Windows 8

Jupiter said:

Hi everone,
I've got to buy a new laptop due to a snaffu involving a cup of tea and the keyboard on my current one. I was considering a laptop that's running Windows 8 but the reviews seem to be mixed at best. Should I steer clear or give W8 a go? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!!

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My mum bought a Win 8 laptop and after a week of fruitlessly trying to get it to work enough that I could turn off all the awful 'charms' and Metro stuff (there seemed to be a serious problem with the installation) I gave up. My verdict is that it's a bit faster than Win 7 but many of the additions are hateful and somewhat broken. If you have a touchscreen, maybe it makes more sense.

Microsoft appear to be retooling Win 8 a bit as the reviews, as you say, are mixed to say the least. For the time being, Win 7 is lovely.

Jupiter said:

I've been very happy with W7 myself, Torgo. Maybe looking for a machine with W7 is the better bet.
In an ideal world I'd go for a Mac, but sadly my budget won't stretch that far

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Have you considered a slightly used Mac? There are lots for sale that still have AppleCare, the extended covers-just-about-everything warranty.

I've been using an Acer Win8 netbook for around a month now and I love it. I did put more RAM in it, but it's fast, efficient, and easy to get around on. Runs Dragon Naturally Speaking, Office, OpenOffice (Apache version), has a nice look to the desktop and integrates with all of my other equipment easily.

Windows 8 was a fail in my opinion. Sure, it's new and shiny, but if you are used to Windows 7 I would recommend sticking with it. I'm a bit of a computer nerd / gamer and the only real advantages is that Windows 8 can have a slightly faster boot time because it essentially has a hybrid shutdown (or partial hibernate) function instead of shutting down, but this type of process can be done in Windows 7 with certain programs--and is a 10 second boot reduction really worth it? Bear in mind that this coming from someone who assembled a PC for gaming so my concerns may be unwarranted for your own personal interests--then again, even the people at Windows thought it was a bust and have since been developing Windows Blue even before Windows 8 hit the market.

As a user of several windows versions simultaneously (Win 7 on my personal laptop; WinXP on my work laptop and Win8 running in a VM on my work laptop) I can say that I didn't like Win8 when I first started using it. But thinking back over time I'm pretty sure I can say that about every new version of Windows that has come out. I think it is like anything else in that once you get used to it then it's not that bad. The biggest difference that I found with Win8 is learning how to navigate around in it. Once I got used to that I actually like Win8. As always, I think it really comes down to personal preference and how fast you can adapt to change.

I’m a 40+ year software engineer who’s created a lot of new tech. I know better than most to avoid the latest and greatest!

My rule of thumb is to wait for all the early adopters of any new tech to suffer through the inevitable teething pains of its roll-out.

Then I’ll take advantage of the price breaks that come as soon as the new tech becomes old hat and reliable. And all the super-excited early adopters abandon the latest-1 version and flock to the latest.

I wouldn't write off w8 completely- They are going to be releasing a the 8.1 update soon, addressing some of the biggest complaints, which were mostly user interface related. Best to watch some reviews on youtube and see if you like it or not.

Actually, best go to a store and play with a demo computer running it. I know from what I've read about it that Win8 would drive me utterly bats, but some people seem to like it. Experimentation is the best way to find out whether you find its peculiarities forgivable or not.

Win8 can run just like Win7 when you alter it a bit, or third party editors such as Start is Back which essentially turn it into a faster running Win7.

It's not horrible, even stock, when you have the right equipment. If you want to use the main start menu with tiles make sure to get a laptop with a touch screen. Otherwise, get Start is Back or any other editor to turn it back.


May I ask, what laptop are you looking to buy or your budget?

There are a lot of ways to make Win h8 bearable, including do-it-yourself shutdown shortcuts. More tips-n-tweaks are published every day, and more geeky bits are being released in non-geeky form every day. I'd say it doesn't make much difference as long as you are willing to put in a little work to make 8 comfortable.

For those who don't have the time to either learn to cope with a radically new interface or patch it up, 7 is the easier route. I helped one friend get a Win7 laptop so I wouldn't have to cope with two 8-noobs!

Despite tweaking, Windows 7 is still superior for things like gaming. It really depends what your other interests are (other than writing).

See, I don't "get" the Win8 hatred. I use it nearly exactly like Win7, without having done any time-consuming mods or searching for special downloads or anything.

You have a Start Screen with a bunch of tiles on it. (I right-clicked the active tiles to switch them off eventually, because they were chewing up my Internet usage and hard drive space on C - old computer, new OS.) Every tile I've tried using requires a Microsoft account to log into it, so I just said, "Fuck that," and left them alone.

There's one tile called "Desktop". Click on that, and you're basically in a Win7 environment. That's where I spend 99.999999% of my time on Win8, because I see no point in using the other tiles.

There's a folder icon in the tray at the bottom, which was the only way I could get to the files on my computer from before the upgrade. I went in there, located the "Computer" button (ie. to go to the different drives) and drag/dropped it onto the desktop, so I can get to different drives slightly quicker than going through the Folder icon. (Although really, this wasn't necessary, and it was mostly just because I'm used to older systems.)

One thing I've noticed, relating to the lack of a Start Menu on the Desktop screen, is that finding things like "Add/Remove Programs" or other Control Panel items is a little trickier... (Which I can't recall how I did it now - probably through the Folder icon or somesuch.)

Anyway, once you know how to access your files, you can use it just like Win7. To shut down, point the mouse into the top-right or bottom-right of the screen to bring up the charms, go to Settings, select Shut Down. Simple.

Going between Desktop and Start Screen is simple. Just press the Windows key on your keyboard.

Now, those tiles I mentioned... I honestly don't see the point of them. They are, as near as I can tell, a store. Like, I've got 1000+ songs on my computer, but clicking on the Music tile doesn't bring any of them up. It just shows me songs I might like to download. Same with the Movies tile.

So honestly, I don't see the point in using them, unless you really want to buy things directly from Microsoft. It'd be different if you could actually import your own song collection into Music and play them from there (though I'd probably still use Winamp on the Desktop screen, because I do other things while music is playing) but I can't see a way of even doing that.

In short: It's essentially Win7 with a slightly different way of finding management stuff (Control Panel etc.) and a Start Screen Store which you don't actually have to use any more than just clicking the Desktop tile when it boots up.

I don't see a problem here. (It's not exactly something that makes me go "OMG Win8 is awesome!" either.)

Your mileage may vary.

Cliff Face said:

Now, those tiles I mentioned... I honestly don't see the point of them.

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All of the tiles are just different applications.

WillSauger said:

Win8 can run just like Win7 when you alter it a bit, or third party editors such as Start is Back which essentially turn it into a faster running Win7.

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Aye, there's the rub. I don't want to have to "alter it a bit". When I purchase a new computer I want the sucker to work for my purposes right NOW. And having to download a third-party program just to get it there is nothing but an admission on the part of Microsoft that they have flarked up in catering to a lot of users.

I'm looking to buy a new car later this year, to replace an aging one which is having a variety of geriatric problems. A dealer suggesting.that the new car will work fine if I just "alter it a bit" sends me immediately to a different dealer.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Microsoft (which I'm wedded to, like it or not, by highly specialized business necessities), there really is no different dealer. And the cadre in Redmond, WA, either know that, or just don't give a rat's. I'd bet on both. Windows 8, by all accounts I've read, is a type example.

caw

kuwisdelu said:

All of the tiles are just different applications.

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With adverts for things you can buy in some of them, and not exactly functional for what is actually in my file system, and which requires getting a Microsoft user account, which I don't want.

Honestly, any application I use is something that I can use in Desktop mode.

Cliff Face said:

With adverts for things you can buy in some of them, and not exactly functional for what is actually in my file system, and which requires getting a Microsoft user account, which I don't want.

Honestly, any application I use is something that I can use in Desktop mode.

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Some of those tiles are just your desktop applications, too...

When you install a new desktop app, it becomes a tile on the Start Scren, just like any other app.

Not sure I understand.

Without a touch screen, the app tiles are cluttery junk (though I enjoy the maps). Most of the apps are there to sell you something. All of them can be unpinned, and useful shortcuts pinned instead

I guess people who don't really do very much aside from email, Failbook, and writing aren't bothered by the dorkiness of the OS. I can certainly live without the constant popping-out of that blasted uncharming Charms Bar. Just got a nice win7 comper at my day-job, and I'm not recommending an "upgrade" to h8.

Victims of the marketing push will be happy to get the free upgrade when it comes out this fall -- ZOMG, a Start Button! (And other small freedoms)

I've read that you can downgrade to Win7 for free. Even Microsoft knows Win8 sucks. SUCKS!!!!

Even with W7, there were all sorts of adverts an dthings I had to delete. W8 is the same way. It took about half an hour to get W8 the way I like it, and now I think it's better than W7.

People always complain about change, the same way they did when Word changed. But I now love Word, and the same for W8. I have no doubt the upgrade will improve it, but this is always true. The first version if anything needs changes.

I know a person who switched to Windows 8 but a day.

By the end of the day he was in a mad rage, uninstalled Windows 8, reinstalled Windows 7 and said, and I quote, "If I hear anyone call Windows 8 good for PCs, I will quite happily slap them until they start listening to their brain again."

Long story short; Windows 8 is good for Tablets and Touch-Screen PCs, stay clear otherwise.

I find it interesting that as a Mac user, Windows 8 is the first MS operating system that seems interesting to me. I see its flaws, but at least Microsoft finally shows they have the balls to do something daring. I admit I haven't used it much, but Windows 8 doesn't seem any worse than Windows 7. It's not like you have to spend a lot of time in Metro if you don't want to.