The History of Windows 8 Development

[@billylardner]

“No matter how you feel about it, you can’t deny that this operating system released in 2012” You got me there.

[@MichaelMJD]

Yeah uhh, not the full quote there...

[@billylardner]

Just having a laugh aha. Great video btw, I’m about halfway through and it’s incredible how much windows 7 evolved.

[@MichaelMJD]

Haha thanks! Yeah it’s amazing how much it changed

[@real_airgot]

@@cookedchickenw9 8 was shit, also Why Do You Talk Like This

[@matthewe3813]

@@johnnyblaze9217 windows 12 is the best

[@BanjoeCommando]

Microsoft: "Shhh... Let's not leak our hard work." Microsoft employee: "That sign can't stop me because I can't read."

[@jgadventure]

🤣🤣🤣

[@SupaPhly0]

MS: please don''t leak our work :( Staff: no

[@bowltm]

nice pfp

[@gnomeddev]

At least redpill hasn't been leaked lol

[@Skittleology]

@@gnomeddev it hasn't been leaked but you can still enable features restricted by redpill as shown in the video.

[@fm00078]

WHAT'Z U TALK'N BOUT WILLIS? The word 'Please' has no correlation to that confidentiality contract all employees had to sign. So was there real meaning,... go ahead with discretion?

[@timmy47670]

@oof epic At least 2 employees had their employment terminated for leaking (or assisting in the leak) of early Windows 8 builds.

[@AshiqurRahman]

In summery we can say they put a lot of hard work in it. Respect developpers

[@Napoleon_Blownapart]

But lack common sense in their work.

[@nikhilmwarrier7948]

@@Napoleon_Blownapart LOL, but designing a ui that is cohesive and plays well for all screen sizes from 4.5" to 32" is immensely difficult, especially at a position as Microsoft was in back then... They wanted to focus on mobile, which could potentially be really profitable, but they didn't want to sacrifice their home turf either... That was why both Windows Phone and Windows 8 flopped...

[@tomyyoung2624]

yes one: my sleep paralysis demon

[@nikhilmwarrier7948]

@@tomyyoung2624 yes one? Lol that has to be a meme!

[@tomyyoung2624]

Please! God! Yes! again!

[@davinp]

Microsoft was trying to make Windows touch screen friendly for use on tablets/phones. You see at fast-food restaurants that their cash register have buttons you touch. THe problem is some things look good on a tablet, wouldn't look good on a desktop with a large screen and vise versa

[@BigTylt]

I wish they just added a switch where you could enable or disable the Charms Bar and the Metro screen.

[@evancrazyerror]

Kohina it’s not that people didn’t like it, sure yeah there were people that just hated it the look, but a lot of people just disliked the learning curve, the same reason why Windows 8 didn’t catch on in the enterprise. Windows 8 was the tablet operating system, Windows 8.1 was more fit for a desktop, and by update 3 you could disable the charms bar and have the computer boot to the desktop. But sadly most people had already written it off by then. It was also rumored that Windows 8 was going to get a start menu, but I’m guessing that Microsoft decided that Windows 8’s reputation was already too tarnished to try to repair it (like vista) and they moved on to a new project, Threshold. If you learned how to use Windows 8, it was just as efficient or even more than Windows 7. Search, for example, was much faster and more accurate and could be accessed by typing in the start screen. Microsoft’s vision relied on them breaking the almost 2 decade learning curve they established in ‘95. They got away with it in 1995 because Windows was much smaller and it was almost unanimously decided that Windows 95 had an easier interface than 3.1. They didn’t have those numbers in 2012 or in 2014. Windows 8’s plan was very similar to Windows 10. Have Windows run on everything, and have a small modern core that’s the same throughout each system (WinRT). If Windows 8 has shipped with a start menu, I feel like Windows 10 would’ve never been released and Windows 8 would’ve been the last version of Windows, we’d be on like Windows 8.6 by now. But that’s not how it is, and now we have to live with Windows 10, even with how buggy it is.

[@MiiMaker]

@@evancrazyerror Windows 8 aint that bad for me.

[@Iwasonceadog.]

@@MiiMaker Me too!

[@AmanomiyaJun]

@gooer Aesthetics are subjective. Some finds it hideous, some doesn’t mind it, and some likes it.

[@Nelwyn]

I liked 8.1. It was one of the few OSes I actually paid for. Disabling the metro view made it feel like an updated version of 7.

[@lunagamingyt702]

Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 is Windows 7 but its modern

[@LinkiePup]

….. y-you could’ve disabled metro view??

[@Lukepuke311]

yea the ui actually looked good

[@TheScottbb1]

@@LinkiePupeven with windows 8.0 you could with free aftermarket software

[@jcfb1470]

This is very interesting. Seeing a mixture of windows 7 and 8 elements on this early builds. You should also do a windows 10 development history, it would be very interesting.

[@jasonbrodbeck]

Yes win 10

[@marranin007]

Win 10 is Windows what happens when windows 7 and windows 8 have a baby

[@Petar321_GT]

i remember when the public test version come out, before it was bloated with crap, i still have it on my dvd somewhere. i think it was 2015?

[@evancrazyerror]

Bill Gates 9841 was perfect. Windows 8 and Windows 7 start menu combined. They should’ve really just called it Windows 8.2. Then they just started changing stuff that no one really asked to be changed and then we ended up with the buggy mess that was build 10240 in May 2015.

[@stevesstuff1450]

Windows 10 is still a under development - a Work In Progress.... It has changed SO much from the initial mess of it's release to where it is now;being pretty good, it'd be very difficult to make a video of this type covering Windows 10 without it becoming out-of-date within weeks! Just this week we had a 'large' update that fixed whatever, and so it goes on... Windows 10 is not like the earlier, and easy to categorise Win 95, Win 98 (and 98SE), Win ME, Win XP, etc. Microsoft have said that Windows 10 is their final version, and it will be just built upon, and refined from now-on.... So for a video of that type, where do you stop? It would need updating every year or so just to stay relevant!!

[@aby2828]

i have watched this video SO many times! it's so satisfying to see how it slowly changes from an old UI to Modern UI.

[@zank8470]

Windows 7 looks more better than Windows 8 even though the OS got a new look after the 8.1 update, Windows 7 just looks like it's great compared to Windows 8/8.1

[@aspec1]

@@zank8470 but windows 8.1 has fast boot and windows 7 don't have it

[@cerasela4859]

@@aspec1 yes but windows 7 boot is more funny cuz i like watching the dots rotating until the window gets complete

[@avert_bs]

@@zank8470 I can't take a man seriously after they say "more better" 30000 times.

[@methamphetamememcmeth3422]

@@zank8470 If we're talking about looks, Windows 8 is miles better. Don't let boomer nostalgia cloud your judgement.

[@evancrazyerror]

You know i never realized what “Shhh let’s not leak our hard work” really meant back in the day, before the redpill work around was found. Because for like so many builds it was the same UI, but the new stuff was right under our noses the entire time, I just find that amusing.

[@GravyTheAwesome]

youre that guy who was excited about the macbook unboxing from that archive series

[@ЮлияЛизунова-ю4б]

Microsoft

[@Windows7Pro2009]

Will installing these beta builds of Windows 8 the current date and time work? Or should I change it to 2010/2011?

[@_eesports]

@@Windows7Pro2009 Microsoft had ended support for the betas somewhere in 2010 - 2012 so , yes you need to change the date before the support ended.

[@lloydr]

@@Windows7Pro2009 I think you will have to change it in bios because it’s a beta build

[@pivotman319]

Correction: Development for Windows 8 began in the early 2010s. 7850 has a build date of 22nd September 2010, whereas 7700 (which is visually and functionally identical to Windows 7's RTM build) was compiled on the 22nd of January 2010, most possibly several days/weeks after 7652 (which was obviously an architecture implementation test and can be considered a post-RTM build). The date that shows on your install of 7850 was set to the 1st of January 2009, which is period-incorrect (as Windows 7 was indev during that period) and thus can timebomb your build and show the "not genuine" tag. Hope this helps with future videos.

[@Bebble]

The Windows 8 team: Can I copy your homework? The Windows Phone team: Yeah, make sure to change it up a bit.

[@jerrymoadj.r.1911]

lmfao....so true

[@silvy7394]

IKR

[@Drives31forhalo]

@CD Disk god damn I miss windows phone.

[@melonoshi]

You are so correct here that its unbelievable.

[@xerzy]

Well, the Windows Phone team took Metro UI from Zune, and the idea was to eventually merge everything (CE-based Windows Mobile/Phone, Zune, Windows 8 and Windows RT) into the same OS which almost happened with Windows 10 Mobile, but no one gave a shit

[@hs_doubbing]

I actually really enjoyed Windows 8 once I got used to it, especially after the 8.1 update. The start screen was extremely intuitive if you knew how to work it, and I loved to spend hours arranging all of my tiles in all their little groups. The whole thing somehow felt bigger than it was, I guess is the best way to explain how it made me feel. It felt futuristic, love it or hate it. I also loved how Google Chrome had a "Windows 8 mode" that launched it in a full-screen environment that was identical to the then-current iteration of the Chrome OS. Things like that are what make me miss the operating system.

[@3DJapan]

Having the larger icons on Start made it faster to click the icon you wanted.

[@evila9076]

@Random Gaming no idea why people are so obsessed with support, i'm still on 7 and hardly noticed the lack of microsoft support.

[@n646n]

@@evila9076 Office 365 is very hard to get working on 7 (though it is possible) and there's very many programs that no longer work on it.

[@ananmuadi31]

That's what I loved about Windows 8.x, I immediately got used to it one week after using it on my (formerly) new 2013 laptop, for me personally this was the best version of Windows ever (behind XP certainly). Even though I used Windows 10 since 2016 until (finally) upgrading to Windows 11 last year, I hated it so much for removing what Windows 8.x had, and I consider it as the worst version of Windows (worse than Windows ME... yes, I said that.), being bland, overbloated (more than 11 and 8.x combined), ugly UI, uncustomizable, the Store in Windows 10 felt like a downgrade to 8.x's, and the tablet mode is by far the worst thing ever... I miss Windows 8.x

[@qhronoz1554]

@@evila9076 u still on windows 7?

[@addiesworld1855]

I remember using the Microsoft Developer Preview when I was messing around with my computer as a kid. I even printed out the manual they had for a short time. It's so cool seeing the history of an OS I used in beta for almost a year. Thanks for the video and keep up the hard work!

[@MichaelMJD]

Glad you liked it! Thanks so much

[@zank8470]

How did you use it as a kid and also hi @@MichaelMJD

[@WorivpuqloDMogh]

I installed it too lol. I remember it was 2011 i believe. I absolutely loved the start button

[@ConsensusX]

Same, contrary to most people, I actually fell in love with new Start menu, and cleaner design. I was like 14 when I installed it on my Thinkpad Tablet/Laptop.

[@pmc_]

Same here! I daily drove the Windows 7 beta & release candidate, and the Windows 8 developer & consumer previews when I was a kid.

[@DrewTNaylor]

So bizarre seeing a Windows 7-like UI go straight to a mostly-finished Start Screen on clicking the Start button.

[@MichaelMJD]

Yeah, these builds are very unique. Definitely cool to take a look at

[@FireFoxDestroyer]

@@MichaelMJD hi mjd I know how to change dev channel to beta channel with the method that lets you install windows 11 on unsupported devices

[@dumb5308]

i didn't know anything about pre-release builds of windows 8, thanks for making this video dude, very interesting!

[@MichaelMJD]

You're welcome!

[@georgek4416]

Same.

[@supercreamypudding9841]

i remember using Windows 8 Developer Preview back then as primary OS (and switch back again to Windows 7 for 3 weeks), and its very memorable for using some kind unstable build of Windows for the first time.

[@ProgrammerMichaelAgarkov]

Same

[@li_tsz_fung]

@@supercreamypudding9841 I've been following closely about pre-release Windows since Windows 7. All of them are great, not unstable, just some compatibility issues and something not available. Except Windows 10, it never feels like a finished product. I thought things become better in RTM, but no, still very beta like

[@synexiasaturnds727yearsago7]

some of these builds just give huge loads of nostalgia for some reason like it just takes me back to "2011 me on a rainy day in the car on my brother's iPad playing Minecraft and old games"

[@Luke68028]

I just remember that Windows 3.1 for pen computing was a thing.

[@funnystoriesshorts481]

Armin I like your profile pic "use razor leaf" yeah I watch pokemob

[@emaa_m]

@@funnystoriesshorts481 k

[@brazgazz]

@@funnystoriesshorts481 what? No one really cares. Pokemon is 30 years old now, everyone knows about it

[@Elenrai]

@@brazgazz Holy shit that was incorrect by more then half a decade!

[@isakayyik966]

@@Elenrai denmark

[@TriangIe]

I never had an issue with windows 8. Once I figured it out, I just pinned my most used programs to the start screen like control panel and this pc and if I needed to quickly search for something, I just used the charms menu.

[@WindowsOnWindows]

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but if I recall correctly, one of the Windows 8 developers recently said on Twitter that the "crossword" backgrounds actually form some sort of coded message, which has still yet to be cracked.

[@jasonbrodbeck]

I had never seen the crossword until this video and when I saw I thought, man there definitely has to be a message there lol

[@wordart_guian]

wasn't it Jensen harris who said it?

[@BR0KK85]

Maybe the message of the crossword puzzle has a meaning. Cloudnt you backtrack the leak to someone if they have the picture displayed in a Screenshot. Like a watermark

[@amarioguy]

The message was actually decoded, to form the phrase “Start Me Up” an interesting callback to the Windows 95 days (the background was not for security purposes)

[@elcheapo9444]

Yes. The patterns were a coded message to extraterrestrials.

[@timiko4]

I really liked Win 8. It was very snappy and smooth running for me. Learned really fast to use it and work better than on 7. But yeah, it could be inconsistent in mixing two interfaces, 8.1 fixed a lot.

[@lunagamingyt702]

Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 are very simular

[@TassieLorenzo]

I found Windows 8 infuriating. Especially on my convertible tablet, the graphics wouldn't even render the same in terms of colour and resolution in Metro mode as Desktop mode, which was incredibly jarring on the MANY occasions the interface switches back and forth between the two. For example, you would swipe in to open settings from the right-hand bar in Desktop, then that would go into full screen Metro setting screen, then you click to get more options and then it would just go back to the desktop mode and load the old control panel app for that setting (say keyboard or mouse) from years ago -- infuriating! :) Also, who though this was a good idea: "Something went wrong *:(*" way to irritate users when their computer crashes!

[@RollingTheOC]

I remember my friend's dad used a beta version of 8. He always tried to hide it from me like I was some sort of spy

[@zxcvb_bvcxz]

Might have been under an NDA while using it.

[@jakubbugajski1984]

👀 Wow.

[@barnacles1352]

Adam Baxter but i mean he would still be a kid

[@SirFaceFone]

@@barnacles1352 Kids can still (intentionally or unintentionally) leak info about it.

[@dieguito0512]

today's mission: use windows 8 before rtm 😃👍

[@LightTheUnicorn]

I remember playing with the Developer and Consumer preview versions (in a VM, very, very slowly!) back then. It was very novel and different! Didn't actually mind the start screen that much, what drove me crazy was the missing "Start" button, especially in RDP sessions or when trying to explain to my parents how it worked. Luckily 8.1 fixed a lot of that weirdness, and Windows 10 brought things down to earth again even further.

[@JohnArktor]

Oh rdp and start screen. I still have nightmares of it

[@emirvmendoza]

I remember being excited about Windows 8's development. The Metro UI wasn't as beautiful as Aero. (Still bummed that our future went to flat squares instead of sleek glass.) But like "Longhorn", Microsoft in Windows 8 took a leap of faith, a gutsy move. I still want "Treehouse Stampede" from the Developer Preview to be ported to Windows 10. It is the only game I know which encouraged making a long word out of three given letters. Thanks for this trip back, Michael MJD.

[@idtyu]

Unpopular opinion : win 8.1 isn't bad

[@lando2011]

Agreed

[@Quemselgs]

Win 8.1 was like having a beautiful flower in the dump, is beautiful but its still the dump...

[@Jerdifier]

It was the best possible version of Windows 8 that could have existed, but even then, that means it was only just okay on non-touchscreen computers (but it was definitely peak for Surfaces)

[@gunbilegaltangerel6445]

Yes

[@9852323]

I agree. 8.1 with classic shell is actually nice and definitely better than any version of 10.

[@MondySpartan]

I still remember when Windows 8 was barely new. Remember seeing the “Building Windows 8” video back in 2011.

[@BigTylt]

I still remember figuring out how to get the Windows 8 Consumer Preview running on my dinky Inspiron 1501.

[@KommanderArtyom]

I miss the old Windows 8.1 Start Shining Animation when the pointer is pointed on it. It was kinda cool though

[@xpmyt341]

sadly removed in win 10

[@LuisMan123]

I also wish the win7/8 style effect when hovering over programs in the taskbar was still there in windows 10

[@rolandhazuki8787]

Windows 8.1 + Classic shell = windows 7 2.0 😁👍 Im still using Windows 8.1 since 2013 still didn't want to update to windows 10

[@sendboobs]

@@rolandhazuki8787 ye same It's still a really good os but I'm upgrading next week

[@vannila_a]

@@rolandhazuki8787 do you still get updates?

[@icubedmusicmachine]

I honestly loved windows 8. The moment I worked out how to use it properly it made so much more sense than the old start menu style.

[@stevenjlovelace]

I never used Windows 8, other than occasionally helping my dad with his computer. As for my machines. I kept using 7 until 10 came out.

[@0Wayland]

Same, I switched to W10 when Ryzen 3000 series released mid 19'.

[@PolarasX]

Same

[@laharl2k]

Im still on win7 on my 1055T.

[@Dr.Mohandes]

@@laharl2k change your os, it's so insecure to run an outdated os as your main os

[@dutchgamingvaultNL]

Same here

[@AshiqurRahman]

I still prefer Aero Glass over Windows 10 Look

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

Same. There is a way to get Aero Glass, but if you want something more authentic, then there is a program that lets you use the Basic theme with DWM on.

[@RavenholmZombie]

I liked the Aero look that the Windows 8 Developer Preview had. It was like a hybrid of Aero Glass and the modern design we have today. I wish they kept that as an option for Windows 10

[@classicallemur1190]

@@RavenholmZombie ik I'm late but windows 10 has a hidden aero lite theme

[@PhantomWorksStudios]

@@classicallemur1190 for now.....

[@HalfLife3onSteamPLZ]

@misha 99fr window blinds is not free at all. enjoy your bank account draining.

[@DDbenkoDD]

Thanks for this vid! I haven't seen much on the development of Windows 8, this was a great overview.

[@MichaelMJD]

Thanks so much!

[@dennisgellert1742]

Fair enough Microsoft wanting a touch screen version of Windows, but Windows 8 on a desktop was a horrible mess - Microsofts biggest mistake. I stayed with Win 7 until I had to upgrade to 10.

[@brazgazz]

7 was bad compared to how good 10 is today

[@tamilwarrior8420]

what? how did you have to upgrade to 10?

[@tsntana]

@@tamilwarrior8420 A little something called the EOL. Some people mind it, some people ignore it.

[@dennisgellert1742]

@@tamilwarrior8420 Work laptop. No choice

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

Windows 10 without extremely heavy modifications is also a mess on desktop; touch screen crap is everywhere.

[@DDbenkoDD]

Despite it being unsuccessful commercially, I think Windows 8 was an important stepping stone in what we perceive as Windows today. And the system was fast. Like, super fast. It was my favourite Windows at the time, and I think it was refined pretty well 8.1 and the next update in 2014. Too bad it (still) lacked in UX :(

[@omar_5352]

It was and still my favorite too. And yeah, it was fast. Faster than win7 on my old laptop. Happy to see someone agreeing with me on this for the first time.But I am not sure I agree with you about 8.1, once the update came, the system started to be slow.

[@virtualtools_3021]

@@omar_5352 my graphics card is so stupid, that the XP drivers are more up to date than the 8 drivers, so i will not run 8

[@DannyBeans]

I run it with Classic Shell, and am perfectly happy with it.

[@thepotatoof4219]

@@virtualtools_3021 Your GPU has standards. No need to be angry at it. Just get Win 10.

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

The Potato Of 42 WinPadOS 10 is going to be even worse, just let that guy do what he/she wants.

[@notcheems2783]

I used windows 8 for ~5 years. When I upgraded to Windows 10, it was a blast how much I was missing out on.

[@evila9076]

U chose to use a joke of an os. What do you expect.

[@Bready-]

@@evila9076 you're an 8 year old who probably never even tried windows 8

[@sjlpuff1057]

@@evila9076 calm down it isnt that bad 😭

[@XPNGamer]

@@evila9076 bro it's not that deep

[@Blubatt]

Looking back on Windows 8, I think what bugged me most was that it felt like a huge mismatch of different things. You had your desktop, you had a new start menu, you had apps, you have your windows programs. It looked messy and unfinished. At least with Windows 10, they're working on it. Windows 10 at least feels more coherent to use.

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

Windows 10 is a Tablet OS, it's nearly unusable without heavy modifications.

[@MicroChirp]

Windows 10 is an even worse mishmash. There's regular windows, tablet windows (like the settings menu), Windows Explorer has ribbons from Office 2010, Group Policy editor still looks like in XP, what a mess.

[@Blubatt]

@@MicroChirp I agree that Windows does have a huge problem with consistency in all of its windows software, though it seems like with Windows 10, they are starting to fix it...albeit as piecemeal

[@arteonyx]

I don't really understand all the hate since for me, Windows 10 is just... fine. Like sure I'm using a 4gb ram laptop with a dual-core processor, but there's nothing wrong. One thing tho, Win 10 feels big compared to Windows 7, like Vista is compared to XP back then.

[@Blubatt]

@@aidancommenting I made that comment a good year ago, but I disagree. I said in my original comment that I feel that Windows 10 was starting to become more coherant, in terms of the software as a whole. Windows 11 has continued that so far. It is Windows 10, but with a bit more polish and a lot more ambition. And its a big step up in terms of unifying the whole look of the OS, at least for what most users access.

[@rGunti]

I love how some of the prototype apps looks like a kid masched some apps together in Visual Studio and calling it an Operating System. Never mind I was such a kid back in the day lol

[@berkeleymorrison]

same

[@Peppermint-Palace]

Windows 8 wasn't very bad, I (during it's popularity) had loved it. The touchscreen based U.I had seemed fascinating to me

[@keijijohnson9754]

17:45 - Every since I saw this video the first time around, I’ve found this glitchy background to be more symbolic in the way of how far this has gotten. Like that black and white side is representing Windows‘ nearing the end of its transformation. Like it’s kinda dying as it reaches the final phases of its developer betas. And that completely blank side of the background is like a representation of its eventual death and rebirth of sorts into the final version of Windows 8. Like that fish that was shown in those boot up screens in later beta builds? Maybe the reason why that was never seen in the final release is because that was made to... Like it existed in order to guide Windows to its reincarnation of being the final version of Windows 8 when it was nearing completion.

[@MaakaSakuranbo]

Okay, but what did you smoke?

[@NotJohnTanner]

@@MaakaSakuranbo probably crack

[@oliwiernowicki]

16:25 This theme is better than official...

[@ThatLinuxDude]

I mean, literally every Windows 8 build theme is better than the final one TBH. Though 8 RP IMHO is the best rendition of Aero made, with Windows 7 Aero coming at a close second.

[@citrusui]

Really enjoying the recent return of Windows development videos. It's been quite some time since the first videos on Whistler and Longhorn came out. Would like to see a video on 8.1 development and/or 10 (I realize the last one might not be doable, as Windows 10 still has the same basic feature set since its introduction in 2015... plus, development of Win10 is not over yet!)

[@WolfieMar]

I Tried Windows 8 Development Builds A While Ago And Now Seeing A Video Of It Is Great.

[@HomieBox]

Nice seeing you again, patatje joppie guy!

[@EpicBr0]

I actually installed windows 8 on my first custom pc when I was 14, and I honestly liked it. It looked so new and modern and colorful compared to windows 7.

[@domibark]

One thing I thought was interesting was that the Aero Glass interface was updated during development of Windows 8 to be able to run on lower end graphics hardware, using software rendering as a fallback. Yet they ended up removing Aero Glass entirely in the final build.

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

They still use that engine, just that Aero is gone.

[@ProgrammerMichaelAgarkov]

You are that channel type, that makes very good content, but dosen't have that much subscribers, you deserve a lot more than you have!

[@feefre]

16:35 i love this charms menu

[@vinyl.croatia]

Windows 8.1 was (and still is) sure the most beautiful looking windows ever (after 7). Yes, it is looking pretty similar to windows 7, but just with more modern design.

[@noname-sk6zk]

I agree. Metro by far has to be my favorite design Microsoft has ever made. Something about the way it's designed and how it changes across different devices is very pleasing to me, some feeling no other UI has been able to replicate.

[@jakobgii]

"How do you do things on Windows 8?" -danooct1

[@skoda8666]

The Zika virus video.

[@ewjfpoefjwoiefj]

@@skoda8666 Thanks

[@OhNotThat]

Microsoft Bob UI > Windows 8 "Metro" UI

[@daemonspudguy]

"I miss the start menu"

[@Sheikh_Speare]

Love that dust mite with sunglasses picture lol

[@andi]

This was so interesting to watch! Thanks for the great video!

[@MichaelMJD]

You’re welcome! Glad you liked it

[@rdxdt]

Alternative title: how to ruin a perfectly good O.S by thinking that everything is a tablet

[@CubicApocalypse128]

Windows 10 would be "trying to fix the OS you ruined by thinking that everything is a tablet, by thinking that everything is your mom's laptop." Ffs Microsoft, I don't want Candy Crush, and my hacked-together FrankenPC is not a "device."

[@axethepenguin]

when you think about it it is a device so according to the meaning in wikipedia

[@thepotatoof4219]

How Microsoft wanted to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

[@serge4192]

@@CubicApocalypse128 the Windows 8.1 fixes.

[@CubicApocalypse128]

@@axethepenguin When I hear "device" I think of a polished, mass-produced piece of technology that Just Works straight out of the box. My PC came in like 17 different boxes over the last few years, has generally needed quite a bit of maintenance, dual-boots Windows 7 *and* 10, and I've broken both of those a few times trying to patch it to allow custom themes. (I could go on all day about how Win10 goes out of its way to keep me from having a perfect dark mode, but that's for another time.) Hell, I've had to cut out part of the case just to fit the GPU in, and there's a piece of styrofoam between two of the hard drives so they don't vibrate so much. One of my monitors is salvaged from my old laptop. My PC is to a "device" what the Millennium Falcon is to a Ferrari.

[@DES1GN3R007]

windows 8.1 is my favorite OS to date. i have a disk of windows 8.1 i bought in 2014 and every time i re install i disable updates and it runs flawlessly forever

[@ne0ndev648]

Such a great video! I personally love Windows 8.1, other people seem to like it for the wrong reasons. From what I've experienced Windows 8.1 is the fastest os I've ever had. It even ran on a Pentium 4. Such a lovely OS. Nice video! Windows 10 Development history will also be a great Idea!

[@sirfairplay9153]

windows 8.1 is rock solid, it is a better OS than windows 7

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

TheQuantumMadness Agreed, Micro$haft WinPadOS 10 has too much Tablet UI crap as well. At least with 8.1 you can avoid Metro.

[@AdityaGupta-sd6rg]

the store tile at 18:50 looks so much better... wish they kept it in final release and carried it over to 10.

[@avert_bs]

for windows phone it was there

[@musicalneptunian]

I had a drink at the Charms Bar. But then I spat out the drink.

[@Jamesaepp]

I SPILL MY DRINK!

[@CaveyMoth]

@@Jamesaepp What a shame.

[@Jamesaepp]

@@CaveyMoth He was a good man. *lip smack* What a rotten way to die.

[@Killerspieler0815]

@Musical Neptunian - Windows 8 was an absiolute horror to me & every time I set up a windows 8 PC new , the fist step is to get rid of the tiles

[@NielsonLucas]

More people preferred Windows 7 at the time, so (most) new PCs with Windows 8/8.1 preinstalled, they downgraded them to Windows 7.

[@funnyjul5017]

I’m watching on August 1st 2022 10 years after windows 8 release

[@bowltm]

no one: my sleep paralysis demon: 13:52

[@chrisrlillo]

lmao

[@trumpetsrlife9692]

creepy

[@emaa_m]

That's my least favourite win7 wallpaper

[@DJcyberslash]

Kinky

[@zororoa1610]

Oh no . Why did I click on this ? I almost forgot about this . Shit

[@Cyber_Official]

Surprised you didn't notice. The Sudoku puzzle in the middle was no random puzzle The Sudoku puzzle was the ID of the build, only certain teams within windows had certain sudoku puzzles IDs. After the Major release of the first build leak, the puzzle was added to later builds. When the windows 8 project was full release layoffs happened within the teams that leaked the unfinished builds. This is the same method they used to catch leakers of the xbox 360 dash board with the water like rings giving out the console UUID in binary format in the console's home menu.

[@WedgeStratos]

I remember running the Windows 8 Developer Preview on my main rig, even made the mistake of installing AMD's beta drivers for the thing, which resulted in quite the buggy sight on games like Team Fortress 2. Polygons missing textures in places, the game was basically unplayable. I think that was also the point that Microsoft killed support for the older driver standard they'd used with XP ,Vista and 7, as they did a full leap to WDDM, so things that worked fine on Windows 7 may not work anymore on Windows 8.

[@hypercube33]

I remember loading the public beta on a touch screen machine and none of us could figure out how to shut it down through the GUI

[@SnowBunneh]

13:53 Well that was horrifying.

[@Karmanchannel61]

I'm running away from the background

[@raxcentalruthenta1456]

Windows 8 got more hate than it deserved. It really wasn't that terrible.

[@computerkid1416]

Other than the start screen, Windows 8 is an OS was really not that bad. Although, just like Windows Vista, I have no reason to use Windows 8 anymore.

[@porterhouse937]

I loved Windows 8.1, my favorite Windows release. Even bought a Windows Phone, great device.

[@fiverZ]

Nice video! I never saw anything about the UI of the early builds like this before. Maybe you could do a video about the development of 8.1 and the changes between the two.

[@justmorry7581]

13:27 The folder is from windows 11.

[@SGTMacBC]

I must be one of the few that like 8.1. It has the quickest boot time of any MS OS I have used. Even on mechanical drives. I refurbish and sell old PC's, and use it quite often. It is a good mix of Windows 7 and 10.

[@muchadoaboutnothing6196]

I had a first gen Surface with 8.1 and loved it, the charms and revised start screen were so easy to use on the surface. The tablet feature in Win10 was a huge downgrade imho, if they kept the 8.1 interface for tablets and 2-1 devices while simultaneously working to fix the desktop experience for laptops and desktops would have been the best of both worlds.

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

Agreed.

[@novatiberium]

I enjoyed Windows 8 when it came out and still have my copy from 8 years ago!

[@JaymeEduardo]

8 hours ago

[@rpdee7344]

I have a copy too for 32 and 64 builts, it sucked, back to using Win 7 Pro, and Win 10 Home on a recent computer purchase cause of all the hardware changes to keep things working, Win 10 to me is Win 8.5 sucks with the floating squares, let me please set the old default menu retro Windows, please.

[@TEDodd]

Win 8 was fine with something like Classic Shell to get back the desktop and start menu. I installed immediately after Win 8 and never suffered the Metro UI. Eventually updated to 8.1 (though no rush with Classic Shell). I have access to machines with 10 (use at work) and find no reason to update to 10 vs my 8/8.1 setup.

[@CocoTheMii]

That's not a crossword. That's a wordoku puzzle. If you look closely, you can see that some of the squares are slightly brighter than the other ones. Once you solve the puzzle, the lighter squares read "RSZQSLDTO" from left to right. If you replace each letter with the one directly after it, it will then read "STARTMEUP", or "START ME UP" with spacing added. Very clever, Microsoft.

[@Degenerate76]

I always wondered how Microsoft managed to release such a steaming turd of an operating system despite their extensive user testing program. Now I understand - they let people "test" versions of the OS with all the contentious changes disabled by this "Redpill" scheme. It could have come straight from a Dilbert strip.

[@FacuA0]

No. I think Redpill was disabled every time they compiled a preview build, such as Dev Preview, Consumer Preview, and Release Preview.

[@presidentkiller]

They managed to do it again with Windows 11. Testers could run it everywhere but MS decided to only allow few hardware configurations to run it in the end. Also, they changed A LOT of useful features by making them more cumbersome to use, or removing them completely. It's like they learned nothing from Windows 8. No wonder there're rumors about Windows 12 being already in development. What a load of crap.

[@hlscientist8760]

Windows 8 was my first OS I experienced. It was amazing.

[@davinp]

They also made WIndows flat again like in Windows 3.1, removing Windows 7's beautiful aero

[@fm00078]

YAAaaa... eye candy is fattening.

[@syntheticdawn4992]

Speak to yourself classictheme is best simple and nice

[@brazgazz]

I prefer flat Windows

[@syntheticdawn4992]

it also used to be possible to set the classic theme in flat mode i think tclock on win95 (for the taskbar)

[@zomzomtheungodlycapitalist]

Imagine preferring metro over aero lol

[@miket.220]

I was ok with Win 8.1. I loaded Classic Shell, set Windows to default to desktop and used it like a non-aero Win 7. Worked fine. Actually, it is still one of my favorite versions of Windows. Simple, uncluttered, no telemetry.

[@reoencarcelado5904]

@Mike-T.: It had Telemetry (except that Microsoft made more of an effort to hide it from common-knowledge of the general-public). Windows 8 was the first version of Windows to add on to the Microsoft "End-User Licence Agreement" "we reserve the right to scan your pictures, photos, videos, music-files, and other documents, when-&-if we believe we have "good faith" to do so. and only we at Microsoft have the to make that determination of " *when* is it "good faith" to do so?" ". *AND* Windows 8 was also the *first* version of Windows to force you to have a Microsoft account (ie. an account of an already-existing Microsoft product (Hotmail. Skype. etc)) *just* to be able to log-in to your computer. As Bart Simpson would say (in regards to all those "looking over your shoulder" practices): "Ay Caramba!"

[@_xwtk]

I actually love Windows 8 so much! I liked the new redesign... but well... not everybody liked it and in Windows 10, there is no way to make it look like Windows 8/8.1 anymore... Even if enabled the "full start menu" option :(

[@toniamagnisali8214]

I agree, I prefer windows 8 with classic shell than windows 10

[@EneaX6]

:)

[@NopWorks]

Me too. I missed the Windows 8 Start Screen, Charms bar, Slick animation, and Tracked gestures. I wish there was an _option_ to bring these elements back (maybe the Tablet Mode? They've kinda abandoned it). These would've been great for touch. I wish someone would port these Windows 8 elements back to Windows 10, like how someone ported Windows Phone 10 UI to regular desktop Windows 10.

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

Tonia Magnisali Same, at least with 8.1 Metro can be avoided, while with 10 you can't avoid UWP.

[@ckh.joseph]

Who else is still using Windows 8.1 now? I just find it a bit more light weight and snappier than 10, and in general less buggy

[@MatlawtheGeek]

Same. I'm using Windows 8 since the Consumer Preview as my main OS. Even though I think Win8.1 is great and better than both 10 and 7, I find 8.0 more appealing in some ways. I'm going to stick with the 8.1 until the support is over + 6 months.

[@JerrySM64]

I was using Windows 8.1 until Windows 10 came out, upgraded and after 2 days I rolled back to 8.1 on my old laptop. Unfortunately I'm stuck on 10 with my current desktop PC, as it likes to trigger the reset signal on 8.1 (And only on 8.1!) for some reason and I found no way of preventing it. Windows 8.1 is my favorite OS together with Windows Vista and Windows XP. I hated Windows 7 tho.

[@christianthompson1839]

I would continue to use it, but unfortunately my CPU doesn’t support it

[@enigmatix6224]

@@JerrySM64 Im interested to know why you dislike windows 7 but you like windows xp and vista

[@rolandhazuki8787]

Windows 8.1 + Classic shell = windows 7 2.0 😁👍 Im still using Windows 8.1 since 2013 still didn't want to update to windows 10

[@ahmedwalid809]

3:15 I think he was referring to UWA (Universal Windows App) platform which then become UWP (Universal Windows Platform) in Windows 10 which makes you able to write one app with one code that works on every Windows device (PCs, Tablets, Windows Phone (Which later become Windows 10 Mobile), Xbox, Windows Embedded 8/8.1 (Which later become Windows IOT)) as these devices were all running Windows with the same Kernel/Core and even with the same UI (same UI was planned to be on Windows 10 Mobile in a sort of Microsoft CShell (Composable Shell) but then canceled but there were some Insider builds with this feature). This is the most useful and awesome feature in Windows imo especially the new UWP awesome controls, APIs, and modern fluent design Great Video BTW 👌

[@Manuozaur]

Can you do next "The History of Windows 10 Development" ?

[@zank8470]

He did it!

[@Rouxenator]

Very cool video. I used classic shell on Windows 8 and 8.1. The reason I upgraded to 8 was it was way faster and better built than 7. There is so much more to an OS than the UI.

[@bjm1219]

Really enjoyed this video! I’d really like to learn more about public reaction and the development of 8.1

[@lemonbirdo1353]

Caution: this video contains a minor jumpscare.

[@jasonbrodbeck]

lmao 13:50

[@silvercoulter]

Everytime he opens the start screen?

[@lemonbirdo1353]

@@silvercoulter haha

[@CaveyMoth]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

[@zank8470]

@@silvercoulter And that

[@DSCKottawa]

The games which came with the developer preview were amazing. And of course I remember installing all 3 previews when they were subsequently released.

[@DSCKottawa]

@Jelly11 Beta Fixed it, must've been a glitch, I don't recall posting it twice

[@andrew8293]

The first developer preview is what Windows 8 should of been. It had both the start screen and a true Windows 7 start menu. Windows 8 would have been a lot more popular if they gave users choice in the beginning. While 8.1 was a big improvement I still needed a 3rd party start menu.

[@trainman2615]

When Windows 8 was being developed, I remember a whole bunch of other features like 3D desktops. I wonder what happened to those? (Or maybe they were merely rumors?) I also remember the first reviews of the Windows 8 developer preview, where the developer preview got praise for having the metro interface not only in a couple of places, but pretty much everywhere in the OS. Needless to say, that statement didn't age well.

[@tannerloy4863]

I didn’t really mind 8, and 8.1 was still pretty good. The design language was really solid and very good looking

[@shaheedharun445]

Not

[@tascos1783]

im using windows 8 rn and its actually good ngl i also rlly love the start screen fr

[@tascos1783]

also im using it on a laptop with touch screen so its even better

[@alexander1989x]

LoL, i still remembered when Win8 leaks were big news but most people just ignored them cuz they looked too similar to Win7. But little did they know it was feature locked. Well played Microsoft.

[@kotekzot]

Yes, they managed to totally evade any feedback that might have helped them prevent that disastrous launch.

[@AureliusR]

I don't understand the hate for Windows 8. When I was in college, I got a laptop that came with Windows 8.1 and instead of instantly nuking it and installing Linux, I decided to try it out. I thought it (and the basically identical Windows 10 -- that's what *really* confuses me, people hated 8 but I remember upgrading to 10 and thinking ... "What actually changed?") was actually the best version of Windows I had used in a while. Sure, I had used 7, and it was good (as far as Windows goes) but Microsoft FINALLY tried something different instead of just reskinning Windows 95 over and over and over with kernel updates and new system apps. The tiling start menu was awesome. I am a user that doesn't use the desktop at all. I don't want to have to minimize all my open windows just to click an icon to open a program -- so I typically pin 5-10 of the most important frequently used apps to the taskbar. But that can get cluttered. Being able to pin a TON of apps and organize them by custom categories was really neat. During college I had so many different software tools I used... like 5 or 6 different IDEs, programming and debugging tools, editors, plus apps for music and video, gaming etc. The tiles were a nice way to very quickly start whatever it was I wanted to use without either searching or having to clutter up a desktop.

[@CherryTv_CUP]

Where can I get the desktop background from the windows version at 16:12

[@DIVECRAFTVODS]

I loved Windows 8, because I first used it the year it released to the public, when I was turning 8 years old in 2012.

[@Gabowsk]

I was a proud Windows 8.1 user, used it for more than 3 years for its' modern UI, particular screens for apps and multi-device connection. I migrated to Windows 10 last year and never abandoned it since. I think Windows 8.1 and 10 were the best builds Microsoft has created.

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

To me Windows 8.1 was best, Along with Vista, XP, and 7. WinPadOS 10 is awful, it's worse than Windows ME and the bugs from Windows Vista pre-SP1 combined.

[@sygneg7348]

I remember having a Nokia phone with windows 8 on it back in 2015. It was incredibly slow, hard to navigate through, randomly made YT crash whenever id try to use the YT app and randomly deleted apps when it wanted to do so, making me lose all of my progress. It sucked real bad.

[@sygneg7348]

@@ThatRandomToast Windows Phone 8.

[@simont1299]

Today I learnt.....winver. I have been administering Windows for nearly 20 years and never knew this.

[@EneaX6]

Simon T omg lol

[@astral2048]

lol

[@snake2106]

I used windows 8.1 up until 2023, jus replaced the start menu with classic shell and rest of the operating system is better even faster and lighter than both windows 7 and windows 10. Most people who hate windows 8.1 didn't even used it in the first place, they just jumped the hate bandwagon

[@guitarzilla555]

Windows 8 is still a great OS if you use a Start Menu replacement like Classic Shell. It's like Windows 10 without the bloatware.

[@mutsumiomori]

What is bloatware?

[@unchi1999]

And without the annoying problems or spying!

[@unchi1999]

@@mutsumiomori It's like a program that you don't want on your computer that is pre-installed that causes your computer to run very slowly.

[@Isabel369]

The windows 8 era was great i made a lot money 💰 downgrading windows 8 & 8.1 computers 💻 to the greatest operating system ever made windows 7 Sp1 😉 thanks Microsoft for your incompetence.

[@expithesocfurry4099]

Honestly, I kind of miss using Windows 8 and 8.1. I had it on a Dell desktop PC I got for Christmas in 2013 and I remember it running well and just being pretty solid overall. I've since built a few new PCs and of course upgraded to Windows 10, but I just remember Windows 8.1 being more stable in my experiences oddly enough.

[@brodymoran5512]

Obligatory Linux commenter here. I'll try to avoid saying anything more, but... ya know.

[@expithesocfurry4099]

@@brodymoran5512 I actually use Linux Mint nowadays lol. I still have Windows 10 dualbooted in case I need Windows but I pretty much just use Mint 90% of the time.

[@brodymoran5512]

@@expithesocfurry4099 Mint's a great distro! Glad you like it. If I had the disk space I'd definitely dualboot a debloated Win10.

[@cidsx]

No matter what, Windows 8 will always have a spot in my heart. It was my first version of windows (I used linux for 4-5 years prior to that). Was it frustrating garbage? Yes. But it had something special to it.

[@noahplayzgaming1452]

Windows 8 is one of my favourite Operating systems

[@solomonwreath5576]

Personally, I prefer Windows 8.1 to any operating system. Using Windows 10 was also a great experience but my computer had a hard time with Windows 10 even though my computer could handle it just fine. It was a huge relief to go back to 8.1 and I love the starting screen rather than the starting menu.

[@didi_abdillah]

2:32 when you want to high tech but still love old product

[@Gizmo34]

Honestly liked the windows 8 start menu. Liked how sorta futuristic it looked.

[@SarmadTechLab]

I miss Windows 8.1.