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Do We Really Need to “Get Used” to Things?

I responded to a question a couple of days ago regarding Windows 8 that ended with “Why did Microsoft do this, when everybody wanted the familiar old XP style?”.

My response included a pointer to my “Why ask why?” article, as well as pointing out that, no, “everybody” didn’t want the familiar old XP style. In fact many people have come to actually prefer the Windows 8 interface once they’d gotten used to it.

The response? “The User should never have to get used to it.”

That got me to thinking. In an ideal world that’s absolutely correct.

But we’re far from living in an ideal world, and that means that’s nowhere near practical.

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We “get used to it” all the time

One of the things that frequently frustrates me is how folks who are more than willing to accept random and sometimes pointless change in other areas of life will rail against even minor changes on their computer.

Consider this: when was the last time you purchased a new car and the dashboard layout was exactly the same as your previous one? I know, I know, the gas pedal, brake, gearshift and steering wheel are all standardized1, but what you’re looking at otherwise most certainly is not. A dial on one vehicle is a button on the other. Radios that have 10 buttons on one car have 12 buttons plus a screen on another. Environmental controls are not only reversed, but often take several minutes to even understand2.

And yet no one complains nearly as loudly as they do when a menu item moves from one place to another in a popular online email program.

Now, think about the appliances in your home. Did your last oven work exactly the same as its replacement? How about your microwave? Television set? Cable box? Game console?

Heck, I even run into toasters – simple toasters of all things – that have different ways of controlling the darkness of the resulting toast. And all with varying degrees of inconsistency that require we test each different toaster we use to determine if “5”, or “M”, or “about in the middle” means we’ll get warm bread, charcoal or something in between.

And what do we do? We get used to it. We get used to it all.

But computers are different!

Your efforts will pay.Not as different as you think.

I would claim that the only fundamental difference that really stands in the way of simply “getting used to it” is the speed of change.

When we compare computers and, say, automobiles, we need to use different time scales. A computer (or operating system or application) of just three years ago is more like a 10 year old car. It works great, it’s comfortable, and it could last another 3/10 years. But it’s starting to show its wear.

A five year old computer/OS/application? Now we’re talking more like a 20-25 year old car – a car that in many licensing districts can already be tagged as an “antique”.

A 10 year old computer/OS/application? More like that 30-40 year old car for which you can no longer get parts, need to locate special fuel or fuel additives, and for which you have a hard time finding a mechanic.

Yes, the technology of automobiles is changing, but not at the pace of the personal computer (or tablet or mobile phone).

But we get used to the car, each time we get a new one. To do anything else just isn’t practical for most.

Upgrading my OS isn’t like getting a new car!

Yes. Yes it is.

Or, rather, I would strongly encourage you to consider it almost exactly like getting a new car.

It’s like ripping off the dashboard (the “user interface” to your car) and replacing it with a completely new one. It may be similar to your old one, or it may include some radically different controls. (Have you seen some of the newer automotive dashboards of late? Radically different.)

My wife and I each drive different models of cars from the same manufacturer, one model year apart. The “user interface” (aka dashboard) on each is quite different.

And yet, we get used to the differences.

But they don’t stop supporting my car!

Yes. Yes they do.

Like I said earlier, the timeframes are different, but the results are the same. Parts for 40 year old cars are difficult to come by. Dealers that originally sold those cars – if they’re still even around – may or may not be able to help you repair or maintain them.

Recall notices – the automotive equivalent of security updates – stop getting generated.

Now, you can learn to maintain your car yourself, or you can find enthusiasts or specialists to do so, often for a price, and hope that they know what they’re doing. But, for example, your 40 year old vehicle still has no alarm system built in, and the locks are easy to pick. It’s old enough that no one may care, but that doesn’t change what it is.

That 40 year old car is no longer supported. Just like certain versions of operating systems.

So, we (eventually) get a new car, and get used to the differences. Eventually we’re safer, and more fuel efficient perhaps, and spending less time and money trying to keep the old rig running. And that new car… after we’ve become accustomed to it – becomes second nature once again.

Not all new cars succeed!

Ain’t that the truth.

And it’s for a wide variety of often inexplicable reasons. The Edsel might be the “Microsoft Bob” of the automotive world.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying that every operating system, or even every version of every operating system, is a success or is something that’s appropriate for everyone. But even Windows Me and Windows Vista have their supporters, even though most of us often like to pretend that they never happened.

And sure, Windows 8 could be the next failure.

But my personal experience using it, and the experience of others that I hear from regularly, says that’s simply not the case. It’s likely not to be the massive success it could have been, for a variety of reasons3, but it’s not heading towards failure from where I sit.

And what I am hearing is that slowly, more and more people are getting comfortable with it.

Even liking it.

As they get used to it.

I’m not saying you MUST get used to anything

I’m saying you’ll probably be better off if you try.

I’m saying that you already do, on a regular basis, with other appliances and devices, so why not bring that same approach to your computer?

Yes, in a sense, this is a continuation of my rant on accepting change. But this isn’t as much about being less stressed about change as it is about finding out that if you give things a chance you may very well find out that you like the result. You might find that it’s actually easier. You might find out that you’re more productive.

Once you get used to it.

No, no guarantees, of course. There are folks who still swear by rotary dial phones and Edsels. We are most certainly not all the same, nor should we be.

This is just a suggestion that you give it a try.

Given a chance, you might like it.

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Footnotes & references

1: Unless, of course, it’s a right hand / left hand drive situation. Or a stick versus automatic.

2: As someone who travels and rents cars from time to time – particularly in different climates – this is perhaps the difference I run into most frequently.

3: The biggest of course being the PR disaster, not technical disaster, that was the tiled start screen.

36 comments on “Do We Really Need to “Get Used” to Things?”

  1. I read your News Year article about embracing change a couple of years and have really worked at not stressing over software changes that I have no control over. I even have a small sign on my desk that says “Embrace Change.” Life is a lot easier without the complaining. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll even come to love MS Office again.

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  2. Leo, I really like this column. I have never thought about the OS changes compared to a car. I’ll be using your analogy myself.

    However, what about changes to applications or websites that are tailored to be “mobile friendly” such as Facebook or Twitter? Most of my casual [non-business] use is on a laptop. But the view is tailored to mobile. I’ve seen other sites dumb down their sites for mobile.

    Good column.

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    • I’ve been making some changes to be more mobile friendly as well, and have a couple more up my sleeve in the coming weeks. My experience is that sites that are mobile friendly are typically (though not always) cleaner and easier to read on the desktop. I’m hoping I achieve that.

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  3. Excellent article, good comparison. I have found this to be true in every manner, with the people I deal with also.

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    • P.S. Its amazing how many on the internet are already using your “car” analogy. Didn’t take long to pick that one up. (¯`·._.·ns¢ävË·._.·´¯)®

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  4. I got a 2012 car – phone worked with bluetooth perfectly. when I got a new phone in early 2014, it didn’t – car software apparently does not get updated….a good illustration….

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  5. Going on two years (only seems like three!) and we’re still saying get used to it? Time to trade that clunker in! Seriously, Mary Jo Foley indicates that the return of the start menu is presently off for 8.2 and not to be added until Nine. Her best guess is that’s because Microsoft now considers 8 a lost cause; tainted, and they need a sharper demarcation between versions. Paul Thurrott concurs but they are quick to say it is only speculation on their part.

    I would expect you not to “lean” the statistics your way Leo. Win 8 is already a major disaster but of course, not for the same reasons Vista was. Sure, “many” people are getting used to and even liking W8 but not statistically. In fact Windows 7 has been growing faster in market share recently and XP is still more than double the share of W8.

    Further, the intrinsic behavior of W8 just doesn’t seem to be where the future is going…it seems more like the ecological niches of touch in mobile and wireless mouse and keyboard in desktop use with large screens is preferred with very little call for the opposite in the other’s domain.

    Being a desktop only user its like they took a perfectly good car and attached one of those three-wheeled cars Mr. Bean’s neighbor drove. Apps are good in a pinch and for single purpose (like desktop gadgets) but they are ridiculously inadequate for a full on power user, still after a year and a half, so i don’t think they will ever supplant desktop programs in any significant way whatsoever, just as the more complex and intricate interfaced programs will make no headway in small screen mobile devices.

    In other words, Microsoft built an OS for an imaginary consumer for the most part. To complete the analogy, I would say Microsoft built a concept car that should never have gone into production; but to be fair, we and they didn’t really know that until it was built and run around the block a few times.

    You seem to always write as if though we haven’t ever tried everything else (taskbar only, desktop toolbar, other custom toolbars, other third party organisation tools) in the pursuit of efficiency. Maybe many don’t and efficiency remains a concept but those of us who are considering all of that all the time so that computers hopefully don’t take up more and more time as we get “sucked” into them, ARE, and I’ve never met an OS that needed more work to get it up to par with XP and Win7 than W8. To be fair, before SP2 for Vista, that OS was impossible to bring up to parity.

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    • Actually the furor regarding Windows 8 tells us as much about the North American population as it does about Microsoft. I’ve spend some time in thinking about this angle of it. Is it a selfish reaction? (If it isn’t MY way then it’s useless.) Or does it show that we’ve produced a population that can no longer roll with the punches? (I don’t understand this, so I’m lost.) Or does it warn us that we have become to lazy to adapt to something new when necessary? (I’ll just sit in my easy chair and do it the way I always have.)

      Microsoft’s problem was that they misjudged us in some or all of these ways. It’s like the teacher who thought his university class could handle studying Dante, but having to go back to Shakespeare. That tells you more about the class than the authors in question. It might tell you something about the teacher as well, but if he’s a good teacher he’ll bounce back. Just like Microsoft is.

      One thing I agree with. It should not take 3 years to get used to something as simple as switching to Windows 8. But I don’t agree that the problem is with Windows 8. We’d better take some personal responsibility if that is actually the case.

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  6. “A dial on one vehicle is a button on the other. Radios that have 10 buttons on one car have 12 buttons plus a screen on another.”

    This is true, however, the controls are still all out there in front of the driver, not buried three levels deep in some control panel item which has been renamed from its previous incarnation for no good reason. So the odometer is now two inches to the left of where it was on my old car. Big fat hairy deal. How would you feel if the odometer was now under the passenger seat?

    Sure, if your last car was a Model A Ford and your new car was a Prius I could see where you’d be confused but the evolution of cars has been so slow that the transition shock has been pretty minimal. I’m pretty sure that except for hybrids or electrics I could pretty much get in any car and drive it without reading a manual.

    “Did your last oven work exactly the same as its replacement?”

    No, however the principles remained the same. Four cooking surfaces and four dials. Both ovens had a control to press to bake or broil. My first one had a dial to select the temperature and the new one has a touch-pad with a digital display. Both were intuitive. I haven’t yet found the need to read a user manual.

    “Heck, I even run into toasters…”

    Every toaster I have ever owned has had either a slider or a dial. C’mon Leo. Are you seriously comparing the complexity of a toaster or an oven to Windows? My oven has 6 controls. My toaster has only one function – to make toast. Windows has hundreds of settings, and many are buried helter-skelter in layer after layer of menus and dialogs. Have a look at all of the options in any version of Outlook. Betcha can’t find them all.

    “Upgrading my OS isn’t like getting a new car!”
    “Yes. Yes it is.”

    No. No it isn’t. Never have I had to search anywhere but the dashboard in front of me to find a radio, speedometer, gas gauge or odometer. Never have I had to pull up floor mats or empty out the glove box to locate some control that used to be at my fingertips. Shutting down Windows 7 was an operation which was easily done. One of the first complaints I heard about Windows 8 was “how do I shut this freaking thing off”. Some MS genius decided to make this operation difficult to find because “why would you ever want to shut Windows off?”.

    “I’m not saying you MUST get used to anything. I’m saying you’ll probably be better off if you try.”

    Sort of like an acquired taste. Even if you don’t like it you just keep on eating it until you do. Sorry. That’s not “an acquired taste”. That’s Stockholm Syndrome.

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    • I think the point is that the only choice we have when facing change is to deal with it or complain about. Constant complaining, in the end, just makes you miserable.

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      • Indeed! I’m not sure who keeps bringing it back up, I’ve certainly moved on except for when I see an article like this. I use W8 on one system and I’m mostly satisfied with it but it’s also highly modified to look and work much as W7 does which according to this article defeats the purpose of “get used to it.”

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      • People get the impression that I am opposed to change. I’m not, as long as there is a good reason for the change and it improves the user experience. I have yet to see how the GUI changes in Windows 8.x accomplishes that. In my opinion Windows 7 was a big step up from XP. The Start Menu was completely revamped but (again, in my opinion) it was greatly improved. Microsoft could have revamped Windows to provide added security and functionality and (essentially) left the GUI alone. They could have created Metro and Explorer as two separate and user selectable interfaces. Instead they pushed Metro down our throats. For those of you old enough to remember, Bill Cosby said “If you like Coke then you’ll like New Coke even better.” The change to Coke’s formula was prompted by greed (cheaper to make) rather than by quality (better taste). The users decided that New Coke was inferior and New Coke was soon history.

        I have had a lot of feedback to the tune of “What’s the big deal? If you add this third party software and that third party software then you can pretty much get back to Windows 7.” If people didn’t prefer Windows 7 then there wouldn’t be a need for these third party apps.

        >the only choice we have when facing change is to deal with it or complain about

        I disagree. Comments like “Windows 8.x sucks” are not constructive. When I say “Windows 8.x is not as good as Windows 7” I follow it up with “and here is why I think this”. That is not “complaining”. That is having an opinion and backing it up. If enough people share that opinion and vote with their wallets then Microsoft must listen. We’ll see the result when Windows 9 is released.

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        • “People get the impression that I am opposed to change. I’m not, as long as there is a good reason for the change and it improves the user experience.”

          Matches my modus operandi almost word for word. Show me a better way that benefits me and I’m on it like white on rice. I think it almost always an assumption on the part of folks who just can’t understand why someone doesn’t like something new as much as they do, and having a little bit of experience with folks who are truly persnickety about a chain of efficiency throughout a process, I’m barely a mid-level nerd!

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  7. The number of people who are making the switch from, say, a 2006 model Corolla to a 2013 model Corolla, at any given time, is not that great. There’s no mass migration, so there’s not going to be a mob rant.

    As you said, the major controls are fairly standardised. So we can, pretty much, jump into any auto-mobile and go. Some of the more exotic controls and features may remain ignored/undiscovered throughout our ownership of the vehicle. Figuring out a few of the others can serve as welcome entertainment when we’re stuck in traffic or pounding down a long, straight, quiet, freeway.

    Actually, there are negative, on-line, reviews of some of the more radical interfaces, such as the BMW iDrive, and I can’t be alone in hating the mundane experience of realising I don’t know how to activate the headlights / wipers when it gets dark or starts raining whilst I’m on the road in an unfamiliar vehicle.

    At this distance, I can’t say what was different between the XP and Vista interfaces, other than Vista had that partial transparency, which looked quite appealing but was achieved (I think) at a high resource cost. (It seems to have gone from Windows 8.) Vista and 7 are not far from identical, but 7 is much loved while Vista is widely loathed.

    I haven’t given Windows 8 / 8.1 many hours of my life, yet, but I don’t think I’m ever going to see it as slick or smooth. The only practical way to work it seems to be the type-what-you-want mode. I’ve used that, heavily, in Ubuntu, for a couple of years. I’m not a convert, though – suspect it’s some campaign being waged by the command prompt fascists. However, the Ubuntu implementation feels less jarring than Microsoft’s version.

    Strictly, it is too early to say, but I’d bet this is a case of Microsoft introducing a bad design and not just of us needing to build familiarity.

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  8. Leo, your analogy in regard to “Getting Used To It” is noteworthy and in some comparison cases has merit. Its not the first time I’ve see this used. However, if you really want to know how well the market is “getting used to it” follow the money. If the market likes what they see and how it works, they buy it. If not, then they don’t and it becomes an unsuccessful venture. After all the discussion and hoopla track the flow of currency and it will give you the most accurate analysis you’ll ever hope to obtain.

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  9. I am not opposed to the change of a new OS except when in order to do so I must purchase a new PC in order to run the new OS. When I was forced to leave Windows XP I was also forced to purchase a new PC in order to run Windows 7. My Windows XP PC was still in excellent health. Before donating it to my church I ran DBAN to wipe the HD clean. This is why I’m hoping Leo will evaluate ReactOS – a free and open source OS that will run Windows programs. If Microsoft wants to come out with a new OS every three years I’m fine with that as long as MS makes it backward compatible for older PCs. It can be done!

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  10. I agree in principle with your recommendation, Leo, of at least attempting to accept change. I usually LOVE change and all the challenges and opportunities it brings. I’m always snooping around new stuff at our big department store in our small country town, breathing it all in and learning as much as I can. But I simply have to say that Reverend Jim said it all when it comes to the ‘buying a new car’ analogy. Usually in cars what you need to access in order to drive the thing is right in front of you and not hard to understand.
    Unfortunately for the wider population, Windows 8 has been an enormous leap in terms of change. Because Windows 7 was so well liked, and not too drastically different from most of the other Windows systems, the population has become almost hard wired in its knowledge of ‘where things are when you need them’. There have been the usual familiar routes to follow when looking for a way to do something or find something, and they have never been too far away from the previous locations. Windows 8 had me in shock for months, to say the least. I couldn’t find anything I needed for the longest time and had a hard time understanding how things were put together. A year down the track and it’s still like a brand new space station. I learn things about it all the time. Not much is where I expect it should roughly be and I’ve had to reorganise the entire map in my mind.. Now I’m no newbie to computers, I’ve been using them for over 20 years and have dealt with all the changes along the way, mostly fairly well. I’m no great technogeek, but I’ve dabbled in fixing things to do with viruses and errors and had some success. This new system has left me way behind, and I suspect it will take me rather a long time to become as proficient with it as I had with the old. It’s a shame, I’ve become somewhat used to it. I want to like it, but I mostly don’t.

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  11. I find a lot of people critical of Windows 8 are people who claim to have been using computers for 10 to 20 years. I’m wondering what people new to computers, who have never used anything else would think about Windows 8.

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    • The thing there, so far, is that they are not thinking of Win 8 at all. For those who are mainly consumers, not producers, and have adjusted to the cloud to fit most if not all their needs and have been using a smart phone or tablet to meet those needs, continue using those devices. In other words, conversely to most of us old fogies, they don’t need the desktop.

      As a conclusion, by and large, Win 8 therefore does not fit well from either direction and that’s why I stated earlier that Win 8 turns to be an OS for a largely mythical user, even though Microsoft sure hoped those familiar with the touch interface devices would flock to it. What’s the opposite term for synergistic? That’s what W8 is.

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  12. I having been using computers starting with ME all the way through 8. The first thing that really irked me with 8 was having to have an on-line account with Microsoft before I could even use the new computer – Why?
    You have 2 versions of IE on 8 – again why? The version on the start screen is the “lite” version for those people who do not do serious computing, but just use their computer for socializing.
    I’m sorry, but I use my computers for things other than socializing and having the “start” screen aimed at those who could do as much with their phone apps is a big turn off for me.
    Try comparing the “Get Used To It” to going from a car to a bicycle and covering a 150 miles a day and you will have how it feels going from Windows 7 to 8.

    Leo, do you do your serious computing from the start screen of 8 or have you set it to open on the desktop? Have you gotten used to using the start screen for everything?

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    • I have Windows 8 boot to the desktop. I actually switch to the tiled screen, though, whenever I want to search. Booting to the desktop is a very valid way to “get used” to Windows 8. There’s no requirement that you use the tiled start screen.

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  13. Thank you so much for this article Leo – seriously, it’s a cut above … brilliant in it’s insight, incisiveness and very wise perspective. You’re clearly a deep thinker – kudos to you.
    I’m a solid and happy Microsoft user; it works for me.
    As much as I like their system and the fact that I have the ability to maintain it pretty much all round, I must add however, that Microsoft falls very short when it comes to garnering sufficient consumer usage preference prior to them creating newness.
    I’m never, ever, against newness – in fact, as a Management Consultant, I passionately welcome it – it makes the world a far more interesting place. Life can become boring at times; we need newness all the time; it’s natural within us, from babyhood.
    But, especially within this hugely challenging world of ours these days, companies who produce critical “value-add’s” to life (esp. large ones such as MS) need to be a tad more respectful to their consumers. MS fall very short w.r.t. this aspect, in a variety of ways.
    Maybe Win’s 8 and the antics surrounding its launch will serve to remind them of this (uh, maybe) but, some work still needs to be done by them. Apple, in many respects show them the way here, as much as I’m not an Apple fan.
    You article however, on a critical, higher perspective, points the way to the future and how it’s changing and … how it’s changed. The future, simply, is now, and, we need to embrace it, not fight it.
    Thanks again Leo,
    Warm rgds,
    Dorian

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  14. I am an engineer not a geek but I have been using computers since DOS5. Vast numbers of people are in similar positions. There is a learning curve at each step and improvements except for ME and Vista. At age 85 I changed to W8.1 from XP and was completely stumped as there was no way I could remember all the key combinations to get a desktop PC to do what I wanted. W8.1 is I think good for tablets and the like but is a great hindrance to productivity on a desktop.
    Why should I have to remember the new name Microsoft has decided to call a utility when I used to access it with one or two mouse clicks. I found Classic Start and have now been in demand by elderly friends to upgrade their PCs from XP to W8.1 with that program installed so that they can continue to use them.

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  15. I hope this isn’t an hidden commercial for W8*.
    “Getting used to it” That’s what the sales clerk in a shoe shop sometimes tells you, in order to sell you shoes that don’t fit.
    Before buying most people search on line and read reviews.
    Or search for ******* in combination with “problem”. I did for “8” for a couple of days.
    W8*: not much positive hits. German Government: Banned (unsafe). Chinese government: Banned (no reason). NSA likes it?
    I’ve the installation media for 8.1 Core, Pro, Pro with Media Center and Enterprise.
    But until now I hesitate to install it.
    For the same reason I’m not going to buy a car where I need to turn the wheel to the left to go to the right.
    Or an automatic where I have the pull the shifter backwards to go into “Drive”.

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  16. Microsoft saw the emerging tablet market as the future and felt this was was the direction to go. But they forgot that the majority of their existing customers including most buisneses have different needs. This oversight is almost unforgivable but there is hope. I completely sidestepped the issue when my trust XP laptop finally died and I was forced to buy a new laptop with Win8 by installing Classic Shell ( totally free ). I have all the advantages of Win8 but the interface is Win7 ( or optional XP ). After the easy installation I was immediately able to do everything I wanted with NO LEARNING CURVE. This is the option that Microsoft should be offering.

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  17. I hope you can tolerate one more comment about “change”. We have all grown accustomed to products touted as “new and improved”. In many cases the change is to one small component that does not noticibly affect the final product. Perhaps a box of Sugar Frosted Flakes has changed the sugar content by 0.01%. In some cases the change is merely to the packaging. Essentially the product is unchanged and the only reason for the change is to entice us to try the change. The fast food and snack industries are continuously coming up with supposedly new ideas to sell us what is essentially different combinations of sugar, salt and fat. We have become so used to constant change as a marketing ploy that we are no longer content to use the same old products, even when those products have proven their worth. Is the new iphone so much superior to the old iphone that people are willing to spend their diminishing dollars to avoid being “left behind”? I cannot judge whether the structural, under-the-hood changes resulting in Windows 8.x warrant the time, money and inconvenience of upgrading. I do, however, strongly suspect that the interface changes are the marketing hook whose only purpose is to convince us that “Windows 7 is so yesterday”.

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    • For the record it’s my opinion that if you’re happy with Windows 7 you can and should stay with it. I know of no compelling reason to upgrade unless you have something that specifically takes advantage of new features in 8 – like a touch screen. Most of my comments on change are directed at folks who have Windows 8 for some other reason – such as having purchased a new machine. I do believe that getting used to 8 and/or augmenting it with Classic Shell and moving forward in those cases is most prudent. Just as there’s no compelling reason to upgrade from 7 to 8, neither do I see a need to downgrade from 8 to 7.

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  18. Every discussion I have seen on this topic seems to boil down to which version is “better”. This whole thing started with the idea that we all had better just get used to change. I would rather see a discussion on whether the changes (and here I am referring only to the visible changes) make sense from the user perspective or if they are merely made for marketing reasons. I will concede that even if Microsoft were to make major improvements under the hood they would likely not be able to convince the majority of users to upgrade for technical reasons alone. Personally, I would happily go through the inconvenience of a fresh install for technical improvements alone with few or no changes to the interface (unless those changes improved the interface).

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    • I believe that all if not almost all decisions companies make are marketing decisions. These marketing decisions motivate the company to make a better product and create an emotional need for their product through advertising. I’m sure that’s what they were trying to do. But comparing it to tonight’s soccer game US against Belgium. Not all good plays lead to goals. MS just had their eye off the ball in this play. Their mistakes are relatively easy to fix. Just give the people what they want. Will it happen? Their track record seem to indicate every alternating OS is a success with the public. Windows 8 got it right under the hood. I can go from a cold start to full functionality in about 2-3 min. I don’t see people writing in to forums to talk about that. I believe that’s why Microsoft is on top, not because of some marketing ploy, they really have the product that seems to do the job for most people. When they stop doing that, then someone else will fill the void.

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  19. My main complaint with radical changes is finding out where things are in the new version. That’s not like driving a car at all. It usually only takes a few minutes to familiarize myself with how to operate a different car. Installing the new version of Windows often requires weeks or even months of learning how to do things that don’t need done every day. I held out with XP until installing WIN 7 a few weeks ago. I like WIN 7 a lot but simple tasks that were easily performed under XP have sometimes taken me entirely too long to locate in the “7” interface. I like to say that “every time software publishers try to make their software more Idiot proof, they make it more difficult for those of us who are not idiots.”

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  20. I have bought the Windows 8 and I thought that will be working on my laptop Acer TravelMate 4670 (made up in 2006) but it didn’t…Why? Because the graphic driver wasn’t ready for that system so that any letters appeared on the web’s pages weren’t clear enough to read it so that after massive researches what to do with this I just resigned and went back into Windows XP…This my experience with famous Windows 8…

    Reply
  21. Hi Leo .
    I Have asked a few questions with no reply ,My topics are, or may be the kind you cant show .These topics are very secretive when asked and especially with micro soft .When i try to explain my question to anyone i get locked out or booted for reasons i cant explain ,and no explainations why from the thread i visited.I have unintentionally stumbled upon a great deal of problems with windows 8.1 ,when i ask about these problems i get booted ,hacked ,and my computer usually crashes.So i got a little tired of being hacked that i boosted my security .By reading your advice topics ,which have helped me immensly, Especially the WiFI hotspot shared password wpa2 thread which i could not find any proper info on except yours .Thanx leo.

    My question is I have windows 8.1 with a asus mainboard ,an AMD dual core processor with a ATI 7500 radion video card,8 gig ram,150 gig h.d ,i run a asus dual band 2/5 mhz wifi usb ,my in home connection is limited to wifi only, as i have no cable connections but with playing around with certain devices i can sometimes get other connections.i have used various routers but have found them extremely difficult to setup ,i want to make sure everything is perfect so i take my time,

    question 1. can someone hack my router the same time as i am programming it ,program theyre own info before i do and set a password first before i finish. i was using a belkin dualband wireless n router. i just bought last year,my router would never work properly ,sometimes i would see another user in the setup page.after multiple trys when setting it up i got a router lock ,where the reset will not work.

    question 2..windows 8.1 ALLAPPLICATIONPACKAGES group is listed as OTHERS in security settings .WHY was this done ? isnt this is a huge security risk for account unknown users to hack into your computer and take over full control.If so how do i prevent this.

    Question 3..why arnt certain remotely controlled devices made to be more secure .some we dont use them at all. ,like the win 8.1 caculator , 2.4 gig hz devices currently running ,and especially bluetooth.

    question 4. what is the big secret behind the NETFX64.exe , is this a micro soft or an AMD file and why did my computer detect this file as junk and deleted it.

    question 5. The ATI card has a data base in its folder from a catalsyt driver program , how do i get a driver for this without the database.

    these questions have been plaquing me for months now..it would be great to see a reply from someone, anyone???

    Thanx .Kel

    Reply
    • 1: theoretically possible, but realistically extremely unlikely. So unlikely as to be effectively impossible.
      2: I don’t know why, but I don’t understand why it would be a security issue.
      3: No idea how one would make the calculator, for example, more secure. “Why” is a relatively unanswerable question in general, though.
      4: No idea. Sounds like it might be part of the .NET framework, which is created by Microsoft, and used (and often installed) by other programs.
      5: I don’t know. Honestly I wouldn’t expect to be able to get it without the database if the driver installer installs it. I’m not sure why the database would concern you,, though.

      Reply
  22. I guess I have to get use to the one drive icon on my new Windows 10, until I find a registry hack to remove it. What does Microsoft have to gain by forcing this on me, even on a test version of Windows.

    Reply

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