Windows 8 steep learning curve

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oilboy123

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I just got an Acer S7 391-9492 64 bit laptop with win 8. I've been playing around with it some, but feel kind of lost. I have never used anything but Windows 3.1 to win 8 now. The only one I have not used is Vista. I have a win 7 desktop and no problem there.....

Thoughts, concerns, prayers for me.......

I like this idea... Trace a pattern over a favorite photo to sign in, and say good-bye to remembering all those pesky passwords.
 
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Go here and download Start8 as a trial to see if you like it. It will make your Windows 8 look and feel like Windows 7. If you like it, the cost is only $5.00 after your 30 day trial is over. I like Windows 8 now that I have Start 8.

Hope this helps!

Start 8
 
Still do not like Windows 8. Bought a Dell with it 2 months ago.
It sits next to the Ipad 2 (nothing but a toy) I always reach for my Ultra Book running Windows 7.
 
Too bad you couldn't wait...

MS will be releasing Windows 8.1 in the next few months. The most important aspect of this is that it will be able to be set to a default boot to desktop at every start up. With that everything you knew about Windows 7 applies.
 
Windows 8 is a hideous piece of trash, even with the 8.1 Preview.

Windows 8 user interface decisions were ultimately dictated by a chick who holds the titles "Chief Marketing Officer" and "Chief Financial Officer". This explains why it feels like such a half-assed piece of [censored] to use, and why important features from Windows 7 were stripped out of the operating system (and I'm not just talking about the start menu - plenty of other examples of core system functions that existed in 7 which were removed from 8).
 
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Too bad you couldn't wait...

MS will be releasing Windows 8.1 in the next few months. The most important aspect of this is that it will be able to be set to a default boot to desktop at every start up. With that everything you knew about Windows 7 applies.

8.1 is a service pack like patch that will be available to all Windows 8 users. It still does not make the menu like it was in Windows 7--it just creates a Windows button that brings you to the Windows 8 "desktop" with all of the Windows 8 desktop "icons" as well as other changes. Start8 is the only software (that I have found) that makes the menu resemble Windows 7 like this:

8e01.jpg
 
Me Too!
I got the new Gateway SX2380-UR22 all plugged in & connected last night, & it's gonna be trouble. My only experience is Win 98, Win XP, & less than a month now with Win Vista.

I plan to ask my brother about his recd for a skin to fit Win 8, & maybe this 8.1 release will be a big help too.

But first I need to find out how to uninstall almost all of those useless-to-me apps, the Norton stuff, & any other bloatware.
 
I finally loaded up the 8.1 Customer Preview into VirtualBox. I can't put it off for a whole lot longer. The learning curve is indeed steep even with the old-style Start Menu back. Frankly I don't think Metro works if you don't have a touchscreen, and this whole phone-like-notion of not closing apps is asinine.

8/8.1 is a real turd and only reinforces the unofficial rule of skipping every-other Windows release...

(this is coming from an extremely technical person, BTW, though it's not my professional opinion)
 
Do a search for tweakhound and W8. He has install guides, but may have an intro or where to find one.

All of my boxes still run WXP.
 
Well I'm not the only one plowing thru win 8. I must say I like win 7
I guess I'll need to get up to speed on it one way or another. Maybe use the win 7 mode until I know what I'm doing..........
 
I've always found something to like in each new release. Even Vista was an improvement from a stability perspective which was important when I was more of a power user.

Haven't tried Windows 8 but my sense is that if your mind is open to new ways of doing things, then its possible to adjust and get more out of innovation.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I'm still using Window XP. I tried my wife laptop with Window 7 and don't like it.


Good for you! Same here! I have no reason to upgrade. Who needs a more complicated OS? They could have "enhanced" the user experience, not complicate it.
 
Originally Posted By: JGmazda
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I'm still using Window XP. I tried my wife laptop with Window 7 and don't like it.


Good for you! Same here! I have no reason to upgrade. Who needs a more complicated OS? They could have "enhanced" the user experience, not complicate it.


XP is EOL. Even for business customers the extended support is over next April. They're not patching security holes anymore, and XP is not going to take full advantage of newer hardware.

I'd suggest going to Windows 7 very soon.
 
I'm odd man out here. I have an XP laptop for work, my current W7 laptop that I'm posting from now, and a W8 in the garage on the workbench. I've played with the 8 for about a month now. Yeah, it's different, but not that bad. I like the feeds on home screen, and navigating is different, but not impossible. And while 8 has a few things missing from it, I've still managed to get everything working (I did have to get a late model usb wireless, I could not get my 6 year old Rosewill to work-period), and even was playing with MS Train Simulator a couple days ago. It is better suited for the mobile crowd though. Try Classic Shell (google it) if you want your Win 7 desktop back.
 
I had the opportunity to try Win 8 and I'm glad I did. I won't be upgrading to it.
 
I tried Windows 8 in a store to see what it was like and I was able to figure it out pretty quickly, but compared to Windows 7 it is a joke of an operating system. Fine for cellphones and tablet computers maybe. Windows 8 has some good points, like improved security, but overall Windows 7 is far superior. Microsoft really shot themselves in the foot. PC sales are down because of the bad economy and because Windows 8 is selling so badly, and Microsoft is probably making billions of dollars less than they would have if they had just stayed with Windows 7.
 
When I tried it in the store I just could not see the point of Windows 8, at least from the point of view of desktop computer operating systems. It was easy enough o figure out, but I had to take extra steps to get things done. Maybe Windows 8 is a great operating system for tablet computers with touch screens.

I am sticking with Windows 7. The one good thing is unless Microsoft goes completely crazy they will have to support the hundreds of millions of people who use Windows 7 for several years. As goofy as the new executives at Microsoft seem there is no telling about that. They may decide they want to toss support for hundreds of millions of people using Windows 7 and toss Microsoft Office for the desktop so that they can lose billions of dollars and get to the new 'mobile computing lifestyle.' Where Microsoft is not competing very well anyway. Maybe they feel that Microsoft needs to become a smaller company. Maybe the stockholders need to put some pressure on so that there can be some new executives. Normally Microsoft will support a successful operating system for many years, but there is no telling today in the new normal.

The sad thing is that I think Windows 8 could have been great. It could have been designed so that it could be setup for whatever device it was going to be used on. And Microsoft actually would have leaped ahead of Apple.

Right now Apple seems to be making pretty good decisions. But there is no telling about Apple. And Apple only fully supports their operating systems for a short time. Usually they seem to fully support only the last two operating systems and their software typically requires the latest operating systems. For example, Aperture 3.4.5 will not run on earlier Mac OSs.
 
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