Windows 8: Revolution or disaster?

Microsoft

(MoneyWatch) The transition to each new version of Windows has always drawn criticism. Back in 2001, even the now-beloved Windows XP was met with widespread derision for its supposedly IQ-lowering candy-colored palette. But Windows 8, the operating system unveiled last month, is getting hit especially hard.

Last week, Internet guru Jakob Nielsen posted a scathing assessment of Windows 8. Based on a study group of 12 Windows users, Nielsen deemed Windows 8, in a word, "disappointing." Some of his key concerns:

The dual interface. For Windows 8 users, having to contend with the traditional desktop and the platform's completely overhauled "tile" interface is confusing, requiring people to remember where to go for specific features.

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Lack of traditional multi-tasking. "Windows" is no longer an apt name for the operating system because users can't run modern applications side by side or have multiple windows open on the same display.

Lack of "discoverability." The flat look of the modern user interface means that people get fewer visual cues about how to interact with the PC. For example, there are no shading effect to let you know what's clickable.

Low information density. Nielsen points out that the modern interface seems to reward sparse displays. Even on a large 24-inch display, for instance, some financial news apps show only single story and three stock market quotes on its home page. That might make sense on a tablet or smartphone, but a desktop PC or laptop should make better use of space, Nielsen contends. 

Live tiles are confusing. In theory, Live Tiles should make your life easier by packing the Windows 8 start screen with information so you don't always need to open apps to learn what's already in the tile. But the information overload makes tiles look alike. And since the tiles generally aren't labeled and resemble each other, it can be hard to find a specific app when you need it.

Nielsen makes a number of good points. After spending a few weeks with the final version of Windows 8, both on the desktop and on the Surface tablet, I agree that the Live Tiles are a confusing mess. Even though they're as animated as a department store Christmas display, they all tend to look alike -- especially similar ones, like a cluster of news apps. The only worse example of a user interface I can think of is the center console of a Chevy Volt, which to my eye looks like an undifferentiated grid of look-alike buttons that are all but impossible to use when driving.

But in principle, I think Nielsen's scathing assessment of Windows 8 is wrong. He's really just stating the obvious: Faced with a radically new interface, people will not automatically know how it works. Did it take a study with 12 users to figure that out? People have always needed to master new software, whether it was the first iPhone (how to rearrange and group icons was far from self-evident), right-clicking in Windows 95 or the ribbon interface in Office 2007.

Yes, Windows 8 will take some getting used to, especially knowing how to interact with a "flat" interface that doesn't have reflections and shadows. But once you learn the nuances of Windows 8, you know them. That's the magic of learning. You only have to do it once.

There's another question here, of course: Is Windows 8 worth learning at all? Does the new operating system have enough value to warrant mastering a new interface? Time will tell. Right now, the platform's utility is hurt by the lack of good apps, and without those it's hard to know if Windows 8 will succeed as a new computer paradigm for the next 10 or 20 years. When I boot up Windows 8, for instance, I go to the desktop for Office and Photoshop -- Windows 8 is little more than a new start screen for me right now.

But the aging desktop is increasingly ill-equipped to support the way people today interact with computers, so I am willing to give it a chance.

[EmMarie5000]

One more comment. I have been a dedicated Windows user since its inception. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. Windows is more concerned with competing against the Apple products than it is in making something useful. WHen I turn my system on I don't think "oh i wonder what apple users are doing today", I don't give a crap. I hate Apple. Ever consider that there are people out there that LOATHE Iphone? I buy Samsung products instead. Ever thing we might not like MAC or the brand APPLE? But now I might need one of those machines just to get some work done. The tiles desktop thing is so massively annoying I don't know what to say.

I want to click start.

I want to see a start menu.

I want to click Programs.

From there I want to click Accessories if need be.

ANd there all of my programs are! A nice classic no fuss menu without all the bells and whistles.

And for those who like toys, make an alternate system for them. I'm sure they'll enjoy it. What's wrong with more than one desktop program that consumers can buy alternately?

[EmMarie5000]

Windows 8 is awful. Absolutely AWFUL. It's a toy, like a phone or a table. I cannot see anything useful for someone who works in an office. I have no idea where things are located, I see tiles scrolling by, and it's completely pointless.

It seems like Microsoft is creating programs that grow more and more useless and less efficient with every so called version. This one by far is the worst.

My son has to use my Windows 7 laptop to do any homework. He uses his laptop with Windows 8 for entertainment purposes, like surfing the web or watching videos on youtube. Like I said, it's s a toy.

I could never write books on this. So what will happen is that, I'll have to buy old computers should anything happen to my new one. Something that can run the old applications. The old Start button, programs and classic windows worked fine for me, never saw the need to upgrade. But Microsoft needs to justify getting customers to upgrade, so they roll out these new systems that get worse. What I will do, is check MAC - it will be my first one. NOw if it has the same tile system then I won't using that either. If I want apps, I'll use my -phone, thank you.

[jfeet28]

I got so fed up with Windows two years ago I bought an iMac and love it. I had spent days on end trying to be a microsoft engineer laboring to fix problems on multiple platforms. I spent more time maintaining my windows platforms than I did using and getting the benefit of them. Yesterday I bought a Dell Inspiron 3520 with Windows 8 to use in my electronics shop and a shop laptop. I spent one hour trying to figure out Windows 8 and gave up, totally frustrated. It is total crap, a 12 year old could have designed a better working and looking interface. Sorry, I want a start menu and I want to find my PROGRAMS. I don't want TOPICS such as "video", "mail, etc. And why the hell do I have to shift back and forth to a desk top or page and page through this Fisher Price ugly butt menu to find what I need?

What BOZO idiot fresh from Bosnia University designed this MATEL interface? Good Lord it takes dozens of clicks to get anywhere, and don't get me started on that abortion of Internet Explorer. Where the hell are the menus? How the hell do I navigate and get where I want to go?

Windows 8, is by far, a total disaster, absolutely. I had it up for an hour and had three bugs. A right click on the desktop gets me a Visual Studio C# bug report that wont go away. A click on the Get To Know Your Dell gives me a Black Screen. Clicking on Mail gets me a blank screen with left to right grey graduated shadings like something should be there but isn't.

I'm taking this laptop back to the store tomorrow morning and I will spend the extra money on A MAC Airbook...BECAUSE IT FREAKIN WORKS!!!!!! RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX.

[JasonDD]

Why do both Mac iOS and Windows 8 design committees think that large tile-like buttons that take up most of the screen are preferable to a list? This is half of the problem, I think, with the new OSs. I think IT professionals prefer a compreshensive list, instead of a selection represented by these large buttons.

There's nothing wrong with touch screen support, but fronting a desktop operating system with the "Metro" UI is nothing more than an obstacle for people who to access the contents of the hard-disk in the usual way.

Windows 8 is clearly a very poor attempt at customer lock-in that is alienating the majority of Windows users. Once again, it seems that Microsoft have ignored it's customer's wants in favour of pursuing some objective designed to challenge other businesses markets.

I can only hope that Windows 8 is not the first sneaky step of forcing third party developers to stop writing desktop applications by killing off the API.

[Jinkking]

This is a miserable OS system. My work on the computer is about ten times harder, than it was before. Easy for users who don't know how to use a computer? Alright, let's begin.

The interface.
Already it's dual, and I can hardly stand the one with tiles. When you start typing to search for something, I can't find it. Such as, Uninstall, or Printer. I can not find those, when I'm trying to look for what I need. No. I have to TYPE IN Control Panel, THEN search for what I need. That's a bit ridiculous. When I first tried to use this, there was no easy 'my computer' button, so it took some fenagling to even look for my own specs.

Tasks.
The amount of clicking I have to do, to get anywhere, is alarming. I need to right click on an icon I don't like, then scroll all the way down to the bottom, click on the action, then scroll all the way back up. When before I just needed to move a few pixels over, now I need to make a trek across the monitor. IE has no tabs, and to find them, it took awhile, before realizing I needed to right click on the top, then click on a tab. How is this convenient for a desktop? It's not.

Multitasking.
Horrid in the icon section. The weird display is disjointed and having a 1/4 to 3/4 screen ratio when before I could have as many programs as I wanted up? What is that?

Looking for Items.
Again, we go BACK to the icon menu. Then we get the JOY of looking for a certain item through all the bloatware Microsoft has so politely shoved down my throat. When I saw the music icon, my first instinct was, 'oh how convenient, it's an icon for my music folder.' No, it was an icon for some xbox add on, that I never wanted. I don't want my xbox and my computer linked up. That just seems wasteful to me. What is an xbox logo doing on my computer? It's not an xbox, and unless I can ditch my 300 console and just start playing xbox games on my computer, I really don't see the reason in having it. This aside, looking for other items, scrolling through all the programs is... retarded to say politely. It's a list of every program, and not very artistically done. Or convenient, or even smart. It looks ******* messy.

But all that aside, I attempted to give this a try, and in the end, my work has doubled. I'm not impressed, and have spent more than three days getting Win7 to run well on a new work computer that SHOULD have made my life easier.

Thanks. Thanks a bunch.

[Azretan]

Good design, doesn't have a learning curve.

[AlBlack52]

I have tried Windows 8 on a traditional Laptop and on a tablet. I think I prefer Windows 8 with mouse, and when considered just as a desktop upgrade, it is solid. Cheaper than any previous upgrade, runs faster than Windows 7 or Vista on the same hardware, and a whole new interface to play with if I want. And if I don't, I can still run legacy apps on Desktop. It is all gain, no loss as far as I can see.

[JamieKeefer]

I have not been using it long, but I like it. I enjoy that fact it is different. I don't know if I need to have touch screen as much as I will enjoy using a touch mouse or touch tablet interface. I mean, who is going to want to reach across their desk and massage a 24 inch monitor when you can accomplish the same thing with a swipe of your fingertip across a mouse.

Why any one would spend so much time trying to discredit an OS, is beyond me. I just wish i have more time to be at my computer for entertainment versus work. If they could design an OS that makes work more like entertainment, then you might have something!

[ChunkyChickenChimichanga]

Rumor has it that Microsoft has stationed employees around the Internet in forums just like this one to counter "bad press" regarding Windows 8 release. They fired the President of the Windows division at Microsoft just two weeks after the Windows 8 launch for crying out loud! That says it all! IT SUCKS!!

I am a dedicated and long time Windows user and would LOVE to see a SP1 update that LETS ME CHOOSE a Windows 7 style desktop or the cute bubblegum interface. Why force this crap on us?

Give us the choice and things will be much better for all parties involved!

[davejohnso]

I think you might be a bit off the mark. As a former MS employee, I can assure you that the company does not order employees to astroturf the comments section of blogs.

Moreover, it's extremely doubtful that Steven Sinofsky was fired -- all signs point to it being his decision to leave the company -- and the events surrounding his departure appear to be related to other issues, not to Windows 8 itself.

[mikescbsname]

its becoming an apple/windows parallel universe in a very real sense. this most recent era of windows for work and apple for fun is coming to a close. time to choose...