Will Windows 8 get the same design criticism, or is there just more Apple hate?

It makes a bit more sense for Apple to copy something that has been very successful and around for several years than for Microsoft to try to do it with something that hasn't been very successful and hasn't been refined over a few years.

It kinda looks nice and my understanding is that its mostly HTML and JavaScript which I do like.

sucks

without any innovations and compelling reasons for me to buy it!

I think people will complain about any UI change, they did that when apple went from platinum to aqua with osx 1.0. Nothing has changed.

FWIW, when windows XP hit and MS changed the theme a bit, there was a fair amount of whining going on. With win8 I expect the same thing.

People are people, regardless of whether they use a Mac vs. a PC.

You can't please all the people all the time. You can only please some of the people some of the time!

Well, for the record, I think it's the worst idea I've ever seen for a desktop OS (and I do mean that). Granted, they'll still have the "classic" interface available apparently, but it really highlights the absurdity of the "iPadification of Mac OS X" claims when you compare Lion to this.

I think the only reason you haven't seen a big outcry, though, is that not only is it not out, people generally only talk about Windows here to compare with the Mac, not just to complain about it in and of itself.

jW

I dont like the direction OS X & Windows are taking with their OS, but as mentioned above, looks like Windows is going to allow the option

It's a bad idea in my opinion. I don't mind most of the iOS-inspired changes in Lion (though I can't ever imagine myself using Launchpad), but what Microsoft is going to do is just silly.

Tablets and smartphones are "the cool thing" right now and it looks like everyone thinks they can make things more appealing if they re-use some of these new concepts in their other systems. I guess things will be back to normal once the novelty wears off, but it's still annoying.

To be fair the approaches are much different.

Windows 8 is not so much making Windows more like Phone 7 as it is to create an actual tablet operating system. It is intended for use in touch devices not with mouse and stuff on a big Desktop or Notebook. And as such I think it does a pretty good job. Everybody I know me included who has been playing around with the phone 7 was quite impressed. No complaints there.
They figured out just making some buttons bigger in Windows 7 isn't going to cut it. Now they write an actual entire new gui for this new market. It might be still usable somewhat with mouse and keyboard but that not what it is designed to be. And they do not incorporate these features into the default Windows at places where they don't work.

Apple approach was to make OSX more iOS with the idea of making it easier for their great iOS User base to switch to Macs (many have iPhones much less have Macs). The launcher is rather useless for any intelligent person but aims at stupid newcomers who needs such help.
What they where thinking with MissionControl I am not sure. That is just dumb. It might work well on small screens 13" and smaller I guess but there should be an option for something decent in >=15" Macs. That is just a Feature that is neither very well planned nor implemented.

I like some things about Lion but the launchpad annoys me. I hate scrolling through pages and pages of icons on iOS now so I am really annoyed at the prospect of scrolling through even more of them on the desktop. But there is one exception. If iPad 3 (or 4 or whatever) offered the ability to run OS X Lion, I would rather use the launchpad for commonly used apps.

As for mission control, I don't mind it. I was never a big expose user but in my opinion mission control isn't much worse and might be considered better in that you can get to all the workspaces and the dashboard from one place.

I am really not in favor of the lack of save as. I think it's a huge waste of my time to go around behind the OS back renaming files when what I wanted to do in the first place was save as. I am horrified by the prospect that version control of my documents is now in the hands of something that looks and behaves like time machine. I've had pretty miserable luck with Time Machine with a crashed Time Capsule and a half dozen corrupted sparsebundles, two of which took all my data with them. Happily the second time a sparsebundle tried to make off with my data I had already started using crashplan.

In Xcode there is still save as. If a developer still needs it, any power user still needs it. Geez.

I switched off that stupid disappearing scroll bar thing. That was an awful idea from the get go.

So now I return to the topic of the OP. Will there be as much complaint about Win 8? Yes. Sure there will. And more of it here because this is an Apple centric forum. Does our complaint about OS X Lion stem from "Apple Hate?" No. When Apple makes a mistake I call them on it. Hopefully they read the forums and when there is a groundswell of user sentiment they heed it. One example is folders and home page wallpapers. It took the jailbreak community to cram that down Apple's throat but they finally caved in. Remember iOS copy and paste? Remember iOS Multitasking? Apple stuff isn't perfect but it does (most often) change for the better.

In the case of these sweeping changes in Lion, I believe Apple will adjust to the needs of the user base. We buy from Apple because their stuff is easy to use and adapts to our workflow. If Cupertino insists on enforcing a particular workflow on its users, many will simply defect to other more flexible platforms. Meanwhile, the criticism of Win 8 will have to wait until Win 8 actually comes out. One big difference though. No matter how loud everybody shouts, I have my doubts if anybody in Redmond, Wa will be able to hear them.

Only a guess on my part ... I think Windows 8 will be their most successful launch ever.

Apple OC said:

Only a guess on my part ... I think Windows 8 will be their most successful launch ever.

Click to expand...

As soon as them start bringing the 3rd party developers to build their applications using W8 features..I believe it can be a very successful OS for Microsoft.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/ is a good site to go to occasionally for Windows 8 information directly from the source. So far it looks like MS is going to retain tradition desktop computing as well as support small-screen devices.

Mal said:

Well, for the record, I think it's the worst idea I've ever seen for a desktop OS (and I do mean that).

Click to expand...

I think its a bad interface for a phone never mind for a desktop. You can't knock someone for swinging for the fences but come on, that's just really bad.

LIVEFRMNYC said:

Good opinions in here. I do realize that this is a Mac forum, but I have been a member of multiple Windows forums for the longest and never seen such criticism about the design as I do in here after an OS release. Are Apple consumers just more picky and/or hate change? I personally have no problems with Lion, but at least Windows has a classic option with most of their design changes.

Click to expand...

One way of looking at it is comparing the Concierge desk at a five star hotel to the counter at motel 6. The Windows guy knows he is in motel 6 and is just happy to have a warm dry room. The OS X guy wants to know why the temperature in the jacuzzi was 103.5 instead of 104 degrees.

While I'm not saying windows is junk. I've said that enough already. I am saying Apple attracts a more discerning (yes picky) customer either because we paid more or because we were attracted to elegant minimalist design in the first place.

A few days back, I posted a picture joking about the cat MS might use if it used cat names for it's OS...

Windows 8: Mangy PoleCat

As a previous Windows user for many years (now Mac, Obviously), I have to say their direction is the wrong one. The average PC user uses Windows because they simply know how to. Once you start completely changing the fundementals of the workings of the OS, people won't like it. They won't want to upgrade. They'll just stick with W7'

I have only seen images of Win 8. Not any actual footage of it in action. WP7 however is brilliant in its looks and execution. The Metro UI works really well and i can imagine it being even better on a tablet. How well will that transfer to a complete OS though on desktop PCs? Im not sure but MS is on a roll at the moment so im confident it will be an improvement.

Sean* said:

As a previous Windows user for many years (now Mac, Obviously), I have to say their direction is the wrong one. The average PC user uses Windows because they simply know how to. Once you start completely changing the fundementals of the workings of the OS, people won't like it.

Click to expand...

You did inform yourself about the whole Windwos 8. It is basically a UI next to the UI. For the most part nothing changes. Only for some stuff or on some devices one can switch to, use and try the new UI. The old tried and true UI is still there like it always was. They have to do it this way because
a) this new UI is not perfect for any kind of PC or usage
b) at launch there will hardly be much compatible software and some will never be made compatible with this UI

It is like an OSX that can switch into iOS mode. Just that the iOS mode is actually a lot better than iOS imo. iOS maybe simpel but it is really not that great.
It doesn't look to bad for the kind of things they believe will pop up more and more. What they want to create is a full Windows experience in bigger and stronger tablets that we will have in 2-3 years or in Desktop PCs with Touchdisplays a really good mediaplattform.
The "real" work will still happen on the old UI in mostly the same way.

It's a nice looking UI. Being able to use the legacy UI is a nice touch, but I think I'd go for the W8 UI as long as it's adequately supported by third parties (and I'm sure it will be, Microsoft has a bit more than 10% market share). I would absolutely love to see the entire OS ported to a tablet, but even on a PC it has some serious uses. I'd like to use the OS on an 11" Mac Air or netbook, certainly.

I've been messing around with manipulating Rainmeter into W8-style themes, and I like the look of the UI. Some people won't, but there's not much to be said about that.

Sean* said:

As a previous Windows user for many years (now Mac, Obviously), I have to say their direction is the wrong one. The average PC user uses Windows because they simply know how to. Once you start completely changing the fundementals of the workings of the OS, people won't like it. They won't want to upgrade. They'll just stick with W7'

Click to expand...

So they start using their Windows PC like they use their phone or tablet? This isn't some new, revolutionary UI; it's an extension of tried and true design principals into a new format. People understand how things like fullscreen and scrolling work. Apple knows this too; it's why Lion has started to implement some iOS features.

As for "some people won't like it" - obviously. See the people who hate Lion.