Windows 8.1 Is Driving Me Nuts

L

Lon

Well-known Member
Location
Central California
After replacing my crashed PC with a new HP laptop I am trying to figure out all the features of 8.1 and it's a slow process. I am still going through a learning curve with my I Phone and I Pad but I think I have done better and quicker with them than with this 8.1 . Glad I am retired and have the time to fuss with it.
 

I hated 8.1. Fortunately the laptop I purchased had another problem and I returned it for another 7. This was a few months ago. Win 10 may be a good replacement.
 

My Dell all-in-one has Win 8.1 on it, and even after having it for almost 6 months, I still hate it ! For months, I was afraid to open my pictures file; because it just "took over" and I could NOT find the X to get back out of it. I (by accident) discovered that it hides at the top of the screen, but if you get the mouse up in that top right corner, then the little rascal appears and you can shut the program down. Up until that amazing discovery; I just shut the whole pesky computer off and restarted it when i got something open that i couldn't close again.
Some things I can X out of and sometimes, you have to do a up-down swipe, or again a sideways swipe. Most of the time I use the regular normal-looking desktop screen, and that is much easier to deal with.
I stay completely out of the computer room unless it is something that can not possibly be done with my iPad, and only then do I force myself to use that Dell. I have no idea if Win 10 will be an improvemant or not; but like Josiah said, it will probably involve another learning curve. I don't think they make these things for Senior Citizens !
 
Josiah said:
Won't it be the case that W10 will have all the weird stuff that's currently in 8.1 plus some all new illogical peculiarities?
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From what little I've read of it, they're actually going retro and bringing back a few older features from Win7 and supposedly getting rid of a lot of bloat.

Only time will tell ...
 
SifuPhil said:
From what little I've read of it, they're actually going retro and bringing back a few older features from Win7 and supposedly getting rid of a lot of bloat.

Only time will tell ...
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It does sound like it might be a good move, one review finished by saying

If Windows 8 was the steepest learning curve imaginable, Windows 10 is like meeting a great friend you once knew - it's just they've bought some new clothes of which you really do approve.
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AZ Jim said:
I'll be getting rid of a 8.1 and a 7. I think I'll start with the 8.1 on the laptop.
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I have a desktop using 8.1 and installed "Classic Shell" http://www.classicshell.net/ which restored many of the 7 features http://www.pcworld.com/product/1253959/classic-shell-4-0.html and to be honest I have got used to it, and don't notice now when switching to the 7 laptop or netbook. Looking forward to 10 though, which is supposed to be Microsoft's last OS, only improving on it in the future.
 
I've worked with windows for years and years and years, through many incarnations, and I actually LIKE Windows 7. I've heard that 8.1 is about as frustrating as another Windows version I had at work once upon a time. Can't remember what it was, but it was AWFUL. I told the IT guy I was going to throw the whole BIG EXPLETIVE through my office window, and he offered to help me do it. I reconsidered, of course, because I didn't want to end up paying for the BIG EXPLETIVE. I almost cried with joy when I got Windows 7.
 
I started on this laptop with Win 8 installed and upgraded free to Win 8.1, and I am very used to it by now. When Win 10 comes we will need to get used to that, and some people will still have the can't get used to it problem.
I feel that all Win programs try to give everyone what they want, instead of bringing out a basic program and you add the parts that you want and will use, and leave all of the rest alone as there is a lot in any computer program that we never use or know about.
 
My sympathies. I ouldn't figure windows 8 at all when I got a new comp a few years ago. They didn't even have 8.1 then.
 
As Merlin mentioned, Classic Shell will make it look like Windows again. My sister-in-law purchased a laptop that had Windows 8 on it and she was about to throw that thing out the door until I installed Classic Shell on it. Now, she is as happy as she can be and doesn't even notice it has Windows 8 on it now. Classic Shell makes it look like it suppose to and it's free. You're not having to hunt for everything.
 
I installed classic shell when it was first available and I am still using it, but it's really only a patch. Win 10 supposedly is a good deal but I'll wait till late july and let Microsoft help with the installation on two computers.
 
Win8 tried to be everything to everyone on every platform and failed completely.

Msoft ignored almost 30 years of user experience in working with the traditional windows interface and tried to force-feed the modern tiles on the world. It took the Classic Shell piece of freeware to save Win8 from itself.

In software, the next cersion will ALWAYS take care of all the problems. Win10 MAY be able to fix this mess. We'll have to see.
 
I would like to get a new computer. It's so confusing. And I hate going to the store. All those geeks who know it and I don't know anything. Some are nice and some are jerks. And since my last computer crapped out in over a year. I'm worried to buy a new one.
 
Kitties said:
I would like to get a new computer. It's so confusing. And I hate going to the store. All those geeks who know it and I don't know anything. Some are nice and some are jerks. And since my last computer crapped out in over a year. I'm worried to buy a new one.
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Go with Toshiba,I have had several Satellite models that just kept on going,going,going like that battery.
 
Why not just dump Microsoft altogether and go with an Apple Mac..?

I had been a Microsoft fan for many years..hubs has had an Apple Mac for years, he kept trying to talk me into using a Mac , he hates Microsoft with a passion..I didn't , I liked it.. I didn't like his Mac much, I thought it was overpriced overHyped technology ....but eventually Microsoft and they're constant messy upgrades even wore me down and I finally gave in and I now have an Apple IMac Mini had it for about 2 years now ...best thing I ever did. No more crashes or freezing or the dreaded Blue screen of Death...

Only time I use MS Windows now is on my laptop when I'm away on business or on holiday ..but I'm always glad to get home to the Mac ..
 
AZ Jim said:
To make it even more interesting, they will even upgrade pirated copies of 7, 8, 8.1.
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I thought they were discontinuing support for 7 ...

hollydolly said:
Why not just dump Microsoft altogether and go with an Apple Mac..?
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... I didn't like his Mac much, I thought it was overpriced overHyped technology ....
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Question asked and answered. :p
 

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