They had one job. One job. Don't screw up Windows. And what'd they do? They screwed up Windows.
Metro was a mistake. And again, everybody else makes mistakes, too. But then they went full retard, and refused to backtrack. That part is the reason for the "hate."
Criticising Microsoft is like shooting fish in a barrel, so it's odd you'd pick on them for innovating without thought to convention and backward compatibility - an area where they're generally more cautious than the peers you named - and a product that actually has plenty of fans.
I don't understand why so many people fall for this misdirection.
Also, what kind of drugs does one need to ingest to make it seem like a good idea to enforce UI conventions optimized for 4" cell phones on a user with a pair of 30" desktop monitors? Are we talking plant-based alkaloids, aromatic hydrocarbons, or what?
So for someone like me, isn't the Metro Start menu good design? It has both the type-to-search thing and a full screen menu of icons i usually use.
Look i admit it seemed a little intimidating when i first saw it. Heck we have been using the start menu for more than a decade! It's almost part of our DNA now, so seeing the entire screen change in place of a menu is.... unexpected. But is it really that bad? Do you REALLY still browse through the start menu?
This debate was settled when Windows replaced MS-DOS. Most users do not want to remember, or type, the names of the programs they want to use.
Do you REALLY still browse through the start menu?
Yes, frequently.
Btw I presume from the bit about ms dos that you dont llike shells. But thats ur preference
The difference between me and the people at Microsoft is that I understand that there are different user types. None of which asked for their desktop PC to behave more like their cell phone.
Just because you don't like Metro, for whatever reason that might be, does not make it a mistake.
Don't break useful, common functionality because you think it's not important.
Sticking to my guns on this one and choosing to let your sarcastic tone slide.
And even if you do need Windows, Win7 works fine. I feel forced to switch from XP to 7, but that's not such a terrible move. I'll skip Win8, and maybe there won't even be a Win9.
Secondly, the Metro UI thing, IMHO wasn't a forceful use of power. It was a bet (a lost one) that touchscreen laptops will become predominant. And So they created a UI based on that bet. They (incorrectly) thought that people want exactly the same UI on all their devices. So it's not that they are EVIL, just misguided.
So i don't HATE Microsoft, i just pity them.