More Than 3 Out of 4 Enthusiasts Reject Windows 8

Hi all,

New to this thread, long one but great read so far. I took a break at Pg 117, starting from the current page and working back as time permits.

I've been running Win 7 since May '10 which was, I think, about 7 months after it had been released for general use.

My OS history has been Win 95, 98, XP, and then 7.

As a Desktop user with a Laptop nearly identical to my Desktop PC, 7 has easily been my favorite Windows OS. The improvements in the Control Panel, with the "search" field, along with the overall search modes were a significant improvement from XP.

I read a brief AV discussion a few pages back on the thread. I'm currently running Norton 360 for about 5 months with no issues as yet. I've used 2 previous AV's, Trend Micro back in the Win '98 days, and then ESET in '10, when I first began running Win 7. ESET was disappointing, failing to block all effects of an intrusion.

I have a friend that's been running MacAfee for years without any intrusions on his PC. He's been running Win 7 for about the same time as me. I did read some posts about MacAfee being less than satisfactory. From what I've read around 'net forums. AV performances vary widely among users.

I have Defender activated but have been considering disabling it after reading similar posts at the Norton forum as what I've read here about Defender.

I also run MBAM Pro along with Norton 360. I haven't seen any issues with conflicts as yet. I feel better running a 2nd-opinion scanner live but I realize that (I think) conventional wisdom says that's not recommended.

I had a chance to play with Win 8 a few months ago at a computer store. My take on it was "so-so" but I much prefer Win 7 based on what I'd seen that day.

I'm a "keyboard shortcut" geek so one of the main questions that I'd have about Win 8 is with regards to the "metro" icons, fields, etc. If the traditional Windows shortcuts work in Win 8 (ie, Ctrl W closing most windows, or the old "alt-spacebar" keystroke showing the "file" menu) all work in Win 8 as with past Win OS'es, then that would be one important point I'd consider if or when I feel compelled to install Win 8.

With regards to the "Start button" discussion Win 8 vs 7, I'm in the camp where I think Win 8 should have included that in their release although it appears that 8.1 will be including that in the upcoming release.

I use the Start menu occasionally but am not a frequent user of the menu. I'm running "Autohotkey", a script tool that I use to map hotkeys so that's how I launch my daily programs, 'net sites, etc.

I rarely use the mouse on my Desktop PC. If I'm able to do that with Win 8.1, then I guess I could live with that OS but I think I'll be using Win 7 for a long time, or as long as my Desktop PC lives.

The other question that I have, when comparing Win 7 to 8, is regarding the Registry in general.

Is Win 8 radically different than Win 7 in the Registry? I rarely have reasons to edit it, but there are 2 registry values that are important to me in Win 7, where I modified them.

The first registry is the "alt-tab" order value, where I edited the Win 7 value to revert to "XP" behavior with the "alt-tab" action. Since Win 7 installed with the default "Desktop" icon within alt-tab, along with the "aero" style icon appearances in alt-tab, I added a registry value to revert to XP.

The other registry value that's important to me is the "unattended wakeup timeout" value, where the user can change the default 120-second timeout to any value as required:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\238C9FA8-0AAD-41ED-83F4-97BE242C8F20\7bc4a2f9-d8fc-4469-b07b-33eb785aaca0\DefaultPowerSchemeValues

Registry Key Power Plan
381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e Balanced
8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c High performance
a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a Power saver

Are the Power Plan/timeout values the same with Win 8 vs Win 7?

Scoop said:

Hi all,

New to this thread, long one but great read so far. I took a break at Pg 117, starting from the current page and working back as time permits.

I've been running Win 7 since May '10 which was, I think, about 7 months after it had been released for general use.

My OS history has been Win 95, 98, XP, and then 7.

As a Desktop user with a Laptop nearly identical to my Desktop PC, 7 has easily been my favorite Windows OS. The improvements in the Control Panel, with the "search" field, along with the overall search modes were a significant improvement from XP.

I read a brief AV discussion a few pages back on the thread. I'm currently running Norton 360 for about 5 months with no issues as yet. I've used 2 previous AV's, Trend Micro back in the Win '98 days, and then ESET in '10, when I first began running Win 7. ESET was disappointing, failing to block all effects of an intrusion.

I have a friend that's been running MacAfee for years without any intrusions on his PC. He's been running Win 7 for about the same time as me. I did read some posts about MacAfee being less than satisfactory. From what I've read around 'net forums. AV performances vary widely among users.

I have Defender activated but have been considering disabling it after reading similar posts at the Norton forum as what I've read here about Defender.

I also run MBAM Pro along with Norton 360. I haven't seen any issues with conflicts as yet. I feel better running a 2nd-opinion scanner live but I realize that (I think) conventional wisdom says that's not recommended.

I had a chance to play with Win 8 a few months ago at a computer store. My take on it was "so-so" but I much prefer Win 7 based on what I'd seen that day.

I'm a "keyboard shortcut" geek so one of the main questions that I'd have about Win 8 is with regards to the "metro" icons, fields, etc. If the traditional Windows shortcuts work in Win 8 (ie, Ctrl W closing most windows, or the old "alt-spacebar" keystroke showing the "file" menu) all work in Win 8 as with past Win OS'es, then that would be one important point I'd consider if or when I feel compelled to install Win 8.

With regards to the "Start button" discussion Win 8 vs 7, I'm in the camp where I think Win 8 should have included that in their release although it appears that 8.1 will be including that in the upcoming release.

I use the Start menu occasionally but am not a frequent user of the menu. I'm running "Autohotkey", a script tool that I use to map hotkeys so that's how I launch my daily programs, 'net sites, etc.

I rarely use the mouse on my Desktop PC. If I'm able to do that with Win 8.1, then I guess I could live with that OS but I think I'll be using Win 7 for a long time, or as long as my Desktop PC lives.

The other question that I have, when comparing Win 7 to 8, is regarding the Registry in general.

Is Win 8 radically different than Win 7 in the Registry? I rarely have reasons to edit it, but there are 2 registry values that are important to me in Win 7, where I modified them.

The first registry is the "alt-tab" order value, where I edited the Win 7 value to revert to "XP" behavior with the "alt-tab" action. Since Win 7 installed with the default "Desktop" icon within alt-tab, along with the "aero" style icon appearances in alt-tab, I added a registry value to revert to XP.

The other registry value that's important to me is the "unattended wakeup timeout" value, where the user can change the default 120-second timeout to any value as required:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\238C9FA8-0AAD-41ED-83F4-97BE242C8F20\7bc4a2f9-d8fc-4469-b07b-33eb785aaca0\DefaultPowerSchemeValues

Registry Key Power Plan
381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e Balanced
8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c High performance
a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a Power saver

Are the Power Plan/timeout values the same with Win 8 vs Win 7?

I do not use Defender and never have. I also do not use Norton or MBAM. I use Avast Internet Security. AS for your question on the Win 8 registry, I don't know. I see that MS has a Public Preview. I will pas on that as I like 7 and for the reason below:

Important
If you decide that you want to install Windows 8.1 Preview using the ISO, you won't be able to uninstall it. If you decide to go back to your previous operating system, you'll need to reinstall it using the recovery or installation media that came with your PC, which is typically DVD media. If you're running Windows 8 and you don't have recovery media, you might be able to create a USB recovery drive. If you're running Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP and you don’t have recovery media, you might be able to create it from a recovery partition on your PC using software provided by your PC manufacturer. Check the support section of your PC manufacturer’s website for more information. After you install Windows 8.1 Preview, you won’t be able to use the recovery partition on your PC to go back to your previous version of Windows.

Source

Lady Fitzgerald said:

I was actually impressed with some of the improvements but they are too little too late. The UI is still too clunky for desktops. Even though one can now list all their programs, it's still harder to read than the simple lists available in Win7 and earlier. The search feature, even though it is much better than Win 7's, is clunkier than menus and not of much use if you can't remember what it is you are looking for, something easy to have happen if one has a lot of files. When I built my present desktop back in February, I bought two retail copies of Win 7 Ultimate and one of Home Premium. Had Win 8 started out with what it will have now, I might have considered it instead but, after that initial disaster, I've made the commitment to stay with Win 7 until its last dying gasp, same as I decided to stay with XP when Vista was thrust upon us. For the same reason, I upgraded to Office 2010 from 2007 to ensure I would have an office suite that would be usable through the lifespan of Win 7. I don't really care now how good Win 8 may become because I'm not wasting time and money replacing an OS, software, and hardware that are presently meeting my desktop needs.

Same here, declined Vista & stayed with XP until I bought a custom-built PC with 7.

I'm still running Office '03 since it's all I need but I know the support will expire next year at the same time as XP.

I'm not sure if I'd be more vulnerable if I kept running Office '03 after next April.

Lady Fitzgerald said:

Strange. I never had problems with XP.

I don't recall having many problems with XP either. It seemed to be a fairly stable OS but I'm not an advanced PC user, no gaming, etc. I'm a basic user, 'net, Office, and a few programs.

Night Hawk said:

It is a bit more then just the Start orb and menu alone while that is a centralized point you work out from no longer seen in W8. From the Start menu, Windows Explorer if set to show at the bottom of any explorer window, or pinning the CP icon to the taskbar you can always get to everything in the Control Panel. In 8 instead you have to find the hidden right click menu right where the Start screen popup appears covering up that little tid bit. The CP link is hdden away in the menu there. The Crawler Toolbar that appears on the right side of the screen only reveals a limited number in the Apps and Settings but no Control Panel access. You are being bounced around looking for this or that hidden in this or that adding extra steps to each task! And now for the latest news about 8 continuing to fail regardless here's.... Windows 8 continues to fail | ZDNet

If I'm understanding this right, it's not good news for me as a "keyboard/shortcut" geek. It sounds like 8 is less "keyboard-shortcut" friendly but perhaps I have the wrong impression about that.

Layback Bear said:

I never used Vista because of all the bad reports by users.
Vista did do one great thing. It opened the door for Windows 7. Many good things from Vista went into Window7. Microsoft picked up the ball and ran with it and now we have a great system, Windows 7.

That's a good point. I never used Vista but hadn't considered this point. As a big 7 proponent, I'll Vista for that.

Dallas 7 said:

Lady Fitzgerald said:

Night Hawk said:

And now you wonder why he is now the "former gui chief"?! He got out of the ring before the lions were released making himself a nice patsy to pass the blame on but now gone for MS to cover their.... ??? Let's say Win 8.1 won't be what saves their bacon in the long run! A closer look at what's new in Windows 8.1 | ZDNet So what's new? "Improved Apps"! and we know where that is going! Metro for Tablet while the desktop gets the toilet! IE 11 will allow unlimited number of tabbed windows for tabbed browsing.

IE10 has a limit on the number of tabs?

I haven't tried it, but the article said IE11 is not limited to 10 tabs. I've never tried to use that many tabs. I may use several at times, but not that many.

I'm still running IE9.

I'm also still running IE9 on my Desktop and I had 15 tabs opened a moment ago. I did that to test it after reading this post. I rarely have more than 4-5 tabs opened at the same time in IE9 .

whs said:

“People need to realize Microsoft isn’t just going back to the way Windows 7 was.”

And Microsoft has to realize that people are just not going to buy their stuff any more. There are plenty of better alternatives.

I'd never have thought about this before Win 8, being a Win OS buyer since way back, but I may be forced to go this route if MS tries to accelerate a Win 7 phase-out with regards to support/security updates.

I don't require tablet technology for my lifestyle and don't forsee that on the horizon, having a Laptop for mobility when I travel. All of my data is in my hand, along with optical media capability.

Cloud strategy hasn't hooked me yet :). I guess if one doesn't have a reliable backup scheme for their Desktops or Laptops, I can see a Cloud setup being useful.

PaulGo said:

Why ...Why does Microsoft have to be so stubborn about this, and just give their customers what they want - a Windows 7 style start menu! They just can't admit their idea of what customers want is misguided.

I've read this thought for years and I agree, arguably the "question of the home PC era". I wonder what a fly on the wall in top-level MS meetings would say to that question?

Night Hawk said:

It's marketing! Remember to look at what would be the want for apps on a tablet sometime to see where MS wants to take people! Oh gosh golly Windows 8.1 Blue unveiled, will it...??? Windows 8.1 unveiled: will it change your mind about Windows 8? | ZDNet Sorry no go here! 7 to stay for the time being at least! I run desktops not tablets.

jimbo45 said:

Hi there
What exactly am I missing --and I'm a lowly Engineer so the hotshots at Ms who actually DESIGN and WRITE windows should be able to understand far better than me.

A DESKTOP OS is totally different in operation and conception from a MOBILE PHONE / TABLET OS -- so why on earth have Ms apparently given up on the desktop - desktops (probably in the form of laptops) aren't going away any time soon - there are 100,000's of scenarios where a tablet or phone isn't suitable.

It's just SO obvious that I really fail to understand what exactly Ms's problem is. Make the OS capable in of running in TWO user selectable modes. Can't be that difficult - after all people have added 3rd party stuff like Start 8 etc.

I have to surmise that it's really case of egos and politics.

Let's hope somebody starts teaching "Real world situations" to these guys.

Cheers
jimbo

I've had discussions with some that are telling me "The Desktop/Laptop is going away. It's the Tablet/Cloud time in history now."

I'm not convinced of this though.

Just ask yourself: How is the great mass of the world's productive work - that which drives the world economy - done on a tablet?

It is done on a desktop utilizing an optimal Desktop Experience which Windows perfected in Win7 and inexplicably abandoned in Win8 chasing some faddish apps to monetize - apps that no one wants.