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Comment by JS_startup | Hacker News Reader

I'm still baffled as to why Windows 8 is not a dedicated tablet OS. I think it would be a dream to use on a touch device and commend Microsoft for the Metro design, but they had to screw it up by shoehorning it onto the desktop too.

I've given Windows 8 an honest try on my dual monitor setup and it just isn't happening. Metro is out of place, consumes 100% screen real estate (meaning fast context switching between windows or monitoring multiple windows is impossible) and is constantly frustrating with its hidden controls and undiscoverable features.

The fact that they had to include Windows 7 in Windows 8 is proof enough that Metro is not suitable for the desktop. Windows 8 feels like a bizarre mashup OS that has no place on the desktop.

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Well you could say the same thing about backwards compatibility with anything.

The inclusion of 16-bit mode, XP mode, or compatibility mode in Windows 7 just proves that 32-bit computers are not suitable for the desktop.

The inclusion of GCN compatibility on the Wii proves the Wii is not a good game console.

The inclusion of VGA ports on my new laptop proves HDMI is not suitable for video display.

This is Microsoft, not Apple. Microsoft cares that your old applications keep running. Microsoft (figuratively) never breaks backwards compatibility (and if they do, there's a huge fuss made about it). Microsoft even goes as far to include very specific lines of code in their OS to make sure just one popular application keeps working (as shown by the now-famous example of SimCity for DOS running on Windows).

How much bitching was there when DOS was shoved to the background? And who would return to DOS now? You'll get over it. The world will survive.

Metro isn't even supposed to be used on a workstation. It is as simple as that. Of course "windows 7" is better for real work on a desktop, noone will ever claim otherwise (for other than marketing purposes or for bashing windows 8).

So I don't know what your beef is, just don't use Metro for stuff it isn't good for.

And use it for what it is good for, on your laptop in "tablet-mode" for instance. Don't use it on your workstation, that's just insane.

The fact is that it is on workstations, I'm simply judging what Microsoft has put before me. Telling me to ignore Metro if I don't like it is like selling me a muffin filled with chunks of pickle and suggesting I eat around them.

I would assume if Microsoft didn't intend for Metro to be used on the desktop then there would be no Windows 8 for PCs and it would be a dedicated tablet OS (like I suggested).

Media Center is in your windows 7, do you use it on your workstation?

An OS is full of stuff you never use and, unlike a muffin filled with chunks of pickle, not using the stuff you don't want is often as easy as breathing air.

Exactly. I used the OS for past week or so and haven't used much of metro at all. Because I am using it on my old laptop and haven't used metro as much.

I am planning to get a touch laptop in next couple of months and we will see how it works then.

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