Thread: Content consumption rather than production

I was reading a review of Windows 8.

Usability expert finds Windows 8 on a PC confusing - GadgetBox on NBCNews.com

In it the person says "Windows 8 is optimized for content consumption rather than content production and multitasking. Whereas content consumption can easily be done on other media (tablets and phones), production and multitasking are still best suited for PCs. Windows 8 appears to ignore that."

If that's true, then I have to ask... What would be the point of having a computer at all? Why spend all that money on something that you just... what... shop on?

They also say "There are things that you can do more easily in Windows 8. For instance, it’s easy to share a news story through email or with friends on Facebook. But, I am not sure that these are the tasks that people do most often on a PC."

And I thought Windows 7 was geared towards the Facebookers, this sounds like 8 is made exclusively for them.

I just hope I can keep buying motherboards that supports XP because I'm one of those crazy people that think computers should do more than Facebook.

I have faith that Microsoft will listen to the consensus of most desktop users who are really annoyed with Metro. I, myself, unlike with games (as you very closely know) do not like to make modifications to the system. So I won't run Classic Shell or any of that non-sense, unless Microsoft releases an official way to do that. Its not like I HATE the Start Screen, I just can't get over 1) Their development rules for apps seem to be extraordinarily stringent that I know a small time developer like myself would have to go back to college for 4 years to make a simple JavaScript/HTML/jQuery app that conforms to their standards in Visual Studio and that NEVER EVER links to a website unless the data is sent through the websites API (By the way, we even have an API running on this site for ForumRunner.com mobile compatibility even though we don't have an Android or iOS app out yet. vBulletin 5 is going to take awhile to get their act together for support of the existing mobile app we have for Windows 7 Forums). But I don't have the technical skill level to code a gigantic application that handles RSS feeds with content boxes using an API. I don't know how to do it - but I do with HTML and JavaScript/jQuery/AJAX. Now suppose I even used the API from the server (application programming interface). I don't think I can even drop a link to the site ANY WAY. So while the official Kindle app can let you go to the Kindle store.. why the hell can't my app let you go to my website? Some automated robot is processing these app submissions - and to me thats not cool. Small developers are getting the can kicked down the road.

Now, when it comes to the Start Menu, I don't use it, but I still am using Windows 8 (1. Because I don't want to mess up my Windows upgrade path - even though I rarely perform upgrades.. I just don't want to be on 7 when I know 8 is out. 2. I still have faith developers will come around with this interface but I know it will be with desktop apps and not necessarily cool Metro gadgets. They are severely boring, and I'd use them on a tablet, but I don't have enough money to buy a Google tablet and a MS tablet. I've got a Nexus 7 and I tether it off my wireless and my phone when I'm on the go and I'm very satisfied with their App Store. Maybe the Windows App Store will become miraculous after Windows 8 is released - I hope it does. I hate to think my posts seem filled with negativity about Microsoft or Windows 8 in this regard. I am sad that I keep having to switch between two definitively different interfaces and it just totally doesn't jive.

How can I really explain that, other than to say, even in the video made where you thoroughly explain a great way to create organizational units on the Start Screen, I now find myself with a hundred apps and I just search for it by name, and don't bother organizing it anything. To me, this screen is pure eye candy, and in fact, after awhile, quite annoying. They definitely improved two areas and that is Storage Spaces (new feature from WHS - Windows Home Server) and even creating Windows RAID. I notice major improvements in I/O when I create a striped RAID in Disk Management Console (diskmgmt.msc), and because backup programs are recognizing storage spaces, this can work great with two portable drives for redundancy and resilience. So say I have two 500GB USB3 Passports that are USB3 powered.. this can work very good between a Windows 8 desktop and laptop that are both linked with the same Microsoft account.. it will pick it up right away. This is an example of a good backup/restore model, at least with Acronis 13, as far as I can tell.

To me I focus on things like memory, processor, disk I/O, and graphics. The look of the desktop has been fine for me since Windows Vista - really. I thought Windows 7 was a major improvements. The change in Windows on the desktop in 8 is negligible - the loss of some transparency effects is noticeable but I don't care that much for eyecandy. I care about raw performance in video encoding, graphics editing, file writing, reading.. gaming. I want the best system possible for these functions.

So while I despise the eyecandy and Windows "Metro" (its still called Metro in Visual Studio and I cant get the term out of my head), I like the changes to the kernel that we obviously can't see but know are there - the faster boot and the ability to turn it on and off (the option IS there). The way the system has no problems going into sleep mode anymore, even if you have 30 devices connected to it. This makes Windows 8 the winner for me... not a restructuring of what Windows is and how its interfaced. I don't want to turn my copy of Windows into an XBOX where I talk to it with Kinect or wave my arms around to scroll left and right. I don't want an infrared device to pick up the movements of my eyeballs. I just want a keyboard, a mouse, and kernel upgrades that work as great under-the-hood changes.

Now when you look at it that way - everyone would yell, "Well this should have been a service pack for Windows 7" then. I'm not really buying that argument. I think if enough good new features are added, they should be able to charge for it. But, at the same time, surely if its not broken don't fix it. My problem isn't so much that I dislike it, but I know others won't just dislike it: they may be confused out of their minds as to how to use it. Users with limited ability to use a computer now may not even know how to side scroll the Metro window with a mouse... they certainly won't know how to close or suspend applications. For me these two distinct environments don't blend - they don't jive well. They seem to be in competition with each other rather than harmony. What else can I say? I am holding out for the possibility of Resilient Filesystem (ReFS) coming out an optional upgrade client-side... but I doubt it. If the marketing department has its way, they will use it to attract power users to Windows 9 (or whatever they shall call it).

I have no doubt the stability and quality of switching between the desktop and "Metro" will be ironed out after many updates... I am just not as excited as I should be for a Windows release...

And I am sorry but in a mid to large enterprise environment Windows XP was - and still is - an absolute nightmare from a management perspective. Even if the attack surface of the entire machine is eliminated, with nearly all incoming ports blocked, user error irrecoverably leads to malware gaining access to elevated admin rights almost every time. It is, by far, more expensive to maintain as an OS for workstations than Windows 7 and Windows Server 2012 R2.

With Windows 8 and the new version of server, I could see how companies might want to push group policy updates (gpupdates) through Server to corporately brand their Start Screen and make it perfect for the employee; not allowing them to use the desktop if they are inexperienced. However, this may also limit productivity to a certain extent and certainly ingenuity. I had developed quite a few logon/logoff scripts for over 200 clients in my free time just messing around in Windows XP and Server 2003 - I designed a website potentially worth millions of dollars by loading up some apps at lunch time and thinking of some ways to help a company. So to me the Start Screen is sort of an insult to the average person's intelligence and catering to a mobile market that it is strongly unlikely to gain a foothold in. Good luck, nonetheless.