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Comment by dm8 | Hacker News Reader

It still feels like an OS designed purely for tablet computing.

I think it is amazing a company as big as MS has converged work station, tablet, phone and Xbox One UIs in such a short amount of time. Not saying I like all the changes, just amazed at the short amount of time it has taken.

I cant really cosign this one, by converging they shoehorned 2 different UI's into 1 OS, and dont seem to have given any one of the three groups what they really wanted.

I'm not stating they did it well, just saying that for those 4 different platforms (excluding xbox one until release) they already have stuff "in production". The ship has sailed, and they put the farm on it.

I guess it's just taste, too.

I, for one, love the combination. When I'm coding, I'm nearly only in desktop mode. Browser with 20 open tabs, developer environments, consoles, the whole shebang.

Then, when I want a break, I hit start and open Twitter or fullscreen IE10. I'm suddenly on a tablet (with a dock that's always attached, but ok). My ongoing work is still there but hidden from my view and my mind. I stop using the mousepad, and browse with touch only. IE10 has a really excellent user experience on a touch screen, it makes Chrome on Android tablets feel ridiculously ancient.

Then, when I'm done with HN, private mail, and the weather, I hit Win+D and poof, my tablet became a PC again.

It may be a coincidence, but Microsoft essentially made a two-mode OS that precisely matches the two ways I use a computer.

Haste makes...something something.

By my reckoning they haven't really converged anything, just duct-taped the two different paradigms together and given us the worst of both worlds.

At first, I thought this was a sarcasm.

So did the mad doctor in the Human Centipede. With similar results.

I wanted to shout "Get your touch screen shit out of my server rack." Then I realize that I can run Server 2012 without a GUI or not. (evil smile)

The one good thing about Windows 8 in my world is that it's forcing people to make decisions they have been putting off for years.

> The one good thing about Windows 8 in my world is that it's forcing people to make decisions they have been putting off for years.

What do you mean?

I think he means admin'ing your servers from CLI. Using the metro UI in Windows Server 2012 will make you want to hurl yourself out a window to avoid having to do it again.

CLI/PowerShell.

Also there's the meta-decision that comes from questioning Redmond's judgment and actually looking at alternatives.

That, someday humanity will have to adapt NUI.

If I think dirty thoughts will my file system become corrupted? :)

But unless you plan on just using remote powershell to manage that server, you'll need the Remote Server Admin Tools package that supports Server 2012 --and it's only available for Windows 8+.

The 2012 Server Manager gui is very nice. When I have to work on 'legacy' servers running 2008 R2 I miss it.

As well as the convergence of tablets/laptops/PC/touch screens.

I gave my folks a touchscreen all-in-one PC and it's surprising how much you will touch the screen once it's available.

After all the negative buzz around Windows 8, I wanted to try for myself. So I walked in to a Microsoft store and sat down in front of a 27" touch screen...without even intending to, I constantly found myself touching. It feels incredibly natural!

(Not to say there aren't downsides to the OS as well. Just that I never thought I was missing out on touch until I tried it.)

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