They cant, they have been forced to remove everything, including the internet explorer from EU and same in Asia it seems. I can understand they will not even try put more features by default on the OS, as today, they are forced allready to remove everything. ( as a good editing image softwares, update features of moviemakers, include skype / messaging softwares etc... directly in the OS ), they will be forced to remove it ASAP. Look OSX Yosemite, if MS was just put a communication complete softwares in it, they will not been able to do it. ( And they have everything for do it, from windows 8 phones version, their own apps, Skype ( and the ex messenger ), their image, video editing softwares for their smartphone / tablet, Bing and maps etc etc Along that they could only include them on an apps download level. As for the look of it, is there anyone here who use the default light blue theme of 7 ? i doubt it.
YMMV, I click it for a few things but being able to customise it is welcome. Right now its mostly just disabling and enabling the default links.
Looks pretty crap, Aero Glass looks much, much better though I appreciate that is subjective. If there's lots of under the surface improvements to make a substantial difference and I can disable the "tiles" and the idiot screen (metro), I might switch.
How is this outdated? Literally the entire industry is moving towards a flat, squared design. Microsoft is two years ahead if anything.
They're just in *puts on sunglasses* denial. But again, Custom themes. You'll be able to change it just like every other windows. What i find most odd, is that PC gamers who demand the upmost performance from software and low resource usage from background app and the OS itself, seem to have some weird fetish for an OS that looks better than it runs. I'd rather have a snappy OS than one that has a fancy interface that uses up more system resources than necessary. I dont know exactly what you people do to spend so much time at the desktop to notice, but when my PC gets switched on, its straight into some program or another and i dont see windows desktop for a good few hours, even when im using MS Word, im focusing on what im typing and to busy to care about the taskbar or titles (that can be removed with ease). Function over form any day and just like the game we play and mod on the PC, the OS can be modded to change any visual discrepancy's. Hell, i use StartKiller to get rid of the start menu and button in my Windows 7 partition. I just dont use it.
Personally Id prefer have have an OS that looks good and runs well If you buy a car, and the dealership has a sh1tty looking unpainted crap mobile that does 0-60 in 2.5seconds, or a sexy looking eye candy ride that does 0-60 in 2.6seconds, what you gonna choose ? A bit of good looking on an OS with todays hardware makes little to no difference to performance
If i can afford to buy a 0-60 in 2.5, then i can afford to do it up Windows has always been a foundation prebuilt for its users to build upon. You do not get that with any other OS, than say Linux, but what use is that OS in any thing other than the IT industry? Not much really is it. Honestly, it goes without saying your entitled to your opinion, but i must insist you give 8.1 a really proper go. It takes not 5 mins to fix any annoyances and without the need for heavy tinkering or thirdparty software and you'll feel right at home. Windows 7 feel like antiquated when you go back to after using 8.
Aside from the start menu, definitely one of the big downers with Windows 8 was the flat lifeless themes. Aero Glass just makes everything look so sleek and organic.
I'm gonna choose the faster car because its going to be cheaper and I could careless about the looks.