1st Experience with Windows 8

[cmaMath13]

I had to laugh the other day. I installed Win8, and before I installed one of the utils that bypasses the stock Metro screen (or, whatever it's called), I asked my wife to come in and see what she thought. She took one look, paused, and said "Cool. I can figure that out." This from the most non-tech person I know. I actually expected her to holler "What the hell? What is that?" I seems she already knew. Still trying to figure out what to make of that.

I think this is the very reason Microsoft is moving in this direction. Not all of us are power users. Plus, one key to Apples success is to make products that are easy to work with.

Hope it continues to go well for you.

 

[cmaMath13]

Another recent switcher here, went from XP to Win8 last week. I used the updater from XP 32bit and had a hard time upgrading to 64bit. The only way I could figure out how to do it was to buy the upgrade, then make a temp install of 64bit from a disk, then redownload the customized ISO.

Any good resources to make the switch easier? I'm getting better but finding settings and navigating around seems to be taking longer than it should be.

If you look back at my original post, the download of Windows 8 was on a WinXP machine. It automatically installed the 32-bit version on that computer. All is fine on that computer. Like I mentioned, it seems much zipper now.

Sorry that I don't have more info for going from WinXP32 to Win8 64.

 

[zerocool84]

Only things I miss are Aero and the start button, not a fan of Metro being forced on you but I understand why they did it. Also don't like that you have to dig to get into a lot of the settings. Other than that it's pretty much the same Windows like before. Definitely faster too so I'm liking it.

 

[cmaMath13]

Only things I miss are Aero and the start button, not a fan of Metro being forced on you but I understand why they did it. Also don't like that you have to dig to get into a lot of the settings. Other than that it's pretty much the same Windows like before. Definitely faster too so I'm liking it.

That's good feedback! Thanks!

 

[zokudu]

I've been really enjoying Windows 8. Even without Start8 if you take 5 minutes to setup the Start Screen in an understandable manner it works very well. Well worth the $40 I paid for it.

 

[Kerry56]

Classic Shell makes it easy to use. I'm virtually never in the new gui.

I have found a handful of programs that don't work well in Win 8. Mostly media players and video editing tools.

 

[cmaMath13]

I've been really enjoying Windows 8. Even without Start8 if you take 5 minutes to setup the Start Screen in an understandable manner it works very well. Well worth the $40 I paid for it.

That is exactly how I felt about it!

 

[cmaMath13]

I just upgraded my laptop to Windows 8 last night. Again, super easy process. Setting up sync right now.

 

[SilentRunning]

Once I figured out after pinning the Control Panel to the taskbar you can pin Windows Update, Administrative Tools, Device Manager, etc to the Control Panel (available with a right click) all was good. The one gripe I still have is getting to the power button (if I could right click Control Panel and have a Power Button I would be a happy camper.)

 

[cmaMath13]

I use the right charm to power down or go to sleep mode. Is that what you are doing?

 

[SilentRunning]

I use the right charm to power down or go to sleep mode. Is that what you are doing?

Yes, Charm Bar > Settings > Power > Shutdown

I understand why it was hidden that deep on the right hand side for (right handed) touch users but it just enough of a change to be annoying with a mouse.

 

[notposting]

I don't have much of a need for it (4 machines running W7, 3 Pro and 1 Home, plus a WHS v1), but it intrigues me. Granted I've been using Windows Media Center for years, have a Windows Phone, Xbox 360...so I'm pretty well invested in the ecosystem. I will probably wait until Windows 9 comes along

Mostly out of the fact that we don't need it, aren't upgrading any machines, etc etc. Our laptop is getting ready to die though, so may end up with anyway...and I would love a touchscreen on a laptop. Couch browsing with touchscreen, but keyboard if needed? Yes, please.