Windows 8 is a Joke!

[jeffa123]

A bad one if you want to buy it. I have not looked on OCUK at their pricing but when looking on MS's site today you can buy the UPGRADE for £189.99. You wouldn't catch me dead buying an Operating system of this substandard detail, especially an Upgrade!
What is this, now you've gottem now grab 'em.
I know this Operating system must be costing them billions because it has fallen flat on its face. Hiking the price is just going to encourage piracy. Mind you it would have to be some pour desperate pirate to reproduce this rubbish.
I just don't understand the reason for such a price hike. People could probably absorb £50 but near enough £200 is an insult to people's intelligence.

 

[jeffa123]

It is funny you say something like that to Flame the thread, because I was making astute observation public that is all.
As for Search engines well put ignorance in your search engine and you may find your name next to it.
I have tested the Windows 8 Control and functioanlity as well as its Desktop which looks like a slab of Neopolitan Ice Cream on a Blue Screen. Its Desktop Interface is Pathetic and you have to go searching for the Applications to place shortcuts onto it.
I like my Applications on the desktop where they are supposed to be and not flashing up onscreen like some kind of cheap video created out of Flash.
If I wanted a Tablet Operating system I would have purchased a Tablet. As it is I have a Computer and as such I wish to treat it as such and not a toy. If you want to criticise anyone criticise Microsoft. I was merely point out the price point and what leads to piracy in the first place.
I have posted on another thread my full opinion of Windows 8 and its search Engine was one of its redeaming points. Only when you drop to the Desktop you have to go searching for all the basic applications which are the gateway of your PC anyway. Things that would be in the menu like Device manager and My Computer etc. etc. Then you get to installed programs where you have to find those and pin them on the Desktop too.
The most annoying thing about the Search engine I found was that it looked on the Internet as well as the Computer for files and information. Rather silly if I am trying to find my own files or Applications. It shows that all search engines unless restricted are all dumb and Boolean or otherwise it should have some kind of control on it.
You may find them at a cheap price elsewhere but they are all the Christmas release of the Upgrade which was finished officially on the 1st of Feb. On MS site it was advertising then at £89.99, but hiked its pricing recently. Most probably to boost sales of the early released version to clear them off the market before the 8.1 release date.

 

[jeffa123]

Microsoft made a big thing recently about Piracy and fraud and even assisted in some prosecutions. If this is the case why is it making itself a target once again. To buy an upgrade at the price they are publishing it at is beyond ridiculous.
Microsoft was also complaining about its missed targets when selling Windows 8, how do they expect to meet them now. Who would buy directly from Microsoft anyway when they cannot make their mind up if this is a Desktop Operating system or something a bad Doctor is trying to push upon a patient.
The Idea of having an operating system which supports new and upcoming hardware is one thing but to make things worse for themselves by adding to their own requiem is pathetic. They are withdrawing support for the most sturdiest of O/S they have produced next year and replacing it with an interface even the Jetson family wouldn't put up with.
There are some good points as I have mentioned to Windows 8 but they fall by the wayside if the interface just isn't manageable. The interface reminds me of the time when they first introduced the Media centre. Every interface since then has copied the role. All things like HP printer suite interfaces use a Home Page, along with Nero, iTunes and so on. Any thing that wants to take over my Desktop without my permission is an interferance. I like access to my programs and interfaces on my terms and not Microsoft's. There is no choice to have even the Classic interface like previous releases of Windows. This is why Windows 7 almost failed. If people could have a Desktop it would have been rejected by the User. Because of so many problems and the "Failure to Launch" approach windows sales are down by any standards. Also who wants to logon to the Internet and Microsoft every time you start Windows 8. Is this BIG Brother is watching you? That is my first and biggest reservation when using Windows 8. Even selcting a Local policy it still Logs onto Microsoft as soon as you boot the O/S.

 

[jeffa123]

I may dislike the O/S but I did not start the thread to enflame anyones feelings on the Operating system itself everyone else seems to have joined the bandwagon on that. I merely defend my point of view that the current overinflated price of an Upgrade direct from Microsoft is £189.99. Which is a long way from previous upgrades. Considering it takes a year for many users to think about upgrading and sometimes even a new PC build. But to sell an upgrade at a price previous Network solution price stream is a bit steep and doesn't stand to reason. You may be able to buy an OEM version here or there or an inflated version of the 2012 release, but not a present release. Also 8.1 is still on Preview which offers very little you cannot do yourself.

 

[jeffa123]

Why are you still whinging over the price of an upgrade when you can get OEM for £80?

What you are sayimg is that someone whom wishes to purchase the Operating system should buy an OEM version which is restricted to one Motherboard. An upgrade should allow me to put the software on any one PC I own and not restricting it to the system I install it to. Remember if my motherboard goes down I would have just spent £80 on thin air....
That is cutting off your nose to spite your face. I have purchased retail packages over the years with Full versions of Windows XP and Windows 7 The only Upgrades I purchased were Windows Vista. Obviously before XP there were Windows 95 98SE and Windows ME. Nt went to 2000 etc.
But if I purchased an OEM version of an OS it was to build into a system I was selling on. OEM is for system builders and not for consumer install. If you use an OEM version then I wonder what excuse you give to MS when you install it on a new Motherboard setup?????

 

[jeffa123]

Apart from access and similarities to Windows Vista and a half decent desktop I don't really like Windows 7. I prefer the option of having a classic desktop rather than being forced into having something I don't really like. I am not being over critical of Windows 8, as I have mentioned I like certain aspects of it but not enough to pay the price Microsoft is asking for just the upgrade. That is the reason I opened this thread. I never opened it as a preferential. I actually use Windows Vista more than any other O/S. Everyone Has their preferences and that is what makes computing diverse.
If I criticised Windows 8 for anything it is truly for being an expensive non starter as an upgrade. Its primary being is to eat into the App market that the mobile industry has created. Now you are getting Antivirus and security Apps for mobile devices. What are they saying to you the customer. I don't have to have Antivirus for my Iphone.
I know the same applies to Android as well.
Windows 8 as standard supports 32GB of Ram whereas in Windows 7 you have to buy the Ultimate version. As for the mentioned versions of windows upgrades for £24.99, these are manufacturer upgrades and some are promorional upgrades whereby if you purchased a Windows 7 PC you can even get the upgrade for free plus P&P providing you purchased it as a New Year purchase or Christmas purchase.
There are many ways to dodge the bullet, so-to-speak, but this still does not answer my initial reasoning to actually bring to your attention the Price Microsoft is asking for it. To me it is a Joke, and the joke is obviously on me if the O/S proves more popular than I believe it will be. The problem lies in how long this upgrade will last? I already know they are developing the next version of Windows, the only issue is if they are going to keep the GUI or opt for a Desktop version once again.
Like I said I only wanted to bring the point of attention to the Price and when I first saw it I believed it was a Joke, a pretty bad one at that especially when finances are tight.

 

[jeffa123]

You do realize there is a desktop in Windows 8? Most of the none techie people using my windows 8 machines, think they are on Windows 7 or XP. They don't see any difference.

Yes I do know there is a Desktop inside Windows 8, but once you go to it there is nothing there unless you put it there. You have to search for all the Control panel items you would normally get in both Windows XP or Vista, on Windows 7 you can at least access them from the Menu.
You have to create a Shutdown Button on your Desktop and you also don't get back any of the Windows 7 basics in Windows 8.1.
When it comes to Media is another talking point. I haven't seen a Plus pack since Windows 98. Now they want you to purchase the basics of what windows used to offer as standard. Obviously they thought about it in terms of financial gain when they did the release. And in the beginning they offered the Media pack free to select users. This is obviously a ploy to release Apps by other publishers to provide the service such as DVD playback etc.
I hope they learn from this experience, obviously some have already learned and reverted to Windows 7. The problem isn't the integration but the disintegration of windows. A lot of people may like a clean desktop, or even the Metro design but to me it just looks noisey and looks so much like media centre has over its many incarnations.
I don't know what they are expecting from users of Windows 7 to expect or even those whom will be made to feel obsolete in a year's time.

 

[jeffa123]

If you have just joined the conversation i would mind where you direct your remarks. If you are saying I started this thread out of lack of knowledge then I would rant on about nothing.
I merely started this thread to point out that price that Microsoft is currently asking for the UPGRADE is £189.99........ The reference being its an expensive joke played on us the users and would be users. If I wanted it on my PC I could have it on there in seconds, the only thing is would it give me more productivity than the Operating systems I already have?
I can obviously criticise it because I have examined it and tested it and didn't like it. Many other users are saying the same. Are they all wrong or is it just you that is right. You can quote me all you like and break down every single phrase I intone but you don't like the fact that I am telling the truth and giving my opinion. I have told the truth and that is that, if you wish to bend the truth like this is a court house let us just look at what I started the thread with, and what I have stuck with throughout. The price given by Microsoft for an Upgrade and not anyone else. I don't care if you can buy it off Joe Bloggs at a Car Boot sale for 2p. The Retail price given by Microsoft for the Upgrade is £189.99. So if I was to buy it today the price from Microsoft is that not £25 not anything else. We are talking about money not the Operating system itself.
If someone asked you opinion on a piece of Hardware like a Hard Disk and if it was a fair value in price. What would you say? All Hardware is software driven and requires a software environment for it to work in.
To get a 3TB Hd would be fine and you could Partition it as Data on 32 bit and 64 bit Vista and XP but you would require Windows 7 and supporting Bios to boot an O/S from it. etc etc. There are always different ways of looking at things but it depends what you want the item for.
I don't care what anyone says it works out the same anyway you look at it. You have got to see the value in what you are purchasing. Obviously you believe you have value for your money, but then again you may have got it at the cheaper price, so it represented value for £25 or £49.95 you paid last year for it. I don't value it that way. I look at what more it can offer me over what I have now and I come up with a big fat Zero. So If I see it as of no benefit to me even if I were to buy it, even at a cheap price I am going to need a lot more offered than a few bells and whistles.
Good luck to you and enjoy your purchase but don't criticise me for just not seeing things your way. I didn't want a long discussion over the do's and don'ts of Windows 8 there are plenty more threads about that. What I have done is raised a valid point about price, not about the O/S. I have already voiced my personal opinion on that but if you are going get personal on any points I raise it best not discussed. Please rationalise what I have said and please see the reason I raised the point.