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Holy Tablet OS... I mean Windows 8

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Freedom Kira:
Despite what I said about avoiding the start menu, I actually do like the Windows 7 Start menu. Most of the reasons Krumm has already mentioned. Another is that I'm more of a text guy than an icon guy - I can find stuff more quickly in a list than in an array of icons, even if the icons are arranged in the same order, largely because they are more spaced out (eyes have to cover more area yadda yadda). I would thus have a better time with the Windows 7 list-style Start menu than Metro.

The Start menu slows you down a bit compared to what you can do otherwise (i.e. what I described earlier), but I find that Metro slows me down far more.

Honestly though, the Metro UI is great for someone who's getting into computers for the first time and has not been indoctrinated into the classic Start menu-based UI. It's a nice, sleek, easy-to-use interface for any beginner. OTOH, that kinda leaves us experienced users off to the sidelines.

lapa321:
IMO, the WinXP start menu was faster than Win7. This was the original Start Menu.



All that was compressed into a single list in Win7



I have no idea what made them do that aside from aesthetic reasons. But in terms of how fast i'm able to access my applications, It's WinXP>Win8>Win7. Win7 has you scrolling through a list, Win8 lets you pick specific applications to display from a master list, WinXP was and still is, the fastest and most convenient way to access all your applications and related program links.

Bob2004:
I agree - a combination of the Windows XP start menu, but with the Windows 7 search features would be really good. Better than both XP and 7 (and, indeed, 8).

avatarl:
Well, I've been testing Windows 8 for some days.

The Good: 

1.Yeah, the under the hood improvements are pretty obvious, the explorer can handly a folder with many and large files really fast, in contrast to Win7 where sorting a humongous folder takes a while.  I don't mind the Ribbon UI, I hardly ever used the original menu in explorer anyway.

2. Installed pretty much every driver I needed from the getgo, save the Asus Xonar D2 drivers.  The Unixonar Windows 7 drivers worked though, once you get over the blue application blocking bar.

3. I hardly ever had to restart, be it driver install, antivirus, or whatever and everything seems to be working normally regardless.

The Whatever:

The MetroUI START itself can be gotten used to.  I had no really issues with the Start button itself.  It is a bit disorienting moving back and forth between the fullscreen Start and the desktop, but other than that, if customized, it's effective.

The Bad:

1. The Metro apps... For tablets or phones, it's one of the same stuff, but for a large desktop screen that you need to multitask efficiently, forced fullscreen apps of (right now) limited functionality are as bad as they can possibly be.  When those apps are social or music apps, it only gets worse.  I tried using the messaging metro app, I even tried snapping it left while I was using the desktop.  It doesn't work right.  First of all, the white app background makes a glaring contrast to my desktop wallpaper.  Then, I can't tell which of my friends are online, I need the People app for that, and you can't stack 2 apps and the desktop alongside so I either have to leave the desktop to check or do something as counterproductive as that.  They seriously need to rethink the whole fullscreen app approach as far as the desktop PC is concerned.  Even if all the apps were metro written, juggling between fullscreen apps in metro is horrid.  On desktop I can one-click to a specific open app, either by having placed the windows right or by using the always on taskbar.  Corrent window placement actually helps not having to go back and forth all the time.  You can also invoke smaller windows to the front without losing focus of whatever's in the back.  The Always On Top function in desktop app always helped if you always need the smaller windows up front, but you want to be able to check the background windows for whatever you need.  Also, no close or minimize button inside the Metro app itself? I have to scroll to the top left, slide and then right-click to close? What's with that??

Overall, it's unfortunately a nice improvement over Windows 7, the Metro apps though just don't work.  I tried liking them, like I tried liking Metro Start.  I can put up with Metro Start now, but the Metro apps are just a no-no, possibly a deal-breaker as they are now.  And I'm computer literate enough, the average Joe will just look at Windows 8 on a desktop and cry "Hell, no!", then go back to 7 (or even XP).  The sad part is they'll be partly right.

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