Want a new laptop but do I want Windows 8?

[J F]

:laughing: yep, lots of 0's to place/misplace

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Microsoft seems be pretty consistent and get every other operating system wrong. Think about it:
Windows 95 - decent
Windows 98 - crap (includes variations such as SE, Millennium, and such)
Windows XP - good
Windows Vista - crap
Windows 7 - decent
Windows 8 - crap

I'm not counting stuff like NT and 2000 because I think they were more business OS's, but NT was crap and 2000 worked okay sometimes.

Windows 95 - crap
Windows 98 - the first multitasking OS from Microsoft, years late. SP2 made it a real OS.
Windows NT - Bloated, but it worked. Good, stable, server platform.
Windows 2000 - Why did they release this?
Windows Vista - A big mistake, mostly for no driver support.
Windows XP - the first stable multitasking OS, which unfortunately didn't use the full 32 bit address space. Ran well on old clunkers.
Windows 7 - Mickeysoft's first 64 bit OS. Not bad, really.
Windows 8 - a Nokia cell phone OS ported to tablets and PCs, loaded with crap you will only use if you like greasy fingerprints on your monitor screen.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Apple is more; doubtless.

Paying Apple's price is worthwhile for its higher quality hardware and superlative operating system.

Switching from Microsoft to Apple will add years to your life.

Did I mention I have never had a virus invasion problem on my Mac?

Apple's OS is full bore licensed Unix (UNIX 03 certified since OSX 10.8) with Apple's proprietary GUI on top. Most users never see the guts of the OS, but it has capabilities the real computing world has been enjoying for 30 years. If you are enough of a geek to learn Unix scripting, you can automate very complex operations that will run for hours even on a fast, modern machine. There is a mountain of UNIX utilities written by generations of computer science graduate students available for download. Or you can just install Linux for free. I dual boot Win7 and Ubuntu. I do all my secure online stuff (banking, shopping, etc.) with Ubuntu because I don't trust Windows security.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

And I had already decided to buy Microsoft Office since they've dropped Microsoft Works that I've used for years. They have some versions now that you pay every year or every month, but the one I'm getting is one price for one computer for the life of that computer.

If Works was good enough for you, just download Libre Office LibreOffice - Free Software Download | Favdownloads

It's a free office suite that in many ways is the equal of or better than MS Office. It's available for many operating systems, Apple, Windows, Linux.

 

[ttriff]

8.1 downloads in the background so you can do other things on the PC not just sit and wait for the download.

When it's ready it install you're prompted to restart the PC. If you're in the middle of something you can delay the restart until it's convenient.

 

[Ken]

I started the down load at 5 in the morning . looked again at 7 and there was a 10 % completed when left to go to a Rusty Iron show at Harrison , Ark . Then wife and I drove in the foot hills of the Ozarks looking at the coloring of leasves for the fall.
Returning to the house found the8.1 had been completed and computer needed restarting. Some information added as to pass words and other settings. found there was no problems.
Now after 24 hours usage it seems to be a good improvenent. So only time will tell.
ken

 

[Soundguy]

Windows 7 - Mickeysoft's first 64 bit OS. Not bad, really.
.

vista 64?

 

[pacerron]

8.1 downloads in the background so you can do other things on the PC not just sit and wait for the download.

When it's ready it install you're prompted to restart the PC. If you're in the middle of something you can delay the restart until it's convenient.

I realize that. However, with my satellite server I get 350 MB of download time between 7 AM and 2 AM the next day.
Actually double that on a two day clock. The free time between 2 AM and 7AM doesn't count against the clock.

Going over on the allotted time suddenly drops the download speed to about 14 Kbps, which is slower than any old copper pair telephone line, with mice nesting in every up box along the way and eating the insulation, resulting in just a hum that is audible. That's my only other internet source.

It stays that way until the amount of time over has elapsed.
That is not something anyone wants to happen near the end of a 3.7 Gig download.

So it is a matter of timing and planning for the download attempt.

The last time I got a new pc prior to this W-8 one was right at the time Vista was being replaced by W-7. Dell sent a disc with the W-7 transfer on it. Easy installation.
As I understand from reading about W-8.1, even if you buy a copy at a retailer, all you get is a code number and still have to download the program from the net.
Computer giants don't seem to or want to realize that high speed internet is not universal across this country and there are thousands of us country folks that are stuck with slows satellite internet service.

 

[Soundguy]

i think i'd find a public place with a wifi connection.. maybee a library or fast food place.

show up hungry.. bring a newspaper.. and eat breakfast and lunch there and then leave when the downlaod was over.

I know i do my large updates and downloads at work.. nice seeing a 30mb file show up in a minute...

I realize that. However, with my satellite server I get 350 MB of download time between 7 AM and 2 AM the next day.
Actually double that on a two day clock. The free time between 2 AM and 7AM doesn't count against the clock.

Going over on the allotted time suddenly drops the download speed to about 14 Kbps, which is slower than any old copper pair telephone line, with mice nesting in every up box along the way and eating the insulation, resulting in just a hum that is audible. That's my only other internet source.

It stays that way until the amount of time over has elapsed.
That is not something anyone wants to happen near the end of a 3.7 Gig download.

So it is a matter of timing and planning for the download attempt.

The last time I got a new pc prior to this W-8 one was right at the time Vista was being replaced by W-7. Dell sent a disc with the W-7 transfer on it. Easy installation.
As I understand from reading about W-8.1, even if you buy a copy at a retailer, all you get is a code number and still have to download the program from the net.
Computer giants don't seem to or want to realize that high speed internet is not universal across this country and there are thousands of us country folks that are stuck with slows satellite internet service.

 

[wedge40]

Apple's OS is full bore licensed Unix (UNIX 03 certified since OSX 10.8) with Apple's proprietary GUI on top. Most users never see the guts of the OS, but it has capabilities the real computing world has been enjoying for 30 years. If you are enough of a geek to learn Unix scripting, you can automate very complex operations that will run for hours even on a fast, modern machine. There is a mountain of UNIX utilities written by generations of computer science graduate students available for download. Or you can just install Linux for free. I dual boot Win7 and Ubuntu. I do all my secure online stuff (banking, shopping, etc.) with Ubuntu because I don't trust Windows security.

I do the same thing, but use two machines. I have a desktop the runs Ubuntu and my laptop is running Winbloze 7.
There are some programs that will ONLY run on Winbloze. I wanted a pex layout program and it would only run on windows. I'm thinking of purchasing a copy win 7 just to have on hand.

Wedge