Windows 8.....Microsoft dropped the ball?

I agree with your points. I think of the modern ui as a fancy program that acts as a 'landing page', sort of like a dashboard for a corporate exec - then when I do real work, it launches me over to ol' reliable.
There needs to be some blend between these two extremes to really make it work, but I'm not the wizard that's going to invent that.

 

Windows 8 sucks.

Been fighting it all day on the wife's new notebook.
I've got it printing to the printer across the network, and it can view a shared folder that I set up for her, mapped it as a network drive.

But the GUI is the biggest clusterfuck since Tandy's Deskmate.

When the browser is open in the "Start" page mode, it's just a screen. It's a fight to find the address bar and the limited navigation options.
It's a little more friendly in Desktop mode, but unlike XP, it does not display a normal taskbar that shows open apps.
She was in Facebook, and couldn't figure out how to close the browser.
I got her into desktop mode and shut down with the red X.
Another browser window was open below it. Closed that and it looked clear.

Went to try and find the "shutdown" button, and another browser window popped open, already open to Facebook. I had already set MSIE to open to the home page, not the previous session, so I know I didn't accidentally reopen the browser.


This interface is going to be absolutely horrible to use at work when IT forces us to upgrade. At any one time, I might have 8 programs and 12 "My Computer" windows open to various local and network directories.

 

My first opinion of 8 was "oh hell no" but after working with it for a week and then making it work for a customer I have decided it isn't that bad. As long as you know how to get back to the desktop for any of your "normal" stuff the Metro stuff isn't horrible. I still wish there was a way to turn the Metro off or at least make the Desktop your default without having to do some registry edits or scheduled tasks.

Overall I like it enough to install it on my wife's laptop. She is currently running Vista and the only OS worse than Vista was ME.

 

I hate that it's not compatible with my dj software (serato scratch live, but there are some good learning vids for windows 8 on youtube.

 

Give that some time and I'm sure the software will become available for Win 8. Also, considering that 8 was designed for touchscreen computers it would make a person think that you could actually "touch" your DJ board with your hands instead of a mouse.

 

This program will get rid of the Metro UI. It costs $5 for a single license or $9.95 for a license for 3 CPUs
https://licensing.thinix.com/products/Product.aspx?ProductID=6472

 

Sorry I never reported back...

Found "Classic Shell" on CNet and she's perfectly happy with it.
Since she's running Office 2010, I decided to configure it with a Windows-7 look and feel.

She can still get back to the Metro screen if she wants, but she hasn't asked for help in a while other than the time she somehow reset the zoom level on her browser to 30%.

 

I HATE WINDOWS 8, every time I slide my finger across the mouse pad the screen changes

lately when I try to open a picture I get a message "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permission to access this item." can someone tell me how to fix this?

 

Change your track pad settings via your manufacturer's driver settings.
Press the windows key
type "Mouse"
click the tile for "Change mouse settings"
click Device Settings tab
click settings button
turn off "Enable Edge Swipes"
Click OK

Most likely when you moved to the new OS, you didn't assign yourself as a local administrator over your computer.
Try right click > run as administrator just to see if that works. If so, you need to change permissions on the folder the pictures are in, change permissions on the picture itself, or make yourself a local administrator.

 

I absolutely hate 8, went back to 7 on my laptop. 7 for me isn't to bad for my use, i miss my old XP tho .

I feel their trying to make windows to damn pretty and trying to be trendy with all their new "features" in 8. 8 CAN GO TO HELL lol

 

ClassicShell on my wife's laptop.

She's only asked for help 3 times in 3 weeks now.