Want a new laptop but do I want Windows 8?

[Fossil Farm]

Wow, I had to check that, as I am an avid photo buff.
You are right with your description, but..
I just took a thumb drive over with some old pics on it. I have already fixed W-8 to open on the "Desktop" view, which is similar to W-7, but no Start Menu, no shutdown, no reboot, no sleep. Alt-F4 gets you to those choices.
W-8 has already put a "Folder" icon in the task bar. Opening that you get your computer hard drives and other normal folders.
Plugging in the thumb drive makes it appear as another drive.
I opened that and got the details list as normal.
Now this may be because of "Windows Essentials" that I installed.... but I selected "Slide Show" then "Pause" then advanced the pictures back and forth with the Left/Right keys on the keyboard.
Doable for now, but will have to be overcome if 8.1 doesn't fix it.
I've seen a gizmo called "Smart 8" or something on the net that can be installed to make 8 more like 7 but won't mess with it till 8.1 is in and we see how it works.

Change your default viewer to "Windows Photo Viewer" and it should work just fine.

 

[pacerron]

Change your default viewer to "Windows Photo Viewer" and it should work just fine.

Right... or Windows Photo Gallery, which is also installed. I use it on W-7 to preview my images and it does a very good job with "Canon RAW" as well as other formats before I convert then in Adobe RAW for Photoshop editing. My wife doesn't mess with photo editing, just viewing, so I have grouped the W-8 pc with my W-7's so I can just drag and drop images from one computer to the other via my wireless remote. Saves a lot of time.
I have the W-8 set to open in Desktop mode, too. The Metro mode probably is still running in the background wasting my satellite allotment time.

 

[SPIKER]

Anyone having Win7 Update issues???

Seems last few updates have made my Win7 86 bit system WORSE!!!! Stupid Security updates that are "Critical" are (*^%%^&%$$)_(*U

Crp total usless PC Messer Uppers... I had to do a bunch of repairs on my PC a few months back including a restore to earlier date. My woman's laptop was first one to be hit with recent update that cause slow downs and crash issues. Spent better part of a day getting her's back up and running, next day it hit mine on shutdown. crashed and was terrible on boot-up, again restore to 2 or 3 points back to get it functional and turned off auto updates. Dumbass me I saw more "Critical Updates Needed" and gave it a try on my PC as I was having connection issues with a new wireless router even after updating drivers. SO I figured try the critical updates, ugh system is messed up bad now... NOTHING will run on it, just keep saying LPK.DLL is missing, so off to try and fix it copied in from windows setup disk still not working...

I SWEAR MS bs is at it again installing FIXES that force you to buy new updates (Win8) or to have to buy PC Repair software that half time won;t work either... been working on mine all dang day, finally opened up the OLD PC that has Win98SE on it, got that running as WIN7 can not even get on-line to search for anything... Pretty bad when the OLDEST software you can get on-line with is better than the 2nd set back (though I swear MS F-ed it up deliberately) Got the woman's back working but mine is still DOA rebooting for umpteenth time.

Mark

 

[dragoneggs]

apple is not the only person to use / be able to use a solid state drive.

True enough... Should not have mentioned it, sorry.

 

[dragoneggs]

My take on the whole Mac vs. PC thing: People with PC's use them as a means to an end, to get something done. They don't chime into debates nearly as often as Mac users do because they simply don't care. OK, I'm an exception. Mac people seem much more adamant about defending their choice of computer brand. Hey, look at my computer instead of hey, look at what I've accomplished. My brother loves Macs, but his computer expertise is very limited because of that and who does he go to for help when his router doesn't work or he can't rip movies or download from his movie camera or copy music? He goes to the PC user.

If you want to stay on the cutting edge of what computer hardware and software can do, you'll have to stay tuned to the technology, that means change and learning. You can only do that with PC machines because of the sheer number of manufacturers and engineers who are constantly improving the technology. There isn't just one CEO giving the green light to what he thinks will sell. Not to say you can't stick with your old PC for as long as you want. If you don't want to stay abreast, that's fine. If you will be satisfied with what you bought and need nothing more and are happy with a single mouse button then Mac is for you.

I will give Apple credit for making the whole world think that the only laptops in the world are Apple brand due to the amount of money they pay for product placement in any TV show or movie. There are reasons, however, why Apple only enjoys 11% of the computer market. If they're that good, you'd think they would have the 89% share instead.

Okay I have to argue with some of your premises here. First, are you now implying that Mac users don't use their tools as a means to get something done???
Defending a brand... Or giving the OP something else to consider?
So because your brother uses Mac and isn't proficient, he consults with a PC user for what reason... Your point?
So maybe ease of use and less headaches are desired than the glitches and hassles of windows??? Like I said, I have lived it owning double digit number of machines and OS. I don't seem to have as many headaches since going to the dark side.
Oh and market share is how you determine the best product... No other factors?
Just saying....

 

[pacerron]

Anyone having Win7 Update issues???

Seems last few updates have made my Win7 86 bit system WORSE!!!! Stupid Security updates that are "Critical" are (*^%%^&%$$)_(*U

Crp total usless PC Messer Uppers... I had to do a bunch of repairs on my PC a few months back including a restore to earlier date. My woman's laptop was first one to be hit with recent update that cause slow downs and crash issues. Spent better part of a day getting her's back up and running, next day it hit mine on shutdown. crashed and was terrible on boot-up, again restore to 2 or 3 points back to get it functional and turned off auto updates. Dumbass me I saw more "Critical Updates Needed" and gave it a try on my PC as I was having connection issues with a new wireless router even after updating drivers. SO I figured try the critical updates, ugh system is messed up bad now... NOTHING will run on it, just keep saying LPK.DLL is missing, so off to try and fix it copied in from windows setup disk still not working...

I SWEAR MS bs is at it again installing FIXES that force you to buy new updates (Win8) or to have to buy PC Repair software that half time won;t work either... been working on mine all dang day, finally opened up the OLD PC that has Win98SE on it, got that running as WIN7 can not even get on-line to search for anything... Pretty bad when the OLDEST software you can get on-line with is better than the 2nd set back (though I swear MS F-ed it up deliberately) Got the woman's back working but mine is still DOA rebooting for umpteenth time.

Mark

Have you tried booting in "Safe Mode" F8 so only the basic stuff starts up?
Sometimes that clears up things for me.
One of the updates recently that said, don't turn off got stuck about half way through the install on my laptop.
After about an hour of being stuck, I unplugged it and took out the battery. Restarted in safe mode, then a restart in normal mode and it was fine. Got on the net the next day and searched and thousands of folks had a problem similar.
I don't know much about computers so using Restore points or Safe mode gets me fixed. I don't mess with the Registry except using Norton cleanup.

 

[J F]

PS4 RULES!!!!!

Sorry, had say it. :laughing: (I'm not sure though)

 

[dragoneggs]

PS4 RULES!!!!!

Sorry, had say it. :laughing: (I'm not sure though)

Oh yeah, forgot about that... But what about Wii? I like the way she talks to me when I get behind on my yoga exercise!

 

[J F]

Oh yeah, forgot about that... But what about Wii? I like the way she talks to me when I get behind on my yoga exercise!

:laughing: I gave up on Nintendo a few gens ago (I'll hold out hope).

The new XBox One and PS4 (8 years on..) keeps me very interested. Kinect2/ (NSA?)...

 

[troutsqueezer]

Okay I have to argue with some of your premises here. First, are you now implying that Mac users don't use their tools as a means to get something done???
Defending a brand... Or giving the OP something else to consider?
So because your brother uses Mac and isn't proficient, he consults with a PC user for what reason... Your point?
So maybe ease of use and less headaches are desired than the glitches and hassles of windows??? Like I said, I have lived it owning double digit number of machines and OS. I don't seem to have as many headaches since going to the dark side.
Oh and market share is how you determine the best product... No other factors?
Just saying....

Arguing is good, that's one important aspect of Internet fora.

I would say that "getting something done" to many Mac users amounts to pushing one button and seeing what the computer provides for you. If what you are looking for doesn't appear, you're stuck. :laughing:

My advice to the OP is to stay current, don't live in the past. Computer technology waits for no one.

My brother is not provided the tools to solve computer issues, either by his hardware or software and by virtue of those, his experience.

Apple computers are not and never have been free from glitches. I'm typing this on my iPad, it has shortcomings just like my Kindle Fire HD and everything else. The latest IOS 7 just rendered all my subscribed magazines useless.

My first machine was a TRS-80. I have managed computer service centers and have worked as an engineer at Intel for twelve years so the number of machines that have been in my care vastly outnumber what most individuals have experienced, I suspect. I am not using that exposure to bolster my case, however. I'm just using simple logic and observation.