Good riddance to Windows 8

[nickdalzell]

I highly doubt we've seen the last of Metro UI, given the future looks on the Windows Phones and of course, the new Xbox One.

Like it or not, flat design is in. it looks dated, like something out of a 1970s Pan-Am brochure, and i'm unsure what comes after it. perhaps ANSI revival? CP/M? who knows. I still cringe at the thought of going backwards.



And...just as I host this on Photobucket, it has now also gone flat. will this horrid design ever end?! flat design must be 'hip' and 'modern' only to those who were never around in the 1970s...or before.

 

[jefboyardee]

I highly doubt we've seen the last of Metro UI

As posted: Windows 9 may remove the Metro interface for desktop PC users

I gotta think that the whole point of Win9 is to win the forgiveness of the Win7 forgotten and Win8 victims.

 

[Joelgp83]

My question is what are they gonna call Windows 10? Windows X? Is Apple gonna have a hissy fit over trademarks?

 

[jefboyardee]

Maybe they'll mimic Nigel Tufnel and go Up to Eleven.

 

[lunatic59]

Microsoft never followed a consistent naming convention for Windows.

Windows 1.0
Windows 2.0
Windows 3.0
Windows 3.1
Windows 3.11
Windows 95
Windows 98
Windows ME
Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8


Maybe for Windows "10" they could use the hexadecimal value and make it "Windows A"?

 

[WirelessWanderer]

I've been a longtime Windows user, from DOS5.0/Win 3.0 days up to now (Win7 & 8.1). BUT... I started playing with Linux (Ubuntu Dappy) and over the years have moved 95% to Linux (PCLinuxOS and Mint, mainly XFCE DE) and I've converted a couple of XP users to Mint since April as they didn't want to replace their PCs. They were amazed at how much faster their PCs ran with Mint LXDE.

When XP was EOL'd I moved my wife over to Linux Mint. She's happy enough with it.

I never have used MS-Windows, myself.

 

[MoodyBlues]

As posted: Windows 9 may remove the Metro interface for desktop PC users

I gotta think that the whole point of Win9 is to win the forgiveness of the Win7 forgotten and Win8 victims.

I cannot fathom the idea of an OS that doesn't let *ME*, the user, make my environment look, act, and feel the way *I* want it. Want a 'start' button? You've got it!

 

[nickdalzell]

Windows used to offer endless customization aka windowblinds and custom desktops (Star Trek LCARS x32) but that ended with Windows 8 tablet UI

 

[jefboyardee]

Windows 9 Start menu makes video debut: Windows 7 fans should finally be happy

While the left side of the Windows 9 Start menu looks somewhat like the Windows 7-era menu, it’s clearly a brand new beast. Still, all of the major functions from the Windows 7 Start menu are there: A Search/Run box (which immediately has focus after you hit the Start key), one-click access to your documents and pictures, and a block that appears to be populated with your most-used apps.

Windows 9's new Start menu demonstrated on video

The new Start menu consists of two sections: one for a list of traditional apps in the familiar left pane, and a new section on the right that consists mainly of modern apps with Live Tiles. However, the right section can collapse to make way for Start menu users to dig into File Explorer, otherwise it appears to work just like the Windows 7 menu with options to pin apps and browse through a list of all apps.

 

[nickdalzell]

Am i the only one who hated the start menu from the first day of Windows 95? it was so inefficient, too many steps to click Start, then programs, Accessories, Games, Solitaire

i mean, why not just put an icon on your desktop or a group into a folder there and make it simple? i was never married to the start menu so i cannot fathom everyone's obsession with it.

 

[jefboyardee]

Am i the only one who hated the start menu from the first day of Windows 95? it was so inefficient, too many steps to click Start, then programs, Accessories, Games, Solitaire

i mean, why not just put an icon on your desktop or a group into a folder there and make it simple? i was never married to the start menu so i cannot fathom everyone's obsession with it.

I was never obsessed with it either and also keep my oft-used links right on the desktop. But I do find it handy for stuff that I don't use much but still want readily available.

I was never angry that metro replaced the start menu; more that it replaced the desktop.

 

[nickdalzell]

But there was always an icon right in front for the legacy 'desktop' so again I don't get it. Can't complain about Win8 being crash happy like others...it was remarkably stable.

Windows 8 was just a rather huge app drawer. Not that confusing. Being an Xbox user I really liked it.

 

[Th3M4dP1ay3r]

Windows 1
Windows 2
Windows 3
3.1
3.11
Windows 95
98
ME
XP (first nt kernel built for a Windows os)
Vista
7
8
8.1

 

[nickdalzell]

Actually, windows 2k also had the NT kernel. You also left out Windows NT 4

 

[Th3M4dP1ay3r]

Oh yeah. Forgot NT 4. Didn't know win 2k had nt though

 

[jefboyardee]

Leaked Windows 9 video shows multiple desktops at work

As seen in the video, the taskbar for this early build of Windows 9 includes an icon for creating and closing virtual desktops. New workspaces can be made on the fly, and each workspace and their open programs can be accessed from this icon. The interface is certainly reminiscent of what's already been available on OS X and even Linux for years, but it'll be a welcome feature for power users when the new OS finally debuts.

 

[nickdalzell]

Windows 2000 was basically NT 5, but they renamed it to 2000 and it had 'Built on NT Technology' on its startup screen.

 

[lunatic59]

I'm sure you realize you're missing several...right? Specifically, those built on the NT kernel prior to XP.

Yep. I was focusing on the general consumer releases. The original NT's were primarily used in business networks. I left off all the server editions, too. And the suites and bundles.

 

[nickdalzell]

he also *conveniently* left out 'Windows ME'

 

[Th3M4dP1ay3r]

Well I got ME there but ME was the worst too

 

[nickdalzell]

enough for many to refer to it as 'Mistake Edition'

It really wasn't as bad as the press laid it out to be, although it did take a good dozen or so service packs before it was any more stable than Windows 98SE. the first Windows 98 (not SE) was horrible and crashed many times a day, worse than ME. ME's biggest issue with people was losing the MS-DOS boot. even then, many still played legacy DOS games and apps and losing the ability to run MS-DOS fully, and being confined only to a limited command prompt window didn't sit well with those still using dBase III or Professional Write Plus.

Don't laugh though, Professional Write Plus was and still could be a very capable word processing program. it was still in daily use in our high school in 1998, and even in college through 2002. it wasn't cheap either and had many features that many would assume were exclusive to MS Office. dBase III, in contrast, was horrible. not sure why anyone would have even bothered with it at the time, unless they had a ton of older spreadsheet files that couldn't migrate over to something newer.

The rest dealt with the (then new) features that later came to Windows XP, albeit in more functional states, such as System Restore, Windows Update, and Media Integration. the UI of both ME and Win2k were pretty much alike.

 

[jefboyardee]

Windows 9: everything you need to know

Microsoft is preparing a big update to Windows 8 that will focus on traditional desktop PC users. While Windows 8 generated mixed opinions, the next version of Windows aims to fix and improve those perceptions with the return of the Start menu, flexible app windowing, virtual desktops, Microsoft’s Cortana digital assistant, and a whole lot more.

New Windows 9 Desktop screenshots show that Metro isn’t dead yet

First of all, it would seem the Metro interface isn’t entirely going away for mouse-and-keyboard users. We always knew that the resurrected Start menu would include some Metro-style live tiles, but it it would appear that the left-hand menu has also been Metrofied.

I hope Microsoft has a good reason for continuing to shove the Metro interface into the path of mouse-and-keyboard users. It would be so easy to confine the Metro interface to just tablets and touchscreen devices, where it actually works quite well, and keep the Desktop side of things 100% mouse-and-keyboard oriented.

 

[nickdalzell]

i still think it won't be long until laptops and full-blown desktops become replaced with tablet hybrids and all-in-ones.

It's a shame to see Microsoft catering to the luddites. makes me cringe when those afraid of anything new make the rest of us suffer. i really wanted to see the start menu finally die off. so inefficient. and then the holdouts from the Windows 95 days had to cry like babies until someone listened..

If corporations start listening to technophobes afraid of changes, we will soon see the loss of SD card slots, high-PPI touchscreens, and the return of throwbacks to the late 1990s. time to move on!

 

[jefboyardee]

And for the cutting-edge Luddite, there's All-in-One PCS with Windows 7.

..but I do agree that desktops are doomed, just because AIOs are cheaper to mass-produce.

 

[mikedt]

And for the cutting edge Luddite who finds Windows unnecessary.
Lenovo announces the N308, an All-in-One Android computer | Android Central

http://shop.lenovo.com.cn/product-18152.html

No Windows license, keeps the cost down.