[OP Update] Windows 8.1 compared to Win7 - user experience

[tkcas01]

I don't normally ask technology questions on here, but the good cross section of folks probably has some good insights...

My Mom is 82 years young and her computer just died. Over the years she has gone from Vista to XP to Win7. Most new computers come with Windows 8.1 and 10 will be out later this year.

Thing is, the last couple of years she has gotten increasingly less interested in learning new things. I tend to be her "tech support" remotely and also have Win7 with no plans to upgrade.

Question is, other than the Desktop layout on Windows 8, is there really that much difference once you start running familiar apps? She mainly uses Thunderbird for email, Internet Explorer, and a little Office 2010 here and there.

Wondering if we should let her give a go on Windows 8.1, or to downgrade the new system to Win7 before installing/configuring all her apps.

An OP update is available below

See my update below...

Yet another update below...

[tkcas01]

Another OP Update

Continuing to fine-tune her Start Screen. Found a free program called OblyTile that helps make custom tiles. In the updated image below, the first set of tiles launch directly to some of her most used websites and I was pretty easily able to make some nice tiles using images from the internet. I made the tiles 270x270 pixels for the medium sized tiles.

link to larger image

[tkcas01]

Bluegrass Ranger wrote:
That's the flexibility of Win8.1, being able to configure the tiles with just the ones you want to use. My desktop too is almost blank. I just group the tiles with the ones I use the most and remove the rest. You can also create tiles for the shortcuts to websites you use most often. Anything I needed to access from the start menu I created a tile. I agree that one of the current shortcomings is being able to edit the look of the tile instead of just the size.

Excellent comment on putting tiles on the Start Screen to go directly to a website. I discovered that over the weekend and put a few on there for her - made a special named group for them. For example, being 82, one thing she likes to do every morning is check the local obituaries - see how she is stacking up. :W So, put on a tile for that. Also a couple to get directly to her credit union and Discover card accounts.

For the desktop, I am thinking of using it just for putting shortcuts to files she might access frequently.

[BluegrassRanger]

tkcas01 wrote:
Update from OP

OK, the new computer is up and running. Thankfully with the backup it was easy to get files, emails, favorites and other configuration data back. I then started messing around with it assuming I would get her to ignore the new Start Screen and use the familiar Desktop.

However, after getting used to it, I decided to do just the opposite. I removed all shortcuts from the traditional Desktop and started populating the Start Screen with what she normally uses. Realizing that there are some nice apps that run in the new "Metro" interface, I installed some of those (like for weather and Netflix) and showed her how they worked.

Having never used Win8, I am actually pretty impressed with it and even she agrees it is more pleasant looking and maybe more fun to use. We'll see after she gets some time working with it.

Here is a screenshot of how I configured the Start Screen so far. I'll fine-tune it as she lets me know what she likes or doesn't like. I can understand why some don't like it at first, but after just one day with it, I think if you figure out how to configure it to do what YOU want, it's actually nice.

link to larger image

That's the flexibility of Win8.1, being able to configure the tiles with just the ones you want to use. My desktop too is almost blank. I just group the tiles with the ones I use the most and remove the rest. You can also create tiles for the shortcuts to websites you use most often. Anything I needed to access from the start menu I created a tile. I agree that one of the current shortcomings is being able to edit the look of the tile instead of just the size.

[Oldme]

W8 shutdown

W8 shutown

[tkcas01]

sherlock62 wrote:
You do know that if you left mouse click and drag downward from the top of the open app that it closes the app, right?

No, I had not read that anywhere. Will give that a try and see if it is easier for her than hovering in the upper right corner waiting for the red "x" to appear.

[sherlock62]

tkcas01 wrote:


As I said in my post above, the one awkward thing for me so far is how to get OUT of Metro apps.

You do know that if you left mouse click and drag downward from the top of the open app that it closes the app, right?

[tkcas01]

bradyk wrote:
Thats a good start. Make sure she understands that if she want to just go back to the normal screen to click on to desktop. Keep in mind you caqn also pin the most popular to the taskbar which make her life real easy.

Yep, I am training her to know how to get back to both the Start screen and Desktop, but I am leaving the Desktop blank - no app icons. It is better for her to just have one place to go to launch applications, else she would likely get confused.

As I said in my post above, the one awkward thing for me so far is how to get OUT of Metro apps. The little hidden titlebar might be problematic for her, and having to remember hotkeys is not good either.

[tkcas01]

Duck wrote:
Question can you remove the tiles that you do not plan to use and replace them with tiles for the apps you like to use?
Don

Yes, you can put whatever tiles on the Start screen you want and choose what size they should be. For me, it was seeing that out-of-the-box Start screen that made me think Win8 was too big a change - it just had a bunch of tiles that I had no idea what they were for.

But once you tailor it with the tiles of programs you use it is much more comfortable. Since there are new "apps" available for Win8 from the Microsoft store that run in the newer "Metro" interface, I chose to group my Mom's into "Desktop Apps" and "Metro Apps" to help her remember the difference and know where the familiar stuff is. You can name your own groups or leave the names off. One negative is it seems you can't easily change the color of the tiles. I think you can by editing some XML files, but that is certainly not user friendly.

For my Mom, what I wanted her to stay away from is the Apps Screen. Depending on how it is configured, the Apps screen may come up instead of the Start screen or the Desktop when you hit the Windows key or icon. The Apps screen has a icon and name for everything installed on the computer and is just way too confusing for those less technical. But you right-click on the icons on the Apps screen and tell it to pin it to the Start Screen, taskbar, etc. Then on the Start screen you can move the tile around and resize it. As I said, I am training my Mom to use the Start screen as her main launching point for the apps she uses.

The one thing I find annoying and non-user friendly is that in the Metro apps, the titlebar at the top hides automatically, so you have to go hover up there to make it reappear so you can close the app. I'm afraid it will be hard for my Mom to remember that, plus she has lost much dexterity in her hands so mouse work is getting harder for her. Other than using hotkeys to make it appear, I have not found a way to make it stay visible up there so it will be easier for her.

[strollin]

LarryJM wrote:
... One thing that is getting harder is finding machines that allow user access to the memory and Hard Drives. In the Toshiba line up only the Tecra 50 series now has that level of accessibility. ... Larry

Are you referring to the fact that they don't have little access doors to the memory and hdd? It's still fairly easy (at least on my Toshiba Satellite) to remove the entire bottom (although something like 18 screws) of the case which gives full access to memory and hdd.

[sherlock62]

Duck wrote:
Question can you remove the tiles that you do not plan to use and replace them with tiles for the apps you like to use?
Don

YES

[Duck]

Question can you remove the tiles that you do not plan to use and replace them with tiles for the apps you like to use?
Don

[LarryJM]

SCR wrote:


If you really want to speed up a computer install a Solid State Drive. I hear they boot in about 10 to 15 seconds or less. Then again how fast do you need a computer to boot? The more you spend and tweak the faster the boot.

No not 10 to 15 sec, but more like 3 to 5 sec for a SSD to do a full boot up to Win 7 Pro. Toshiba also offers a lot of Win 7 machines. One thing that is getting harder is finding machines that allow user access to the memory and Hard Drives. In the Toshiba line up only the Tecra 50 series now has that level of accessibility.

For my last two laptops I get them with a fairly large HD but don't pay extra for larger drives and a CD/DVD drive and first thing I do is clone the factory drive to my Samsung SSD. I then replace the OEM drive after I have installed one program on it ... Acronis with the cloned SSD and load whatever programs I have/need to that. I then replace my CD/DVD with a Hard drive tray adapter and put the OEM drive in that and partition it with a large portion available for storing periodic Acronis backups done on the current running SSD. That way I have at all time a second bootable HD with capability of restoring to what ever drive I have in the main slot in the machine the current or any backup verion of my working system and programs drive.

Larry

[bradyk]

Thats a good start. Make sure she understands that if she want to just go back to the normal screen to click on to desktop. Keep in mind you caqn also pin the most popular to the taskbar which make her life real easy.

[tkcas01]

Update from OP

OK, the new computer is up and running. Thankfully with the backup it was easy to get files, emails, favorites and other configuration data back. I then started messing around with it assuming I would get her to ignore the new Start Screen and use the familiar Desktop.

However, after getting used to it, I decided to do just the opposite. I removed all shortcuts from the traditional Desktop and started populating the Start Screen with what she normally uses. Realizing that there are some nice apps that run in the new "Metro" interface, I installed some of those (like for weather and Netflix) and showed her how they worked.

Having never used Win8, I am actually pretty impressed with it and even she agrees it is more pleasant looking and maybe more fun to use. We'll see after she gets some time working with it.

Here is a screenshot of how I configured the Start Screen so far. I'll fine-tune it as she lets me know what she likes or doesn't like. I can understand why some don't like it at first, but after just one day with it, I think if you figure out how to configure it to do what YOU want, it's actually nice.

link to larger image