can I come late to the party and say how much I hate Windows 8?

[carlajean]

I'm semi-computer literate and have just bought a new mid-range laptop after our previous one was stolen. I thought I hated it because it was an Acer, but no, it's Windows 8. I can't believe how awful it is. It seems to be designed for touch screen devices, but I'm not, and I really can't work out how to do so many things, or why certain things happen. Plus, it's so ugly and the charms, it makes me wince to think of the word.
Worst of all, unless you're a geek, or want to spend £££££s on an iPad, you have no choice. When Microsoft respond to criticism of this, they always point to how many have been sold, but very few people have a choice.

[NetworkGuy]

Agreed people are generally unable to get anything else - I was a late user of Windows 7 even, and if I was after another PC would look on Ebay for someone selling a Windows XP laptop/ desktop.

I have seen mention of tools to make it look more closely like Win 7, so can only suggest you do a bit of searching. However, it is perhaps wise to wait until after v8.1 has been released, and then allow some time (in case whatever options to "look like Win 7" need some changes to make them work with v8.1).

Yes, Windows 8 is aimed at touch screen (tablet) users. Think Microsoft got it wrong making it the 'standard' but then again, that's not the first time (think back to the disaster that was Windows Vista... OK, it worked, but was widely rejected by many big businesses, and that's why you could buy Windows XP on Dell systems for a number of years after it would normally have been unavailable... Microsoft were forced by demand to continue to provide and support it).

[NetworkGuy]

PS I have only come across Windows 8 through helping a client. He came back to his office in Wales to find that while he was away, the IT guy from London (who was meant to install Sage Accounts) had upgraded his (old, not Windows 8 compatible) system to Windows 8.

He rang me, basically saying "Help! What the &&%^* do I do with this thing?" (I had to read up on one computer before demonstrating via LogMeIn, how to do things for him.)

[letsgetreadytoramble]

I feel your pain. I'm stuck with it on our new laptop and I get the rage every time I try to do anything on it, even shut the blimming thing down. And I'm reasonably technology-savvy and not generally a rager.

[gloucestergirl]

I hate it too!

[DisappointedHorse]

I hate it and I work in IT. It took me 10 minutes to find control panel.

I think Microsoft will change it.

[MollyBerry]

I don't understand Windows 8 - you are not alone!!

[Chanatan]

Download Classic shell,this will give you a start button and start menu as in XP and windows 7.I very rarely see the metro screen only the traditional desktop.

[NetworkGuy]

Thanks Chanatan, for providing a link. Hope others find that useful.

[Trixybelle]

Chanatan that looks perfect. I hate it too. Actively avoid using the new laptop.

[Polpotsbabyteeth]

It's awful. I've had it 6 months and I still spend a portion of each day cursing under my breath and threatening my laptop death by jumping on it.

[bluebell234]

I tried to do system restore yesterday, it took ages, I had to give up in the middle.
I try to think, oh it is new, different, we may get used to it, like we did before with previous operating systems.
to me, the icons on the right hand side doesn't appear easily, I have to try around (put cursor top right, but still have probs)
before designing a new system, they should do survey first, what people want.
its like given to you for your trial and their repair.

[NetworkGuy]

I used iTunes to download a pile of podcasts and in among them was one from Which? *> play this link

[sapfu]

Tip: sellotape a post it note to the left half of the touch pad, this will stop the fucking crap popping up on the right of the screen whenever a minor draft crosses it.

And ffs 'charms' they're calling one wanky feature. Never come across anything so charmless in my life, and I've met Jim Davidson.

[Tapirbackrider]

I got a Windows 8 laptop for my birthday, and slowly got to grips with its shite-ness.

Today, though, I found out that the software doesn't include a dvd player. Apparently Microsoft believe that watching dvds is a thing of the past , so if you want a player you have to download one from their App Store.

I never made it to the film, as the app killed the OS, and I mean killed. Windows was no more - I had to recover the whole blardy thing and lost everything I had (after last back-up).

It is the most user unfriendly system I've ever used.

[chateauferret]

I've got an Acer and it's very nice. First thing I did with it was kick Windoze 8 off it and install Ubuntu. Turns out that this takes less time than just starting Windoze 8 for the first time.

DSIL got lost in that nasty blocky screen it gives you some months ago and hasn't been seen since.

[chateauferret]

You do not, BTW, need to be a geek to use Ubuntu. My 75-yo DM had little trouble, the only bit she couldn't manage was burning the disk image to a DVD (in Windoze 8!) so she sent off a fiver and got a disk mailed out. Oh and I did have to help set up her E-mail but that was also the case with her previous Windoze machine anyway.

[AliceinSlumberland]

I hate windows 8, I now use the shell pack and it looks very much like windows 7. It's opens straight to the desktop, skipping the stupid weird screen, and has a start bar with a start menu and a proper shut down button.

[carlajean]

Thanks for the advice chateauferret but, unless I had someone like you sitting at my left shoulder, there is no way I would consider doing what you suggest, as every time I've done something like that it's ended in a messy disaster, and I'm all alone, with no help. . It might be cowardice, but I think it's self-preservation.

[lovelychops]

Thanks for the tip sapfu I'm going to try the post it trick today. I can't fathom out why half the features exist and why Windows thought they'd be a good idea?

[mummylin2495]

I had windows 8 last Xmas from my dh. I cannot get used to it at all and have gone back to using my old XP one. There is nothing about it I like at all and find it all very confusing. If I could get XP on it I would do that.

[hometown38]

Well i am one who actually like windows 8 ...i like it a lot too !
It loads very quickly , is very fast too use .
I use aprogram called 'Start Is Back' to restore the windows7 start button and features and it workd flawlessly .
You can boot straight to the desktop , completely bypassing the Metro interface if you wish .

There are some great improvements in W8 such as the task manager which is vastly improved and i like the flat clean look of it too.
I took some time mind to learn my way around it , but now its pretty straight forward and works like a souped up W7.
One of the secrets to getting to grips with it is to strat using keyboard shortcuts , especially using the windows key . There are loads of tips online , plus lists of keyboard shortcuts .
The metro interface is easy to rearrange and its easy to switch betwwen the desktop and the metro / start screen .

I had great reservations about going to W8 but i am glad i did .
Windows 8.1 is out in about 8 days time which offers some improvements .
I wouldn't go back to W7 now .

[carlajean]

well, the saga continues. It appears that my hp printer is offline. I paid someone to sort it out, which they did, but it printed two jobs and went offline. Googling this issue it appears that lots of people have this problem, but, according to MS, it's HP's fault.

[whattherainknows]

There are a lot of good things in Windows 8 (better file transfer info, faster boot, better task manager) but the interface is shockingly bad for usability.

One thing I've done with my laptop is install an app called Start8 which gives you back a start menu, the thing I missed most. It costs a few ££ but is very cheap and has a 30 day trial. www.stardock.com/products/start8/

[whattherainknows]

Sorry forget to click convert links

www.stardock.com/products/start8/

[MooncupGoddess]

It's horrid. I've downloaded Classic Shell which helps a bit, but it's still really hard to swap between applications. I've been using various versions of Windows for 15 years and never had so many problems before.