So how long have I been ranting against Windows 8? Well, how long has it been out? I was one of the first persons to download the the first public release of the new operating system. And within a day or two, or less, I hated it. 10 days later, I went to the Apple Store and bought my iPad. I had nothing but contempt for the Metro operating system that was forced on me on the desktop. And remember, until that time, I was all in on Windows.
This weekend, I bought a new laptop computer…and, as they almost all do, it came with Windows 8. Nothing I could do about it. If Apple computers were not so expensive, I would have bought one of them. But, my new Samsung laptop came equipped with the devil’s own operating system. So what am I to do?
So like a good little tech writer and explorer that I am, I decided to give Windows 8 another chance. So I played with it for a day…right as it comes comes out of the box. And guess what…I still hate it. I hate it even more than I did that first time. I wouldn’t want it on a tablet, much less a laptop.
It is a total waste of space. Big huge colorful squares of wasted space that are not helpful and don’t help me get things done. The Metro interface (now called “Modern’) is not contained on one screen…oh no…you have to continually scroll across looking for the one square that launches the one program you want. What a waste!
Try opening IE…you get a different IE than the one on the desktop…and the two don’t talk to each other. This is a first release of an unfinished product that should have never been released.
The best analogy I heard compares Windows 8 to cars. We have been driving cars with steering wheels on the left side for over 100 years. Suppose Ford would have come out with steering wheels in the center of the car for all its new models. Think they would sell? Of course not. They would be trying to change the way we do things all these many years. Same with Windows 8.
For me, I strongly considered grabbing one of my unused Windows 7 disks and wiping out Windows 8. But, despite its terrible Metro interface, it does have a better-built desktop than Windows 7. It is more secure and has many under-the-hood improvements. Could I still use it without having to resort to installing Windows 7? Or is it a lost cause?
What did I do? Stay tuned for the next edition and I will tell you how it all turned out. Hint…I am pretty much a happy camper now.
As for this edition, we have some good stories here that you might find useful, including all the new features that will be added to Windows 8.1. Plus a boatload of great tips…even some I hadn’t thought of. Anyway, enjoy what the tech gods have brought forth. -JRC
Windows 8.1 unveiled: will it change your mind about Windows 8?
The Start button is back. But that's just one of a very long list of changes you'll find in Windows 8.1, which will be available as a preview in a few weeks and will be released before the end of the year. Don't let the name fool you: this is a major update. Here's what's inside.
Microsoft's Surface tablet fire sale now under way
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10 shocking lessons from using only Google products
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Ending the headaches of Wi-Fi
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Get Organized: How to Cut Down on Unwanted Email
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New Gmail look blings up your inbox with tabs
Google refreshes Gmail for the Web, Android, and iOS with new default categories and tabs to organize your e-mail.
8 Things We Love About the New Flickr
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How to Use Flickr as a Photo Backup Service
Armed with 1 TB of space, Flickr is now a good candidate to house your entire collection of digital photographs. You may set the default privacy of your online photo albums as private and and search visibility as “hidden” and thus no one else will be able to search or view your pictures stored on to Flickr."
How to Clean Out Your Overflowing Hard Drive and Get Your Space Back
Hard drives get messy. You save files and forget them, download huge chunks of data that pile up, and change your naming schemes a hundred times. It's spring, though, so why not do a little tidying up?
Five steps to ultimate Firefox security
Fend off malware, phishers, and their ilk by exercising Firefox's built-in security features and picking some useful add-ons
Shrink photos and clear up some hard drive space with JPEGmini
PEGmini can help you shrink popular JPEG images to almost a fifth of their original size, potentially clearing up to 80 percent of hard drive space
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