Windows 8 doesn't suck

...as bad as I thought it would.

My biggest frustration with my previous limited experience with Win8 was the complete change in UI. (that is, User Interface)

Since I was and now am using it on a laptop, and not a touchscreen device, The Start Screen interface felt clunky and odd. I used to be a technician back when Win9x was king, and I really knew my way around that interface. With XP and 7, I would do everything I could to bring my UI back as close as possible to Win98. I like my start button. I like my QuickLaunch area. I expect certain things to be available when I right-click.

Win 8.1 brought back a "Start" button, but it isn't the same. It takes a person to a Start Screen. If I gave it a chance, it'd probably be "okay", but it's still foreign. Fortunately for me, my Toshiba Satellite laptop came with a program called "Pokki Start Menu". It's not a clone, but it's close enough to be familiar. It would be even better if it could replace the start button instead of sitting beside it.

Win 8.1 also allows a user to set their system to go to the desktop by default at startup. Also, clicking the new start button will toggle between the start screen and the desktop as will windows-key+D. So, now that I have my desktop back and I have a 3rd party start menu, I can begin to get over some of my frustrations with the new OS.

As a technician, I have not formed an opinion. I have had little opportunity to do any work on it. I hope it stays that way. As a user for just under a week, I am forming the opinion that Windows 8.1 does not suck as bad as I thought it would.

I do have a bit of a gripe. I assigned IrfanView to open my MP3 files. When I shift+right click an MP3 file now, I don't get an "open with" option. Haven't cared enough to deal with it yet. Other filetypes seem to allow that action / option.