What's the deal with Win 8.1 ?

I thought it was supposed to bring back the option for the classic type GUI.

Saw my first Win8.1 machine today and it looks the same as Win8

On 01/19/2014 10:39 AM, philo wrote:
I thought it was supposed to bring back the option for the classic type
GUI.

Saw my first Win8.1 machine today and it looks the same as Win8

The desktop is still there, windows key+D I think switches to the
desktop, and there is an option to boot to the desktop now.
And you can put shortcuts on the desktop as in win7 and use that desktop
GUI all you want. Just like win7

Now instead of 'classical GUI', if you mean classical start menu, no it
is just a button to toggle between desktop and modern start menu.

As reported by others many times there are 3 other prominent 3rd party
start menus that resolve that hole, and each is pretty good with minor
differences.

On Sun, 19 Jan 2014 09:39:23 -0600, philo* wrote:

I thought it was supposed to bring back the option for the classic type GUI.

Saw my first Win8.1 machine today and it looks the same as Win8

http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-boot-to-desktop-in-windows-8.1-instead-of-start-screen/

Not satisfied? Then you can always try Classic Shell (freeware) or
Start8 ($4.99).

--
s|b

On 01/19/2014 10:11 AM, Big_Al wrote:
On 01/19/2014 10:39 AM, philo wrote:
I thought it was supposed to bring back the option for the classic type
GUI.

Saw my first Win8.1 machine today and it looks the same as Win8

The desktop is still there, windows key+D I think switches to the
desktop, and there is an option to boot to the desktop now.
And you can put shortcuts on the desktop as in win7 and use that desktop
GUI all you want. Just like win7

Now instead of 'classical GUI', if you mean classical start menu, no it
is just a button to toggle between desktop and modern start menu.

As reported by others many times there are 3 other prominent 3rd party
start menus that resolve that hole, and each is pretty good with minor
differences.





Yes


I have been installing Classic Shell on all the Win8 machines I get...
or advising the users to do so.


The evaluation version of Win8 had a simple registry hack to do so but
was eliminated with the released version.

On 01/19/2014 10:27 AM, s|b wrote:
On Sun, 19 Jan 2014 09:39:23 -0600, philo wrote:

I thought it was supposed to bring back the option for the classic type GUI.

Saw my first Win8.1 machine today and it looks the same as Win8

http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-boot-to-desktop-in-windows-8.1-instead-of-start-screen/

Not satisfied? Then you can always try Classic Shell (freeware) or
Start8 ($4.99).




yep

I've been using Classic Shell


and thanks for that link

On Sun, 19 Jan 2014 10:29:35 -0600, philo* wrote:

As reported by others many times there are 3 other prominent 3rd party
start menus that resolve that hole, and each is pretty good with minor
differences.



Yes

I have been installing Classic Shell on all the Win8 machines I get...
or advising the users to do so.

The evaluation version of Win8 had a simple registry hack to do so but
was eliminated with the released version.

So what are you moaning about now?

On 01/19/2014 11:27 AM, s|b wrote:
On Sun, 19 Jan 2014 09:39:23 -0600, philo wrote:

I thought it was supposed to bring back the option for the classic type GUI.

Saw my first Win8.1 machine today and it looks the same as Win8

http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-boot-to-desktop-in-windows-8.1-instead-of-start-screen/

Not satisfied? Then you can always try Classic Shell (freeware) or
Start8 ($4.99).


http://www.startisback.com/ Start is back, is the 3rd and it's only $2.99

So none of these menu replacements are a back breaker!!

On 1/19/2014 10:39 AM, philo wrote:
I thought it was supposed to bring back the option for the classic type
GUI.

Saw my first Win8.1 machine today and it looks the same as Win8

Windows 8.1 can be made into a usable computer. If you are going to
Windows 8.1 the first thing you need to do is to get a good mouse. I
tried to use the touch pad as I did in my old Windows XP computer, but
found that all kinds of things were popping out when I did not want
them. I suspect the touch screen is equally frustrating, though I have
not used one.

Once you get your new system the first thing you want to do is click the
desktop Icon, right click in the toolbar, and select Properties. In
the navigation Tab Click When "I sigh on .... go to the desktop" You
can also select a couple of other nice things.

There is one thing that you will like and that is the Jump list. You
can place all of your programs in the tool bar at the bottom of the
Desktop. When you click a program on the tool bar it is highlighted,
for each incidence of that program that is open, a shadow is created on
that icon. To open a different incidence of the program click on a
different shadows. In the Jump List Tab, I have clicked "Store and
display recent opened items" This gives you a list of files recently
opened by that program. You can pin frequently used programs or files to
the jump list. Make sure you have the save Jump list parameter set.

Since all of the programs you use can be placed on the Desktop toolbar,
you do not need access to the programs in the old start menu.

There is one other nice feature with the Window 8.1 desktop. That is
the MS Icon in the lower left corner to the Desktop screen. As I
mention earlier all of the programs which you use to find here are gone,
BUT you can place those programs you use on the desktop toolbar where
they are actually easier to access.

When you right click this MS icon, you have access to all of the
operating system functions, including the shut down, restart, etc
functions that I used the old start button for most.

From the MS Icon you can access the control panel, power manager,
device manager, Task manager, disk manager, network functions, etc.

Once you access these item the presentation is not nearly as nice as in
the old Windows XP 7, and in some ways more difficult to use, but
these are not things you must access ever 10 minutes.

I am taking this time because with all of the floating Icons with
advertisements, I was dead set against Windows 8.1. Then my computer
died and I had to upgrade as Windows XP was no longer available. It has
taken me several months to make Windows 8.1 a useable system

On 01/19/2014 12:21 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
On 1/19/2014 10:39 AM, philo wrote:
I thought it was supposed to bring back the option for the classic type
GUI.

Saw my first Win8.1 machine today and it looks the same as Win8

Windows 8.1 can be made into a usable computer. If you are going to
Windows 8.1 the first thing you need to do is to get a good mouse. I
tried to use the touch pad as I did in my old Windows XP computer, but
found that all kinds of things were popping out when I did not want
them. I suspect the touch screen is equally frustrating, though I have
not used one.

Once you get your new system the first thing you want to do is click the
desktop Icon, right click in the toolbar, and select Properties. In
the navigation Tab Click When "I sigh on .... go to the desktop" You
can also select a couple of other nice things.

There is one thing that you will like and that is the Jump list. You
can place all of your programs in the tool bar at the bottom of the
Desktop. When you click a program on the tool bar it is highlighted,
for each incidence of that program that is open, a shadow is created on
that icon. To open a different incidence of the program click on a
different shadows. In the Jump List Tab, I have clicked "Store and
display recent opened items" This gives you a list of files recently
opened by that program. You can pin frequently used programs or files to
the jump list. Make sure you have the save Jump list parameter set.

Since all of the programs you use can be placed on the Desktop toolbar,
you do not need access to the programs in the old start menu.

There is one other nice feature with the Window 8.1 desktop. That is
the MS Icon in the lower left corner to the Desktop screen. As I
mention earlier all of the programs which you use to find here are gone,
BUT you can place those programs you use on the desktop toolbar where
they are actually easier to access.

When you right click this MS icon, you have access to all of the
operating system functions, including the shut down, restart, etc
functions that I used the old start button for most.

From the MS Icon you can access the control panel, power manager,
device manager, Task manager, disk manager, network functions, etc.

Once you access these item the presentation is not nearly as nice as in
the old Windows XP 7, and in some ways more difficult to use, but
these are not things you must access ever 10 minutes.

I am taking this time because with all of the floating Icons with
advertisements, I was dead set against Windows 8.1. Then my computer
died and I had to upgrade as Windows XP was no longer available. It has
taken me several months to make Windows 8.1 a useable system






Thanks for the info. So sad that MS makes it so much work.

I think Classic Shell is a good way to go

s|b has written on 1/19/2014 11:27 AM:
On Sun, 19 Jan 2014 09:39:23 -0600, philo wrote:

I thought it was supposed to bring back the option for the classic type GUI.

Saw my first Win8.1 machine today and it looks the same as Win8

http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-boot-to-desktop-in-windows-8.1-instead-of-start-screen/


If you already have configured Win 8 to boot to desktop and have already
installed a Start Button/Menu program, what will happen if you upgrade
to 8.1? IOW, should you back out those changes before upgrading?

On 1/19/2014 1:24 PM, philo wrote:
On 01/19/2014 12:21 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
On 1/19/2014 10:39 AM, philo wrote:
I thought it was supposed to bring back the option for the classic type
GUI.

Saw my first Win8.1 machine today and it looks the same as Win8

Windows 8.1 can be made into a usable computer. If you are going to
Windows 8.1 the first thing you need to do is to get a good mouse. I
tried to use the touch pad as I did in my old Windows XP computer, but
found that all kinds of things were popping out when I did not want
them. I suspect the touch screen is equally frustrating, though I have
not used one.

Once you get your new system the first thing you want to do is click the
desktop Icon, right click in the toolbar, and select Properties. In
the navigation Tab Click When "I sigh on .... go to the desktop" You
can also select a couple of other nice things.

There is one thing that you will like and that is the Jump list. You
can place all of your programs in the tool bar at the bottom of the
Desktop. When you click a program on the tool bar it is highlighted,
for each incidence of that program that is open, a shadow is created on
that icon. To open a different incidence of the program click on a
different shadows. In the Jump List Tab, I have clicked "Store and
display recent opened items" This gives you a list of files recently
opened by that program. You can pin frequently used programs or files to
the jump list. Make sure you have the save Jump list parameter set.

Since all of the programs you use can be placed on the Desktop toolbar,
you do not need access to the programs in the old start menu.

There is one other nice feature with the Window 8.1 desktop. That is
the MS Icon in the lower left corner to the Desktop screen. As I
mention earlier all of the programs which you use to find here are gone,
BUT you can place those programs you use on the desktop toolbar where
they are actually easier to access.

When you right click this MS icon, you have access to all of the
operating system functions, including the shut down, restart, etc
functions that I used the old start button for most.

From the MS Icon you can access the control panel, power manager,
device manager, Task manager, disk manager, network functions, etc.

Once you access these item the presentation is not nearly as nice as in
the old Windows XP 7, and in some ways more difficult to use, but
these are not things you must access ever 10 minutes.

I am taking this time because with all of the floating Icons with
advertisements, I was dead set against Windows 8.1. Then my computer
died and I had to upgrade as Windows XP was no longer available. It has
taken me several months to make Windows 8.1 a useable system






Thanks for the info. So sad that MS makes it so much work.

I think Classic Shell is a good way to go

The work is all summarized in those paragraph. There is really only one
change that must be made and that is all in the Properties of the right
click menu on the Desktop toolbar.

Sooner or later the Classic Shell and similar programs will disappear.
So you might as will bit the bullet, and go with the new OS. Like I
said it is not as bad as it appears or is made out to be. It actually
has things that are an improvement.

On Sun, 19 Jan 2014 14:00:20 -0500, Juan Wei wrote:

If you already have configured Win 8 to boot to desktop and have already
installed a Start Button/Menu program, what will happen if you upgrade
to 8.1? IOW, should you back out those changes before upgrading?

I configured 8.1 only once (at not for myself; I use W7), but my guess
would be that it wouldn't make any difference. You could always create a
backup image (Macrium Reflect has a free version) before upgrading to
8.1...

--
s|b

On 19 Jan 2014, philo* wrote in
alt.comp.os.windows-8:

I thought it was supposed to bring back the option for the classic
type GUI.

You have been suffering under a misconception. Nobody ever said that.

Saw my first Win8.1 machine today and it looks the same as Win8

Yes. You do now have the option of booting up to the classic desktop,
rather than the new Start screen.

On 01/19/2014 01:21 PM, s|b wrote:
On Sun, 19 Jan 2014 14:00:20 -0500, Juan Wei wrote:

If you already have configured Win 8 to boot to desktop and have already
installed a Start Button/Menu program, what will happen if you upgrade
to 8.1? IOW, should you back out those changes before upgrading?

I configured 8.1 only once (at not for myself; I use W7), but my guess
would be that it wouldn't make any difference. You could always create a
backup image (Macrium Reflect has a free version) before upgrading to
8.1...



I'm just fooling with it in a virtual machine
simply to gain familiarity

thanks

In ,
Keith Nuttle typed:
On 1/19/2014 10:39 AM, philo wrote:
I thought it was supposed to bring back the option for the classic
type GUI.

Saw my first Win8.1 machine today and it looks the same as Win8

Windows 8.1 can be made into a usable computer. If you are going to
Windows 8.1 the first thing you need to do is to get a good mouse. I
tried to use the touch pad as I did in my old Windows XP computer, but
found that all kinds of things were popping out when I did not want
them. I suspect the touch screen is equally frustrating, though I
have not used one.

I don't find a mouse, touchpad, or touch to be frustrating under Windows
8.

Once you get your new system the first thing you want to do is click
the desktop Icon, right click in the toolbar, and select Properties.
In the navigation Tab Click When "I sigh on .... go to the desktop"
You can also select a couple of other nice things.

There is one thing that you will like and that is the Jump list. You
can place all of your programs in the tool bar at the bottom of the
Desktop. When you click a program on the tool bar it is highlighted,
for each incidence of that program that is open, a shadow is created
on that icon. To open a different incidence of the program click on a
different shadows. In the Jump List Tab, I have clicked "Store and
display recent opened items" This gives you a list of files recently
opened by that program. You can pin frequently used programs or files
to the jump list. Make sure you have the save Jump list parameter
set.
Since all of the programs you use can be placed on the Desktop
toolbar, you do not need access to the programs in the old start menu.

Windows 7 does the very same thing. And you can also do this with
Windows 7 Start Menu. And speaking about Start Menu, I hardly used them
for about the last 5 years or so. As I have been mainly using those
launch bar utilities. They are like a second Taskbar, but has all of
your favorite programs usually sorted by category.

[...]
I am taking this time because with all of the floating Icons with
advertisements, I was dead set against Windows 8.1. Then my computer
died and I had to upgrade as Windows XP was no longer available. It
has taken me several months to make Windows 8.1 a useable system

I have found brand new machines running XP still sealed in the box on
eBay. In fact, I recently bought a Motion Computer LE1700 Tablet brand
new still in an unopened box that runs XP. It wasn't this one I am on
now, but it is just like it.

--
Bill
Motion Computing LE1700 Tablet ('09 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core2 Duo L7400 1.5GHz - 2GB RAM
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 SP2