New Computer With Windows 8.1...What am I in for???

[AquaAthena]

Metro works well on a touch screen, but is horrible with a mouse.

It's really horrible without a mouse, especially on my laptop touch pad, and God, do I hate touch pads.

Wireless mouse...... Never us a laptop without one.......

I use that too, if I have my Chromebook on a table but on the arm of a chair, it is a task, so I just use the thumb pad.

 

[Jackson]

Well, after all of the advice, I think I might just return the computer with W8.1. I called Dell and they said I could uninstall W 8.1 and download W 7. But then they installed Microsoft Office and I wondered if that was for 8.1!

Might as well just return the whole thing...I have 14 days to return and then order the correct one. At least I know I didn't get the Inspiron 3000 touch! I did one thing right!

What an ordeal!

 

[DriftingSand]

I can't stand Windows 8 or any of its variants. I wish I could go back to 7.

 

[Jackson]

I just hope I don't come across something I want to add later on and it will be for W8 users only...

 

[XPostFacto]

Well, after all of the advice, I think I might just return the computer with W8.1. I called Dell and they said I could uninstall W 8.1 and download W 7. But then they installed Microsoft Office and I wondered if that was for 8.1!

Might as well just return the whole thing...I have 14 days to return and then order the correct one. At least I know I didn't get the Inspiron 3000 touch! I did one thing right!

What an ordeal!

Microsoft Office will work with Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1. Now, if you uninstall 8.1, you will probably have to re-install Office. If I were you, I would not be so hasty to stop the order. Windows 8 is not that bad, even though it has a steep learning curve. The laptop I bought had 8 on it, but it did have a tutorial on it that helped a lot.

Every time Microsoft ever came out with a new operating system, I bought a book on that new system. Like I mentioned before. the Windows 8 Bible is a very good tutorial. I don't know what the difference is between 8 and 8.1, but check out the Barnes and Noble bookstore for books about Windows 8.1. Surf the Internet. Don't give up this awesome system by listening to these naysayers. You'll get through it. It's not all that bad.

 

[XPostFacto]

I just hope I don't come across something I want to add later on and it will be for W8 users only...

The apps today are programmed to function With Windows Vista, 7 and 8. Don't worry. You will be fine.

 

[Jackson]

I just hope I don't come across something I want to add later on and it will be for W8 users only...

The apps today are programmed to function With Windows Vista, 7 and 8. Don't worry. You will be fine.

Thank you, XPF!

 

[Uncensored2008]

Metro works well on a touch screen, but is horrible with a mouse.

It's really horrible without a mouse, especially on my laptop touch pad, and God, do I hate touch pads.

Wireless mouse...... Never us a laptop without one.......

My Logitech blue tooth is always with me!

 

[Vandalshandle]

What are you in for?

You are in for the 7th circle of hell. Windows 8 is almost as good an idea as "new Coke".

 

[Uncensored2008]

I was using XP up until I got this laptop. Microsoft was abandoning XP and my old laptop gave up the ghost around the same time.

I got this HP pavilion on Black Friday from Walmart for like 299 or something...and let me tell you, learning Win 8.1 was an experience...but now that I have a have a handle on it, I like it as much as if not more than XP.

The ONE terrible thing about Windows 8.1 over Win 7 is, Win 7 came with a Virtual XP built in and Windows 8.1 doesn't...you have to pay for it.

Virtual PC has been replaced with Hyper-V, the server level program that was released in 2006. Hyper-V is part of Windows 8, you just need to turn it on. It is compatible with all your existing VPC files, so you can import old virtual machines directly.

http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/windows-8-feature-focus-client-hyper-v

You will have to supply a valid key for XP - but most people have one or more of those laying around.

 

[Uncensored2008]

I can't stand Windows 8 or any of its variants. I wish I could go back to 7.

You can. Install Windows 7 and use the Windows 8 key, it will work fine.

Live tiles are cool - REALLY cool. I love the tiles in 8. I have a live tile for mail that cycles all unread mail in it, so at a glance I can see what is going on with email. Obviously the Weather tile is nice, it's a default. The news tile is very useful as well. I even set up a live tile with my security cameras, that cycles the views in the tile.

 

[Uncensored2008]

I just hope I don't come across something I want to add later on and it will be for W8 users only...

The apps today are programmed to function With Windows Vista, 7 and 8. Don't worry. You will be fine.

Many of the apps in the Microsoft Store will only run under Windows 8. These are mostly games like you would play on an iPad. But they are Windows 8 only.

 

[Uncensored2008]

What are you in for?

You are in for the 7th circle of hell. Windows 8 is almost as good an idea as "new Coke".

So, you've never used it....

 

[SmedlyButler]

New Computer With Windows 8.1...What am I in for???

Just ordered my new computer and I ordered Windows 8.1. I have had my existing computer so long, I don't know what OS I have, but I know what I read about Windows 8 scares me completely.

I'm not ready to take four months to learn how to use a computer to primarily post on this message board, shop a little and play some simple games. What am I in for?

I tried Win8 beta a couple years ago. It struck me as basically Win7 optimized for touch screens. Microsoft has been steering towards a multi-platform OS for several years. Phones, tablets, desktops etc. So if you don't use touch-screen as your main input I don't think you'll get the full benefits of Win8.1. However the 8.1 edition is supposed to address some user complaints about the friendliness of 7 vs 8. Tooling around with 8 a couple of years ago you could get 8 to act much like 7 for the most annoying changes - e.g. the start menu. And after a little tweaking I discovered a few new aspects of 8 that were definetly improvements. Maybe with 8.1 you don't have to tweak to recover the Win7 baubles you really liked. I haven't tried it yet. And until and unless I get a desktop touch screen I won't unless I have to. I use the desktop while eating, smoking, house-cleaning, every activity. Makes for a very grungy screen imo.

Anyway good luck. And if you can't format Win 8.1 to your likeing one of your savvy buddies should be able to help you out. It's no where near rocket science. It's one of the things I've always appreciated about Windows, it's a very malleable OS.

 

[Jackson]

Well, someone almost had me talked into staying with 8.1 until I started rationalizing the benefits and couldn't think of any except to say I had the latest technology available.

That doesn't mean anything to me, so I think I'll turn around and send it back and enjoy the familiarity of W 7. I have was I need.

Now, it's been a long time since I bought a new monitor. With the new desktop, I bought a new monitor, larger, 27". Does that have software that has to be downloaded to be compatible with W 7 instead of W 8.1? IOW, do I have to send that back as well since it is pre installed to go with W 8.1?

 

[Uncensored2008]

Well, someone almost had me talked into staying with 8.1 until I started rationalizing the benefits and couldn't think of any except to say I had the latest technology available.

That doesn't mean anything to me, so I think I'll turn around and send it back and enjoy the familiarity of W 7. I have was I need.

Now, it's been a long time since I bought a new monitor. With the new desktop, I bought a new monitor, larger, 27". Does that have software that has to be downloaded to be compatible with W 7 instead of W 8.1? IOW, do I have to send that back as well since it is pre installed to go with W 8.1?

The monitor will work fine.

What makes the difference in the monitor is your graphics card. If you are using a Dell U2713HM and you go with the onboard graphics of an I5 or I7 machine, you will be limited to 1920 X 1080 resolution, since the Intel HD4000 chipset will not drive 2560 X 1440. But the monitor will still work. Most discrete video cards will drive ultra-HD.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I can't stand Windows 8 or any of its variants. I wish I could go back to 7.

You can. Install Windows 7 and use the Windows 8 key, it will work fine.

Live tiles are cool - REALLY cool. I love the tiles in 8. I have a live tile for mail that cycles all unread mail in it, so at a glance I can see what is going on with email. Obviously the Weather tile is nice, it's a default. The news tile is very useful as well. I even set up a live tile with my security cameras, that cycles the views in the tile.

All of which you could do before tiles, even in Win XP.

 

[Uncensored2008]

All of which you could do before tiles, even in Win XP.

Longhorn ended the advantage of Linux.

The NT kernel was unsecure by nature, no amount of tweaks could ever change the fact that zero ring commands were part of the architecture. For Linux fanatics, this was the target to take out M$ - but Longhorn changed that, Longhorn is far MORE secure than Debian and other Linux systems.

I've noted that many Linux fanatics pine for the days of XP - but not because XP was such a great system - quite the opposite.

 

[XPostFacto]

It's really horrible without a mouse, especially on my laptop touch pad, and God, do I hate touch pads.

Wireless mouse...... Never us a laptop without one.......

My Logitech blue tooth is always with me!

Before I retired, I had my IT department disable the touch pad. I'm a pretty fast touch typist and bang the keyboard real hard to the point that if I didn't watch it, the cursor would jump all around and erase what I had just typed. All laptops with touch pads have that annoying problem. I disabled the touch pad on my home laptop, but when I did, it also disabled the mouse so now, I have to use the pad. I have now changed the way I type, just to keep from erasing previous data. What a pain.

 

[XPostFacto]

Well, someone almost had me talked into staying with 8.1 until I started rationalizing the benefits and couldn't think of any except to say I had the latest technology available.

That doesn't mean anything to me, so I think I'll turn around and send it back and enjoy the familiarity of W 7. I have was I need.

Now, it's been a long time since I bought a new monitor. With the new desktop, I bought a new monitor, larger, 27". Does that have software that has to be downloaded to be compatible with W 7 instead of W 8.1? IOW, do I have to send that back as well since it is pre installed to go with W 8.1?

Being a techno weenie like I am, I wouldn't send it back. I'm not afraid to dive right in there. I also build my own PC's about every 7 or 8 years as soon as I get dropped frame rates on the latest game, then it's time to go for a new build. In the long run, it's up to you, and only you can decide what you want.