posted
disclaimer: I am not interested in a mac, linux, or any other OS.
I still run an XP laptop and desktop at home. I have no problems with it and it serves me well for what I like and need to do. I use 7 at work, and I like that just dandy too.
I've tried the abomination that is Windows 8, and blatantly refuse to use that. I know you can download a third party start menu, and there are some tweaks in 8.1, but everything about it seems counter intuitive.
From what I've seen, Windows 10 seems to be a workable amalgam of the two, but that won't be available until late 2015. We all know that the first iterations have some kinks that need to be worked out too.
My current computers still work, but they getting to be slower and clumsier as the weeks drift into months into years. I am pretty good at maintaining them; they've been in use since 2006 or 2007 or so. They just don't seem to be a viable option going forward for too much longer.
The question: Do I shell for two new Windows 7 machines before they become more expensive and harder to get, or do I run my XP setup until 10 becomes a viable option?
Thanks for any input!
Posts: 468 | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
XP isn't being supported any more, which means newly discovered security vulnerabilities are not getting fixed. I think it's a bad idea to keep using XP.
Why do you refuse to use Windows 8 even though there are fixes available for the annoyances? You should be able to get it to mostly work like Windows 7:
posted
I sort of understand the hate for 8 because I too hated it when I got this laptop (coming from XP) but after a couple of weeks using it, now I really like it. Give it a shot.
Posts: 891 | Registered: Feb 2010
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posted
It also depends on what you mean by "slower and clumsier."
Is it because you're asking for more? You could upgrade to an SSD/ a faster video card, etc although at the likely age of your hardware, you should probably just start over.
Is it just because of built up cruft and you're doing the same you did in 2006/2007? Then reformat and re-install your OS while being picky about what apps you reinstall (although I would second using Windows 7).
Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
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posted
I've reformatted several times over the years. It feels slow even after that. Just used to the fast and simple 7 comps at work. From what I've seen about the 8 tweaks they seem like a bandaid, not a true fix.
Posts: 468 | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
Windows 8.1 is significantly less stupid than Windows 8, if you haven't used it since initial release. Just an FYI. I'm looking forward to the changes that are showing up in 10, but 8.1 is at least usable, and once you get used to pinning things in places you want them (start Screen or Task Bar), there gets to be very little difference between it and 7.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
I've used Win7 at work for the past 4 years, and at home for the past 5, so I'm quite used to it. But work being what it is..... some execs have decided that the Surface Pro 3 is the new hotness, so someone needs to be familiar enough with Win 8.1 to support them, so I got volunteered. I'm a "Tier 2" support guy, with a side of netadmin, sysadmin, and telecom admin thrown in for good measure, in case you wonder.
Anyway, the 1st couple of hours with 8.1 were very annoying, but once I got the tiles customized to the few that I need and then also popped everything into my taskbar or as a desktop shortcut... honestly, I haven't seen the tiles page in over a week (and I've only been on Win 8.1 for a little over 3 weeks now), so as far as I'm concerned it's a just Win7 machine with a hideously fugly flat UI that's hard to read (especially in Office 2013. Holy undifferentiated extraneous white space and weird cursor animation, Batman!).
They've also moved around a lot of my diagnostics and removed links or placed them in other locations. Things that used to be right-clickable aren't. But the "God Mode Folder" is still an option, so I'm using that more rather than trying to dig through the now incomprehensible menus. Overall, it's not *that* different from 7 -- just different enough to be annoying.
I've also played with the Win10 preview a bit, and from what little I did, it seemed like it was simply Win 8.1 with the start button and menu back where they should be like in Win7 (and Vista, and XP, and NT, and 2000, and 98, and 95...), but as I mentioned... even without using the IOBit or other "give me my start button back" apps, I haven't left my desktop screen in over a week, so I don't see that Win10 is really any great difference from 8.1 either. By actual release, well who knows? But for now..... 8.1's not bad. Just annoying to learn in the 1st place. And the UI is fugly and flat.
Weirdly enough, the new Yosemite UI for Mac is also flat and fugly. Wish I had my Mavericks back on my Mac. Yes... I support both.
Posts: 1323 | Registered: Aug 2001
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The tl;dr is: Too much whitespace and no real color contrast to help visually separate sections. As a co-worker put it "I need sunglasses to look at my screen now."
Posts: 1323 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
I haven't used office 2013 but looking at that article, yeah I see what you mean. Sunglasses could definitely help.
Posts: 891 | Registered: Feb 2010
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