On Thu, 19 Jun 2014 23:03:03 +0000, Michael12005 wrote:
I purchased my first laptop with Windows 8 installed, a Lenovo 13.3 inch from Best Buy. What a load of junk-the software that is. I returned it after 3 days. I cannot believe Microsoft who has given us such great software like Windows 7 and Microsoft Office
would allow Windows 8 to be released to the public. The people who designed it shoud consider career changes and the directors who allowed it to go to market should be fired. I agree with everyone who dislikes the mail program-it is pathetic. No start menu,
how stupid is that! And ap icons? Garbage.. I am for the first time switching to Mac!
Your choice entirely. But let me point out something that you perhaps
don't realize: Windows 8 has two interfaces; the Modern/Metro
Interface (which may be all you've looked at) and the traditional
Desktop Interface. You can use either one or both.
That traditional Desktop Interface is almost identical to Windows 7's
interface; the biggest difference is that there is no Start Orb to
click to bring up the Start menu. But note that you can get the Start
Orb back by using one of several third-party programs, either free or
very inexpensive (Classic Shell at
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/ and Start8 at
http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/; my personal preference is
Start8, but they are both very good).
And going from one interface to the other is very easy; there are
several ways, but simply pressing the Windows key is perhaps the
easiest.
I use Windows 8, almost exclusively with the traditional desktop
interface, and with Start 8 installed. If you were to look at and use
my computer, you would have a hard time realizing that it's not
Windows 7.
And another new third-party program that I like and you might want is
the $4.99 ModernMix at http://www.stardock.com/products/modernmix/
I also recommend that you read "How to Make Windows 8 or 8.1 Look and
Feel Like Windows 7" at http://www.howtogeek.com/elk/298/45121/4206
And of course there is no reason to use the included e-mail program
with Windows 8 or with any other version. There are many other better
choices, some free and some for sale, some by Microsoft and some by
third parties.
This a thoughtful response, thanks Ken. I bought a new laptop and I, like the OP, hate Windows 8.1. But unlike the OP I've stuck with it a bit, and with the latest update from MS and Classic Shell, run exclusively in the desktop mode. The Metro interface
is so awful I avoid it religiously and thankfully hardly ever see it. What was MS thinking?
The user experience on Windows 8.1 is now reasonable and I can live with it...but it begs the question: Almost everything was easier and quicker in Windows XP. I'm a super-user (IT professional and .NET developer) and apart from the odd thing I think "Oh
yeah, that's a bit better" most things are just a step backwards compared with XP and W7. Are there any advantages to Windows 8.1 apart from "It is supported"? If there are, MS should be doing a better job of highlighting those advantages.