Windows 8

[JohnR]

I've been thrilled with Windows 7, it's been the best and most stable Windows version I've ever used, going back to 3.1. XP was the worst, Vista was almost as bad. My work computer is slowly dying so I may be stuck with 8.

[Longitude Zero]

If you have a touchscreen it is bearable. Barely. If you are using a keyboard and mouse you are scrooged.


I specifically order my current puter with W7.

[340pd]

The update for Win 8 makes it 8.1 and it has some user friendly options for us old guys.

[O'Dell]

I started building and using computers over thirty years ago. First DOS, then Windows 3.0, 3.1, 95, 98, XP, and now 7. I beta tested Vista as a MS Partner, but never cared for it. I started using 7 about six months before it was generally available, and won't change until I have to do so. MS sent me a copy of 8 several months before it's introduction, but, IMO, it won't replace 7. It might be fine on a touch system, which is what it was designed for, but it's not for me on my desktop or laptop.

BTW, I've installed and used Linux on systems I built for other people, but it's not for me. I've never had a Mac and never wanted one.

[340pd]

O'Dell. I am not a computer person at all. My machine was going so last April I bought a new desktop with Win8. Honestly, installing "Classic Shell" made the screen look exactly like my old XP. I have gradually changed the XP shell toggle and moved it up to Win 7. Now with Win 8.1 I have gone totally to the new 8.1 OS, along with office 2013.

I have turned off the swipe features and use it totally with a mouse. Even for me it is not really that much of an issue. If I get stumped finding something I just Google what I need to do and problem solved in a couple of seconds.

Thank you Al Gore for inventing this great naked lady machine.

[WLEEP]

Win 7 SUCKS! You can't even write a letter without paying an extra $ 100 for Word.
Back to XPASAP

[JohnR]

Wordpad? Notepad? OpenOffice?

[O'Dell]

O'Dell. I am not a computer person at all. My machine was going so last April I bought a new desktop with Win8. Honestly, installing "Classic Shell" made the screen look exactly like my old XP. I have gradually changed the XP shell toggle and moved it up to Win 7. Now with Win 8.1 I have gone totally to the new 8.1 OS, along with office 2013.

I have turned off the swipe features and use it totally with a mouse. Even for me it is not really that much of an issue. If I get stumped finding something I just Google what I need to do and problem solved in a couple of seconds.

Thank you Al Gore for inventing this great naked lady machine.

Windows 7 is a much stripped down Vista. They removed all the extraneous garbage the no one used and made the programs a free download for anyone who wanted it. Therefore, 7 is a lot smaller and faster than Vista. I even had to download a mail program, but that's fine, because it was one less piece of clutter in the OS for someone who didn't need it.

I understand from MS that new apps were added to 8, like the swipe features that many may use, but not me. Like I said, I have 8 on a disc, but I prefer the bare-bones concept of 7.

I use Pale Moon for a browser, for the same reason. It's a stripped down version of FireFox, and looks and works the same, but is faster.

[O'Dell]

Win 7 SUCKS! You can't even write a letter without paying an extra $ 100 for Word.
Back to XPASAP

To each his own. There are plenty of word processors available as a free download. Personally, I use notepad to send my copy to my publishers.

[ltxi]

Win 7 SUCKS! You can't even write a letter without paying an extra $ 100 for Word.
Back to XPASAP

Well, now.....that was special. :75:

[TucsonMTB]

I use Pale Moon for a browser, for the same reason. It's a stripped down version of FireFox, and looks and works the same, but is faster.

Hey, there, Mr. O'Dell!

I just installed Pale Moon and migrated various items from FireFox as an experiment.

So far, so good . . .

Thank you for calling Pale Moon to my attention, sir!

[bob98366]

Win 7 SUCKS! You can't even write a letter without paying an extra $ 100 for Word.
Back to XPASAP

Try LibreOffice, which is the free (as in free beer and free speech) software version of OpenOffice. The web site should detect your operating system so you are offered the correct version:
http://www.libreoffice.org/

[bob98366]

I was shocked that Google could produce such a stable OS right out of the box?
But then I read that Google may have cheated.
It appears that the Chrome operating system is actually Linux-based!

Now it makes sense...

True it is and the Mac operating system is a Unix descendent, putting Microsoft as the outlier (not unix-like). Most of us in the linux community are leery of Google watching our every keystroke, so stay away from Chrome.

BTW, linux and the other unix-like operating systems (BSD, etc.) are everywhere: iPhones, Android phones, most routers, most servers, imbedded computers (think cars and a whole lot more), "big iron" financial systems and so on. Unix is quite older than DOS/Windows (dates from the early 1970s) and linux was started in 1991 as a personal computer clone of Unix, which at that time had no versions that could run on an IBM PC.

[WLEEP]

Try LibreOffice, which is the free (as in free beer and free speech) software version of OpenOffice. The web site should detect your operating system so you are offered the correct version:
http://www.libreoffice.org/

Thanks for the help, appreciate it. I'm kind of a computer dinosaur so this change really threw me for a loop.


Had a lightening strike (even with surge protector) and fried the hard drive. Neighbors son replaced the hard drive and did the "upgrade" to Win 7 without asking.


Again, appreciate the help.

[turn signal]

Why cant we just have our old winders back ?