Microsoft is busy working the kinks out of Windows 8 in time for a big fall release, but Stardock CEO Brad Wardell is in no rush to see the new operating system hit the PC scene — at least as is.
In a scathing op-ed posted at game blog Kotaku, the software developer called Microsoft’s current Windows 8 build a “schizophrenic…usability nightmare” and urged the software giant to head back to the drawing board to make a “non-crazy” version.
Tell us how you really feel, Mr. Wardell.
Is it a tablet OR a desktop OS? It tries to be both…and neither.
Let’s say you’re on the desktop and you want to load up Mass Effect 3 or Microsoft Word. You are expected to move your mouse to the bottom left, wait for a tile to be displayed, click on the tile. That action whisks you away from the desktop to the Metro environment where you can then look for those programs.
The Windows 8 experience involves jumping back and forth between the tablet environment (Metro) and the desktop. They have nothing in common. Metro’s task list won’t list desktop apps and the desktop won’t list recently active Metro apps. They’re separate and yet you have to use both.
Other criticisms include the lack of multi-monitor support and Metro apps requiring the full-screen treatment. Wardell believes pushing touchscreen support for desktop PCs and focusing on the burgeoning tablet market will haunt Microsoft in the coming years thanks to OS options that just weren’t there 10 years ago.
“This isn’t 1999 where [Microsoft] could ship a Windows ME type product and users had no real alternatives,” Wardell wrote. “2012 is the year in which millions of users are using an iOS or Android device.”
Wardell’s harsh criticism belies his company’s vested interest in the Windows platform in general. The company does build Windows software, after all. Stardock has already released a Windows 8 app called Start8, which adds a traditional Start menu to the Consumer Preview’s taskbar.
During a recent interview with Neowin, the developer confirmed more apps are in the works and could be released if Microsoft doesn’t correct some issues itself.
19 Comments on Stardock CEO: Windows 8 is ’schizophrenic’
I really enjoy the youtube videos where people put their parents in front of Windows 8 and nobody has a big F-ing clue of what to do.
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Originally Posted by Mirror007
I really enjoy the youtube videos where people put their parents in front of Windows 8 and nobody has a big F-ing clue of what to do.
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For the developer preview, the first thing I did was go "wtf????".
The second thing I did was use internet explorer to download firefox.
The third thing I did was use firefox to google "disable metro".
For the consumer preview, the metro interface cannot be disabled. I've learned the metro interface, and I have to say "wtf was microsoft smoking when they came up with the totally whacked interface where the screen keeps flashing when you want to launch a program. My desktop is now cluttered with shortcuts, so I don't have to go back to metro.
I've customised the metro interface so it has about 4 icons - desktop, firefox, control panel & steam.
Everyone criticised windows 7 for various reasons, but I only saw good ... I love win7.... But windows 8 is going to be brutal for microsoft, if they ship it with metro as default for PCs.
I like the improvements to the file copy dialogue, and I can understand the rearangement of the task manager (but don't agree with it), but metro is just stupid.
It has a few under the hood improvements, particularly for owners of recent AMD cpus that are not entirely conventional, so win 7 completely under-utilises, so it will provide a handy performance increment.
Also the move to replace shutdowns with hibernation, I don't like. I often install drivers/programs before I shutdown the Pc for the night, but windows 8 will require a restart, and then a "shutdown".
Wasted 3 hours downloading this crap and a further 1.5 hours to install it. Win 8 spent a good 15 minutes on my machine before I formatted the drive to rid myself of it.
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Originally Posted by olddancer
Unless the "Metro" interface can be permanently disabled and replaced with a "Classic" desktop, Win 8 isn't good enough to share the same nail as last years Sears Catalogue (ask an old Farmer about the metaphore).
Wasted 3 hours downloading this crap and a further 1.5 hours to install it. Win 8 spent a good 15 minutes on my machine before I formatted the drive to rid myself of it. |
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Originally Posted by CharmedonWB
The shortcoming of MS here is the fact that they have erroneously predicted that tablets will be the future.
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There is a method to Microsoft's madness. When you get a tablet in your hands and can actually touch the interface, you will see the point to all this.
For the rest of you.. go back to using XP.
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Originally Posted by Im a PC
There is a method to Microsoft's madness. When you get a tablet in your hands and can actually touch the interface, you will see the point to all this.
For the rest of you.. go back to using XP. |
XP is useless for any modern hardware ...
- CPU threads aren't scheduled correctly for modern CPU's.
- Native SATA support is missing for modern HDD's / SSD's.
- 4K block addressing is not supported for modern HDD's.
- Security is lacking, ie; doesn't prevent epileptic criminals from using your PC .....
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Originally Posted by Im a PC
People freak out every time MS changes the interface. They did it when the changed the Start Menu in XP and again with Vista and 7.
There is a method to Microsoft's madness. When you get a tablet in your hands and can actually touch the interface, you will see the point to all this. For the rest of you.. go back to using XP. |
3.11, windows 95, 98, XP, Windows 7.
Millenium had that annoying memory leak bug. Vista wasn't quite refined enough like windows 7 was.
I think what windows XP taught us was that we don't need a new OS every 2 or 3 years. XP had long legs. It seems Windows 8 might be a fail, so Windows 7 might need legs just as long
I used Win 3.11, moved onto Win98 OSR 2.0 (I think not sure). Then I stayed there and moved over to XP SP1, and been on that like for ever. Then I did try Win7 SP1 didn't like it so much. But I stayed with it. And I think it is not that different from WinXP. It took a while getting used to the changes they made, but it wasn't to bad and most of the things where good changes
Now that I am used to that, why would Win8 remove the old Win7 GUI and opt for a new one, it's one thing if you can select the typ you want, new or old, but removing the old win7 GUI all together is just stupid. Let people decide what to use. A new GUI should be in win 9 if that ever gets out.
There might be programs that can fix this, but it is still odd, that MS wants to remove it so you have to fix it with third party programs. I will not move over to Win8, I will stay with Win7 just like WinXP. Becaus that worked great. Why should I move over to a new OS if I don't need to.
P.S. In my case, I needed a better computer with dual core, so Win7 was a good upgrade as it had new tech, better hardware support, and over all lots of nice upgrades from WinXP era.
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Originally Posted by Im a PC
People freak out every time MS changes the interface. They did it when the changed the Start Menu in XP and again with Vista and 7.
There is a method to Microsoft's madness. When you get a tablet in your hands and can actually touch the interface, you will see the point to all this. For the rest of you.. go back to using XP. |
Metro is worse! They've removed the steering wheel and replaced it with a touch pad, and the shifter and signal lever are now in the trunk (boot for those of British decent).
Those of us in the "Real Working World" need that which works plain and simple.
Our brains work on a slightly higher level than "New, shiney, shiney, shiney, must have, don't care how it works, must have shiney".
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Originally Posted by debro
After seeing the metro interface and assuming that tablets ARE the future, Microsoft will not be a part of that future
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Originally Posted by Im a PC
People freak out every time MS changes the interface. They did it when the changed the Start Menu in XP and again with Vista and 7.
There is a method to Microsoft's madness. When you get a tablet in your hands and can actually touch the interface, you will see the point to all this. For the rest of you.. go back to using XP. |
Michael
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Originally Posted by MJPollard
If all you have to offer is snarky b*llsh*t, do everyone a favor and shut the h*ll up.
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