Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

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wingnut
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by wingnut »

I can't believe I've missed this topic. I bought a new lap top thru our local geek. I made the mistake of only mentioning 3 criteria; 1) I wanted a bigger screen than my old one. 2) I wanted the number board in the normal configuration on the right side of keyboard (unlike my old one that just had them across the top). 3) I wanted a quality unit, money was not a factor except that I did not expect it to be military grade water and shock proof. Dumb me. I was real happy with Windows 7. My computer before the Windows 7 unit was bought new in January 2003 and had Windows 98 (2nd addition I believe it was called). I bought that one from a guy who had built it new a few years earlier for his daughter going off to college. She never used it. She had opted for a lap top instead of the cumbersome television set with 2.3 miles of wires connecting all the gadgets. I used that old dinosaur until May 2012. It had a floppy drive, a zip drive, and 2 CD/DVD drives, one of which was also a writer/burner (whatever). The transition from Windows 98 to 7 was easy. I remember thinking there were many things about 7 that were counterintuitive, but within a few days all was well.
This Windows 8.1 is a racket. I've had it for about 3 months. I was so disgusted with it I have not even attempted to get to know it, until this past week. I did install the "Classic" start menu, which helped some. But I can't figure why the big arse date/time and settings windows appear out of nowhere, all the freakin time :evil:
I type this from it now. I bought one off those USB adapter thingymajigs and transferred all my files from my Windows 7 computer hard drive (that computer was hurt badly by an angry man swatting at a fly with his hat :lol: The fly lived :? ). I had hoped I would be able to have a "One stop shop" computer by doing so. My frustration level is piqued. And I can't even get spell check to work :lol:
It seems many of my old files are not compatible with this new computer. It keeps asking me what program, or app, I want to use to open the file. I'm backed up trying to get things done and now this. I've spent the past 3 days trying make friends with it. Now I'm thinking of naming myself as beneficiary on a soon to be taken insurance policy (just in case something tragic happens to this POC) I'm to the point of trying to find a Windows 7 computer, new or used. Rant over
The sad thing is this; I don't appreciate how much I depend on my machine until it's not there and I have to work with something foreign.
Del Lehmann
Mena, Arkansas
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Ryan Smith
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by Ryan Smith »

wingnut wrote:I can't believe I've missed this topic. I bought a new lap top thru our local geek. I made the mistake of only mentioning 3 criteria; 1) I wanted a bigger screen than my old one. 2) I wanted the number board in the normal configuration on the right side of keyboard (unlike my old one that just had them across the top). 3) I wanted a quality unit, money was not a factor except that I did not expect it to be military grade water and shock proof. Dumb me. I was real happy with Windows 7. My computer before the Windows 7 unit was bought new in January 2003 and had Windows 98 (2nd addition I believe it was called). I bought that one from a guy who had built it new a few years earlier for his daughter going off to college. She never used it. She had opted for a lap top instead of the cumbersome television set with 2.3 miles of wires connecting all the gadgets. I used that old dinosaur until May 2012. It had a floppy drive, a zip drive, and 2 CD/DVD drives, one of which was also a writer/burner (whatever). The transition from Windows 98 to 7 was easy. I remember thinking there were many things about 7 that were counterintuitive, but within a few days all was well.
This Windows 8.1 is a racket. I've had it for about 3 months. I was so disgusted with it I have not even attempted to get to know it, until this past week. I did install the "Classic" start menu, which helped some. But I can't figure why the big arse date/time and settings windows appear out of nowhere, all the freakin time :evil:
I type this from it now. I bought one off those USB adapter thingymajigs and transferred all my files from my Windows 7 computer hard drive (that computer was hurt badly by an angry man swatting at a fly with his hat :lol: The fly lived :? ). I had hoped I would be able to have a "One stop shop" computer by doing so. My frustration level is piqued. And I can't even get spell check to work :lol:
It seems many of my old files are not compatible with this new computer. It keeps asking me what program, or app, I want to use to open the file. I'm backed up trying to get things done and now this. I've spent the past 3 days trying make friends with it. Now I'm thinking of naming myself as beneficiary on a soon to be taken insurance policy (just in case something tragic happens to this POC) I'm to the point of trying to find a Windows 7 computer, new or used. Rant over
The sad thing is this; I don't appreciate how much I depend on my machine until it's not there and I have to work with something foreign.

Del,

Though the numerical keypad wasn't a high priority for me (I do miss it), quality and the ability to run some other platform than Windows 8 was a requirement. So far as I've seen, nothing can surpass the quality of a Mac, and with Bootcamp, I can run Windows and Mac OS. I have a 90/10 partition (Windows 7 to Mac OS), because all of my productivity software (AutoCAD, Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop, etc) are Windows versions, but in hindsight, I would have been just as happy running their Mac counterparts. Once I go back to school, I'll have a need for a laptop, and I'll be getting a MacBook Pro. I don't plan to even install Windows on that computer.

A couple of years ago, I used to say that I love Apple for everything, but I'll never own a Mac. Now, after having owned one, I'll never own a PC again.
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wingnut
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by wingnut »

Pardon my French, Ryan, but could you translate all that to English? Arky English would be better :lol: I wish I knew what you are saying, but I'm on the bottom end of tech savvy
Del Lehmann
Mena, Arkansas
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Ryan Smith
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by Ryan Smith »

wingnut wrote:Pardon my French, Ryan, but could you translate all that to English? Arky English would be better :lol: I wish I knew what you are saying, but I'm on the bottom end of tech savvy
Mac rules, PC drools. 8)

I bought my iMac all-in-one computer (basically a flat screen monitor with computer built in) because it was the same price point as an okay HP all-in-one. Newer HO computers have components in them that are not designed to be used with Windows 7, therefore you are stuck with Windows 8. I have two operating systems on my computer-Windows 7 and Mavericks (Mac operating system). Windows has 90% of the system memory allocated to it since I use it the most, and the Mac software has the remaining 10%. It was easier to install Windows on this computer than it has any other PC that I've owned.

When I got the computer, before I installed Windows, it was fully operational within five minutes of cutting the tape on the box. It's amazing. I'll never own anything else. My next computer is going to be a laptop, a MacBook Pro. I am all Apple now...iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac, and soon to be MacBook Pro. I love their philosophy and compatibility across all of their products. I can send iMessages (and soon regular text messages) from either my computer, phone, or iPad. Hey ally here update simultaneously. It's amazing. Macs are simpler to setup and run, and every bit as capable as a Windows machine. My iMac is aluminum and glass construction. Go look at virtually any PC out there...from the case to the screen, they're all plastic. My computer feels like I spent $1,200 on it. Actually it feels like I spent much more on it.

If you're looking to get rid of a lot of tech headaches without sacrificing any flexibility or features, get a Mac. They're amazing.
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cessna170bdriver
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by cessna170bdriver »

Del,
I've noticed a pattern in the Windows operating systems. Every other one is that POC you mentioned, and the ones in between are at least tolerable. XP was the best ever. I never used Vista, but I've never talked to anyone who didn't think it was. POC. Windows 7 is tolerable, and now Windows 8 seems to be just a more modern POC than Vista. I hope my Windows 7 machine holds out at least until Windows 9(?) is running successfully on a few hundred million computers. I'm sending this from my iPad mini...
Miles

“I envy no man that knows more than myself, but pity them that know less.”
— Thomas Browne
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KG
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by KG »

Take a bite of the Apple. You'll wish you had done it sooner.

I like the Mac because you open the box, turn it on, and it works. Just that simple.

My 79 year old Mother just got her first one, took the one hour class down at the Apple store, and she loves it.

I just watched a documentary about the CERN facility in Switzerland where they are searching for, and apparently have found, the Higgs particle. Every personal computer that I saw in the movie was a Mac. If it's good enough for the smartest physicists in the world, it's good enough for me.

Another vote for Apple.....

Keith
Last edited by KG on Sun Aug 10, 2014 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bill Hart
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by Bill Hart »

KG wrote:Take a bite of the Apple. You'll wish you had done it sooner.

I like the Mac because you open the box, turn it on, and it works. Just that simple.

My 79 year old Mother just got her first one, took the one hour class down at the Apple store, and she loves it.

I just watched a documentary about the CERN facility in Switzerland where they are searching for, and apparently have found, the Higgs particle. Every personal computer that I saw in the movie was a Mac. If it's good enough for the smartest physicists int he world, it's good enough for me.

Another vote for Apple.....

Keith

Where is the like button, My little family has been Apple users for the last 7 years and love them. The I Mac I bought in 07 is still running like a champ and is our primary household computer, but I find I am not using it as much since we purchused the I Pads.
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ron74887
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by ron74887 »

Dell, I am going thru the same exact thing-- a coonass and an arky trying to get into to computer century!!!!!! :lol: the one thing I have found out is the touch pad has way to many touch points. the clock pops up cause you are touching the right side of the touch pad and moving inboard- wait til you have completed an entire report and touch it in the wrong place and swoosh it disappears to God knows where!!!!! :evil: :evil: and the number pad on the right puts that touchpad right in the palm (thumb joint) area of your hands and causes all that crap. (touching it somewhere when you move to type) i move my hands the other day and had 5 -6 old things open up on the top of the screen that i lost -still don't know how or where the hell they are?? :?: :?: You can't even put a note pad down to stop it. It will activate the touch pad too. It is hell trying to type and keep your thumb joint off the pad. It all happens by accident and someone told me I could adjust the sensitivity of the pad but since I don't know S--- i have not found that place. My son ordered me one with swipe log in (it reads my index finger instead of a password) really something this coonass needed. also for info you can open up to 4 screens at the same time and switch between them to work. if you figure that out it would be helpful doing estimates look at cost and then type that into and outgoing email/letter. I am not sure I like it and he told me I could have his Mac cause he told me it would drive me up the wall. One thing he is going to do for me is get me cables to hook up my desktop screen and keyboard so somehow I can keep this thing closed and use what I think I know :lol: :lol: I know for sure it will do way more than I will ever need it to do --plain old self correcting typewriter would do! Ron
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170C
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by 170C »

Del/Ron and others, I feel your pain :!: Actually reading both of your posts this morning I laughed my rear off (wait who am I laughing at---I am in the same boat) :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I will speak for myself in that as I get older/more mature I dislike change more and more. Give me a computer that will do what I want/need it to do and leave it alone :evil: Don't try to give me something that I don't need and don't stop supporting what works :!: I took my computer back to the shop that built it last week and had them put one of those Classic Starts (or whatever) on it because they told me a lot of their "older" customers didn't like Windows 8 and that I would like this other format much better. Well they got rid of a virus that was causing all the pop up ads :D and it seems to be working as it was prior to my unintended virus. They told me I could call some afternoon and they would get on my computer remotely (again) and show me how to do several things. They also told me to try different things because there likely aren't any things I could do that they can't undo :roll: They obviously don't know my capabilities :oops: I suspect the things I can't currently do are very simple steps, I just don't know how, once I plug in my iphone or camera how to download the photos, how to send some of them to others (I can send those already in the computer on the hard drive) or how to scan an item and be able to find it so I can send it. Also how to burn a disk. So maybe eventually all of us will come to grips with W8. I suspect to switch to Mac would be a rather expensive conversion and I just spent a wad on this new computer :?:
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Ryan Smith
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by Ryan Smith »

The biggest problem with Windows 8 is that it is optimized for tablet/mobile devices that don't have any peripheral input devices (mouse, keyboard, etc.). Because of this, you have the goofy live tiles, widgets, and screen scrolling that are about useless for a PC and very difficult to navigate. Furthermore, they've done away with the Start button, which was asinine. Shell emulators help, but they can't turn off all of the stupid "features" the software has.

I used Windows XP for a long, long time, and I must say that I do like Windows 7. There are some really useful features, and nothing that I abhorrently dislike. I'm not a fan of the Libraries directory format, as it's a useless layer to the My Documents/My Pictures. The functionality of Windows 7 is much greater than that of XP without being overly complicated. Windows 8 took an unnecessary turn away from a proven format.
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edbooth
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by edbooth »

Since I got my Apple mini-pad, I don't even turn the desktop on anymore...I think I even forgot how to use it :)
Ed Booth, 170-B and RV-7 Driver
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GAHorn
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by GAHorn »

My workplace just hired two more IT specialists....both Microsoft ex-pats... who informed us that MS knows they have screwed up with Windows 8....and they're struggling with what to do about it.

I HATE this &%$*$^%$ thing!
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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wingnut
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by wingnut »

ron74887 wrote:Dell, I am going thru the same exact thing-- a coonass and an arky trying to get into to computer century!!!!!! :lol: the one thing I have found out is the touch pad has way to many touch points. the clock pops up cause you are touching the right side of the touch pad and moving inboard- wait til you have completed an entire report and touch it in the wrong place and swoosh it disappears to God knows where!!!!! :evil: :evil: and the number pad on the right puts that touchpad right in the palm (thumb joint) area of your hands and causes all that crap. (touching it somewhere when you move to type) i move my hands the other day and had 5 -6 old things open up on the top of the screen that i lost -still don't know how or where the hell they are?? :?: :?: You can't even put a note pad down to stop it. It will activate the touch pad too. It is hell trying to type and keep your thumb joint off the pad. It all happens by accident and someone told me I could adjust the sensitivity of the pad but since I don't know S--- i have not found that place. My son ordered me one with swipe log in (it reads my index finger instead of a password) really something this coonass needed. also for info you can open up to 4 screens at the same time and switch between them to work. if you figure that out it would be helpful doing estimates look at cost and then type that into and outgoing email/letter. I am not sure I like it and he told me I could have his Mac cause he told me it would drive me up the wall. One thing he is going to do for me is get me cables to hook up my desktop screen and keyboard so somehow I can keep this thing closed and use what I think I know :lol: :lol: I know for sure it will do way more than I will ever need it to do --plain old self correcting typewriter would do! Ron
:lol: :lol: :lol: I've been playing with this thing all weekend, and I finally figured out (by accident :oops: ) that the far right side of the mouse pad was causing many of my problems. I think I hate it. No, I'm sure I hate it. I'm thinking Doc Holliday, "I'm your huckleberry?" :wink:
Problem is, after that wild crazy man destroyed my Windows 7 lap top monitor :oops: , I was blessed to have given to me a NOS desk top PC with Windows Vista :| (it was a bittersweet gift). It just doesn't work with many of the vendor websites I frequent. Such as ordering parts and hardware. It is incompatible with a lot of what I do, so here I am trying to make this mistake work. Really, money is not a concern at this point; never was, I just want something that works. If I can't make this POC work then I'm all for trying MAC. I like my iPhone. Always have.
So what advice would you guys give me in my shopping for a new tool? I know some may ask what my purpose for a computer is, so I'll explain best I can................
1) I don't do facebook or any other social media
2) I have never posted a youtube, although I have watch some posted here and on other sites. It's not my thing, but me and the kids have been caught red handed watching old footage of Red Skelton :D
3) All of my "Favorites" are business related. I have a couple favorites that are agriculture related, but that's it.
4) I have a photobucket account, but I only use it so I can post pictures on 2 websites that are ag related (pics of my cattle and forage)

I think my needs are pretty simple, so I only need a simple computer. But I need a lot of "storage capacity". I think they call that GB's. I take a lot of pictures at the hangar for my needs and those of my customers. I cache these pictures and 337's and log entries so that I can retrieve them and reference them at a later date, sometimes a much later date. I had a person call me a few days ago needing a lost 337 form (from 2006). I found it in my paper file and sent a copy to him, but it would be easier to send via email. Problem was, back then I cached my data on floppy disc. Who knew? I even just bought an external floppy drive so I could transfer historical data to this new computer. That has been a challenge. It seems something amiss, I'm pizzed
Del Lehmann
Mena, Arkansas
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jrenwick
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by jrenwick »

Well, I think I must be from a different planet. I recently bought an Acer laptop for 400 bucks with Windows 8, because Microsoft has dropped support for XP. I made friends with 8 pretty quickly after installing Classic Start, an open-source freebie that gives you what ever kind of start button you want. I set it up to emulate Windows 7. I don't have a touch screen, and I never use the "Metro" interface or any of the touchscreen apps. 8 is extremely stable, and is on and ready to go instantly from sleep mode as soon as I enter the laptop's password. The OS is always fast and responsive. Except for the missing Start button (very easily remedied), I think they've done a lot of things right with this one.

I've never owned or used a Mac. They've always been way too expensive compared to PCs, and I've always had some software I wanted to use that wouldn't run on a Mac. Hard to beat what I found for $400.

I guess this is an off-color note in this discussion, but I just couldn't keep quiet! :D

John
John Renwick
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GAHorn
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Re: Windows 8, Windows 8, what about it we don't apprectiate

Post by GAHorn »

jrenwick wrote:Well, I think I must be from a different planet....
I guess this is an off-color note in this discussion, but I just couldn't keep quiet! :D

John

N.S.A. has been notified about you. :twisted:
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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