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Jrazz posted 9/5/2013 15:04 PM

We got a new computer.

It runs Windows 8.

Ain't nobody got time fo that!!!

Do any of you use Windows 8, and if so how long did it take you not to be all head-to-keyboard slammy?

authenticnow posted 9/5/2013 15:22 PM

Let's see....we got a new computer with Windows 8 about 6 months ago I think. Our old laptop is hanging on by a thread. If you move it, it turns off. The keyboard is missing letters, the monitor is leaning on the wall otherwise it flops shut...

I tried to get used to Windows 8. LD started using it and tried to show me so I wouldn't be so frustrated.

I'm sitting here typing on my 2002 laptop with the duct taped monitor leaning against the wall.

nowiknow23 posted 9/5/2013 15:25 PM

Might this help?

12 Essential Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts

Get over it. Windows 8 is different from Windows 7, which means learning new stuff including keyboard shortcuts that can save valuable time vs accomplishing the same thing using touchscreen commands.

Here are a dozen of the most useful ones:

1. Admin Menu: It's not the Start Menu so familiar in earlier versions of Windows, but the Admin Menu is as close as it gets in Windows 8. Windows + X pops it up from the bottom left corner.

2. Charms: When you hit Windows + C the Charms bar pops out from the right-hand side of the screen. Charms, a new Windows feature, are a set of tools such as Search, Share and Settings that are located in a Charms Bar that can be flicked in from the right side of the display on a touchscreen.

3. Settings: One of the Charms is Settings. To avoid calling out the Charms bar then choosing Settings it's possible to go directly to Settings: Windows +I. This will reveal the Power button, too. Click on that to reveal the Sleep, Shut down and Restart options, options users say are way too hard to find.

4. Sharing: If you are in an application and want to email or share its content with someone on a social network, hit Windows + H.

5. Second screen: If you are connecting to a second screen as you might presenting a PowerPoint in a conference room, use Windows + P.

6. Search: There are three layers of Search: Apps, Settings and Files. Using touch it calls for whisking out the Charms bar, selecting Search then choosing one of the three layers. With shortcuts, each layer can be reached with one command. They are: Apps: Windows + Q ; Settings: Windows +W ; Files: Windows + F

7. Snap an app: It's possible to snap an application on hold in the right or left quarter of the screen with a second active app occupying the rest of the screen. To snap to the right, press Windows + . ; to snap to the left, press Windows + Shift + .

8. Running Apps: Thumbnails of apps that are running are concealed off the left side of the screen. Pressing Windows + Tab reveals them.

9. To close an app: It's just like it was in Windows 7: Alt + F4 .

10. The desktop: While it's different from the traditional desktop, it is much more familiar territory than the Start Screen. Typing Windows + D brings up the Desktop.

11. Explorer: To launch the familiar Windows Explorer, type Windows + E.

12. Lock the PC: Windows + L brings the computer back to the lock screen, which requires a password.

source - http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/120512-windows8-shortcuts-264806.html

[This message edited by nowiknow23 at 3:26 PM, September 5th (Thursday)]

ThoughtIKnewYa posted 9/5/2013 15:27 PM

I got Win8 almost a year ago. I was so upset that they couldn't sell me a computer with 7 on it! I put Linux on it a month later, but had touchpad issues so bad I realized I was never typing anything, so not really using my computer. I put Win 8 back on and it's OK. Not great, but it's OK.

So, about a year.

Jrazz posted 9/5/2013 15:28 PM

Soooo I'm thinking we all just need to go outside and play jump-rope or something.

looking forward posted 9/5/2013 19:43 PM

I got used to it fairly quickly.
I bought myself a small netbook to take to Europe in a couple of weeks, and I really wanted one with Vista, but end up with a great little Acer .
I quickly found the Classic Start menu and prefer that. I deleted most of the apps charms right away because I don't use them. I downloaded a document writing programme (Open Office).
I returned to the store (Best Buy) to ask a question about McDonald's free Wi-Fi, why I couldn't connect -- overload it turned out was the supposed reason, worked fine in the store. I also wanted to change the Lock Screen - didn't want the Seattle space needle - Geek Squad girl told me I couldn't change it. Well, Geek Girl, I did!
You just need to sit down with it for a good while.
Also, there are tutorials available on YouTube.
I watched on this laptop, and experimented on the new netbook beside me!

BTW: I USE A MOUSE! I DON'T LIKE THE TOUCH PAD STUFF PERSONALLY.

h0peless posted 9/5/2013 20:17 PM

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57402353-75/miss-the-start-button-in-windows-8-this-app-will-bring-it-back/

Install this.

aesir posted 9/5/2013 20:42 PM

Never buy an even numbered product from Microsoft.
I learned that from directX.

Broken hearted61 posted 9/6/2013 07:52 AM

Simple solution: get a Mac. I did so when Windows 7 came out. I thought that sucked so switched over to Mac. Never looked back.

little turtle posted 9/6/2013 08:10 AM

I got a new computer about a month ago with Windows 8 on it. I know the very basics and that's about it. It took me 2 days to find the shut down... I would like to add some icons to my desktop, but I have no idea how!

cantbelieve posted 9/6/2013 10:31 AM

very confusing. When I find something I need to know, I just google it. That has helped tremendously.

Take2 posted 9/6/2013 10:51 AM

Timely thread - my 90 year old mom is visiting and was having trouble with her laptop... bring it up I said - it runs windows 8. First problem she doesn't remember the password.
Only solution I can find reinstall windows 8... except she doesn't remember getting any discs with it...Eeek!!

In that I can't reboot my mom's memory (I've tried lol) any hotkey for this problem?

ThoughtIKnewYa posted 9/6/2013 11:47 AM

Mine didn't come with disks. i had to order them ($20) from the computer manufacturer when I decided to re-install.

nowiknow23 posted 9/6/2013 12:26 PM

StillGoing posted 9/6/2013 13:09 PM

Take2, is there a password hint? You can also try signing in the administrator account with a blank password; if it isn't active then you can access that login by going to safe mode. From there if you can log in as admin in safe mode you should be able to reset the password for any user account.

landabear posted 9/6/2013 14:14 PM

Never buy an even numbered product from Microsoft.
I learned that from directX.

Amen. I'm a techy by profession, and it's really a pretty hard and fast "every other" rule - skip every other release.

My case? Made by Millennium (gives every nerd I know the shivers to hear it's name spoken), Vista (not ME bad, but not XP good either)....and, well.....Windows 8 is the every other.

That said, for the Windows 8 machines I've had the misfortune of using, the trick is to hack the Start bar back into existence, remember your favorite keyboard short cuts, and know that if you roll the mouse all the way to the right edge of the screen, you get a menu. Not a Start menu, but still a useful one.

And Google. You will need the Google.

Take2 posted 9/6/2013 14:40 PM

Stillgoing - Thanks. I'd tried playing around with those but at one point froze one of the passwords.

Happy ending though... all those months of SI investigated tips and lots of practice in use.... I figured out her password!! I'm in.

... and now have a new appreciation for the ipad...

StillGoing posted 9/6/2013 14:44 PM

Meh, Apple removing security features is just them stealing more ancient ideas from other companies. Par for the course there.

I am actually a bit impressed that it's that difficult to get back into the OS for Win8 without the password. If anyone says knoppix then YES I KNOW IT CAN OPEN ANYTHING except cans and my heart.

Mama_of_3_Kids posted 9/6/2013 19:25 PM

My first suggestion is don't buy a computer with Win 8...but since you already did you'll *maybe* eventually get used to it

Ain't nobody got time fo that!!!

THIS^^^

Bobbi_sue posted 9/7/2013 07:48 AM

Get over it. Windows 8 is different from Windows 7, which means learning new stuff including keyboard shortcuts that can save valuable time vs accomplishing the same thing using touchscreen commands.

I don't agree with this. I think users need to send Microsoft a very strong message and tell them what we think of this. Shortcuts are overrated. Ease of use and intuitive use are what Windows had become good at.

And I have heard the argument this is so supposed to be geared toward the move toward tablet computers. A lot of people still work extensively on computers for work or school and it is much more comfortable and efficient to do this on a desktop or laptop computer, and at this time, most of them do not have touch screens.

What I have noticed is that people are falling for this. People who work in offices, people who type all day long are asking for tablet applications to make it "possible" to do their work on an iPad or other tablet. It might be possible but it is not practical and will TAKE MORE TIME if you have substantial work and typing to do!

I started out using computers with the DOS operating system. For those of you that know DOS, you had to know or look up plenty of commands every time you wanted to do do something. It was not intuitive. Why on earth would we move back in this direction?

I was amazed with what could be done with my old DOS computer, but was far more amazed with the ease of even the earliest versions of Windows. Though they have changed Windows through the years, in most cases it was not particularly harder to figure out how to do the basic operations we need. Windows 8 has definitely gone backwards in regard to intuitive ease of use.
I do not think people are going to get over it (nor should they). Microsoft will most likely come up with a successor that looks more like Windows 7 (but may have all the great underpinnings and efficiency of Windows 8).

I have used computers extensively since 1988 and I am not going to defend this operating system. I can and have learned to navigate it, but I teach many people how to use computers including senior citizens. I really do not think we should force this OS on people when there are better, more intuitive alternatives out there.

For people who do not consider themselves all that tech savvy with what they already have (but are able to get by and do what they need to do) Windows 8 is going to be extremely, and unnecessarily frustrating for them.

I have set up my laptop to dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 8. I love Linux Ubuntu and use it most of the time I use my laptop. I have put a free program called "Classic Shell" on for Windows 8. It makes it work a lot more like Windows 7.

I don't have any problems figuring out how to navigate Windows 8 because I do things that are more complicated than that with my computer; however I don't see this as a step in the right direction for the casual user, and I still feel Microsoft needs to get that message rather than users learning to live with it and "get over it."

[This message edited by Bobbi_sue at 8:01 AM, September 7th (Saturday)]