You can't call it a failure since it isn't even available yet.  

Windows 8 is a transition OS that's going to start merging the desktop, mobile, and tablets together.  Mountain Lion on OS X is doing it, and whether you like it or not, that's the future of operating systems.  You can operate Windows 8 in desktop mode and be just fine, and of course there's going to be customization of it.

But I have a PC.  I don't want a mobile or a tablet, and I don't want my powerful PC to be hamstrung because it needs to run on a tablet/mobile device that can't compete.

That being said, I think most tablets/mobile devices have higher specs than my PC.

I was just thinking the same thing.

Boxxi, Boxxi,

there are quite a few of MS OS's that just didn't make it. It would serve them financially best to work with only OS, cuts costs, etc. In the long run they may find it won't work. I certainly don't want to be using metro and have no intention to do so.

Yeah, I can. Just did. Tried it and couldn't stand it. Therefore, for me it failed.

Will Start8 work with it? Will SD create an app to force it to boot to the desktop? And why shouldn't I have the say what boots on a computer I bought? Why do I need an app to do what a consumer driven OS should be capable of modifying on its own by my choices?

I don't need to manage all those devices together: I can foresee the security breaches that'll wipe every account and email you have while taking over your identity when you unite all those devices across an OS. Remember: Your computer is only as secure as its weakest link.

I don't want a "smart" phone. I want an "el cheapo" that I can use for (of all things) a telephone call. And I want it to act and sound like a telephone. I don't need it to order me theater tickets and calculate how far I have to walk if I decide to eat a piece of pumpkin pie.

If I can't get an OS that's half way normal, I'll live without. I sure as hell don't want an OS that gives me no choice as to what boots, and looks like a Rubik's Cube with Schizophrenia. Since when does MS know what's best for me?

I'll use Windows 7 until MS with its planned obsolescence tries to push some other half baked idea to bloat its coffers. You'll have to buy apps and guess who runs the store?

If MS kills W7... I'll move to Linux. If I have to learn a new OS, at least it won't look like that pos.

I like it!  But then when have I not ever gone against the grain? 

Windows 8 + Touchscreen PC + Windows Phone = everything I need and then some

I might actually be able to retire my existing phone an iPad and an iMac or two with the above scenario......hehe

Spencer.....always the voice of reason......

..........this time, you have no reason.

Agreed.

It is however a shame that they didn't try and preserve some more of the features in 7 that have been a big success; I see this process a lot with the corporate clients I work with. Baby + Bath-water, they always have to go.

1) Aero - I love it and so do lots of people, should let you turn it on in desktop mode. Cruel people.

2) Gadgets - Clock, Cal, Weather and CoreTemp. I am so attached to these, did they really have to die?

3) Start-menu - finally got it just right then dumped it. Say no more.

I will add that there are a lot of very good things under the covers which may not be so obvious. New Driver models. Hyper-V. Disc virtualisation. Fast boot. Storage Spaces (bit like SAN).

You win some, you lose some. 

That for me is a complete waste of time as I do not want or need to merge/sync with anything to or from my desktop, nor do I want to be made to jump through hoops and beg "pretty please" to access a traditional working desktop with the regular functions. 

Now MS could have made the "we're not allowed to call it Metro anymore" UI optional for users such as myself - like NOT having us boot into it by default, and making it off-screen unless required - but did MS think of me and the millions of users worldwide who'll never ever want or need to sync with a confounded a smart phone, pad or laptop halfway across town?  No it didn't... and for mine, it is damned arrogant of MS to foist this Metro crap upon those who neither need or want it in their daily lives.

Worse still, MS' arrogance extends to impeding those who just want a regular PC desktop without the confounding, unnecessarily complicating UI that is Metro.. or WhateverTF they call it these days.  Stardock and others came up with ways to assist users achieve this with 3rd party apps, but MS, with its bully boy tactics, has more or less told users "fuck you, you'll use Windows 8 as we prescribe" and implemented blocking measures to prevent even a measly start button.  Now if that's not arrogance in the 1st degree then I'll eat Jafo's socks [he knows what I mean].

If MS had allowed me to use Win 8 as I do Win 7, with a regular start button and start menu, and booting directly to the desktop, they wouldn't have needed to tempt me with a $39.95 price tag.... I would likely have paid the full asking price for it simply to take advantage of the speed increases it delivers with my new FX8170 CPU.  Now it's a wait and see game, and if I cannot use Win 8 as I do now [ the Release Preview], then they can shove it where the sun don't shine... SIDEWAYS.

I like Windows 8 (with Start8, ex7forw8, or other alternative running in the background) and the proper configurations made. It does improve on SOME features, like copy/paste, which I do a lot of. And it is a faster and generally prettier experience.

HATE THE START SCREEN THOUGH. I need to have 10 programs running to make sure that I never have to see it. Completely all over the place and illogical tile system. A chore to organize.

I do like the Netflix app, which I run in the background, and the music app is nice for having parties with a TV running in the background, and I like getting toaster popups for facebook chat. With the proper fixes, it could be an acceptable HTPC UI or, even better an actual desktop OS. It has decent multimonitor support, and I'm assuming Xbox 360 controller support isn't far off.

The problem with the Start Screen though is that it doesnt improve on the start menu, and even these Metro apps, generally, are worse and harder to use than their desktop counterpart, so who would ever use them? Desktops are about multitasking and uninterruptable, limitless consumption of anything you can find with a google search. Windows can keep the theme of Windows 8, and maybe even the tiles, but Microsoft needs to realize that Desktops and Laptops are NOT tablets. Buttons do NOT need to be 128x128 for me to click on them, and every app on my computer could be viewed in a SINGLE screen without any scrolling necessary.

I recommend Start8 with a few important configurations made, mainly, use the Windows 7 start menu, and enable "Windows Button opens last Metro UI app". Opens up Metro a lot on the desktop, allowing you to quickly jump in and out of a metro app without having to go back and forth through the Start Screen. I find it especially useful for Netflix (or Hulu, or anything of that nature)

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2012885/20-must-know-windows-8-tips-and-tricks.html

You'll notice right on the first page of that article that one can quite easily "zoom out" in order to see all available 'apps' on the screen at once and 'grouping of apps' is actually quite easy and logical (I thought).  The list of hotkeys should also prove useful.

There are some other websites with even more indepth and advanced tips 'n tricks but I thought this one quickly touched on two of your noted issues with Win8.

Hope that helps.....

I love the start screen

Oh God, those colors are hideous.  Any way to change them from "Eye-Melting Purple"?

you can change the color for your taste. that was a Christmas shot I've have changed it since.

Never mind the colors, they're square, flat and as exciting as oatmeal to look at.

Oatmeal ain't so bad to look at....if it's round and a cookie.