I believe this is way so many of the community members stay with Stardock, Brad and his folks really do try to make Windows a better OS. 

Anyone who has been messing with Win8, can you answer two questions?
Can metro be disabled? And does the Win8 desktop retain all functionality from Win7? (gadgets, right click menu's, use of docks, to name a few)

thanks.

Wow that was fast! I booted into Win8 Customer Review one time early this morning. After reading Brad's post and subsequent comments I was smh. Maybe there's hope after all. 

Neil, You Da Man!!! 

I want your children.....

 

[OK, enough of discussing odd eating habits]....

No and No.

Right now, Windows 8 treats the desktop a lot like how Windows treated DOS. It's a box you can go back to. But you're "supposed" to live in Metro. The desktop is designed for legacy apps.

The problem is, Metro doesn't make a lot of sense for desktop use in its current incarnation where everything MUST BE FULL SCREEN NO MATTER HOW TRIVIAL. With Metro, it's not Windows. It's Window.

(incidentally, I don't have a problem with Metro as a tablet OS, but as a desktop OS? insane).

Great to see some alternatives being developed.

I'd give it two thumbs up, were it not that one of them was digested by my tractor a couple years ago.  

That looks good! But I will stay with my win 7 as long as possible Windows 8 is more for consuming...

But wouldn't it be cooler to have a complete selfmade start menu that is customizeable? So you just have a quick icon, that opens a menu. And for having it open real quick just let it run in the background (may access the options through an icon in the system bar), while clicking the icon once in the quick bar, just brings the software/menu to the foreground. Just my two cents

If, through some strange turn of events, Windows 8 becomes good enough that I actually use it or somehow circumstances force me to use it despite my considerable desire to not do so, and Microsoft hasn't added this functionality natively by launch, then I would consider this to be essential. But by preference I will just continue using Windows 7 and if I were to upgrade then I'd upgrade to some form of GNU/Linux.

I think, there will be some need for this. Great !

How bloody awful!  If this Metro abomination is the default and the traditional desktop is just a goto for legacy apps, then I will bypass Win 8 entirely... and if Win 9, 10, 11 follows suit, then I will remain with Win 7 until it's no longer possible.

To abandon the traditional desktop is sheer madness and could well see MS' predominance in the software market decline dramatically.  Apple must be licking its lips with glee over this MS lunacy

I see a (possible) dark future for "old" windowslike os´s.....

As some of you know my daytime Job is as a Janitor at a school here in Sweden and I see these kids growing up as we speak...literally.

-They wake up, grabs their Cell/Mobile and hits Facebook or check their mail and from there on they´re more or less hooked up all day long.

Waiting for the bus I obviously stand there with kids going to school as well and ALL of them are clicking their Phones.... There, on the bus and pretty much all the daytime after that... They probably haven´t got the latest Cells/mobiles, but the userinterface is similar to what metro is... Plain simple stupid easy access no thinking at all OS and that will be what the kids unfortunately will be most accustomed too in the future... It´s like MS are trying to take Android to the Pc´s of the world.

 

-And they might win this.

Definitely interested in this if MS don't fix this themselves!

I'll skip Windows 8 if they try to force that Metro crap-interface on my pc. I can see how Metro makes sense on a tablet but this is just crazy!

Thanks Brad. as i thought, me and Win7 will look upon Win8's few cool features with envy, but laugh at the UI.

Another thing you can do in W8 to replace the start menu, add a whole bunch of toolbars and scrunch them together, then put your program shortcuts in them. You'll be able to select your internet menu, or games menu and get a list of all the ones you have setup.