Well, yes. It's a totally unimportant thing yet everyone seems to be obsessed with it.

Then the difference between us is that I want to use my computer to do what I want it to do. If the OS gets in the way of that then it is problem and is important.

I certainly wouldn't use an OS that got in my way. That's part of what I like about Windows 8; it lets me do things in many different ways. Naturally, being so versatile, it repays a little study.

It doesn't bother me that it doesn't work exactly like Windows 7. If that bothered me I'd still be using MS-DOS.

That is why I am in this thread, to ascertain how much veracity there is to the assertion that W8 is disabler rather than an enabler compared to older versions.

I suspect that it is an enabler if you are prepared to put in a little time exploring and researching it and configuring it to your requirements This will, of course, be far easier once the OS is actually released.

I'm afraid. that I need to use a software power off. Anyone with a media PC that is hidden away - maybe attached to the back of their TV - needs to use it. Someone with a headless PC or server needs to use it. Anyone using a virtualised environment (something Microsoft are supposedly keen on) needs to use it. Additionally, corporate users routinely disable power buttons for security reasons.

I don't think it's put where it is because people don't need to use it on a desktop PC. I think it's just a piece of bad design that originates in their attemting to converge a tablet OS (where you almost never shut down) with a desktop environment. This has pushed them down a particular route and now you need to use 4 different interface types on opposite sides of the screen to get to it. I'd lay money on this changing before the RTM is reached since the web is already awash with complaints about this 'feature' and a few others besides.

Incidentally, sInce when has it been a 'setting' to turn off or restart a PC? I'd expect setting to mean a control panel or it it's a poer setting to mean chngint things like sleep settings or screen brightness etc, but these are elsewhere (where they belong in control panels). There were similar bizarre things in Vista like the options in network that were labelled 'cutomize' where you couldn't change anything and another labeled 'view status' where you could change things. Does that sound like something that was well thought out or just bad interface design?

I never said that 7 was completely different to Vista (In fact I didn't mention 7 in the last post at all). But on the subject I did note the way that network setting issue changed in WIndows 7. It was one of several such interface issues that changed to something that made sense. My only reference to 7 in this whole thread is that Microsoft are to all intents still mostly using Windows 95's interface once you tunnel down. I noted this hadn't changed much with Metro since it's really just a new superficial 'layer' that sits on top of the same WIndows 95 bits.

I think the power options becoming a setting happened when the GUI became the operating system rather than an extension running on DOS. I don't think there are many consumer devices that still have a power button to switch them off.

I don't see why you need a software power off on any PC - media, headless, server, any..

[qoute]Nothing is 100% self-explanatory
My iphone has been 100% self explanatory.

In reply to a post by Desmond:

Nothing is 100% self-explanatory

My iphone has been 100% self explanatory.

How do you power it off?

If it's like the iPad it's not exactly intuitive.