Windows 8 provides the EXACT same desktop I have used for years. Just click on it!. Everything installed on my Dell XPS15 works!
This is ignorance by the reporters.
I know some people who have downloaded the beta test/development versions. Every one of them quickly switched to the traditional interface. They've got work to do and Microsoft's new interface got in the way of that. I expect that Google's top search term will be something like "revert windows 8 interface" when it hits the street.
Talking about lower-priced 7-inch tablets, the Microsoft CEO asked rhetorically if anyone would ever use the Kindle Fire to do homework.
Two words: Key Board. Add a real keyboard and most tablets have more than enough power to run the word processor/spreadsheet/internet browser you need for just about all homework. Would a 10-inch (or 13 or 17 or 26) screen be better? Yes, but the lack of a keyboard is the killer for entering info on a tablet.
And thinking about it, a tablet would be a great use for the virtual laser keyboard I saw a few years ago. It projects a keyboard on the desk and can detect where you are typing. The only thing missing is the feedback the keys give.
Hey! How did you get a copy? It says “October”.
Which preview version are you running? Because my staff and I had a good laugh - and shared some dread - over the first two preview versions.
At least with the first preview there was a registry hack to bring the Start button back but MS removed it in the second release.
And the design of the system settings interfacing was - like every new MS OS release - one layer worse than the last release. MS programmers are lazy and do not update the entire OS to the new shell style.
Which is absolutely idiotic because one or two properly written APIs would take care of it. They just don’t want to deal with it.
So when you start digging around the Control Panel, you end up encountering interface designs from Win95/98...2000...XP...7...and now, bits and pieces are Metro. For IT professionals, it’s a constant annoyance.
To their credit, Apple does a terrific job of keeping their control interfaces unified.
Not quite exact, they got rid of the start button. But really that and a dramatically improved search are the only real differences between 7 and 8. And that’s actually pretty impressive because the search in 7 is really good. Yeah that default initial “tablet” screen is pretty ugly, but easy to get rid of and land back at a proper desktop.