Evaluation Finds Windows 8 to be Unusable and Even User-Hostile [Video]

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Posted December 27, 2012 at 5:04pm by Shalom Levytam

Check out this video from Brian Boyko that details how he found Windows 8 to be unusable and even user-hostile when attempting to review the operating system.

When I had some free time to take a look at Windows 8, I realized that I couldn't be impartial. The thing blows, and in this cartoon illustration, I show exactly why.

Take a look below...

[via CultofMac]

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Comments (42)

Comments are closed for this article.

Simonwildcat - June 2, 2013 at 10:54am

I watched this on Ubuntu because I can't face booting up windows 8 anymore to surf the net.

Ray Carlos - January 18, 2013 at 11:42pm

First I have been using MS products since it came out. I liked it better than the CPM I was using. I was a Lan manager with over 5000 pcs. I always promoted MS products because they were good. I load win 8 before it was released. Win 8 came up and I did not know how to get to the desktop. When I got there. there was no intuitive way I could know to go to the upper right hand corner and select anything to find my apps or settings to power off. Like the man said, with over 20 yrs using MS I felt dumb. I use to write MS programs for 20 yrs. There was no manual for win 8 yet. I had to hold classes in how to get around in win 8 to employees that have been using windows for years. If it was so great then why does MS have a free down grade and why has one third of win 8 users load a solution to replace the old menu on the desktop?

Ronie - January 5, 2013 at 3:28am

Lots of little thigns that don't quite work, or give Javascript errors but they're thigns that will be sorted after the product has been baked for a few weeks so there's no point in me mentioning them.Bug:1) Create Event2) Click in the time field to display the time fake drop-down list.3) Hit the escape key on the keyboard.Create Event screen will go and be left with the fake drop-down on top of the main calendar grid.Feature Request:Set a Default calendar eg I created a family calendar. My wife wants to post to this calendar by default, not into her own calendar.

Breix - December 28, 2012 at 11:43pm

Face it windows 8 is best use on tablets and windows phone not for a desktop or a laptop.. Especially gaming.. Other people say its worth it some don't.. Personally I preffer 7, not all softwares are updated for windows 8 use, if your the type of person that matters compatibility then don't use 8 but if its fine for you to be hassled sometimes then go ahead, yeah you can still use desktop option on W8 but I find it a bit annoying for some reason. Just stick to being simple yet modern touch.

dtourond - December 30, 2012 at 10:54pm

I think Windows 8 works fine on a laptop. I use it and I have no problem with compatibility. Since Windows 7 and 8 are very similar programs running in Windows 7 won't have a problem working in Windows 8. And if you're a gamer and you use Steam there's an app in the Windows Store that'll pin all your steam games to the Start Screen.

dtourond - December 28, 2012 at 9:37pm

The Modern (not Metro) UI is actually better than the Start Menu in several ways and installing a program to act as the Start Menu is pretty stupid if you ask me.. So many people complain at Microsoft for not innovating, but the moment they do, people get upset about it. It's not that the Modern UI isn't meant for Desktop, it is. It's just that users are still new to this and most of them are too stubborn to realize how great it is. Also I've noticed in the past couple years that people are getting too used to this whole idea of simplicity and the moment they see something that requires them to actually think, they freak out and panic. This whole idea that the Modern UI is not meant for the Desktop, or that it's hard to use is just an illusion.

NetTraptor - December 28, 2012 at 7:00pm

Yap very elegantly put! Windows 8 is such a fail on UI that soon people will be coming out with windows 7 skins. They already released a ton of start menu applications and UI tweaking just to bring back all the usability and coherence lost in 8

dtourond - December 28, 2012 at 7:15pm

Actually Windows 8 enhances a lot of usability and it is in a lot of ways better than 7. If people want to run these ridiculous start menu programs to emulate the start menu then fine but I think people are just too stubborn to actually try and learn about it.. I didn't know taking 10 minutes to learn about something was such a horrible thing for people to do...

NetTraptor - December 28, 2012 at 7:37pm

All this said I have deployed this in a 20 people department since late August start of September. Resistance to change is something we punish here :) I will not mention how many of those 20 really begged me to install a start menu mod. Yes there are some nice things to it like boot up speed, new fancy menus, widgets, apps, but the new logic is really worrying most of the times. Coherence and usability suffers while it lucks decisiveness as well as accurate market targeting. What or who this OS is targeted for is really not clear. Is it for tablets? is it for phones? is it for desktop productivity? In the end of the day you do not need to read more manuals to do basic OS stuff and you need less swipe, point and click actions to get something done, not more. In the process of catching up with the tablet/smartphone market they really messed it up for desktop users in some ways.

Devon - January 22, 2013 at 9:50pm

"Yes there are some nice things to it like boot up speed, new fancy menus, widgets, apps, but the new logic is really worrying most of the times." The real problem is that people these days don't have the will to learn new things and the minute they see something that they find isn't "easy to use", they freak out and think it's bad when really great. "Is it for tablets? is it for phones? is it for desktop productivity?" Well it's obviously not for phones. I have yet to see any phone running Windows 8. Instead, you have Windows Phone 8 for smartphones and Windows 8 for laptops/tablets. "they really messed it up for desktop users in some ways." They actually improved it, but what Microsoft failed on was making a proper tutorial for users.

Enlighten me - December 28, 2012 at 4:27pm

Windows 8 is like windows 7 with a few changes but it doesnt mean it sucks, you can do things In windows 8 like you do in windows 7 or xp.

Pguilf - December 28, 2012 at 4:17pm

Sorry I can't agree. I've been using Windows 8 for a couple of weeks now and I love it. It's never crashed on me. No application (including the weather) has ever opened without me opening it. If I had one complaint it would be that a couple of older pieces of software don't work like they used to, but no biggy!

Bob - December 28, 2012 at 3:38pm

I personally am regretting updating my Windows 7 to Win 8. I have nothing but problems, Some time I go to use it and their is a blue screen telling me that it had crashed. Now evry time I boot it tells me it is checking drive for repairs, after it takes about an hour to complete and finally boot into Windows, I get a message telling I have errors on my hard drive and must restart to fix it. Same crap over and aver again. Windows 8 is another Wimdows ME in my opinion. Lets face the facts, Windows 7 was awesome and it took Microsoft a long to to get there. Now they give us a really crappy upgrade. Hell i should get a damn refund for the garbage.

dtourond - December 28, 2012 at 7:17pm

Trust me, don't let this bring down your thoughts on Windows 8. I had Windows 8 for over a year (using the pre-releases) and It's been nothing but great and after a year of using Windows 7 it got slower and slower and eventually got blue screens all the time.

and - December 28, 2012 at 11:44am

this is not new, MS never launch a genuine product. they are either imitating, buying or hacking other products. i realized this when i upgraded to Vista, then i switched to Mac. when you will switch

vidal season - December 28, 2012 at 10:35am

this is actually how they make windows 8 commercials. "our product is great but customers are old and stupid" i guess last straw not to buy this crap

dtourond - December 30, 2012 at 11:16pm

That video is actually pretty awesome and it shows how easy it is?

TheWord - December 28, 2012 at 8:53am

Boo Hoo Windows sucks, its bloat ware, nothing new here because it actually does in fact suck. MS should go open source and they might just get an improved product.

dtourond - December 28, 2012 at 9:56am

Actually Windows doesn't suck. And it's not all bloatware. You haven't proved in any way, how YOU think it sucks. And guess what, every OS is great at certain things but they also suck at other things too. What I'm trying to tell you, in case you don't understand is that NO OS is perfect. Even Linux distros aren't either. OS X has it's pros & cons Window has it's pros & cons Linux (in general) has it's pros & cons. There's no "best OS". It's about what YOU want/need in an OS, not about an OS that supposedly sucks or is "the best"..

dtourond - December 28, 2012 at 9:18pm

Well first off, bloatware means programs installed by OEM's when you buy the PC/laptop/tablet in the store. If you already have a PC or laptop that you'd want to upgrade to Windows 8 you could just go and get the CD itself of download it online.. The original CD doesn't come with bloatware.

lkasjf - December 28, 2012 at 7:24am

I got to graduate school at a university and I have a macbook. I use to be a window's guy and i was quite good at tinkering with it. Can anyone tell me what this guy is talking about? CONTROL?! I've had the mac for over 5 months and i still can't control the wireless!!!! omg, with window's i would easily go into trouble shoot and all the simple stuff to help solve the ip and vpn issues... with this mac... i can't do a damn thing!!! worst $1200 i have ever spent... seriously.

qiUip - December 28, 2012 at 5:50pm

It is rather simple. First regarding wireless - just open the Network Preferences (assume you can do that without further explanation), select WiFi on the left and click on Advanced... You will have all the TCP/IP, DNS, Proxies etc settings you want. As for deleting application, well no, dragging to the trashcan dose not delete everything, the Application Support files (where your settings etc. are saved) don't get deleted that way, and sometimes some other stuff depending on the program and what it dose. In general, the reason for that is, if you delete an application and later reinstall it, all your settings are still saved. There are plenty of application that ail find all the relevant files and delete them for you, most are paid, but there are a few free ones that work just fine too (such as AppCleaner). You're "free tv shows" are not free, but pirated from the sounds of it. Still there is no problem playing .avis in quicktime, and if you do well, try VLC or MPlayerX. You don't need to download codecs for either of them as they are built in. As for online streaming, just make sure you installed Flash and you should be fine. There shouldn't be any differences with streaming on Windows, Mac or Linux. Mac OS X is built on Unix and most of these issues are the same in Linux (which is also Unix). They way I see it Mac OS X is just a walled off version of Linux that has it's benefits and problems. As for Windows, I thought 7 was okay, haven't tried 8, but the whole idea of how Windows works (as in registry and dlls) is just so moronic, not to mention developing on it is a nightmare (I like a command line and a texteditor, not VisualBasic which in my opinion sucks!), so until they leave the DOS days behind and move on I'm staying well away from it.

dtourond - December 28, 2012 at 3:05am

Windows 8 is actually pretty great. I can point out several ways how the Start Screen is better than the Start menu. As for ease of use, Windows 8 is very easy. The only thing Microsoft screwed up on is showing people how easy it is. A few other good reasons why Windows 8 is great is because it's a lot more secure than 7, it's performance is mostly better than 7 and at-par in some other ways and it boots a lot faster than 7. I don't think Windows 8 is complicated, I think people are just too stubborn to learn about it.

Simon - December 28, 2012 at 12:31am

Maybe Microsoft will get it right with windows 13. I agree with this guy. Windows 8 feels like a bad joke gone wrong.

dtourond - December 30, 2012 at 10:56pm

Have you even used it yet? Besides the Start Screen Windows 8 does offer a lot of improvements that many people forget; such as security, stability, performance and boot/shutdown times..

Paul - December 27, 2012 at 7:06pm

By the way... the fact that this article was published via "CultOfMac" and under the "Apple News" section should be enough justification for the reason why this was published.

iCMan - December 27, 2012 at 6:52pm

The first 7 minutes are utter subjective nonsense. Windows 8 isn't the best. And there is definitely room for improvement. First off, Microsoft's television commercials should verbally explain a feature or two per commercial, rather than the "Apple style" hip musical commercials they have now, leaving us all confused. Win8 is so different and new, they MUST explain the UI. One of the biggest problems is that each hardware manufacturer decides how they want the mousepad/surface to react to various gestures...this is not good. I started with almost the same problems as the author. But after spending time and having to go into a Microsoft store to get answers, I have seen the light. I like Win8 much more than before. And it makes my three Macs at home look very dated. But MS has to improve on how Win8 works. It isn't as intuitive as an iDevice, therefore not self explanatory. Lastly, they need to bring back the start button. I know they want to move to a new U?I, but they should gradually move over and let at least half the population take on the new, while the others slowly learn.

Hal 9000 - December 27, 2012 at 7:31pm

If they "need" to explain their UI they FAILED to create a good one. That's why Apple products lack of a user manual, they don't need one.

Devon - January 22, 2013 at 9:53pm

Don't be fooled by Apple's lack of manuals. I've had to explain to people how to use Apple devices as well. When Windows 95 was released, they had to explain how to use the UI. Doesn't mean it was bad.

Ken masters - December 27, 2012 at 6:23pm

This guy is a bit odd but as a windows 8 user he has some good points. I dont know how to close apps apart from ALT F4, pressing the windows key doesn't close the app...... Windows key acts like the iOS home button. Finding things like the recovery cd is difficult too. Moving around Metro Start screen with a mouse is way too difficult and slow. This guys a little dramatic but does make some good points. I've started using an app that gives me a start button and boots into the desktop.

Hal 9000 - December 27, 2012 at 7:25pm

So, you are using Windows 7 then.

Ken masters - December 28, 2012 at 1:59am

Yep after 3 months using Metro I've basically gone back to Windows 7 use of Windows 8

dtourond - December 28, 2012 at 3:08am

So.. Instead of figuring it out you decided to downgrade to something that's technically inferior in some cases... P.s: You can close apps by simply clicking on the top of the screen and dragging the app to the bottom of the screen. Voila!! The app is closed. This stuff isn't rocket science.

jmoney - December 28, 2012 at 4:13am

you can also use the task manager to close the app. There are som many ways if you actually take the time to figure it out and not wait for someone to tell you how

dtourond - December 28, 2012 at 4:32am

@jmoney - Another great example :)

DacksMac - December 27, 2012 at 6:19pm

Little over the top, but some of it makes sense. In the end, people will complain if things always look the same and people will complain if they change... You can never win.

bbqasaurus - December 27, 2012 at 5:36pm

I got through seven minutes of this, but that was all I could stand. When he started complaining about not being able to close the weather app no matter what he tried, it hurt my insides that I couldn't scream at him, "TRY THE WINDOWS KEY!"

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