Is Windows 8 Microsoft's way of indoctrinating us into saying 'byebye' to the PC?

[Zalatix]

Let me guess, manufacturers are also trying to kill the PC, too?

[Skidmore]

1. Explain. I have no idea what you are talking about.

[IDemo]

4. The interface is targeted toward mobile devices

Along with saying bye-bye to the Start button, the familiar Windows look that has been around since Win95 has been replaced by the "Metro" interface, specifically designed for usage on pads and smart phones.

I have heard kudos for Win8 from precisely one person. Everybody else online or off has hated it. But I also have it on good word that the desktop PC is in no danger of vanishing anytime real soon.

[Speck Tater]

2. The Internet is a passing fad

and when it goes out of style nobody will need PCs any more.

[bowens43]

3. Windows 8 is going to go the way of Vista and Microsoft BOB. It's garbage.

why anyone would voluntarily use any version of windows (except maybe for gaming) is beyond me.

[Posteritatis]

17. It's like the Star Trek movie rule where every other one has to suck or something

I actually kinda like 7, but Vista gave me soul cancer and I'm not even going to try 8 at this point.

[randome]

5. I think it's their way of saying their 'strategy' is modeled after Romney/Ryan's.

[longship]

6. I am a big PC fan.

Open technology is great. I've built many custom PCs from the easily procured components. That is a huge advantage for any geek.

But I haven't used Microsoft for 15 years. For me, it's Linux. More stable, reliable, and free. Free in cost; free of required commercial crapola; free of secret stuff; free of viruses and other intrusions.

Yes, Linux takes some getting used to. But, once it's configured and you've got things installed, it's really great. Even the installation is getting pretty straightforward, even for novices as long as they understand basic computer use.

But I don't think Micro$oft Windows is going away any time soon. They have far too much of the market. But, it warms my black heart that Apple is blowing them away these days, in spite of the fact that many of my complaints of Windows also apply to Mac OS. Too much secret stuff isn't good for computers.

[Zalatix]

7. Linux installation is now as easy or easier than Windows.

ESPECIALLY when it comes to removing software you don't need.

For me it's Linux for work and home, and Windows for gaming.

But I'm still worried that Microsoft's Windows HATE is a sign of the industry trying to move to tablet PCs and away from desktop PCs. The rise of Linux might not be enough to stop that trend.

[dawg]

8. Yep. Because I love typing out letters and manipulating interlinked spreadsheets ...

on my phone!!!!

Oh, I guess I could use a tablet for those things. But the virtual keyboard doesn't work so well for me. I'm a touch typist and I can go pretty quickly on a real keyboard, but I have to hunt and peck on a tablet.

So, maybe a tablet with a wireless keyboard attached.

Except that I have a little trouble with the touch interface. Sometimes, instead of highlighting a section, my touch re-sizes the document instead. Sometimes it drags the document around. I probably could use some kind of pointing device too. So add a wireless mouse to my tablet please.

Oh. Another thing. It's kind of hard to look at my work for hours on end with it just lying there, flat, on the desk. I need some kind of stand for the tablet so I can look at my work at eye level.

My particular tablet is an iPad. Getting things on and off the iPad is a pain in the butt. There needs to be at least one or two USB ports. Add those please.

And it sure would be nice to have a larger screen.

Isn't is great! Everything is going to mobile devices now. Who needs PC's anymore?

[RebelOne]

9. I have a Mac and I'm sticking with it.

I had so many PCs in the past that have died on me. I switched to Mac and I couldn't be happier.

[belcffub]

12. ding ding ding....

I work in IT and was a software developer... I use linux all the time... but Mac OSX is easy and it works... I switched from using PC's to Macs for work and home around 2003 and couldn't be happier... my new quad core 2.6 ghz w/ 16gb of memory and 768GB flash drive mac book pro just came in yesterday... one happy Mac user here...

[PD Turk]

16. Same here

I fought with windows for 13 years until a friend gave me his old Mac when he was upgrading to a new machine. Two weeks after getting that Mac I dumped every bit of PC garbage I had at the computer recycler and have never looked back. I now have 5 Macs, one intel and 5 PowerPC macs including a 600mhz G3 iMac from 2001 iirc. They all run flawlessly. My G5 Quad tower will still blow away any PC I've seen so far and it's 7 years old.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. Like USAToday's web site. I no longer go there.

[nolabels]

11. Maybe McRoSoft wants to say goodbye to 47% or something

Maybe it's finally time for many of us to build our own!

[Marrah_G]

13. What the heck are you talking about?

[Zalatix]

18. There's like a thousand articles like this online.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/tech-news/new-windows-8-marks-impending-death-of-the-desktop-as-we-know-it/article535478/

But even for hardened veterans of this phenomenon, the looming release of Windows 8 is going to be particularly cruel. Regardless of whether the newest version of the world’s most ubiquitous operating system is any good, it’s still going to mark a watershed moment – the death of the desktop. Even Microsoft, a company that made billions by slapping its software into almost every PC on the planet, is now betting that nobody wants a computer they can’t carry around in their pocket.

Pure bullshit. Like I said, it's an attempt at indoctrination.

[Initech]

14. The desktop will never die. System builders and component manufacturers would have a huge problem.

[Posteritatis]

15. I'm thinking Win8's Microsoft's way of indoctrinating us into saying 'byebye' to Win8.

As is I'd sooner shave with a chainsaw than use it; I already have a tablet, and my desktop computer isn't it.