Five reasons Windows 8.1 is a winner | Computerworld BlogsWindows 8.1 has gone a long way towards fixing some but certainly not all of Windows 8's woes. Here are five ways Windows 8.1 improves upon Windows 8.
Boot to the desktop
Yes, it's finally here. With Windows 8.1, when you log in you can bypass the Start screen, and go straight to the desktop. Given that many people use powerful desktop apps rather than the more anemic Modern-style apps, this is a very big deal.
Five reasons Windows 8.1 is a winner
- Thread starter labeeman
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- Somewhere in USA
Actually, it makes me sad that these people can't figure it out. They are the ones spewing fud throughout the universe that it's not working.
Their incompetence could potentially spell disaster if MS really did take wind of the matter and believed we wanted to go backwards in technology.
Just look at the debacle with the X-Box and elimination of family sharing. If I wanted to drive somewhere to trade a disc, I would've invested in Blockbuster.
Their incompetence could potentially spell disaster if MS really did take wind of the matter and believed we wanted to go backwards in technology.
Just look at the debacle with the X-Box and elimination of family sharing. If I wanted to drive somewhere to trade a disc, I would've invested in Blockbuster.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8.1 Pro
- Computer type
- Tablet
- System Manufacturer/Model
- Microsoft Surface Pro 3, Dell Venue 8 Pro, i5 2500K overclocked PC
- CPU
- i5
- Memory
- 4gb Surface Pro, 8gb PC
- Messages
- 219
It is not that folks can't figure it out. Holy crimminy! I have a friend who bought a computer 3 months ago. A few days back she asked me for some help with it.. I got a remote connection into her machine and asked, "So, what do you think of this new windows."
She replied, "Well, I know that it is capable of so much more than I am even close to being aware of. I feel like I just need to sit down with someone and have them show me all this new stuff and how to use it. Maybe then I would like it."
I took 20 minutes and showed her around.. Showed her how to shutdown her machine, which she had been unable to figure out. Showed her how to use the new start screen, the store, etc. She was not very impressed. I installed classic shell.
I talked with her later that afternoon, and she commented how much nicer her machine was with the ild start menu back. Much more use-able. This has been a common trend.
I myself still use vanilla. But I still think MS was crazy! It is not because we cannot learn.
She replied, "Well, I know that it is capable of so much more than I am even close to being aware of. I feel like I just need to sit down with someone and have them show me all this new stuff and how to use it. Maybe then I would like it."
I took 20 minutes and showed her around.. Showed her how to shutdown her machine, which she had been unable to figure out. Showed her how to use the new start screen, the store, etc. She was not very impressed. I installed classic shell.
I talked with her later that afternoon, and she commented how much nicer her machine was with the ild start menu back. Much more use-able. This has been a common trend.
I myself still use vanilla. But I still think MS was crazy! It is not because we cannot learn.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8.1 Pro 64 Bit
- CPU
- Processor AMD Athlon(tm) II X4 635 Processor, 2800 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
- Memory
- 8gb
- Graphics Card(s)
- Nvidia GTX 460
- Messages
- 606
- Location
- South Coast NSW, Australia
Um... I have a high-end i7 'desktop-replacement' laptop and have been running Windows 8 since the first beta (DP), and am currently running Win 8.1 Pro RTM 64-bit with WMC.
It runs just fine on it (and my old Pentium 4 desktop) without a problem.
Neither machine has (or will ever have) a touch-screen.
Both are 100% functional and usable with a mouse/touchpad and keyboard.
I am an advanced user who does serious work (PhotoShop, video editing/conversion etc), not a Farce-book/Twitter/YouTube/email peon.
Yes, it's different to use than XP/VIsta/7, but not that much.
And it's certainly not useless on a high-end machine. It appears to also be a very good gaming OS, I've found.
Wenda.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8.1 'Ultimate' RTM 64 bit (Pro/WMC).
- Computer type
- Laptop
- System Manufacturer/Model
- Acer AS8951G 'Desktop Replacement'.
- CPU
- i7-2670QM@2.2/3.1Ghz.
- Motherboard
- Acer
- Memory
- 8GB@1366Mhz.
- Graphics Card(s)
- GeForce GT555M 2GB DDR3
- Sound Card
- Realtek HD w/Dolby 5.1 surround.
- Monitor(s) Displays
- Built-in. Non-touch.
- Screen Resolution
- 18/4" 1920x1080 full-HD.
- Hard Drives
- Toshiba 750GBx2 internal. 1x2TB, 2x640GB, 1x500GB external.
- PSU
- Stock.
- Case
- Laptop.
- Cooling
- Stock.
- Keyboard
- Full 101-key
- Mouse
- USB cordless.
- Browser
- IE11, Firefox, Tor.
- Antivirus
- Windows Defender, MalwareBytes Pro.
- Other Info
- BD-ROM drive.
- Messages
- 1,343
- Location
- Adelaide
I suspect that Metro lovers have never been able to figure out how to use a keyboard and mouse.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- System Manufacturer/Model
- n/a
- CPU
- AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
- Motherboard
- ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
- Memory
- 8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
- Graphics Card(s)
- ATI Radeon HD6450
- Sound Card
- Realtek?
- Monitor(s) Displays
- Samsung S23B350
- Screen Resolution
- 1920x1080
- Hard Drives
- Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
- Case
- Tower
- Mouse
- Wired Optical
- Other Info
- Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
It's really a pointless discussion. There are those that will brook no criticism of W8 & 8.1. And the 94% of the buying public who have rejected it. The debate is over, the people have spoken.
The would be champ is flat on the canvas, out cold ... the only people who don't know that are his fans!
The would be champ is flat on the canvas, out cold ... the only people who don't know that are his fans!
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 7 Ult Reatil & Win 8 Pro OEM
- System Manufacturer/Model
- Built as DIY
- CPU
- 6 core 12 thread & 4 core
- Motherboard
- Inel Extreme & Intel standard
- Memory
- 12GB & 8GB
- Graphics Card(s)
- 3 top end SLI linked & onboard
- Sound Card
- In built in graphics card & onboard
- Monitor(s) Displays
- 24 & 23 inch Samsung LED backlit
- Screen Resolution
- High def
- Hard Drives
- Corsair Force 128GB SATA3 SSDs in each machine. Plus several external USB3 and eSATA spinner HDs
Windows 8 biggest downfall is apps...
I have 2 roommates and for the holidays I decided to buy them iPad minis, WHY?
because it came down to functionality, with iPads they can do online banking, deposit checks by simply taking a picture, visa transactions, you can almost run a business with an iPhone. You can access your windows computer, even run media center.
they have AT&T so for $10 each they will have 3G connections. For god sakes they use it at the local grocery for coupons and price comparing. They buy their bus passes, they use them as a transit pass. These are just the tips of the iceberg.
I have 7 windows machines, some with 8 and others with 7, the only reason is because of media center, we use it for our Comcast TV setup, eliminating the need of boxes and saves us $50 buck a month in charges. Media Center is hands down king in the media center world, Plex, XBMC, Roxie, Google TV, Air Apple don't come close.
But with that said, the windows 8 crApp Store as we refer to it, is next to useless. I don't need thousands of useless link apps to Justin Bieber, Ellen Degeneres and every other star website , I have a browser for that. Sooooo, unless Microsoft starts addressing real world needs, it might as well tuck Metro to bed, because it will be lights out.
I have 2 roommates and for the holidays I decided to buy them iPad minis, WHY?
because it came down to functionality, with iPads they can do online banking, deposit checks by simply taking a picture, visa transactions, you can almost run a business with an iPhone. You can access your windows computer, even run media center.
they have AT&T so for $10 each they will have 3G connections. For god sakes they use it at the local grocery for coupons and price comparing. They buy their bus passes, they use them as a transit pass. These are just the tips of the iceberg.
I have 7 windows machines, some with 8 and others with 7, the only reason is because of media center, we use it for our Comcast TV setup, eliminating the need of boxes and saves us $50 buck a month in charges. Media Center is hands down king in the media center world, Plex, XBMC, Roxie, Google TV, Air Apple don't come close.
But with that said, the windows 8 crApp Store as we refer to it, is next to useless. I don't need thousands of useless link apps to Justin Bieber, Ellen Degeneres and every other star website , I have a browser for that. Sooooo, unless Microsoft starts addressing real world needs, it might as well tuck Metro to bed, because it will be lights out.
My Computer
System One
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- OS
- Windows 7 - Linux (Ubuntu & Zorin) - XP
- System Manufacturer/Model
- iBuyPower
- CPU
- i5-2320 3.00GHz
- Motherboard
- ASRock H61M-VVGS
- Memory
- 8GB
- Graphics Card(s)
- AMD Radeon 6770
- Messages
- 466
- Location
- Wynnum Australia
Not true, as they only scrapped the UI:
Just run it via command line: winsat / formal
Results are under Windows/Performance/WinSAT/DataStore/
My Computer
System One
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- OS
- Windows-10-Pro-Build-11099.rs1-x64
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- System Manufacturer/Model
- Custom-Build
- CPU
- Intel Core i7 3770k @4800MHz
- Motherboard
- Asus P8Z77-V
- Memory
- G.Skill 16G(4*4G) DDR3-2400 Quad Channel [TDX] F3-2400C10Q-16GTX
- Graphics Card(s)
- 2x Gigabyte GTX980-Ti-OC-STRIX-6GB in 2-Way-SLI (1408MHz | Boost: 1544MHz | Memory-Clock: 8000MHz)
- Sound Card
- OnBoard Realtek® ALC892 8-Channel High Definition Audio
- Monitor(s) Displays
- Asus VE278Q 27" Wide Led Black Full HD 2ms | Dell S2409W 24" 5ms
- Screen Resolution
- 1920x1080
- Hard Drives
- - Intel 520S 240GB/SATA3/R 550MBs,W 520MBs/25nm/3.5"Kit/5yr
- Samsung 840 EVO SATA3 500GB
- Seagate Barracuda SATA3 1TB 7200RPM 64mb Cache
- Seagate Barracuda SATA3 1TB 7200RPM 64mb Cache
- Seagate Constellation SATA3 3TB 7200RPM 64mb Cache
-
- PSU
- Corsair AX1200i
- Case
- Thermaltake Level-10 GT LCS
- Cooling
- EK H3O HFX 240mm Liquid Cooling Kit + 2x EK-480-Rads + GPU-Blocks + Gelid Extreme
- Keyboard
- Roccat Isku | Logitech G13 | XBox 360 Controller wired | Logitech Dual Action GamePad
- Mouse
- Roccat Pure Military Dessert Strike | Shogun Bros. Ballista MK-1 | Cyborg R.A.T. 7 Infection
- Internet Speed
- ADSL2+ ~15MBit/s DL | ~1MBit/s UL
- Browser
- Google Chrome
- Antivirus
- Windows Defender
- Other Info
- - Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystick
- Plantronics GameCom Commander Headset
- Logitech X-210 Speakers
- Roccat Taito Mid-Size 5mm
- PC-Master-Race MousePad (yellow)
- Messages
- 606
- Location
- South Coast NSW, Australia
Not true, as they only scrapped the UI:
Just run it via command line: winsat / formal
Results are under Windows/Performance/WinSAT/DataStore/
Yes, it is. Thanks for the tip.
I got 5.9, which is .2 better than the same machine on W8.
It's my hard drives (2 x 5400rpm spinners) which pull the score down, the rest are all in the high 7's.
Wenda.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8.1 'Ultimate' RTM 64 bit (Pro/WMC).
- Computer type
- Laptop
- System Manufacturer/Model
- Acer AS8951G 'Desktop Replacement'.
- CPU
- i7-2670QM@2.2/3.1Ghz.
- Motherboard
- Acer
- Memory
- 8GB@1366Mhz.
- Graphics Card(s)
- GeForce GT555M 2GB DDR3
- Sound Card
- Realtek HD w/Dolby 5.1 surround.
- Monitor(s) Displays
- Built-in. Non-touch.
- Screen Resolution
- 18/4" 1920x1080 full-HD.
- Hard Drives
- Toshiba 750GBx2 internal. 1x2TB, 2x640GB, 1x500GB external.
- PSU
- Stock.
- Case
- Laptop.
- Cooling
- Stock.
- Keyboard
- Full 101-key
- Mouse
- USB cordless.
- Browser
- IE11, Firefox, Tor.
- Antivirus
- Windows Defender, MalwareBytes Pro.
- Other Info
- BD-ROM drive.
They scrapped WEI 'cause they had to. Surface Pro sucked at it.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Yes, it is possible they didn't want to make it obvious surface pro got a low score.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- 7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
Wds
New Member
- Messages
- 26
I suspect that Metro lovers have never been able to figure out how to use a keyboard and mouse.
To me , for real WORKING peaple : Wds 7 is the best ... IMHO
Wds 8 for tablets and kids playing .
My Computer
System One
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- OS
- wds 8.1- x 64Bit
- Computer type
- Laptop
- System Manufacturer/Model
- Sony SVF14N13CXB
- CPU
- Intel i5-4200U@1.60GHZ
- Memory
- 8 GB x 64 Bit
- Graphics Card(s)
- Intel HD Graphics 4400
- Screen Resolution
- 1900x1080
- Hard Drives
- 500GB
- Antivirus
- WDS Defender and MalwareByte Pro.
- Messages
- 119
- Location
- Where I am currently positioned
I suspect that Metro lovers have never been able to figure out how to use a keyboard and mouse.
To me , for real WORKING peaple : Wds 7 is the best ... IMHO
Wds 8 for tablets and kids playing .
Yep. Even with the desktop, every time I fired up Win 8 and saw that kindergarten start screen I wanted to stab my eyeballs out with a pencil. I fought it for months but finally loaded Start8, it is much more bearable. If you use computers as part of your professional life, be it business person or software developer (me) or system administrator Metro just gets in the way. I won't even discuss Microsloth's vision of single tasking Metro/Modern apps. If you're a FarceBooker then have at it.
My views and about $2.50 will getcha a Starbucks Venti.
-jeff
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Linux Mint and Windows 8 Pro
- System Manufacturer/Model
- Asus G75VW
- CPU
- i7
- Motherboard
- Asus
- Memory
- 16G
- Graphics Card(s)
- nVidia
- Monitor(s) Displays
- 17"
- Hard Drives
- Seagate 5400 rpm 1T and Seagate 7200 rpm 500G.
- Internet Speed
- 30M down, 5M up
- Other Info
- Oracle Virtual Box
Ubuntu 64 bit
Rickkins
Banned
- Messages
- 885
1: I have boot to desktop with classic shell.
2: Not even if you paid me.
3: I use the search in my file manager(dopus)
4: Not even if you paid me.
5: Already had that with classic shell.
2: Not even if you paid me.
3: I use the search in my file manager(dopus)
4: Not even if you paid me.
5: Already had that with classic shell.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Win8.1 Pro, Desktop Mode
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- System Manufacturer/Model
- Me
- CPU
- AMD FX-8150
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H
- Memory
- 8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 (9-9-9-28)
- Graphics Card(s)
- AMD Radeon HD 6570
- Sound Card
- Creative X-Fi Titanium
- Monitor(s) Displays
- PX2710MW
- Screen Resolution
- 1920x1080@60Hz
- Hard Drives
- 1x1TB Western Digital WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B1 ATA Device Caviar Black -
4 x 2TB Seagate ST32000542A -
1 x 4TB Seagate External
- Case
- Antec
- Cooling
- Noctua NH-D14
- Keyboard
- Logitech Illuminated Keyboard K740
- Internet Speed
- 60meg cable
- Browser
- Cyberfox
- Antivirus
- AVG Security Suite