Windows 8 to windows 7

bod1467

Ah! But YOU have to click to get to the desktop. So the time limiting factor isn't the switch, it's the person having to make the click in the first place.

KxMx

bod1467 wrote: »

Ah! But YOU have to click to get to the desktop. So the time limiting factor isn't the switch, it's the person having to make the click in the first place.

Yes I see that. But some are seriously upset over it, will go to extremes to avoid Win8 because of it, like it's so important or something, It isn't. It is an annoyance, not worth getting so upset over.

Now if you had to wait several minutes to get to the desktop, I could understand. But you don't. Just a click, hundreds of which people already happily do daily.

But apparently having to click to get to the desktop is a monumental outrage instead of something irksome you can live with!

Lum

SnowTiger wrote: »

Is this the Start menu thing again? It's blown completely out of proportion.

I agree, that's my point, and even for those who do really want the start menu there's cheap and free fixes available.

I do actually have a legit grievance with Metro and that's the sheer extra amount of mousing around to navigate the new menu (when I can't remember the exact name and spelling of the app I want to launch) is incompatible with my wrist and tendon issues. It makes me do a lot more work.

I would suggest you try Ubuntu, but if you think Windows 8 UI is "terrible" you'd really hate Ubuntu.

Maybe not, though. Is everything Linux still cool?

I used to be a full-time Linux user about 10 years ago, but I've never claimed that it's right for everybody, or even most people. I eventually switched back because I got fed up of using my work laptop for gaming and the realisation that Half Life 2 wasn't going to run on it.

isofa wrote: »

Well not really, especially as the OP states they had Windows 8 Professional...

Fair enough, I either didn't spot that, or lost track of which of these threads I was currently in

I'd still go down the route of addons before downgrading though. Much less hassle, especially since 7 is unlikely to come with appropriate drivers out of the box.

SnowTiger

bod1467 wrote: »

Ah! But YOU have to click to get to the desktop. So the time limiting factor isn't the switch, it's the person having to make the click in the first place.

Windows 8 boots to the full screen Start menu, inviting the user to select a task.

Click a tile and most programs will launch on the desktop.

Windows 7 boots to the desktop and punters have to faff around with the Start menu to launch a program.

When Windows 8 boots (which is extremely quickly), a program can be launched with just one click. To launch anything from the Windows 7's beloved Start menu takes at least two click.

So, if we're counting clicks Windows 8 wins and Windows 7 loses.

That is, of course, unless you just want to stare at the Windows Desktop all day, caressing the Start globe with your pointer.

SnowTiger

Lum wrote: »

I do actually have a legit grievance with Metro and that's the sheer extra amount of mousing around to navigate the new menu (when I can't remember the exact name and spelling of the app I want to launch) is incompatible with my wrist and tendon issues. It makes me do a lot more work.

I wonder if a Windows 8 pointer travels further than a Windows 7 one. Interesting point (excuse the pun).

I probably use more programs than many, but most of the ones I use more than once a week fit on the full-screen Start menu.

It certainly seems a lot easier to hit a fairly large square than delicately locating and selecting something on the Windows 7 Start menu.

Lum

Well all my frequently used stuff gets pinned to the taskbar, I basically have committed to muscle memory to flick to the bottom left of the screen using mouse acceleration, and then know roughly how far to move the mouse to get to Firefox, Thunderbird etc.

Sure you can do this with Metro, if you tweak it to boot to desktop, but having the less frequently used stuff on the start menu, which you can navigate with the mousewheel, works better for me.

bod1467

Most people pin common programs to the taskbar, so just ONE click to launch.

Note: I've never used Win 8, so I'm just an interested observer.

Edit: Cross-posted with Lum.

SnowTiger

bod1467 wrote: »

Most people pin common programs to the taskbar, so just ONE click to launch.

Note: I've never used Win 8, so I'm just an interested observer.

Edit: Cross-posted with Lum.

Good news (for you and some others).

Windows 8.1 will be able to boot to the desktop and the Start button will make a return. Well, an icon representing it will be there. It appears the Windows 8 Start menu will work exactly the same as it does now, but users will get an icon appear when they move the pointer to the bottom left-hand-side of the screen. It's seems like more of a comfort thing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22714048:

Microsoft has confirmed a Start button is returning to the desktop mode's taskbar of its Windows 8 operating system.

[...]

On current versions of Windows 8, the start tip would only appear when users hovered their cursor over the lower-left corner of their screen.

In the 8.1 update, the area will be more visible.

A left-click on the tip will bring up a tile-based Start Screen - formerly known as the Metro interface - designed for touch-screen users.

A right-click will display a small menu of other options such as Event Viewer, Device Manager and Disk Management.

Another change will allow users to boot their computers directly into desktop mode, meaning they can avoid ever using the Start Screen if they wish.

Lum

Thing with the start screen, there's plenty of people out there who have everything on their desktop as desktop icons. I've had to support people who literally can't find any software if it's not on their desktop, the start menu is like some sort of "here be dragons" area to be avoided at all costs, to the point that tickets get raised about how I never installed the software just because it didn't put a desktop icon on.

For these people, the start screen is brilliant, no need to minimise all their apps to load something else like on XP, easier to read text and clearer icons and generally less cluttered.

I'd actually like to see more Win8 corporate deployments, but not at the expense of my start menu

grumpycrab

SnowTiger wrote: »

Windows 8.1 will be able to boot to the desktop and the Start button will make a return....

Let's see if I understand this.
"a Start button is returning to the desktop mode's taskbar" and
"[clicking] it will bring users to the recently-introduced "Metro" interface."

That's a joke surely?