John W Colby
jwcolby at gmail.com
Tue Feb 25 13:22:39 CST 2014
To be honest Charlotte, I don't understand. I played and worked and played and worked and never found a (native) start menu and task bar. I did download third party "kinda sorta" start menu / task bars but they did not contain the functionality of the Windows start menu and task bar. And every time I did "expected to work" things I would get rudely pushed back into the "modern" display. Maybe had I been able to just permanently disable that "modern" display things would have been better, but alas. I don't (or rarely) use the Windows 7 desktop. To me it looks strikingly like the Metro thing, a ton of icons (at least they are separated) which is just confusing. My son's desktop is FILLED with stuff and I get overwhelmed looking at it. Likewise I get overwhelmed looking at Metro. Psychologists have figured out that different people had different learning styles. Some can learn from visual stuff, others learn best from audio stuff others learn best from ... Windows impressed me as "Everybody has to use this one style because we say so". I tried for two months. I've come from "Boot zapple basic from a cassette" through CPM., DOS, through all the versions of Windows. I am not a technophobe. Windows 8 was a jarring, frustrating and damned irritating experience. So in the end, I guess I just never stumbled across whatever I had to stumble across to get back to a real Windows 7 like experience. And you can believe me I googled till my eyes were blue trying to get back my Windows 7 experience. I kinda sorta, 1/2 the time, made it look something like (not really) Windows 7. Never enough to be able to just get on and get my work done. I ended up using my 4 year old Dell laptop when I had to work, and my brand new 10 times as powerful (and pretty expensive) laptop as a glorified tablet. Another part of my issue I think is that I just have no interest in "Social", nor do I need or want a weather app sitting in my face constantly updating. If you don't use Facebook, or twitter or any of the rest of that stuff, then... I will say that my daughter LOVED it though. She is intellectually disabled but she knows her touch screen. John W. Colby Reality is what refuses to go away when you do not believe in it On 2/25/2014 1:49 PM, Charlotte Foust wrote: > I don't understand the problem, John. I love Windows 8. I rarely use the > "modern" screen because all my work is on the desktop, but I have some > charms there for the desktop programs I use the most. Why kvetch about the > modern screen when all you need do it switch to the desktop? There > certainly is a taskbar there. > > Charlotte > > > On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 9:23 AM, John W Colby <jwcolby at gmail.com> wrote: > >> I bought an HP Envy 17" at Sams a few months ago. It came with Windows 8. >> Ugh. I tried to like it. Then I tried to endure it. I tried to modify >> it to get back Windows 7 like functionality. I found myself not using the >> laptop for actual work, though it was OK (barely) for games and internet >> stuff. I was pissed that I had spent a fair chunk of change on a very >> powerful, very nice laptop that I hated. >> >> Funny stuff here... >> >> http://www.loopinsight.com/2013/01/04/windows-8-review-the-thing-blows/ >> >> And it pretty much mirrors my experience. Even after working with it >> every day for a month I still had issues with things like drag and drop. >> How can you drag and drop files between two windows when... you can only >> have ONE WINDOW? And why should I be "allowed" two windows, but one of >> them has to be this scrunched up little slice docked to the left side while >> the other gets the rest of the screen? I have a 23" monitor, PLENTY of >> room for many different windows when I need them. But no, I am not >> "allowed" that. >> >> And why can't I minimize open programs to my task bar and click on them to >> reopen. Oh yea, I remember now, there IS NO TASK BAR. What??? And when I >> want to see the wireless strength I can just look at the wireless icon down >> in the taskbar... oh yea I forgot, THERE IS NO TASKBAR. In Windows 7 I use >> a handful of programs 99% of the time. I pin them to the taskbar. They >> stack. If I am remoted in to 5 different machines (yes, I do that every >> day) then I hover over the taskbar and up pops a list of the open remote >> desktop sessions. How do I accomplish that with Windows 8? >> >> How do you hover with a touch screen to begin with? And why am I >> searching for third party apps to get back functionality that I need and >> was FORBIDDEN to have with Windows 8? Is Microsoft my mom, telling me that >> I HAVE to do it this way? Even my mom no longer tells me what to do. >> >> I did discover that all of the old Windows applications look like they >> always did, can be windowed, and have the minimize and close button. But >> of course all of the "Windows 8 native" apps don't and don't and don't. >> >> And why do I have to rearrange a HUGE screen of HUGE blocks of pictures >> which pretty much have nothing to do with what they represent to get the >> ones I use most all on the screen at the same time. Menus exist because >> they logically group operations. In Windows 7 If I need an Office app I >> can go find all of the Microsoft office programs by finding the menu for >> that. Yes, you have to hunt and figure that out but once you do the menu >> allows you to see groups of programs (or operations). The "start" screen >> just has a bajillion HUGE blocks scrolling off to the right forever, mere >> and more as you add things to your computer. Wow. Try cut and paste >> between two apps. >> >> In the end, I discovered that I use my laptop for real work and Windows 8 >> makes real work hard. Even when you know how to use it, it is still hard. >> I often use a tablet for the internet and "social" stuff, but even that is >> not as easy to accomplish (I.e. that is also "real work" as on a Windows 7 >> computer. If I want to sit in my car or in my easy chair I will use my >> tablet but if I have serious research, opening a couple of instances of >> Chrome, with tabs, dragging tabs down to create new instances to research >> something... I go to my computer. My Windows 7 computer. >> >> I finally just broke down and bought Windows 7 pro and installed it. It >> was a MAJOR PITA to find all of the drivers for the chipset, touch screen >> etc. But I ended up with a fully functioning Windows 7. Given that all >> laptops come with 5400 rpm drives, and I was going to replace mine, I >> decided to buy a Samsung EVO 500 gb drive. WHOA!!! Smokin' The difference >> in everything I do is flat out incredible. >> >> The Windows experience is 7.8-7.9 in everything except the graphics which >> is a 6.7 due to Intel's sucky graphics chips. Oh to have a quad core I7 >> and AMD's graphics. Oh well. >> >> I now LOVE my laptop. >> >> My son has a Windows XP system, very old. He downloads a ton of crap and >> managed to get it so infected that I had major problems getting it >> sanitized. So I am building a new system. Given that XP loses the last >> vestiges of support in two months I decided to use Windows 7 for that as >> well. Which leaves me in a quandary. Do I buy a handful of copies for >> future proofing? Windows 7 sales (from third parties like new egg) will go >> away in about 6 months. >> >> On a final note to Metro bashing... Has anyone been to MSNBC lately? OMG. >> I no longer use that as my goto news source since I cannot find anything >> without paging down through page after page of pictures about crap I am not >> interested in. Someone bought into Metro big time. >> >> -- >> John W. Colby >> >> Windows 8 is what refuses to go away >> when you do not believe in it >> >> -- >> AccessD mailing list >> AccessD at databaseadvisors.com >> http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd >> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com >>