In spite of all the hate, I like Windows 8

For all the Microsoft and Windows 8 hating going on, I like Windows 8. I think it's innovative and very cool--to use the vernacular. Windows 8 is what we've really been waiting for on mobile devices. And, it's what we've waited for on business desktops as well. It has features of Mac OS X, Linux and other Windows versions. It was brilliant of Microsoft to take the best bits from all of its competitor OSs, refine them and put them into Windows 8. You have to love that. You have to applaud it. I don't care who you are or which OS you're clinging to, Windows 8 is the future and you'd better embrace it or be left out in the cold with the Dodo bird.

I don't know exactly why it is but people seem to resist change, even when it's good. It must be a human nature thing. I fell prey to it as well. I hated Windows 8 at first. But, I was converted after trying it. I'm one of the people who went from, "Windows 8 sucks" to "Windows 8 is cool."

I know there's a lot of hate going on here and elsewhere but maybe negative commentary is somehow more popular than positive. I don't care which it is. I speak my mind regardless of what everyone else is doing. And, I have the technical background to back up my likes and dislikes. That's the difference in those who are Technology Journalists and those who are technology workers who are also journalists*.

I'm one of the people who went from, "Windows 8 sucks" to "Windows 8 is cool."

The difference in my attitude toward it is time spent with it. Those who hate Windows 8 haven't spent enough time with it or haven't given it a chance to "gel." Windows 8 is cool. It has some features that should have been in Windows OSs years ago. Instead, we had to rely on second rate, third party apps to do what needed to be native.

Some have criticized Microsoft in the past for including utilities, such as a web browser, in their operating system but frankly, I prefer native applications to third party ones most of the time. Third party applications can be great but more often than not, they are 'crashy' and feature-lacking. In fact, there's one particular company that shall remain nameless that basically took native Windows applications, repackaged them and then sold them as awesome third-party utilities. Ridiculous. That same company did the same thing with *nix utilities. Bottom line: If native apps are available, I want them.

Mac OS X Features: File History, Touch Screen, App Store.

Linux Features: Storage Spaces, Mounting ISOs and VHDs, Virtualization, NFS client.

Windows Features: Windows Defender, User Access Control, PowerShell.

There was a lot of hate for Windows 95 as well, when it first hit the market. That horrible Start button--that now, everyone is complaining isn't there in Windows 8. I don't care if it's there or not. To me, it never really served a good purpose. If you could see my desktop, I have all of the application icons that I use on a regular basis on my desktop. For the ones that aren't on my desktop, I double-click a file to open the application around it. I rarely use the stupid Start button. Chances are pretty good that you don't either if you know how to create icon shortcuts. It's just too much clicking around and hunting.

In Windows 8, you have your workspace already full of icons. Some applications remain in Metro mode while others will flip you around to the standard desktop. It doesn't really matter which you use, Apps are apps. People and journalists are making a big deal about nothing. But, that doesn't surprise me either.

Windows 8 is good. Embrace it or don't embrace it based on your own experience. Don't rely on some half-baked industry observer to sway your opinion in one direction or another. Make up your own mind by trying it. If you still don't like it after giving it a chance, then so be it. Stick with Windows 7 for another five or six years until Windows 10 comes out and then switch. Alternatively, you can always switch to Mac or Linux. But, my guess is that you won't like those either.

*I typically shun that moniker for myself. To me, 'journalist' has a negative connotation. Perhaps reporter or analyst would be a more fitting term for me. No, I don't like 'blogger' either.