Windows 8.1

[Prunepicker]

Since Windows XP is no longer supported I bought a new laptop.

I don't like Windows 8.1.

I don't like it Sam I Am.
Not with a Box or with a (fire) Fox.

I believe Windows 3.1 was better and it sucked big time.

How are you coping with this non intuitive monstrosity of stupidity?

Beam me up Scotty!

[Bunty]

Good Lord. Windows 3.1 was before my time with computers, and doubt I missed anything from it. To like Windows 8.1 a lot better, get a free third party start button. But then you're liable to complain, it's too much like Windows 95.

[Stew]

How do I deal with it? I use macs. Problem solved.

[SoonerDave]

Since Windows XP is no longer supported I bought a new laptop.

I don't like Windows 8.1.

I don't like it Sam I Am.
Not with a Box or with a (fire) Fox.

I believe Windows 3.1 was better and it sucked big time.

How are you coping with this non intuitive monstrosity of stupidity?

Beam me up Scotty!

You mean you don't like the Purple Flyin' Tile Interface, either? : )

But MS worked so hard to bring you so much counterintuitivity to such a small space....

[Garin]

How do I deal with it? I use macs. Problem solved.

That's a whole different subject...

[Prunepicker]

I've managed to get rid of a lot of adware this past week. How can I
get rid of X-box?

[venture]

Classic shell makes win 8.1 perfectly fine for the most part.

[gjl]

If you have to make Win 8.1 look like Win 7 to be perfectly fine, what is the point of using Win 8.1?

[jn1780]

If you have to make Win 8.1 look like Win 7 to be perfectly fine, what is the point of using Win 8.1?

Because PC makers don't give you a choice? lol

They built it for tablets and then forced it upon desktop and labtop end-users. (For new purchases anyway).

[Bunty]

How do I deal with it? I use macs. Problem solved.

Aren't the only people who use macs the ones who think they are a lot more smarter and smug than most people?

[Stew]

Aren't the only people who use macs the ones who think they are a lot more smarter and smug than most people?

You forgot better looking.

[gjl]

Aren't the only people who use macs the ones who think they are a lot more smarter and smug than most people?

I didn't realize so many of the members here use Macs.

[Prunepicker]

I didn't realize so many of the members here use Macs.

I was a Mac user but switched to Windows because, at the time, the
music program I was using, Finale, wasn't available for Mac. I just haven't
gone back to it. All of my students have Macs.

[Stew]

I didn't realize so many of the members here use Macs.

That doesn't surprise me. OKCTALK seems to attract a fairly intelligent crowd.

[Prunepicker]

That doesn't surprise me. OKCTALK seems to attract a fairly intelligent crowd.

You and I are evidence of that.

[bluedogok]

Because PC makers don't give you a choice? lol

They built it for tablets and then forced it upon desktop and labtop end-users. (For new purchases anyway).

You can order Win 7 preloaded on HP and Boxx computers, they have gone back to offering it. Anything in a Best Buy type of store will have Win 8.1 preloaded. I only have one computer (newest desktop I built) with Win 8.1, I prefer Win 7. I run Autodesk software (Revit, 3DSMax, Autocad mostly) that isn't offered for Macs, so Macs are worthless to me. We did look at getting my wife a new MacBook Pro, twice the price for equivalent hardware that can be found with Windows....she nixed the idea.

[Prunepicker]

I don't like Windows 8.1. It stinks.

XP was perfection.

However, as long as I can use Finale and surf the Internet I'm good for
the most part.

[bluedogok]

Do try Classic Shell as venture posted.

Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements

[David]

According to some recent announcements, there should be an update coming in the next few weeks that restores the start menu and makes a few other key fixes. If you can hold out till then it might clear up your issues.

[venture]

According to some recent announcements, there should be an update coming in the next few weeks that restores the start menu and makes a few other key fixes. If you can hold out till then it might clear up your issues.

Yeah. They need to do this to get the business users to switch over. Touchscreens on desktops are still a ways off from being mainstream. I do like having the touchscreen on a laptop but I also add Classic Shell so I can have the classic start menu.

[jn1780]

Yeah. They need to do this to get the business users to switch over. Touchscreens on desktops are still a ways off from being mainstream. I do like having the touchscreen on a laptop but I also add Classic Shell so I can have the classic start menu.

I can see a horizontal screen built into the desk being useful, but I dont see people wanting to elevate their hands to control a vertical screen for very long.

[David]

I can see a horizontal screen built into the desk being useful, but I dont see people wanting to elevate their hands to control a vertical screen for very long.

That just sounds like something that would cause horrible back problems over time. With my current nerve issues, I couldn't lean over a screen built into my desk for more than a few minutes before ending up in a lot of pain.

[SoonerDave]

The whole Win 8.1/Upgrade So You Can Downgrade So You Can Get What You Substantially Already Have nonsense is arguably the first time Microsoft got a taste of what it's like not to be inevitable anymore. They thought they could release whatever dogfood they chose, and folks would come running like Pavlov's dog when the bell rang - except, this time, they didn't. The alternatives in the marketplace - Chromebooks, Macs, Android tablets, that didn't exist a generation ago are trying to teach MS a lesson. Remains to be seen if the lesson will be learned.

I realize I come off as an MS hater, and that's anything but the case - my ability to write Windows-environment software has kept me gainfully employed for a long time, but that doesn't mean I view MS as some sort of panacea.

Alternatives are, generally, a really nice thing to have.

[jn1780]

That just sounds like something that would cause horrible back problems over time. With my current nerve issues, I couldn't lean over a screen built into my desk for more than a few minutes before ending up in a lot of pain.

I was thinking about something more along the lines of Startrek, basically a fancy keyboard.

[ctchandler]

Gjl,
I switched over to the "Dark Side" in 2006 and I will never go back. Far from being smart, that's why I never liked pcs, you had to know too much just to use them as a tool. That's not the case with a Mac.
C. T.

I didn't realize so many of the members here use Macs.