Is Windows 8.1 bad?

[MaxiBash]

I heard people hate Windows 8 (as they call it "the second worst Windows operating system"), but I use Windows 8.1 every day, maybe because Windows 7 is good, but not very navigatable, but Windows 10 sucks for me, because it kept on freezing, it kept on installing stuff from the Windows store and I don't and never see the point of having 2 webbrowsers built-in on 1 system.

But, I LOVE Windows 8.1, but what do you think about it?

 

[the_randomizer]

I'm biased, but I love Windows 10 far more.

 

[MaxiBash]

I'd like to know why tho, I used it and it worked terrible.

 

[The Catboy]

The issue with Windows 8 (and even 8.1) was that it simply wasn't made for desktop use, to more correct, wasn't made for a desktop without a touchscreen. They very clearly wanted it to be used on a touchscreen and it very clearly worked well with touchscreens, but it wasn't always installed with a touchscreen. 8.1 tried to fix this, but it still had a lot of touchscreen focus in mind. Windows 8 like Vista was just too forward thinking and it fell flat because of this.

 

[the_randomizer]

The issue with Windows 8 (and even 8.1) was that it simply wasn't made for desktop use, to more correct, wasn't made for a desktop without a touchscreen. They very clearly wanted it to be used on a touchscreen and it very clearly worked well with touchscreens, but it wasn't always installed with a touchscreen. 8.1 tried to fix this, but it still had a lot of touchscreen focus in mind. Windows 8 like Vista was just too forward thinking and it fell flat because of this.

Luckily with Windows 10, you can remove that ugly-ass Metro UI with a Classic Shell or whatever it's called, I did that and works like a charm.

 

[MaxiBash]

I honestly prefer this look, it's simple to use in any way

(Menu reveal)

 

[Edgarska]

I'm still using 8.1 with classic shell and rocketdock, which somewhat surprisingly still works. Aside from the times when they system wants me to use its shitty touchscreen menu to change settings, it's alright, I'd say better than Windows 10 for gaming and general use.

 

[Joe88]

Luckily with Windows 10, you can remove that ugly-ass Metro UI with a Classic Shell or whatever it's called, I did that and works like a charm.

Only thing is the classic shell dev abandoned it a year ago, so far though nothing has been broken with the couple of major win 10 updates
Somebody else picked up the project and renamed it classic start https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/classic_start.html

 

[Txustra]

I like W8.1 more than windows 10 overall but right now I'm using W10 though. I'm probably will return to W8.1 in my next system format.

 

[tbb043]

I'd rather have Vista (never understood the hate, it always seemed perfectly cromulant to me) than 8, 8.1, or 10, but if you're buying something in 2018, it's either win 10 or some hinky linux piece of junk preinstalled.

 

[Originality]

Windows 8 introduces some genuinely useful features, however by trying to reinvent the UI based on the touchscreen trend at the time backfired big time.

8.1 improved by giving back the start menu and allowing desktop view to be default, however because it was just a tweak whilst the UI was still designed to be charm based (with apps individual rather than window based... kinda silly when Windows is supposed to be window based) that’s why many apps didn’t interact well together.

Windows 10 took the new features from 8 and brought back the intuitive feel of 7.

 

[sblast3]

8.1 with Classic Start (www.ninite.com) is perfectly fine. I tried it without Classic Shell for a few months and thought it was buggy and slow, but still usable. Windows 10 fixed none of the issues of Windows 8 (bloated start menu and UWP), and it has even more telemetry than the Nintendo Switch.

 

[MaxiBash]

I still prefer the new Start menu, tho.
I just like it a lot, but can understand it’s not designed with computers in mind.

 

[the_randomizer]

Only thing is the classic shell dev abandoned it a year ago, so far though nothing has been broken with the couple of major win 10 updates
Somebody else picked up the project and renamed it classic start https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/classic_start.html

The search feature broke whenever I tried to type in a program, it would show the first few letters and then disappear; I had no choice but to install Classic Shell because an update screwed it up.

 

[Urbanshadow]

We are thinking about keeping the support for windows 7 and dropping the support on windows 8 and 8.1 for our products in our company. Yes, it's that bad.

 

[vpd]

I preferred Windows 8.1 and the metro start screen.
On main PC now have 10 now due to new PC build, but use full screen start to try relive metro lol

 

[ihaveahax]

We are thinking about keeping the support for windows 7 and dropping the support on windows 8 and 8.1 for our products in our company. Yes, it's that bad.

This really isn't a good idea, since if you support 7 and 10, then 8.1 in the middle should work just as well. Only when you drop 7 would it be fine to also leave out 8.1. Some programs like Office 2019 are doing this already.

 

[CMDreamer]

At first glance, Windows 8/8.1 sucks when you use it on a non tactile device (no touchscreen).

But when you use it on a device that has a touchscreen, everything changes. I've got two 10" tablets with Windows 8.1 and I love it. This version of Windows was meant to be used on such devices (with touchscreen). The main "failure" of it, was that most users didn't had such device when Windows 8 was released, and that defined its future. Main proof of this is that for Windows 8.1, the Start Menu was brought back, to enable users to be more productive on non tactile devices.

 

[nero99]

Windows 10 is far better then 8.1. Especially after you disable all the unneeded services in windows 10, which will boost system performance

 

[EmanueleBGN]

8 and 8.1 were well designed for touch screens. But users don't like changes...
Now, I suggest you to upgrade to 10