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View Full Version : If you are thinking about Windows 8, better get it soon.....



Scott Shepherd
01-18-2013, 7:53 PM
....or you'll be paying a steep increase. Right now it's $39, after Jan.31, it's going to go to $119.

http://mashable.com/2013/01/18/windows-8-price-hike/

Dan Hintz
01-19-2013, 1:49 PM
Ugh... I've played with every OS from MS from the DOS 3 days (except ME... somehow missed that one). Windows 8 is, IMO, the biggest transition in how you use a system (note I didn't say "for the better"). It may prove useful if you have a touchscreen tablet, but for anything else, I find it downright painful to use.

Myk Rian
01-19-2013, 2:17 PM
You didn't miss anything with ME. Believe me.

I think W8 is for touchscreen. It's a waste without that.
Win7 is reported to be the one that works. Like XP did/does.

Brian Elfert
01-19-2013, 4:38 PM
Like others I have decided not to worry about upgrading to Windows 8. If I find the need to buy a new PC before the next release of Windows comes out then I will get Windows 8 on my new PC.

Where I work we still have a few servers running Windows 2000 and the majority of servers are running Windows 2003. As applications get upgraded we are upgrading the servers to Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012. About 1/3 of our workstations still run Windows XP and the rest run windows 7. We are replacing about half the PCs soon and they will run Windows 7 instead of Windows 8.

Larry Frank
01-19-2013, 9:10 PM
I recently bought a new computer and it seemed that all that was available was ones with W8. I finally found a computer with W7 on it and am quite happy with it. The transition to W8 was just too much for me.

I am using Google Chrome as a browser and Thunderbird for email. Both non-Microsoft and I am very pleased.

Greg Peterson
01-19-2013, 11:03 PM
I think XP was the high mark for MS. I think the UI on XP is more elegant. There is little about 7 that I like. I cringe at the thought of trying to use 8.

Of course this is coming from a guy that spent 30 minutes today trying to figure out to add a playlist from iTunes (v.11) to my iPod. It used to be click and drag, and still is for single files. iTunes playlists, however, require a completely and (IMHO) counter intuitive process.

UI engineers at Apple and MS are getting just a little too cute these days. It seems as if they are trying to justify their jobs.

Mike Cruz
01-19-2013, 11:14 PM
Until or unless I replace my 65" screen TV (what I use for my computer monitor) with a TOUCH SCREEN 65" TV, I don't see a need for it. And even then...

Pat Barry
01-20-2013, 9:20 AM
We bought a new laptop that came with Windows 8 and we HATE IT. Maybe its OK with a touchscreen, but for a regular laptop it suks. Just using it drives you crazy with the stupid new Windows menu bar always popping up. I need to find a way to disable that. Anyone have any ideas because I can't find any options to eliminate that.

John Coloccia
01-20-2013, 9:41 AM
Windows 8 is great if you want to turn your desktop workstation into a smartphone. Blech.

Brian Libby
01-20-2013, 10:42 AM
look here
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/141702-how-to-bring-the-start-menu-and-button-back-t (http://www.extremetech.com/computing/141702-how-to-bring-the-start-menu-and-button-back-to-windows-8)...

Myk Rian
01-20-2013, 11:25 AM
I can see 8 going the same way ME and Vista did. Being replaced.
Finding myself using the Android phone more and more.

Pat Barry
01-20-2013, 6:52 PM
Thanks for the link Brian. Have you installed one of those applications to fix Windows 8 annoying Metro Start? Anyone have any experiences to share with this type of install?

Robert LaPlaca
01-21-2013, 5:07 PM
As a retired IT professional, I go back all the way to MS-DOS 2.0... We just bought a new laptop with Win 8 on it and I just hate it, just like John said, who wants to turn your PC into a MS smart phone. Just seems like a way for someone at MS to justify the development cost for the Metro interface, just don't get why on a PC I need to see the interface.

Chuck Wintle
01-21-2013, 5:36 PM
I will probably wait until MS discontinues support for windows 7 before upgrading. By then something else will be available and maybe superior to windows 8. Dunno but products from MS seem to be hit and miss.

Curt Harms
01-22-2013, 7:55 AM
Windows 7 has extended support until 2020 so yeah, I don't feel much urgency. If enterprises stick with Windows 7 I wouldn't be surprised if that date gets extended.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2010820/how-long-will-microsoft-support-windows-7.html

Andrew Pitonyak
01-22-2013, 10:30 AM
We bought a new laptop that came with Windows 8 and we HATE IT. Maybe its OK with a touchscreen, but for a regular laptop it suks. Just using it drives you crazy with the stupid new Windows menu bar always popping up. I need to find a way to disable that. Anyone have any ideas because I can't find any options to eliminate that.

Take a look at these links for some ideas.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33642_7-57496506-292/how-to-get-the-start-menu-back-in-windows-8/
http://www.howtogeek.com/127699/6-start-menu-replacements-for-windows-8/

Brian Elfert
01-22-2013, 11:47 AM
The only reason a home user would even care about support is if they want patches. If you have an OEM version of Windows you won't get any phone support from Microsoft without paying. Your OEM might charge you for phone support too.

I doubt Windows 7 support will get extended beyond 2020. By then Windows 9 and Windows 10 should have been released. If enough corporate customers tell Microsoft with their pocketbooks that they aren't going to Windows 8 Microsoft will likely be forced to make changes in the next release. Most big corporate customers will have replaced their PCs at least once and maybe twice by 2020. Eventually new PCs won't have Windows 7 drivers so you'll be forced to the next version of Windows. My employer has four year old Dell PCs that don't have Windows 7 drivers from Dell. Our laptops don't like Windows 7 very well. (They came with Vista, but we ran XP on them skipping Vista.)

Mike Henderson
01-22-2013, 1:13 PM
I thought about Win 8 but went to Amazon and read the reviews, especially the negative reviews. Convinced me to stay with Win 7, which is working very well for me.

Mike

Pat Barry
01-22-2013, 1:31 PM
Thanks for the links Andrew. To be clear though, its not the actual Metro Start panel that bothers me, its the fact that it pops up continually while I am using the touchpad. The way the Windows 8 operates from the touchpad is if you drag your finger across the touchpad from right to left, which I do all the time, Windows thinks I want to Start something. I just want to turn that behavior off because I can't be re-trained, and neither can my bride. This nuisance is what I want to change, actually nuisance is far too mild to describe the way I feel about it now after 2 months of frustration. Not sure that having a different Start screen pop up as any more desirable than the way the stupid thing operates now. I want to go back to Windows 7 / Vista because of that behavior only.