Why I Still Use Windows 7 After a Year of Trying to Like Windows 8

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IMHO,I agree with this article;http://www.howtogeek.com/145984/why-i-still-use-windows-7-after-a-year-of-trying-to-like-windows-8/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=120413

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I feel exactly the same way BUT, I kind of also want the Start interface to be available, like bonus software that’s offered as an incentive for major software purchases, so I can check on it from time to time, like I do with LINUX, and some day, who knows, it might mature enough or be compelling enough for me to actually consider using it. The modern screen and apps are just overlays anyway, much like Media Center for Windows is. I know this because when I was using W8 I got exactly the same sluggish response when trying to use either in remote desktop, while the desktop itself was normal. For instance one video played on WMC, Video app, and WMP; WMC and Video app, slow, choppy and dropping frames. WMP on the desktop, normal, just a few dropped frames (skips) here and there.

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The Modern Screen is not entirely just an overlay. Some parts of User Accounts, for example, can only be modified through the Settings App, and not through Control Panel from the Desktop.

That’s one of the reasons I’m still tinkering with getting Windows 8 setup the same way I have Windows 7 setup. There are a few more tentacles that need to be taken care of in Windows 8. But I’m getting there…

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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I’m sure you would know better than me about the particulars. I just know that testing an OS in a VM over Remote Desktop will not determine much, but, it will strip away any so-called performance enhancements if they are nothing more than smoke and mirror type stuff. Booting differences evaporate, all Apps run as if they are layered in on top like WMC always has, and the un-Aero Glass desktop and applications ARE as fast and responsive, if not more so, than a Windows 7 desktop in VM over RD.

Along with Shutdown not really being Shutdown, but rather Hybrid Shutdown to enable Fast Boot; seems there is not so much totally rewritten and bold as there is rearrangement and obfuscation of properties that have been present for years. Kudos to MS for getting it to work reliably, but enough with the ‘pay no attention to the wizard behind the curtain’ stuff already.

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The following is from the HowToGeek article referenced by to OP

I Don’t Want to Live in the Microsoft Ecosystem – Windows 8’s Modern interface takes us to a place where being a Windows user means using Bing, SkyDrive, and Xbox Live, playing mobile games from the Windows Store, buying music from Xbox Music, and renting videos from Xbox Video. If you use an online calendar, it better be Microsoft’s, because Windows 8 can’t sync with Google Calendar anymore. The Video app is more focused on selling me videos than letting me play the videos I already own. Do most Windows users really want this? I want to use Google, Steam, Rdio, Netflix, and whatever other services I prefer. I want to choose services based on their own merits, not be shoehorned into any one company’s ecosystem or forced to choose services with Modern apps. Many popular services, like iTunes, don’t have any Modern Windows 8 apps.

And this is Microsoft’s “transitional” Operating System. The desktop has been “deprecated”. At some point they are not going to include the desktop at all.

Things have to move forward. Over the years they have dropped support for 8-bit and 16-bit. at some point they will drop support for 32-bit. The have changed their hard drive interfaces to support larger hard drives. I don’t think that dropping the desktop is moving forward.

For now I don’t have to do anything. Windows 7 is fine, and will be for years to come. I have started getting familiar with Linux desktop distributions. I am already familiar with CentOS and Red Hat server distributions with command line interface. I am having a hard time deciding between KDE and Gnome, but by the time I actually go to Linux for my desktop, it will probably be some other choice anyway.

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10-4! For those of us out here in deep water, the tsunami wave that is Win 8 is nothing more than a gentle rise as it goes by. I would like to see new desktop PC’s ubiquitously offered with choice between 7 and 8 to ease the blow on shore but I can only control what I can control right?

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MS would have done well to have fully developed a separate device operating system instead of combining them.
One operating system DOES NOT & cannot fit all.

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If you use an online calendar, it better be Microsoft’s, because Windows 8 can’t sync with Google Calendar anymore.

Is that statement correct? Does it apply in all browsers, or perhaps only in the Metro version of IE, or only in a Metro app?

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If it’s an app, it’s probably completely inept, almost all the ones I tried were. However in this case Google Sync is end of life so things are changing regardless of Metro support.

I see this from the notice though so…access doesn’t mean sync but…

Update on January 30, 2013 for Windows Phone users: Windows Phone users can continue to set up new device connections with Google Sync through July 31, 2013. Windows 8 and Windows RT users can access Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts through their browsers.[/COLOR]

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After nine months, of running all the Beta Test versions of Win-8 that came out during that time, I’m far from being a Win-8 expert, but I do have some insights into the OS.

It was a total POC till the Classic Shell made its appearance. Being a moderator on a Win-8 forum, I got to see all the posts, both good and bad about the program. They ran the whole gamete, from the positive to the VERY Negative.
The one sticking point was the total lack of HP drivers. I don’t know if that’s been rectified or not, because the day that Win-8 was released in it’s full retail version, I deleted it from my test drive and quit the Win-8 forum.

On a home computer, with NO touch screen, NO start button and NO Start Menu, it was pretty worthless.

Cheers Mates!
The Doctor

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I disagree. With Classic Shell, you can disable the hot spots and bring back the Start Menu if you prefer it over the Start Screen. You can boot to the desktop as well if you want to totally avoid the Modern interface. With Classic Shell in place, you have a faster Windows 7 (or XP) with a few improvements like a better Task Manager. HP drivers are available for some printers. My ancient Laserjet 2100 runs just fine on Windows 8. Check the HP site for your specific printer.

I’ve set up Windows 8 with Classic Shell for a couple of clients and they seem to be happy with it. Check the Stickies for this forum for some good tips for using Windows 8.

Jerry

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Who are you disagreeing with Jerry? Surely not Dr. Who since he agrees that Classic Shell is a must with Win 8. I actually prefer it to the Win 7 start menu now that it’s been developed into a very customizable program since I first started using it here and there. I’ve never liked scrolling the program folders in a contained window no matter how infrequent I use it, and the grand unfurling of the XP style suits me perfectly. Also, something that has always been a bit of a nag to figure out in successive Windows releases, restart and shutdown from remote desktop, CS treats me like an adult who knows what he’s doing!

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I disagree that Classic Shell is a must with Windows 8 for me, for the rest that is up to them. For me and mine, Windows 8 is a must with touch also a must. Partial with a touch pad designed for some 8 gestures, or full with a tablet or touch screen.

I would think most would be disappointed that Windows 8 is identical to using Windows 7 if you press one click on the desktop icon on the Windows 8 start screen. Instead of everyone telling how they know it or used it from 2010 and the first developer’s preview like I did, how about those in the know telling folks how much better the search in charms is on 8 than 7, and that powering off or restarts from charm settings click power, and select shut down, logout, or restart. Just the same as XP and 7. They used one click on the start button, one click on the right arrow to get the choices of restart, log off or shut down depending on how the setup was done initially. Personally I avoided the start button except for shutting down or restarting. I had all m y programs on the desktop just like Windows 8 does on their start screen.

Folks, the Windows 8 start screen is nothing but an always open start button! And in desktop mode as well as in windows 7 I have my most used programs always available on the taskbar quick start toolbar as buttons.

I am here to tell you I used it from the first developer’s preview, consumer’s preview, and release preview. I tested it on my desktop hardware using spare drives, even on my netbook using Drive images to go back and forth. I even had my laptop as designated test bed for 8, my first Crucial M4 SSD, etc.

Now this is important. I do not care how expert you are or claim to be, how many years you have been in IT professionally, how many operating systems you have been through, how much money you have or do not have, until you have a full touch tablet for Windows 8, you don’t know 8.

I didn’t until I got full Windows 8 touch tablet, the HP Envy X2. I am 60 and been in computers using promenade EPROM programming boards since the early 80’s in every major OS except OSX. I used the first Mac which was different in hardware and OS.

I was shocked at how much more is there. I am still testing the Logitech T650 touchpad for Windows 8 and am disappointed that it does not go all the way but gets me 75% to all the functions of 8 in touch when using a desktop.

Funny thing is when I dock the tablet and make it a laptop, I do not touch the screen and use the clickpad like a non touch laptop or desktop. In other words reaching to the screen is much more awkward to me than reaching from the keyboard to a mouse.

I started out this year with three desktops all running Windows 7, a laptop running 7, a netbook running XP3 with an 8 inch screen, and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 running ICS. I took advantage of the $14.99 offer of Windows 8 Pro and free Windows Media Center licenses for all three desktops and the laptop which all were fairly new. The Netbook did not have the resolution, and the Galaxy was Android as our smart-phones still are.

After a rough start with 8 and a lot of shuffling around we now are stabilized with new gear. Gone are the Netbook I used for travel, and my laptop test bed. Also sold is the Galaxy Tab 10.1. We still have two Galaxy smartphones.

Our new home hardware software which includes three desktops, one currently running windows 8, and two with 7, one of those soon to go back to Windows 8. I bought a new HP Envy X2 Hybrid full Windows 8 Ultrabook/tablet, and a new to us one month old Surface RT tablet with keyboard.

Perfect for us setup. There are more apps than we will ever use for Windows already. I prefer using the apps on the tiles start screen to using the ones on the desktop except when I need to use MS Office and do email which I use Outlook for. I love the IE10 touch app much better than the program on desktop. Gestures intuitive and faster with full touch.

I am happier on my desktop computer with 8 with the Logitech t650 touchpad for Windows 8. For 49 bucks on Amazon that is the way to go instead of buying a touch screen or missing out on at least part of the touch and gesture capabilities.

I will likely get a 13″ Yoga as my desktop replacement in a year or two but for now my wall mounted 24″ HD monitors and quad core i5, and AMD A10 quads are fast enough for us. My wife will likely stay with Windows 7 because of the Intuit programs still not liking 8 enough.

I upgrade my systems every two years so that they retain some value for resale keeping just behind the early adopters in some cases, like this year.

Oh and contrary to the others, I love the Surface RT tablet as long as one uses Gmail or the new online outlook from MS that replaced Hotmail like my wife has. The Surface is a terrific tablet with benefits. ( Word, Excel, PP, One Note included) I bought my Surface before I learned the touch features and made the mistake of thinking it was a computer not a tablet only. Now with a full Windows 8 tablet computer I realize the Surface is like the Galaxy, but with Office. It does not have the drawback of Google intrusiveness into privacy. Nor does it cause any learning curves as now our tablets and computers, and soon phones too, will all be Windows 8 or RT. Google and Apple don’t have a unified ecosphere at all. Microsoft does.

It just works folks.

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I’ve used touch. I don’t care for touch. I don’t even like the touchpad on my laptop; I have a wireless mouse instead. It doesn’t matter what touch has to offer, I don’t really care, since I won’t be using it anyway. I like hugs and handshakes and petting a dog or a cat or a horse. For a PC, I want a mouse and a keyboard. Period.

I have a non-smart phone that has a touch screen – I don’t like it, either, but to get the features I need to use, I couldn’t find a model of phone from any manufacturer that didn’t have a touch screen.

They’re great for McDonald’s, and they’re great for running a pumping system, but those things for which I use a PC are far removed from McDonald’s, and touch just doesn’t cut it, not even close.

For me, it just doesn’t work.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Now this is important. I do not care how expert you are or claim to be, how many years you have been in IT professionally, how many operating systems you have been through, how much money you have or do not have, until you have a full touch tablet for Windows 8, you don’t know 8.

Quite probably true. However, I do know enough now about the structure and purpose and shortcomings of apps and a touch interface to know it can never hope to be a great unifying force for all forms of computing. That is as ridiculous as the prospect of reversing the proposition; that of implementing a full desktop interface on a 5″ smart phone.

Else there should not be such a controversy…and this is a royal one!

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Quite probably true. However, I do know enough now about the structure and purpose and shortcomings of apps and a touch interface to know it can never hope to be a great unifying force for all forms of computing. That is as ridiculous as the prospect of reversing the proposition; that of implementing a full desktop interface on a 5″ smart phone.

Else there should not be such a controversy…and this is a royal one!

F.U.N.
Agreed! That is why they made it with the touch interface, and the desktop. And an RT version that like Android can be modified by the vendor as they prefer it to be. I never said that touch was the only way to use 8. Perhaps I was too subtle. Which apps specifically are you saying you know the shortcomings to FUN, and what specifically bothers you about them/it? Specifically.

Everybody knows enough or has tried it? I tried it too in the store. Owning using and getting experienced with it is the only way to know. Read all the bad press about the Electric Tesla Model S. Then read the reviews by the folks who professionally tested it and those who own it.

bbearren you said
“They’re great for McDonald’s, and they’re great for running a pumping system, but those things for which I use a PC are far removed from McDonald’s, and touch just doesn’t cut it, not even close.

For me, it just doesn’t work.”

I agree that you don’t want touch. Do you agree that Windows 8 was designed for touch, but smartly kept a desktop for the folks liker you who don’t want or need to change? Can you not buy Windows 7 new machines yet or build them and add it and avoid the touch designed version of Windows completely? Why get 8 at all? At least now?

I don’t need touch folks. It is just a new fun toy and gadget. I have owned desktops only versions since the first PCs and almost bought a PC junior running Intergalactic Digital Research’s C/PM. The PC Junior failed. They intro’d the PC with the option for cheaper MSDOS, and that made it since 1981.

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Why get 8 at all? At least now?

As I’ve said in some other threads, my main reason for getting Windows 8 was to familiarize myself with it in order to be able to help the friends and clients who get stuck with it. But I wouldn’t have bought it at full price. I dual boot Windows 7/8 on both my desktop and laptop. I’ve been using 8 off and on since October, and I’ve run some comparisons on both machines of the performance of 8 vs 7. There’s hardly any difference, certainly not enough to justify buying Windows 8.

Windows 7 picks up my wireless network faster than Windows 8, and it also finds my NAS on Ethernet faster. I can hibernate my laptop in Windows 7, wake it up and get online as soon as I log in. With the same procedure in Windows 8, I have to wait for 8 to find the network. I haven’t seen any Apps that I would use at all, so that side of Windows 8 is completely wasted to me. I use StartIsBack and boot directly to the desktop, but I have yet to install any productivity software on Windows 8.

I’m not impressed with Search, but I hardly ever search. I have my own organizational system that I’ve developed over the years, and I know where my files are. Very few of my files are in the standard Windows locations. My Outlook files are not in the ProgramData folder. My pictures have their own partition, as do my music and video files. I don’t use libraries at all. I’ve edited the registry in Windows 7 to get rid of them.

I wouldn’t use Windows 8 straight up, I’d modify it like I did XP and then Windows 7, to run the way I want them to, outside the Windows box. And for now, Windows 8 is just a toy, and I’m slowly working on carving it up and stitching it back together the way I want to run. Until I get that worked out, I’m just tinkering with it. There’s simply not enough improvement over Windows 7 to make getting Windows 8 ready for me a priority. My Windows 7 is my OS of choice.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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