Livre d'Or

A lot of the complaints about Windows 8 don't really make sense to me. I've been using it for several months for, among other things, software development, web browsing, email, photography and games.

1. When running desktop applications (i.e. non-"Metro" applications), it's not particularly different from Windows 7. (A few applications, e.g. IE and Chrome, can run in either mode.)

2. The start menu has turned into a start screen. Evidently that bothers some people but the way I use Windows (which is with all the applications that I actually use pinned to the taskbar) it doesn't actually make much difference.

I think this is a "what you're used to" issue rather than a real usability problem though: as a rule one uses the start menu (or start screen) to select something and run it, it's not something you need to be constantly visible alongside something else.

IMO what they've really done here is really to formalize the habit some people have of putting all their application icons on the desktop, but in a way that doesn't clutter the desktop.

3. "Metro" applications are indeed full screen and, worse, often lacking in useful functionality. The PDF reader is a good example: running full screen is inappropriate in something one might use for displaying reference material while working on something else, and it's incapable of printing.

Of course in that particular case, shipping with a PDF reader at all is TTBOMK an improvement over previous versions of Windows, and the solution is the same as it was for them: install one. Nevertheless, there are justified criticisms here, it's not just a matter of getting used to something new.

I've not encountered anything that made me feel it was "completely designed around entertainment".