“Windows 8 may turn off some longtime Windows users,” Kim Komando reports for USA Today.
“Let’s start with software compatibility. I mentioned that your old programs will still work. That’s true; the programs will still work on Intel and AMD processors,” Komando reports. “But ARM processors operate in a completely different architecture. Existing programs won’t run on ARM without extensive modification. Developers using older software could be out of luck or forced to upgrade.”
“The Metro interface doesn’t currently have good multitasking support. Sure, you can have multiple apps open. But finding a specific one will require scrolling through all open programs to locate it,” Komando reports. “While the Metro interface works very well on tablets, it’s not so hot on a computer. Microsoft designed it for touch input. So, by default, it isn’t as efficient for keyboard and mouse use.”
“You can switch to the Desktop interface, but you won’t find it to be exactly like Windows 7,” Komando reports. “The Start Menu, a Windows sacred cow from day one, is virtually useless. It only serves to switch you back to the Metro interface. Some users will find having two interfaces confusing. And there will be two versions of Internet Explorer 10 installed. The Metro version won’t support Adobe Flash, but the Desktop version will. That’s one more opportunity for frustration.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Windows sufferers: Get a Mac. Get an iPad. Be happy for a change.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “GetMeOnTop” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
3 reasons why Windows 8 may be dead on arrival – September 20, 2011
iOS vs. Windows 8: Apple and Microsoft have very different world views – September 18, 2011
iOS 5 iPad 2 vs. Windows 8 preview tablet (with video) – September 16, 2011
Microsoft exec: Uh, no, Windows 8 tablets won’t run Windows PC apps – September 15, 2011
Analyst: Whatever success Microsoft has with Windows 8 will be short-lived – September 13, 2011
Corporate America to Microsoft: We’ll pass on Windows 8 – September 9, 2011
WSJ’s Mossberg reviews Mac OS X Lion: ‘The best computer operating system’ – July 21, 2011
Researchers: Apple’s Mac OS X Lion is the king of security – July 21, 2011
Microsoft developers horrified over Windows 8 preview – June 13, 2011
More good news for Apple: Microsoft previews Windows 8 (with video) – June 1, 2011
Already made the switch, an ipad is likely next.
I expect MS will turn back on the start menu in the final desktop build. The alpha/beta that went was aimed at getting new dev tools to programmers and showing off metro. It wasn’t meant for an everyday user.
Still wont matter though. More people are moving to the mac regardless
Actually MS have said that the dev version was actually feature complete. No changes coming.
So what you see is basically what you get.
Seriously?
They are so f*cked.
Not to mention piss off a boatload of people who are hating on that idiotic Ribbon with a vengeance. I’ve given up trying to understand what Microsoft is trying to do with the UI. They’re going to shoehorn a UI designed for mobile devices to the desktop and bring the whole desktop experience to tablets.
Using a cars vs trucks analogy, they’re trying to shove a truck engine in a car and shove a car body on to a truck. You’ll just get sad drivers sitting behind the steering wheel.
You’re kidding me, right? The Ribbon interface is a huge improvement over what was there before. People who prefer the old billion button-style also prefers System 7 to OS X.
You’re kidding me, right?!!?? You actually LIKE the abortion that is the Ribbon interface? Seek help immediately.
I am forced to use POS Windows and Orifice 2007 every day as punishment. The Ribbon is a step backwards in terms of efficiency. It takes me many more clicks and actions to accomplish than I did before. Functions are scattered across multiple Ribbons. It dies nit learn your habits to bring you what you need. In typical Microsoft (Soviet) fashion, it doesn’t adapt to you; you have to adapt to it.
Repent ye sinner!
I have to admit I like the ribbon too. It took me about a week to get comfortable with it and now I can’t go back. Using Office 2003 just feels…. awkward.
I never understood why MS did not offer a ‘classic’ setting or some way to revert to the old UI. I guess they wanted to ram the ribbon down everyone’s throat. they could have done that slowly over time while still offering a way for long time users to interact with the software in a way they knew well.
I must admit: I was one of the Windows sufferers. Yes, I was, since 1990. Then I got an iPod touch. Then I got an iPhone 3G. Then I got an iPhone 3GS. Then I got an iPad. Then I got my first Macs and changed my entire company. Now we have 25+ iPhone from 3G to 4, 25+ iMacs (mostly 27″), around 20 iPads, some of the great 13″ MacBook Air, and even the big 17″ MacBook Pro. And I love it! It was one of the changes I made in my life.
Do your nuts sag less as a result? I find I’m much happier using my Mac at work and thus make more money which leads to more chicks and thus perkier nuts.
Ballmer’s nuts, with the exception of the left one, have sagged almost to his knees.
I haven’t seen it this way before, but yes, you’re right!
AND you were able to get rid of that chronically masturbating IT manager hIding out in your basement!
I was turned off by M$ Windows. It’s Bass Akwards and Upside down. I could never get the Start to shut down function either.
Hi…My name is Buster. Its been 245 days since I had my last PC….
Hi, Buster. it’s been however many days there are in 19 years for me.
The starting point for product development at Microsoft should be why didn’t Apple do this? In this case, Apple didn’t merge iOS and OSX for some of the reasons described in the article. They’re two different experiences and Microsoft is going to learn the hard way that nobody’s gonna want a combination of two HALF-ASSED operating systems on one device.
Well, Apple *did* create the horrible LaunchPad for Lion, attempting to merge some of iOS to OSX. Of course, it is optional, and I doubt anyone uses it.
I think “Metro” will end up the same way – MS will show it off, and no one will use it.
Love the name. Have you seen that movie HTML5dance?
Yes, one of my favorites. It’s not available on iTunes though.
What is wrong with launchpad? I find it dirt simple and very fast for starting my apps.
People just like to complain for no reason. I ignored them…..whatever!
Maybe I’m old school, but I can’t for the life of me see how using LaunchPad is faster than just using Spotlight to launch my apps.
I did that on snow lep heavily. I actually thought launchpad looked kind of strange when I first fired it up but I’m sold on it.
Either a click and a click or a click, swipe and a click and I can quickly start any app on my mac.
I love it.
I use launchpad… Nothing wrong with it.
It doesn’t bother me one bit.
I’m no expert, but wouldn’t you need to be turned on by Windows (of any flavour) at any point, to be later turned off by version 8 or whatever? Good luck finding those guys first outside Redmond.
The tech-hipsters and the desperately geek wannabes like to profess their fond devotions towards flavour-du-jour Linux distros; but no one I know is flaunting their MS fan membership card (I’m a PC and I’m proud of it) since, maybe, middle of last decade.
Great new OS Microsloth, keep up the good work.
[[evil laugh]]
This is a bit ridiculous. Windows PC users are not going to switch back and forth between the Metro and regular interfaces. They’re going to pick one for their PC (likely the regular interface) and stick with it.
There’s also no real worry about x86 vs. ARM processors. People have already accepted the idea that it is files which are transferred between PCs and tablets/phones, not apps. People will just buy apps for their Windows Metro tablets just like they do for their iPads, just in much smaller numbers.
Glad you know it. I have seen too many articles on PC sites and thousands of comments full of confusion.
The gist of many comments is:
“Cool I will be able to get this one rockin’ ARM tablet in place of either a laptop or desktop. I will hook it up to a dock and keyboard and mouse when I am at my desk; then I will be able to pick it up, walk in the other room and use it like a tablet to pick up right where I left off editing photos!
Oh, pphswwwah, it’ll run PhotoShop just fine, because, you know, tech advances over this year will be such that ARM processors will rock any software you want to use on it. Oh, yeah, PhotoShop is going to run just fine, because, you know, Adobe just have to recompile it. You know it.”
Umm hmmm, good luck. Here’s what all these giddy power-tablet fans fail to recognize:
1) Adobe (and MS) haven’t optimized any of their software in, like, 15 years. They’ll be lucky if Adobe put maybe two people on it sometime next year. PhotoShop? Come on.
2) MS is just starting out here, bringing Windows to ARM for first time. They don’t have great luck with scaling Windows and porting it between processors. Apple brought a scaled OS X to market in 2007. What was MS doing for three years?
3) Apple has applied some secret sauce here. Anyone relying on a simple off-the-shelf ARM design to run anything approaching a full desktop OS is gonna be sorely disappointed. Why are these A4 and A5 chips several times larger than known ARM designs? Who really knows, some kind of custom silicon SOC going on in there. Some kind of optimization and accelerations going on between iOS and the hardware. Ever wonder why iOS runs smooth on 512MB of RAM and Android stutters on 1GB?
4) “Recompiling” is not all there is to it. How can you run PhotoShop or whatever with a desktop, mouse interface on a touch interface? File your fingers down? Get real — apps have to be reworked. Might as well start from scratch. There are already tons of great image editing apps on iOS with PhotoShop like filters — made from scratch by committed developers using Apple’s APIs for desktop-class Objective-C apps.
What developers are committing to reworking their apps or developing for this schizophrenic platform? You’re right, Bizlaw, the apps are going to have tp be one or the other. But… what happens to the poor souls who say, “hey, this is ‘Windows 8’, and this is ‘Windows 8’, how come my programs don’t run?” MS has got a branding nightmare on its hands because it just doesn’t know when to stop with the Windows already.
The people who are confused simply haven’t listened to what Microsoft has said. Apps will not work across devices.
The people who thought they could run Photoshop, etc. on a laptop are simply stupid.
But that’s part of the problem. There doesn’t seem to be a clear message. MS runs a Metro demo with a big bad@ss tablet using an intel processor and fan. They kinda say, “this is what it will be like on ARM”.
Then they come back later and say, well, maybe this won’t be what it’s like on ARM.
Then Mary Jo Foley and everyone get on their blogs and attempt to clarify the situation. She says she listened AND she got the inside scoop. She says “yes, but no” — you can run your old apps on ARM if the app gets recompiled, which apparently is as simple for the developer to do as me resaving or exporting a file from Pages to an Office doc or PDF.
Per usual, MS makes a mess and spends a year cleaning it up.
Well-written, counterproductive, with good observations.
“Some users will find having two interfaces confusing”…
Possibly the biggest understatement of the YEAR.
This will be Microsoft’s final mistake. Finally!
No way. Microsoft has enough money that it can make many, many more mistakes!
Windows users, many of them still using Windows XP, will feel more at home with Mac OS X Lion than with the next version of Windows.
It will soon be time for a new set of “Get a Mac” ads… with “PC” portrayed this time as a multiple personality nut case.
I seriously doubt that most longtime Windoze users will have the good sense to reject Windoze 8. If they’ve settled for such inferior software this long, why would they suddenly get the urge to change now?
Silly article. Your beginning to sound worried about win8, although given the utter tosh that Lion is, you probably should be.
Wow, you Trolls are really hard to spot, and oh-so clever!
And by the way, it’s not Utter Tosh.
It’s Peter Tosh.
(You having the intellect of a Windows-loving Troll, you probably need me to point out for you that I just made a joke. The Peter Tosh bit I wrote above was a joke.
…
…
Oh, fer cryin’ out loud, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke )
Oh look, another anonymous coward troll, “Ddbluesilver” whatever.
Seriously little troll: Go play with Windows 8 and do your best to enjoy yourself. I have to hand it to Microsoft for BUYING a new GUI interface instead of further ripping off of Apple. Sadly, that GUI is crap and will bite MS in the ass. Consider me enjoying myself watching the fallout. 😆
I Predict! Looking into my crystal balls I see:
Windows 8 is going to come off as yet-another blunder on the level of Windows Me and Windows Vista. There will be a mad scramble to clean up the mess resulting in Windows 8.5 or 9 or whatever, that restores everything Windows users expect in an upgrade. The Metro interface has never been a hit and will continue to annoy and dismay until MS either give up on it or users give up on MS.
Vista’s Baby = Windows 8
Wow a ton of people will switch when they discover the new choice …..
When is this train wreck due into station?
Boy, this site is read by a bunch of Apple losers. I had a blast reading and see how these idiot Mac users think of the world. Apple will be dead in 10 years.
Windows trolls have been saying that since 1985. We’re still waiting. Good luck with that.
Sarah
Friday, September 30, 2011 – 9:15 pm ·
“Boy, this site is read by a bunch of Apple losers. I had a blast reading and see how these idiot Mac users think of the world. Apple will be dead in 10 years.”
Balmer is that you masquerading as a woman again?
Do you still throw a fit when you see Microsoft employees with a smuggled Mac getting real work done?
You have got to stop trying to sneak up on them as a woman They tell me that the shine on your bald head gives you away when they see it coming.
Yes folks, anonymous coward trolls like to hide behind girls’ names as well.
So, were you paid to say that ‘Sarah’? How much did you get? Does your soul feel diminished by your lying in public? 😛
I made the switch 3 years ago and have never looked back! I love my macbook pro!….and my iPhone 4 and iPad 2!
More smoke and mirrors.