Has Microsoft stumbled?

[Zelig]

Considering how Microsoft has caved in on the DRM and used games on the X1, they might give in and bring back the start menu in 8.2 or Windows 9. If anything they should make it an option for people who want it. If 8.1 does little to change sales it will help which I am predicting will be the case. Once again Microsoft will have to admit defeat.

No, they'll never bring back the start menu.

And they hardly caved on "DRM" in general with the XB1, they just traded account-based DRM for disc-based DRM. Now because of all the whiners online you'll need to put your game disc in the drive to play an installed game that doesn't read the disc at all.

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

The mandatory installs and always on Kinect are still deal breakers to me. Also the X1 does NOT require any connection anymore.

 

[azzaman333]

Disappointing decision from Microsoft, I have significantly less interest in buying this disc based incarnation of the Xbox One than I did the digitally based one.

 

[Zelig]

The mandatory installs

I'm not really sure why anybody would be particularly against mandatory installs. You get better performance, you can probably install 50+ games at a time, and if you want more space, for $100 you can get a 3TB drive that lets you install another 300 games.

always on Kinect

This isn't a thing.

Also the X1 does NOT require any connection anymore.

Okay?

 

[Mr.WorldWide]

Considering how Microsoft has caved in on the DRM and used games on the X1, they might give in and bring back the start menu in 8.2 or Windows 9. If anything they should make it an option for people who want it. If 8.1 does little to change sales it will help which I am predicting will be the case. Once again Microsoft will have to admit defeat.

MS isn't very graceful in defeat when their PR team isn't around.

http://www.dorkly.com/article/52521/don-mattricks-first-draft-of-the-xbox-one-update-announcement Warning - offensive language.

 

[Sonereal]

Clearly faked screenshot is clearly faked. Dorkly is an awful source of information.

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

Clearly faked screenshot is clearly faked. Dorkly is an awful source of information.

That "first draft" was a joke.

 

[Archbob]

No, they'll never bring back the start menu.

And they hardly caved on "DRM" in general with the XB1, they just traded account-based DRM for disc-based DRM. Now because of all the whiners online you'll need to put your game disc in the drive to play an installed game that doesn't read the disc at all.

The 8.1 update is bringing back the start button and will give users the option at start to boot straight to desktop and never see this crappy new interface. Microsoft is actually listening to its customers, imagine that.

 

[Zelig]

Yes, they're putting a start button icon that works exactly like Windows 8 already works and they're putting in a nice GUI option to boot to desktop, which you could already set up in 2 minutes, or you could go to the desktop manually in .1 seconds.

I never said they wouldn't do either of those, I just said they wouldn't bring back the start menu, which they won't.

 

[Commodore]

The 8.1 update is bringing back the start button and will give users the option at start to boot straight to desktop and never see this crappy new interface. Microsoft is actually listening to its customers, imagine that.

Crappy interface? Are you being serious right now? I just bought a new gaming rig about 2 weeks ago with Windows 8 and it is amazing. The interface makes just about every task I do easier and faster. The model I bought is not a touchscreen, but the touchscreen models I tried out in the store worked even better with the new interface.

I'm also noticing Windows 8 doesn't have nearly as many compatibility issues with older software as Windows 7 did. For example: I have been able to get Command & Conquer 95 to work without even having to use compatibility mode, let alone the unofficial patch to get it to work with Windows 7.

Yours isn't. Tommy's is.

It is like having a pink bicycle. For some people, the color is a big deal. For other people it isn't.

Exactly. So the people who are unhappy with it should say "I personally don't like it" instead of "This is a bad OS". You may think that's just semantics, but the former makes it clear that it is your personal opinion; whereas the latter is stating the product is bad as if it were an objective fact.

So the anti-Windows 8 crowd needs to change their tone to make it clear that they just don't like the new setup and that there is nothing actually wrong with the OS itself.

 

[Archbob]

Crappy interface? Are you being serious right now? I just bought a new gaming rig about 2 weeks ago with Windows 8 and it is amazing. The interface makes just about every task I do easier and faster. The model I bought is not a touchscreen, but the touchscreen models I tried out in the store worked even better with the new interface.

I use my computer mainly for work and playing League at times, but the tiles just plain suck.

 

[NBAfan]

The 8.1 update is bringing back the start button and will give users the option at start to boot straight to desktop and never see this crappy new interface. Microsoft is actually listening to its customers, imagine that.

I'm not sure what the big deal about the start button is. You can already bring up the start menu by putting your mouse in the lower left corner.

 

[bhsup]

@NBAfan: Okay, first just let me say that I love Windows 8 overall as an OS. I've had it on my laptop and desktop since the day it was released, more or less (had some install issues...)

That said, I really just hate the Metro start screen and for a desktop or laptop with keyboard and mouse (or touchpad on laptop, whatever), the start button from previous incarnations of Windows is just so vastly superior. Easy click access to the programs menu, control panel, etc. I realize this is just a personal opnion, but imho the metro start menu sucks donkey privates. For the first months I used a start button replacement ( http://www.classicshell.net/ ), but I did eventually uninstall that because I figure this is the way MS wants us to use computers from here on out, regardless of the fact that they're being asses about it given that for almost 20 years they made the start button the way everyone interacted with their computer.

It's been months now without the add-on start button and frankly I don't like the metro start screen that you access from the lower left corner now any more than I did before. It may be great for a keyboardless/mouseless tablet or smartphone, but it's the dumbest thing in the world for a desktop or laptop. I am going to wait and see just what functionality comes with the new start button being reintroduced with Win 8.1, but if it isn't a full on restoration of the old start button, I am probably going to reinstall classic shell.

EDIT: And how ridiculous is it the steps you have to take to shut down, short of creating your own custom icons. They couldn't even have a quick easy way to do that. You have to 1) access the dumb metro screen 2) CLick on your username and sign out 3) wait to sign out and then hit escape to access yet another screen that finally gives you the icon to click on to choose shut down. All of that as opposed to the old start button menu where shutdown was immediately accessible easy peasy.

 

[Zelig]

I actually jump between Win7 on my work desktop and Win8 on my home PCs on a daily basis now, and legitimately feel that the Win8 start screen is better even for people using PCs with mice and no keyboard. The start screen has everything there right away, while the start menu involves clicking through several levels of folders to get to anything. I suspect the comparative advantage of the start screen decreases with lower resolution screens (I don't use mouse/keyboard on anything below 1080p.) If this is the case, 8.1 should help by introducing smaller start screen icons. (Depending on your screen resolution, you can also add another row of icons in the settings.)

There are a bunch of better ways to shut down:
1. Configure your PC for sleep mode, don't shut down.
2. Hit the power button on your PC.
3. Charms bar -> settings -> power -> shut down (Not great, but at least saves you from needing to sign off first.)

 

[Commodore]

And how ridiculous is it the steps you have to take to shut down, short of creating your own custom icons. They couldn't even have a quick easy way to do that. You have to 1) access the dumb metro screen 2) CLick on your username and sign out 3) wait to sign out and then hit escape to access yet another screen that finally gives you the icon to click on to choose shut down. All of that as opposed to the old start button menu where shutdown was immediately accessible easy peasy.

Umm...what? All you have to do to shut down on Windows 8 is either hold down the power button or ctrl+alt+del. And despite popular belief shutting down by holding down the power button is not "bad" for your computer.

 

[Zelig]

Whoa, I didn't know it was on the ctrl+alt+delete screen, I don't think I've ever actually visited that screen in Windows 8.

 

[bhsup]

Whoa... I didn't either! Thanks Still, though, having to use a keyboard combination for a GUI interface that should only require mice for such an activity is ridiculous. It's a flippin' gui, not a DOS console.

 

[Commodore]

Whoa... I didn't either! Thanks Still, though, having to use a keyboard combination for a GUI interface that should only require mice for such an activity is ridiculous. It's a flippin' gui, not a DOS console.

So just push the power button then. Like I said, it won't harm your computer.

 

[Zelig]

FWIW, they're adding shutdown to the right-click on in the lower-right menu in 8.1.

 

[Commodore]

Whoa, I didn't know it was on the ctrl+alt+delete screen, I don't think I've ever actually visited that screen in Windows 8.

I'm not trying to single you out here Zelig, but I think this right here is the main reason why people do not like Windows 8. It is a new OS with an unfamiliar interface and people don't know quite how to use it yet.

I'll admit that I probably would hate Windows 8 if I didn't have the benefit of a friend who showed me how to use the OS and all of it's nifty little features. I think once people really learn how it works, the general opinion towards Windows 8 will drastically change for the positive.

I also think Microsoft is adding a lot of the old interface features to 8.1 because they realize the mistake they made by completely changing the interface without giving people time to adjust. Adding in the old features will give users the ability to "transition" from the old Windows to the new Windows.