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by jmcdonald-ut 4673 days ago
I use it by choice.

My desktop has both Ubuntu 12.10 and Windows 8, and I love both operating systems. My work computer is loaded with OS X, which I also love. Perhaps I'm a techie, but I think that a lot of the hate we see with Windows 8 is just growing pains.

So for people who perhaps want a look at some of the pros and cons of Windows 8, here is a list I can come up with after using it for a while. Please note that these are mostly subjective.

Pros:

  - Sand boxed applications.  The implications here are fantastic, and it means less tech savvy users can be safer using Windows.  
  - Full screen apps, and snapped apps actually work fairly well.  
    - These full screen apps are per screen for setups with multiple screens.  This is coming to OS X Mavericks which I'm really excited about!  
  - Hot keys allow for fast work!  (I can't say what is and isn't new in Windows 8, because I didn't try to optimize my work flow in 7 with hot keys)
  - The start menu UI is awesome once you are used to it, and much better than the old menu.  
  - HTML5 native applications.  From what I have seen it is not as easy as building a website though, which is too bad.  
  - Hooking up to a large screen TV is AWESOME.  With their design paradigm nothing is ever too small, and it feels so natural on a TV.
    - This is an area where both Linux and OS X have failed to me.  
  - Far better task manager (subtle, but awesome!)
Cons:

  - Failure on Microsoft's part to help users differentiate between a Windows 8 targetted app, and a "Desktop" app.  
    -  A proposed solution here would be to allow Windows 8 store apps to act as a desktop app, while remaining sand boxed. 
  - Desktop apps aren't sand boxed (see above).  
  - Windows store sucks.  
  - Full screen shouldn't be forced.  They made some good UI moves, but this is one that I wish they hadn't done.  
  - Command line (I mean, I just love bash way more, and no git bash isn't a fantastic replacement).  
  - Microsoft tries hard to force the use of GUIs.  Seriously I love using a shell to do most things.  
  - Start screen can be hard to manage for an average PC user.
EDIT Sorry for the formatting, I'm not really sure how to make the lists look pretty!