Why I hate Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Recently, Microsoft launched the consumer preview of its latest upcoming Windows operating system i.e. Windows 8. I decided to give it a try. I installed the Windows 8 Consumer preview and it took roughly 30 minutes on my Dell Latitide laptop for a complete installation.
When it reached the lock screen there was a flickering screen and the PC didn’t respond. I tried to find out the problem and it was the driver for my fingerprint sensor that was interfering with windows login system. I had to do a clean install, removing all my programs and drivers to get it to work.

Now, the first thing that i didn’t like about Windows 8 was that in every windows it asks us to choose a desktop background where we choose a wallpaper but in Windows 8 i had the choice of just some solid colors to choose for my main start screen.

I hate the new start menu. It looks like Microsoft has downgraded the whole OS. From last 17 years Microsoft has trained us to use the start menu and now they have removed it. All the expert PC users who are quite familiar with the  Windows environment have developed reflexes to do the basic tasks. Like, when i have to open My Computer i did it very fast by going to start menu and clicking My Computer. But in Windows 8 there is a all new start menu which replaces the friendly interface for which we all have practiced for years.  Check out the screen shots below.

Another thing is the search box in start menu which was the most used feature of windows. Whenever i needed anything, any app, any file etc i simple openeded start menu and entered in search box and got it. Well, in Windows 8 it is a whole different story. Firstly, we have top open the side bar menu then select search from it and then we also have to specify if we are searching files, or apps, or settings. This is appears like a dowgrade from Windows 7 where we could simple use the same search box for all files and that too from desktop only.

Microsoft has also replaced the common notifications system like there was small notification in taskbar whenever battery was low, and now there is a big notification which interferes with the work. Previously, we were able to select wifi network from a small windows near the taskbar which is now replaced with big full screen windows to select.

Clearly, they have tried to make it user friendly for newbies and tablet users but for experienced users this is a downgrade and i would say that Windows 8 consumer preview sucks.

Category: News