Windows 8 annoyance lists start appearing

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes.

Since I’ve yet to bite the bullet and download an evaluation copy of Windows 8, I’m relegated to passing along reviews from elsewhere. Luckily, there’s no shortage of those.

First up is an article from laptopmag.com, entitled ‘8 Worst Windows 8 Annoyances and How to Fix Them‘. Here are the highlights:

  • No more Start menu. Why, Microsoft? Why not make it optional? Then, if I’m using a tablet, I’ll turn on the new UI; and otherwise leave it off.
  • Desktop apps (basically, all the software you currently run on Windows) are harder to find, since they are all jammed behind one pane of the new UI.
  • Shutting down the computer involves more steps and it’s not immediately obvious what those steps are.
  • The new Windows Mail app only supports IMAP, not POP. Why, Microsoft? IMAP certainly has its uses, but for most users, POP more closely matches what they really want, and how they conceptualize email. IMAP can be very confusing for users.
  • Even Windows 8 itself reverts to ‘desktop mode’ for many activities. So what’s the point of the new UI? Is it just there to confuse people and make everything take longer? The constant transitions between the new UI and the desktop are jarring for users.

Next, a PCGamesN contributor has an entertaining rant on why he’s uninstalling Windows 8. Just as I plan to do soon, this poor sod forced himself to install Windows 8 in order to evaluate it. Highlights:

  • The new UI, and the way it’s forced on the user only to revert to the desktop for many operations, is a disaster.
  • The core apps – the ones Microsoft expects you to use every day – are awful. This includes the the email client, the messaging client, the calendar, the media player and the Metro version of Internet Explorer (there’s a desktop IE as well).

Fun stuff! Thanks Microsoft, for giving bloggers such a rich source of disgust.

About jrivett

Jeff Rivett has worked with and written about computers since the early 1980s. His first computer was an Apple II+, built by his father and heavily customized. Jeff's writing appeared in Computist Magazine in the 1980s, and he created and sold a game utility (Ultimaker 2, reviewed in the December 1983 Washington Apple Pi Journal) to international markets during the same period. Proceeds from writing, software sales, and contract programming gigs paid his way through university, earning him a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) degree at UWO. Jeff went on to work as a programmer, sysadmin, and manager in various industries. There's more on the About page, and on the Jeff Rivett Consulting site.

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