Hi Josh, that is a very valid point. All too often there are people who say they hate a certain operating system such as Mac OS, Linux, or a new version of Windows based only on a few hours of trying it at a friends house or at a store and then declaring it junk. the problem is as you stated is that they really do need a few weeks perhaps a few months to get over their prior experiences and give the operating system a fair assessment without biases to find out if they really like it or not. I can use myself as an example here.
Back when Windows 8 was available for beta testing I grabbed the public beta, slapped NVDA on it, and my first inclination was that it sucked. I hated the interface, was upset of having all the ribbons in File Explorer, the removal of the Start Menu, whatever. I swore up and down I would not buy it. However, a year later my opinion has changed. Given the choice between Windows 8 and Windows 7 I'd take Windows 8 over Windows 7. There are a variety of reasons why my opinion changed, but one has to do with I have grown use to the changes, I have found workarounds I didn't know about before for things I didn't like, and can look more objectively at certain things like performance, accessibility, and so on which I wasn't really looking at when beta testing. The point is that had I gone on my first impressions alone I would not have gotten Windows 8 or 8.1. I'd probably be as steadfast about Windows 7 as some users are about XP. However, now that I have had time to assess the operating system there are things I don't like, but there are also things I like too. I think my opinion is certainly more valid than it was a year ago. However, there is another flaw in Dark's logic besides just using an operating system for a day and declaring it good or bad, and that is he is looking for some illusive improvement in word processing, playing mp3s, etc. I am afraid if that is his only criteria than he will be disappointed in computers in general since I think all operating systems are about the same in that regard, and he will never find a reason to upgrade because one can do those things just as well on Windows 8.1 as on Windows XP with verylittle to no difference in features. It seems to me Dark's argument is similar to the "if it isn't broke don't fix it" argument. Cheers~!! On 12/17/13, Draconis <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Tom, > > There is a flaw in Dark’s logic though, and in that of many other’s. I don’t > believe when trying out a new system for the first time, bet hat Mac or > Linux or Windows 7, that you can spend only a handful of hours with > something radically different from what you’re used to and come away with a > reasonably informed and valid opinion of it. Operating systems can vary > tremendously in terms of how the user interfaces with them, and it takes > quite some time for your previous experiences to stop interfering with your > usage of the new system. > > Case in point…a friend and colleague of mine got a Mac, and for the first > week or two hated it. He came very close to whipping the drive and > installing Windows and forgetting OS X entirely. > > Then something happened at about the two week mark, when finally something > clicked for him, and he started to overcome those barriers that are built > through long use of an OS. Today, he’s an avid Mac user and would never go > back to Windows, despite having been a Windows user for nearly fifteen > years. > > I see this pattern again and again with people trying out different > operating systems. > > So, no matter the OS, I take no one very seriously who claims their opinion > is informed because it is based on a few hours with a brand-new OS. > > I spent several weeks with Linux a few years back, and while it isn’t for > me, and I feel it has far more headaches than it is worth, I do understand > its appeal and get why some people choose to use it. I won’t speak with any > authority on Windows 8, because I haven’t spent any significant time with > it. I read with interest experiences of those who have spent significant > time with it, and dismiss those who used it for a day and declared it junk. > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
