Fixing Windows 8, Part 2: Boot to the Desktop

I have mixed feelings. The progressive/enthusiast side of me wants Microsoft to stick to their guns. But looking back at how Win7 managed to placate most of the noise about Vista (largely undeserved, IMO), I can't say that your proposal is a bad idea.

Never mind that many of the complaints are reactionary or uninformed or superficial. Never mind that the latest generation of haters haven't even tried Win8 (or tried it just long enough to confirm their agenda), and are simply piling on. The fact is that Microsoft has a problem, and they need to find some middle ground, like they did with Win7.

But I can't help thinking back to Win 3.x. For me it was a jarring leap from DOS. Would it have been better to offer an option to boot into DOS instead of the Windows desktop? If so, why even have Windows? Or do you just assume that once the shock fades, users will realize that the new UI has advantages?

This topic seems to be a very touchy subject and its brought up alot. While I think the last article touched on a ui fix that would help all users (i.e. the app bar), I think this issue is much more important to power most power users then general users.

Personally, I agree that MS should have an option in the personalization settings that would allow you to boot straight to the desktop, just as they allowed us to boot straight to Media Center in Windows 7.

I don't think it needs to be the default behavior though, since I actually think most consumers should take an unfiltered look at it. They need to try to use it, before making a change.

The start screen is not just a new start menu, its a different animal. The live tile function alone makes the apps pinned to the start screen much different then what we used on the start menu. The start screen can function as a quick access to information you need such as glancing to see if you have new mail, the current weather, calendar appointments, etc, etc. I know these things sound trivial to power users like us, but I have seen people with my own eyes that value these functions and it has made them happy to use the start screen.

For us power users, I think this is a change that we will end up valuing more then most general users, but I think it needs to be an option. Plus, its not like you could ignore the start screen even with such an option, eventually you will be exposed to it just by using the system.

On the topic of fixing Windows 8, they also need to fix the common sense procedures on the desktop that are now a complete train wreck.

On the desktop, print a PDF doc in Windows 7 and compare it to printing a PDF doc on the desktop in Windows 8. What use to be a very simple and fast 2 step process(File > Print or just Ctrl+P) is now a very unintuitive multistep train wreck. The PDF's open in the Metro Reader, in which a simple procedure such as printing now turns out to be a "How to print PDF's in Windows 8" kindergarten lesson search online. What use to be a direct A to B quick procedure, is now a multi step operation that hinders production and workflow in the studio on our workstations.

Desktop procedures such as viewing/printing PDF files, pictures, video, music etc should NOT open the metro versions at all. I had to go into, "Set Default Programs" and change everything to open the equivalent desktop versions. The irony of this is that Internet Explorer behaves as it should, in my opinion. It opens the desktop version when you're on the desktop, and the metro version when in the fullscreen html application launcher called the Start screen.

If MS is closing the door on the desktop, they'll also be shutting out the very side that creates the content. Audio and Video production studios that use workstations running Avid Media Composer, Pro Tools HDX, Mya, AutoCad, 3D Studio Max, Modo, After Effects etc would not work as touch based metro apps, including the entire production line and pipeline. There's no way "touch" can replace the speed and accuracy of keyboard shortcuts and a mouse with those programs. We're under a lot of pressure to work fast and there's just no way "touch" would be able to increase production, it would actually slow it down.

I definitely support Paul here with the request that MS start fixing the obvious in Windows 8. It's great for content consumption, but horrid for the content creators who rely heavy on the programs I mentioned above that actually create the content to be consumed.

I agree with the idea here, Paul, but worried about the implication (or side effect, I guess) - and that is by offering users a chance to boot directly to the desktop, thus bypassing the entire Metro experience, what impact might this have on Metro app development and consumer uptake on the Metro UX? As we've seen with WinXP and Vista, when offered a choice consumers will stick with what they know - no matter how many benefits the newer experience might offer.

For me, I love using Metro apps simply because they look nicer than the "classic Windows" look of applications from yesterday. The problem right now is a short-term issue of a lack of quality apps; that is, finding replacements in Metro for those desktop applications I used to use.

While I myself am struggling to fully adapt to going "Metro cold turkey" with Win8, I do understand that feeling of security that comes with dropping back to the desktop...

Maybe part of the problem is the Version system they run. It would make more sense to have a Business or Pro which only boots into Desktop mode, a home which boots into Metro with a desktop mode option, and RT for tablets that only boots Metro with no option for desktop. Only three versions makes far more sense and clearly tells the customer what you are getting. If Metro is the future, popularity will dicate that the other versions die, not Microsoft.

I think the option should be there, however it should be presented on maybe the fifth login by that account to give the user an opportunity to grow accustomed to the new interface.

If the option presents itself on first boot a lot of users will go to the desktop out of familiarity with the term and may never go back to the start screen, missing out on all the new stuff.

Guys, enough. I'm thrilled you know how to get quickly to the desktop. I do too. But this isn't intuitive or obvious, while it is in fact an extra and unnecessary step. Hence the post.

Well, I like the desktop features of window 8 much more than the modern UI ones and after some searching I found this: http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/ which allows you do boot to the Desktop with very little hassle. Plus it's only $4.99.

I hardly ever use the modern UI because I am an IT professional and the apps that are available just aren't good for this job.
I need to be checking IP addresses, boot configurations, logging into remote systems and setting up network shares.

The Desktop UI is more suited to my work and I treat the Modern UI as just this little app that I can use if I want but I don't need to.

OK, Paul, so you basically think that hitting Enter to Desktop is not really such an inconvenience after all but that it isn't intuitive. I agree. And the simple presence of the Desktop tile isn't descriptive enough and doesn't provide any indication of the existence of a shortcut, which in this case is not even specific to that functionality.
That being said, the answer there may not lie in adding another feature to circumvent Metro. Indeed, since this is a problem one may encounter with various other éléments of Metro, then extending that extremely limited tutorial we get while installing the OS may bring the right answer to this. Windows 8 should teach the user how to use it right. Thus, maybe Clippy should be back after all...

The most jarring thing about all this is that support for the hardware systems and configuration that will initially be used by the huge majority of all Windows 8 users -- desktop PCs and traditional desktop-style laptops -- was just tacked on half-heartedly as an afterthought. Since the experience on these machines is inferior to what users had before, it provides no incentive for them to have any interest at all in making a transition. In turn, this creates an unnecessary barrier to the widespread adoption of Windows 8.

I feel this WinRT environment is the future of Windows. The focus should be on improving Metro to work better with multiple interfaces. To be fair, I already use WinRT apps on my desktop PC and while some things are a bit clumsy (like the App Bar as you covered) it is quite usable. The interconnected nature (live tiles/notifications/charms) and cleaner interfaces make it a more pleasurable experience than equivalent desktop apps.

Even if I was exclusively using the Desktop, I would still prefer the Start screen at boot. Why? It's where I would launch Desktop apps anyway. In Windows 7 I would have to do the extra click to bring up the Start menu at boot to launch. (Or hit the taskbar pinned icon, but then it's pretty much the same as hitting the Start screen)

I'll have to sit on the side of the fence with Paul regarding booting straight to the desktop. Some of us do sit in front of workstations all day at our jobs and do actual work. I'll also add that these workstations arent even connected online at all.

Here's a real world example of MS not thinking how Windows is actually USED in the day to day work world. Many of our Audio/Video workstations make full use of the Startup folder(anyone remember that, or even knows what it is?). When my own workstation is powered up in the morning, the first thing I see is Avid's Pro Tools HDX launched full screen with yesterdays session running ready to start my day and continue on. I don't need to launch anything as this is all done automatically. This procedure is accomplished via the Startup folder. We gotta work fast, and it's the productive useful things like this that speed things up in the production pipeline. Unfortunately in Windows 8, this is a dismal experience to say the least.

Setting up a program as such via the Startup folder in Windows 8 is just pathetic and very far from intuitive anymore. After your online search for the kindergarten lesson tutorial, you're in for quite a shock when you power up your computer. Go ahead and try it. The first thing you'll see, unfortunately, is the Start screen!! What's the purpose of the Startup folder again? From there you can work your way to the desktop in any number of ways and you'll see your program launched ready to go on the desktop. This is far from a direct A to B experience and quite the step backwards. The amount of work we had to do with Windows 8 under the hood just to make it productively useful again is something that shouldn't have to be done. Thankfully, I use a utility(startisback!) that boots straight to the desktop and the Startup folder now works as it should. We shouldn't have to do this though. This is only one of many examples of why we need the option to boot straight to the desktop. I really don't understand the naysayers. Since it's a requested OPTION, simply don't enable the option. Simple. Then there's the subject of dual and triple monitor workstations in Windows 8. Another fine mess best suited for a whole new topic.

MS has left the IT world and Audio/Video production world in a sad state. An OS is used for more than just online social media consumption and surfing the net. I'm hoping that Paul can communicate some of these real world frustrations to his MS contacts and they really have a second look at all this.

Thanks for this ongoing disussion Paul.

People in this thread really get hung up on superficial notions of "past" and "future", don't they? Thurrott wants to talk about the "present" for a moment and people run screaming and crying in all directions in what almost amounts to a panic. Some of them do, anyway. Other people are secure in themselves and it doesn't bother them that their neighbor boots to his desktop while they themselves prefer booting to a start screen. Those are the rational among us.

The irrational, however, cannot rest until everyone is somehow forced to do things "their way," because their minds are too narrow to envision anything accept "The One Boot to Rule Them All." A pity, that. It really is. I wonder how they will feel about me when I make the following revelation about my Windows booting habits: my taskbar *gasp* is locked at the top of my desktop screen (not at the bottom!) and has been ever since I moved from the Amiga to Windows in the early 90's! Am I a man hopelessly adrift in the chasm between the future and past, a man lost to the vagaries of time--doomed to wander aimlessly underneath his inverted, Bizarro-World desktop taskbar? Eh?

Nah...I'm just a guy who prefers his taskbar on top and Microsoft was kind enough to provide that GUI configuration option for me through the last several versions of Windows. Thank you, Microsoft, for not being insecure about where I might want to position my taskbar on my Windows desktop screen.

I'm also a guy who agrees with Thurrott and would prefer Microsoft to continue treating me with the same degree of respect as always: let me decide the texture, configuration, and comfort zone of my own desktop GUI. Let me decide its parameters. Let me boot my powerful desktop computer to my desktop, if the spirit moves me. 'kay? I won't like Windows 8 Pro one bit less if you do that--indeed, I shall like it more.

In this thread we've got all kinds of confusing goulash on tap...;) We've got WindowsRT users who seemingly aren't quite convinced that WindowsRT and Windows 8 Pro are *not* the same operating systems! Indeed, they are not even compatible with each other, and whereas Windows 8 Pro is compatible with the whole pantheon of Windows software dating back to the beginning of time; WindowsRT is not compatible with any of it. You use WindowsRT, you are not using Windows 8 Pro and you do not have the same issues to sort through--you have a whole new set of issues, most of them as of yet undiscovered because WindowsRT is so new. As it sits, I also believe that WindowsRT is incompatible with Intel and AMD x86/x64 cpus--as WindowsRT is compiled to run on ARM exclusively. Windows 8 applications will need to be rewritten from the ground up in WinRT before they will run on a WinRT device like a Surface.

That's the thing--a WinRT tablet like Surface is a specialized device running a specialized OS. It is not an Intel-compatible desktop computer like any Windows 8 Pro desktop. Running RT you had better like the Windows Store because right now that's your only source for software. For WindowsRT devices, the desktop paradigm has no meaning because there has never been a WindowsRT desktop computer. The whole desktop-start page boot conversation doesn't involve you because it isn't relevant to you, if you own a WindowsRT device.

Next I recall the guy wishing his Windows interface would mirror a cell phone running Windows Phone 8. Don't know what that's about, either, as the Windows Phone 8 OS is as incompatible with Windows 8 Pro as it is with Windows RT.

"Boot to the desktop" applies to Windows 8 but not to WindowsRT and not to Windows 8 Phone OS. Seems clear enough. We are talking about three classes of devices:

1) Intel-compatible personal computers, be they desktops or portables/laptops. These all run Windows 8 Pro. (And won't run WindowsRT or of course Win Phone 8 OS.)

2) WindowsRT devices. These are wholly self-contained devices utilizing ARM cpus and running Windows RT, which is a new OS fully and completely incompatible with Windows 8. IE, WindowsRT and Windows 8 are not the same thing!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_RT

3) Windows Phone OS 8 (or whatever it is called.) Designed for cell phones and incompatible with Windows RT and Windows 8.

Last, there's no sign that Intel or anyone else is getting out of the desktop/laptop business. Indeed, even this year, a poor year economically, will see ~360M Intel-compatible desktops & laptops sold. Tablets and other specialized devices have a long way to go to catch up. Crystal balls are notoriously flaky because of how often they are wrong. Companies exist on present sales and customers buy presently made products. That's why Thurrott is exactly right, "He who abandons the present for the future abandons himself." Well, that's close to what he said, anyway...;)

(This thread is entirely my own opinion, of course, and so any mistakes are mine. If you have some trouble with it, please discuss those issues thoroughly with yourself.)

Our company has no "Windows Store Apps" and probably never will. We have only line of biz apps which are desktop only. I tested an HP desktop pre-installed with Win 8 Pro plus a 3rd party app to add start button and boot to desktop. It works terrifically! The user says her computer is fast and loves the ability to jump to the start screen to try new stuff. But is still 100% productive.

I could not agree more with the premise of this article. Hence, I put Outlook in the startup menu which brings me to the desktop every time I restart my computer.