Win8.1 Pro

You know what they say about "first impressions"...

Bad enough, surely, that...

... the much-heralded return of the "Start" button (that sounds almost like a Genesis track) merely duplicates the action of toggling the "Windows" key, and the "Start" screen (the basic concept of which I actually do like) has now become a garish rainbow of randomly-organised horrible tiles.

And they "big it up" by saying this shows they've "listened" to their customers! To add further insult, the only-recently-promised option of being able to boot straight into the desktop (as currently documented on the 8.1 help pages) simply doesn't work as described. Just how many testers do they employ, I wonder? And what do they do? It can't be test, can it?

Not being...

... in any real sense a hacker, I lazily accept what comes down the pipe pretty well unamended. I then find out later (from those more interested than I am in poking and prodding at the inner gubbins) how to get the thing to do what I think it ought to be capable of doing... if I can be bothered. But it's really beginning to feel as if Microsoft has lost the plot.

Why couldn't they respond to the often-made and sensible suggestion of forking the installation process at simple (early but crucial) questions like

1. Do you want the Tablet-style touch screen interface we're trying to force you to use
   even though it's clearly inappropriate for a non-touch screen desktop PC?
2. Or do you prefer the previous familiar (and well-understood) desktop interface
   even though we're desperately trying to get rid of it despite the fact that many millions of you hapless idiots very clearly prefer it for reasons we equally clearly neither understand nor wish to?

The final wording might differ, I grant you, but the arrogance will still shine through. Post-Ballmer, I'd hoped for better, frankly. Grrr.