Win 7 visual interface?

[paul casson]

HI Everybody, I,ve come to win 7 late after recently buying a new laptop
with Win 7 installed,.Is it me or does anyone else find this OS
visualling confusing,I've been using XP on laptops and desktops and find it
alot clearer,has anyone else found this?
or will i adjust?because at the moment i'm stuggling to find any significant
benefits and feel like reformatting the drive and installing XP pro 64bit.
the laptop has an I7 cpu and 8GB ram,
I here you can run 7 in XP mode but this appears to tie up a heap or system
resources.From all your experiences is it worth staying with 7 or not? or
will this go the way of vista or should I get 8?? Any ideas .Regards Paul

 

[John Williamson]

HI Everybody, I,ve come to win 7 late after recently buying a new laptop
with Win 7 installed,.Is it me or does anyone else find this OS
visualling confusing,I've been using XP on laptops and desktops and find it
alot clearer,has anyone else found this?
or will i adjust?because at the moment i'm stuggling to find any significant
benefits and feel like reformatting the drive and installing XP pro 64bit.
the laptop has an I7 cpu and 8GB ram,
I here you can run 7 in XP mode but this appears to tie up a heap or system
resources.From all your experiences is it worth staying with 7 or not? or
will this go the way of vista or should I get 8?? Any ideas .Regards Paul

You're not the first to dislike the Windows 7 interface. I wasn't keen
on it when I first used it, either.

Some programmers had the same problem and wrote Classic Shell:-

http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/index.html

Which restores a lot of the XP look and feel. Once you get used to it,
though, Windows 7 is possibly better and easier to use than XP.

If you dislike Windows 7, then you'll *hate* 8.

IMO, If anything is going to go the way of Vista and ME on the desktop,
it's Windows 8, which has an interface which seems to be designed
designed for small screens and mobile use, though it *is* allegedly
possible to regain the Windows 7 interface.

Another minor point is that support for XP stops in 2014, while 7 will
have support until 2020 or so. New programs and hardware will possibly
stop being usable on XP in the not too distant future, too.

 

[Char Jackson]

HI Everybody, I,ve come to win 7 late after recently buying a new laptop
with Win 7 installed,.Is it me or does anyone else find this OS
visualling confusing,I've been using XP on laptops and desktops and find it
alot clearer,has anyone else found this?

Specifically, what do you find confusing? Perhaps it's something we
can help you with.

or will i adjust?

You'll only adjust if you want to. With a positive attitude, you'll
adjust rather quickly to most of the changes and you'll find ways to
work with (or work around) the things that you don't like. With a
negative attitude, you'll find it's a constant struggle, so it's
really up to you.

because at the moment i'm stuggling to find any significant
benefits and feel like reformatting the drive and installing XP pro 64bit.

I assume you mean XP Pro 32-bit. The 64-bit version of XP never
reached wide acceptance, so finding drivers can be a problem.

the laptop has an I7 cpu and 8GB ram,
I here you can run 7 in XP mode but this appears to tie up a heap or system
resources.From all your experiences is it worth staying with 7 or not? or
will this go the way of vista or should I get 8?? Any ideas .Regards Paul

You'll have to decide that for yourself.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

HI Everybody, I,ve come to win 7 late after recently buying a new laptop
with Win 7 installed,.Is it me or does anyone else find this OS
visualling confusing,I've been using XP on laptops and desktops and find it
alot clearer,has anyone else found this?
or will i adjust?because at the moment i'm stuggling to find any significant
benefits and feel like reformatting the drive and installing XP pro 64bit.
the laptop has an I7 cpu and 8GB ram,
I here you can run 7 in XP mode but this appears to tie up a heap or system
resources.From all your experiences is it worth staying with 7 or not? or
will this go the way of vista or should I get 8?? Any ideas .Regards Paul

I can say that you will get used to the Win7 interface eventually, just
keep playing with it. Eventually you will find that the Win7 interface
will feel superior to the XP one in convenience, and you'll have trouble
going back to the XP one. What you have to do is get used to typing out
the names of programs in the search bar, this is the biggest
convenience, and the biggest paradigm shift to overcome.

Don't put XP64 on it, that's one of the least supported OSes available.

As for putting in an XP Mode, it's there mainly to run problematic
programs that absolutely refuse to be run in any other way in Win7, it's
not meant to be your crutch back to the XP interface. Most programs can
be made to run in Win7 with a few compatibility bits set, but a few
absolutely refuse to work even with that, so out comes XP Mode for those
terrible programs.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Ken1943]

HI Everybody, I,ve come to win 7 late after recently buying a new laptop
with Win 7 installed,.Is it me or does anyone else find this OS
visualling confusing,I've been using XP on laptops and desktops and find it
alot clearer,has anyone else found this?
or will i adjust?because at the moment i'm stuggling to find any significant
benefits and feel like reformatting the drive and installing XP pro 64bit.
the laptop has an I7 cpu and 8GB ram,
I here you can run 7 in XP mode but this appears to tie up a heap or system
resources.From all your experiences is it worth staying with 7 or not? or
will this go the way of vista or should I get 8?? Any ideas .Regards Paul

Give it a chance. The learning curve is really not that bad. It's also
the most stable Windows release ever. There are many Windows 7 hints
available on the net that can be very helpful with the learning curve.


KenW

 

[mechanic]

On Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:21:09 +0200, Alias wrote:

[Win7]

I find it to be far superior to XP.

+1

 

[Ken Blake]

HI Everybody, I,ve come to win 7 late after recently buying a new laptop
with Win 7 installed,.Is it me or does anyone else find this OS
visualling confusing,I've been using XP on laptops and desktops and find it
alot clearer,has anyone else found this?

Sure. Lots of people have. But almost all of them, after giving
themselves enough time with it, have gotten accustomed to the
differences, and learned to like it much better than XP. That was
certainly my case.

or will i adjust?

Nobody can tell you whether you will adjust. Most people have, but not
everyone.

because at the moment i'm stuggling to find any significant
benefits and feel like reformatting the drive and installing XP pro 64bit.
the laptop has an I7 cpu and 8GB ram,
I here you can run 7 in XP mode but this appears to tie up a heap or system
resources.From all your experiences is it worth staying with 7 or not? or
will this go the way of vista or should I get 8?? Any ideas .Regards Paul

You should try to cancel your obvious prejudices against Windows 7,
and, as with almost anything new, give yourself enough time to get
accustomed to it. It can take a few months.

And you are highly unlikely to prefer Windows 8. It is like Windows 7
in many ways, and even stranger in many other ways.1. You need a
Windows XP installation CD (and if it's an OEM CD, it
can not have been previously used on another computer). Such CDs are
no longer sold and they are very difficult to find, so if you find a
copy and buy it, be sure it's not a pirated one.


If you still want to go back to Windows XP, bear all the following in
mind:

1. 1. You need a Windows XP installation CD (and if it's an OEM CD, it
can not have been previously used on another computer). Such CDs are
no longer sold and they are very difficult to find, so if you find a
copy and buy it, be sure it's not a pirated one.

2. Support for Windows XP ends in two years. That has dire
implications for you if you install it.

3. If you have a new computer (*especially* if it's a laptop), there
may be no Windows XP drivers available for some of its hardware. If
that's the case, you'll be out of luck, so be sure that isn't the case
before you start.

4. With anything new, it takes time to get used to it. In my view,
Windows 7 is *much* better than XP, and if you hate it, it's
undoubtedly because you haven't given yourself enough time to get used
to the differences. If you really want to do this, OK, but don't make
such a decision hastily.

5. Windows XP is two generations old, and will soon be three
generations old (Windows 8 will be released in October). If that's
what you run, you will soon find yourself unable to use a lot of the
newer software and hardware that will be released. There are already
some products you can't use in Windows XP, and there will be more and
more.

6. When you do a clean installation, you lose everything on the drive,
so if you have any data you want to keep, first copy it to external
media. Do *not* use the Windows 7 backup program, since you will be
unable to restore from it in Windows XP.

So, in summary, yes, you can probably do this (if drivers availability
isn't an issue), but in my view it would be a big mistake. But it's
your choice, of course.

 

[Nil]

HI Everybody, I,ve come to win 7 late after recently buying a new
laptop with Win 7 installed,.Is it me or does anyone else find
this OS visualling confusing,I've been using XP on laptops and
desktops and find it alot clearer,has anyone else found this?
or will i adjust?because at the moment i'm stuggling to find any
significant benefits and feel like reformatting the drive and
installing XP pro 64bit.

I think you will adjust and get to like it at least as well as XP. I
like most things about 7's interface, and I dislike a couple of things.
I like the new Start Menu, with the ability to search for programs. The
new Task Bar is different, but I like it about the same as the old one.
I dislike the Libraries feature, which is pointless and confusing.

Give it a little time. I think it has a slight advantage in usability
compared to the XP interface.

 

[paul casson]

Thanks guys some good food for thought,I get the advanced search functions
and the improved graphics and hardware drivers but the view toolbar i
dont,I'm of the school "if it aint broke dont fix it" XP could have been
upgraded.I cant help but think Microsoft have got the entire pc buying
market
on a never ending treadmill of upgrade at great expense or fear
obsolencence. and we all buy it everytime. Ever get the feeling you,ve been
ripped off?"

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

HI Everybody, I,ve come to win 7 late after recently buying a new laptop
with Win 7 installed,.Is it me or does anyone else find this OS
visualling confusing,I've been using XP on laptops and desktops and find it
alot clearer,has anyone else found this?
or will i adjust?because at the moment i'm stuggling to find any significant
benefits and feel like reformatting the drive and installing XP pro 64bit.
the laptop has an I7 cpu and 8GB ram,
I here you can run 7 in XP mode but this appears to tie up a heap or system
resources.From all your experiences is it worth staying with 7 or not? or
will this go the way of vista or should I get 8?? Any ideas .Regards Paul

You said "I here you can run 7 in XP mode".

That's not quite correct. Win 7 Pro and higher editions can run a free
virtual machine which comes with a free edition of windows XP. But
that's a virtual machine running within Windows, in which you'd have to
install your XP-compatible software separately from whatever is in the
Windows 7 installation.

You would find that the performance is at least slightly reduced (that
comes with the territory of virtual machines).

I have also found that some of my XP programs didn't work under XP Mode
and I had to revert to using the (also free) VMware Player. I believe
that it's because XP Mode does not properly emulate some of the
hardware.

I might not have guessed correctly the cause of that problem, but I
definitely had the problem.

BTW, if you have a Home edition only, VMware will work fine, unlike XP
Mode. But then you need to have a valid license for XP, and of course,
you're still be running XP in a virtual machine.

BTW, I agree with the posters who say they like Windows 7 after getting
used to it (which IMO didn't take very long). Nil's post at

Message-ID: <[email protected]>

is closest to my feelings on the matter.

One thought is that you might like a book such as the For Dummies book
or the Microsoft Book "Windows 7 Plain & Simple". They helped me,
especially the Microsoft one.

 

[Bill Bradshaw]

I move back and forth between Windows 7 and WinXP everyday. You will
get use to Windows 7. I did right click on the Start button and do some
customization of Win 7. You may want to play with some of the options.

 

[...winston]

The Quick Launch Toolbar can be added/enabled on Win7, as well as the IE
(full properties) Desktop icon.

Fyi. Win7 in a few weeks will be 3 yrs old (went RTM in July 2009). With
Win8 approaching in October, the Win7 upgrade treadmill has been subjected
to quite of bit of use. Win8's release will slow it down even more. On the
other hand Win7 is supported for quite a few more years in the future
(unlike XP which will no longer be capable of windows or security updates in
less than 2 yrs.)

--
....winston
msft mvp mail


"paul casson" wrote in message

Thanks guys some good food for thought,I get the advanced search functions
and the improved graphics and hardware drivers but the view toolbar i
dont,I'm of the school "if it aint broke dont fix it" XP could have been
upgraded.I cant help but think Microsoft have got the entire pc buying
market
on a never ending treadmill of upgrade at great expense or fear
obsolencence. and we all buy it everytime. Ever get the feeling you,ve been
ripped off?"

 

[Ed Cryer]

Thanks guys some good food for thought,I get the advanced search functions
and the improved graphics and hardware drivers but the view toolbar i
dont,I'm of the school "if it aint broke dont fix it" XP could have been
upgraded.I cant help but think Microsoft have got the entire pc buying
market
on a never ending treadmill of upgrade at great expense or fear
obsolencence. and we all buy it everytime. Ever get the feeling you,ve been
ripped off?"

No, no, no. Just try and imagine a version of Windows95 running a modern
PC set-up.
What's changed?
Well, almost everything. RAM, disks, networking, Internet size; everything.
And then you'll get an insight into why MS turn out new OSs; they meet
the changing needs of a changing IT.
And that is why Win8 is as it is. MS think that tablets are as much the
future as will be laptops and desktops.
And I think they're right.

Ed

 

[Robin Bignall]

On Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:21:09 +0200, Alias wrote:

[Win7]

I find it to be far superior to XP.

+1

Me, too. IMO, W7 Ultimate has the function that XP Pro should have had,
but presented in a far better way.

 

[Jeff Layman]

HI Everybody, I,ve come to win 7 late after recently buying a new laptop
with Win 7 installed,.Is it me or does anyone else find this OS
visualling confusing,I've been using XP on laptops and desktops and find it
alot clearer,has anyone else found this?
or will i adjust?because at the moment i'm stuggling to find any significant
benefits and feel like reformatting the drive and installing XP pro 64bit.
the laptop has an I7 cpu and 8GB ram,
I here you can run 7 in XP mode but this appears to tie up a heap or system
resources.From all your experiences is it worth staying with 7 or not? or
will this go the way of vista or should I get 8?? Any ideas .Regards Paul

There are very few things you can't customise or change to look like XP.
About the only thing I've found which I can't remove is the desktop
shortcut icon to the right of the notification area. I can blank it
out, but that just leaves an annoying space.

Don't like Aero? Then don't make use of it - make up your own theme
which looks like XP. Don't like the new Windows Explorer? Then use
another file manager. Can't get on with the new Start menu? Install
Classic Shell (although I use Classic Windows Start Menu, but that seems
no longer available).

The main problem is that doing all these things takes time; in
particular finding where Microsoft has moved something or relocated a
function takes time.

FWIW even after 2.5 years with Win7 my personal preference is for
something which looks like and behaves like XP. I use the Quick Launch
toolbar; I've never pinned anything to the taskbar. I put the icon link
to the desktop back where it should be - next to the Start Menu.

Most useful thing you'll use up-front in Win7 is the search box in the
start menu. Pity the rest of the start menu is such an ill-designed
piece of junk.

Funny thing is I've gradually moved away from MS as they've redesigned
things. I liked OE6; it did all I needed. WLM? Tried for 6 months and
as soon as v15 appeared I dumped it for Thunderbird. I happily used IE
up to v7. Wasn't sure about 8, and when 9 came out turned to FF
(unfortunately Mozilla is also now turning people off by releasing rapid
updates with newly-designed interfaces without thinking through the
functionally-inhibiting effects these new interfaces are having). And
as for Office? "The Ribbon"... that's all I need say.

In the end, do whatever keeps you happy and efficient.

 

[Tony]

Windows 7 is a pig! I use windows xp pro corporate version. I don't get the
question would you like someone to pull your prick and twist it when i install
or uninstall things or do anything. The only thing i can say is find an old
version of powerdesk pro so at least you can find things on the god dam
operating system.

HI Everybody, I,ve come to win 7 late after recently buying a new laptop
with Win 7 installed,.Is it me or does anyone else find this OS
visualling confusing,I've been using XP on laptops and desktops and find it
alot clearer,has anyone else found this?
or will i adjust?because at the moment i'm stuggling to find any significant
benefits and feel like reformatting the drive and installing XP pro 64bit.
the laptop has an I7 cpu and 8GB ram,
I here you can run 7 in XP mode but this appears to tie up a heap or system
resources.From all your experiences is it worth staying with 7 or not? or
will this go the way of vista or should I get 8?? Any ideas .Regards Paul

--
The Grandmaster of the CyberFROG

Come get your ticket to CyberFROG city

Nay, Art thou decideth playeth ye simpleton games. *Some* of us know proper
manners

Very few. I used to take calls from *rank* noobs but got fired the first day on
the job for potty mouth,

Bur-ring, i'll get this one: WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM JERK!!? We're here to help you
dickweed, ok, ok give the power cord the jiggily piggily wiggily all the while
pushing the power button repeatedly now take everything out of your computer
except the power supply and *one* stick of ram. Ok get the next sucker on the
phone.

Deirdre Straughan (Roxio) is a LIAR (Deirdre McFibber)

There's the employer and the employee and the FROGGER and the FROGEE, which one
are you?

Hamster isn't a newsreader it's a mistake!

El-Gonzo Jackson FROGS both me and Chuckcar (I just got EL-FROG-OED!!)

All hail Chuckcar the CZAR!! Or in F-R-O-Gland Chuckcar laFROG laCZAR,
ChuckZar!!

I hate them both, With useless bogus bullshit you need at least *three* fulltime
jobs to afford either one of them

I'm a fulltime text *only* man on usenet now. The rest of the world downloads
the binary files not me i can't afford thousands of dollars a month

VBB = Volume based billing. How many bytes can we shove down your throat and out
your arse sir?

The only "fix" for the CellPig modem is a sledgehammer.

UBB = User based bullFROGGING

Master Juba was a black man imitating a white man imitating a black man

Always do incremental backups of your data or you'll end up like the A-Holes at
DSL Reports. Justin says i made a boo-boo. Yeah boo-who.

Updates are for idiots. As long as the thing works there's no reason to turn
schizophrenic and develop a lifelong complex over such a silly issue.

Adrian "jackpot" Lewis is a mama's boy!

Jimmy Fricke is good for the game of poker

Using my technical prowess and computer abilities to answer questions beyond the
realm of understandability

Regards Tony... Making usenet better for everyone everyday

This sig file was compiled via my journeys through usenet

 

[Tony]

What about xp mode on windows 7? Microshit will still want to sell the ultimate or
professional version. They'll keep on updating xp longer than 2014.

You're not the first to dislike the Windows 7 interface. I wasn't keen
on it when I first used it, either.

Some programmers had the same problem and wrote Classic Shell:-

http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/index.html

Which restores a lot of the XP look and feel. Once you get used to it,
though, Windows 7 is possibly better and easier to use than XP.

If you dislike Windows 7, then you'll *hate* 8.

IMO, If anything is going to go the way of Vista and ME on the desktop,
it's Windows 8, which has an interface which seems to be designed
designed for small screens and mobile use, though it *is* allegedly
possible to regain the Windows 7 interface.

Another minor point is that support for XP stops in 2014, while 7 will
have support until 2020 or so. New programs and hardware will possibly
stop being usable on XP in the not too distant future, too.

--
The Grandmaster of the CyberFROG

Come get your ticket to CyberFROG city

Nay, Art thou decideth playeth ye simpleton games. *Some* of us know proper
manners

Very few. I used to take calls from *rank* noobs but got fired the first day on
the job for potty mouth,

Bur-ring, i'll get this one: WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM JERK!!? We're here to help you
dickweed, ok, ok give the power cord the jiggily piggily wiggily all the while
pushing the power button repeatedly now take everything out of your computer
except the power supply and *one* stick of ram. Ok get the next sucker on the
phone.

Deirdre Straughan (Roxio) is a LIAR (Deirdre McFibber)

There's the employer and the employee and the FROGGER and the FROGEE, which one
are you?

Hamster isn't a newsreader it's a mistake!

El-Gonzo Jackson FROGS both me and Chuckcar (I just got EL-FROG-OED!!)

All hail Chuckcar the CZAR!! Or in F-R-O-Gland Chuckcar laFROG laCZAR, ChuckZar!!

I hate them both, With useless bogus bullshit you need at least *three* fulltime
jobs to afford either one of them

I'm a fulltime text *only* man on usenet now. The rest of the world downloads the
binary files not me i can't afford thousands of dollars a month

VBB = Volume based billing. How many bytes can we shove down your throat and out
your arse sir?

The only "fix" for the CellPig modem is a sledgehammer.

UBB = User based bullFROGGING

Master Juba was a black man imitating a white man imitating a black man

Always do incremental backups of your data or you'll end up like the A-Holes at
DSL Reports. Justin says i made a boo-boo. Yeah boo-who.

Updates are for idiots. As long as the thing works there's no reason to turn
schizophrenic and develop a lifelong complex over such a silly issue.

Adrian "jackpot" Lewis is a mama's boy!

Jimmy Fricke is good for the game of poker

Using my technical prowess and computer abilities to answer questions beyond the
realm of understandability

Regards Tony... Making usenet better for everyone everyday

This sig file was compiled via my journeys through usenet

 

[ray]

Thanks guys some good food for thought,I get the advanced search
functions and the improved graphics and hardware drivers but the view
toolbar i dont,I'm of the school "if it aint broke dont fix it" XP could
have been upgraded.I cant help but think Microsoft have got the entire
pc buying market
on a never ending treadmill of upgrade at great expense or fear
obsolencence. and we all buy it everytime. Ever get the feeling you,ve
been ripped off?"

No, not all. I know a growing number of folks using Linux and not paying
MS a dime.

 

[Nil]

I just ignore the libraries.

Me, too, but I wish they were gone entirely.

I think they can be turned off, but I haven't yet taken the time to
learn how.

 

[Char Jackson]

Me, too, but I wish they were gone entirely.

I think they can be turned off, but I haven't yet taken the time to
learn how.

I occasionally use one or more Libraries and am not bothered by their
presence. As far as I can tell, they work fine.