The most controversial aspect of Microsoft's new OS is the Metro interface. Fewer than half of the 2900 readers who answered our survey about the Consumer Preview said they were satisfied with the new interface.
People who have installed the Windows 8 Consumer Preview praise its speed and the changes to Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer, but most readers who answered a PCWorld survey aren't satisfied with the new Metro interface--and half indicate that they would be unlikely to recommend the new operating system to a friend.
Microsoft made the Consumer Preview available for a free download last week, and more than 2900 people who had installed the OS answered our survey.
By far the most divisive part of Windows 8 is the Metro interface, which replaces the traditional Start menu with a Start Screen filled with colorful, interactive tiles that show data and act as shortcuts to applications. Microsoft already uses the Metro UI in the Windows Phone 7 OS and on the Xbox 360 console.
Praise and Criticism
Some respondents praised the interface as fun and innovative.
"It takes some getting used to, but once you've learned it, it is easier to use, faster, more intuitive, and easy to customize," one respondent said. "It's shaping up to be not only the most radically different Windows ever, but also the best. We aren't in Kansas anymore, Toto."
"I am blown away. The PC just became fun to use again," another fan said.
But Metro's critics were sometimes scathing.
"I hate the new user interface and the lack of a Start button," one said. "The OS feels like it was designed for the tablet, with the desktop PC as a complete afterthought. Windows 8 will be the new Windows Vista."
"Windows 8 straddles the fence between being a touchscreen OS and a desktop OS, and anyone who's straddled a fence before knows it's rather uncomfortable," another detractor said.
Asked whether they were satisfied with Metro, the largest block of respondents, 26.2 percent, chose "extremely dissatisfied." An almost equal number, 23.2 percent, said they were extremely satisfied. All told, though, fewer than half of the respondents said they were satisfied with Metro.
Asked about their overall satisfaction with Windows 8, a majority, 52 percent, said they were satisfied. But when we asked if they would recommend the OS to a friend, 21.2 percent of respondents said they were highly unlikely to recommend it, and a little more than 50 percent chose responses on the bottom half of our 10-point scale.
By Edward N. Albro, PCWorld
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