[_wp3r]

Are you running 8.1?

Also are you using any tile/native/windows8 apps?

I only ask because I had the great displeasure of attempting to use the native skype app last night, and could not simply adjust my mic volume without ending the call.

There are large fundamental issues with the UI(ie right click, the right bar thing having no mouse area forgiveness, no app specific settings menus, and many others) that have prevented me from completing even the most basic of task.

What "fixes" are you using to be able to even interact with the UI?

I am absolutely not trolling, but I am completely bewildered by these comments popping up.

[BruceIV]

I'm not the parent, but I do run Win 8.1 on my main laptop. I don't use Metro apps (Netflix and a couple games excepted), because there are better apps to do the same thing on the desktop (and before 8.1 not being able to run Metro apps on more than one monitor was a pain). For the specific case of Skype, I use the desktop client (my laptop doesn't have Windows 8 drivers for its webcam, and the Windows default puts the video upside-down), and it works fine.

My basic experience with Windows 8 (and especially 8.1) is that it's an improvement over 7, so long as you just use desktop apps - it boots quicker, and there's a number of useful UI tweaks (Windows Explorer and the Task Manager are notable here). Also, I like the Start screen - being able to comfortably arrange a couple dozen apps for easy access means I almost never have to go digging in the menu.

[dagw]

I've been using Windows 8 (haven't upgraded to 8.1 yet) since basically day 1 and think it's great. I don't use any tile apps though and honestly never use or see that side of the UI. I have a desktop computer, so I stick to the desktop paradigm.

I don't need any "fixes" to interact with the UI. It works basically just like Windows 7, with a few minor tweaks (like Win+X). What doesn't work with right-click? As far as I can see it does the same thing as it did in Windows 7

I'll give you the right bar thing, but a) I hear it's fixed in 8.1 and b) the only thing there I use there is the shut down menu.

Now maybe the touch interface is as horrible as everybody claims, but as a desktop OS it works great

[nlawalker]

I use 8 on my laptop and Surface RT. Here are a few tidbits:

- With a few exceptions, I don't use any "modern UI" apps. I'm not a huge fan of them, just like I'm not a fan of most iPad apps. I like multitasking and power-usering too much. For example, I greatly prefer desktop IE to modern IE, even on a Surface with no keyboard/mouse, because it feels faster and the tabs and toolbars are always visible - I'd rather have them there than a tiny bit more browser viewport.

- I use a couple modern apps on the Surface where I have no alternative, like Skype. That said, if I'm in full-on "tablet mode" (on the couch or standing, no keyboard attached, just consuming), the good modern apps feel just as good as or better than the good iPad apps. Browsing photos on SkyDrive or using Xbox SmartGlass, Maps or the video player feels good.

- On my laptop, everything works on the desktop as it always has, plus a few small enhancements over Win7. Launch apps by hitting the Windows key and the typing to search - I don't really care that it brings up the "Start screen" for a second. I don't use the tiles at all.

-I primarily use my Surface as a mini-laptop (with a Type Cover, the one with real keys) and almost exclusively use it for the browser and OneNote.

- Regarding right-click: on both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, MS is trying to standardize on the "tap and hold for a second" gesture for right-click/context menu. It's used all over the first-party apps and many third-party apps.

- Not sure what you mean about the charms bar having no mouse area forgiveness. On a touch screen, you swipe in from the bezel. On a monitor with a mouse, you hit the top right corner and mouse down along the edge.

- App specific settings menus are in the Settings charm. All of the charms (Search, Share, Devices, Settings) are context-sensitive to the running modern app. To me, this feels like "excessive refactoring" of the UI: it makes sense in some aspect because those features/activities are common across many apps, but it does feel weird to have them grouped and hidden away like that, especially in apps where one of those activities (usually search) is likely to be the first and only thing you do.

All in all, some of the new foundational concepts do need some further work, but they're not rotten to the core. If you're a standard desktop or laptop user with a mouse and keyboard and you prefer your desktop apps, then skip the modern ones. If you have Windows 7 and have no problems with it, there might not really be any reason for you to switch, but I don't think 8 is really a step back from 7 unless you're really on the hunt for things to gripe about.

[sliverstorm]

Assuming you are on a desktop or laptop computer, hit the "Desktop" tile and proceed to use Windows 8 exactly the same way you always used Windows 7. For all practical purposes, on a desktop the "tile" menu just replaces the start menu.

[lutusp]

> For all practical purposes, on a desktop the "tile" menu just replaces the start menu.

Yes, except that with the old "Start" menu, because it was hierarchical and because each item was much smaller, you could pack a lot more information into it than you can with a screen of tiles.

As things are unfolding, it seems we'll have both a tile display and a hierarchical tree behind the old "Start" button or some equivalent.

[numo16]

There actually is still a hierarchical tree in the start screen, it just defaults to your customizable pinned apps start screen. Right-click the start screen and hit the All Apps button in the lower corner for the traditional folder structure of the start menu (in smaller tile form, of course).

[sliverstorm]

I never said it was better.