Windoes 8.1 Pro - new install, first impressions

I just installed Windows 8.1 Pro, after help from people here to decide
to go ahead and get it.

My previous OS was WinXP Pro, SP3. I chose to disconnect the WinXP
boot drive while installing Win 8.1 Pro on a separate hd to keep my
options about reverting to WinXP open.

The install went smoothly - I don't recall any major snags at any rate.
I'm getting adjusted to changes between XP and 8.1. Some things are
confusing - especially terminology and graphics. The tiles turned out
bo be a minor annoyance once I discovered that they can be deleted and
the apps associated with each uninstalled. I think I kept three of the
original tiles (and its app). Resized each one to small size.

One annoyance has been switching between the three windows. I use the
"start" icon in the bottom left of the screen to move between the two
screens - desktop and the 2nd window which has the tiles - and the
button to move to the third window which lists various apps and other
things. But using swiping motions does not appeal to me; my setup is a
stand-alone desktop pc with non-touch screen monitor. At least I can
find my way around the three windows now, so that's good.

The graphics have created their own set of problems, however. The
layout of folders and files in Windows Explorer (or whatever it may be
called in Win 8.1) seems cluttered compared to the layout I could set
in Explorer in WinXP. I find it takes me more time, at least
subjectively to find what I'm looking for and somehow the resolution
looks fuzzier.

The OS color combinations make it hard to read some things. And there
may be a conflict between the OS display settings and those of some
other apps I installed, such as Firefox or it could be, just as bad, a
video driver problem.

When I drop down a menu in Firefox, the highlighted menu choice turns a
solid color that will persist over any of them that I move the mouse
cursor over unless I move the cursor off of the drop down menu. This
happened in several apps.

Trying to troublshoot this by looking for the relevant apps in Control
Panel has been difficult. It seemed much easier to navigate in the
WinXP Control Panel to use and find something than it has been in Win
8.1. I also miss the option that would provide a quick tool tip (the
button in the upper right hand corner with the "?" symbol on it).

My next big step will be to install WinXP as a virtual machine in
Hyper-V. I spent a bit of time reading up on that but decided it'd be
better to get a fresh start on it. I'll be curious to see if I
continue to have the graphics problem I described earlier once I can
get the VM WinXP set up.

btw, I'm posting this using my WinXP hd - not using a boot management
app, but instead just temporarily switching boot drive in the BIOS.

John

Yes wrote:
I just installed Windows 8.1 Pro, after help from people here to
decide to go ahead and get it.

My previous OS was WinXP Pro, SP3.
[snip]

The graphics have created their own set of problems, however. The
layout of folders and files in Windows Explorer (or whatever it may be
called in Win 8.1) seems cluttered compared to the layout I could set
in Explorer in WinXP. I find it takes me more time, at least
subjectively to find what I'm looking for and somehow the resolution
looks fuzzier.

You may need new drivers for video, audio, and other motherboard functions.
I also hope you verified that your CPU has the required functionality for
Win 8.1.

The OS color combinations make it hard to read some things. And there
may be a conflict between the OS display settings and those of some
other apps I installed, such as Firefox or it could be, just as bad, a
video driver problem.

I think you've identified the problem correctly!
--
best regards,

Neil

On 2013-11-16 4:31 AM, Yes wrote:
I just installed Windows 8.1 Pro, after help from people here to decide
to go ahead and get it.

My previous OS was WinXP Pro, SP3. I chose to disconnect the WinXP
boot drive while installing Win 8.1 Pro on a separate hd to keep my
options about reverting to WinXP open.

The install went smoothly - I don't recall any major snags at any rate.
I'm getting adjusted to changes between XP and 8.1. Some things are
confusing - especially terminology and graphics. The tiles turned out
bo be a minor annoyance once I discovered that they can be deleted and
the apps associated with each uninstalled. I think I kept three of the
original tiles (and its app). Resized each one to small size.

One annoyance has been switching between the three windows. I use the
"start" icon in the bottom left of the screen to move between the two
screens - desktop and the 2nd window which has the tiles - and the
button to move to the third window which lists various apps and other
things. But using swiping motions does not appeal to me; my setup is a
stand-alone desktop pc with non-touch screen monitor. At least I can
find my way around the three windows now, so that's good.

The graphics have created their own set of problems, however. The
layout of folders and files in Windows Explorer (or whatever it may be
called in Win 8.1) seems cluttered compared to the layout I could set
in Explorer in WinXP. I find it takes me more time, at least
subjectively to find what I'm looking for and somehow the resolution
looks fuzzier.

The OS color combinations make it hard to read some things. And there
may be a conflict between the OS display settings and those of some
other apps I installed, such as Firefox or it could be, just as bad, a
video driver problem.

When I drop down a menu in Firefox, the highlighted menu choice turns a
solid color that will persist over any of them that I move the mouse
cursor over unless I move the cursor off of the drop down menu. This
happened in several apps.

Trying to troublshoot this by looking for the relevant apps in Control
Panel has been difficult. It seemed much easier to navigate in the
WinXP Control Panel to use and find something than it has been in Win
8.1. I also miss the option that would provide a quick tool tip (the
button in the upper right hand corner with the "?" symbol on it).

My next big step will be to install WinXP as a virtual machine in
Hyper-V. I spent a bit of time reading up on that but decided it'd be
better to get a fresh start on it. I'll be curious to see if I
continue to have the graphics problem I described earlier once I can
get the VM WinXP set up.

btw, I'm posting this using my WinXP hd - not using a boot management
app, but instead just temporarily switching boot drive in the BIOS.

John


I don't get any "fuzziness" But I agree, some of the choices Microsoft
made vis a vis colour could have been better. I still want the titlebar
text of a window to go light when the colour of the titlebar is set
darker. Reading black text on a dark blue titlebar is .. well you
basically can't read it unless you get up close and squint.

That is one thing I thought they would have fixed beyond the Start Button.

You can get to the point where all your regular applications are pinned
to the taskbar .. and if you are looking for something less often used
you skip the Start Page and go directly to the App Page. So it reduces
it to two screens for the most part.

As for the *tiles* .. I just uninstalled (or unpinned if there was no
uninstall option) the whole lot of them. I didn't even keep the weather.
For every Metro app, there's a non-Metro application/program you can
employ that does as well or better .. and doesn't take up the whole
screen doing it.

Some of your rendering issues *might* be hardware/hardware drivers related.

WireTalk

--

Are you Christian? But stumbling online?

The Lord makes all things new:

http://www.holinessprompter.com

New software for Christians who've decided to get honest.

--

And every man that hath this hope in
Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.

1 John 3 : 3
--

Yes wrote:

I just installed Windows 8.1 Pro, after help from people here to decide
to go ahead and get it.

My previous OS was WinXP Pro, SP3. I chose to disconnect the WinXP
boot drive while installing Win 8.1 Pro on a separate hd to keep my
options about reverting to WinXP open.

The install went smoothly - I don't recall any major snags at any rate.
I'm getting adjusted to changes between XP and 8.1. Some things are
confusing - especially terminology and graphics. The tiles turned out
bo be a minor annoyance once I discovered that they can be deleted and
the apps associated with each uninstalled. I think I kept three of the
original tiles (and its app). Resized each one to small size.

One annoyance has been switching between the three windows. I use the
[big snip]

Windows 8.1 was designed to run on a tablet, not a desktop or
non-touchscreen notebook. What was Microsoft thinking? When you
eventually tire of the annoyances and frustrations of the W8 GUI, Just
install Classic Shell (or similar) and you'll have your old
familiar classic XP GUI back, and won't have to continually waste time
learning new ways to do old things. Plus, if you ever need to, you can
easily switch back to the W8 interface.


Stef

On 2013-11-16 1:05 PM, Stef wrote:
Yes wrote:
[big snip]

Windows 8.1 was designed to run on a tablet, not a desktop or
non-touchscreen notebook. What was Microsoft thinking?


Stef


Hm .. yeah .. but Windows 8.1 can be configured to be a full on NT
Desktop OS .. just tweak it a bit and you can get it so you like it.

You're right though, the Metro business left one thinking: "What was
Microsoft thinking?" but 8.1 fixes many of the UI issues. If you need a
full Start Button/Start Menu just install Start8 or similar. I hated
Windows 8.1, but enjoy Windows 8.1.

WireTalk

--
http://www.holinessprompter.com

New software for Christians who've decided to get honest.
--

On Sat, 16 Nov 2013 18:05:47 +0000 (UTC), Stef
wrote:

Windows 8.1 was designed to run on a tablet, not a desktop or
non-touchscreen notebook.


My view is very different. Windows 8 was designed with two different
interfaces. *One* of them--the Metro/Modern interface *was* designed
to run on a tablet, but the other, the desktop interface was designed
to be run on a desktop or non-touchscreen notebook.

I think Microsoft made a very bad mistake by putting two such
different things into a single product. There should have been two
different versions of Windows, with two different names and two
different descriptions.

Or if for some reason I don't fully understand, they thought it was
better as a single product, they should at least have made it much
clearer to all their customers that it has two separate interfaces,
and for those without a tablet, the traditional Windows-7-like desktop
interface is what they should probably run. This should have been made
very clear in their advertising, their web pages, their
documentation, their help files, etc. And on installation the first
thing the user should see should have been the choice of which
interface will be the default.

There is still today an enormous number of Windows 8 users running it
on a desktop, and who don't even realize that they have the choice not
to use the default Modern/Metro interface, and as a result hate
Windows 8. Many of them talk about switching to a Macintosh, and a lot
of them either have done so or probably will do so soon.

--
Ken Blake

On 2013-11-16 1:18 PM, WireTalk wrote:
On 2013-11-16 1:05 PM, Stef wrote:
Yes wrote:
[big snip]

Windows 8.1 was designed to run on a tablet, not a desktop or
non-touchscreen notebook. What was Microsoft thinking?


Stef


Hm .. yeah .. but Windows 8.1 can be configured to be a full on NT
Desktop OS .. just tweak it a bit and you can get it so you like it.

You're right though, the Metro business left one thinking: "What was
Microsoft thinking?" but 8.1 fixes many of the UI issues. If you need a
full Start Button/Start Menu just install Start8 or similar. I hated
Windows 8.1, but enjoy Windows 8.1.

WireTalk


Should read:

hated 8.0, but enjoy Windows 8.1

WireTalk

--
http://www.holinessprompter.com

New software for Christians who've decided to get honest.
--

On 2013-11-16 1:30 PM, Ken Blake wrote:
On Sat, 16 Nov 2013 18:05:47 +0000 (UTC), Stef
wrote:

Windows 8.1 was designed to run on a tablet, not a desktop or
non-touchscreen notebook.


My view is very different. Windows 8 was designed with two different
interfaces. *One* of them--the Metro/Modern interface *was* designed
to run on a tablet, but the other, the desktop interface was designed
to be run on a desktop or non-touchscreen notebook.

I think Microsoft made a very bad mistake by putting two such
different things into a single product. There should have been two
different versions of Windows, with two different names and two
different descriptions.

Or if for some reason I don't fully understand, they thought it was
better as a single product, they should at least have made it much
clearer to all their customers that it has two separate interfaces,
and for those without a tablet, the traditional Windows-7-like desktop
interface is what they should probably run. This should have been made
very clear in their advertising, their web pages, their
documentation, their help files, etc. And on installation the first
thing the user should see should have been the choice of which
interface will be the default.

There is still today an enormous number of Windows 8 users running it
on a desktop, and who don't even realize that they have the choice not
to use the default Modern/Metro interface, and as a result hate
Windows 8. Many of them talk about switching to a Macintosh, and a lot
of them either have done so or probably will do so soon.


One of the new TV commercials for Windows 8.1 that plays here in Canada
(and probably in the States), shows the Start Button. But the commercial
doesn't emphasize the Start Button. A hand places the disembodied Start
Button onto the Windows GUI, but immediately goes on to play with tiles.
So as the commercial goes, the Start Button could be confused with just
another tile. You'd have to have a keen eye to be sure that there's a
Desktop in Windows 8.1

This, I think, is a mistake. With all the money in their war chest,
you'd think Microsoft would make it good and clear there is a Start
Button and a Desktop distinct from the Metro UI. And that the Desktop is
fully operational.

But they still seem to want to 'trick' people into using Metro and
signing in with a Microsoft Passport account.

The funny thing about this is that, IMHO, if Microsoft made the
distinction clearer, people would respect Microsoft more. When people
are being manipulated, they know (hence the out right rejection of
Windows 8.0).

Anyway .. there's still lots of time for 8.1, and it is doing a little
it better than 8.0, but I'm thinking big business will mostly be going
for Windows 7 regardless .. so don't throw away those Windows 7 books.

WireTalk

--
http://www.holinessprompter.com

New software for Christians who've decided to get honest.
--

On Sat, 16 Nov 2013 13:18:32 -0500, WireTalk
wrote:

I hated Windows 8.1, but enjoy Windows 8.1.

That's what I call being on both sides of the fence.

Neil Gould wrote:

Yes wrote:
I just installed Windows 8.1 Pro, after help from people here to
decide to go ahead and get it.

My previous OS was WinXP Pro, SP3.
[snip]

The graphics have created their own set of problems, however. The
layout of folders and files in Windows Explorer (or whatever it may
be called in Win 8.1) seems cluttered compared to the layout I
could set in Explorer in WinXP. I find it takes me more time, at
least subjectively to find what I'm looking for and somehow the
resolution looks fuzzier.

You may need new drivers for video, audio, and other motherboard
functions. I also hope you verified that your CPU has the required
functionality for Win 8.1.

The OS color combinations make it hard to read some things. And
there may be a conflict between the OS display settings and those
of some other apps I installed, such as Firefox or it could be,
just as bad, a video driver problem.

I think you've identified the problem correctly!

I successfully installed WinXP as a VM under Hyper-V and have playeed
around a bit with that now. In light of that, I'm beginning to think
my problem may be my ignorance rather than hardware. The graphics
problem I mentioned does not appear in the VM WinXP. Also, I tweaked
my Windows 8.1 settings a bit more and the problem is not as
noticeable. I still have a long way to go to getting the graphics to a
point where I feel OK with them. At least I now can run XP as a VM,
which was the big reason I moved to Windows 8.1 I by no means know my
way around using VMs or the network operations and have a long learning
trial ahead of me.

WireTalk wrote:

On 2013-11-16 4:31 AM, Yes wrote:
I just installed Windows 8.1 Pro, after help from people here to
decide to go ahead and get it.

My previous OS was WinXP Pro, SP3. I chose to disconnect the WinXP
boot drive while installing Win 8.1 Pro on a separate hd to keep my
options about reverting to WinXP open.

The install went smoothly - I don't recall any major snags at any
rate. I'm getting adjusted to changes between XP and 8.1. Some
things are confusing - especially terminology and graphics. The
tiles turned out bo be a minor annoyance once I discovered that
they can be deleted and the apps associated with each uninstalled.
I think I kept three of the original tiles (and its app). Resized
each one to small size.

One annoyance has been switching between the three windows. I use
the "start" icon in the bottom left of the screen to move between
the two screens - desktop and the 2nd window which has the tiles -
and the button to move to the third window which lists various apps
and other things. But using swiping motions does not appeal to me;
my setup is a stand-alone desktop pc with non-touch screen monitor.
At least I can find my way around the three windows now, so that's
good.

The graphics have created their own set of problems, however. The
layout of folders and files in Windows Explorer (or whatever it may
be called in Win 8.1) seems cluttered compared to the layout I
could set in Explorer in WinXP. I find it takes me more time, at
least subjectively to find what I'm looking for and somehow the
resolution looks fuzzier.

The OS color combinations make it hard to read some things. And
there may be a conflict between the OS display settings and those
of some other apps I installed, such as Firefox or it could be,
just as bad, a video driver problem.

When I drop down a menu in Firefox, the highlighted menu choice
turns a solid color that will persist over any of them that I move
the mouse cursor over unless I move the cursor off of the drop down
menu. This happened in several apps.

Trying to troublshoot this by looking for the relevant apps in
Control Panel has been difficult. It seemed much easier to
navigate in the WinXP Control Panel to use and find something than
it has been in Win 8.1. I also miss the option that would provide
a quick tool tip (the button in the upper right hand corner with
the "?" symbol on it).

My next big step will be to install WinXP as a virtual machine in
Hyper-V. I spent a bit of time reading up on that but decided it'd
be better to get a fresh start on it. I'll be curious to see if I
continue to have the graphics problem I described earlier once I can
get the VM WinXP set up.

btw, I'm posting this using my WinXP hd - not using a boot
management app, but instead just temporarily switching boot drive
in the BIOS.

John


I don't get any "fuzziness" But I agree, some of the choices
Microsoft made vis a vis colour could have been better. I still want
the titlebar text of a window to go light when the colour of the
titlebar is set darker. Reading black text on a dark blue titlebar is
.. well you basically can't read it unless you get up close and
squint.

That is one thing I thought they would have fixed beyond the Start
Button.

You can get to the point where all your regular applications are
pinned to the taskbar .. and if you are looking for something less
often used you skip the Start Page and go directly to the App Page.
So it reduces it to two screens for the most part.

As for the tiles .. I just uninstalled (or unpinned if there was no
uninstall option) the whole lot of them. I didn't even keep the
weather. For every Metro app, there's a non-Metro application/program
you can employ that does as well or better .. and doesn't take up the
whole screen doing it.

Some of your rendering issues might be hardware/hardware drivers
related.

WireTalk

It's been an experience so far. Some fuzziness is due to my eyesight.
OTOH, I'm keeping my screen resolution to something around 1260 x 720
(I don't have the actual resolution # handy, just that I had to scale
back from my monitor's highest resolution because the fonts were just
too small for me to read :-(

As I use Windows 8.1, I find myself flipping between the two screens
(taskbar? and start screen?). I eliminated nearly all the tiles from
the Start? screen and reduced the size of the other tiles such that
that screen is relatively clean; I also uninstalled the underlying apps
where possible. My taskbar screen is starting to get cluttered,
however, but I can create shortcuts to the taskbar screen.

A pleasant surprise is that some of the more important to me apps I
used in WinXP work without problems in Windows 8.1. I had been afraid
that I would have to relegate them to use only in the VM.

John

Stef wrote:

Yes wrote:

I just installed Windows 8.1 Pro, after help from people here to
decide to go ahead and get it.

My previous OS was WinXP Pro, SP3. I chose to disconnect the WinXP
boot drive while installing Win 8.1 Pro on a separate hd to keep my
options about reverting to WinXP open.

The install went smoothly - I don't recall any major snags at any
rate. I'm getting adjusted to changes between XP and 8.1. Some
things are confusing - especially terminology and graphics. The
tiles turned out bo be a minor annoyance once I discovered that
they can be deleted and the apps associated with each uninstalled.
I think I kept three of the original tiles (and its app). Resized
each one to small size.

One annoyance has been switching between the three windows. I use
the [big snip]

Windows 8.1 was designed to run on a tablet, not a desktop or
non-touchscreen notebook. What was Microsoft thinking? When you
eventually tire of the annoyances and frustrations of the W8 GUI, Just
install Classic Shell (or similar) and you'll have your old
familiar classic XP GUI back, and won't have to continually waste time
learning new ways to do old things. Plus, if you ever need to, you can
easily switch back to the W8 interface.


Stef

Perhaps Microsoft has succumbed to a bipolar disorder as it has
matured? :-) I'll see how things go with getting used to Windows 8.1.
If it becomes too frustrating, I can always dump 8.1 and go back to my
original WinXP install. I'm making sure I don't reformat the drive
it's on.

John

WireTalk wrote:

On 2013-11-16 1:05 PM, Stef wrote:
Yes wrote:
[big snip]

Windows 8.1 was designed to run on a tablet, not a desktop or
non-touchscreen notebook. What was Microsoft thinking?


Stef


Hm .. yeah .. but Windows 8.1 can be configured to be a full on NT
Desktop OS .. just tweak it a bit and you can get it so you like it.

You're right though, the Metro business left one thinking: "What was
Microsoft thinking?" but 8.1 fixes many of the UI issues. If you need
a full Start Button/Start Menu just install Start8 or similar. I
hated Windows 8.1, but enjoy Windows 8.1.

WireTalk

I haven't learned what's called what yet on Windows 8.1, but part of my
frustration has been developing a different set of reflexes to use
Windows 8.1 and what IMO is an unfriendly system to tweak display
graphics. I can't pin down what the difference is, but it seemed like
WinXP was a lot easier to navigate and recognize what type of tools you
were working with in Control Panel.

John

Yes wrote:


Perhaps Microsoft has succumbed to a bipolar disorder as it has
matured? :-) I'll see how things go with getting used to Windows 8.1.
If it becomes too frustrating, I can always dump 8.1 and go back to my
original WinXP install. I'm making sure I don't reformat the drive
it's on.

John


They certainly are changing the behavioral environment.

As far as reverting to XP...that seems to be a short term plan. Once
support ends (in a few months) and security update cease XP then, imo,
will become an easy target for malware, botnets, etc since millions of
people will continue to use it knowingly or unknowingly or the risks
involved.



--
...winston
msft mvp consumer apps

Yes wrote:
WireTalk wrote:

On 2013-11-16 4:31 AM, Yes wrote:
I just installed Windows 8.1 Pro, after help from people here to
decide to go ahead and get it.

My previous OS was WinXP Pro, SP3. I chose to disconnect the WinXP
boot drive while installing Win 8.1 Pro on a separate hd to keep my
options about reverting to WinXP open.

The install went smoothly - I don't recall any major snags at any
rate. I'm getting adjusted to changes between XP and 8.1. Some
things are confusing - especially terminology and graphics. The
tiles turned out bo be a minor annoyance once I discovered that
they can be deleted and the apps associated with each uninstalled.
I think I kept three of the original tiles (and its app). Resized
each one to small size.

One annoyance has been switching between the three windows. I use
the "start" icon in the bottom left of the screen to move between
the two screens - desktop and the 2nd window which has the tiles -
and the button to move to the third window which lists various apps
and other things. But using swiping motions does not appeal to me;
my setup is a stand-alone desktop pc with non-touch screen monitor.
At least I can find my way around the three windows now, so that's
good.

The graphics have created their own set of problems, however. The
layout of folders and files in Windows Explorer (or whatever it may
be called in Win 8.1) seems cluttered compared to the layout I
could set in Explorer in WinXP. I find it takes me more time, at
least subjectively to find what I'm looking for and somehow the
resolution looks fuzzier.

The OS color combinations make it hard to read some things. And
there may be a conflict between the OS display settings and those
of some other apps I installed, such as Firefox or it could be,
just as bad, a video driver problem.

When I drop down a menu in Firefox, the highlighted menu choice
turns a solid color that will persist over any of them that I move
the mouse cursor over unless I move the cursor off of the drop down
menu. This happened in several apps.

Trying to troublshoot this by looking for the relevant apps in
Control Panel has been difficult. It seemed much easier to
navigate in the WinXP Control Panel to use and find something than
it has been in Win 8.1. I also miss the option that would provide
a quick tool tip (the button in the upper right hand corner with
the "?" symbol on it).

My next big step will be to install WinXP as a virtual machine in
Hyper-V. I spent a bit of time reading up on that but decided it'd
be better to get a fresh start on it. I'll be curious to see if I
continue to have the graphics problem I described earlier once I can
get the VM WinXP set up.

btw, I'm posting this using my WinXP hd - not using a boot
management app, but instead just temporarily switching boot drive
in the BIOS.

John

I don't get any "fuzziness" But I agree, some of the choices
Microsoft made vis a vis colour could have been better. I still want
the titlebar text of a window to go light when the colour of the
titlebar is set darker. Reading black text on a dark blue titlebar is
.. well you basically can't read it unless you get up close and
squint.

That is one thing I thought they would have fixed beyond the Start
Button.

You can get to the point where all your regular applications are
pinned to the taskbar .. and if you are looking for something less
often used you skip the Start Page and go directly to the App Page.
So it reduces it to two screens for the most part.

As for the tiles .. I just uninstalled (or unpinned if there was no
uninstall option) the whole lot of them. I didn't even keep the
weather. For every Metro app, there's a non-Metro application/program
you can employ that does as well or better .. and doesn't take up the
whole screen doing it.

Some of your rendering issues might be hardware/hardware drivers
related.

WireTalk

It's been an experience so far. Some fuzziness is due to my eyesight.
OTOH, I'm keeping my screen resolution to something around 1260 x 720
(I don't have the actual resolution # handy, just that I had to scale
back from my monitor's highest resolution because the fonts were just
too small for me to read :-(

As I use Windows 8.1, I find myself flipping between the two screens
(taskbar? and start screen?). I eliminated nearly all the tiles from
the Start? screen and reduced the size of the other tiles such that
that screen is relatively clean; I also uninstalled the underlying apps
where possible. My taskbar screen is starting to get cluttered,
however, but I can create shortcuts to the taskbar screen.

A pleasant surprise is that some of the more important to me apps I
used in WinXP work without problems in Windows 8.1. I had been afraid
that I would have to relegate them to use only in the VM.

John

You have more than one control at your disposal.

Like other OSes, you should be able to set the font size.
Look for "DPI Scaling". I think I set mine immediately to 120.

http://www.wintuts.com/files/img/cha...font_size3.jpg

If you have a monitor with a much larger resolution, then you'll
need to set a custom value.

Then you can go back, and set your monitor to the native resolution.

*******

If you don't have any video driver loaded, default resolution is
1024x768. My backup PC (the second best one), has an FX5200 card
in it, and that is not supported in Windows 8. As a result, that
machine runs 1024x768 on a 1440x900 monitor, which isn't especially
attractive. I would need to change video cards, to do better than
that. My current machine, the video card is slightly more modern,
and all resolutions are available.

Paul