# Windows 8



## Duck (Dec 19, 2012)

Does anyone have Windows 8? I have heard that it is not worth your time. I can upgrade to it but I am not sure, can anyone help?


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

My personal opinion, unless you are the type that needs to have the latest of everything OR you really like how a smart phone works and are willing to buy a touch screen (it also works with a mouse, just not how its designed) I wouldn't bother.
But then I admit to never upgrading until at least the first service pack is out. I let other people work out the bugs. I will not be upgrading from Windows 7 anytime in the next few years, I don't see the need.
My very conservative company is just now upgrading from XP to Win7 having skipped Vista.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I'm using Windows 8. It's not nearly as user friendly as Windows 7, mainly for lack of a start menu. I got around that by retrieving shortcuts from the Program Files directory and placing them on the desktop.

Windows 8 seems to be more of a resource hog than Windows 7. There are more occasions where the computer gets busy doing who knows what, slowing down productive work.

I've considered saving my user files to DVD and starting with a fresh Windows 7 install more than once.


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

Nevada said:


> Windows 8 seems to be more of a resource hog than Windows 7. There are more occasions where the computer gets busy doing who knows what, slowing down productive work.


Seriously? I've been running Win 8 on 3 different machines (mine, my wife's, and my home server) and it is by FAR faster than Windows 7 on all 3 machines.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Kung said:


> Seriously? I've been running Win 8 on 3 different machines (mine, my wife's, and my home server) and it is by FAR faster than Windows 7 on all 3 machines.


It's possible that some of my problems are upgrade issues since I upgraded from Windows 7, which was upgraded from Vista.

Something strange happens with Firefox in particular. It gets too busy to do anything on occasion, where the entire view area even becomes ghosted, and it seems unrelated to what I happen to be doing or which sites I'm visiting. The task manager just says it's Firefox consuming resources, mainly CPU and disk access resources, so it's not a lot of help in identifying the exact problem. I've disabled Firefox add-ons with no help. At one point a suspected it could be managing browser cache, so I even disabled caching altogether. It still happens.

It happens once every 2 to 3 days and persists for 5 minutes or so. I can't use the machine for anything while it happens, since I'm flat out of resources. I can't say for sure that it's Windows 8, but I didn't observe the problem until after I upgraded to Windows 8. I still leave open the possibility that it is a Firefox, Flash, or other issue, but Windows 8 is certainly a suspect.


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

I find it confusing as all get out but I this is the first pc I've used since highschool. My last machines were Macs. I also don't have any sort of cell phone, let alone a smart phone so it made even less sense to me.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I'm done with Windows 8. It got slow to the point where it became obvious that it was going to be worth my while to invest my time in some big changes. I backed-up my user files to DVD, reformatted the hard drive, and reverted to a fresh install of Windows 7.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Like most versions of windows you want to at least wait until SP1, if not until the next version.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

Gary in ohio said:


> Like most versions of windows you want to at least wait until SP1, if not until the next version.


Thats is not going to help the unfriendly screen, that really is ONLY good for touch screens, or the missing Start Menu. (Unless they put it BACK in none of the Upcoming Updates. LOL)
There is talk already coming out of the tech world that Windows 8 maybe one of the worst OS to coming from MS in many a year, as it is User Unfriendly.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

The new computer has Win 8. It's just kind of the same as always but with more bells and whistles. My preference would be to go back to XP and shut off everything that isn't essential. I like speed more than bells and whistles. And everything after XP is just slow.


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

Nevada said:


> It's possible that some of my problems are upgrade issues since I upgraded from Windows 7, which was upgraded from Vista.


I wouldn't doubt that at all; I've done both an upgrade and a fresh install, and there was a huge difference with a fresh install. My laptop (750Gb, 2.4Ghz Core i5 3rd Gen, 8GB RAM) starts up in 20 seconds at the MOST. With an upgrade install it took 55 or so.



> Something strange happens with Firefox in particular. It gets too busy to do anything on occasion, where the entire view area even becomes ghosted, and it seems unrelated to what I happen to be doing or which sites I'm visiting. The task manager just says it's Firefox consuming resources, mainly CPU and disk access resources, so it's not a lot of help in identifying the exact problem. I've disabled Firefox add-ons with no help. At one point a suspected it could be managing browser cache, so I even disabled caching altogether. It still happens.
> 
> It happens once every 2 to 3 days and persists for 5 minutes or so. I can't use the machine for anything while it happens, since I'm flat out of resources. I can't say for sure that it's Windows 8, but I didn't observe the problem until after I upgraded to Windows 8. I still leave open the possibility that it is a Firefox, Flash, or other issue, but Windows 8 is certainly a suspect.


Frankly, I think it's Firefox; I say this because, as a long time user, I finally had to switch to using Chrome as my primary (and IE when necessary) because Firefox *STILL* has memory leaks and freezes.

Not saying your Win 8 install isn't at fault; but I'd back your stuff up, note your programs, and do a fresh install and such before going further, if you do want to isolate the problem. I thought I'd absolutely hate Windows 8; but to be honest, after installing Start8 from Stardock, I actually prefer it to Windows 7.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Kung said:


> do a fresh install and such before going further, if you do want to isolate the problem.


I really have no interest. I gave Windows 8 more than a fair chance. It let me down when I needed it, then I had to stop what I was doing for a day to install an alternate operating system just to get my work done. That's about as bad as it gets.

I used to try to keep up on the latest operating system because I had to support them, but I don't do that kind of work now. It's just what I use to get things done now.

They need to make some big changes to Windows 8. If they don't make them by the time Windows 7 starts becoming obsolete (limited software & hardware support), I might even consider running a Linux workstation instead.

I get my fill of unfriendly operating systems and software by running CentOS servers. I don't need that kind of trouble with my workstation. Windows 8 stood in the way of productivity. I won't tolerate that for long.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I've for the most part given up on Windows at home.. I much prefer Linux... Can't beat the price. 

I recently for the last time ever put windows back on a laptop that got nabbed by a really nasty malware.... I was so close to putting Linux on it, and I have no idea why I didn't... I tend to gravitate to my Linux box when I want something to just work... 

Windows keeps me employed.. Linux keeps me working... 

Interesting you got Tux in your signature Nevada, yet you don't run a workstation?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

simi-steading said:


> Interesting you got Tux in your signature Nevada, yet you don't run a workstation?


The main reason I've stayed away from Linux workstations is that in my pre-Internet life I was an engineer in the oil refining business. In that work, we use chemical process modeling software that only runs on Windows, and it doesn't work right with WINE. Even though I don't really do that kind of work anymore I still run a simulation from time to time. But I haven't even done that for a long time now.

I think I could live without the simulation applications now.

But notice that Tux is sitting on a rack-mount server case (proportions seem to be a 2U server case). Linux as a server environment is a totally different story. I'm completely sold on Linux servers. I stopped using Windows servers back in the Windows Server 4.0 days, and I've never looked back.


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

Nevada said:


> I really have no interest. I gave Windows 8 more than a fair chance.


I'd technically disagree, actually; you know as well as I do that an upgrade install is probably the easiest way (when moving to a new OS) to have problems. I'd have upgrade installed, and then immediately fresh installed, as soon as I had any problems that weren't easily immediately fixed.

I had exactly ONE issue - an MS update install problem; turns out that the actual problem was me uninstalling a Lenovo app that actually tied in with the update. After reinstalling it and then installing Start8, I ceased to have any real gripes of substance.

All of this being said, if you're back on 7, then obviously your problem is 'fixed' :gaptooth: so more power to you.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Kung said:


> All of this being said, if you're back on 7, then obviously your problem is 'fixed' :gaptooth: so more power to you.


Yes, I'm good for 2 or 3 years. I'll reassess my options then.


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## Duck (Dec 19, 2012)

Thank you everyone for the information!! I have been gone for a bit sorry I am late on my reply.


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## sniper69 (Sep 23, 2007)

why not put the start menu back on windows 8? Here is an article explaining different ones that can be used. http://www.extremetech.com/computing/141702-how-to-bring-the-start-menu-and-button-back-to-windows-8


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

sniper69 said:


> why not put the start menu back on windows 8? Here is an article explaining different ones that can be used. http://www.extremetech.com/computing/141702-how-to-bring-the-start-menu-and-button-back-to-windows-8


In my case I found ways around the start menu problem. My final motivation for going back to Windows 7 was that the machine got slow. It would go along just find, then without apparent reason the hard drive light would come on steady and consume all system resources for 5 minutes or so. The machine was so busy that I couldn't even browse web pages, since all of Firefox became ghosted if I tried. The task manager reported that the resources were being consumed by various native Windows services.

Kung has suggested that my experience might have been related to upgrading rather than doing a fresh install. He may be correct, but I have no motivation to experiment with Windows 8 right now. I have work to do.


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