How many of you are ready to run out and upgrade to Windows 8?

On 05/10/2012 22:46, Ken Blake wrote:
On Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:46:23 +0100, choro wrote:

On 05/10/2012 14:56, Ken Blake wrote:
On Fri, 5 Oct 2012 11:44:07 +0100, Michael Swift
wrote:

In article , Stan Brown
writes
I would, but first I'd have to buy a Fisher-Price computer.

Seriously, Microsoft seems to alternate really horrible unusable (RHU)
versions of Windows with merely annoying (MA) ones.

RHU - Windows 8
MA - Windows 7
RHU - Windows Vista
MA - Windows XP
RHU - Windows ME
MA - Windows 98
RHU - Microsoft Bob
MA - Windows 95

Have I forgotten any?

3 and 3.11 which as I remember weren't too bad for their day,


Windows 3.11 was almost identical to Windows 3.1. It just added a few
drivers and some minor updates which had been available separately.

Win 3.11 was the network capable version, wasn't it?



No. You're making the same mistake many people made back in those
days. You are thinking of Windows for Workgroups 3.11, not Windows
3.11.

You mean there was not only a Windows 3.11 but also a Windows for
Workgroups 3.11?

You mean there were 2 versions of 3.11 then? This is what I can infer
from what you wrote. You've got me totally confused now.

I've double checked. Well, I'll be damned! ;-(

Yes, of course you are right as the following web page proves...
http://toastytech.com/guis/win311.html

--
choro
*****

On 10/5/2012 4:12 AM, Dave-UK wrote:

"PDFrank" wrote in message
...
Not me.

Me, although I don't need to upgrade as I run several computers, one of
which has Win8.




AND ....

What do you think of W8?

John

On 10/5/2012 8:14 PM, Michael Swift wrote:
In article , J. P. Gilliver (John)
writes
3 and 3.11 which as I remember weren't too bad for their day, ah the
joys of a 42 meg HDD, 2 meg of RAM and programs which would fit on one
floppy disc.
[]
Even 3.0 wasn't _bad_, given the hardware available, though it was
slow if
your hardware was!

My 386 SX 16 ran it well, I borrowed, cough, 3.11 from work.

I think my first PC was an American Megatrands bought from an import
company on the Tottenham Court Road in London, it cost £898 in about
1992,not an inconsiderable sum back then, at least it stopped me
smoking, the hook I promised to pay for it.

Mike




OH!!! I had a DX400 (??) something or other (can't remember the exact
designation), running Windows for work groups on a *PAIR* of 400MB (MB
*not* GB) hard drives with streaming tape backup ... that was the life
... Course it cost an arm, leg, first born or whatever elsed you
where willing to sacrifice at the time!

Good stuff back in the day, DOS6.22 that it ran on proved equally
useful, maybe even more so to me at least.

Good times,
John

On Sat, 06 Oct 2012 02:15:53 +0100, choro wrote:

On 05/10/2012 22:46, Ken Blake wrote:
On Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:46:23 +0100, choro wrote:

On 05/10/2012 14:56, Ken Blake wrote:
On Fri, 5 Oct 2012 11:44:07 +0100, Michael Swift
wrote:

In article , Stan Brown
writes
I would, but first I'd have to buy a Fisher-Price computer.

Seriously, Microsoft seems to alternate really horrible unusable (RHU)
versions of Windows with merely annoying (MA) ones.

RHU - Windows 8
MA - Windows 7
RHU - Windows Vista
MA - Windows XP
RHU - Windows ME
MA - Windows 98
RHU - Microsoft Bob
MA - Windows 95

Have I forgotten any?

3 and 3.11 which as I remember weren't too bad for their day,


Windows 3.11 was almost identical to Windows 3.1. It just added a few
drivers and some minor updates which had been available separately.

Win 3.11 was the network capable version, wasn't it?



No. You're making the same mistake many people made back in those
days. You are thinking of Windows for Workgroups 3.11, not Windows
3.11.

You mean there was not only a Windows 3.11 but also a Windows for
Workgroups 3.11?


Yes.



You mean there were 2 versions of 3.11 then?



Well, I wouldn't put it that way. I'd rather say that both Windows and
Windows for Workgroups had 3.11 versions.


This is what I can infer
from what you wrote. You've got me totally confused now.

I've double checked. Well, I'll be damned! ;-(

Yes, of course you are right as the following web page proves...
http://toastytech.com/guis/win311.html

South Africa
Windows 7 Full Versions
http://www.kalahari.com/electronics/software/5717.aspx

Microsoft Store
Windows 7 Full and Upgrade
35 languages
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/...oryID.44066700




--
....winston
msft mvp mail


"Steve Hayes" wrote in message ...

On Thu, 4 Oct 2012 21:50:08 -0400, Stan Brown
wrote:

On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:34:55 -0400, PDFrank wrote:

Not me.

I would, but first I'd have to buy a Fisher-Price computer.

Seriously, Microsoft seems to alternate really horrible unusable
(RHU) versions of Windows with merely annoying (MA) ones.

RHU - Windows 8
MA - Windows 7
RHU - Windows Vista
MA - Windows XP
RHU - Windows ME
MA - Windows 98
RHU - Microsoft Bob
MA - Windows 95

Have I forgotten any?

My wife has a laptop that came with Vista installed. She would like to upgrade
it to Windows 7, but the upgrades no longer seem to be available.




--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

On Fri, 05 Oct 2012 16:18:40 +0100, Bob Henson wrote:

As others have explained, you can update and keep your files - I did it
here OK on my old desktop. However, I would seriously think about
copying all needed data (.doc files, photos, etc) to another drive and
doing a complete fresh install, then adding back the data files.

The one thing I want to avoid above all things is doing a complete reinstall.
It is enormously time-consiming, and life's too short for that.

I know it was possible to upgrade without reinstalling, because I saw the
upgrades in the shops two years ago, but they all seem to be sold out now.

But when I needed to replace my desktop computer, I bought a new one without
an operating system and restored my Acronis backups. It took me a few hours to
update drivers, etc, but not the months (if not years) that a fresh instal
would require.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

On Fri, 5 Oct 2012 22:29:58 -0400, "...winston" wrote:

South Africa
Windows 7 Full Versions
http://www.kalahari.com/electronics/software/5717.aspx

I can get a full version anywhere. It's the upgrade from Vista that is hard to
find.

Microsoft Store
Windows 7 Full and Upgrade
35 languages
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/...oryID.44066700

But it does not make it clear whether the prices are for the full or upgrade
version.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

On 05/10/2012 9:44 PM, choro wrote:
On 05/10/2012 16:18, Bob Henson wrote:


On 05/10/2012 2:06 PM, choro wrote:
On 05/10/2012 08:56, Bob Henson wrote:


On 05/10/2012 6:37 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:
On Thu, 4 Oct 2012 21:50:08 -0400, Stan Brown
wrote:

On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:34:55 -0400, PDFrank wrote:

Not me.

I would, but first I'd have to buy a Fisher-Price computer.

Seriously, Microsoft seems to alternate really horrible unusable
(RHU) versions of Windows with merely annoying (MA) ones.

RHU - Windows 8
MA - Windows 7
RHU - Windows Vista
MA - Windows XP
RHU - Windows ME
MA - Windows 98
RHU - Microsoft Bob
MA - Windows 95

Have I forgotten any?

My wife has a laptop that came with Vista installed. She would like to upgrade
it to Windows 7, but the upgrades no longer seem to be available.


Buy Windows 7 and overwrite Vista then - it's worth it. You can get
legal copies quite cheap if you download it and go through innumerable
updates - even quicker if you can get SP1 as a file too.

Do you mean this can be done without affecting settings or without
reformatting disc? If not then all user files would have to be saved to
an external drive, wouldn't they?

Or is this an 'update to Windows 7' leaving everything other than the OS
intact?

As others have explained, you can update and keep your files - I did it
here OK on my old desktop. However, I would seriously think about
copying all needed data (.doc files, photos, etc) to another drive and
doing a complete fresh install, then adding back the data files.

Why? Well over a period of time there is a lot of clutter and rubbish
accumulates on the hard drive, many settings for programs become
corrupted and/or over complicated, and a fresh install of everything
cleans up all the junk and leaves you with a system that is as good as
new (or, having got rid of Vista - better than new) Whether it's worth
it may may depend on how much stuff you need to save and how many
programs there are to re-install - but on a laptop it usually isn't that
involved. What you will find is that it will probably run better/faster.
It will certainly be less likely to fall over. It's worth a thought,
anyway.

I must admit I'd rather go for the idea of a fresh install, after saving
my user files to an external HD of course. Though with laptops I think
it is always a good idea to see if the manufacturer can supply the
upgrade W7 OS disc as it would also contain the right drivers for the
mobo, the graphics card etc etc. Of course it all depends on the cost
whether an older laptop is worth upgrading to a newer OS.

No idea what the prices are in the UK these days, but when I built my
desktop just over a year ago I had to pay £110 (US$180.00) for W7Pro.
And that was the OEM version. Heaven knows how much the full retail
version would have been. It just doesn't make sense when one can buy a
brand new laptop with W7 preinstalled for £250.--
choro
*****
PS. I know life's not fair but this is ridiculous!

This place Has Windows 7 for $60 (£37.19 UK)

https://completesoftwarecenter.com/windows7.php

It says Home Premium, but when I came to download, it was Windows 7 Pro
- as shown in the little gold disk on the page. It came without SP1, and
needed to download more updates (several years worth) than you can shake
a stick at - but it was cheap, and legal.


--
Bob
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, UK


Can you be a closet claustrophobic?

"Bob Henson" wrote in message
...


On 05/10/2012 12:38 AM, Ken1943 wrote:
On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:34:55 -0400, PDFrank wrote:

Not me.
Unless someone proves to me that is better and more reliable than 7,
No way.
Besides when7 gets no more updates, I may be 6 feet under.

My view precisely. Actually my real reason for not changing to Windows 8
is that I've tried it. It is diabolical. I may be OK for phones and toy
computers, but enterprise and domestic desktop/laptop users won't touch
it with a bargepole.

Both my computers run just great under windows 7 and I just see no reason to
upgrade to this new system because then you have to go get new drivers etc.
and I just don't see the point.

Also what benefit will this new OS give me?

I have found none so far.

On 06/10/2012 09:30, Bob Henson wrote:


On 05/10/2012 9:44 PM, choro wrote:
On 05/10/2012 16:18, Bob Henson wrote:


On 05/10/2012 2:06 PM, choro wrote:
On 05/10/2012 08:56, Bob Henson wrote:


On 05/10/2012 6:37 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:
On Thu, 4 Oct 2012 21:50:08 -0400, Stan Brown
wrote:

On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:34:55 -0400, PDFrank wrote:

Not me.

I would, but first I'd have to buy a Fisher-Price computer.

Seriously, Microsoft seems to alternate really horrible unusable
(RHU) versions of Windows with merely annoying (MA) ones.

RHU - Windows 8
MA - Windows 7
RHU - Windows Vista
MA - Windows XP
RHU - Windows ME
MA - Windows 98
RHU - Microsoft Bob
MA - Windows 95

Have I forgotten any?

My wife has a laptop that came with Vista installed. She would like to upgrade
it to Windows 7, but the upgrades no longer seem to be available.


Buy Windows 7 and overwrite Vista then - it's worth it. You can get
legal copies quite cheap if you download it and go through innumerable
updates - even quicker if you can get SP1 as a file too.

Do you mean this can be done without affecting settings or without
reformatting disc? If not then all user files would have to be saved to
an external drive, wouldn't they?

Or is this an 'update to Windows 7' leaving everything other than the OS
intact?

As others have explained, you can update and keep your files - I did it
here OK on my old desktop. However, I would seriously think about
copying all needed data (.doc files, photos, etc) to another drive and
doing a complete fresh install, then adding back the data files.

Why? Well over a period of time there is a lot of clutter and rubbish
accumulates on the hard drive, many settings for programs become
corrupted and/or over complicated, and a fresh install of everything
cleans up all the junk and leaves you with a system that is as good as
new (or, having got rid of Vista - better than new) Whether it's worth
it may may depend on how much stuff you need to save and how many
programs there are to re-install - but on a laptop it usually isn't that
involved. What you will find is that it will probably run better/faster.
It will certainly be less likely to fall over. It's worth a thought,
anyway.

I must admit I'd rather go for the idea of a fresh install, after saving
my user files to an external HD of course. Though with laptops I think
it is always a good idea to see if the manufacturer can supply the
upgrade W7 OS disc as it would also contain the right drivers for the
mobo, the graphics card etc etc. Of course it all depends on the cost
whether an older laptop is worth upgrading to a newer OS.

No idea what the prices are in the UK these days, but when I built my
desktop just over a year ago I had to pay £110 (US$180.00) for W7Pro.
And that was the OEM version. Heaven knows how much the full retail
version would have been. It just doesn't make sense when one can buy a
brand new laptop with W7 preinstalled for £250.--
choro
*****
PS. I know life's not fair but this is ridiculous!

This place Has Windows 7 for $60 (£37.19 UK)

https://completesoftwarecenter.com/windows7.php

It says Home Premium, but when I came to download, it was Windows 7 Pro
- as shown in the little gold disk on the page. It came without SP1, and
needed to download more updates (several years worth) than you can shake
a stick at - but it was cheap, and legal.

Thanks a million. At these prices I can start thinking seriously about
updating my Vista laptop to Windows 7. Never liked that damned Vista.
--
choro
*****

On 06/10/2012 08:45, Steve Hayes wrote:
On Fri, 5 Oct 2012 22:29:58 -0400, "...winston" wrote:

South Africa
Windows 7 Full Versions
http://www.kalahari.com/electronics/software/5717.aspx

I can get a full version anywhere. It's the upgrade from Vista that is hard to
find.

Microsoft Store
Windows 7 Full and Upgrade
35 languages
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/...oryID.44066700

Tried accessing web page but got this...

"We're sorry. The site you are attempting to access is restricted in
your region."

Sh*t!
--
choro
*****

But it does not make it clear whether the prices are for the full or upgrade
version.

"John" wrote in message ...
On 10/5/2012 4:12 AM, Dave-UK wrote:

"PDFrank" wrote in message
...
Not me.

Me, although I don't need to upgrade as I run several computers, one of
which has Win8.




AND ....

What do you think of W8?

John

It's OK. But then I don't use Metro, I don't want any Metro apps and I don't need
a Microsoft account. I'm currently playing around replacing things that Microsoft
removed, like booting straight to the Desktop and Sidebar gadgets.
Yes, I could have stayed with Win7 but I like running the latest OS for fun.

On 06/10/2012 10:07 AM, choro wrote:

No idea what the prices are in the UK these days, but when I built my
desktop just over a year ago I had to pay £110 (US$180.00) for W7Pro.
And that was the OEM version. Heaven knows how much the full retail
version would have been. It just doesn't make sense when one can buy a
brand new laptop with W7 preinstalled for £250.--
choro
*****
PS. I know life's not fair but this is ridiculous!

This place Has Windows 7 for $60 (£37.19 UK)

https://completesoftwarecenter.com/windows7.php

It says Home Premium, but when I came to download, it was Windows 7 Pro
- as shown in the little gold disk on the page. It came without SP1, and
needed to download more updates (several years worth) than you can shake
a stick at - but it was cheap, and legal.

Thanks a million. At these prices I can start thinking seriously about
updating my Vista laptop to Windows 7. Never liked that damned Vista.

I used to run Linux on the laptop, but I was in hospital for a while
early in the year, and my son brought me a dongle so I could stay in
touch - of course, the software would only run under Windows! I did get
it to work under Linux later, but it took forever to set up. Anyway, to
get it working in hospital, we put the preview version of Windows 8 on
the laptop as a dual boot - the only one we could get a) free and b)
quickly. It was so bad that I wanted to get rid a.s.a.p., and it ran out
of date next year anyway - which is why I did a bit of searching round,
and found this company. There may be others even cheaper, but I'd be a
tad suspicious if they were. I did get fed up waiting (it's an old, slow
laptop) for all the updates to download, but at that price it would be
churlish to complain too much :-) At my age, Windows 7 will probably be
my last version, unless Windows 8 is such a disaster that Microsoft have
to bring out a Windows 9 quickly - even then, I'm unlikely to change,
Windows 7 is by far the best version yet.

--
Bob
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, UK


Forced to choose between two evils - pick the one you haven't tried before!

Lee Waun wrote:


"Bob Henson" wrote in message
...


On 05/10/2012 12:38 AM, Ken1943 wrote:
On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:34:55 -0400, PDFrank wrote:

Not me.
Unless someone proves to me that is better and more reliable than 7,
No way.
Besides when7 gets no more updates, I may be 6 feet under.

My view precisely. Actually my real reason for not changing to Windows 8
is that I've tried it. It is diabolical. I may be OK for phones and toy
computers, but enterprise and domestic desktop/laptop users won't touch
it with a bargepole.

Both my computers run just great under windows 7 and I just see no
reason to upgrade to this new system because then you have to go get new
drivers etc. and I just don't see the point.

Also what benefit will this new OS give me?

I have found none so far.




So many PC users are going to give Win8 the brush-off that MS will
probably have to keep supporting Win7 for decades.
"XP rules ok" had its day, but Win7 users will start the revolution at
the suggestion of an end to support.

One slight problem looms for me. What about those buying new OEM PCs?
They'll have Win8 on them. And so many new PCs are sold every day in the
western world. Will those people learn to appreciate Win8? Or will they
strip them down with things like Classic Shell?

Ed

On 06/10/2012 12:18 PM, Ed Cryer wrote:
Lee Waun wrote:


"Bob Henson" wrote in message
...


On 05/10/2012 12:38 AM, Ken1943 wrote:
On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:34:55 -0400, PDFrank wrote:

Not me.
Unless someone proves to me that is better and more reliable than 7,
No way.
Besides when7 gets no more updates, I may be 6 feet under.

My view precisely. Actually my real reason for not changing to Windows 8
is that I've tried it. It is diabolical. I may be OK for phones and toy
computers, but enterprise and domestic desktop/laptop users won't touch
it with a bargepole.

Both my computers run just great under windows 7 and I just see no
reason to upgrade to this new system because then you have to go get new
drivers etc. and I just don't see the point.

Also what benefit will this new OS give me?

I have found none so far.




So many PC users are going to give Win8 the brush-off that MS will
probably have to keep supporting Win7 for decades.
"XP rules ok" had its day, but Win7 users will start the revolution at
the suggestion of an end to support.

One slight problem looms for me. What about those buying new OEM PCs?
They'll have Win8 on them. And so many new PCs are sold every day in the
western world. Will those people learn to appreciate Win8? Or will they
strip them down with things like Classic Shell?

There will be a big market for Windows 7 - I would have thought many
would have heard Windows 8's reputation, and would get rid from the
outset. The one's that stick with it will have to do as you suggest and
modify it to make it usable - they'll start with Classic Shell and then
add back all the Windows 7 features that have been removed. I can see
there will be an appreciable market for supplementary software -
especially when the users find that many old programs won't run under
Metro.

--
Bob
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, UK


Results are what you expect, and consequences are what you get.