Okay, I have been using OS's long enough to be an expert. Unfortunately, the company I know and at some point I swear I trusted them, took all the stuff I knew and threw it out of windows. So, basically all that useless information I was learning while other kids were going outside and playing with each other is slightly more useless than before I got Windows 8. Now, I am trying to give the new OS and change in general a fair shot, but gosh darn if they didn't make even the simplest of things completely different. It's rather illogical. Not to digress, but I mean, why exactly is it necessary to outright delete functionality that had no real flaws in favor of something that has many? Even if they were trying to satisfy some nazionalist agenda to remake all UI into the one master UI, they are making is WWII era difficult to adjust to the new system.
So here are my questions that I shouldn't have to ask because I am not 6 years old and I have used a computer before:
Why does the start menu have more functionality than my desktop? Which one should I be using to launch programs?
How much extra computer resources are being used to run that new start page?
How do you multitask when in an app? I can't seem to access anything other than the app I am using. Is there a way to bring up a task bar? It has never been so hard to play solitaire and watch TV at the same time. Please tell me I am missing something here.
How do you exit an app? Why is there no exit button on any apps? Currently I have to go to start, go to desktop, hover mouse over left side of screen, right click, click close. Is that how you do it or am I missing something simple?
Are hotkeys still in use or is that too convenient for the new OS? Which ones no longer work?
How do you minimize an app? How do you use an app while still using the desktop?
Are there any changes in basic user directories I should know about?
The answer to ALL your questions is....
....Windows 7.
1. Either? Whichever you prefer.
2. None. Actually, the extra resources are if you load the Desktop, since that's now a separate application.
3. Assuming you mean a WinRT app, you can go to the upper right and pull down where you see the hand icon to put it to the side. (I just learned this one tonight.)
4. There's no reason to exit a WinRT app. They use no CPU resources, no video resources, no memory resources. They're fully suspended until you return to them. They look like they're using memory because they aren't paged out unless your system actually needs that memory. (Win8 has a new memory management scheme that explains why this makes more sense in context.)
5. Yes. There are even new ones. I don't know them.
6. Alt tab out of a WinRT app and it goes into suspend. Some of them use core OS functionality when suspended (for example the Music app will play when suspended.) You can have a WinRT app running on the side of the desktop, as well.
7. Not that I'm aware of.
Let me know if you need anything else. You get lots of smartass answers on this topic
here you have two tutorials on windows8- after seeing both of them you should be able to answer all of your questions...or most of them
1. Basics Windows8 START:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh5JjErbXE8&feature=relatedand if you got this tutorial passed you may want to see the multitasking of windows82. Advanced use of START/Multitasking:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gSXMh3U9_4&feature=related7. Are there any changes in user folders or equal- yes for example "content IE" is in a different place than it was in windows7 but most people dont use the folder so its not a huge change.
Of course, there is always Start8
Whenever an app is open, you can hover your mouse near the top center (you will see a hand) and then drag in certain directions to do things...
Dragging to the left or right will "stick" that app to that part of the screen...this is how you can have multiple apps open at the same time, looking at all of them simultaneously...this includes the desktop (since it is an "app")...
Dragging to the bottom exits or closes that app...
I thought it was 42
Or 6 of 7
Give a guy some karma for actually being on topic
(kiddin. Y'all need to listen to Orbital - Acid Pants now)
Good idea. for Seleuceia
Thanks for all the help, those of you that did. I still have questions, but I'll admit that exploring a bastardization of a good OS brings back some much needed nostalgia.
On Win 7... and reading this.... it's...like... a NIGHTMARE !!!!!
That I haven't even had... yet.
I would say the same about this forum sometimes, and yet I keep coming back
Actually, 6times7.
Exactly how it's gonna stay...for me, anyway. I need Windows8 like a third armpit on a hot, humid day in Miami.
"How do you exit an app? Why is there no exit button on any apps? Currently I have to go to start, go to desktop, hover mouse over left side of screen, right click, click close. Is that how you do it or am I missing something simple?"
ALT + F4 works I close them because they clog my alt+tab screen
"Are there any changes in basic user directories I should know about?"
That's so far the biggest changed i disliked: i used to move certain directories into another partitions, like users or programData to have an easy backup of a system, under win8 is so much fuss is not worth doing it ... (also hard drive space is so cheap..) But since i never has been forced to restore my win7 perhaps it is not an issue.
For now i am not using metro much, except perhaps for skype running in a back. I am using for year slickRun which covers all my commands (over 200 of them) which allows me not to have any icons on desktop, and so i do not use search option in metro. Apps are too simple for now, not enough customization to really like them, but i like idea of having all apps in one place (as long as MS does not charge you crazy things). Actually, judging by apps on android market, lots of useful small apps can reach a big market and prizes can drop.
There is one big impact of win8 that convinces me: performance. It is good, and i can make the rest work the way i want.
Overall it's not the end of the world like some people say, but it does have a few holes in the interface. I dislike it in the same way I dislike fast food, but still crave it at times. Now, if there were XML and PYTHON modding apps and other things that I actually use, that would sell me on it. So far the only thing the metro bar has done for me is waste an hour of my life playing a tower defense game. And even then I got bored and went back to Defense Grid.
The thing I don't get is how people think they can get by without it. You do realize that Win7 is not going to be supported as long as Vista was during the time of Win7, right? They are almost certainly going to cut you guys off to force you to buy the new OS. You aren't customers, you are money bins they need to start work on the new OS. So ride out the good OS as long as you can, but eventually they are going to figure out a way to inconvenience you enough to force a sale. Deal with it. I felt I was forced to choose a Win8 OEM simply because you can't really justify paying for a Win7 one given the limited lifespan of the product at this point. I feel like going to a candy store just to imagine what it would be like to have a free market system incorporated into OS's. Wouldn't that be cool?
....and you think Win8 is going to have a long lifespan?
Some idiot will invent a new interface for an iPhone and MS will chuck the whole 8 disaster out in an attempt to play catch-up and to hell with those poor sods who think a productive desktop computer was finally a Win 8 one.
You'll have to wrap your laughing gear around 'i9' ....instead....
With current sales and lack of enthusiasm? Nope.
Windows Me had a shelf life of just over a year. W8 isn't Windows Me crap, but W9 will not take long to appear. Guaranteed.
Nope, but it probably wasn't intended to have one [see response to Doc below].
Ya know, I can do everything on the Win 8 desktop that I did on the Win 7 one... launch and run all my programs, edit and convert videos, etc, so it's no less productive.
No, it won't. Win 8 is merely a stepping stone to the future of personal computing, as MS [and others] envision it.... and if anybody thinks Win 9 will see a return to a Win 7 format, well they're in for huge disappointment. No, Win 9 will be an even greater departure from Windows of the past decade or more, which is why I've gotten on board while the learning curve isn't too steep. By the time Win 10 and 11 come out they will be barely recognisable, when compared to the Windows of old, and those hanging on to Win 7 for grim death will be left languishing in the world of the PC illiterate.
I didn't particularly like the idea of Windows 8 and Metro, either. In fact, I completely despised it initially, but then I realised it was the beginning of the end [of Windows of old] and knew that I needed to keep pace with the changing face of modern computing or get left behind.
I agree...now that I actually have Windows 8 and have learned to use it, I feel much of the criticism people have thrown against it is completely unwarranted....
I have yet to find anything that I could do on Windows 7 but can't do on Windows 8...now, maybe for tablet users the interface ain't so great, but if you have a laptop or desktop there is nothing you really can lose by switching from 7 to 8...worse case scenario, you simply don't use the new features and benefit only from the "behind the scenes" performance boosts...
And you have traveled to the future and seen this for yourself? Thanks for returning to report these "facts" to us. By your reasoning millions who still use XP are PC illiterate, so using Win 8 must make you a genius, right?
Note to self: Old OSes make you stupid. So do new ones.
The release of windows8 was ( not as good as planned ) not because windows8 is bad compared to windows7 it has to do with the information on MS side that explains how to use it.The Developer preview, consumer preview, release preview and release to Manufacture all didnt have a clear tutorial that offered the basic and advanced understanding how the product is to be used... they seem to have thought people are familiar with the phone interface already and shouldn´t have any problems...I think windows8 would be much more spread if there would´ve be something that explained the interface a little more. ( if a systemadministrator isnt able to get the hang of it in 5 minutes, there is something wrong or not enough explained )I believe that is why there exists so much bad references about it. +add that the good old startmenu is gone and there is no start button on the taskbar anymore.And i do understand these folks in some way because windows7 is a solid system...for me it was and still is one of the best windows that was ever made.But i switched to windows8 because i like the interface it is something else it is new and fresh and offers myself a more relaxing feeling to the old startmenu sounds crazy but it does. It is way different to windows 7 but shares the same usability and function if the know how exists, the startbutton is blended out/hidden but still exists ( all you have to do is hit the bottom left side of the monitor and the happy little start square pops up... But who thinks about that if it is not explained somewhere you surely dont want to search for all that on your own- you want to work on that sytsem right away...nevertheless its a good system and worth giving it a shot.This is what i think about windows9/Blue/10 had to set it black since its only guessing and not based on any facts so far Windows9 rumored to be codename blue/aka upgrade/service pack is not likely to change the interface.( its only speculations) there is no real information leaked through yet about this)Windows 10 however might return with the old desktop look/ or as server version but i dont expect to hear about windows10/8,2 until 2014 Edit: great now it looks like i set these black because of Wizard lol
That's true.
Useless sniping to one side, are there any reasons to prefer Win8 to Win7? As we're planning to move beyond 32-bit WinXP to 64-bit Win7 some time next year, it would make sense now for us to have a familiarity with the pros and cons of the new OS.
Predicting the future can be a tough business.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2024839,00.html#wrapper
Well for one thing, future Directx seems to be heading towards Win8 only.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/13/microsoft-warns-gamers-directx-11-1-is-windows-8-only/
While 11.1 isn't pushing out too much that's necessary, it's kind of telling about how the future looks. Some big update down the road will be Win8 or later only, and any gaming that needs it will be Win8 exclusive at that point.
Depending on your future gaming habits, that could influence your decision a little.
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