[Coco] [OT] Windows 8

[Steve]

Yes, Steven Sinofsky was behind the Window's store interface (metro).  
But this new interface was a bit heavy handed as in "my way or the 
highway" and could (did) lead to him parting ways with Microsoft.  With 
Steven gone, the Desktop style interface with graphical clues is comming 
back. Items like the Windows Key is now on the tool bar in Windows 8.1. 
This works the same as pressing the the Windows key of the keyboard or 
pressing the Window's button on a touch screen.  But if you right click 
on this target, you get a nice menu from Task manager to power the 
computer down.

On my Windows 8.1 systems, I boot right to desk top thanks to 8.1 update 
almost never see the metro metro interface. More to the fact, I don't 
use (or need) any third party interface addons to make the interface so 
it acts like a Windows 7 interface.

One tip, try using the mouse's right click on the Metro interface and 
its apps.  It sure helps.

In about a month, Windows 8.1.1 will hit and it will help even more with 
the interface issues.

Also Windows 9 is about a year out with lots of desktop interface 
improvements like run metro apps in a window on the Desktop.

The Desktop Interface is here to stay for a while.

By the way, the metro interface works great on tablets and Touch Screen 
computers once you get use to swiping in from the sides.

I should also point out that Apple's OS-7 changes to the user interface 
are not that beloved by iPad users.  I had to turn off most of the 
gestures because I got tired of all those control screens popping up.

As  Scotty said, "The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is 
to stop up the drain."

Steve
P.S. If you want to contact me off list, please go to SRBsoftware.com 
and use the contact system there.  Any email sent to (6809) address and 
not from the CoCoList server is delete because of spam.

On 2/10/2014 1:44 PM, Steve Ostrom wrote:
> Sorry for the off-topic request, but I need some expert help.
>
> I don't want this request to be an invitation to rant on MS, or 
> questioning why I haven't made the jump to Linux, but I'd like your 
> calm, logical input.
>
> I've been a Coco lover, user, collector, programmer and Coco magazine 
> article author since it first came out, so that's where my love and 
> hobby are still today.  But through my work, I have used MS products 
> since MSDOS was all that was available.  Every MS upgrade went 
> reasonably smoothly.  I had no trouble going from the command prompt 
> of MSDOS to early Windows all the way through Windows 7 at work and at 
> home.  I needed a second home computer a few months ago, and found a 
> good refurbished one on-line for a very low price.  Since I already 
> had a good second monitor, I only bought the computer.  It came 
> pre-installed with Windows 8.  My current monitor is not a 
> touch-screen monitor.  I found that navigating this OS with a mouse 
> was pure hell.  All the articles I could find on-line discussing these 
> same issues have not helped. If the computer came with Win 8 Pro, you 
> have the rights for a free "downgrade" to Windows 7.  I don't have Win 
> 8 Pro.  If you try to buy a legit copy of Windows 7, installing it on 
> the Win 8 machine can cause major issues since that machine has not 
> been tested with Win 7.  I'm willing to learn how to use Win 8 with a 
> mouse, but I'm not willing to buy a new touch-screen monitor just so 
> the interface is easier.  I also don't want to start a new learning 
> curve by installing Linux and going from there.
>
> Are there any other alternatives to navigating Win 8, such as a 
> well-tested shell, or changing certain Win 8 defaults to function more 
> like Win 7?  For those of you who have moved to Win 8 more smoothly 
> than I have, where is a good place to learn to use Win 8 with a mouse?
>
> Thanks, and again I apologize for the off-topic request.
>
> --- Coco Steve ---
>
>