First they take away the desktop and impose the hideous Metro garbage, then they put an equally hideous ribbon interface on Windows explorer, then they abandon their iconic logo, then they eliminate DVD playback unless you pay extra, and now this. The Aero features will be completely eliminated and Windows will revert to the flat look of 95/98. Unbelievable.
Win 8 is going to be more directed and benificial for Tablets which is why there not including Aero so to save on the battery life.
All the other visual changes you mentioned not liking can be changed and DVD playback is solved by installing VLC Player 
I had high hopes for windows 8 on my next system to replace this XP Pro one (as I was trying to avoid win7), but the more I read about it in the media by technical writers, reviewers, etc. the less impressed I am. So this XP Pro system may well stay around at least until April 2014 (end of XP extended support). By then hopefully win8 SP1/SP2 with classic desktop interface will be an option or win9 will be poking its head above the parapet.
I know Bob is going to say try it before you knock it. But I absolutely hate the thought of the Metro Interface and not being able to remove it completely for a more classic desktop, keyboard and mouse interface. Trying to force a phone/tablet touch screen style interface on desktop users with a 26" screen isn’t going to win any friends.
I honestly wouldn’t mind it on a tablet/touch screen device, but if I’m going to do that, I might as well have an Android Tablet (where the OS is free) and I think a lot of others may be thinking the same thing.
Having seen Win8 in action I will definitely NOT be using it. Win7 is truly excellent and I will stay with that for as long as is possible.
Android tablets are hoplessly slow and very annoying, I want a proper desktop unit and if Windows stays with the Win8 theme into the future I guess it will be Linux full time here.
Some of the new quad core processors and the latest Android 4.0.4 will make them much faster, but there is no comparison to a full Intel desktop/laptop CPU.
I think MS thinking on this it to unify the interface across all systems, phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, but they fail to consider how they are used by the user. One size doesn’t fit all. Perhaps they are hoping the win8 metro on a desktop may make them consider the windows phone, which barely registers on the smartphone radar.
I think you are right David and it is sad that Microsoft still seem to fail to understand that what they think people want is not reality. Companies and households can’t just change hardware to suit M$.
Not everyone wants to be attached to a device or app 24/7, there are other things in life. Once away from the keyboard I don’t and wont carry any tablet/smartphone/PDA around with me.
umm this might be sort of mean to say but a lot of people i know says they believe windows 8 will be the biggest microsoft windows fail to happen from windows me and windows vista put together… I think i might switch to windows 8 when it comes out… or i might just stay with trusty windows 7 
Most likely these are people who never really gave it a chance. They most likely didn’t want to take the time it takes to get used to something new.
It is faster, smarter and more secure that Windows 7. That alone makes it worthwhile getting acquainted with Windows 8.
If you don’t like the Metro interface, simply change it. I’ve already posted about how that can easily be done.
http://my.jetscreenshot.com/2701/m_20120601-esh1-21kb.jpg
The hack to remove the Metro interface, by all accounts won’t work in the Gold version, unless another hack is found. But why the hell should people have to hack it to achieve what they want.
Not everyone has a touch screen, not everyone working at a desktop wants to use a large touch screen your arms would be dropping of after a day using that. Have you seen them demonstrating these touch screen interfaces on the likes of QVC, they are standing up not sat at a desk with their arms at 90 degrees, it is just so damn unnatural.
For me it doesn’t have a killer reason why I need, want it, or would pay to upgrade, faster, smarted more secure, none of that effects how I use my system. To me they are just marketing buzz words, virtually every new release of windows is touted as faster, smarter, more secure.
I still haven’t found a reason why I would have upgraded to win7 yet, other than it was on my new netbook as you couldn’t get XP Pro, I certainly wouldn’t have paid for an upgrade. I still don’t really like win7 and it is a long way closer to a classic desktop interface.
Another review:
I also have no need for those apps. I can do everything I want to do very well with Win 7 and mouse and keyboard. Windows 8 will be like another Vista in terms of it’s adoption rate. It may actually be slower. Sure, there will be some who want the latest of everything but most “upgrading” will come from purchases of new hardware and I foresee that a lot of those purchases will be reverted to Win 7.
That looks like a Win98 start menu (see what i did there)…
I’m trying this new version (The R.P.), But I still can’t find a reason to like it. I WILL be staying with Windows 7. It might be good on a tablet, But it doesn’t belong on a desktop.(It looks god awful on my 24" LCD panel .)
Yes, for desktop PC’s Windows 7 is an excellent OS and I also see no reason to change. I loved XP but Win 7 is better in every way.
It’s easy to criticize something you’re not willing to learn and stick too.
Eventually, there isn’t going to be any choice.
Windows XP is going to fade out since it will no longer be supported or updated.
I’m still working with it bob,I’ve been using it off and on since the first release. I just can’t get use to it. (and I’ve been using Windows since 3.1) I really think this is the biggest mistake Microsoft has made since M.E. But, That’s just my opinion.
If a new OS is not suited to your needs and features you want/need are removed then where is the problem criticizing it ? Microsoft are making much of the “we have listened to what users want” routine but clearly they have not , you only need to look around the net to see the amount of comment. Win8 may well be great for mobile devices but work place desktops?
Why is it so many businesses are still not moving from Win 2000 or XP Pro ? Large scale change costs time and money, if it works why fix what ain’t bust?
“Eventually there will be no choice” … sorry but that blinkered view is very inaccurate, there are plenty of other choices out there and more people change over to those other OS’s every day. Mac and Linux are growing all the time, I dual boot PCLINUXOS and it has got to the point now where I really no longer need Windows for anything, indeed many of the apps are now far and away superior to those on Windows.
If/when Win7 stops being useable I won’t be buying Windows again.
Same here. My two machines are dual booted with w7/Bun2 and xp/PCLOS. The linux distros provide all the software I need in the repositories - free, and always updated. I now rarely use windows.
It is unlikely I will ever upgrade windows on my machines.
I have even less use for Linux than Win 8 and given the choice between those two, Win 8 would win every time. Having said that, I’m still sticking with Win 7. Also, XP may stop getting updates but that doesn’t mean it will stop working.
Just my two cents worth here…
This topic has certainly generated a lot of lively and diverse opinions!
In my opinion, it’s all about the “almighty dollar” with Microsoft…and quite frankly…many other major businesses as well! It is also concerning that Microsoft apparently fails to adequately consider the diversity of all its product users.
Many users (like myself) are “up in years”, so-to-speak. In addition, in my own case, (due to serious medical issues), I had to leave the workforce earlier than I would have planned. Now, having to subsist upon a very limited, fixed, disability income month-to-month, most certainly doesn’t lend itself to my being able to just go out and acquire the latest “gadgetry”…like another computer, new OS, or some fancy new touchscreen.
For me…(barring Divine intervention)…I just have to hope the Win XP Pro I’ve used for several years now will keep going, even when MS support for it ends.
Regards,