Windows 8 is a disaster

You are going to hate Windows 8.

I have used Windows as my main O/S since the first release of Windows NT. I upgraded to Windows XP and Vista the first week they were released. The griping over Vista always seemed like a lot of noise created by lazy system managers who didn’t want to have the hassle of having to upgrade people’s machines.

Windows 8 is something else entirely. It is a complete usability disaster. I have been using computers for over 30 years and I can’t work out how to start the file manager or any other program that I want to actually use on my computer.

The Metro UI looks wonderful. But that is absolutely no use to me when I can’t work out the basic principles of how to use the machine without either looking at a manual or calling customer support. I can’t see the typical user that the product is aimed at being any more willing to re-learn how to use a computer.

It took me quite a while to work out how to get out of the ‘Start page’ and get to the desktop so I could actually start running a program that I wanted to use rather than the freebie photo and video tools that come bundled. Shutting the system down was even worse, I had to call a Microsoft product VP I know to find out how (the bottom left and right corners of the screen have magic powers).

Most frustrating of all is how little effort it would take for Microsoft to make the system right. Why does Microsoft imagine that I have any interest in using their new Metro ‘start page’ when it doesn’t offer any of the programs I have an interest in using and there is no obvious way to change it to offer the programs I do want to use?

Plenty of people are telling Microsoft about this disaster in the making right now but all the signs are that Redmond isn’t listening.

Print