Who uses Windows 8 as primary OS?

[Wakers]

No one should be using Windows XP any more. It is old-fashioned, inefficient, insecure, slow and unsupported.

[Andrea Borman]

No one should be using Windows XP any more. It is old-fashioned, inefficient, insecure, slow and unsupported.

No it's not. I am writing this post on Windows XP. Windows XP is faster than Windows 7 and it has a lot of nice software,WMP 9 and Windows Movie maker 2.1. And I have installed Windows Movie Maker 2.1 on both Windows 7 and Windows 8. And it works. But I could not get WMP 9 to run at all in Windows 7.

There was a video I saw on You Tube that showed you how to install WMP 9 on Windows 7,using a software called Resource Hacker.Which edits the files to get WMP 9 working on Windows 7. But it did not work for me.

The earliest version of WMP you can run on Windows 7 and Windows 8 is WMP 11. And that's only because some clever person invented an adapted version of WMP 11 adapted for Windows 7. WMP 11 for Windows 7 which also works on Windows 8. But if I had my choice I would run WMP 9 on Windows 7.

And I also like search companion on Windows XP. You know, the animated search with the dog and the magician. They got rid of that in Windows Vista and Windows 7. And I cannot find a software anywhere on the web that will bring back that animated search companion on Windows 7.

Anyone who did not know about computers would think that Windows XP was only made 2 months ago not 10 years ago. I am going to carry on using Windows XP long after 2014, if they end support. If my windows XP computer is still working that is. Andrea Borman.

[BetaAddict]

And to my surprise Windows Movie Maker 2.1 which is for Windows XP, works on Windows 8, and so does the web cam feature. And all of the other versions of Windows Movie Maker 6 and 2.6 works on Windows 8. And I have even downgraded WMP 12 to WMP 11 on Windows 8. And so WMP 11 works on Windows 8.

I think that Windows 8 must share the same source code as Windows 2000,Windows XP and Windows Vista. Just like Windows 7 does.That is why most software for Windows XP,Windows Vista,Windows 2000,98 and 95 works on Windows 8.Which is good news for Windows users. Andrea Borman.

No surprise here. MS made backward compatibility a key feature since Vista. You can pretty much make almost any legacy program work on WinVista/7/8 with minimal loss of program function. But, for programs like WMP and windows movie maker, I don't see the point in using an older version that is outdated and probably lacking newer features.

The earliest version of WMP you can run on Windows 7 and Windows 8 is WMP 11. And that's only because some clever person invented an adapted version of WMP 11 adapted for Windows 7. WMP 11 for Windows 7 which also works on Windows 8. But if I had my choice I would run WMP 9 on Windows 7.

And I also like search companion on Windows XP. You know, the animated search with the dog and the magician. They got rid of that in Windows Vista and Windows 7. And I cannot find a software anywhere on the web that will bring back that animated search companion on Windows 7.

Anyone who did not know about computers would think that Windows XP was only made 2 months ago not 10 years ago. I am going to carry on using Windows XP long after 2014, if they end support. If my windows XP computer is still working that is. Andrea Borman.

Anyone who still thinks XP is worth using over Win7 is clearly having trouble letting go of the past. The performance and security benefits alone are staggering. From what I have read since it's release, your netbook will probably run smoother with it installed than with XP.

And no, the average consumer is fully aware of Win7 due to tremendous marketing over the three years and has forgotten all about XP, unless their work computer still has it installed. Even then, most pc accessory products (printers, cameras, etc), software, and games all require win7 to utilize it to the fullest potential. Using XP is only restricting yourself with what you can and cannot do.

[Stoffel]

No it's not. I am writing this post on Windows XP. Windows XP is faster than Windows 7 and it has a lot of nice software,WMP 9 and Windows Movie maker 2.1. And I have installed Windows Movie Maker 2.1 on both Windows 7 and Windows 8. And it works. But I could not get WMP 9 to run at all in Windows 7.

There was a video I saw on You Tube that showed you how to install WMP 9 on Windows 7,using a software called Resource Hacker.Which edits the files to get WMP 9 working on Windows 7. But it did not work for me.

The earliest version of WMP you can run on Windows 7 and Windows 8 is WMP 11. And that's only because some clever person invented an adapted version of WMP 11 adapted for Windows 7. WMP 11 for Windows 7 which also works on Windows 8. But if I had my choice I would run WMP 9 on Windows 7.

And I also like search companion on Windows XP. You know, the animated search with the dog and the magician. They got rid of that in Windows Vista and Windows 7. And I cannot find a software anywhere on the web that will bring back that animated search companion on Windows 7.

Anyone who did not know about computers would think that Windows XP was only made 2 months ago not 10 years ago. I am going to carry on using Windows XP long after 2014, if they end support. If my windows XP computer is still working that is. Andrea Borman.

Well, from reading your previous posts I believe the only computers you have at home are Netbooks, right?

These computers don't have that much power so you might be right that in your case WinXP might run slightly smoother.

Our point is that WinXP is OLD technology, it's not as secure as Win7, MS will stop releasing security updates for it very soon.

Support for latest technologies is also not as available.

But if you want to stick with 11 year old technology, be my guest.

[Andrea Borman]

My first home computer was my Windows 7 netbook bought in 2010. My Windows XP netbooks I bought last year in June 2011. Before I got my first home computer I was using Internet cafes.where they have Windows XP.

Two months ago I bought a second hand Windows Vista laptop. It had Windows Vista Home premium but with no service packs. But the laptop was faulty bear in mind it was second hand. And quite old made in 2007. I don't have it any more because the hard drive went. And when I took it to the computer repair shop.The repair man told me for what it would cost me to repair it I might as well buy a new laptop.

But I found Windows Vista to be very slow. It took 3 hours to install over 100 updates on Windows Vista. And it had IE7 which comes with Windows Vista. And IE7 is the worst version of Internet Explorer in my opinion. On Windows XP I had IE6 but IE7 is worse than IE8 or IE6 in my opinion.

But Windows Vista was running on a very old and faulty laptop. Maybe if it had been installed on a new laptop with better hardware,Windows Vista could run better. So I will give Windows Vista the benefit of the doubt.

But I don't think that Windows Vista will be as fast as Windows XP or Windows 7.

But in some ways Windows 8 is a bit slower than Windows 7. But I think that is because it is using more ram than Windows 7 or Windows XP. But windows 8 is very usable to my surprise. I did not think it would be and before I tried it I was against it. Because of the Metro theme. But everyone I spoke to about it said I could disable that and I have done. Andrea Borman.

[cropcircles]

Depends on what RTM looks like. If I have to sign in and use Metro without a disable option then NO.

[PGHammer]

Depends on what RTM looks like. If I have to sign in and use Metro without a disable option then NO.

You don't have to in the WDP either, for that matter.

It's as optional as it is in OS X (which has offered the feature since Snow Leopard) - fully optional.

My dual-boot WDP setup uses local sign-on (choice - not the default).

[Andrea Borman]

Most of the software that you use on Windows XP and Windows 7 works on Windows 8. But there is some software that does not work on Windows 8. Aim Messenger which I use on Windows 7 and Windows XP installs on Windows 8, but will not run. I get a log in error message telling me to change my connection settings. But when I tried this it still did not work.

The problem is that Aim messenger depends heavily on and uses Internet Explorer. And on Windows 95 for example,if you only have IE4 then you cannot even install Aim. As it needs at least IE6 in order to install and run.

And in Windows 8 we have IE10 which is the default version of IE. But on Windows 7 it is IE8 which is compatible with Aim. But unfortunately you cannot downgrade from IE10 to IE9 or IE8. As IE 8 and IE9 was never made for Windows 8. So I think the problem is IE 10 is the reason why Aim cannot run in Windows 8. As it depends on IE and users all of the settings from it to connect. So it could be that Aim Messenger is not compatible with IE 10 or Windows 8 as yet.

But however Pidgin and Instantbird messengers both work on Windows 8. And you can still connect to your Aim account and chat to contacts on Aim on Pidgin and instantbird. So these two messengers must be using a different connection method to connect to Aim as these both connect to Aim. But then both Pidgin and Instanbird do not depend on Internet Explorer like Aim does. They both use the Firefox source code. Which could be the reason why these two messengers work with your Aim account. but Aim Messenger does not.

But most of the software I was using in Windows 7 and Windows XP is working on Windows 8. Except for Windows Mail from Windows Vista.Which works on Windows 7 but not on Windows 8. But the Windows Sidebar from Windows Vista and Windows Calendar from Windows Vista does work on Windows 8 as it does in Windows 7. And so does Windows XP movire Maker 2.1 and Windows Vista Movie Maker 6 and 2.6 work.

Logitech webcam recording software which lets you record videos to your desktop will not install on Windows 8. BUT the USB Logitech webcam itself IS working on Windows 8. And Windows found my webcam drivers and installed them for me.

So you can use the webcam on Windows 8 with another desktop software such as MyCam and Windows Movie Maker 2.1.Which supports direct record from your webcam, but not the Logitech software.

I would say that 95 per cent of the Windows XP and Windows 7 software works on Windows 8. And you can disable the Metro theme and have a Windows 7 start menu of course. Andrea Borman.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

And you can disable the Metro theme and have a Windows 7 start menu of course. Andrea Borman.

No you can't, it has been stated that the registry tweak will no longer work many times, the start menu is gone, you will not be able to re-enable it in the CP or RTM

also, you don't seem to understand, you are the only one around here that for whatever reason wants to run XP age software on 7+, no one else cares

I'm sorry if this sounds rude but your continual rant in every topic i've seen you in about how you prefer older software is getting annoying

[Andrea Borman]

No you can't, it has been stated that the registry tweak will no longer work many times, the start menu is gone, you will not be able to re-enable it in the CP or RTM

also, you don't seem to understand, you are the only one around here that for whatever reason wants to run XP age software on 7+, no one else cares

I'm sorry if this sounds rude but your continual rant in every topic i've seen you in about how you prefer older software is getting annoying

But I am using Windows 8 without the Metro theme. And if you read other posts and other Windows 8 forums. You will see that a lot of Windows 8 users are using Windows 8 with the Metro theme disabled.

And the registry edit is not the only way to disable Metro. There are several software's like Metro Controller that will disable Metro.

I have looked on the web and I have seen no posts that say that the option to turn off Metro will not be included in the final release of Windows 8. So there is no evidence to prove your theory is correct.

And anyway most Windows users will use the Windows 7 start menu. As most people like me are not using the Metro apps,they are using their own software,web browsers,media players etc instead. Andrea Borman.

[Stoffel]

But I am using Windows 8 without the Metro theme. And if you read other posts and other Windows 8 forums. You will see that a lot of Windows 8 users are using Windows 8 with the Metro theme disabled.

And the registry edit is not the only way to disable Metro. There are several software's like Metro Controller that will disable Metro.

I have looked on the web and I have seen no posts that say that the option to turn off Metro will not be included in the final release of Windows 8. So there is no evidence to prove your theory is correct.

And anyway most Windows users will use the Windows 7 start menu. As most people like me are not using the Metro apps,they are using their own software,web browsers,media players etc instead. Andrea Borman.

You don't seem to get the point others are trying to make here.

You are using a Developer Preview of Windows 8, and yes you can turn of the Metro Start Screen in this version

MS has stated on numerous occasions that they will not give users an option to turn off the Metro start screen in favor of the old style start menu.

Why are you making the assumption that people will not use any Metro apps?

Right now the Windows Store which will host all the Metro apps is not open yet, they will open this store when the Consumer Preview hits us end Feb.

So hopefully by the time that Win8 hits retail there will be enough apps to get us started. For a lot of your desktop apps they will have new, cool Metro versions.

For those applications that don't have a Metro version, you can keep using your Win7 desktop version.

[Andrea Borman]

Well the metro apps are not working on my netbook anyway. But I have installed Windows 8 developers preview 32 bit,so maybe that's why. As I read on the Microsoft website that Metro apps only run in the 64 bit version.

But my netbook is an HP Mini 210 1GB ram.So I cannot install 64 bit Windows as you need at least 2GB of ram. So it has to be the 32 bit version.

All right,show me a post on the web that says that we won't be able to disable Metro in the final build of Windows 8. Because I did not read anything about it.

But just because people write something on the web it does not mean it is true.

People sometimes get it wrong.

Two weeks ago I hated Windows 8 and was dead against it. Because I thought it did not have a start menu. And that you could not run Windows XP and Windows 7 software in Windows 8.

But when I installed it myself and tried it. I found out I was wrong about all of that. Andrea Borman.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

And the registry edit is not the only way to disable Metro. There are several software's like Metro Controller that will disable Metro.

... Those apps do the exact same registry tweak just with a click of a button

and I wasn't talking about the DP, I was talking about the Consumer Preview(Beta) and RTM it has been stated that the start menu CODE has been removed completely so the tweak will no longer work

[Andrea Borman]

... Those apps do the exact same registry tweak just with a click of a button

and I wasn't talking about the DP, I was talking about the Consumer Preview(Beta) and RTM it has been stated that the start menu CODE has been removed completely so the tweak will no longer work

Well where does it say that? Show me what post you read that says that. Andrea Borman.

[johnporter29]

:D :D :D

Metro Apps will run in both iretations 32 Bit & 64 Bit!

And read this - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/10/03/evolving-the-start-menu.aspx

[Dot Matrix]

+AndreaBorman, It sounds as you are still using the developer's Preview. There you CAN turn the desktop back, but on later builds, including the beta, you CAN'T. The code just simply is not there. The Start Menu is gone. A lot of the "classic" code has been removed. This was said on WinUnLeaks when the beta screenshots were leaked out.

[Andrea Borman]

+AndreaBorman, It sounds as you are still using the developer's Preview. There you CAN turn the desktop back, but on later builds, including the beta, you CAN'T. The code just simply is not there. The Start Menu is gone. A lot of the "classic" code has been removed. This was said on WinUnLeaks when the beta screenshots were leaked out.

Well there were a lot of rumours about Windows 7 when it was first released. It was said that they were only going to let you have 3 applications open in Windows 7 Starter. But that was not the case in the end.

And Windows 8 beta is not even out yet.

Johnporter29 wrote-Metro Apps will run in both iretations 32 Bit & 64 Bit!

And read this - http://blogs.msdn.co...start-menu.aspx

And yes I have read that post. And there is nothing about it that says that you cannot change the Metro theme to a Windows 7 start menu.

And you cannot change the wallpaper in Windows 7 Starter by using the settings in Windows. However, if you install third party software like Personalization Panel you can do.

There are many software that can override Windows settings. You could enable Aero theme on Windows XP. As there is software's that can do that. But why would I want Aero on my Windows XP?

So even though Microsoft might made it harder to change themes on Windows 8. And that's all that Metro is a theme. There will always be registry hacks or software that will over come it.

I have seen videos on how to make Windows look like Mac or to put visual styles on Windows. I am not saying that you should do this. But I am pretty sure that there will be a way to have a start menu in Windows 8.

And Classic Shell does not hack or edit the registry settings. Read the Classic Shell website and you will see that it clearly states that it does not do this.

And anyway I don't think you should be telling people that there is going to be no option to have the start menu back in Windows 8. When the final version has not even been made yet. So we won't know until the time comes. Andrea Borman.

[johnporter29]

Perhaps Andrea knows more about Windows 8 than Microsoft does :D:D

[Dot Matrix]

And yes I have read that post. And there is nothing about it that says that you cannot change the Metro theme to a Windows 7 start menu.

Read here: https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=594647912 ;)

And you cannot change the wallpaper in Windows 7 Starter by using the settings in Windows. However, if you install third party software like Personalization Panel you can do.

There are many software that can override Windows settings. You could enable Aero theme on Windows XP. As there is software's that can do that. But why would I want Aero on my Windows XP?

So even though Microsoft might made it harder to change themes on Windows 8. And that's all that Metro is a theme. There will always be registry hacks or software that will over come it.

I have seen videos on how to make Windows look like Mac or to put visual styles on Windows. I am not saying that you should do this. But I am pretty sure that there will be a way to have a start menu in Windows 8.

And Classic Shell does not hack or edit the registry settings. Read the Classic Shell website and you will see that it clearly states that it does not do this.

And anyway I don't think you should be telling people that there is going to be no option to have the start menu back in Windows 8. When the final version has not even been made yet. So we won't know until the time comes. Andrea Borman.

There will undoubtedly be third party 'junkware' to customize the UI, but most users will never go near it. But there is no Microsoft code in there anymore to switch back to like you are in the DP.

[Andrea Borman]

Above are the first 2 pictures taken from my Windows 7 desktop. With the Windows Classic theme and Windows 98 desktop icons on my Windows 7.

The third picture is of my Windows 8 with the Metro theme disabled. With the Windows 8 basic theme which is part Aero. There is no Windows Classic theme on Windows 8. Which disables Aero completely. And it will be sadly missed by me and other Windows users.

And also the Metro apps do not work on my netbook. The only apps that work in Metro theme is the software that I installed myself. So the Metro apps are pretty much useless. Andrea Borman.

[Stoffel]

Above are the first 2 pictures taken from my Windows 7 desktop. With the Windows Classic theme and Windows 98 desktop icons on my Windows 7.

The third picture is of my Windows 8 with the Metro theme disabled. With the Windows 8 basic theme which is part Aero. There is no Windows Classic theme on Windows 8. Which disables Aero completely. And it will be sadly missed by me and other Windows users.

And also the Metro apps do not work on my netbook. The only apps that work in Metro theme is the software that I installed myself. So the Metro apps are pretty much useless. Andrea Borman.

Why do you keep calling Metro a theme???

It is way more then just some nice icons and a change of color.

If you have Metro disabled you will not be able to run any Metro apps, seems normal to me, no?

Also what is the screen resolution of the netbook you installed Win8 DP on?

[Dot Matrix]

Above are the first 2 pictures taken from my Windows 7 desktop. With the Windows Classic theme and Windows 98 desktop icons on my Windows 7.

The third picture is of my Windows 8 with the Metro theme disabled. With the Windows 8 basic theme which is part Aero. There is no Windows Classic theme on Windows 8. Which disables Aero completely. And it will be sadly missed by me and other Windows users.

And also the Metro apps do not work on my netbook. The only apps that work in Metro theme is the software that I installed myself. So the Metro apps are pretty much useless. Andrea Borman.

Not sure what point you're trying to make here... :huh:

[Andrea Borman]

Why do you keep calling Metro a theme???

It is way more then just some nice icons and a change of color.

If you have Metro disabled you will not be able to run any Metro apps, seems normal to me, no?

Also what is the screen resolution of the netbook you installed Win8 DP on?

I mean that I have tried the Metro theme and the Metro apps do not work. The only apps that work are those of my own software. That appears as both apps and desktop icons. That is Google Chrome,Pale Moon,and my media players etc. They all work but the apps like weather and Facebook app which are from the app store don't work.But I can just go onto Facebook in a web browser.

And my screen resolution is set as high 1024 X 600. That is the highest setting it will go. It is a 1GB ram netbook. Andrea Borman.

[Dot Matrix]

I mean that I have tried the Metro theme and the Metro apps do not work. The only apps that work are those of my own software. That appears as both apps and desktop icons. That is Google Chrome,Pale Moon,and my media players etc. They all work but the apps like weather and Facebook app which are from the app store don't work.But I can just go onto Facebook in a web browser.

And my screen resolution is set as high 1024 X 600. That is the highest setting it will go.It is a 1GB ram netbook. Andrea Borman.

Metro apps worked just fine on my VM (which was set at 1024x768).

[Andrea Borman]

Metro apps worked just fine on my VM (which was set at 1024x768).

But my screen resolution setting only goes as high as 1024 X 600. Could it be because I have not installed Java? You know Sun Java, which I don't have installed on any of my netbooks. As it makes my web browsers slow. And it is not secure. Java has risks of malware. Andrea Borman.