Talks to Watch

How Real People Will Use Windows 8

1.9M views · Mar 8, 2012 · 4:21 · 0 HN recommenders · 4 mentions · discussed 2012–2014

Chris Pirillo has his father try Windows 8 for the first time to see how ordinary users cope with the new interface.

Why Hacker News points people here: Cited critically, as evidence that Windows 8 would frustrate ordinary users, especially without a start button.

What Hacker News said 4

CriticalwebXLMay 2012

“They didn't need to take away the start button, and it's going frustrate a lot of users.”

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They didn't need to take away the start button, and it's going frustrate a lot of users. See: this video I've been running the preview in a VM, and getting back to the launcher frustrated me so much I had to install a small utility made by Stardock that makes a fake start button that takes you to the launcher: link . I'm a Mac guy, but my job requires me to be in Windows half the time. I hope they take a hint from Stardock and that video and put the start button back in.

in “Windows 8 Release Preview ready for download” · view on HN
CriticaljserAug 2012

“Be prepared to be your family's help desk if they're buying a new machine”

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Tried using it in a virtual machine, but was an endlessly frustrating experience in Windows 8 (Metro) UI. It's like going from an iPhone to a Blackberry -- you want to touch the screen, but can't. Be prepared to be your family's help desk if they're buying a new machine: this video

in “Windows 8 RTM 90-day free trial available to all, but seriously, don’t do it” · view on HN
CriticalbrownbatSep 2013
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Yeah, I was shocked by the "dad" test: this video And when Gabe talked about 8, I winced: link But watching a few "tips" / "best of new features" videos for 8.1... I start to feel a little left out. Just type to search. Re-engineered file copying. Hot corners make it seem like someone at least skimmed an article on Fitt's Law. And, ooh, Win + Print Screen? Just make the screenshot a file. Yeah, should have been fixed back in 95. So, er, maybe they got a few things right? I haven't upgraded yet, but... the dissonance is mounting.

in “Windows 8 more widely used than OS X, IE still on the rise” · view on HN
CriticalgreatergoodguyApr 2014

“Criticisms started a year prior to the official release of Windows 8”

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This WAS predicted by many users and blogs prior to the release of Windows 8. Criticisms started a year prior to the official release of Windows 8, with the consumer preview version. Here's one of the videos. this video This article was written shortly after the release but it does one of the best jobs of explaining how poor the usability of the OS is. link

in “Microsoft Will Soon Bring Back The Start Menu In Windows 8.1” · view on HN