Posted on 04/17/2013 7:35:15 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Microsoft may recant its Windows 8 design theology, bloggers reported Tuesday, by offering Windows 8 users an option to bypass the "Modern" UI and by restoring the Start button and menu to the beleaguered operating system.
A pair of longtime Microsoft hands, Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet and Tom Warren of The Verge, citing unnamed sources and messages on Windows discussion forums, said Microsoft was considering those tweaks for an upcoming update, called "Windows Blue" by some and "Windows 8.1" by others. The upgrade, the first of a planned faster development and release tempo, is allegedly slated for an October debut.
Warren pointed to evidence that Microsoft might allow boot-to-desktop with Windows 8.1. Foley added that the Redmond, Wash., developer was also pondering a return of the Windows Start button and associated menu.
Analysts welcomed the news, assuming it's accurate.
"I don't see this as a defeat but as a good thing," said Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy. "It's shows you're willing to make changes based on customer feedback."
The tweaks would be a concession for Microsoft. Publicly, the company has repeatedly maintained that its design decisions were correct and its executives have suggested that users would, in time, learn to live without a Start button and grow to appreciate the Start screen.
Today, Microsoft declined to comment on the reports.
But contrary to Microsoft's assertions that the dual user interfaces (UIs) in Windows 8 were "fast and fluid," customers have barraged the company's blogs and the Web in general for more than a year with complaints.
They were most upset about the disappearance of the iconic 17-year-old Start button and menu, but also griped that they weren't able to boot right to the "Classic" user interface (UI), or desktop, rather than first hitting the tile-style Start screen.
(Excerpt) Read more at computerworld.com ...
There is NO way a lot of computer stuff I do can be done on a touch screen. It would be cumbersome and definitely non-productive.
Touch screens might be okay to check email and look for a restaurant in a browser, but they do no lend themselves to real computer work.
My desktop monitor is 30-36 inchs away from my chair. My keyboard and trackball are at arms length. For me to even consider a touch screen, it would have to be closer to my chair than my keyboard is now. That just doesn’t cut it.
I would have the same problem. Of course, I may be more productive with the cool 3-D interface Tony Stark had in “Iron Man”, but I don’t hold my breath for it...
“And once again... without government interference, the market wins!! “
And there indeed is Microsoft’s way out.
1. Microshaft gives lots of cash to the Obamadork.
2. The dork and his technologically clueless minions then decide that the collapse of the world’s worst software company should not be allowed ‘cuz “it’s too big”.
3. The dorks then pour trillions of taxpayer bucks into Microsoft - which will then go into the solar operated computer business (if you think they can’t design software, just wait ‘til you see how they handle real engineering)
4. Standard ending - Microsoft collapses in a Solara-like implosion whilst some set of congresscritters grow richer.
Microsoft been tone deaf for years. Not holding my breathe
I haven’t shut this computer down for months, I have about 40 or more documents of various types loaded to work on. I would never see a start screen, but need a start button.
Can’t put my finger on it but for some reason, Windows 8 reminds me of New Coke.
So what will the upgrade cost?
Probably no more than $150.00, if you already have Win 8.
BOTTOM LINE:
If Windows 8 is going to sell more int he consumer market — PRICES HAVE TO COME DOWN.
That’s what I am hearing from most consumers.
LLS
If you are using 8 on a touch screen tablet, like I’ve been doing, the Metro UI is fine, but I think it would be hard to use with a mouse on a laptop/desktop.
Shouldn’t ever have been an issue - it’s a computer, you can do things like change its appearance. It isn’t supposed to be an exercise in social engineering.
Win 7 to Win 8 was only $29 for the first 90 days of release.
No start button? No wonder it’s a bust. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. BRING BACK WINDOWS 98!!!
“- - — people NEED to re-train on a new user interface is unacceptable - - - -”
I liken this to perpetually changing how we operate a car, for instance one year the brake pedal is on the floor next to the accelerator, the next year the brake is a lever on the visor, the following year it’s a button in the glove box - with all the other controls being changed in a similar manner. What I said here sounds absurd because no one would stand for it.
Yet it happens frequently with software.
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