No matter how much you kick it, Win 8 is here to stay a while because it is the beginning of a long line of superior OSes.

There will always be some whinger who'll happily find a reason to whinge about it, but that don't make it a bad OS.

And let's not play the 'general consensus' card.  The majority is too happy singing in the chorus "Oh Win 8 is woeful", and they've entirely forgotten they have a voice [and mind] of their own.

It's sad how the human race has become a bunch of sheep... a handful say "it's crap" and the rest follow suit because a genuinely well-thought-out opinion is so hard to come by these days.... "like who wants to make the effort when somebody's done it for me."  Fact is, anything can be done in Win 8 that could be done in XP and 7 and more, it's just a matter of navigating around the OS and learning how to effectively use it.

That's ok. 

The people who have decided they have found the best way to do something computational are welcome to feel same and stagnate.  Kicking, screaming and not so full of piss'n vinegar they will be dragged into the new 'computational world' at some point.

No so long ago, pioneers and 'early-adopters' were jailed/burned at the stake.  Today a good 'roasting / trolling'' on internet forums is the equivalent.  So have at it......troll the latest MS OS all you want.  Those of us who use it (like it) aren't going anywhere. 

We have challenged our clients (those on the fence about Win8) that if any of them felt after a 2 week period with Win8 that their actual productivity suffered as a result of the change, the company would absorb the costs relating to the software change. So far this 'challenge' hasn't cost the company a dime! 

i was trying to insert a bit of levity, folks. although, a "windows 8 is the best operating system evah!" thread does sound appealing.

That is because Win 8 can do all that previous OSes do/did and more... it just takes a bit of time and dedicated effort to become accustomed to it.  People who are willing to do this generally find Windows 8 enjoyable to use and productive.  My 80 year old mother recently purchased an Asus S560-CA with Win 8 and she is loving it... and it was my first thought that it would be too steep a learning curve, given her computer skills are just average at best.  Thing is, she downloaded some tutorial apps from the Store to help her get started, and now she's using Skype, the Cloud and all sorts of things in her daily doings.

So, if my 80 y/o mother can do it, anyone can... they just have to get past Stubborn, Pig-headed and Biased... OhI'mTooLazy2LearnNewShit.

I thought I'd seen one around (sort of):

https://forums.wincustomize.com/429294

Anyway he tried.

Goes to show ... people prefer to bag something out than give it praise.

Yeah, sad, isn't it.  Even sadder, some of those doing it are supposedly educated, computer literate people with a better command of operating systems than is being demonstrated in the various Win 8 related threads.

I've yet to see/hear a genuine complaint about Win 8. Everything thus far has an answer/workaround/resolution and the rest is crud, in some cases just for the sake of having a bitch.  Admittedly I didn't like the Metro interface to begin with, but I've always liked the regular desktop beneath it, and now I'm better acquainted, I find Metro another extension of my PC and various somewhat apps useful to complete some tasks.  It's just a matter of adapting, but obviously some are unwilling to do that.

Yes....and you'd think that those "supposedly educated, computer literate people with a better command of operating systems" would actually know a dog OS when they saw it...and say so....

...oh, wait.... 

So if I'm in the start screen and want to drag and drop a file into say an email program or Skype I'm supposed to launch open the desktop, open an explorer window and then search for the file and then drag and drop it?  What if its say Skype for Metro? How do I do that? Or what if my email app is the default windows 8 mail app. How do I do it?

i make my living knowing how people use their computers. I have seen first hand people struggle with basic issues like this. 

Its not that windows 8 is different and one must get used to it.  It's that it's demonstratively inferior at doing common tasks performed by PC users. The office worker who is regularly sending files to people, a very common task, is Going to have to jump through more hoops to get it done. 

i can't think of any way that Windows 8 is more productive than Windows 7. Almost everything takes more steps.  

i was visiting a company this past week and they were doing a power point presentation on a projector with just a Mouse. During it, some metro messaging app popped up with an event. It took up e whole screen.  there's no quick way to dismiss it other than alt-tabbing back to the presentation (I helped him by reminding hiM he could move the mouse to e left of the screen and slide down to get back to PowerPoint). in previous versions of windows youd click have a dialog pop up in front of PowerPoint and the presenter could quickly click around it.

what amazes me in this Thread is I give specific, concrete, real world example of Windows 8 issues and they get dismissed and ignored by its proponents. I'm pretty sure I've  got at least as much, if not more, Windows 8 hours as anyone in this thread. I don't have some problem with change. I know how to use it. But it invariably takes more steps to do the same common tasks as previous versions.

Yeap, and learning all the steps is a pain in the butt.  So I took the computer back and had my old one fixed with W7 on it.

You do know I'm having a lend... don't you?

Yeah, I'm the protagonist, antagonist, whatever, but just like you're enjoying kicking Win 8 to the gutter, I'm having a blast defending it with a bit of tongue-in-cheek thrown in so's I don't come across as too stiff upper lip about it.  Besides, insomnia tends to send me seeking time fillers and sources of amusement.

Well, to be fair, I've not used Win8 on my work system. I just installed it Friday and will get it configured more on Monday. From there I can look at it from a different perspective.

From a home user perspective it simply kicks ass and fulfills my home PC needs better than 7 did. I can certainly see that you bring up valid points though and I look forward to examining your points in more detail.

You gave some examples I agreed with and some I proved wrong.

Personally I think this thread (and, honestly, most 8 threads on any forum are) is overly hostile on either side of the argument.  Insulting people isn't going to win any converts...it's not a problem if people believe something you don't, it's a problem if you try to force your beliefs on everyone else.

And now I'm disappearing again.

if you dont have touch, you just won't get it

Not me!  I'm not being hostile.  While I like win 8 and think it is a great OS, I'm mostly having a lend [stirring the pot, so to speak] of those who don't like it... but in a fun kind of way, though  Essentially it's everyone's personal preference as to which OSes they use or like and I really don't care if Win 8 isn't one of them. 

I use Win 8 because it does everything Win 7 did and more, and while it may be different in some ways, I do not find it difficult to navigate, etc.  Now Brad has stated that he has had issues with certain tasks taking more steps to complete them, and in some case I concede that he may have a point, but for me an extra couple of mouse clicks are not monumental.  They are but fleeting moments in time and my progress/productivity are not seriously hampered in any way.  However, that does not mean to say a person in a work environment would be so accommodating, as the extra clicks accumulate over a working day/working week.

Again, it's a case of each to his own... and Win 8 is my choice.

I don't have touch and I find Win 8 easy to navigate with a mouse and keyboard.  In fact, I prefer it that way for the desktop.  Reaching out to my monitor hour after hour to perform tasks would cause more problems than it would resolve, so no, 'touch' in that situation is not an option.  However, it would be excellent on a tablet and/or laptop that is closer to the body and easier to reach.... perhaps even on the desktop situation I'm setting up upstairs, where the desk is lower and the user would be reaching down more than straight out,