Win8 on a laptop

Per xfile:
This has been constantly forgotten by pros, geeks, and techies (because
such self-centered perception)

A looong time ago, I developed a mainframe telephone book application
for the 10,000+ employee company I worked for.

Somebody brings up the app, selects "Print", and a phonebook comes out.

It was obvious to me that the more names that could be crammed into a
page, the better... and the larger the page the better.... like the
White Pages the phone company used to distribute.

But I still tested on a group of about 200 people with different
font/paper sizes.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that for most people, the bigger
the font the better they liked it.... and the page size should be the
size that fits under a desk telephone....

Needless-to-say, I added options...
--
Pete Cresswell

A looong time ago, I developed a mainframe telephone book application
for the 10,000+ employee company I worked for.

Somebody brings up the app, selects "Print", and a phonebook comes out.

It was obvious to me that the more names that could be crammed into a
page, the better... and the larger the page the better.... like the
White Pages the phone company used to distribute.

But I still tested on a group of about 200 people with different
font/paper sizes.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that for most people, the bigger
the font the better they liked it.... and the page size should be the
size that fits under a desk telephone....

Needless-to-say, I added options...


I am sorry for I don't understand the moral of the story.

But if I may guess, you have done a good job by trying to find out
what's the best solution for the users, instead of, asking them to learn
your skills and knowledge or simply to become another pro or techie or
geek, and blame them for being too lazy to learn.

Isn't that what a pro supposed to be and should be proud of by solving
problems?

Or a pro is hired to turn everyone else to become another pro, and if
that's the case, what is the purpose to hire one in the first place?

But I could have misunderstood your story.



On 8/13/2013 22:28, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per xfile:
This has been constantly forgotten by pros, geeks, and techies (because
such self-centered perception)

A looong time ago, I developed a mainframe telephone book application
for the 10,000+ employee company I worked for.

Somebody brings up the app, selects "Print", and a phonebook comes out.

It was obvious to me that the more names that could be crammed into a
page, the better... and the larger the page the better.... like the
White Pages the phone company used to distribute.

But I still tested on a group of about 200 people with different
font/paper sizes.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that for most people, the bigger
the font the better they liked it.... and the page size should be the
size that fits under a desk telephone....

Needless-to-say, I added options...

On 11/08/2013 9:39 PM, jbm wrote:
I've been through most of the Windows variants over the last 20 years,
and still say XP was the best of a bad bunch. Now on 7 Home Premium on
desk and lap tops.

My neighbour (almost 60 years old) is about to take the plunge and get a
laptop - make, model, etc yet to be decided, and only has experience on
work based XP machines in a factory. So 3 questions:

1. What is the general opinion of Windows 8 (most likely the Home
edition) running on a non-touch-screen laptop? (I think I know the
answer, and I don't think I like it!)

2. Will I (over 65 years old) be able to teach him the basics of working
with Windows 8, having no experience whatsoever of that particular OS?

3. If I've managed to get older programs running on Win7, what are the
chances of them running on Win8? (MS Office 2000, Paint Shop Pro 9, for
instance.)

Thanks in advance?

jim

Jim, Windows 8 sucks huge. An annoying piece of crap really. UI is
messed up compared to Windows 7 and XP. While many people skipped
Vista, more will skip Windows 8. And the Windows 8.1 fix, I already
tried the preview and it too sucks.

My next one is a Mac.

For 2, he is better off with a Mac if he can afford it.

Lookup VirtualBox https://www.virtualbox.org/ as it can run on
Microsoft, Apple or Linux. If cash strapped, try a Linux as the
interface is much more consistent and relatively clean compared to the
Win 8 dog.

Part of why M$ PCs are cheap as they are not selling with Win 8. Be
better off using Dell if they still do Windows 7.

--
Socialist-statism corruption is a great idea so long as the credit is
good and other people pay for it. When the credit runs out and those
that pay for it leave, they can all share having nothing but
unemployment, debt and discontentment.

On 12/08/2013 4:53 AM, Alias wrote:
On 8/12/2013 5:39 AM, jbm wrote:
I've been through most of the Windows variants over the last 20 years,
and still say XP was the best of a bad bunch. Now on 7 Home Premium on
desk and lap tops.

My neighbour (almost 60 years old) is about to take the plunge and get a
laptop - make, model, etc yet to be decided, and only has experience on
work based XP machines in a factory. So 3 questions:

1. What is the general opinion of Windows 8 (most likely the Home
edition) running on a non-touch-screen laptop? (I think I know the
answer, and I don't think I like it!)

2. Will I (over 65 years old) be able to teach him the basics of working
with Windows 8, having no experience whatsoever of that particular OS?

3. If I've managed to get older programs running on Win7, what are the
chances of them running on Win8? (MS Office 2000, Paint Shop Pro 9, for
instance.)

Thanks in advance?

jim

Laptops are available with Windows 7.

Only from a few vendors. HP and Acer for example, you are SOL.


--
Socialist-statism corruption is a great idea so long as the credit is
good and other people pay for it. When the credit runs out and those
that pay for it leave, they can all share having nothing but
unemployment, debt and discontentment.

On 12/08/2013 6:53 AM, dadiOH wrote:
"jbm" wrote in message

I've been through most of the Windows variants over the
last 20 years, and still say XP was the best of a bad
bunch. Now on 7 Home Premium on desk and lap tops.

My neighbour (almost 60 years old) is about to take the
plunge and get a laptop - make, model, etc yet to be
decided, and only has experience on work based XP
machines in a factory. So 3 questions:
1. What is the general opinion of Windows 8 (most likely
the Home edition) running on a non-touch-screen laptop?
(I think I know the answer, and I don't think I like it!)

It is fine, laptop or desktop makes no difference. The main differences...

1. The sucker is HUGE! Sixteen gigs out of the box.

2. MS wants you to use their pretty "metro" screen...the one with all the
big icons that open everything full screen and which have no simple, obvious
way to minimize or close. Anyone that has ever used anything other than a
phone is likely to hate "metro". Fortunately, it is easy to get around it.

3. There is no start button or anything associated with it (though they are
accessible in other, convoluted ways).

4. It is much more nannyish than XP or its predecessors (can't say about
Vista or Win7, skipped over them). MS wants to protect us from
ourselves...MS knows best...what's good for Genetal Bullmoose is good for
the nation...

5. One can only have one taskbar on the desktop - once you get there -
rather than four

6. It is quite stable.
________________________

2. Will I (over 65 years old) be able to teach him the
basics of working with Windows 8, having no experience
whatsoever of that particular OS?

An OS is an OS. I'm 80 and had no problems. Especially after I installed
Classic Shell to bypass the log in and metro screens and stick up a start
button. There are other programs to do the same, CS is free, easy and works
well, can't say about the others.
_________________________

3. If I've managed to get older programs running on Win7,
what are the chances of them running on Win8? (MS Office
2000, Paint Shop Pro 9, for instance.)

MS says that if they work on Win 7 they'll work on Win 8
__________________________

It should, essentially Win 8 is Win 7 in the core, just the UI is
totally messed up an inconsistent. As if M$ rushed Win 8 as the
cell/tablet market ... and they screwed up with a power/memory/cpu hog
in a china shop, and why for every M$ tablet, some 50+ Andriods are sold.


--
Socialist-statism corruption is a great idea so long as the credit is
good and other people pay for it. When the credit runs out and those
that pay for it leave, they can all share having nothing but
unemployment, debt and discontentment.

On 12/08/2013 11:26 AM, CRNG wrote:
On Mon, 12 Aug 2013 08:53:21 -0400, "dadiOH"
wrote in Re Win8 on a laptop:

MS knows best

Yes, you can see that here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc


He is laughing because of all the suckers buying M$ products to make him
rich.

He doesn't love the company, he loves the money it puts in his pocket.

--
Socialist-statism corruption is a great idea so long as the credit is
good and other people pay for it. When the credit runs out and those
that pay for it leave, they can all share having nothing but
unemployment, debt and discontentment.

On 12/08/2013 2:44 PM, Good Guy wrote:
dadiOH wrote:
out of the box.

2. MS wants you to use their pretty "metro" screen...the one with all
the big icons that open everything full screen and which have no
simple, obvious way to minimize or close. Anyone that ever used
anything other than a phone is likely to hate "metro". Fortunately,
it is easy to get around it.


Microsoft is trying to make Windows system like other devices in your
house like set-top boxes for TV, TV itself, HI-FI, Washing Machine etc
etc. People don't complain about these and they all use some software
of a kind. My Humax set-top box uses Linux OS but I don't need to know
anything about it; All I need is switches on my Remote or on the
set-top box; Same thing applies with TV that uses some software to make
RC work and changes channels and downloads TV programs..

Why should Windows system be different? All you need is switches to
browse the Internet, or to launch Microsoft Office. You don't need to
know anything about the OS as an ordinary user of Windows system. Use
it as another device that you need to get by to survive on this planet.
Nobody in the developed world can survive without a washing machine or
a TV.

Actually, if we count TV PVRs, Fridges with UI/computers, TVs with
computers along with cells phones to add to PCs.....

Linux base code now out ships Microsoft by a vary large margin in the world.

The only area Microsoft leads at the moment is PC desktops and laptops.
Your TVs internally run a customized Linux. Cell phones and tablets,
mostly Android and that is a Linux core.

Number one OS in the world by count is Linux derived. Even your digital
Internet gateway, its Linux based inside.

--
Socialist-statism corruption is a great idea so long as the credit is
good and other people pay for it. When the credit runs out and those
that pay for it leave, they can all share having nothing but
unemployment, debt and discontentment.

You can buy a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium on eBay from a reputable
seller.
Find out from its user manual how to enter the BIOS Setup Program at startup
because to
boot from the Win7 disc the BIOS has to have the CD/DVD drive set as the
first boot device in the
order of boot devices. The setup will allow you to format the drive that
Win8 is installed
on, which amounts to wiping Win8 off the drive. Then you can go ahead with
the installation of'
Win7. I haven't come across a Win8 laptop that can't also run Win7.

"jbm" wrote in message ...
I've been through most of the Windows variants over the last 20 years, and
still say XP was the best of a bad bunch. Now on 7 Home Premium on desk
and lap tops.

My neighbour (almost 60 years old) is about to take the plunge and get a
laptop - make, model, etc yet to be decided, and only has experience on
work based XP machines in a factory. So 3 questions:

1. What is the general opinion of Windows 8 (most likely the Home edition)
running on a non-touch-screen laptop? (I think I know the answer, and I
don't think I like it!)

2. Will I (over 65 years old) be able to teach him the basics of working
with Windows 8, having no experience whatsoever of that particular OS?

3. If I've managed to get older programs running on Win7, what are the
chances of them running on Win8? (MS Office 2000, Paint Shop Pro 9, for
instance.)

Thanks in advance?

jim