Windows 8 Hate

Let's take a break from pointing out the many grievous sins and shortcomings of Autodesk Revit for a minute, and focus some much needed disgust at the latest droppings from Microsoft.

I have yet to actually set foot in 'Windows 8', so I will suspend final judgement for a future entry - but if the various reviews I have read/viewed are any indication, that's going to be one motherfucking brutal post.

I've used just about every operating system ever developed (DOS/OSX/iOS/Win3.11/95/98/ME/NT/2K/XP) and when Win7 was installed on my work desktop, I found it to be a pleasant, stable, and reliable O/S - mainly because they DIDN'T FUCK WITH ANYTHING.

All of my programs ran exactly like they always had - which (as I've probably mentioned before) is what an OS is suppose to fucking do.  Anyone who sits around 'using' their OS has some kind of mental defect.

In fact, with the exception of occasional maintenance, optimization, drivers, etc. - the only time I think about my OS is when it stops doing it's job of staying the fuck out of the way, and allowing me to focus on the task at hand.

Win7 does exactly that - and looks pretty sharp while doing it.

Now, enter Win8.

At first glance - this thing looks patently retarded.  Most reviewers compared the 'Modern UI' (originally called 'Metro', but someone must've informed Microsoft management of the connotations of that word) to a tablet or cellphone.  This is a fair comparison - especially since 'apps' (previously 'widgets'?) are available for Win8.

The 'charms' bar (basically just another menu bar) adds to the similarity between Win8 and a phone by allowing you to share things, etc., but as many have pointed out - most 'power users' could give two fucks and maybe (on a good day) half a shit about this cutesy interface.

Fortunately they were smart enough to keep a desktop, which can be toggled to (although the 'Modern UI' is apparently the default, requiring you to switch to your desktop every time you boot (oh, and that's after you go past another 'start' screen, choose your account, and log in), but got rid of the 'start' menu.

The lack of a 'start' menu isn't necessary a deal killer to me (as long as I can access everything that I need), and apparently there is a 3rd party solution that will bring it back (for $5 - you might've heard me rail before on the subject of having to purchase 3rd party software to make an obscenely overpriced piece of software do what it should have the capability of doing right out of the box).

One thing that sounded iffy to me was the inability to have multiple windows open at the same time - apparently it can only have two (in a 70/30 split), and the rest of the time each window takes up the WHOLE FUCKING SCREEN.

For a tablet or phone user - getting to have two apps viewable at the same time is a major upgrade.  On a desktop or laptop on the other hand - it should get someone at Microsoft's favored hand slammed in a desk drawer repeatedly.  I mean - what in the entire fuck?

This brings me to something I noticed when reading various comments on the reviews - almost the exact same brand of apologetics used by Revit dick sockets to defend their bullshit.  It could be argued that I (and others like me) are simply resistant to change - however this line of reasoning gets shut the fuck down quickly, because I don't resist change - however I absolutely refuse to accept change for change's sake.

The touch-screen functionality is a moot point, because Win7 already works with a touchscreen - my friend has one on his laptop, but it doesn't get used much because you 1) get fucking fingerprints all over your goddamned screen and 2) you can't fucking see what you are doing because your goddamned fingers are in the fucking way.

On a desktop machine, exactly how much of your day do you want to spend reaching for the screen (or sitting so close to it that it destroys your vision)?  It is obvious from the comments of most of the people (as usual) that they don't actual *DO* anything with their computers (or their tablets/phones for that matter, besides using them to compensate for tiny dicks).

One astute observation that someone made was that the Metro UI (I'm going to call it that) actually had less in common with a smartphone, and was instead more of a ripoff of the Wii 'channels' UI (with some added functionality).

While I consider this kind of interface to be extremely stupid, and an attempt to dumb down computers to the lowest common denominator (i.e. morons who fuck with their goddamned phones all day long) most of the arguments against it were moot since you can switch to the desktop (but again - you can't just make this the default.

Next time 2014 Autodesk Products!!!