Windows 8?

[Ducatiboy stu]

If you do end up getting Win8 you need to buy a program called Start8

Yes you have to BUY it.....something you dont have to do with linux

As for OpenOffice, now LibreOffice the compatability is actually with M$ Office. Same with IE. Microsoft dont like sticking to standards. There view is that the rest of the world should be compatibil with M$.

Fuckem.

 

[Cube]

Good suggestion, however I'd add a AppleTV to go with it. Sorted.

Get a Macbook air and a screen adapter.

Sorted.



h34r:



EDIT: Someone had to suggest the best.

 

[lukiferj]

I have been using windows 8 for a while and I have no dramas. Use it for a mix between apps amd regular desktop applications. Both my kids and wife use their laptops as well with no dramas. It will get better

 

[lukiferj]

Cant edit previous post - it will get better as more apps become available. I run a home server as a nas and have 3 android tvs that run xbmc. Have no dramas sharing content between all devices.

 

[GalBrew]

Windows 8 is just awful when run on a non tablet. I have it on my laptop and it is just a big bag of ****. No start button/menu and it wants to use the stupid apps for everything rather than the software I would like to use.

 

[lukiferj]

I dont understand the drams people have with no start menu. Press thr windows key and stsrt typing what you want you want to open. No different in that regard to windows 7 except that the start menu is displayed more graphically.

 

[GalBrew]

What if I can't remember what the exact name of the program is? I have long transitioned from being 'into' computers to not giving half a **** and just wanting to be able to do the work I need to on them. I bought my current laptop last year to finish my PhD thesis when my previous laptop packed it in. I was on a 2 week deadline and needless to say I was not impressed when presented with Windows 8 and it's funky apps. Took me a couple of hours to realise that if any work was going to be done I needed to download a start menu program and get back to work. I have had to endure ME, Vista and now 8. Not impressed.

 

[lukiferj]

Maybe its just me, I work in IT, but I have never had an issue remembering what program I was trying open. Not trying to be condescending here by the way. Every other version you have kind of had to know to fibd it in the menu anyway. I find its much quicker in 7 and especially 8 to start a program. I spend most of my time on the desktop too unless I'm on a tablet device but as a desktop OS it's still pretty solid. You dont need to use the wibdows 8 apps if you don't want too. Unless you want to upgrade to 8.1, then it's the only way to upgrade.

I have used unix/linux for years and still have to for some environments but windows is still hands down the best from an ease of use point of view.

ME was just 98 with a new IE and some minor updates. Vista was not much different from a user perspective except for ****** driver support which was not microsofts fault. The backend completely changed which is why there were so many issues.

I'm not pro/anti any OS but some are definitely more suited for different purposes.

 

[Flaminghedgehog]

Classicshell is a free start menu application that works well if you HAVE to go for Windows 8 (http://www.classicshell.net/).

Dell still sell have Win 7 Pro machines available on their web store under the "for work" heading (just tick the Win 7 box in column down LHS under operating system), or your local independent computer store should be able to knock one up for ya.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I have used unix/linux for years and still have to for some environments but windows is still hands down the best from an ease of use point of view.
.

I found Ubuntu heaps better than Windows to use, and I grew up on Xp. I had a bit of a go on a Win8 lappy and thought " **** me, this is worse than a Macbook. ". I still cant get my head around Macs yet.....there just to uber for me.

 

[lukiferj]

Yep. I don't touch macs. Don't get it at all. I actually hacked together a wireless driver for ubuntu/debian quite a few years ago because it didn't come by default. It was easy to download a Windows driver update at the time. 2 months later a new version of ubuntu came out with wireless by default. Still reckob windows is nuxh easier to use in general. Especially if you are swapping files between different OSes.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Dont see how win is easier for file swaping. At least linux supports different file systems.

Have the done anything about having to defrag & chkdisk regularly on Win8.

 

[niftinev]

My huge dinosaur box with nothing in it apart from a motherboard and lots of empty space runs on 7, which I love.

I have a really good 25 inch full HD monitor so don't want to go onto a laptop or tablet, but only have one legal copy of 7 that I want to remain on the dinosaur.

Interesting about HP, thanks for the suggestion, the wee box I'm talking about at Officeworks is the one I'm looking at, might enquire about getting a Win 7 version of it if available.

I use Open Office, just fine.

just get a key and run 7 again, there must be heaps of people around with keys they don't use or want

 

[lukiferj]

Dont see how win is easier for file swaping. At least linux supports different file systems.

Have the done anything about having to defrag & chkdisk regularly on Win8.

I dont see how different file systems make swapping any easier. And having to configure anything other than basic stuff on Linux requires some understanding of how the OS operates. And depending on what type of Linux you are using, the commands can be different.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Yeah it can be a PITA with different versions of linux.

When you say file swaping, what do you mean..? Are you talking about,say, putting onto a usb stick etc ? Is it because linux files dont allways the .xxx extension to files where as Windows does.

One good thing is that linux can read/write a Windows formated drive, but not as easy the otherway around

 

[pk.sax]

My friend has a win8 laptop from work and I was transferring the photos I took of their newborn onto that. We wanted to view a slideshow. Now, in all previous versions it has been intuitive, stuff like select the files and right click springs to mind. On win 8, no sir. We aren't that shortcut friendly. I had to search how to do a slideshow on my iphone before we managed to find the friggin button.

 

[shmang]

I bought a new laptop last may which came with windows 8. I took about a month to get use to the navigating around the OS.
After 7 months I was still happy with it, I had a few gripes with it but it was all stuff I could work around.
In late November I updated to windows 8.1, Now I really like it!!
It is very different to older versions of windows but a vast improvement over the last couple. The "Metro" tiles are still a bit strange, however I mostly run in the desktop screen which is very similar to the windows of yesteryear. Its very stable and not to heavy on the processing side of things.
I would recommend getting as much RAM as possible, it makes fr a much nicer experience (I tried a low end model last week with less RAM and it got old very quick).
Still heaps of software out there for W8, not a lot of useful stuff in the windows app store though.
All said and done I'm very very happy with Windows 8.1

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Alas...the world will never be the same