What are the news groups for Windows 8?

[John Williamson]

Some people do not want to use web forums because they are all
different.

You also need a separate account for each one, and can't log on to
multiple forums as easily as you can to multiple newsgroups.

Usenet forever!

+1

If it ain't broke, you don't need to fix it. Usenet ain't broke!

 

[BillW50]

I can also run either Windows or Linux in a virtual machine by just
clicking in the right place. Most of the applications I use are
cross-platform anyway, so I don't often need to reboot and start again.

I don't like VM either. They don't work the same as the real thing and
eats valuable system resources. Luckily I have like 20 laptops here and
this is a far better way to run multiple OS at once. And what happens on
one OS doesn't effect any other one.

Install Linux and make it work my way with my hardware. It was touch and
go whether I did that when Windows 7 came out, because I had to find out
where they'd hidden all the useful stuff. Or find a way to get my
desktop back under Windows 8. I've read that it's actually quite easy to
do, and the desktop suits the way I work. That's why the Android
touchscreen only tablet I bought is sitting in its box until I can be
bothered to dispose of it.

As for the Command Line Interface, I still use it on occasion, when it's
easier than a GUI. If I don't have a touchscreen, with all the greasy
fingermarks that go with it, I don't need Metro. If I don't need Metro,
then I don't need Windows 8. Windows 8 Might be the way to go on my next
phone, but the navigation software I use on that no longer supports
updating on Windows, so I'll need either an iThing or an Android phone
within the next year or so, and either will work as well with Linux as
it does with Windows 8.

You sound like an old DOS user sounded like when Windows started to take
off. They said they don't need Windows applications as DOS does
everything they needed. Now where are they? The same is going to happen
to people who say they don't need Metro Apps as Windows applications
does everything they need. Sure it does, for now. LOL

And you are also ignoring that Windows 8 fixes problems with the Windows
7 desktop. Just like Windows 7 fixes the problems that Vista had. You
would think Microsoft would fix the OS through updates, but that isn't
fruitful in the business sense I guess.

 

[mechanic]

OK, if you are using a desktop computer and don't have a
touchscreen what are the benefits of Windows 8? Persuade me!

Well there have been a couple of free preview editions of Win8 which
you could have tried for yourself rather than wait till now and
asking a newsgroup for the answer. We're not Windows marketers so
have little interest in persuading you of anything - stay with
windows 95 for all we care.

 

[XS11E]

Well there have been a couple of free preview editions of Win8 which
you could have tried for yourself rather than wait till now and
asking a newsgroup for the answer. We're not Windows marketers so
have little interest in persuading you of anything - stay with
windows 95 for all we care.

Best answer yet!

 

[Scott]

Best answer yet!

I like the sentiment. I'll stay with Windows 7 as that is the OS
installed..

 

[Char Jackson]

OK, if you are using a desktop computer and don't have a touchscreen
what are the benefits of Windows 8? Persuade me!

Why should anyone persuade you? Do what you like.

 

[Scott]

Why should anyone persuade you? Do what you like.

Because people were questioning the competence of the staff in my
computer shop in an arrogant manner, yet cannot make a coherent
argument for Windows 8. They should not be criticising others unless
they can justify their criticism. The quality of discussion so far is
that W8 has pretty pictures.

 

[Paul]

Prediction: Windows 8 will go the same way that Windows Me and Vista
went: nowhere.

Prediction. It'll go on prebuilt computers. And, you'll
like it. "Dude, you're getting a Dell you can't use..."

Only a problem if people keep sending them back to Dell.

As long as they keep those newly purchased computers, and
leave them in the corner, it's all good.

To give an example of sheep-like users, I'll tell this story.
Back home, a guy down the street, one of his kids "gets
him the Internet for his birthday". Of course, the kid
isn't paying for it himself, dad is paying for it monthly.
Now, dad is a noob when it comes to computers. It ends
up, dad never connects to the Internet at all. And continues
to pay the monthly bill. And *doesn't* phone up and cancel.
If you're the ISP, it's your dream business model

That's the kind of sheep we need for Windows 8 to be a
"success". Buy a comp, leave it in the corner, in the box.
Or wait for one of your kids to come home, unpack it,
and show you how to use it.

That Youtube video of a "dad" trying to use Windows 8,
was all the confirmation I needed, about usability.

Paul

 

[charlie]

Try another shop.

I remember hearing that for several of the older versions of windows
when they were newly released. Seems that the retail people expected
things to behave exactly in the same old ways.

IT'ers are even worse, and tend to be quite anal and conservative when
it comes to OS changes. They have visions of their whole IT world
crashing around them, and expending large amounts of time and effort to
recover.

 

[Char Jackson]

Because people were questioning the competence of the staff in my
computer shop in an arrogant manner, <snip>

That was justified, though, if the shop indeed claimed that Win 8 was
an appalling pile of junk after testing it for 20 minutes. I would
find a new shop, or if it's really your shop, I would have a
discussion with the employees about proper testing.

 

[DJT]

Oh man! You don't need a touch screen to use Windows 8. Works fine with
a keyboard and a mouse too. Not only do you have the old Windows Desktop
(which we know and love since Windows 95), but a whole new desktop
called MetroUI (some call it ModernUI). It is like having two OS in one.
As now you can run full screen Apps under Windows too. It is all very
exciting! And it makes Windows 7 look very boring. Since Windows 7 is so
limit as it can only do the classic desktop stuff and that is it.

The first thing I did after updating to Win 8 was uninstall most of
the Apps. They are only full screen and thats a pain in the neck.

I like multiple screens showing at once not one at a time


Dennis

 

[Char Jackson]

To give an example of sheep-like users, I'll tell this story.
Back home, a guy down the street, one of his kids "gets
him the Internet for his birthday". Of course, the kid
isn't paying for it himself, dad is paying for it monthly.
Now, dad is a noob when it comes to computers. It ends
up, dad never connects to the Internet at all. And continues
to pay the monthly bill. And *doesn't* phone up and cancel.
If you're the ISP, it's your dream business model

Similar story here. I have a computer-phobic brother. After talking to
him for years, I finally convinced him that Internet access,
(actually, email access), would be a good thing. He allowed me to
refurbish a gently used computer for him, which I handed over in a
parking lot. A year passed without significant updates to the story,
so I checked on him and discovered that he hadn't yet turned the
computer on for the first time. The good news was that he had also
procrastinated contacting a local ISP, so at least he didn't have
money going out needlessly, month after month.

 

[BillW50]

In DJT typed:

The first thing I did after updating to Win 8 was uninstall most of
the Apps. They are only full screen and thats a pain in the neck.

I like multiple screens showing at once not one at a time


Dennis

Sometimes... but I am an old DOS user and we like full screen apps. Now
it is making a come back. Thank goodness! I had to put up with this
window nonsense for like 15 years now. As they say, history repeats. Now
it is time for 15 years of full screen apps. Now it is your turn to wait
15 years for a repeat. ;-)

 

[BillW50]

In Char Jackson typed:

Similar story here. I have a computer-phobic brother. After talking to
him for years, I finally convinced him that Internet access,
(actually, email access), would be a good thing. He allowed me to
refurbish a gently used computer for him, which I handed over in a
parking lot. A year passed without significant updates to the story,
so I checked on him and discovered that he hadn't yet turned the
computer on for the first time. The good news was that he had also
procrastinated contacting a local ISP, so at least he didn't have
money going out needlessly, month after month.

Oh man! That never happened with anybody I ever helped. I get them a
computer and get them online and they end up excited about everything
more than I ever was. :-(

 

[Paul]

In Char Jackson typed:

Oh man! That never happened with anybody I ever helped. I get them a
computer and get them online and they end up excited about everything
more than I ever was. :-(

You can't really help a computer-phobe. Not in a useful way.

The guy who sat across from me at work, I helped him for like
two years, with no improvement in behavior. It's almost
like an adrenaline thing, if it doesn't work, the adrenaline
starts to pump, and the muscles take over before the mind does.

Then one day, my favorite computer phobe, is fixing things
for himself. I'm sitting there, a little dumb stuck. This
was never something I could have predicted. So I asked him
"What's changed ? You don't need my help any more." And
he says "Oh, I got a PC at home for my kid, and I'm
learning to do things for him". And that's all the
coaxing he needed I guess.

He's a smart guy, so he always had it in him. It was
just that initial reaction, when something goes wrong
with a computer, that was slowing him down.

Paul

 

[Paul]

The first thing I did after updating to Win 8 was uninstall most of
the Apps. They are only full screen and thats a pain in the neck.

I like multiple screens showing at once not one at a time


Dennis

Actually, there's a proposed fix for that.

A Metro application only takes over the primary monitor.

Plug in two monitors, then run a desktop app, then start a
Metro app. What's supposed to happen, is the two screens
behave a bit different. And you may be able to arrange things
so you can see both.

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/wi...age-with-windows-8-and-multiple-monitors/6285

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11097508/dual-screen-metro-app

Paul

 

[Char Jackson]

In Char Jackson typed:

Oh man! That never happened with anybody I ever helped. I get them a
computer and get them online and they end up excited about everything
more than I ever was. :-(

He lives about 1700 miles away, which is a little too far for me to
make a house call. I did my part. The rest is/was up to him.

 

[Ashton Crusher]

In DJT typed:

Sometimes... but I am an old DOS user and we like full screen apps. Now
it is making a come back. Thank goodness! I had to put up with this
window nonsense for like 15 years now. As they say, history repeats. Now
it is time for 15 years of full screen apps. Now it is your turn to wait
15 years for a repeat. ;-)

If I'm understanding win8 correctly (haven't installed it yet), you
can have both worlds with it.. full screen and windows.

 

[Ashton Crusher]

Best answer yet!

It's a dumb answer. If someone doesn't want to share what they know
that's up to them. It's foolish to ding someone for asking questions
to an audience that probably has some answers.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

You can't really help a computer-phobe. Not in a useful way.

The guy who sat across from me at work, I helped him for like
two years, with no improvement in behavior. It's almost
like an adrenaline thing, if it doesn't work, the adrenaline
starts to pump, and the muscles take over before the mind does.

Then one day, my favorite computer phobe, is fixing things
for himself. I'm sitting there, a little dumb stuck. This
was never something I could have predicted. So I asked him
"What's changed ? You don't need my help any more." And
he says "Oh, I got a PC at home for my kid, and I'm
learning to do things for him". And that's all the
coaxing he needed I guess.

He's a smart guy, so he always had it in him. It was
just that initial reaction, when something goes wrong
with a computer, that was slowing him down.

Paul

That's a really nice tale...