[AccessD] Ramblings of a nutcase

John W Colby jwcolby at gmail.com
Tue Feb 25 20:08:15 CST 2014


And look out if you are dropped into Windows 8 as the only available computer, nothing else to 
Google for help with.  I guarantee that you will get NOWHERE.

John W. Colby

Reality is what refuses to go away
when you do not believe in it

On 2/25/2014 7:51 PM, Doug Steele wrote:
> I have been the Windows go-to guy for several families and a couple of my
> old employers for many years.  I helped a friend buy a new laptop with
> Windows 8.0 on it last year.  I swear that I had the most frustrating two
> hours of my entire computer career when I turned that thing on and tried to
> get it working with Office.  I ended up stuck with full screen windows
> many, many times and had to keep re-booting to start again.
>
> I understand now what my problem was - expecting the Metro interface to be
> like yet another shallow shell on top of 'real' Windows.  But  for a while
> I was shrieking and cursing like never before.  I notice now that my
> friend, who is not exactly a power user, switches to the Windows desktop as
> soon as she can, and hardly ever uses the Metro interface.
>
> Just as a contrast, I will never forget watching my 90 year old father pick
> up my new iPad and instantly figure out,  with no help from me, how to use
> it productively.
>
> Doug
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 1:50 PM, Jim Lawrence <accessd at shaw.ca> wrote:
>
>> Hi Arthur:
>>
>> I see Windows 8.x as a great user computer...but in a full office
>> environment it becomes hard to use.
>>
>> My thought is, "Why should the system have to be adapted to?", with all
>> sorts of third-party apps just so it becomes business friendly. People, in
>> an office, need a number of applications open just to do their work...for
>> around home and just play, Windows 8.x is great. But then the question has
>> to be asked then why not just get an iPad for home use?
>>
>> Back in the day, when Windows 95 was first introduced, the company I was
>> working for, put on a number of training sessions and these training
>> sessions were very well attended. We also went from office to office giving
>> training in certain programs. Introducing Windows was not a minor
>> task...but after a while  people just got-it. Microsoft, in those days,
>> gave a number of open conferences for the tech and user community. Again,
>> they were well attended. It is amazing how quickly everyone forgets just
>> how hard it was introducing the new windows and the new Office. The UI did
>> not appear obvious to all but everyone really wanted to learn.
>>
>> Today it is a similar problem but this time the average user, or anyone
>> for that matter, is on their own and must figure out things by themselves.
>> What results is that a few figure some way to do something, other figure
>> out another way and some just quit as there are many simple alternatives,
>> that just work.
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Arthur Fuller" <fuller.artful at gmail.com>
>> To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving" <
>> accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
>> Sent: Tuesday, 25 February, 2014 12:05:27 PM
>> Subject: Re: [AccessD] Ramblings of a nutcase
>>
>> IMHO, you folks are all pussies and refuse to see what's great about
>> Windows 8. With the proviso that you download and install ClassicShell
>> (google it). This free tool goes a long way toward making Windows 8
>> palatable for old-timers. In fact it goes further than that; it's smarter
>> and better than the old classic start menu.
>>
>> Even without this wonderful tool, there are a few key things you can do to
>> smarten up your startup tile UI: most notably, you can drag the tiles into
>> an arrangement of your choice, and also create groups of tiles containing
>> associated programs (i.e. a Media group, a SQL group, etc. And most
>> significantly, you can drag your most frequently-visited programs to the
>> top left of the tile groups. In my tile setup, the first tile is Desktop. I
>> have two monitors and the desktop opens on the large monitor. I also make
>> extensive use of the QuickLaunch bar, and the programs soon learn which
>> monitor they should load on.
>>
>> That custom setup accomplished, you are now in a position to see some of
>> the startup, performance and memory management advantages of Windows 8.1. I
>> can only say that I'd never consider going back to Windows 7. I still have
>> a copy of it, but it's on a separate box entirely, and I find myself using
>> that box less and less -- just for large downloads and for running Ubuntu
>> Linux.
>>
>> I have one more customization of the Win 8.1 laptop planned. I recently
>> read a net piece on how to hook up two external monitors to a laptop.
>> That's next. I'll have three monitors, two external and the laptop monitor.
>> That will be very cool.
>>
>> My $0.02.
>>
>> Arthur
>> --
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>> AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
>> http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
>> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com
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>> http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
>> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com
>>


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