Tips for new Win 8 user..

dave_dph

For me there are two crucial things to do:

1. Change the settings so that you boot to the desktop

2. Install winaero charms bar killer. This stops the wretched charm bar appearing every time you move the mouse to the right hand side of the screen

You then have a machine which operates pretty similarly to Windows 7

Gloomendoom

My wife got a Win 8.1 equipped laptop and listening to her frustration convinced me that I was going to hate it. When I upgraded (new laptop) I installed a third party start menu (Startisback) straight away and after a couple of hours I was wondering what the fuss was about. True, it's been dumbed down a bit and some useful tools don't exist any more, but alternatives are usually available from third parties.

I hear many people moaning about the charms bar but on my machine I have to very deliberately poke the bottom or top right corner to get it to appear so not really a problem.
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poppellerant

The best thing you can do is to install Windows 7.

dealer_wins

poppellerant wrote: »

The best thing you can do is to install Windows 7.

^^ This ^^

W8 is a POS, even with classic shell I have experienced so many problems with it its not funny.

I_have_spoken

Everyone with W8 needs to ensure they have upgraded to "Windows 8.1 Update" then enable the new options for mouse and keyboard users and get continued full support.

OnAndUp

So Im setting up W8 desktop, have to say it is a culture shock. I do OK with Techie stuff.....Have used XP, MACs, W7 Starter on my netbook, HP Touchpad various Android versions on phone / tablets etc.

Really struggling to find anything familiar...can't even see how to close an application window yet :eek: . Think it is going to be a learning curve definitely!

So I'm currently sat here with tablet in hand googling everything!!! :rotfl:

Jivesinger

OnAndUp wrote: »

Really struggling to find anything familiar...can't even see how to close an application window yet

A very old keyboard shortcut (Alt-F4) will do this, as it did back in Windows 3.1, possibly in even older software.

Once you've got the 8.1 update, then you should get a 'X' symbol when you move your mouse to the top of the screen.

OnAndUp

Thanks! I'm not really familiar with many of the keyboard shortcuts have always just clicked / right clicked on stuff! Glad to see alt & tab still works though!

I'm just running all the other windows updates before I can do the 8.1.

Do people find Windows Defender works best as its made for W8? I also have a free licence for Karspersky but don't want to use that if it slows things down?

Gloomendoom

OnAndUp wrote: »

Thanks! I'm not really familiar with many of the keyboard shortcuts have always just clicked / right clicked on stuff! Glad to see alt & tab still works though!

I'm just running all the other windows updates before I can do the 8.1.

Do people find Windows Defender works best as its made for W8? I also have a free licence for Karspersky but don't want to use that if it slows things down?

I use Kaspersky and it doesn't seem to have slowed thing down at all.

Gloomendoom

I_have_spoken wrote: »

Everyone with W8 needs to ensure they have upgraded to "Windows 8.1 Update" then enable the new options for mouse and keyboard users and get continued full support.

That would be nice. Unfortunately, I am one of the many people whose system just won't update. Seven tries and just "Update failed."

So, after a system restore back to the earliest possible date and Windows deigns to update. So what has changed?

For those asking similar questions...

http://www.notebookreview.com/howto/how-to-get-the-most-from-windows-8-1-1/
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