The best thing I can say about Windows 8 was it eventually became Windows 8.1, which I had few complaints about. Morgan: I always thought it was weird that the 'Metro' interface was quarantined to its own zone on the Start menu. You want us to live in an alternate universe where Tim Sweeney is taking Phil Spencer to court to testify about WindOS App Store policy? I had a friend who loved his Windows Phone, but think of the cost we'd be paying now had Microsoft successfully gone down Apple's path.

I hated the Windows 8 user interface on PCs, but I'll give Microsoft credit for one thing: it was actually pretty great on smartphones. Wes: This was Microsoft at its absolute worst, a lumbering misguided company trying to put its finger in every tech pie and managing to spoil all of them at once. Windows 10 would pass that percentage within a year. According to NetMarketshare, by spring 2015, right before Windows 10 released, 8 and 8.1 combined had only 14% of the PC market.

It made Windows 8.1 more usable, but it was still an awkward blend of desktop and tablet interface. Microsoft tried to solve Windows 8's most egregious UI issues with Windows 8.1 in 2013, backpedaling to bring back the taskbar Start button. An OS that wanted to control (and sell) all applications through the new Microsoft Store, despite Windows' legacy as an open platform. Microsoft looked at the enormous success of Apple's combined software and hardware businesses, specifically the App Store, and said 'We want that.'Īnd so was born the worst version of Windows: an OS built for both desktops and touchscreen laptops that didn't excel on either. Everything needed to have a touch screen. The early 2010s were a time of huge and rapid change for the tech industry, mostly because the success of smartphones and tablets (specifically, iPhones and iPads) broke everyone's brains. Windows 8's obvious missteps make a lot of sense in hindsight.

Best screensaver: Mystify, an old classic that let us pretend we were using a different version of WindowsĬoming off the enormously polished, successful, and beloved Windows 7, Microsoft did the inevitable: screwed it all up.

How we installed it: 8GB+ USB drive or Windows Update.

We all played: The same games we were playing on Windows 7, because we kept using it.

Pretty good solitaire old version