Not my review, but so brazenly true that I had to share it.  Windows 8.  Why does it suck so bad it hurts?  This video will explain where it went horribly horribly wrong.

http://youtu.be/WTYet-qf1jo

PS: This completely jives with my experience with the new Windows.  I couldn't even figure out how to shutdown the thing.  It was actually Hawkeye who figured it out.

Ha!  Microsoft blames PC makers for failure of Windows 8 sales!  http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/01/27/0622220/microsoft-blames-pc-makers-for-windows-failure

If modern PCs can't deliver a "proper Windows 8 experience", doesn't that mean Windows 8 was poorly designed for the systems that would be running it?

Recently I bought a new gaming PC to put into my arcade cabinet, and it came with Windows 8.1 already installed.  "Okay," I thought, "I'll give Windows 8 another chance.  It's been 2 years since I last tried it, and they've made a lot of improvements, right?"  Sigh.

Right off the bat Windows was doing everything it could to infuriate me.  Upon first boot, I'm confronted with a long (10 minutes or so) wait at a screen with the helpful message, "Taking care of a few things.  Don't turn off your PC".  Really?  Not even a progress bar to show me that you're at least making headway on those things?  I mean, I get that you don't want to freak out your users with actual information... but sheesh.

Then the screen changes!  Excellent.. oh wait.. Windows is just yanking my chain.  "Almost ready.  Don't turn off your PC".  So helpful.  Sat at this screen for another 5 minutes.

I don't understand the phobia against useful information.  The system knows what it has to do, so tally up the tasks then just increment the progress bar as each task is completed.  Heck, you can even give a friendly blurb about whatever task it's currently running, like "Installing display drivers" or "Detecting audio device".  You could bury those under a button "Push me for technical details".  I'd push the hell out of that button.  I hate having no idea what's happening to a process I have to babysit.

Yes, I do mean babysit.  Windows has the infuriating expectation that all you want to do is sit and watch it work.  You got a long process?  The minute you step away from the computer, Windows will prompt you for something and CEASE ALL ACTIVITY until you respond.  Never mind it could have done EVERYTHING ELSE without that answer, it will defiantly hold its breath until you give it your attention.  I can't tell you the number of times I've walked away from a 2 hour (for example) process only to return and see it waiting for input with 1 hr 55 mins remaining.

Now that it was finally done "Taking care" of those things, I could use my computer.  Nope.  I had to log in with a Microsoft email account, or create a new one.  Seriously?  That's bullshit.  This computer isn't even going to have a keyboard attached 99% of the time.  I'm not going to be reading my email on it.

I'm finally on the "Start" menu.  I don't know what it's officially called, but it's that patchwork mess of rectangles that you associate with Windows 8.  Side note, even after installing and using Firefox exclusively as my browser, that screen still only displays Internet Explorer as my browser.

Since this is to be an arcade machine, I needed to set the emulation front-end to load automatically.  It used to be you just add a shortcut to the Startup folder.  It's still the same, but Microsoft has moved the folder and buried it within HIDDEN system folders.  Thanks Microsoft.  Always working to make things easier, right?  Even so, once I finally find the damn thing and reboot I discover a new problem.  The software runs ON THE DESKTOP.  Windows 8, if you're not familiar, has hidden the desktop we're used to as one of those rectangles on the Start page.  Press it, and you get back to the comfort of a task bar, wallpaper, and desktop icons.  Unfortunately you can't do that with arcade controls.

After more hunting, I find a setting that tells windows to go straight to desktop.  By now I've spent hours on google just trying to get Windows to do what every version prior to it did without coaxing.  Windows is fighting me all the way.  The last straw was what's known as "focus".  When you switch from window to window, or app to app, you change your "focus".  The system has to know that whatever you type now goes to the window or app in focus.  The same goes for fullscreen apps.  That should be trivial, because there's now only 1 thing on the screen to possibly interact with.  Well, Windows even gets that wrong.  After booting, auto-logging in to my email account, auto-switching to the desktop, auto-starting the arcade software in fullscreen.. Windows thinks the focus is somewhere else.  The arcade controls (or keyboard if that's still attached) don't control the only thing on the screen.  I have to alt-tab from God-knows-where to the only thing running.

I gave up.  Windows 8 won.  I wanted it to be a cool arcade machine, it wanted to be a tablet.  I checked online, and no surprise, the hardware in this gaming PC is missing drivers for Windows 7.  Fine Windows 8.  I'll use you for PC gaming.  But then, just to add insult to injury, Windows 8 updates and gets stuck on "Working on features.  100% complete.  Don't turn off your PC".  I mean STUCK.  It sat for hours there while I looked up on a different machine what you're supposed to do.

I kid you not, Microsoft's official "solution" to this includes reinstalling / restoring the operating system from the installation media.  http://answers.microsoft.com/e.....d8-a3ac-3ec714b96c2a.  Of course, in the interest of profits, the vendor did not ship any such media with the PC.

On the plus side, while I hunted for answers on the internet I discovered this PC was originally designed as a Steam Machine for Valve.  While I wrote this rant I've been downloading the latest SteamOS install disc, and see that it has just finished.  If you'll excuse me, I'm off to wipe Windows 8 from that computer forever more and install something enjoyable.

tl;dr Windows 8 is sh!t in a mitten.  It was 2 years ago, it still is today.