Windows 8 forum: Poll: Windows 8 users: What do you think of it so far?

I could not log in to my bank with it. A program I have to help log in would flash on and off a windows on top of the IE. I bought it for about $40 and used it for about 2 days before I said windows 7 is better. Windows 8 looked neat but I just could not use it good.

Windows 8 is NOT for the desktop...we are ignored. Multitasking is difficult. In W7, if you opened another program you would see it across the bottom of your desktop and could copy and paste or whatever. You have to click so many times to get in and out of programs and apps, it's ridiculous. I use the mouse a lot and now I have to learn all these keyboard shortcuts...NO. I had to run refresh and delete all my programs because I could not access the internet from IE10 on the desktop. People app doesn't sync with my Facebook and Twitter accounts, well, it did a few times and then one Facebook notification. That was it. It's supposed to make things easier??? That's why I had to search Windows help forums just to get rid of the password protection. I don't want to enter a password every time I boot up my computer. Let's not talk about IE10 app...favorites are now a mile long across the bottom and arranged haphazardly, no rhyme or reason. So I had to use IE10 Desktop because favorites are like they used to be, arranged in the folders I created. Realplayer plus cannot download videos anymore, even in the Desktop. I have downloaded tons of videos and haven't figured out how to access them on the Realplayer app. My Word docs can't be opened because the Word Starter program that came with my 2 year old computer won't migrate to W8. OpenOffice is my only answer, I have Gmail and calendars you add, like sports teams or any imported calendar does not sync with the Calendar App. People or Calendar App useless. What's left? Nothing...stocks and news, who cares. Fortunately I have a 2nd desktop I can use. Do I want to share my computers...NO because then I'd have to install W8 on my 2nd computer. I'm hoping upgrades can fix People and Calendar before I buy W7 and install it over Windows Hate(pretty clever, eh?).

I use the Lightning calender from within Thunderbird. (I couldn't edit the previous post.)

My comments are mainly concerning a non-touch PC. The Metro UI is ugly and difficult to use. How do you close a native Metro program with a mouse? How do you window multiple programs - not easily. I liked the Aero see-through stuff, although fluff, it was better fluff than the blurry, shaded junk in XP or the flat, dull windows of Win 8. I have been using this for several weeks on a non-touch-screen PC. Why get rid of right click in Metro? Why those chunky, pixel wasting, Zune-like boring tiles? Who cares if some tile on travel photos updates itself occasionally? Why get rid of the start button? I live by that. Why are the only backgrounds composed of retro-junky swirls and antique paisley thingys? My company is just now converting 3,000 PCs on XP to Win 7. It will be many, many years before we go to Win 8. By then, I hope the Windows Phone UI has died a quick death.

I also used Win8 RT on a Surface and Win 8 on an HP touch screen tablet at a Microsoft store. Smooth as butter, but lacks any really useful apps. Maybe that will change. Imagine Excel or Word with touch screen. Who would want grimy fingers with hand creme goop smudging the screen at work? Keyboards are bad enough now. In a work environment, where people are creating documents, Power Points, spreadsheets, invoices, etc., the whole touch screen thing is not much use. Maybe at home with your Surface iPad killer it will be OK, but in the enterprise world, maybe only the sales staff would use the touch thing. But we know those sales folks are more concerned about looking good than getting stuff done. Have they infiltrated the head office at Microsoft?

I would have appreciated if when installing Windows 8 that there were an option to have the classic 7 interface or the new metro touch interface--not both.

Great point!!!

If each OS was as great as it was hyped to be, there would be absolutely no reason to upgrade to another. It's merely--as far as I'm concerned--a sham to allow getting more money.

As near as I can tell, everything that you want to do is harder on W8 versus W7. I will pass on upgrading for the moment and instead buy a Nexus 10 tablet in the next month and minimize the use of my W7 computers to help preserve their life. I just got one back from Fry's Electronics that had been exhibiting the deadly BSOD. I guess it is working now, but unfortunately with every Windows computer that I have had in the past, things usually ended up with a tragic end to the computer and new one was purchased to move on. I am looking forward to using Android and see if it is more reliable. I put Android 4.0.3 on a ASUS Netbook that came with W7. It was very slow to use with W7, and worked great with Android even though the computer was not made to use this O/S. It was more of an experiment rather than trying to make it a full fledged Android machine. I gave it away to a friend and her kids are using it regularly to play games that have been downloaded from the Play Store. I am going to make sure to have one Android device around to fill the bill rather than use the W7 units so much.

Microsoft has a new store opened in the mall near me. Well, it is about an hour away. However, the point is the they seem to have stores opening around. So if you look in your local malls, you might find one. Good luck.

It really depends on the hardware being used. I have noticed Windows 8 boots faster on most machines and the new apps also use up less resources than full blown apps - I would be surprised to hear people complain about performance.

Perhaps the most important aspect of Windows 8 is the new interface - and that's where things get a bit strange. If you plan on using a desktop or laptop that you owned before the Windows 8 era, the OS looks cool, but it takes some getting used to - it's hard finding things, it takes time to memorize where/how to hover your mouse over certain areas, and it's also a bit hard remembering the hot keys; for example, the ESC does not do what one assumes, the Enter key displays the address bar in the IE app, and other such things...

Using Windows 8 on a touch screen device is great though. In my mind, it adds an extra way of interacting with our computer; we still have a keyboard and mouse, but in addition have a touch screen that makes it easier to drag and drop things, makes games more fun, allows us to do new things like sketch on our screen or collect signatures by having people physically sign on the screen, and other cool things.

With that being said - I find Windows 8 to be just ok on my Mac (no touch screen - a normal laptop), but find it to be pretty amazing on my Vaio Duo 11. I do find myself using the Duo 11 over the Mac a lot more often. At the same time I don't see my touchscreen ultrabook as a tablet alternative, and it still stays at home while the iPad is the go to, take everywhere, tablet.

I suspect it's an impersonation attempt, and based on this poll, with positives (ok, isn't bad, love) at 33 percent and negatives (don't care for, hate) at 40 percent, they didn't succeed.

As for me, if XP wasn't as flawed as it is (Explorer crashes among the worst), I'd be happy to stay there, though, I do like Win 7's improved system monitoring tools, and once you understand the sharing and permissions, it's better than XP.

But, as for Win 8, I haven't tried it and I won't, mostly because I don't like dirty, oily, smudgy, screens, and that's what you get with touch screen, forced to either learn to live with it or be cleaning all the time. And touch is NOT easier than mouse and keyboard on a laptop or desktop; it's only practical with small-form devices. These were and remain my only considerations. But now there's another: systems still loaded with Win 7 are at the best discount ever, so pick one up while you can.

The Windows 8 interface has had the Start menu redesigned and rethought. It seems better suited for use with a touch interface than a traditional keyboard and mouse. Myself, I don't use any touch interface devices, and I find it cumbersome for desktop use. I also find that the Search function is no where near as intuitive as that included with Windows 7.

The use of the Start page with a mouse is inaccurate and difficult to control. It's not like you can swipe with the mouse to scoot the page from side to side, but instead you must move the mouse all the way to the edge of the screen and wait for Windows to move the page for you, or grab the slider at the bottom of the screen. It is a bit uncoordinated that way, and not so useful for a desktop.

Having a large graphic to start your programs and the ability to arrange them in a thoughtful manner are a plus, especially from across the room, as in an HTPC setting, however the use of shortcuts and the largest icons in a Windows Explorer folder are just as effective in Windows 7, though it is not as pretty.

The Desktop feature operates nearly identically to that of Windows 7, though I still go to the bottom left for the Start menu, even after 2 months of continuous use.

Also, the Apps selling is annoying. Delete, delete, delete, and use your own established programs from within the desktop if you don't want to continuously spend new dollars on minimally functional apps. I know that's a personal opinion, but it's mine, so I share it.

It has been a bit glitchy, restarting due to unexpected failures, and a bit halty at times. I cannot say at this time whether that is hardware, driver, or OS related, as the hardware is all new and has not been tested with another OS.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot! Turning the thing off is unnecessarily complicated by having to go to the settings window to do so, or to log out, wait for the "Leaf" (initial) screen, then click to get back to the log in screen, just to find the power options. That one wasn't very well "Re-thought"!

In all, I don't find it desktop friendly, but if you are more accustomed to a touch interface, it may be of use to you over Windows 7.

I'm using "Windows 8 Release Preview" on an AMD E350 APU with 8gb ram and a 60gb SSD.

The new Metro interface with a keyboard and mouse takes some trial and error to get used to. To close any of the apps takes some adjustment; I first just went to task manager to close them. It all might be better with a touch screen, but face it, most PC users don't have them. To use the OS in a business environment would be just impractical.
On the plus side, Windows 8 seems to run much faster on my Vista laptop, as does IE 10. The mapping app is pretty cool, as it detects your location when you open it. I am just using the preview edition, but from what I see and experience I think I will stay with Windows 7.

I used Windows 8 consumer preview for 3 months ;I hated it.McAfee,Dell Data backup and parts of the Hewlett Packard printer were incompatible.The first 2 I pay for and was unable to use.I thought I could get rid of Windows 8 in October but then found out the trial was until January 2013.In October the whole system crashed and I had nothing.Took the laptop to the Guru and hey presto I have Vista back.Wanted it in English so did not put Windows 7 on(Spanish).
So good to have everything I want and know where things are stored.If it ain't broke ,don't fix it.
Maybe the computer whizz guys enjoy Windows 8 but for myself and other casual users of advanced years I am happy now.

I have a laptop and not a touch screen. Its a nightmare to use via a keypad. All kinds of control-whatever keys to memorize. PC's are supposed to be click and do or go or enter, etc. Its a step backwardsfor a laptop or PC w/o a touch screen.

I understand Windows trying to adapt to the mobile world, tablets and touch screen direction we aregoing in but it surely could have built in a normal keypad interface for us gazillion laptop and PC users.

I do not see any need to migrate just because every few years Windows creates another system and shoves it down our throats via OEM's with computer and laptop manufacturers.

Remember Vista? Remember ME? Other failed systems that were shoved down our throats.

Consumers - How a bout teling windows you dont want yet another operating system shoved down your throat like it or not. Neil Licht