What the post Windows 8 world says...
I long argued that the reaction to Windows 8 was more than just overblown. Not that I considered anything more nefarious than simple human nature to be at the root of it (people don't like change). I was also interested to see what the reaction to Windows 10 would be. Unsurprisingly, I saw many of the expected claims that Microsoft had "fixed" things to be more like Window 7. I also saw many incorrect claims (like saying that the Start Menu is back). The one thing I don't get the impression that many others expected however which we saw was a lot of complaints of functionality that was only ever in Windows 8/8.1 that was dropped.
I honestly don't think that Windows 10 is really all that much of an improvement over Windows 8. In fact, in a lot of ways I think it is a step back. Overall, I think the pros outweigh the cons. I won't miss charms for instance and I don't think many will. Some developers might (it did provide clear guidance on where and how to put certain features). But I don't think users will charms. In fact, I think charms are the sole fault Windows 8 truly had. It was an easily forgettable, non-discoverable, poorly labeled wasteland of awfulness.
Start menu? Well, as I hinted, it didn't return. The start menu is Windows 10 is completely different from what Windows 7 had. It is a compact version of the Start Screen with an added (inferior) itemized list of applications. And, while I think it does the job sufficiently, I would argue that the full screen approach was better (despite absurd claims otherwise). Some of the functionality around settings, power, etc... are better than they were in Windows 8, but overall the Start concept is worse now. Thank you whiny jerks for that!
Beyond the death of charms and the degraded Start experience, what else is truly different? Well, Store apps can now float on the desktop and resize at will. That is a plus.
And that's it.
Wait? You say, what about Windows as a Service and Cortana? Forced updates, for the overwhelming majority will both go unnoticed and be advantageous. Cortana is a gimmick feature like Siri. I question how widely it is used in a regular basis.
Ok! What about the privacy issues? There are none. Get over it. 2/3 of those settings existed in the past. The remaining 1/3 are to power features like Cortana and are only used either as explicitly required by the functionality or to provide metadata to improve the services. Your data isn't being actively stored, analyzed or shared. Most of it can be turned off also. And where it can't, it is easy to avoid those features... you can completely hide Cortana for instance and disable the "Hey Cortana".
Continuum? Stop pulling at straws. Changing between modes is more jarring than the split personality in Windows 8. If tablet mode is enabled for instance, I can swipe down from the top of the screen to close an app, but in desktop mode that just drags the app to the bottom of the screen. In many apps the back button moves from the top in the app header, to the bottom in the system tray and ceases to be just app context specific. Apps stop showing in the task bar. The Start menu becomes full screen and opens every time you close an app, rather than returning you the last opened one. Certain menu options like settings are hidden by default in Start.
I'm sorry, it was a nice idea. But the reality is, I use each device ONE WAY. That is simply too many changes, in too many important ways. And it isn't 100% reliable on most devices making it even more infuriating.
Don't get me wrong, the distinction between tablet mode and desktop mode makes sense. If I have a tablet I primarily or always use without a keyboard, tablet mode truly is the better option. And for a laptop or desktop, the desktop mode is clearly the better option. For hybrid devices however, having such common functionality change mid-use is painful. They'd be better off to just choose one for you or let you choose one yourself and default to being stuck with it. Which incidentally is what I've done on all of my hybrids. Just chosen the lowest common denominator and then disabled continuum from changing anything automatically.
So, we end up with an OS with very little that is actually new. Many reviewers have hit the same pain points even many of praised changes are just roundabout ways of accepting Windows 8 features. I think the lesson here is, while few people word it as such, what I'm reading leads me to believe that people actually learned that they liked Windows 8, and many did so without ever knowing they did.
I think, if Windows 8 had made the start screen more like the full screen start menu from Win10 (IE you didn't start there) and Store apps had been able to live on the desktop from day 1, it would have saved a lot of people a lot of griping.
I honestly don't think that Windows 10 is really all that much of an improvement over Windows 8. In fact, in a lot of ways I think it is a step back. Overall, I think the pros outweigh the cons. I won't miss charms for instance and I don't think many will. Some developers might (it did provide clear guidance on where and how to put certain features). But I don't think users will charms. In fact, I think charms are the sole fault Windows 8 truly had. It was an easily forgettable, non-discoverable, poorly labeled wasteland of awfulness.
Start menu? Well, as I hinted, it didn't return. The start menu is Windows 10 is completely different from what Windows 7 had. It is a compact version of the Start Screen with an added (inferior) itemized list of applications. And, while I think it does the job sufficiently, I would argue that the full screen approach was better (despite absurd claims otherwise). Some of the functionality around settings, power, etc... are better than they were in Windows 8, but overall the Start concept is worse now. Thank you whiny jerks for that!
Beyond the death of charms and the degraded Start experience, what else is truly different? Well, Store apps can now float on the desktop and resize at will. That is a plus.
And that's it.
Wait? You say, what about Windows as a Service and Cortana? Forced updates, for the overwhelming majority will both go unnoticed and be advantageous. Cortana is a gimmick feature like Siri. I question how widely it is used in a regular basis.
Ok! What about the privacy issues? There are none. Get over it. 2/3 of those settings existed in the past. The remaining 1/3 are to power features like Cortana and are only used either as explicitly required by the functionality or to provide metadata to improve the services. Your data isn't being actively stored, analyzed or shared. Most of it can be turned off also. And where it can't, it is easy to avoid those features... you can completely hide Cortana for instance and disable the "Hey Cortana".
Continuum? Stop pulling at straws. Changing between modes is more jarring than the split personality in Windows 8. If tablet mode is enabled for instance, I can swipe down from the top of the screen to close an app, but in desktop mode that just drags the app to the bottom of the screen. In many apps the back button moves from the top in the app header, to the bottom in the system tray and ceases to be just app context specific. Apps stop showing in the task bar. The Start menu becomes full screen and opens every time you close an app, rather than returning you the last opened one. Certain menu options like settings are hidden by default in Start.
I'm sorry, it was a nice idea. But the reality is, I use each device ONE WAY. That is simply too many changes, in too many important ways. And it isn't 100% reliable on most devices making it even more infuriating.
Don't get me wrong, the distinction between tablet mode and desktop mode makes sense. If I have a tablet I primarily or always use without a keyboard, tablet mode truly is the better option. And for a laptop or desktop, the desktop mode is clearly the better option. For hybrid devices however, having such common functionality change mid-use is painful. They'd be better off to just choose one for you or let you choose one yourself and default to being stuck with it. Which incidentally is what I've done on all of my hybrids. Just chosen the lowest common denominator and then disabled continuum from changing anything automatically.
So, we end up with an OS with very little that is actually new. Many reviewers have hit the same pain points even many of praised changes are just roundabout ways of accepting Windows 8 features. I think the lesson here is, while few people word it as such, what I'm reading leads me to believe that people actually learned that they liked Windows 8, and many did so without ever knowing they did.
I think, if Windows 8 had made the start screen more like the full screen start menu from Win10 (IE you didn't start there) and Store apps had been able to live on the desktop from day 1, it would have saved a lot of people a lot of griping.
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