They do, because they're people. People form habits to be more efficient.
That's why it's frustrating to learn to use a new GUI.
That's why removing a well-known GUI element that's been in existence for 17 years is met with anger.
That's why swapping key-bindings on a friend's game is a dick move.
Not really. They would want certain GUI elements fixed, or running more effectively. The majority did not ask for or want the GUI completely redesigned.
Again, not really. They would complain if the current OS didn't seem like an all-around upgrade compared to the last. That's why Vista was somewhat of a disappointment, while Windows 7 was wildly popular.
If by "people" you mean more than one individual, then you're analysis is as correct as it is irrelevant. We are referring to groups of people large enough to influence Microsoft's decision making.
There is always something left to do, there are always things to improve upon without even touching the GUI.
"Metro" is all I have to say here.
Things are more inefficient and
harder to use than they used to be.
That would be fine if Microsoft was only trying to reach people unfamiliar with any of the past 17 years that the start button has been around for. Your comparison to young people using curse words doesn't make any sense.
I know it's hard for you to admit, because it's really easy to say that "They'll think of something" but there wasn't really a huge demand for anything in the operating system market that wasn't in windows 7, and with the changing desktop market and, let's face it many many people are moving away from using their traditional computers to using strictly their phones and tablets. They're talking that in 2013 more tablets will be sold than notebooks. If microsoft doesn't come out with a new operating system, the OEM's complain, because typically they see a jump in sales when a new os comes out. Right now is a critical time for computers, because the market competition with tablets and smartphones. This was an attempt to provide the same experience across three devices (smartphone, tablet, PC). Can you think of one glaring feature that was missing in windows 7 that they should have used in windows 8? Because I can't. When I say that it's reached a mature stage of development, I mean that they've implemented pretty much all of the features people want, made them reasonably stable and usable, and there aren't many new features that they can add. People forget all of the security and speed improvements included in windows 8.
If microsoft had kept everything the same, including the UI people would have complained about windows 8 being a service pack, with nothing really different. People for years have been calling microsoft an organization which is incapable of doing any kind of innovation now. A company which is simply going to milk their cash cow until the market doesn't want it anymore.
All of the people complaining about the UI change are ridiculous. It's like saying that something microsoft put together 17 years ago was the correct and only way to do things. And for the record, it hasn't changed my workflows at all.
1. Hit windows key (Or start button, which is totally still there just invisible until you hover you mouse),
2. If the program you want doesn't have an icon in the metro menu (Which is really just a start menu made full screen, and instead of a list you have redigned icons, called tiles),
3. then you type in what you want and select it from a list
To do the same thing in windows :7
1. you hit the start key.
2. If the program you want isn't one of your most frequently used programs,
3. Then you type in what you want and select it from a list.
I could give less of a damn about the usability studies, as most of that is speculation at best and Their main argument is summarized, as follows: "The situation is much worse on regular PCs, particularly for knowledge workers doing productivity tasks in the office. This used to be Microsoft's core audience, and it has now thrown the old customer base under the bus by designing an operating system that removes a powerful PC's benefits in order to work better on smaller devices." Basically, what they're saying is that, windows 8 is horrible on the pc because most of the people who use it have blindly memorized how to perform all of their tasks, and are unwilling to relearn how to do things. I think saying it removes the benefits of PC by designing to work better on smaller devices is bullshit. A smaller OS footprint is neber a bad thing, and the fact that the UI is consistent across multiple platforms will improve usability for anyone using those, which is likely part of what prompted this from micorsoft.
Have you even used it? And I don't mean you touched it at a store and decided it was terrible, I mean really used it for your every day tasks?