Getting Comfortable with Windows 8.1

[JimZZZ]

Like many of you, I consider the Windows 8.1 user interface confusing and cluttered. So, I tried a $4.95 program called RetroUI that gives back the look, feel and start button of Windows 7. I like it!

http://retroui.com/

I am just a customer with no commercial interest in this product.

[Luke Warm]

Most of my computers are Macs (I never throw anything away) and I became an Apple convert when i bought my first Apple in 1983 called a LISA.

I live in both worlds though. Last year I bought a new Sony VIAO to replace an old one that died. I love the VIAO but GOOD GRIEF, I call the operating system Windows HATE. What the devil was Microsoft thinking?
Fortunately, it looks like Microsoft has seen the hand writing on the wall (graffiti) Windows HATE and they are coming out with something according to news released yesterday.

Microsoft (in creating this bizarre operating system) well, it was almost like a lawn mower manufacturer taking wheels off a push mower and coming up with the bright idea to install skis. And, instead of a rope starter, they put a wind-up key on the mower...

What the heck were they thinking?

[Luke Warm]

@jimZZZ
Forgot to say thanks for the link...
And, Microsoft was nearly as arrogant as Marie Antoinette, because the folks in Seattle have the attitude "Let them eat 8..."

[justMongo]

I would consider a Windows 7 machine; and even W7 needs to be converted to the "classic interface."
Windows 8 was supposed to be a scalable OS from smartphones to tablets to laptops to desktops.
They put in a touch screen interface.

I do own an Android Tablet; but, that's as far as I'm going into touch screen interfaces.

I intensely dislike W8... I hope it's a flop; and MS will stick to what it does best (which is nothing to brag about.)

[me50]

I would consider a Windows 7 machine; and even W7 needs to be converted to the "classic interface."
Windows 8 was supposed to be a scalable OS from smartphones to tablets to laptops to desktops.
They put in a touch screen interface.

I do own an Android Tablet; but, that's as far as I'm going into touch screen interfaces.

I intensely dislike W8... I hope it's a flop; and MS will stick to what it does best (which is nothing to brag about.)

I have gotten used to win 8 but only because I had no choice. I don't like it and one of the reasons that I don't like it, along with the normal complaints, you now have to pay extra for office when it used to be included. I miss win 7 but it is what it is

[justMongo]

I have gotten used to win 8 but only because I had no choice. I don't like it and one of the reasons that I don't like it, along with the normal complaints, you now have to pay extra for office when it used to be included. I miss win 7 but it is what it is

Win 7 is still available. Win XP losses security update support from MS next month. I use Firefox as my browser anyway. Plus, I'll keep Norton Internet Security up to date. So, I figure I can continue to operate under XP without MS support.

[GreyParrot]

I use 3 different OSs at home depending on what I'm doing and what device I have at the moment.
Personally I liked XP the best but it's virtually gone. Windows 7 is what I use for real work. Surfing
and email I use Win 8.1. The new windows annoyed the crap out of me at first. A bunch of new stuff to learn
that provided little benefit. I don't mind learning new things at all if I get something out of it. Win 8 gave
me nothing at all that was better than Win 7. As to Mac OS, I never thought that was easier or better than
Windows. It didn't get infected easily, but that was the only benefit I could see. I'll likely stick to Win 7
as long as is practical for my main OS as I did with XP. I can still boot into XP if I need to for some reason.

[PsychoMike]

I, too, run multiple OS...XP at the office, Win 8.1 at home and Ubuntu Linux on my netbook for travel. If more were supported, I'd run Linux on everything.

There's a reason why Mac, since OSX, has used a unix/linux underpinning with the Mac user interface on it....I can run the netbook 24/7 for months on end with absolutely 0 stability issues. On the off chance that a program crashes, well, that's all that crashes (unlike Windows where one good crash typically takes out the system). Also, no issues with updates demanding a reboot (and harassing you to do it)....my experience has been that the major OS updates (new kernel) need a reboot, but pretty much everything else is able to be done "on the fly." The footprint of the OS is also much smaller (RAM and disk space).

Personally, I think Microsoft will need to do a ground-up rewrite soon...the Windows NT core / kernel is getting to be a beast and really hasn't been optimized...just added to...over the last few iterations. It may lead to some compatibility issues short term (i.e. your current MS Office might not work on the new OS), but it is much needed.

[herbm]

Running multiple OSes (and supporting a "Large State's" servers ) across just about every (Server) version of Windows from NT 4 to 2012-R2.

Also running Linux on several machines, and helping some with supporting those as well. No Macs here, but I used to develop and support on Macs.

One correction: Modern Windows systems are ALMOST NEVER taken down by an ordinary application malfunction. That literally SHOULD never happen and would ALWAYS be a bug in the system itself (the app too, but the system should protect itself.)

Generally it does -- most of the ways for apps to take down the OS have long since been removed from Windows so if you hear otherwise it is likely based on (very) old information or due to a BAD DRIVER OR SERVICE.

Drivers and Services are different -- they become part of the OS and can affect the core system at times.

Generally you should prefer SIGNED drivers and services since these are guaranteed to be unchanged since tested, and that testing requires a full suite across the likely ways it might cause troubles; this is beyond what the vendor does on its own.

[SuperSleeper]

Moving this thread to the Commercial Posts forum. It's somewhat Sleep Apnea related, since we're using our computers to help our sleep apnea condition, but I'm moving it due to the commercial link in the original post. (per our rules). Feel free to carry on the conversation here.