Is Windows 8 really that bad?

Well the short answer to that question is No.

Those of you who have talked to me prior to the Windows 8 release would know that I used a pre-release version of Windows 8 and that I said that I absolutely hated it.

Well now I have had a change of heart, and I really think that it’s not a bad OS at all.

I will qualify this by saying that my opinion only changed after discovering two things.

The first was that I found an Open Source program called Classic Shell, which adds a familiar “Start Button” to the Desktop of Windows 8 and also allows Windows 8 to boot directly to the Desktop instead of to the new Metro Tile start screen.

And the second thing that changed my mind was, gaining some critical knowledge about Windows 8, which was how to bring up the Charms Bar by moving your Mouse Cursor to the Top Right Hand Corner of the screen, along with the knowledge of how to close and switch between Apps and the Desktop.

To close an App, you move your Mouse Cursor to the top of the App Screen until the cursor changes to a “Hand”, then Left Click, Hold, and Drag to the bottom of the screen.

To switch between Apps and the Desktop, you move your cursor to the Top Left Hand Corner of the screen, where you will see a Thumbnail or Thumbnails for currently open Apps.  Choose the one you wish to change to.

This YouTube Video demonstrates how to do this.

In addition, Windows 8 is pretty fast and seems to require fewer system resources than Windows 7.

So all in all, I think Windows 8 is quite useable, particularly with the addition of Classic Shell.

Once the first revision of Windows 8 arrives (Windows 8.1) there will be little or no need for Classic Shell as Microsoft has bowed to public pressure and will be reintroducing the Start Button.