How Real People Will Use Windows 8
Chris Pirillo0 HN recommenders · 2012–2014
1.9M views · commentary · news · Uploaded 2012-03-08
Chris Pirillo has his father try Windows 8 for the first time to see how ordinary users cope with the new interface.
Cited critically, as evidence that Windows 8 would frustrate ordinary users, especially without a start button.
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4 comments from Hacker News
They didn't need to take away the start button, and it's going frustrate a lot of users. See: [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.
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: [VIDEO]
Yeah, I was shocked by the "dad" test: [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.
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. [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]