Windows 8.1 - Love it or loathe it?

RumRat

Jivesinger wrote: »

I do quite like Windows 8 (and have also played with 8.1), but I'd suggest that if a user is having difficulty in finding their way around, it is a bad feature of the OS.

Windows 8 was pretty bad in terms of online help for instance, and certainly in explaining the new interface. Many people know that F1 has been a standard keyboard shortcut for online Help for years, but try that in a full-screen Windows 8 app and it does nothing.

Microsoft could have made it much easier for people to transition.

That just reinforces the fact that people were not prepared to learn what the differences were. Personally, the transition took about 3 days. I used a third party start button in the beginning, but soon found that it wasn't being used as much as the Modern UI start menu. Now it no longer loads.
Sometimes people need protecting from themselves. There are so many 'How To' articles and videos about, not to mention MS own instructional pages and forums like this one, that it's ludicrous not to be able to navigate through the basics.
I'll accept that some may not like the look of the Modern UI, but, again, that can be avoided very easily if so wished and doesn't actually make the OS a bad one.

RumRat

boliston wrote: »

W8.1 is ok as long as you select "go to desktop instead of start" - that way you can use it without using the "modern interface" at all. I sometimes get those annoying "charms" pop up at the bottom right - there should be an option to totally disable the "charms"!

No recommendation here, but have a look at THIS.
If you keep away from the bottom right corner of the screen, you should avoid it opening anyway. Much better to be in total control of your PC than getting rid of things.

im-lost

got a new dell laptop delivered this morning and I quite like windown 8.1

put start menu x on, and made it default to the desktop and its do different to windows 7 really

donnac2558

I was on Vista and XP before that(loved the XP), bought new laptop Windows 8 not touch screen, took about 10 minutes to get the hang of it. Now have 8.1 and actually didn't like it too much, as I was used to everything on the left side. Now using no problems.

PenguinJim

I'd like 8.1 a lot more if that Windows button that has replaced the Start button had its buttons reversed, i.e. left-click for wonderful options, right-click for rubbishy Metro. That's the only thing that still annoys me - not enough to go to the trouble of installing a classic Start Menu, though, as everything else is fine.

The 6-second boot times are great - the 14 seconds on my W7 desktop seem like an eternity now!

Gloomendoom

I use XP, 7 and 8.1 on different machines every day. The 8.1 has been tweeked with a Startisback menu and couple of other tools to restore functionality lost from 7 and it is now my favourite by far. I particularly love how fast it starts up.

In my opinion, XP is dreadful

I_have_spoken

TBH, Windows 8.1, 7, iOS are pretty similar - I use them all interchangeably and only occasionally try and 'swipe' left on iOS instead of pressing the button.

sc0use24

Took a little while to get used to windows 8 but after that its by far the better optimised/smoother performance especially if you have a gaming rig.

BargainReporter

Agree. Windows 8 is better once you are used to it. Just set it to boot to desktop and you'll soon be fine with it. Task manager is much improved and the compatibility of apps can be useful. I really don't see how it is much worse than 7.

ThemeOne

I do think it was a mistake by MS to combine a mobile and desktop OS into one but, that said, W8 / 8.1 perform well and are straightforward to use - admittedly usually after a bit of tweaking, but online guides about this are numerous so I've never really understood people who say they can't use the system.