SPCR

dan wrote:
does start 8 make it exactly like win 7? will it work for 8.1?

Start8 Makes it almost exactly like win 7. You will have the exact same start Menu back. You can click one button to shutdown, you can disable metro start menu / hot corners.

What Start8 doesn't do is recreate UI that doesn't exist in win8 anymore. For example, to add a wireless network, you have to use the charm bar like interface, etc.

In terms of Win 8.1 compatibility, I am not sure. The Start8 team had been pretty decent (not great, not bad) at updating Start8 for compatibility. It did take them a month to update Start8 to be compatible with Win 8.1 Preview (after the preview was released to MSDN). Same thing for Win 8.1 RTM. In short, it'll probably take one month (starting from the day Microsoft release a version to MSDN) for the Start8 team to make a fully compatible version. May be you can't live with it. For most people, that should be ok.

dan wrote: what about 4k display and resizing fonts

Font Resizing in Win8 desktop works just like windows 7, Font resizing in Metro works like an iPad.

Blood wrote:

dan wrote:
does start 8 make it exactly like win 7? will it work for 8.1?

Start8 Makes it almost exactly like win 7. You will have the exact same start Menu back. You can click one button to shutdown, you can disable metro start menu / hot corners.

What Start8 doesn't do is recreate UI that doesn't exist in win8 anymore. For example, to add a wireless network, you have to use the charm bar like interface, etc.

In terms of Win 8.1 compatibility, I am not sure. The Start8 team had been pretty decent (not great, not bad) at updating Start8 for compatibility. It did take them a month to update Start8 to be compatible with Win 8.1 Preview (after the preview was released to MSDN). Same thing for Win 8.1 RTM. In short, it'll probably take one month (starting from the day Microsoft release a version to MSDN) for the Start8 team to make a fully compatible version. May be you can't live with it. For most people, that should be ok.

dan wrote: what about 4k display and resizing fonts

Font Resizing in Win8 desktop works just like windows 7, Font resizing in Metro works like an iPad.

thanks

i guess my question then is, which would u prefer desktop kb + mouse

win 7 or win 8 + start8?

My preference is Win 7 in a desktop setup.

Blood wrote:My preference is Win 7 in a desktop setup.

ok
is ultimate worth getting over home basic?

dan wrote: is ultimate worth getting over home basic?

I am assuming you meant Home Premium. If you are asking, the answer is probably No.

The only thing you will be missing are:
1) Bit-locker
2) Remote Desktop Connection
3) Support for 17GB+ RAM

Blood wrote:

dan wrote: is ultimate worth getting over home basic?

I am assuming you meant Home Premium. If you are asking, the answer is probably No.

The only thing you will be missing are:
1) Bit-locker
2) Remote Desktop Connection
3) Support for 17GB+ RAM

ok

dan wrote:

Blood wrote:

dan wrote: is ultimate worth getting over home basic?

I am assuming you meant Home Premium. If you are asking, the answer is probably No.

The only thing you will be missing are:
1) Bit-locker
2) Remote Desktop Connection
3) Support for 17GB+ RAM

ok

keep in mind, network backup is not avail in ba$ic.

Purchase start8????

Classic shell is free. If you do not like it, try
http://www.iobit.com/iobitstartmenu8.php

Free and tested by myself, found no problems in several Win8 machines.

But it's your money, decide yourself.

Blood wrote:Really? That's a con? Why would I (or most people) care what trickery Microsoft used to make windows boot up faster?

Well it really depends whats more important to you 6Gb HDD/SSD drive space, or saving 10 odd seconds when you switch on your PC.

Blood wrote:I think you are mixing Microsoft's Mandated use of Secure Boot on the RT devices vs. the optional requirement on an x86 PC.

I'm not saying secure boot is a bad thing. Its just that as most PC's sold with 8 pre-installed will have it enabled, people need to be aware that it will prevent them from installing other OS's such as Windows 7, Vista, XP, and Linux.

Purchase start8????

Classic shell is free. If you do not like it, try
http://www.iobit.com/iobitstartmenu8.php

Free and tested by myself, found no problems in several Win8 machines.

But it's your money, decide yourself.

I have been using "Classic Shell" since Vista came along and got rid of the "up" button in Windows Explorer and made the whole of Windows Explorer retarded.

I have also used it on W7 machines for the same version and for people who simply don't like various aspects of the W7 interface (me included).

I haven't used it on as many w8 machines simply because I try not to even handle them, but it seems to work just fine and also gets rid of the "shitty corner things"TM.


Andy

I'm not saying secure boot is a bad thing. Its just that as most PC's sold with 8 pre-installed will have it enabled, people need to be aware that it will prevent them from installing other OS's such as Windows 7, Vista, XP, and Linux.

Took me quite a while fiddling in the BIOS of my sisters brand new laptop to figure out that garbage, I had to change 2 (two) different options in the BIOS in different sections to be able to install W7, I wiped it after 10-minutes after I made a boo-boo with the username and simply could not find out how to create a new user account and (specifically) delete the original one - MS must have gone out of their way to make such a simple task almost impossible to complete, it simply cant be that bad by accident.


Andy

andyb wrote:

Purchase start8????

Classic shell is free. If you do not like it, try
http://www.iobit.com/iobitstartmenu8.php

Free and tested by myself, found no problems in several Win8 machines.

But it's your money, decide yourself.

I have been using "Classic Shell" since Vista came along and got rid of the "up" button in Windows Explorer and made the whole of Windows Explorer retarded.

I have also used it on W7 machines for the same version and for people who simply don't like various aspects of the W7 interface (me included).

I haven't used it on as many w8 machines simply because I try not to even handle them, but it seems to work just fine and also gets rid of the "shitty corner things"TM.


Andy

i like that up botton on explorer xp

is classic shell the only way and how do u do it?

Windows 7 = Desktop.

Windows 8 = Tablet users and toddlers.

There.

if anyone cares

http://arstechnica.com/information-tech ... comments=1

win 8.1 is out.

personally
win 7 desktop
android for cellphone.

i do not personally use a tablet.

dan wrote:i like that up botton on explorer xp

is classic shell the only way and how do u do it?

There is no way to get an "up" button in 7 or 8 to my knowledge without a 3rd party program. People say that the address bar is like an up button, but the address bar lies a lot... I installed Classic Shell at work and it was great. (It also gave me back my "classic" 98-style 1-column start menu.)

As for 8... My mother still gasps like she's seen a dead body every time she sits down to use it. Then again, every time her phone beeps she says "what's that noise", so she's not much of a power user Too many features "hidden" in the corners of the screen for my blood. (Finding Control Panel the first few times was great.... I found myself praying to Microsoft Bob for guidance.)

Finding Control Panel the first few times was great.... I found myself praying to Microsoft Bob for guidance

My single favourite thing about W8 is when I figured out that by far the easiest way to get into the control panel is to search for "con", shortly followed by changing the retarded layout back to the classic view where I can find everything (although to be fair I still do that with Vista and W7).

I also prefer the "old fashioned" single column view, but have nothing against the double column view either as they are very similar in reality.

I for one will be looking forward to the next W8 machine that I see so I can install W8.1 for its general changes and bug fixes and then "classic shell" over the top so that the poor user of the machine wont be irritated every time they turn it on (unless they are one of the very few people who actually like W8 (in a non phone/tablet environment).

I was speaking to a co-worker of mine (another computer engineer), he has had the misfortune of getting to fix a W8 all-in-one machine and hated the environment with touch-screen every bit as much as without + the constantly filthy screen that goes with.

As yet I still haven't played with a tablet that has W8 on it, which is a shame as tablets and phones are what the entire GUI was designed for, although I personally wont be parting with any of my own cash on any tablet no matter how good AND cheap it is if it has a screen that's so reflective I might as well be looking in a mirror. If there is one thing I dislike more than the W8 GUI, itts a reflective screen, although a reflective screen covered in greasy fingermarks and peoples lunch trumps everything.


Andy

Windows 8.1: Read this BEFORE you update - especially if you've got more than 1 PC
Get ready for a long download ... and another ... and another

if you have multiple devices to upgrade, you won't be able to download the update just once and apply it to all of your machines. El Reg asked Microsoft for clarification on this point and this is what we were told:

"The Windows Store is the only way for consumers (non-enterprise, non-IT Pro) to download and install Windows 8.1. No ISOs will be made available, so each device needs to be updated individually via the Windows Store."

It actually goes further than that, though. "Consumers" here really means any copies of Windows 8 that weren't purchased through Microsoft's Volume Licensing programs. So a small business with 20 PCs to upgrade, for example, will have to do them one at a time via the Windows Store – so that's 20 separate 3.5GB downloads.

ugg. what a total nightmare.