Windows 8

[skotosa]

 

But you do have them there at the same time, check the top left corner and hold the mouse there for a sec a side bar will open up with your desktop/any other apps you have open. You can even resize or toss the desktop on whichever side of the screen you want and have something else tossed on the other side or in the middle or toss it to one of your multiple monitors. They are all always there for you, in the corner. Metro gets the bottom right and everything else gets the top left.

 

You know you can scroll through that menu, you don't have to drag your mouse. And again its full screen because your desktop is hidden in the to right of the screen. Switching between the two is sooooo easy. Up click your in one place up click your in other.

 

Pin what you want. Start menu was limited anyways to how many it would display.

 

They took it out and replaced it via another method.

 

I'm sure you'll get over it and get with the times :) I've heard crazier things from some pretty stubborn people as to how terrible Windows 8 is lol. You just have to learn the slightly different design method which works effectively the same once learned.

 

You can have the desktop displayed at the same time as a metro app in the same window? Didn't know that. How to do it tho, is far from obvious. Even if that's the case, they're awful and slow to load, previous default viewers for things like pictures being replaced by apps is a pain in the ass. It's still more scrolling that before, 2 keystrokes with old menu vs at least 4 in metro. Pinning was already there, it's the automatic thing that I'm after. yes I'll pin whatever i want thank you, "whatever i want" is no more than 4 or 5 programs, the menu automatically puts other often and recently used programs in quick reach. The "new" method was there before, they just removed a a far more convenient application of user habits tracking. I don't think it's terrible, but it is kinda schizo, the new menu and apps are a distraction and worthless. And I repeat, it has less functionality, not more.

I would argue it has more. But whatever.

To have the desktop and other apps displayed in the same window you just go to you desktop and click the top of it. A hand will come up, drag that wherever you want (left,right,etc...) I did that on accident my very first windows session. Your pc may be slow cause my shit is super smooth. You can still use the classic no metro apps for pictures and other things. More scrolling lol... OOKkk. Again there is a recently used section in the file explorer.

[mcbpete]

Just found out that it's fixed the bug that was driving me mental with my copy of Windows 7. Somewhere over the months of updates last year (it was fine when I first had it) my USB port would only recognise USB flash drives if they were plugged in on boot - if you plugged them in or swapped with another flash drive when it had fully booted if just sat there and refused to read it until you rebooted again. But yay, finally fixed !

 

(it's most likely that the USB driver got corrupted at some point and installing win8 had just overwritten it with an uncorrupted version again)

[Rubin Farr]

how is the upgrade to Windows 8.1? i'm still using 7 and have no plans to upgrade. did they improve much?

[xfxf]

Windows 8/8.1 is fine, usually runs faster than Windows 7 on the same hardware, worth the upgrade IMHO despite everyone sooking over the start menu changes - that's pretty much the only crappy thing about it

 

Install something like Start8/Classic Start Menu and it's pretty similar to Windows 7 anyway...

[Joyrex]

I thought they "restored" the Start Menu in Windows 8.1?

[oscillik]

I thought they "restored" the Start Menu in Windows 8.1?

nope, just the start button.

[mcbpete]

Yeah the update from 8>8.1 seemed pretty seamless - Don't exactly know what it's done (as I use the Classic Shell) but .... pff it was free !

[Guest Ron Manager]

i use 8 and haven't updated to 8.1 yet. don't feel particularly pressed to do so as i don't miss the start button, and i don't understand what's so bad about the current configuration - i.e. you just move your cursor to the bottom left corner of the screen and the start button pops up. i just use the windows key to bring it up anyway.

 

i like Windows 8. at least on my machine, it's really fucking fast.

[Joyrex]

 

I thought they "restored" the Start Menu in Windows 8.1?

nope, just the start button.

 

Which you could access via the Windows key on your keyboard, like most people do. Good going, Microblerp!

[zazen]

how is the upgrade to Windows 8.1? i'm still using 7 and have no plans to upgrade. did they improve much?

 

One thing thats better in 8.1 is that if you use multiple monitors, its a lot smarter about choosing the right dpi for each monitor.

 

This is important now that screens are tending towards 'retina' quality and all that

 

 

In a few years time, _every_ screen will be a touchscreen, and thats when Windows 8 will start making more sense to everyone

[Joyrex]

 

how is the upgrade to Windows 8.1? i'm still using 7 and have no plans to upgrade. did they improve much?

 

One thing thats better in 8.1 is that if you use multiple monitors, its a lot smarter about choosing the right dpi for each monitor.

 

This is important now that screens are tending towards 'retina' quality and all that

 

 

In a few years time, _every_ screen will be a touchscreen, and thats when Windows 8 will start making more sense to everyone

 

You mean to say Windows 8 would set different DPI levels for each monitor (even if they were the same monitor, which I would imagine anyone with multiple monitors would have identical monitors)?

[zazen]

 

 

how is the upgrade to Windows 8.1? i'm still using 7 and have no plans to upgrade. did they improve much?

 

One thing thats better in 8.1 is that if you use multiple monitors, its a lot smarter about choosing the right dpi for each monitor.

 

This is important now that screens are tending towards 'retina' quality and all that

 

 

In a few years time, _every_ screen will be a touchscreen, and thats when Windows 8 will start making more sense to everyone

 

You mean to say Windows 8 would set different DPI levels for each monitor (even if they were the same monitor, which I would imagine anyone with multiple monitors would have identical monitors)?

 

 

Say you've got a MacBookAir 13" or a Surface Pro - those screens have 200+ DPI which means everything looks awesome, but you need to set the scaling to 150% or 200% for buttons and icons to be clickable. Otherwise everything looks tiny.

 

But say you then plug an external monitor into the machine, one thats got a more normal DPI (72dpi), but you want to extend the desktop accross both screens .... you then need to apply different scaling to different monitors.

 

Windows 8 wouldn't let you set different DPI for different monitors. Windows 8.1 figures it out automatically, its worked well for me so far. I imagine OS X does something similar.

[Schlitze]

I haven't made the leap to Windows 8 yet but I have dipped my toes in the water with the ''Windows 8 Transformation Pack For Windows 7''. It loads up the OS like Windows 8 and then when you get tired of it you can revert back to your beloved Windows 7. It's like having the best of both worlds.

[Guest nene multiple assgasms]

the biggest improvement in 8.1 for me so far is the consolidated/universal search. you no longer have to switch from app search to file search to settings search. also, the ability to set your desktop background as your start screen background is nice. people complain about the lack of the old start menu, but once you've taken the time to customize your start screen, pinned programs to your taskbar, and added shortcuts to your desktop, who needs it? you can use the apps view on the start screen for the rest, or just hit the windows key and start typing the name of what you want.

 

http://lifehacker.com/all-the-new-stuff-in-windows-8-1-587098156

[mcbpete]

Yeah I have to say, I've actually used the new fangled 8.1 Start Menu a couple of times since this update. Still gonna be using the old one for a good long while, but it's definitely a positive direction.

 

Getting it to launch directly to the desktop rather than getting Classic Shell to automatically launch the desktop has shaved a couple of seconds off my boot time too. Of all my years computing, I don't think I've ever had an OS launch so fast.

[modey]

Still thinking of chucking it on my dying PC laptop. Might revive it to the point of usability again—it is a bit of a workhorse after all, despite being five years old and having a broken optical drive. I've lost whatever recovery/reinstall discs originally came with it so there's not much chance of doing a reformat without a new OS install.

[Guest Frankie5fingers]

im actually about to build my own comp soon. i was gonna put 7 on it but what would you guys suggest? now with the update is 8 better or is it really not much of a difference?

[Joyrex]

 

 

 

how is the upgrade to Windows 8.1? i'm still using 7 and have no plans to upgrade. did they improve much?

 

One thing thats better in 8.1 is that if you use multiple monitors, its a lot smarter about choosing the right dpi for each monitor.

 

This is important now that screens are tending towards 'retina' quality and all that

 

 

In a few years time, _every_ screen will be a touchscreen, and thats when Windows 8 will start making more sense to everyone

 

You mean to say Windows 8 would set different DPI levels for each monitor (even if they were the same monitor, which I would imagine anyone with multiple monitors would have identical monitors)?

 

 

Say you've got a MacBookAir 13" or a Surface Pro - those screens have 200+ DPI which means everything looks awesome, but you need to set the scaling to 150% or 200% for buttons and icons to be clickable. Otherwise everything looks tiny.

 

But say you then plug an external monitor into the machine, one thats got a more normal DPI (72dpi), but you want to extend the desktop accross both screens .... you then need to apply different scaling to different monitors.

 

Windows 8 wouldn't let you set different DPI for different monitors. Windows 8.1 figures it out automatically, its worked well for me so far. I imagine OS X does something similar.

 

Ah, I see - I'm not in the Retina world on Mac yet, but I think it figures this out automagically - I know personally if I had a Retina MBP, I would actually set the resolution to be 1:1 so everything would be tiny! I don't think you can though. Also pisses me off all the Retina MacBooks have non-upgradable RAM. Honestly, does Apple think 8GB is enough these days?

[skotosa]

im actually about to build my own comp soon. i was gonna put 7 on it but what would you guys suggest? now with the update is 8 better or is it really not much of a difference?

Windows 8 was always good, not its just slightly better.

[mcbpete]

im actually about to build my own comp soon. i was gonna put 7 on it but what would you guys suggest? now with the update is 8 better or is it really not much of a difference?

Windows 7 was super speedy, there's a slight improvement with 8. Lets use graphs, everyone loves graphs -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So basically for everyday system use almost all things are generally faster in Win8, though for gaming Win7 just pips it (possibly due to drivers still not taking full advantage of the 'new' OS)

[Guest Frankie5fingers]

 

im actually about to build my own comp soon. i was gonna put 7 on it but what would you guys suggest? now with the update is 8 better or is it really not much of a difference?

Windows 7 was super speedy, there's a slight improvement with 8. Lets use graphs, everyone loves graphs -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So basically for everyday system use almost all things are generally faster in Win8, though for gaming Win7 just pips it (possibly due to drivers still not taking full advantage of the 'new' OS)

 

thats actually really helpful. im more of a hardware guy, so i dont know much when it comes to OSs.

ive used 7 a lot but never 8. i know it uses those tiles but that i can have it display with the classic desktop. so if i did that would i notice anything different or is its layout practically the same as 7s? i dont really want to learn anything new.

 

another question, this is a subject i really know nothing about and never done but i plan on hooking this new computer up to a tv screen (not as my primary moniter but for when i wanna watch a movie or something). does one OS support something like that better than the other? i ask cause i notice some people talking about having multiple moniters or something like that.

[Joyrex]

 

im actually about to build my own comp soon. i was gonna put 7 on it but what would you guys suggest? now with the update is 8 better or is it really not much of a difference?

Windows 7 was super speedy, there's a slight improvement with 8. Lets use graphs, everyone loves graphs -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So basically for everyday system use almost all things are generally faster in Win8, though for gaming Win7 just pips it (possibly due to drivers still not taking full advantage of the 'new' OS)

 

You didn't state whether "higher/lower is better" on those graphs... I am confuzzled.

[mcbpete]

Erm, it depends - on the time ones the lower the better, on the score ones the higher is better !

(for some reason there's no label on the side of 'Windows Explorer Large File' one, that should be seconds)

 

Here's a full list of the test results - http://usabilitygeek.com/windows-8-vs-windows-7-speed-and-performance-testing/

 

ive used 7 a lot but never 8. i know it uses those tiles but that i can have it display with the classic desktop. so if i did that would i notice anything different or is its layout practically the same as 7s? i dont really want to learn anything new.

Yeah, if you install Classic Shell then Win8/8.1 will be just like a bug fixed & speedier Win7, functionality wise it should be exactly the same.

 

another question, this is a subject i really know nothing about and never done but i plan on hooking this new computer up to a tv screen (not as my primary moniter but for when i wanna watch a movie or something). does one OS support something like that better than the other? i ask cause i notice some people talking about having multiple moniters or something like that.

My laptop has an HDMI out and I've not really noticed any difference between the two in terms of performance when hooking it up to the TV - both work perfectly fine. In the display settings you just choose if the TV is a second monitor 'to the right side' of your primary or just mirror it.

[Guest Frankie5fingers]

thanks, this really helped a lot.

[Guest jasondonervan]

Considering pulling the trigger on 8.1 for my gaming PC... good/bad idea?