why Win 8?

[dryfly]

In other threads folks have expressed their preference to stay with Win 7. For those that have had some time to use and learn Win 8, what features have caused you to stay with it as your OS? Particularly interested in what you think are BIG improvements over Win 7.

[WoodLark]

tenbear wrote:

Chris Bryant wrote:
Gotta throw it in there- my new laptop came with Ubuntu, and I wouldn't have it any other way 🙂

Have you used Ubuntu before. I was wondering how difficult it was to learn after using Windows for years. Eventually, I can see that I will want to switch to something other than Windows.

Yea Chris! My new laptop (bought two weeks ago) came with Win 8. First thing I did was put Puppy Linux Precise 5.6.1 (based on Ubuntu)on a USB flash drive and boot from that. Haven't opened Windows since.

[Goose2448]

I rather liked Win 95 and XP. Then came Win 7, which I like more than XP. Then my laptop broke and I had to buy a new one for work. It came with Win 8. Had it a week now, and I like it. Easy to use, fast start up, and its almost the same as Win 7. Its just one click to get to the desktop and start menu. The girls at the office hated it, but once they got it setup how they wanted and got used to it, they like it now. Guess that the benefit to being young. Took me all of 10 mins to figure out most the differences. And you can still run multiple windows at the same time, just like Win 7 or before. This Dell Inspiron with the i3 and Win 8 is more than twice as fast as my old Sony with the i7 and Win 7

[Chris_Bryant]

I wrote:

tenbear wrote:

Chris Bryant wrote:
Gotta throw it in there- my new laptop came with Ubuntu, and I wouldn't have it any other way 🙂

Have you used Ubuntu before. I was wondering how difficult it was to learn after using Windows for years. Eventually, I can see that I will want to switch to something other than Windows.

I switched to Linux in 2001, so I'm not a good one to ask, but I find it much easier than Windows- just because I'm used to it.
Interestingly enough, I don't care for the Ubuntu Unity desktop, for much the same reason folks dislike Win8- it's geared more towards a touch interface. Luckily in Linux it's trivial to make it work like you want, so I just opened the Ubuntu software center, searched for KDE, and installed KDE-full, which gave me my familiar desktop.

I should add that this laptop- a Dell Vostro- is mostly my DW's computer, and I have purposely not done anything other than point and click. No arcane command line stuff. I don't know about Dell support for it, as I have had no problems. There is a huge Ubuntu community, with Dell specific forums.

[Chris_Bryant]

tenbear wrote:

Chris Bryant wrote:
Gotta throw it in there- my new laptop came with Ubuntu, and I wouldn't have it any other way 🙂

Have you used Ubuntu before. I was wondering how difficult it was to learn after using Windows for years. Eventually, I can see that I will want to switch to something other than Windows.

I switched to Linux in 2001, so I'm not a good one to ask, but I find it much easier than Windows- just because I'm used to it.
Interestingly enough, I don't care for the Ubuntu Unity desktop, for much the same reason folks dislike Win8- it's geared more towards a touch interface. Luckily in Linux it's trivial to make it work like you want, so I just opened the Ubuntu software center, searched for KDE, and installed KDE-full, which gave me my familiar desktop.

[tenbear]

Chris Bryant wrote:
Gotta throw it in there- my new laptop came with Ubuntu, and I wouldn't have it any other way 🙂

Have you used Ubuntu before. I was wondering how difficult it was to learn after using Windows for years. Eventually, I can see that I will want to switch to something other than Windows.

[Chris_Bryant]

Gotta throw it in there- my new laptop came with Ubuntu, and I wouldn't have it any other way 🙂

[docj]

I have Win 8 because it came with my new laptop, but I use Classic Shell and have configured it to work just like Win 7. Every once in a while I have to go the the "tiles" to use a program like Skype which needs to run that way, but 99% of the time I work from my normal Desktop.

Personally, I wouldn't upgrade from Win 7 to 8 but XP will become an unsupported dinosaur eventually and you will want to change for security sake.

[Francesca_Knowl]

mlts22 wrote:
If one only has Windows 8, there may be the option of using XP Mode. It takes some dancing to get set up because Windows 8 uses Hyper-V, but it will allow a person to run a provided copy Windows XP in a virtual machine without needing media or anything special to get XP up and running. I'm too lazy to list the links here, but your favorite search engine of choice should have something if one types in "windows 8 xp mode".

I'll be jiggered- folks still like XP enough that there's actually a way to use it with 8?

Makes me feel less like a dinosaur for clinging to my XP-equipped setup instead of changing with the times... 🙂

[mlts22]

If one only has Windows 8, there may be the option of using XP Mode. It takes some dancing to get set up because Windows 8 uses Hyper-V, but it will allow a person to run a provided copy Windows XP in a virtual machine without needing media or anything special to get XP up and running. I'm too lazy to list the links here, but your favorite search engine of choice should have something if one types in "windows 8 xp mode".

[1492]

You can still get an upgrade to WIN 8 Pro 32/64 bit for $49.98 on Ebay. If you have enough disc space on your HD, I'd recommend taking the time to add a second partition, and install as a dual-boot configuration. In this way, you'll have full access to your existing Windows OS and programs, and can take the time to learn, modify, and port your applications over to WIN 8. You can always delete your old Windows install in the future to recover the HD space if so desired.

[mlts22]

Windows 8 is more secure. With its version of BitLocker, I can have it ask for a password on boot, while with Windows 7, I'd either need specialized hardware on the computer motherboard, or have to stick a USB flash drive in.

Plus, with "secure UEFI", if a virus tries to use the boot sector of the hard disk to hide itself, the machine will detect the tampering.

[JRJohn]

with win 8.1 you can boot into the desktop the start button is a joke only takes you to the desktop, I have 7 and 8 I use 8 most of the time

[tenbear]

You can install "Classic Shell" (as I remember) that makes Win8 look like Win7 but still retain the faster boot-up. Works fine for me.

[dryfly]

Well, so far I hear no compelling reason to migrate to ver 8. I remember in the 80's an article in PC Magazine titled "Just Say NO to Windows" stating we should stay with DOS. Goes to show most of us have fought it ever step of the way. BUT, there comes a time when if it ain't broke comes into play, and ver. 7 may just be it, at least for a while. We probably just have to weight the learning curve and cost against the ability of Win 8 to increase productivity. If it's not here then stay with what we got.