[porter]

I set up Windows 8 for our grandma's new computer 2 nights ago. I run Ubuntu and OSX but also use Windows 7 on occasion. I've read all the bad reviews, but I was interested in actually trying it out for myself. The new UI is horrible. Some problems I encountered:

- IE hides the URL bar by default and makes you right click near the bottom of the browser to show it (this took me 5 min to figure out).

- We backed up all the email on Outlook Express from the old machine only to find that Windows 8 Mail couldn't import it.

- Windows would occasionally (not by my doing) switch back to the old style desktop mode. The old desktop mode was great at first, until I realized there wasn't a start button and I had to use both the new UI and the old desktop to get stuff done.

This is just a small sampling. To be fair I upgraded to the new Ubuntu layout a few months ago and found it to be almost as frustrating (almost). But then I switched to the old style desktop and everything was back to normal again. Bottom line? Grandma hates it and wants her old computer back.

[sliverstorm]

Bottom line? Grandma hates it and wants her old computer back.

This fairly accurately describes every time a tech-unsavvy friend or relative of mine has upgraded anything, ever.

[derefr]

> The old desktop mode was great at first, until I realized there wasn't a start button

There's a start button, it just doesn't look like anything. Throw your cursor to the bottom-left corner and click. (And the little "show desktop" widget is still in the bottom-right corner as well.)

[genwin]

Make sure it's the one pixel in the very bottom left corner, or it'll just make the desktop icon that displays go away. And once on the desktop you still can't do anything; there's no start button or menu or anything. I guess if I spend a weekend on Google I could figure out the magical secret. Seems to me it should be a bit more intuitive than that.

[gnud]

Invisible GUI elements seems to be all the rage these days.

I don't get it - why would you want it invisible, even if you're using touch?

(this goes for special "swipe-in" stuff too, not just for the start menu)

[leviathant]

I only use "the old desktop" in Windows 8, and the "new UI" is basically a full-screen start button with status crap in it. The only time I see the Metro side of things is when I check the weather, or use Trackage.

If you're approaching Windows 8 on a desktop or (non-touch) laptop with the intent to stay strictly within this new interface, you're misunderstanding how the operating system works.

[brudgers]

Don't blame Windows 8 for breaking your grandma's computer. She ain't the one who installed it without knowing how it works.

[genwin]

> The new UI is horrible.

Agreed. Maybe MS plans to sell training on how to do the things that were obvious before?