Windows 8 what's it like?

[midge]

My Mac book pro has broken and I need a new computer, new macs are very expensive! The cheapest is a pound shy of £1k! Obviously windows computer are far cheaper, so I just want people opinions on windows 8, is it easy to use? Transferring photos e.t.c from iPhone? iTunes? Pictures folder and albums?
I ask because it looks so different and dare I say difficult?

 

[Owen92]

Get your Macbook fixed?

 

[axnxdxy]

Only had a quick go with Windows 8 in a shop but hated it. Have recently purchased a MacBook Pro and already the OS makes so much more sense than Windows in most situations. Stick with your mac!

 

[Slammed172]

Horrific. Get a Mac or make sure you get Windows 7.

 

[CrippsCorner]

I got a Surface Pro and dual-screened it up with an external monitor. I used to hate Windows 8... but using it with a touchscreen just makes sense, and I really like it now. Just takes a bit of getting used to as all new things do. On the external monitor I run the desktop, so basically exactly the same as Windows 7.

My favourite feature is that Windows 8... boots from cold in 8 seconds

 

[McGherkin]

If possible, go for windows 7. It's exactly the same as Windows 8, but it hasn't got all the stupid touchscreen s**t, and it actually works.

 

[Toypop]

Once you have installed a free piece of software called Classic Shell it is identical to Windows 7 albeit that it boots up in half the time. Best OS I have had bar some minor issues with 8.1 that required me to update my mobo bios. That won't be a problem on a new machine that was designed for Win 8. If I'd bought my mobo a month later than I did then I wouldn't have had the problem.

All the other things you mention it does fantastically. Windows is obviously the most popular operating system so almost everything is built to support it.

 

[Cup_Phil]

I'll probably get called a fanboy but as a web developer we have a lot of gear in the office including surfaces etc. and I can honestly say in 15 years windows 8 is the worst user experience I've ever see

If you're used to osx which is by far the best it's a long way to fall
I'd just get the MacBook fixed. How badly is it broken?

 

[midge]

It's old mate, 2009 something wrong with the graphics card/logic board common problem on the model I have, I didn't like the file transfer and photo transfer on my Mac, awful compared to the ease with my old windows computer, I'll play with windows 8 in the shop, am I right in thinking all new machines will have windows 8 now? I'd be interested in getting the 'classic shell' to make it easier to get used to.
price is the big factor for me, £1k gets you the base spec Mac book 13' if you want 15' with retina display it's over £1500 iirc it's just to much money!

 

[CrippsCorner]

Classic Shell is so pointless. Press the Windows Key and you're back to the desktop.

To search for a program on Windows 7... press the Windows Key and start typing what you want.

To search for a program on Windows 8... press the Windows Key and start typing what you want.

Yes it looks different but you don't have to use the Smart Screen if you don't want to. I presume we're all at least slightly computer competent on here so it won't be a problem. Maybe your gran wouldn't find it so easy...

 

[Jay_A]

Windows 8 is awful. I have it on my gaming pc.

My main pc is a MacBook Pro tho which is just epic. Get your mac fixed!

 

[sbridgey]

I just got windows 8.1 on my desktop PC. And much to my surprise I like it. It's much better at dual screens and the interface is much slicker.

 

[matt_d]

Home I use the MacBook Pro but the work laptop is on Win 8.1 which was recently upgraded from Win 8 which I used for the past year - takes alot of getting used to but you'll get there in the end

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

Windows 8.1 is actually really really good. It's so fast. Difference between 8 and 8.1 is huge. I hate windows 8 but would recommend 8.1

 

[STRBramley]

I'm getting used to it now and find myself becoming more and more productive switching between using the touch screen for scrolling and the touch pad for smaller detail without thinking. Windows 8 works great with touch screen, it's just a matter of getting used to the desktop not being the first thing you see when you boot.

 

[GiT]

I bought my old man a Laptop.

It has W8.

I have had to leave because I felt my blood pressure rising. It is horrendous.

How the hell are you supposed to turn the frigger off!?

 

[Darius]

I bought my old man a Laptop.

It has W8.

I have had to leave because I felt my blood pressure rising. It is horrendous.

How the hell are you supposed to turn the frigger off!?

Download a program called 'start8' it cost $5 but your life will be complete. It has 30 day free trial so u can make sure it's what you need, which it is

 

[GiT]

Gonna have a fiddle at the weekend once my bloody pressure has dropped.

Honestly - wound me up like you wouldn't believe.

 

[McGherkin]

Download a program called 'start8' it cost $5 but your life will be complete. It has 30 day free trial so u can make sure it's what you need, which it is

Why on earth would you pay when Classicshell is free?

 

[Darius]

Why on earth would you pay when Classicshell is free?

I prefer the look and like to support devs, but yes you could use classicshell

 

[GiT]

I think I was getting more wound up by the fact the thing wouldn't update properly either. Sack of nails.

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

Has it got 8.1 on?

 

[GiT]

Not yet - it will have soon though

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

Good. Basically Window 8 > 8.1 is like Vista > 7

 

[CrippsCorner]

I bought my old man a Laptop.

It has W8.

I have had to leave because I felt my blood pressure rising. It is horrendous.

How the hell are you supposed to turn the frigger off!?

Press the Windows Key mate. Job done, back to the desktop

 

[GiT]

Yep - What then? No Start button!

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

Mouse to right hand side of screen, click the cog then click power button

 

[GiT]

Can you then shortcut it?

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

Yeah Google the switches for 'shutdown.exe' I can't remember them off by heart. It's -s but not sure about the time out. Maybe -t 00

 

[CrippsCorner]

Yep - What then? No Start button!

What is it what you wanna do mate... find a certain program to run? As I said on the previous page, although it looks different, it works in the exact same way as Windows 7 i.e. just start typing the name of the program you want (2 or 3 letters) then hit enter, simple as!

As for shutting down, you can right click the bottom left hand of the screen (or on the Windows Button on 8.1) and shut down directly from there. So... Windows 7 is left click, Windows 8 is right click. Sure it'll take a few times to remember but it's not the end of the world!

 

[Martin_172]

I tried 8.0 when it first came out and couldn't stand it, then a few months later decided to give it another go and a longer try, same issue hated it.

Installed 8.1 last night (90 day evaluation) and it was much much better! and I could have lived with it however my Intel Z87 chipset seems to hate it, random crashing, usb 3.0 would not work no matter what I tried, and couldn't get it to boot anywhere near as quick as windows 7 does (and this is ment to be 8's strong point) so went back to 7 for now. google search revealed others with the same issues with no solution

Im running a 3.5GHz Haswell I7, 16GB ram, Radeon 7790 and SSD (bit overkill for a web browser but I hate waiting lol!