win8 If you love Windows XP, you'll hate Windows 7

[Shane Nokes]

/Facepalm

I fell into the trap again...should have resisted.

[darkrats]

I continue to use XP on both my computers, and there are only three reasons why I would abandon it.

1. I can no longer find hardware that will work with XP.

2. I want to play some high end games that require Windows Vista or higher.

3. I somehow get the urge to play around with Internet Explorer 9/10.

I still use Office 2003 to write letters, send email and design websites. My printer and scanner work with XP just fine.

I can watch videos, play music, tinker with photos and pictures and play a few old favorite games (like Unreal Tournament) online.

I have a decent firewall, anti-virus software and malware protection. I can surf the net with IE8, FF17 when it's needed.

The fact that I can use XP in Classic mode is nice because it removes all the "eye candy".

My local computer store tells me that they can build me a system that will run any OS from XP to Windows8, and will probably be able to do so for years to come.

As for security updates from MS, even when they end for XP, I can always track down a "geeky" third party to give me something that will do the job.

I may not hate Windows 7/8, but I do love Windows XP.

[Buio]

Funny thing is, I told a few folks that Windows 7 was chastised in the beginning, and no one believed me. :p

If we speak generally, It wasn't. With all things you can find people who don't like them. Windows 7 was widely popular early on, even if of course some didn't like it. Lifting up a few peoples opinions as a general opinion is not good practice. I can go back and find a lot of people that didn't like Windows XP too.

[n_K]

Lol at 'windows should have removed the RUN dialogue because you can find them by typing in the start menu'.

I just went to the start menu on my VM and typed: gpe, no results found, ctrl + r -> gpedit.msc -> oh look, group policy editor loads...

Not everything can be found in the start menu or the 'start screen' hence why the RUN dialogue was kept in W7.

[Raa]

If you love XP, you'll love 7. Why? Because it has XP Mode for free. It's been a lifesaver for legacy apps. I couldn't recommend Windows 7 highly enough almost because of that feature alone!

[Shane Nokes]

Lol at 'windows should have removed the RUN dialogue because you can find them by typing in the start menu'.

I just went to the start menu on my VM and typed: gpe, no results found, ctrl + r -> gpedit.msc -> oh look, group policy editor loads...

Not everything can be found in the start menu or the 'start screen' hence why the RUN dialogue was kept in W7.

Huh...I just typed gpedit.msc on the start screen and oh look. group policy editor loads...

Amazing how when you do something differently it works differently, but when you do it the same it works...funny that...

[Lord Method Man]

Lol at 'windows should have removed the RUN dialogue because you can find them by typing in the start menu'.

I just went to the start menu on my VM and typed: gpe, no results found, ctrl + r -> gpedit.msc -> oh look, group policy editor loads...

Not everything can be found in the start menu or the 'start screen' hence why the RUN dialogue was kept in W7.

Type gpedit.msc into the Search Box.

[MtnDewCodeRedFreak]

If you love XP, you'll love 7. Why? Because it has XP Mode for free. It's been a lifesaver for legacy apps. I couldn't recommend Windows 7 highly enough almost because of that feature alone!

There you go.

[n_K]

You're all typing gpedit.msc in full, which you've been able to do in the run dialogue since windows nt/2000, I've not got the start screen here but certainly in the start menu on W7 it shows no results for 'gpe' so if you're looking for a 'hidden' program, it's backwards, and I'd imagine the 'start screen' thats being praised as some huge new succession to be equally as useless.

Talking of which, why are they hidden anyway? Obvious joe bloggs with windows home premium doesn't need gpedit but it should still show up or have an option to show up.

[nub]

Windows 7 and Windows 8 are very different beasts

[Shane Nokes]

You're all typing gpedit.msc in full, which you've been able to do in the run dialogue since windows nt/2000, I've not got the start screen here but certainly in the start menu on W7 it shows no results for 'gpe' so if you're looking for a 'hidden' program, it's backwards, and I'd imagine the 'start screen' thats being praised as some huge new succession to be equally as useless.

Talking of which, why are they hidden anyway? Obvious joe bloggs with windows home premium doesn't need gpedit but it should still show up or have an option to show up.

Ah, your post was worded poorly, which led to a bit of confusion.

So, just wondering...how is it just as useless if you can use the Start Screen just like the Run dialog? Unless you also meant the Run dialog is also useless...in which your post was VERY poorly worded.

[Detection]

I finally gave up on the mess that is 8 and reinstalled 7 today, and I love my PC again, it works the way a PC should again and the headache of Metro and 8's strange personality all round is gone and in its place is a machine that is once again a pleasure to use

[shakey]

I love windows 7, but sadly, my main pc is so old and outdated, windows xp is my only viable option. Maybe this christmas I'll upgrade :p

[n_K]

Ah, your post was worded poorly, which led to a bit of confusion.

So, just wondering...how is it just as useless if you can use the Start Screen just like the Run dialog? Unless you also meant the Run dialog is also useless...in which your post was VERY poorly worded.

Being honest I wasn't actually aware you could just type it and it'd open, as start menu just displays no results so I was doing win key + R to open things like that so it's now a completely null point haha, woulda known sooner if it displayed it as a result though.

[Detection]

Being honest I wasn't actually aware you could just type it and it'd open, as start menu just displays no results so I was doing win key + R to open things like that so it's now a completely null point haha, woulda known sooner if it displayed it as a result though.

You have to highlight "Settings" on the right for it to find things like Run, or its just searching your apps

[Shane Nokes]

I finally gave up on the mess that is 8 and reinstalled 7 today, and I love my PC again, it works the way a PC should again and the headache of Metro and 8's strange personality all round is gone and in its place is a machine that is once again a pleasure to use

BTW I noticed a ton of your issues seem to center around your networking...sounds like bunk drivers or bad hardware.

Before you say no...you might recall that when new versions of Windows come out oftentimes people find issues with hardware that they didn't realize it had before.

A lot of people finding memory issues with 8 that they didn't realize they had under 7 because of the way memory management works...and it's confirmed with things like Memtest...which can be OS independent.

Not saying you should go back to 8...but the mail issues, the disabling networking causing a freeze...all net related.

Being honest I wasn't actually aware you could just type it and it'd open, as start menu just displays no results so I was doing win key + R to open things like that so it's now a completely null point haha, woulda known sooner if it displayed it as a result though.

It's been that way since Vista if I'm not mistaken. You could just open the Start Menu (now Start Screen) type in the name of the program and hit enter.

It works for pretty much everything. :)

[n_K]

It's been that way since Vista if I'm not mistaken. You could just open the Start Menu (now Start Screen) type in the name of the program and hit enter.

It works for pretty much everything. :)

Haha yeah that's pretty mad I never noticed!

Still come back to it being a pain that things aren't fully listed until you type out the full program name though! :(

[Detection]

BTW I noticed a ton of your issues seem to center around your networking...sounds like bunk drivers or bad hardware.

Before you say no...you might recall that when new versions of Windows come out oftentimes people find issues with hardware that they didn't realize it had before.

A lot of people finding memory issues with 8 that they didn't realize they had under 7 because of the way memory management works...and it's confirmed with things like Memtest...which can be OS independent.

Not saying you should go back to 8...but the mail issues, the disabling networking causing a freeze...all net related.

It's been that way since Vista if I'm not mistaken. You could just open the Start Menu (now Start Screen) type in the name of the program and hit enter.

It works for pretty much everything. :)

I see your point but I`m fairly sure there are no hardware issues, not that being new prevents issues but most of my system is under a year old

Net issues were not the only problem, by the time I had enough of it, fresh installs of games were randomly crashing, things were generally annoying me on a daily basis, I know there are always teething problems, but I don't see any reason to put up with them when 7 is such a good OS, there is nothing in 8 that makes me want to put up with it any longer

I still have it installed on my laptop and there are no problems with it on there, but on my desktop it is a complete PITA, Metro is the most useless addition to a Windows OS I have ever seen and even using Start 8 didn't improve my experience

8 is the step to 9, that Vista was for 7 imo so I`ll happily wait

[Growled Member]

I finally gave up on the mess that is 8 and reinstalled 7 today, and I love my PC again, it works the way a PC should again and the headache of Metro and 8's strange personality all round is gone and in its place is a machine that is once again a pleasure to use

8 is okay. If you add a start menu on the desktop (I currently use Pokki) it's a almost useable. :D

[Detection]

it's a almost useable. :D

Yea, I almost used it :p

[Nick H. Supervisor]

So you are not a Windows user then? You are using Linux or another operating system instead of Windows?

At home I've been using a Macbook Pro for about 4 or 5 years. At work we're still using Windows XP, although we are in the stages of migrating to Windows 7. With the exception of about 2 months last year, I've only really used Linux (Ubuntu) for troubleshooting computer problems.

[Dot Matrix]

Anyone else here remember the hate the "superbar" got for "being too large"?

http://www.istartedsomething.com/20090105/measuring-up-windows-7s-new-super-taskbar/

Some were ready to consider Windows 7 a failure on that alone...

[PGHammer]

Huh...I just typed gpedit.msc on the start screen and oh look. group policy editor loads...

Amazing how when you do something differently it works differently, but when you do it the same it works...funny that...

And, you can Runbox using the same keyboard shortcut that dates back to (believe it or not) NT 3.x/Windows 3.x - Windows key + R.

We keep forgetting that the Windows logo key predates even Windows 9x - the original Microsoft Natural Keyboard dates back to *Windows for Workgroups*. However, it was so pricey that it was outsold by its many clones - ergonomic and non - until the arrival of the Natural Keyboard Elite in 1997. Despite my actually purchasing an OEM version of the Natural Keyboard Elite that year, I didn't really leverage the Windows logo key until I took to Runboxing with a vengeance with Windows 2000 Professional - in the enterprise setting.

[Shane Nokes]

And, you can Runbox using the same keyboard shortcut that dates back to (believe it or not) NT 3.x/Windows 3.x - Windows key + R.

We keep forgetting that the Windows logo key predates even Windows 9x - the original Microsoft Natural Keyboard dates back to *Windows for Workgroups*. However, it was so pricey that it was outsold by its many clones - ergonomic and non - until the arrival of the Natural Keyboard Elite in 1997. Despite my actually purchasing an OEM version of the Natural Keyboard Elite that year, I didn't really leverage the Windows logo key until I took to Runboxing with a vengeance with Windows 2000 Professional - in the enterprise setting.

Yup, which is part of why I keep telling folks that everything works pretty much like it did before. Not much has really changed other than the looks, and adding in options for ways to do things.

[The King of GnG]

I liked XP from day 1, I liked 7 from day 1 (still on Vista, I need a bit of free time to upgrade). I hated 8 since I saw the new interface for the first time.