Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

[Enforcer]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

Your son is dead right! You have an option, run the upgrade from your desktop, you lose windows XP Vista or 7, or as I said, burn an iso file and do a clean install, or do a dual boot system!

[undecided]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

The dual boot option sounds good to be on the safe side.

[Enforcer]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

If you are not confident in burning iso files to disc, I suggest thet you spend the £49.99 and get the disks. Dead easy to dual boot then.

[ScabHunter]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

I think Enforcer and I are going to have to agree to disagree on this one!

I honestly don't see how it is remotely usable. There are supposed to be 'hot corners', where the cursor brings up menus such as a 'Charms Bar' (which is really as charming as Albert Steptoe's jockstrap), but they don't work at all. Instead, the silly menus just keep appearing on the screen at random every time you move the cursor. If you were watching video or playing games, both of which I hardly ever do, how could you cope?

The answer to whether Windows Hate is substantially different from 7 is both yes and no. The underlying system is very similar, such as the way files are stored, but the “overlay” is completely different. No start button or start menu, a start screen which looks like something from a £20 cell phone, and these ridiculous uncontrollable menus.

Opinions obviously differ, but having had personal experience, I wouldn't pay a bent farthing from my mother-in-law's pension for it, that is if I had a mother-in-law in the first place.

SH

PS Enforcer, I may not rate your taste in operating systems very highly, but I thank you sincerely for your comments. I do apologise if I gave anyone the impression I was considering leaving the site – nothing could be further from the truth. All I meant was that now my last alleged debt has gone statute barred, there was no absolute necessity for me to be here. I still hope to be able to usefully use what I have learned in the past six years in helping other people cope with their own situations.

I guess I should stop making posts when my temperature is 102.7!

[evilcartman]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

That has not been my experience at all, ScabHunter. And indeed, I've actually been having trouble getting Linux to work with my Radeon card in the past couple of years as I state in your Linux thread.

Windows 8 runs way better than all previous incarnations in my view, even XP and Server 2003. The "Metro" interface takes some getting used to on a normal computer - but even that can be fixed with Classic Shell. Even the memory management, which has always been a major downer on all previous versions of windows, is vastly improved this time.

[Enforcer]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

I think that you need time to get used to it. Remember when XP first came out. My reaction, load of crap, unusable, cos I was used to 2000 pro. Totally different. Yet it is now considered one of the best. Try it, play with it, you will understand how it works and get to love it.

[Enforcer]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

I have had some major probs with Linux. But only since 10.04. Wont read wireless cards, firefox too slow, graphics cards not recognised etc. Still think it is a great "free" os. Have to be a dedicated user to make it work on some hardware.

[evilcartman]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

Having said the above, I'm still using the preview release edition of Windows 8 at the moment. It works beautifully on my hardware, as I said.

However, I've just ordered a barebones bundle from Novatech as my present desktop computer is very long in the tooth and definitely past its best. The snag is that my licence on the preview ends on 15 January. I'm reluctant to pay for and download the official release until the new machine arrives, as I don't want any hassles in then transferring the Windows licence to the new machine.

Novatech are generally very good at sending goods the next day, even though they always say 3-4 days to cover themselves. If it does arrive a couple of days later, I may end up installing good old XP to tide me over until it arrives.

I have also now downloaded Mint 14, so I'll have a little play with that too.

[undecided]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

If you are not confident in burning iso files to disc, I suggest thet you spend the £49.99 and get the disks. Dead easy to dual boot then.

I have burned lots of ISO files to disk, the problem can be to get your PC to boot using them, even when you use the bootable option to burn them.

With my prvevious PC, I couldn't get it to boot using any of the Vista disks I'd burned as bootable, even though they were fine on the VMWare machines I had installed at the time. I could only get an old XP CD to boot my PC, maybe because the others were DVDs, had to be due to the size of the newer versions of Windows. I also tried burning a free self-contained bootable Lynux disk (Knoppix) and using it to boot but it didn't work either. I ended up having to install XP from the only bootable disk I had, then installing Vista on top.

Haven't tried booting my newer laptop from a 'bootable' DVD yet.

[ScabHunter]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

Just to update this saga and close off the thread -

Today I finally received the refund from Amazon for the laptop running Windows Hate, so the nightmare is over. It is a lot of time spent, though, just to get back to where you started.

The only positive thing to come out of my experience is that I was finally pushed into researching and testing Linux. This has been successful, and I now know that if Microbug continue down the path they have embarked on with Hate, I will have a position of refuge.

I have now invested in a refurbished PC which is running XP Professional. I have used that operating system before for many years and never found it to be a problem. Most of the refurbished PCs being sold today have either this OS or XP Home. How many years will it be before 7 is routine on refurbished PCs? Whatever the answer, it is obvious that PCs running either 7 or XP will be available for a long time to come.

I am now older and wiser. I will work with Windows XP Home, XP Pro and 7, and also hopefully do more experimenting with Linux. If the future of Windows is Hate and similar systems, the future of me will be Torvalds.

If you do decide to buy a PC with Windows Hate installed despite all of the warnings, at least do so from Amazon so you are protected by a return policy which is actually honoured. Test the PC extensively during the early days, to see if you really can come to terms with it.

My relationship with Hate is over for good. Whatever you decide, I hope it works out for you.

SH

[Numpty Monkey]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

Glad you got got it sorted mate,
I hate Windows 7 (and I'm trying to install Win XP onto a lappy that had Win 7 on)
so trying Windows 8 is a now a definate big NO

[vint1954]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

Well I have only been using it for a day, and not impressed. I hate the smart start up screen and cannot get rid of it.

Cannot find out where to remove programmes. There is a Norton AV installed with the ultrabook that I cannot remove, having installed AVG.

You may be able to download the media centre free at the moment, but you have to upgrade to 8 pro first.

The laptop has no dvd player, too thin. Seems there are no external dvd players for windows 8.

Reserve judgement for a short while, but 8 seems too controlling and too limited in being able to alter your own laptop as you want

[evilcartman]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

Well I have only been using it for a day, and not impressed. I hate the smart start up screen and cannot get rid of it.

The learning curve is significantly steeper than previous generations of Windows but it's a much better operating system under the skin.

To get past the "Metro" screen, just hit your Windows button and click "Desktop".

If you really can't live without the Start button, google for "Classic Shell".

However, if you start typing the name of whatever you're looking for in the Metro screen, it usually comes up in the list of suggestions anyway.

[vint1954]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

I have managed to find the add & remove programmes so Norton is gone.

Purchased an external DVD and that works fine.

I can get through the Metro screen, but I just hate it.

Should read the instructions first I suppose, but never had to on other versions.

[Enforcer]

Re: Windows 8 Is Entirely Unusable

Now you need to get rid of AVG! Windows 8 has full antivirus protection as standard. Defender. Don't install anything else.