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Comment by jyrkesh | Hacker News Reader

I would really reconsider your upgrading decision. It's easy to get past the start screen-ness or spend 5 minutes setting up a 3rd party taskbar and making sure opening files (e.g. jpg, pdf) default to the "non-Metro" applications. After that, you'll have an OS that is functionally identical to Windows 7 with better boot times (non-fresh upgrade install from 7 to 8 HALVED my boot time), an even more stable kernel (I've literally NEVER had a BSOD since upgrading from 7), and better performance.

The FUD surrounding Win8 is kind of crazy. You want to know the easiest, fastest way to launch an application? Hit Windows key, type application name. Same on Win7, same on Win8...hell, it's the same on Ubuntu.

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OTOH, you want to know the easiest, fastest way to relaunch a recently used document? You can't, because they got rid of that.

Through the jump list of the application you opened that document in recently? Obviously this requires you to know both what you opened it in and have it pinned to your taskbar, but I really like that feature for reopening files I recently closed on a per app basis.

Ah jump lists. I used Win7 since it came out and never found those. Only discovered them since I've been on Win8 through some random mention and a video. They aren't intuitive or very we'll known. People at work now see me use them and every time are surprised and ask me how I did that.

I think both Start8 and Classic Start Menu have that, and CSM is free.

Great, I absolutely despised "Recent Documents".

> The FUD surrounding Win8 is kind of crazy. You want to know the easiest, fastest way to launch an application? Hit Windows key, type application name. Same on Win7, same on Win8...hell, it's the same on Ubuntu.

Its actually, IME, noticeably slower than mousing in most cases on Windows 7.

Could do all that (and fork over $100s), OR I could sit still and have most of that. That's my point; its not attractive (enough) for the money, AND its damn annoying I have to refit so much just to get back to work. Add to that, the unmitigated gall of assuming I wanted any of that worthless stuff, and there's the emotional part.

Reminds me of a coffee cup I bought at Wal-Mart for work. It had a transparent plastic sticker on it that would not come off, without leaving a gummy stain. Didn't come off in the wash. Think about it: I buy something NEW and shiny, and the first thing I have to do is clean shit off of it? Maybe buy some other product to get the marketing crap to come off? Of course I respond emotionally, just as if I got a new car and found someone had dumped in the back seat.

Same on a Mac. Command+Space to pop open spotlight. Applications are matched first. (Or use Alfred/Quicksilver)

Actually, slight correction: you can use spotlight preferences to set the order in which various matches are displayed. Every now and then this is useful.

Spotlight et al have a problem - I build multiple branches of a project. The executables are all the same name, different paths. Mac doesn't distinguish them for me - I have to browse to the one I want every time. Which is a click-fest.

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