..and it somehow became 'cool' to dislike Vista.
Just like how it's become 'cool' to hate Windows 8 even though 90% of the people saying it sucks have never even used it. I sincerely hope everyone who hasn't actually used Windows 8 but constantly spouts off "Don't bother with Windows 8 if you don't have a touch screen" gets hit by a bus tomorrow. The less people spreading misinformation on the internet the better.
I've been using Windows 8 as my main OS for a good while now and I can honestly say it's not nearly as bad as everyone is making it out to be. I uninstalled all the default apps to 1) clear out the metro start screen so I can put my own stuff on there and 2) so I can use my own programs (foxit, VLC, etc) instead of having to deal with Microsoft's fullscreen tablet view BS apps. After that it pretty much operates exactly like Windows 7 does. I pin all my frequently used programs to the metro start screen so that it functions just like the frequently used programs you see on the start menu from XP onward. This way I don't have to navigate through the awkward "all programs" screen very often. I also keep the "Desktop Mode" "app" on the start screen so I can switch back to desktop mode without having to move my mouse back down to the bottom left corner. I keep the handful of programs that I know I'll use everyday pinned to the taskbar just like I did in 7. The average Windows user won't even have to use the start screen or all programs screen very often since they seem to have a shortcut to every file or application on their computer sitting on their desktop. Contrary to what clueless bloggers and forum dwellers would have you believe, the desktop still exists and it's still as functional as it was in 7.
You can also quickly access common control panel tasks as well as the control panel, task manager, elevated command prompt, run and search commands by right clicking where the start menu used to be. There's also a pretty neat feature (that might exist in Windows 7 but I never looked for it) to restart your computer in safe mode without having to hammer the F8 button at start up, only it's hidden in a ridiculously long chain of button clicking that make it such a pain in the *** to actually use. It's something like hover over the bottom right corner of screen > settings > change pc setting > general > advanced start up > two or three more button presses > safe mode > restart now. There's probably a faster way to access it but I don't boot into safe mode (or unsigned driver mode) often enough to bother searching.
With that said, there's some really annoying things about Windows 8 too. The biggest issue for me is that it STILL DOESN'T HAVE A TABBED FILE EXPLORER! It's 2012 for crying out loud. How can you be a modern operating system and not include a tabbed file explorer? This is something that probably should have been implemented in Vista or at the very least, 7. Can you imagine ever going back to a non tabbed web browser? Of course not. Once you've used a tabbed file explorer you don't want to give it up either. It makes dealing with even just two separate folders so much easier.
Another pretty annoying (to me anyway) thing is the Desktop Mode "app" on the start screen. It's a giant button, twice the size of the average start screen button, so one would think that this button would show a live preview of what's currently on your desktop. Nope. it's just a picture of your wallpaper with "Desktop" written on it. Being able to see what's currently on your desktop while your desktop is completely covered by another screen can be pretty useful. Icons on the taskbar have previews so why not extend the functionality of the start screen with that same technology?
I also hate how Windows 8 doesn't alert you about windows updates being available anywhere other than on the windows update section of the control panel or on the login screen. Even on the login screen it's in tiny pinkish letters on the bottom on the screen. I never set Windows to automatically download and install updates because sometime there's updates I don't want, like the generic radeon drivers Windows 8 keeps wanting to install because it doesn't recognize that I already have the latest AMD drivers installed. So I either have to manually check if there's updates available or wait until I restart my computer, which isn't very often, to be notified. I like the Windows 7 way of having a little notification popup alerting me that there is updates available.
Other than those I can't really think of much else to complain about. I guess the ribbon menu on everything is annoying but that's easy enough to fix. Outside of the new UI, which takes all of about a day to get used to, it generally functions like a snappier version of Windows 7. I don't really consider myself a "power user" these days. I just do pretty typical stuff like video games, porn, netflix, a little programming, photoshop, etc. Maybe for extreme technical use Windows 8 might not be so hot. But for day to day stuff it's really nowhere near as bad as people who have never even used it are making it out to be. Just because Gabe Newell is threatened by competition doesn't make Windows 8 a bad OS.
I suggest getting your hands on an evaluation copy and using it for a few weeks before writing it off as trash. You can download the enterprise edition to use for free for 90 days.
**In term Win 9 is going to be the same junk its probably time seeking for alternate solutions, but the only alternate solution for gaming could be wine.
