RIP Aero Glass; Windows 8 Sticks a Fork in Familiar UI

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404647,00.asp

My personal take of it is that is probably a good thing, most folks complained about it anyway. Everything from slowing down their PC's to overheating their GPU's, and it would never blend in with the new Metro Interface.

Window Blinds (Stardock) will most likely an alternative solution if you want to restore it. If you think about it, this is exactly what made Windows 3.x through 95 so popular. Microsoft published the API, and programmers wrote their own code (much like today's very popular Android devices).

That's my $0.02 anyway

I'm very firmly in your camp, Inland. So add another $.02 to the pile!

It's possible to make an attractive interface without resorting to a lot of resource-consuming 3D enhancements. Their new interface looks even plainer than Windows 95/98/2000 to me, and it doesn't even have a Start button.

And have you heard the great hue and cry about the lack of a Start button? The Metro interface IS the Start screen; it's just not a button. There are some third party apps to restore the Start button that Inland has pointed me to. I wasn't too fond of them, but I'll bet they come up with something better before it's all over.

Metro is a sorry excuse for a Start button. Not only is it terribly sparse, you have to move your mouse all over the screen to use it, then flip through different pages to find the app you want -- quite a large distance if you have a large monitor. It might work for a touchscreen on a handheld with only a few programs installed, but it is terribly inconvenient for a real computer, and isn't even great for a handheld if you have a lot of programs installed. It looks like a toy, and is a waste of space on a computer monitor -- especially a large one.

I'm on the fence with it. The one thing I like is if I need a program, I just start typing it and hit Enter and I'm there. I don't even have to click on Start first. Guess we'll see how it all shakes out.

"Microsoft's reasoning for eliminating the visual accoutrements — "flattening surfaces, removing reflections, and scaling back distracting gradients," writes Jensen Harris, director of program management for Windows' user experience team — is that it frees Windows 8 of unnecessary clutter and distraction thanks to a more "clean and crisp" user interface. "

Lol! This is the sort of thing they were saying when they released the Visual Studio 11 beta. They are currently backtracking for the RC.

Try this one Drac - here's a pic of my desktop.

ViStart

You don't lose the ability to enter the Metro Apps either.

Now, THAT'S what I've been looking for! I didn't much care for the first one you linked to a couple of months ago, but this one looks great.

Is that Windows 8?
It looks like Windows 7, only with more selections on the right side of the Start Menu.

Yup, it's the "other side" of the Metro interface.

Or Windows 7 as it's usually called:-)

It looks like Windows 7, but is still actually Windows 8 underneath. The way it switches back and forth still confuses me.

Yep, it's Windows 8 alright. I'm betting that within a year of the public offering they'll release a new version that restores the desktop functionality; Metro just doesn't cut it for workstation users.

In the interim we’ll just have to rely on 3rd party additions.

Although I'm OK with the Metro interface, I agree that it just doesn't work for workstation users. I hope you're right that they release a version that restores complete desktop functionality.

So, are they already thinking of phasing out Windows 7? I am thinking of getting the Pro version instead of my Home Edition but ....???

Not even close, Lotus. Windows 7 will be around for a long time.

Thank you and Yay..I really like 7!!

Microsoft's product support life cycle for Windows 7 is here
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-us&x=6&y=5&c2=14019

Mainstream support until January 2015.
Extended support until January 2020.

XP has extended support until April 2014.

Interesting that Vista mainstream support ended in April 2012. I hadn't realized that. (extended support for Vista ends April 2017)

You can find more Microsoft lifecycle information here
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifeselect