Windows 10 - free upgrade to those with PC using Windows 7 or 8

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Have you tried this?

No I didn't see that. It looks ok except it appears it might be a high contrast theme. the problem with high contrast themes is that it removes much more than just colors from apps and IE. Here's a screen print of a page using a high contrast theme and one with a regular Windows Classic theme - notice the big blank area in the high contrast theme. Have you tried these themes? Could you try one and check this page? That will tell me if it's a high contrast theme. I don't have Win 8 so I can't try it. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=lp_15460...rnid=154606011

[AnotherCat]

Originally Posted by Blossom

There are alot of people who have Windows 8.1 problems like I do just go looks at the Windows 8 forum.

And what percentage of the total installed Windows 8.x systems base do those represent? How many are actual Windows 8.x problems as opposed to hardware or user induced problems? Do you ever ask yourself those sorts of questions?

But it seems that you regard your poor experience as being par for the course and so to be lived with, and are dismissive of an alternative view based on much hands on experience, so I will leave you with YOUR problems (which are problems most do not share).

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by AnotherCat

And what percentage of the total installed Windows 8.x systems base do those represent? How many are actual Windows 8.x problems as opposed to hardware or user induced problems? Do you ever ask yourself those sorts of questions?

But it seems that you regard your poor experience as being par for the course and so to be lived with, and are dismissive of an alternative view based on much hands on experience, so I will leave you with YOUR problems (which are problems most do not share).

The point is Windows 8.1 isn't stable for some people who need to use the computer as computer not a tablet to run everyday normal programs. I run alot of power programs and Windows 8 just can't hack it and it's not hardware this laptop is brand new and has past all tests. The way Windows 8.1 run background and memory is just crappy making muti tasking near impossible. I have no problems on Vista.

Who care what percentage is I belong to a forum where all people have either reverted to Windows 7 or refuse to upgrade because of problems with Windows 8.1 so you can be sure there is alot of us out there that Windows 8.1 wasn't made for. Great it works for you. Good for you! But keep in mind we all run different configurations and some of us need to be able to run programs that need power and ram to run and Windows 8.1 can't handle them but Vista can there is something wrong with that.

As for Jump list there is a whole issue on Windows 8 with it corrupting for a ton of people that they have have made scripts to back them up and restore them because it happens so often. So don't assume I haven't done my homework because I have.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

An updated browser is a must. Security updates render old versions actively ddangerous.

Updated versions of Sigil/calibre are not. What worked, still works.

Lets say you use XP and the version of Calibre you have is either 1.48 or 2.0.0. You buy a new Reader that's not supported in either version but ins in a new version. What worked no no longer works because it's been updated to have the functionality you now need. So with Calibre at least, sometimes you do have to upgrade or it's functionality for the version you are running isn't sufficient.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ApK

Indeed, though for the record, I remember Windows Update listing any updates concerning installed devices--keyboards, printers, monitors, mice, etc--as "Hardware updates" as far back as XP. As they say: "It made sense at the time."

Those are driver updates. On the Surface Pro 1/2/3, you get firmware updates for the Surface via Windows Update.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Because the linux upgrades are better.

Nope, they aren't better because after the upgrade you still have Linux.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by frahse

Windows 10 has to be better than W8 and also W8.1.

I just has to be.

Does...

I'm using Windows 8.1 and it work very well. I do have Classic Start Menu and Desktop Gadgets installed. There is no need to run Windows 7 or Windows XP with this two programs installed.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

If the Start screen is a replacement for the Start menu, what's the replacement for the desktop? I put all my frequently used stuff on the start menu and infrequently used but important stuff that's difficult to find on the desktop. This is using Win7 at work, so the difficult to find stuff can't be moved because it's not mine.

If you install Classic Start Menu with Windows 8.1, you do get your start menu back and using Metro then becomes an option and no longer necessary,

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

I don't quite understand. The desktop is the desktop.

Not without the start menu it's not. It's just a bulletin board. The Windows 8.1 bulletin board only becomes a desktop once you install a start menu add-on.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Let's hope! I had about all of Windows 8.1 I can take. I have my laptop set up to boot directly to desktop so I never use the start screen at all. I have a start menu replacement installed so its look alot like Windows 7.

My main problems have been Jump lists are useless and they get corrupted every few weeks. Computer slowing to crawl after being idle really bad with web browsers crashing or just freezing after being idle. The need to reboot every day. Vista spoiled me where I had only to reboot like once a week. The memory manager in Windows 8.1 is a nightmare. It holds onto programs think you may want then later this is good when playing games with long loading times but not so good with other programs. If a program takes long time to do anything Windows 8.1 thinks the program is frozen and tries to fix it causing crashing.

When I had Vista I never had anything crash but Windows 8.1 likes to crash alot programs, it worse than XP and almost right up there with ME.

There is so much running in a background on Windows 8.1 I can't do much power tasks without it thinking I am idle and then slows to a crawl.

I don't use Metro apps at all. Windows app are too buggy and not very good compare to Android.

I use Windows 8.1 and the jump lists I have setup for Windows Explorer work perfectly. Memory usage is not a problem at all. I don't reboot all that often. Mostly for Windows Updates. I don;t have a problem with the computer slowing down because it's left idle. I have never had Windows 8.1 think a program that's running has crashed and try to fix it.

My only guess to your problems is that you did an upgrade from Vista. I'm using a clean install of Windows 8.1. When you have a crappy version of Windows such as ME or Vista, you never want to upgrade those. You want to start fresh.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Do you use Chrome and FireFox at the same time with like 10 or more tabs open on each? Windows 8.1 chokes when my laptop has been idle for more than a few minutes or it will crash the browsers. No problem on my Desktop with less specs running this but it has Vista.

Firefox here running on Windows 8.1 and there are 26 tabs. Not a problem at all with browser crashing. Very stable.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I use Windows 8.1 and the jump lists I have setup for Windows Explorer work perfectly. Memory usage is not a problem at all. I don't reboot all that often. Mostly for Windows Updates. I don;t have a problem with the computer slowing down because it's left idle. I have never had Windows 8.1 think a program that's running has crashed and try to fix it.

My only guess to your problems is that you did an upgrade from Vista. I'm using a clean install of Windows 8.1. When you have a crappy version of Windows such as ME or Vista, you never want to upgrade those. You want to start fresh.

No not upgrade it came with Windows 8.1 installed. I think It's the programs and that I use alot multi tasking. Like I will have two videos running, two browsers with 15 tabs and email open plus office programs and then leave it idle when I come back something has crashed or the computer is frozen. I have tweaked and tweaked and nothing seems to fix it.

Or I will have Sims 2 open and try have Excel open at the same time and it will choke and it hold Sims 2 prisoner meaning after I close it out it refuses to let it go meaning to get all that ram back a reboot is in order if I need to run alot of programs afterward. I've never rebooted so much on one computer. It does the same with Bodyshop and my 3D meshing tools.

The funny thing is my Vista computer has less specs less ram and has none of these problems.

[Mivo]

Originally Posted by Blossom

The point is Windows 8.1 isn't stable for some people who need to use the computer as computer not a tablet to run everyday normal programs. I run alot of power programs and Windows 8 just can't hack it and it's not hardware this laptop is brand new and has past all tests.

What specs does your laptop have?

I run 8.1 on my laptop, and I never have less than 15 tabs open in Chrome, plus about ten in Firefox at the same time (work stuff). I also create and edit audio on the machine, running some pretty demanding VSTs and other stuff that goes substantially beyond what the majority of people do on their computers.

8.1 runs perfectly stable for me, and it boots up faster than 7 (using a SSD drive in both cases). My only issue were the absurdly large window bars, but I found a way to make them thin. I don't use a budget laptop, though it's not top of the line anymore, either (only 8 GB, i7-4700HQ at 2.5ghz, 1920x1080/17", 500 GB SSD, 1 TB HD, dedicated video card, but it isn't used outside of graphics-intensive programs).

What you wrote in your post above makes me think of faulty RAM. The quick memory checks don't always discover this -- you'd have to run a memory checker over night for good results.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Mivo

What specs does your laptop have?

I run 8.1 on my laptop, and I never have less than 15 tabs open in Chrome, plus about ten in Firefox at the same time (work stuff). I also create and edit audio on the machine, running some pretty demanding VSTs and other stuff that goes substantially beyond what the majority of people do on their computers.

8.1 runs perfectly stable for me, and it boots up faster than 7 (using a SSD drive in both cases). My only issue were the absurdly large window bars, but I found a way to make them thin. I don't use a budget laptop, though it's not top of the line anymore, either (only 8 GB, i7-4700HQ at 2.5ghz, 1920x1080/17", 500 GB SSD, 1 TB HD, dedicated video card, but it isn't used outside of graphics-intensive programs).

What you wrote in your post above makes me think of faulty RAM. The quick memory checks don't always discover this -- you'd have to run a memory checker over night for good results.

I have run a memory check overnight twice it comes back fine. The first thing I did was run hardware checks as I couldn't believe all the problems I've been having it was ME all over again. I've talk to numerous gurus as I'm not a novice to this stuff they tell me it's Windows 8.1 and to go get a real Operating system like Windows 7. I've checked for malware viruses, done clean installs of the programs crashing even Windows explorer will crash at random. I've tried everything I could think to fix this and nothing has worked.

Specs are I5-3230M @ 2.60gz 6GB RAM, 750GB Hard Drive SATA 3 64 BIT Windows 8.1 Edition. Intel 4000 HD graphics.

My Vista PC is Q6600, 6GB , 630GB Hard Drive SATA II 64 Vista Home Edition.

I've tweaked some by turn off performance hogs no difference. No blue screens of deaths, no errors other than crash reports in event log. It's a mystery why Windows 8.1 wont play nice.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Do you use Chrome and FireFox at the same time with like 10 or more tabs open on each? Windows 8.1 chokes when my laptop has been idle for more than a few minutes or it will crash the browsers. No problem on my Desktop with less specs running this but it has Vista.

Not usually, but occasionally I have lots of tabs (20 or so) open on Chrome. I tried what you said just now, with a HD video playing in one tab, and ran Calibre along with its editor at the same time. No problems. I don't have a high-end laptop, i5 processor and 4 GB RAM. True, I probably don't multitask as much as you, or use so many memory-intensive programs, but still, your problems with Windows 8.1 don't sound normal with those specs.