Just how much do people hate Windows 8?

JMH

JMH

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Summary: Some of you don’t like Windows 8. And thanks to Internet comments and social media, you have lots of ways to express your loathing. But a closer look at one well-known real-world rating says Windows 8 might be more popular than you think.

Windows 8 might be the most polarizing product that Microsoft has ever introduced.

In fact, it might be one of the most polarizing tech products to ever see the light of day.

There’s no question that Windows 8 has a large number of outright haters. It’s even inspired comparisons with the much-loathed Windows Vista.

But it’s hard to tell whether that outpouring of anger is simply the echo chamber amplifying a vocal minority or whether it truly represents a widespread negative opinion.

So instead of guessing, I went looking for data. And I found it in a familiar place: the product pages of Amazon.com, where thousands of Windows upgraders in the past six years have left ratings (on the familiar scale of 1 to 5 stars) and detailed feedback about their purchase.

I went through more than 3000 ratings for upgrade versions of the three most recent versions of Windows and tallied those ratings to measure the love/hate rating for each one. (For details on methodology, see the end of this post.)
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Just how much do people hate Windows 8? | ZDNet
 
I'll admit, I used to, but that was in my ignorant and closed minded days. I just didn't want to accept and adopt the look of Windows 8 for a long time, no aero, missing start button... Then I forced myself to really look into it and learn more about it. Since some new discoveries, I have never looked back. Unfortunately not everybody is a "techie", so they all (for the most part) judge the OS by it looks and I think that's unfortunate.

Windows 8 is not that bad.

:smile9:
 
No, Windows 8 is not that bad. But it is not ideal either. ;) Coming from the best OS Microsoft ever did (Windows 7), it is actually not all that great. But I do love the speed, so I have gotten used to it.

I have already given details as to the things I am not thrilled with in other threads. And I hope they fix those things in the next iterations of Windows. Windows Blue?
 
And Ed was right about XP too. It was terrible when it first came out. Much worse than Windows 8 actually; but not until at least SP2! And they even fixed it further in SP3. WinXP turned into my favorite until Windows 7 came out.

Windows 7 was so good right out of the gate, I think we all got spoiled. And I still don't care for a lot of the changes in Windows 8. But it is fast.
 
Baed on PC Mag's article and NBC's article at the end of the year on Windows 8 adoption rate was dismal through the end of December 2012, but they noted that PC sales in general were down at that time so that could partially account for that.

I wonder if some some of that slowdown may have been folks that saw the writing on the wall and wanted to get their Windows 7 PC before they were forced to get Windows 8 too?

But I think that has picked up quite a bit with people getting their income tax refunds, etc. after the first of the year when they got their taxes done at the very least.

And because local outlets now have mostly if not all Windows 8 computers, adoption rate now will be greater still. So, I think by the end of Q1, we will have seen an increase. Maybe not as great as Windows 7 adoption, but due to lack of local choice and people holding out and finally needing to upgrade, and others just giving in and getting the latest greatest Windows system, Q1 adoption rates have been higher for Windows 8 than Q4 2012.
 
lol, that is surprising to me actually. With all the hype that they put on the Windows store, I think Windows 8 took some of the hit for that as well, so it would be hard to judge, just because of that one factor. Perhaps Windows 8 is a big "?" for now... It was a gamble though, so you've got to give credit for the risk. I'm already looking past Windows 8 personally, even though that may be selfish, I am curious to see how Microsoft responds with the release of what would be Windows 9 if they continue on the numbering system for these OS's. It's too late to back out of Windows 8, but they still have time to figure out what they are going to do for Windows 9. I think Windows 9 is going to be revolutionary quite honestly, just because of past trends, but in addition to stories I have heard about what Microsoft is working on, I think it should be good as an OS. I would love to see what they do with the design portion of it though, after seeing how Windows 8 played out for a couple years or so.
 
I have already stated my piece in other threads... I was never a hater... But then, I usually am not until I get to know a new piece of software (or hardware).

The styling cues of the desktop environment are just eye-candy.. Nothing more... Give it some time developers will have all sorts of skins and customizations available. It happens all the time.

My one major gripe with Windows 8 is being forced to use the new UI. Everything else is Windows 7 only better (without as much eye-candy).
 
Agree GZ. I love Windows 8, but it would be nice to have the option to turn off the UI and work on the desktop we've become accustomed to in previous versions. There should have been an option for desktop or tablet mode instead of having both always available.
 
writhziden said:
Agree GZ. I love Windows 8, but it would be nice to have the option to turn off the UI and work on the desktop we've become accustomed to in previous versions. There should have been an option for desktop or tablet mode instead of having both always available.
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You know they are in progress of a "Windows Blue", perhaps they are looking to adopt some ideas for what users would like to see in a Windows 8.1? *shifty eyes*
 
There's Just No Need to Hate Windows 8

During my recent two-month sabbatical, I took the opportunity to do a few things that I'd been putting off.
One of those things was to upgrade my main machine - a nearly five-year-old, quad-core desktop with eight gigabytes of RAM - to Windows 8. Not a dual boot. Not a "try it in a virtual machine." No, this was a commitment. I did this with the intent to completely commit to Windows 8 moving forward and suffer through whatever it is that I'd been hearing of from people for the previous few months.

I was deeply disappointed.
Not by Windows 8. With only a couple of exceptions, it's been great.
Instead, I'm disappointed by all of the wailing and gnashing of teeth that I've been hearing from readers and in the tech press.
If you're good with Windows 7, then you can be just fine with Windows 8. Mostly because, Windows 8 essentially is Windows 7.
I can hear heads exploding already. Let me explain.
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There's Just No Need to Hate Windows 8
 
JMH said:
There's Just No Need to Hate Windows 8

During my recent two-month sabbatical, I took the opportunity to do a few things that I'd been putting off.
One of those things was to upgrade my main machine - a nearly five-year-old, quad-core desktop with eight gigabytes of RAM - to Windows 8. Not a dual boot. Not a "try it in a virtual machine." No, this was a commitment. I did this with the intent to completely commit to Windows 8 moving forward and suffer through whatever it is that I'd been hearing of from people for the previous few months.

I was deeply disappointed.
Not by Windows 8. With only a couple of exceptions, it's been great.
Instead, I'm disappointed by all of the wailing and gnashing of teeth that I've been hearing from readers and in the tech press.
If you're good with Windows 7, then you can be just fine with Windows 8. Mostly because, Windows 8 essentially is Windows 7.
I can hear heads exploding already. Let me explain.
Click to expand...
There's Just No Need to Hate Windows 8
Click to expand...

If you are a desktop user, hate is a strong word, but "not pleased" would work. I do think that Windows 8 forgot about it's desktop users in some regards, and that's disappointing. But it is definitely good if you are a tablet-like device user. On my Surface, I wouldn't have installed any other OS if I had the choice.
 
Why I Still Use Windows 7 After a Year of Trying to Like Windows 8

Have you upgraded to Windows 8 yet? We’ve published a lot of Windows 8 articles here at How-To Geek, and I’ve written many of them, but I haven’t. I still use Windows 7 on my PC.

This is just one geek’s opinion. I’ve been playing with Windows 8 for much longer than most people. It has been about a year since I wrote my first Windows 8 articles (using a prerelease) here at How-To Geek.

Mark has already written about how he learned to love Windows 8, so I thought I’d chime in with my own experience. I tried hard to love Windows 8, but I just can’t make it work.

Newer Isn’t Always Better

First, let’s get one thing out of the way. Bill Gates said “higher is better” when asked whether he used Windows 8, but this isn’t always the case in Windows-land. I remember Windows Me, which loved to blue-screen — I stuck with Windows 98. I remember Windows Vista, which couldn’t transfer files over a network at reasonable speeds — like many people, I stuck with Windows XP. Now a new Windows version shows up again and it’s time to evaluate whether this one is worth the upgrade (like 7 was) or whether we should stick with the old version of Windows once again.
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Why I Still Use Windows 7 After a Year of Trying to Like Windows 8
 
Interestingly, there are rumours that "Windows Blue" could return to the old Start Button and boot straight to desktop.

Windows Blue could restore the Start button, boot straight to the desktop | Ars Technica

ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley is now reporting that the upcoming Windows Blue, also known as Windows 8.1, may be backtracking on some of these user interface decisions. According to her sources, the update may restore the Start button to the Windows desktop, as well as give users the ability to bypass the Start screen entirely at boot. Foley notes that she's not "100 percent sure" that these features will make it to the final version of Windows Blue, but that sources within Microsoft say that the company is at least considering both options. Interestingly enough, Foley's source makes no mention of the Start menu, just the button itself.
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