Windows 8?

I personally still have Windows 7. But my mom got a new laptop for Christmas - with Windows 8. I've spent the evening trying to set it up for her so she can use it for what she wants without having to learn anything new. So I've got a few ideas about Windows 8. Let me start by saying it's not bad. It's just very, very, very different. There is no start menu. This seems to be one of the biggest headaches. You can no longer go down to the bottom left and get into all your programs. Or the control panel. Or anything that was accessed through the start menu. Things are done now by apps. There is what they call the Metro screen. This is the new start menu. Everything is on the Metro screen, sort of, plus some, that used to be in the start menu. It opens automatically. The Metro screen has apps like on an IPod. They are the little squares and rectangles that are direct links to the programs. You can drag the apps around and rearrange it however you want. This is kind of nice, but it takes getting used to. There is also a desktop. You can get to it in a couple ways, including through an app on Metro. The desktop is just like Windows 7, except no start menu. What frustrated me was that I wanted to pin a program to the taskbar on the desktop. But the program I wanted to pin was an app on Metro. There is not a way that I could find, or that was visible doing an Internet search, of pinning a Metro app to the taskbar. The option isn't given. I can pin it to Metro, but not the taskbar. So Mom had to learn something afterall. The corners are hot corners. Go into one of the corners and a menu opens. Different way of getting to the menus, but this is doable. Things generally have different names. And there are very few close boxes for programs. I accidentally started the integrated cam. I could see me on the screen, but I never found how to turn the stupid cam off. I don't know if I did or not. It's set up to be used with a touch screen. If you don't have a touch screen, it's cumbersome. You will have to learn new things with Windows 8, but once you do, I don't think it's a bad version. I don't think the version is necessarily something to be hated or feared. But just be prepared to take a little bit of time learning how to use it. I haven't looked into it yet, but I understand there are free downloads available that would make it work just like Windows 7. If you really didn't like it, this is always an option. And then you would still get the speed related to the new version.

I personally don;t have it, I only have Windows 7. But a friend of mine just bought a new computer which had Windows 8, and hated it. She actually brought the computer back and replaced it with something with Windows 8.

I tested out windows 8 a few days ago at a mall, and I find that it's really hard to navigate. I don't know how to exit an application, I don't know my way around it. It takes time to learn the new features. It's very different than the previous versions of windows and I'm a little sad that they removed the start button. One thing I like about the os though is the visual. It's pleasing in the eyes. Sometimes. All I know is I won't be buying windows 8 anytime soon.

I think windows 8 interface is rich. But I still love to work in Windows 7. Windows 8 has many additions but all fail in the instance that learning curve is steep. You have to be very intutive even to know how to get hang of things around. Specially how to close a window or find your favorite programs. But it is faster than windows 7.

I think Windows 8 is pretty good. Alot better than what I had expected. The apps dont take away from my computers performance & theres are some really good apps out there.