Piloto Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 I just bough a laptop with Windows 8.1 and had hard time getting familiar with 8.1. I think this product should have a label "Warning not for 60+". I finally figure out some of the applications after getting help from a young girl (she could be my granddaughter) at the local Microsoft store. What was wrong with the old windows? José 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryb Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 I use the app called Start8 which makes windows 8 look just like windows 7. Well worth the $5. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 I run mostly from the desktop. What really irks me is the stupid Microsoft Store doesn't have a search function that I can find, the apps are all in categories and the first dozen or so are useless wastes that I have to scroll past in a mostly-fruitless attempt to find something useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackroc Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Microsoft could make millions of pc users happy if they put the "start" button back in Windows 8.1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddDPT Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 I run mostly from the desktop. What really irks me is the stupid Microsoft Store doesn't have a search function that I can find, the apps are all in categories and the first dozen or so are useless wastes that I have to scroll past in a mostly-fruitless attempt to find something useful. Hank, Top right corner you should have a search box. Definitely a learning curve with 8.1 and I too mostly work off of the desktop that looks like Windows 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Microsoft could make millions of pc users happy if they put the "start" button back in Windows 8.1. You are confused . . . Microsoft doesn't care if you are happy or not, they just want you to buy their software. Mine came pre-installed on the new computer, but they got their money from HP, guarandamntee it. It doesn't matter to them if I like it, or if I uninstall it and run something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron McBride Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 I just removed 8 and put in 7. $125.00 at my local computer shop. Works the Same as the rest of my Computers. I do have an odd program that I run for work, will not work on 8 at all, and the program is extremely expensive to replace. 5 or less years, and retirement, won't need the program. Much happier with 7. Ron 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwilkins Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Jose, You really should look into this "she could be my granddaughter". If she is, you might get a family discount at the MS store. Jim, who refuses to run 8 on any computers as long as I can still buy a license for 7 and replace it....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DS1980 Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 We just bought a computer with Windows 8. We will be "upgrading" back to Windows 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midlifeflyer Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 I use the app called Start8 which makes windows 8 look just like windows 7. Well worth the $5.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk There is also freeware start menu called "Classic Start" http://www.classicstart8.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_elliott Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 There is also freeware start menu called "Classic Start" http://www.classicstart8.com My weapon of choice is classic shell http://www.classicshell.net/ Free, works great, highly customizable. Makes windows 8 all nice and friendly just like you want it to be. Be careful of trashing w8 and reverting back to w7 on some hardware platforms. W7 wont run on some of them (drivers, chipset drivers etc) A specific example is some of the HP touch screen systems. Now, if you can get Garmins G1000 sim to work in w8, let me know, or a usb serial adapter and JPI ez trends..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piloto Posted June 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Well I feel better now knowing I am not the only one with issues with W8. I got a Dell Inspiron with touch screen and backlighted keyboard. The backlighted keyboard is very worth it. It makes it easier to see the keys even in complete darkness. If I switch to Windows 7 would I still have the touch screen features? The touch screen is handy for zooming and scrolling. documents, pictures and maps. The girl at the Microsoft configured W8 to look more like the old Windows. For $99 the store offers W8 classes for those with limited brain capacity like me. When I bought the laptop at Best Buy for $900 I was expecting that it would come with Office but to my surprise I have to buy it for $399. I got Office 2013 not the 365 that requires a Microsoft subscription. Be careful with this. I am typing this from the new laptop. So far so good, but occasionally I hit the wrong key and the whole thing goes into an unfamiliar screen and I get stuck. Still in the learning process. José Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Wow, I bought Office for $139, but opted for the Home/Student version that can be installed on three computers. Being at home, I don't need Outlook for email--got that at work but don't bother signing in from home. Office Home version came with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and One Note. I hate the stupid tile interface with lots of updating tiles that have no interest for me--travel updates to exotic locations, scroll through my pictures, continuous updates on sports I don't follow and stocks that I don't own [and no thank you, I don't want to enter my portfolio for Bill Gates to track], etc., etc. The UI is just awful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob_Belville Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 I went from Win XP to 8 skipping Vista and 7. I like 8 fine, I have not bothered to migrate to 8.1. Of course I also remember DOS 2.31 and having to do my own programming in BASIC. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marauder Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 I went from Win XP to 8 skipping Vista and 7. I like 8 fine, I have not bothered to migrate to 8.1. Of course I also remember DOS 2.31 and having to do my own programming in BASIC. C:/Bob Run C:/Run Bob Run Heck Bob! Tapatalk won't let me do a backslash! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1964-M20E Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 10 new coputer 20 windows 8 30 goto windows 7 40 be happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob_Belville Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 10 new coputer 20 windows 8 30 goto windows 7 40 be happy When I started programming (in GOTRAN) in 1961 I would have to make a whole new (paper punch) tape to correct the typo in line 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1964-M20E Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 Well I started in 1982 in Applesoft basic. I could just go back and make the correction but still not as easy as it is today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob_Belville Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 Yeah, I used Data General's Extended BASIC. Debugging subscript errors and packing/unpacking numeric characters with assembly language sub routines to save storage space had a certain satisfaction factor I would not care to experience again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piloto Posted June 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 When I was in college Digital VAX computers was the state of the art in computers. You could actually make your programs in Fortran IV on a punch card terminal. I carried my punched cards in a shoe box. If I dropped my shoe box it was a mess organizing the cards back in the proper order. I found the slide rule to be more practical at times. José Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N601RX Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 We still occasionally have the need to hand assemble several op codes and insert them into the hex file, it's saved the day a couple of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob_Belville Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 When I was in college Digital VAX computers was the state of the art in computers. You could actually make your programs in Fortran IV on a punch card terminal. I carried my punched cards in a shoe box. If I dropped my shoe box it was a mess organizing the cards back in the proper order. I found the slide rule to be more practical at times. José Punch card were a welcome innovation after paper tape. replacing one line of code no longer involved retyping the whole program. Slide rules were fine. Remember log tables?(I start college 16 years after WW2. Rumor was that Dr. Heller, the (German) Mechanical Engineering professor, had them memorized to 5 places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 I had the DEC PC350, replete with a 10meg hard drive. I missed José's experience by a year. I am generation X! We wrote programs on the PC in FortranIV, but the VAX had all the subroutines. The keyboard was luxurious. We witnessed the possibility of texting through the network. Recognize somebody by there login name and send a message. They would get the message and a login address (not login name). They had to look that up quickly (faster than the sender could log off) Cost of the DEC PC....$2k in 1983 dollars. It worked for about six years. It was completely rebuilt over its lifetime. Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marauder Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 You ain't lived computers unless you used an 8" floppy drive. Those were the days! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboy0681 Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 A very good friend of mine was Microsoft employee number 6 and appears in this photo. He keeps me occupied for hours telling me stories of the early days in Albuquerque and he still has original artifacts from those years, including a promissory note for money he lent the company, signed by Mr Gates himself. He lives about a mile from me and owns an '85 Piper Malibu. His exploits in the Malibu are just as good as his Microsoft stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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