? Are you not using anything that could potentially be data collecting?

In Windows 8 you need a registry hack to turn off UAC.

Incorrect

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/hyperyash/a...abling-user-account-control-in-windows-8.aspx

How long before you need the same to turn off SmartScreen and other associated spying?

Speculation

Similarly, Skydrive, while not inherently bad, nobody is forcing you to use it, it's once again, the idea of it.

The idea (and practice in some Microsoft applications...) that SkyDrive is above the option to open and save as in your local computer.

No problem there, just pay attention to where you save.

Also, you complain about Skydrive, then save your essay on it???

The main point of my entire essay on Windows 8, aside from all of the ancillary points...

It makes no sense to have to go back and forth between two different operating systems (Metro and Desktop) to open a program, when Windows 7's was equally efficient and required fewer clicks to accomplish the same things, not to mention the unresponsiveness of the charms menu.

You cite wikipedia; that makes your essay/article is invalid

 

[trueblack]

Nope, I had not read your article on why Windows 8 should be avoided. I just read it. I think you're simply using Windows 8 incorrectly. You act like every single application has been turned into a Metro app which is obviously not the truth. The Metro start menu isn't hard either. Just arrange the icons how you want. Scared of Smartscreen? Turn it off. Don't want to use SkyDrive? Don't.

You're complaining about things you have control over. Just change them or how you use them. My desktop looks fully functional to me:

View attachment 131863

Metro start menu has all of the things I need in the first few rows:
View attachment 131864

If I can't find something, I just type:
View attachment 131865

It doesn't get any easier than that. By the way, that is exactly how I launched every application using Windows 7. Win button on my keyboard + typing. So much quicker than a mouse.

you have internet explorer as an icon on there... that makes ur UI ... almost invalid..


anyway, I have nothing against win 8, i know people that love it.

I just don't like it one bit.
and find that UI completely counter intuitive for me. that's all.

 

[mbentley]

you have internet explorer as an icon on there... that makes ur UI ... almost invalid..

In all fairness, my job is in web hosting so using different browsers on a regular basis is a bit of a requirement My default browser is FF.

 

[trueblack]

In all fairness, my job is in web hosting so using different browsers on a regular basis is a bit of a requirement My default browser is FF.

FF is respectable.

anyway, I launch all applications by win button and type too.
I think everyone one same too...

that's why I mentioned I think for tablet users, it makes sense.
but for me, I see.. well, little value this moment.

maybe I am just old fashioned. but I really think the UI is ugly.

 

[Bobnova]

I fear change, but beyond that my biggest gripe with win8 is the apparent requirement on laptops to have a multi-touch touchpad. Otherwise known as a "do random gestures while typing when your palm hits it" pad.
That is a nightmare.

I use a combination of the start button and desktop icons. Toss up which I use more.

 

[Culbrelai]

That is correct. I do not use many Metro apps at all. As a matter of fact, I do not use any on a regular basis. I would most certainly agree that Metro apps are designed to work with "the least common denominator" (in this case, low end, low powered RT tablets). I do agree that many Metro applications are just plain silly on a desktop and are fairly pointless but I do realize that Microsoft is going for a common interface among the devices. I think they're falling short there on the desktop as I don't really do anything with my desktop that deals with Metro (i.e. like a tablet)

Then why use Windows 8 over Lucky Number Se7en? If you rarely use the metro screen, which is 90% of Windows 8...

You mention that the idea of SkyDrive is bad but I personally think it's great. I use Dropbox every single day, multiple times a day. It's great to have a product that syncs the files I want across my devices without having to do anything. Now I would certainly agree that the default save option in Office products shouldn't be SkyDrive. Users should have the right to not have that shoved in their face as I find the Save dialogs to be more difficult in Office 2013 than they have been in the past. They've added steps to doing something simple like saving a file and to me, that's a no-no. You don't want to go back on what you've made so easy.

The Cloud (i.e. a bunch of storage servers in India somewhere) are no less invulnerable to hacking than your computer, and attempting to portray that it is the end-all-be-all place to store your stuff (Microsoft's position...) and it's inaccesible to anyone else, (NSA?) (hacker groups?) is misinformation, and false advertising.

That is my main problem with SkyDrive and all cloud services.

I guess that my opinion of Windows 8 not being bad comes from the idea that if I don't want to use Metro apps because I think they're stupid (which for most of them, I do), I don't have to. I can do everything I normally did in Windows 7 without any issue whatsoever. Sure, Microsoft has added the ability to have Metro style apps but that doesn't prevent me from doing what I need to do on the desktop at all.

Start menu. Having to add something that was there before from a third party, that frankly, no third party has perfected it yet. (Even ClassicShell's start menu opens slightly slower than the real Start Menu in W7.)

Perhaps Windows 8 doesn't prevent it, but impedes it.

To me, the biggest selling point/question that needs to be answered for an OS is "Can I do what I need to do on a computer with this OS?". And for me with Windows 8, yes I can. I can do what I need to do and more with extra features not offered in Windows 7 that I use often (one of my favorite features being the synchronization of my settings between computers automatically). That's just where I am coming from.

You can, but slower and in some respects signifficantly slower than Windows 7.

Use what you want the way you want, you have a choice. Using it the way you want is the correct way to use it.

Microsoft is not allowing me to. With Windows 8 they force you to use their crappy, sloppy interface designed for touchscreens when touchscreens are quite expensive compared to other monitors, get very dirty even with non-smear surfaces... etc.

Then don't use them

Once again, They're forced in my face with the removal of the start menu. If the start menu was there and a link to the new screen was added somewhere else I would have no problem.

Trying to unify an OS across platforms makes perfect sense for Microsoft. It's much easier more more efficient when you have one software version instead of 3+ when it comes to making software changes.

Of course, Microsoft isn't quite there yet with Windows 8, but you have to start somewhere or you'll never get anywhere.

Makes no sense at all. Hybridized things end up doing everything but nothing well as their specialized counterparts.

From what I can gather, Apple's two OS's seem to be fine, even though few use Macs, they're linked by the iCloud (SkyDrive... Metro not neccesary for Skydrive, lol) iTunes, iPhoto...

They made the essential programs work on both their OS's, they didn't try to combine the OS's. They took an easier way out, in a sense.

Incorrect

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/hyperyash/ar...windows-8.aspx

Doesn't turn it completely off.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=730795

built-in-spying...

Overreacting much? Are you not using anything that could potentially be data collecting?

People said the same of people who criticized Windows Genuine Advantage, and it's phone homing ability and now similar spying is built into Windows 8.

No problem there, just pay attention to where you save.

Also, you complain about Skydrive, then save your essay on it???

Irony, lol.

I pay attention to where I save, but again it adds an extra step instead of defaulting to Save As (in the browser window on your local computer) I now have to click twice to save as instead of once. This adds up over time. It also leaves a particularly bad taste in my mouth how moneyhungry Micro$haft is.

You cite wikipedia; that makes your essay/article is invalid

What are you, my 11th grade english teacher? I cited it in English papers in college plenty of times with no complaints, professor actually had more problems with citing dictionary.com. Wikipedia itself tells you not to use it for high-levels of academia, and this essay was not for academia.

Windows 8 does not deserve a doctoral-thesis level of writing on it. Although I could go there if I had to.

 

[awktane]

The real truth is that apps like the Metro ones were created for devices with much less resources than a fully fledged desktop computer (let alone an enthusaists, gamers, etc.)

I got about this far. Laughed. Then realized how common this thought is... Then couldn't continue reading. The "metro"-style applications will run on any windows 8 device. The point is portability. The start screen was created to allow the same interface for all devices whether touch or not. It allows someone to pick up a device using windows 8 no matter what kind of device it is and know what they're doing.

I pin numerous metro apps to the side of my screens. It is rare for me not to be swapping between them. The ability to assign an app to a portion of the screen without it being "on top" of the desktop is now a required part of my windows experience. I have written metro-style apps that increase my productivity substantially.

I have to admit I was one of those who complained loudly during the windows 8 beta saying many of the things I've heard in this and other threads. Now I find myself complaining if I use any other version of windows. There are so many people who try to use windows 8 like previous versions without realizing what it is capable of and the logic behind the changes.

People have a bad habit of assuming that because they don't use or don't know how to use something that it must be inherently useless, broken, or "stupid".

Edit: Did I also read there are people silly enough to turn off UAC? Wow... Is it really that hard to click yes on occasion? I'd rather be notified when an application is trying to do something that requires admin.
Second edit: To bring this thread back to where it came from... it appears as though the RTC issue only affects intel proc machines - not amd.

 

[Culbrelai]

I got about this far. Laughed. Then realized how common this thought is... Then couldn't continue reading. The "metro"-style applications will run on any windows 8 device. The point is portability. The start screen was created to allow the same interface for all devices whether touch or not.

Yes, but 90% or something close of PCs that people have and are in the market are non-touchscreen, and touchscreen PCs are much more expensive than non touchscreen ones, which makes it even less likely that people will use the best way to use Windows 8.

The point is, the Metro screen is horrible to use on a mouse-and-desktop system, very clunky, slow, etc.

I pin numerous metro apps to the side of my screens. It is rare for me not to be swapping between them. The ability to assign an app to a portion of the screen without it being "on top" of the desktop is now a required part of my windows experience. I have written metro-style apps that increase my productivity substantially.

When I used Windows 8 the snap feature only used 2 apps, or 1 app and the desktop.

Either way, full screen apps are silly on non-touschreen computers because the space that's taken up for pretty touch interfaces could've been filled with useful information instead of extra nothingness for fingers.

I have to admit I was one of those who complained loudly during the windows 8 beta saying many of the things I've heard in this and other threads. Now I find myself complaining if I use any other version of windows. There are so many people who try to use windows 8 like previous versions without realizing what it is capable of and the logic behind the changes.

People have a bad habit of assuming that because they don't use or don't know how to use something that it must be inherently useless, broken, or "stupid".

What logic? Lmfao, what capability? It slows down productivity, has built in spying, has largely useless gutted programs called apps on a screen that is very hard to use with traditional inputs... etc.

As for your last sentence, I used it in a VM for months to gather enough information for my paper.

Edit: Did I also read there are people silly enough to turn off UAC? Wow... Is it really that hard to click yes on occasion? I'd rather be notified when an application is trying to do something that requires admin.

Yes, it is, especially when it again, slows things down. I don't need my OS to act like an overbearing firewall.

An update on the subject:

http://www.techpowerup.com/189607/wi...ted-fixed.html

Shame.

 

[awktane]

The point is, the Metro screen is horrible to use on a mouse-and-desktop system, very clunky, slow, etc.

I can't say I've had a slow or clunky experience. My biggest complaint originally was that it made no sense to change what worked. Over time I started to learn how to use it efficiently.

Either way, full screen apps are silly on non-touschreen computers because the space that's taken up for pretty touch interfaces could've been filled with useful information instead of extra nothingness for fingers.

Some are I will agree. In fact the average metro-style app at this point is not very well designed. Most developers don't know what to do with what this new crap. Key point is that you don't have to use any if you don't want to. Everyone, including microsoft, is learning how to use the space well. All of the core apps have come a long way since beta. Some are now very well done - the Microsoft games such as mahjong and solitaire are prime examples. Don't even bother with the metro-style version of skype... I'm not in any way saying that I use all metro-style apps. I am saying that there is a time and a place for them.

spying

Everything spies on you by default these days. As an example, you have to turn options off in all of the major browsers to have them not send every url that you type. By default windows 8 isn't actually that bad. Previous versions of windows sent in usage statistics and error logs automatically. That's disabled by default for windows 8 though it will ask for your permission in most other cases.

firewall

Is it a horrible thing to have antivirus and firewall built-in and turned on by default? I would consider that a positive myself.

As for your last sentence, I used it in a VM for months to gather enough information for my paper.

Case and point. I had the beta running for a long time as a VM. As I said I complained loudly. It was only when I actually used it for a while that I started to change my mind. There are desktop versions of everything. You are not required to keep a single metro-style app if you choose not to. If you decide you hate the start screen you can install a third party option. All of your comments tell me that you're too busy looking for things wrong with it rather than even letting in the possibility that there might just be something they've done right.

All of this crap with windows 8 reminds me of the day when windows 95 or even windows vista came out. It will fade with time as more get used to it and developers learn how to use the new tools given to them.

Edit: Thanks for breaking it off into a different thread admin folks.

 

[mbentley]

As for your last sentence, I used it in a VM for months to gather enough information for my paper.

I also used Windows 8 in a VM for a short while during my initial assessment and I didn't like it in a VM. I would have to guess that it was likely because most of the weirdness and issues I came across were related to things such as the mouse not stopping at the corners of the screen due to running it in a windowed VM. That just made working with the OS even more difficult. Going with full immersion in Windows 8 completely changed my mind. It also doesn't hurt that I spent a month working with Server 2012 and had become accustomed to the basic feel of the OS. After that, Windows 8 came quite easily.

 

[c627627]

Pros and Cons of moving to Windows 8

I sure would appreciate someone engaging me with an explanation of the following: Why does Windows 8 suck when in (less than) 30 seconds, Windows 8-hating arguments are resolved through http://sourceforge.net/projects/classicshell/files/ There is no difference, no difference whatsoever between Windows 7 and Windows 8 after the quick Classic Shell install.

That is my main question. (Without going into if/how/why it is pointless to abandon a perfectly good & working Windows 7 system for Windows 8.)


Connected to that I suppose, I could ask, if you do not use Metro Apps, then why not have the 'Boot to Desktop' setup of Classic Shell and then you simply hold SHIFT and instantaneously Windows 8 Metro Tiles appear and there you have them whenever you need them with a single click [instead of by default], and vice versa, all you Windows 8 haters, you simply never ever hold SHIFT while clicking your Start Menu button then you will never see Metro and all your arguments against Windows 8 GUI never materialize.


BTW the 'spying' was not on by default when I installed retail full version of Windows 8 I bought at Office Max, I don't know about other versions you got elsewhere, but yes, you would need to manually turn off 'the spying' if it is on by default. Correct me if I'm wrong, but every Google search you ever do from your machine is stored by Google and if that is true then we can't turn that off whereas we can turn off 'the spying' in Windows 8 so

 

[goose90proof]

Pros:

• Not Windows Vista
• Great for Tablets
• Microsoft account synchronization
• Works well with free Hypver-V Core 2012

Cons:

• Adds at least 1 step to any administrative operation (search, change settings, etc.)
• No start menu (the 8.1 start menu is not a start menu)
• Complete departure from control panel organization traditional as of WinXP (so confusing)
• Windows 8

There is no difference, no difference whatsoever between Windows 7 and Windows 8 after the quick Classic Shell install.

Not true. Control panel is totally different. General navigation through Windows is different. It is less optimized for productivity than Windows 7 - IMO.