I Hate You Windows 8

originally posted by: sn0rch
Every modern OS will need updates, and they are not small if you have not done them initially, or frequently. Even Linux. And to be honest, if you were unaware of how to turn off automatic updates with windows, linux will leave you lost, especially if something fails to operate correctly, and troubleshooting means hours of research..

Well yeah, but it's a learning experience!

I've looked at windows 10 too, I think I'll be sticking with 7 or 8 for a while. Then again I have 8 set to pretty much be the improved version of 7. ie; ignore metro and installed the start menu application.

In what twisted fantasy world could any permutation of Windows 8 EVER be considered an "improved version" of Windows 7? I had to set the 3rd party Start button back into Windows 8, too, and had to hide the metro nonsense (I don't think there is any way to actually get rid of it, although I DID uninstall all of those silly "apps" I could find), and all that was just to make Windows 8 functional and relevant to the real world - it in no way caused it to bear any resemblance to an improvement over Windows 7.

I too have been researching Windows 10. I don't think I will be using it - ever. It appears to be Windows 8 on steroids - and I don't mean the GOOD kind of steroids. If Windows 8 was a bad idea - and it really, really WAS - then Windows 10 is a bad idea, set on fire, and shoved off of a cliff.

When Windows 7 reaches the end of it's life in 2020 or whenever it does, I will either have to swear off of computers or move whole hog to Linux. I haven't yet decided which it's gonna be, but I've got 5 more years to figure it out.

On the other hand, I have one computer here that is still running XP, and still running strong, even though XP is supposed to be dead. Maybe I'll see just how far I can push Windows 7 until they don't write any programs it can handle any more, and it becomes entirely irrelevant.

originally posted by: Teeky
I hate it too. The constant updates are annoying. When I try to avoid an update it seem like my computer runs slower and crappy. Why so many freaking updates?!

They're getting you ready for Windows 10, which is supposed to be the "last" Windows OS ever - it is supposed to go into a constant update mode, with no new OS releases ever to come again... just slowly building up "new" versions on your computer over time.

That, and the "subscription" model MS is going to follow Adobe into, whereby they can "rent" your own computer back to you by the month. Sweet deal (for MS), huh?

originally posted by: FreeNomadMan
Give an Apple Computer a try. It will make your life 1000 times easier. Trust me.

Thanks, but no thanks. The last half dozen times or so that I've tried Apples, they left me so frustrated that I had an irrational urge to throw not just them, but also any furniture they may have sat on and thus tainted, right out a "hole in the wall normally containing panes of glass", because saying "window" just shows up as window.

Because of those experiences with Apple computers, I will not so much as even touch an iPhone - or an iAnything.

Even Linux is far, FAR less aggravating (to me, anyhow) than Apple Anything... and that is saying something. A scary something.

originally posted by: ketsuko
Both our rigs imploded on us a couple weeks ago, and we went to hell and back to make sure we could put Win 7 back on them. When 10 comes out, we'll likely pick up a copy of it because I here they learned a few things about how bad 8 was. At least I hope so, I think one of the main complaints (aside from general crappiness for desktop users) is that the OS is a CPU hog for some reason. It looks and makes demands on your system like a shiny, high end video game.

You know those silly "tiles" that Windows 8 metro has? The stupid "Cell Phone Buttons on an Allegedly Real Computer That is Not Supposed to Be a Cell Phone"? Well, the latest iteration of Windows 10 has the Start Button back where it's supposed to be.... then promptly covers it up and drowns it out with those damned Metro "tiles", so that you can never, ever, go anywhere in the operating system to get away from the damned things. The desktop is no longer safe - they imported the objectionable Metro Start Screen and took over the desktop Start Button with it.

The only partial solution I've found for it so far is to uninstall as many of those blasted "apps" as you can find, and know that you will never be allowed to uninstall ALL of them, as you should be able to do. That will at least prune those damned tiles back to a minimum..., but some will ALWAYS be there, sitting, staring at you... watching your every move... and the beta testing versions of Windows 10 phone home with the results of that surveillance, as would be expected. I have to wonder if the OS is going to phone home too, when it comes out. After all, they are gonna need those "usage statistics" to formulate upgrades in a constantly evolving (on YOUR computer) operating system, aren't they?

a reply to: TheJourney

Run linux from a usb or duel boot your o/s
www.pendrivelinux.com...

You can even use it in a machine with no hard-drive

originally posted by: stonerwilliam
a reply to: TheJourney

Run linux from a usb or duel boot your o/s
www.pendrivelinux.com...

You can even use it in a machine with no hard-drive

You have to be careful - some current implementations of Linux are no better. Ubuntu, for instance, has gone to that damndable "Unity" desktop, which is just Windows 8 Lite - it's sole purpose in life, just like Win8, seems to be to attempt to turn an otherwise perfectly useful computer into a mere cell phone without even calling privileges.

I run Zorin OS9 from a USB flash drive. It's Ubuntu under the hood, but without that silly Unity desktop to try to discourage you from using your computer as if it were a fully functional computer.

Which comes back to Windows 8, which appears to suffer the same problem - a user interface that is designed to prevent you from using your computer as if it were an actual computer. Win8 may be wonderful and lovely and filled with unicorns under the hood - I'll never know, because I can't get past that useless desktop in order to find out. That interface severely curtails the operating system's usefulness and useability. You may have a 3000 horsepower computer, but it does no good at all if you have a 25 MPH governor installed on it.