I find that most of the complaints about Windows 8 are about :
1) The disappearance of the ‘START’ button ( which was returned in the 8.1 version )
2) The unfamiliar Metro Interface ( which the complainants do not want to bother to learn or familiarize themselves with ).
3) The fact that they like Windows 7
That’s all !!!
The Metro interface was a bridge too far, IMHO. Parts of it are usable, even on a server, but what Microsoft did to force the user to use it showcased its deficiencies in an embarrassing manner. Even once you're past the learning curve, the deficiencies are still there.
The fact is that the formidable iPad scared the heck out of the Microsoft marketeers and a bunch of their crystal-ball gazers insisted that what the world needed was a tablet interface for everything. The argument that you can improve it with this third-party app of that is really beside the point. They blew it, IMHO, they threw the baby out with the bath-water.
I'd be perfectly happy with Win9 if it gives me what Win7 did with the under-the-hood improvements of Win8, but I'm not going to write their user interface for them. They can do better than that because they already have.
No, it was not the Start Button that people wanted back, it was the Start Menu. Hello? And the menu didn’t come back in 8.1 - only the button, and all it does is flip to desktop mode. Who bloody cares? It was the menu that was nice.
If radically changing the desktop user interface, from one that worked extremely well on the desktops, to one that only made sense on a handheld mobile, sounds like a good business plan, you’d better think again. Microsoft had the desktop world in the palm of its hand. What fools, to think they could destroy that and not have people walk away?
Of course we like Win 7! It works and it’s familiar and Win 8 is not an improvement in any characteristic that is meaningful to a desktop user.
And BTW Adorno, the reason you’re confused about the uptake of Win 8.1 is that you’re parroting the MS sales party line about how “licenses sold” is equal to “people using it”. Horse pucky. And you know it. Shame on you for pushing that line of crap.
When people are using an OS it shows in the real results from the web services who know how to measure it. It ain’t just how many licenses MS managed to foist on resellers, many if not most of which are sitting on shelves.
The points you mentioned are not really worth complaining about.
First off, Windows 8/8.1 is the same as Windows 7 on steroids. Windows 8 is faster, and still lets people work in desktop mode. The new UI doesn’t even have to be used. The START button was basically unnecessary, and it was rarely used by the majority of people. But, to a lot of people, especially the complaining tech bloggers, it was a means towards attacking Windows and Microsoft. The START button is and was there, in Windows 8 and 8.1. It just looks different, and it’s in the “new” UI. Just click on the application, and voila!!!, the program opens up, either on the “old” desktop mode, or in the new UI version, depending upon whether the app is designed for the new UI or still functions as in the old desktop mode.
So, basically, your list is nothing more than excuses to attack Windows.
Here at Intel, we had many internal programs which didn’t work under W8.
It was averaging 2 weeks for each user to fix all the problems caused by W8 migration.
Many file viewers like Adobe which only ran in Maximize mode and no “x” to close window. You had to run Task Manager to kill it off.
(they finally fixed it)
I agree that for home users, your three items were the extent of W8 problems. For large corporations, the problems were much bigger.