To hate Windows 8 with the whole of my heart ..... and more .....

[lookoveryourshouldernow]

My system has just automatically upgraded on my PC and wiped my drivers etc etc - and it no longers functions. Rolling back doesn't seem to help as I now have a blank screen on re-booting...

I have hated it from day one and I hate even more as I can't do anything.... It was impossible to build back up discs from Day 1 and had to get a a set from the PC supplier - if i use those now I shall loose everything...

I do hope that whoever designed this pile of C**P has a very uncomfortable couple of days as I shall be "projecting nasty thoughts"......
as I try to rebuild my PC - pull off my photos and important contacts and roll back to at least Windows 7.....

Apparently in the next couple of months windows 8.1 is coming out. Turning it less like tablet form and more to what windows 7 is like.

The way it is at the moment is utter crud.

Dh bought me a new comp for Christmas. I hate hate hate it, have given up on it and gone back to using my old one which has Xp on it. I either use that or iPad. I will wait and see what the update does, if its not good enough for me I will sell my new one .

I like it! But then my old laptop was vista so my standards are spectacularly low

I uninstalled all the crappy windows stuff straight away and also have office 365 installed and no problems so far with that, although I don't know how much the subscription will cost to renew yet. iTunes works fine and I use Mozilla which works well with 8.

I like the new start screen instead of a button and I think once you get your head around the fact that start screen is the button now it makes more sense iyswim.

I changed to a Mac after 20 years f Windows!

My last stupid windows laptop only lasted 2 years, hope to get more use out of my Apple !

The only tip I have about Windows 8 is that the pointer/mouse settings can be changed so that you don't have to avoid the edges of the screen. It's in Control Panel, and listed as whichever touchpad/mouse device you have - there are a list of options there to select.

Settings>Control Panel>(whichever device you have)>Enable Edge Swipes.

Download Classic Shell - it makes Windows 8 act like Windows 7, and it's the only thing that's stopped my brand new laptop going out of the window! AND it gives you the Start button back. For free.

I think it speaks volumes that DH's cousin (Intel Exec) and the IT and computer support help people we know are all bashing it, and the ones looking to buy a new computer are holding off until something other than Windows 8 comes out.

Completely agree, so relieved as I'm not very technologically gifted so always assume any computer problem is down to me! Now I know I'm not alone!

It's almost as if they did no consumer testing whatsoever. And yet I know they offer beta versions to the public for quite an extended period of time. What went wrong?

It was the charms bar that really got on my nerves - both name and function, urgh.

Classic shell or Start8 can save your sanity :-)

I tried Vista, hated it and went back to XP.

Same. Im on my old cranking pc as my laptop which I got for birthday already installed with W8-well apart for the fact i cant make head or tail of it, it wont let me into the internet, keep getting 'not responding' the WHOLE time. driving me mad.

Hatie, Thank you so much for the Classic Shell tip! Windows 8 makes sense again.

Now if i can just find what Tapir is talking about...

Spider

Move your pointer over to the top right hand corner of the screen - you'll get the menu bar come up - the bottom icon is for settings etc - click on that, then click on Control Panel. It should bring up a screen with a load of different icons (about your computer). Your interface device (ie your mouse, or touchpad) will be on there - click on it and it will show you all the options that you can have/switch off (like two fingered scrolling etc).

Pm me if you can't find it, I'll see if I can talk you through it

Hate hate hate it. After two days of screens disappearing every time I moved my finger because of the sodding swiping, I googled 'hate windows 8' and found how to turn the swiping off. Otherwise my new laptop would have gone through the window! Then after the first month all the windows office cruelly disappeared and I had to (ahem) acquire office again. THEN it had me in tears trying to work out how to print. And the charms! Fucking charms, what is that meant to be about? What was wrong with a start button if you wanted to y'know, start something??

Does anyone know if you can have windows 8 taken off and Xp installed. I would be happy then

whewre can you get classic shell from? and as mummylin says, any other way of taking it off if its already installed and made for windows 8?

friends who got me laptop said guy in pcworld was all over the 'get windows 8' thing and was giving all the techno spiel about it!

You can probably go into your local PC specialist and get him to wipe the disc and install XP as your preferred OS. Use your search engine of choice to find your local independent shop.

My local computer guy is awesome! It's hard to even get him to charge me for the silly little things I ask him to do. If anyone is in Oldham and wants a recommendation, pm me.

I hate it so much!! bought a brand new laptop in Feb. I was quite excited about win 8 but OMG!! it's been a real nightmare.
I use my laptop to work and it has made it hell! I get frustrated with it constantly.
I loved hotmail but it upgraded to Outlook inbox which is crap...Opens document with software I have not installed.. The worse is the win8 applications that keep opening up randomly!! I sent a really nasty email to Ms but never got a reply..

I hate it, DH also hates it but won't admit it cause he insisted on getting the bastard thing Random pop up clock is the bane of my life.

I love vista.

Hate window 8 my mums PC drives me insane

Whilst I really feel for all of you hating it and having to put up with it, I'm glad of this thread because it's just solidifed my decision to get a new laptop with 7 instead of 8. I was wobbling a bit in the decision because I haven't actually tried 8, I'm quite technologically apt and choosing 7 limits my choices for laptops a lot, but having so many people state they hate it is a good reminder of why I'm doing it! If you have to install workarounds for a freaking OS, it's just not worth it.

have just realised I've got 7 not 8 so disregard my nonsense :)

I got a brand new PC recently ... a company one, we develop software. It is, of course, Windows 7. DH got one a while ago...he wasn't due to upgrade but realised that if he was quick he could still get windows 7. Good decision.

Of course, if I want to do real work on the machine I power up my Linux VM

Office stopping working after a month is nothing to do with Windows 8 - it's that you now get a trial version instead of the full one - but it'd be the same if you bought a Windows 7 one. Also Hotmail changing to outlook isn't Windows 8 either.

I like my new touchscreen windows 8 PC, but maybe that's because I've been doing most of my stuff on an iPad for the last year, so I'm used to swiping between screens. I do tend to go back to the desktop to use Internet explorer as I prefer that version to the fullscreen one you get from the Start screen.

DH doesn't like the Start screen on his (non touchscreen) laptop - he likes the desktop, so I've set up a shortcut to the apps on his desktop, so he never has to leave it.
Right-click on an empty part of your desktop, select New > Shortcut, and type Explorer Shell:AppsFolder in the "Location" box. Click Next, enter a name - "All Programs", for instance - and click Finish. Double-clicking that shortcut will open a folder listing all your installed programs, including the apps, and you can launch whatever you like.