W8

penrhyn

Like a damn fine cup of coffee that's as black as midnight on a moonless night.

kwikbreaks

+1 for ClassicShell.

When I got a new laptop that came with Win 8 I found Lum's post, installed it, and then pretty much forgot about Metro which may well be fine for phones but IMO simply doesn't make the grade for anything more powerful.

I'm sure MS are pushing their Metro interface in an attempt to boost the popularity of their phone opsys but IMO they are more likely to drive people away from Windows. If it weren't for ClassicShell and the like I'd have whacked Win 7 on the new laptop - I have copy I can use which I bought to replace the last MS lemon - Vista. I reinstated that on the laptop it came on when I passed it on.

I also installed ModernMix which allows any Metro apps you don't replace to at least run in a window.

victor2

kwikbreaks wrote: »

I have copy I can use which I bought to replace the last MS lemon - Vista. I reinstated that on the laptop it came on when I passed it on.

Didn't like the person you passed it on to then? :rotfl:
I still have my Vista machine - which I also installed Win 7 on.

kwikbreaks

victor2 wrote: »

Didn't like the person you passed it on to then?

I just did a factory restore I think to get shot of all my junk. Vista was OK for casual users and I thought I might need the Win 7 some time.

ThemeOne

If you don't want to install any of the W8 add-ons, one solution to the missing Start button is to run applications using the Run box (Windows Key + R).

The names to type in are not always obvious, so here are some of the more useful ones. Once you've run something the first time, Windows remembers it, so will autocomplete next time you start typing the same name in the Run box.

iexplore (Internet Explorer)
wuapp (Windows Update)
control panel (Control Panel)
shutdown -r -t 0 (Restart)
shutdown -s -t 0 (Shutdown)
logoff (Log Off)
calc (Calculator)
mspaint (Paint)
winword (Word)
excel (Excel)
powerpnt (PowerPoint)
outlook (Outlook)
firefox (Firefox)
acrord32 (Adobe Reader)

Jivesinger

If you're going to type names in, then why not use just the Windows Key (to take you to the start screen, unless you're already there) and start typing the name there? Usually it narrows down to one result after a few keys.

You don't have to remember the non-obvious names that way - the only thing you need to know is that sometimes you need to change the search to Settings.

Windows Key + X is another good keyboard shortcut to know for Control Panel and other system-y things.

ThemeOne

Jivesinger wrote: »

If you're going to type names in, then why not use just the Windows Key (to take you to the start screen, unless you're already there) and start typing the name there? Usually it narrows down to one result after a few keys.

Because for me the whole idea is never to see the Start Screen - not only do I find the transition visually jarring, but to me it serves no useful purpose on a computer.