Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Windows 8.1 seems like a nightmare to me

I've been using computers since the 80's and WIndows 8.1 just seems like a nightmare to me.

I'm computer literate, I read a book on WIndows 8. I still feel lost. What were they trying to do except lose the user?

This whole experience feels like a nightmare. Someone said on the forum to add a Windows 7 shell but how would I know if it is compatible or will mess something up.?

Am I alone in this feeling?

What can I do to limp along with this computer so that I'm not as lost?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
For me I installed Classic Shell and went back to work.
Nov 11, 2013 2:01PM PST

Dirty word I know but did you try Classic Shell?
Bob

- Collapse -
I'm leary of adding it if I don't know if it is compatible

Is it compatible? I'm told to buy START8 and I saw other reviews on the internet that show half a dozen start programs or more.

Microsoft isn't going to give it a warranty so what happens when they update Windows 8 and it doesn't work?

It is such a nightmare because the only way I can exit out of some things is to find the charms menu, the things I want to do are embedded in random places and it is just a mess. I spend so much time looking around.

And today I tried to make a second backup of my operating system and the computer wouldn't let me. What happens when I lose my backup or the computer doesn't recognize my backup?

- Collapse -
If that's a worry then forgive me.
Nov 13, 2013 12:03AM PST

I can see a consumer worry about such but I've been around this ride a little too long so I would check the Classic Shell site and then make a choice.

There are some folk that demand support so for those I think they must pay for every little item. Without payment there is no "contract" and no recourse.
Bob

PS. My long winded answer is hopefully not upsetting but here at the office the Classic Shell is installed and we go back to our regular scheduled mayhem.

- Collapse -
Windows no more
Nov 15, 2013 10:48AM PST

I tried win8, for about 6 weeks. I gave up and went and bought a Mac. Their UI hasn't changed other than (actual) improvements in 10 years. Worth every dollar. An amazing product and apple knows it, they don't have to completely change it every 2 years just for the sake of changing.

- Collapse -
Windows 8.1
Nov 15, 2013 11:02AM PST
- Collapse -
Windows 8.1
Nov 15, 2013 11:12AM PST

I use classic shell. Used it in Windows 8 and also in Windows 8. It works excellent. I also use it in Windows 7. It has a lot of features and just works.
I hope you will give it a try.

- Collapse -
Windows 8.1
Nov 15, 2013 11:17AM PST

Sorry. The last post I entered "Used it on Windows 8 and also Windows 8."
It should have read "Used it on Windows 8 and also Windows 8.1."

- Collapse -
Start is back

I bought "Start Is Back" after another user recommended it.

- Collapse -
IOBit's Start Menu 8 works for me.
Nov 15, 2013 12:25PM PST

It's free and it makes Windows 8 look much like 7, without the transparent taskbar and window borders. I've had no hassles with it, and it's on the computer that the better half uses most of the time, so it can't be too technical.

- Collapse -
Almost any of the third party Start Menus will fix it.
Nov 15, 2013 6:27PM PST

ClassicShell is rightly very popular, it just works! It's been around a long time, I first came across it when someone didn't like Windows 7 and wanted the XP GUI back and since I've been following it, it has kept pace easily with Microsoft's "improvements!". The price is certainly right.

But if you are a believer in only using paid products, try Start8, it will cost you all of $4.99 and they had an upgrade to support Windows 8.1 on day one availability of the Customer Preview.

Either of these will restore what you know and love and give you the improved base core that Windows 8 brings without the "mobile phone dross" interface that comes with it.

- Collapse -
Windows 8.1 Isn't All That Bad
Nov 15, 2013 9:05PM PST

Like many of the posters in this thread I've been around Windows for 20 some years. I've been using Windows 8, and 8.1 since they became available. Yes there are some things that I don't like but most of 8.1 is good. The boot time is amazing. It takes time to get used to the different look but all in all I like it. There will always be a "ain't awful" crowd of users who will complain; who don' want to get out of their comfort zone and learn something new. My message is try it, and give it a fair chance, you will like it.

- Collapse -
It's Different, Yes, But...
Nov 15, 2013 9:11PM PST

Windows 8 is different (8.1 not so different from 8, though), but in my opinion as a computer professional since the '60s who started out on Multics, and then became lead Unix administrator for a major Federal agency renowned for its technological prowess, it is better, an improvement in logic and usability on top of its improvements in efficiency, stability and security. Furthermore, it takes less space on the hard drive, boots faster, and everything runs more crisply.

But there is indeed a learning curve (albeit not a particularly steep one) because many of the things that you knew have moved. They're all still there, but not where you had become accustomed over the years to finding them. Obviously, chief among these is the "Start Menu," but third-party freeware applications emulating it are widely available if you really need it. It really is unnecessary, though.

But the thing is, its functionality is all right there and readily accessible, where it should have been from the start had computers in the mid-'80s been capable of doing it that way. Someone just starting out now on computers will find Windows 8.1 far easier and quicker to grow comfortable with than the O/Ses, even the 2.03 through 7 versions of Windows (which all maintained a similar user interface and underlying UI logic) were when we first sat down at a Windows-computer keyboard.

Now note that I do not use the Metro UI ("Start Screen") except whwen the computer boots up. I configured it to display the apps I want to use first in the day, click once on it, and it comes up in my good old comfy Desktop, which remains there for the rest of the day. It is actually a labor-saver (although rather minor in that regard) in that I need only click once on the first app of the day instead of the twice I had to click on it previously.

The Desktop seems to me to be pretty darn close to what a "Windows 7 shell" might be.

Of course, I have icons on my desktop for Computer, Control Panel, Network and Command prompt, but I always have, and I have never understood why other people so often didn't put these on their desktops. It makes everything so much easier.

There are always those who are thrown for a loop by something new. Some people grouse about it loudly and publicly (Vista particularly suffered from this effect -- it was a major improvement that got badly and wrongly slandered by self-styled "gurus" whose shallow understanding resulted in the change costing them their guru status in the eyes of others, and they resented it). People resist change whether for the better or not, but Windows 8 was a change for the better and 8.1 is an improvement on that.

My suggestion to you is to keep using it until you grow comfy with it. You will. It really is an improvement and everything really does make more intuitive sense once your "muscle memories" of XP fall away.

- Collapse -
Win 8.1 is an improvement
Nov 15, 2013 10:27PM PST

Likewise, I've been using Windows PC's since Windows 2 and have been working with MacOS, Linux, Novel NetWare etc over the years.
I installed Windows 8 on an old netbook and on a laptop (both 32 bit) and saw a big improvement in boot times and an improvement in overall speed. However - I couldn't quite "get" the Metro Start Screen (and on the netbook, nothing worked anyway as the screen resolution was too low) so spent most of my time on the desktop. I installed Start8 on them both so I could boot straight to the desktop. With the 8.1 release I was able to remove Start8 and just tell Windows to boot to the desktop - which seems to be working well and I'm still seeing a speed increase over the old Windows OS.
On the laptop I am now finding a few useful apps which I do run from the start screen - so I suppose software is now catching up with the new windows.
My Desktop PC, running 64 bit Win 7, is still running WIn 7 and so far I've not seen any reason to change that and my motherboard won't support Win 8 as a 64 bit application anyway.

Win 8.1 does seem to be an improvement on WIn 8 for anyone not running a touch screen. (I've not upgraded my tablet yet so can't comment on how it affects a touch interface) Win 8 does seem to offer performance gains on hardware which will support it, so yes - I suppose it is a worthwhile upgrade but with a steep initial learning curve.

I'm not sure how helpful the "I moved to a MAc" posts are. Personally I like the challenge of a new Windows OS from time to time and have never got on with MacOS (which I have used since MacOS 7) but each to their own.

- Collapse -
My two cents - get Classic Shell or Start8
Nov 15, 2013 10:36PM PST

I hate what MS did with the new Windows 8 user interface, but I installed Classic Shell and have lived happily ever after. I've been using it since early this year. I tried Start8 and liked it too, but I was looking for something I could put on a lot of PCs without spending a lot of $. There're too many places providing Start menus for MS to make them all go away. They've made enough enemies already with their "new improved" user interface.
Actually the old Start menu is still there but hidden. Before I discovered Classic Shell I put a shortcut to it and a few other things on the desktop. Classic Shell makes that unnecessary though. It works with 8.1 just fine too.
`
Good luck.

- Collapse -
We're still having problems

We're still having problems.

When my wife runs a transcription program, typing online slow down. I was talking to a tech and he said he got 10 MB more a second on downloads on Windows Xp than on Windows 8 and I think the reason is because Windows 8 is a larger operating system. My wife had to download Google Chrome because Internet Explorer wouldn't allow her to download.

We're forced to download to a directory called downloads and we can't cruise the directories on a download. Some X box program plays music and had trouble getting it to stop.

I called our ISP. We went through all the email settings for Office's Outlook 2010 when trying to use SSL and Pop3 and it didn't work and the tech said he gets several calls a week and they go through the settings and it doesn't work.

- Collapse -
If you're having problems with Outlook...
Nov 16, 2013 10:43AM PST

...there's always Thunderbird and Windows Live Mail. They both work well for me. Re downloads, I have a cable connection and get 30 Mbps download speeds. I downloaded Windows 8.1 in under 15 minutes. Other than the new Metro (aka Modern) interface (which I despise) I really have no problems with Windows 8.
The sites I support are still using Office 2007, so I am too. I can't speak to the 2010 version. However Office 2010 is totally separate and apart from Windows 8, so if you're having problems with it, I don't see how that could be because of Windows 8. I did install Office 2010 on one of my test PCs with Windows 7, but I don't use Outlook because I'm happy with Windows Live Mail.
FWIW, I bought my first PC in 1989 after using one at work for a year.
`
Good luck.

- Collapse -
Can I transfer my Outlook email to Thunderbird?

I may do that.
The question is whether I can transfer our email from Outlook to Thunderbird.

The tech at the ISP said that Windows 8 doesn't work with their national service using Pop3 and SSL.

I had problems at work running Internet Explorer on Windows 7 and Prev X. Internet Explorer would crash a lot upon opening.

We're running Internet Explorer on Windows 8.1 and Youtube crashes.
Internet Explorer also freezes when we use the program "Start Stop" which is a transcription program.

We're using Chrome.

- Collapse -
Just to state the following.
Nov 17, 2013 1:27AM PST

At the office we installed Outlook 2003 and it's working fine with a POP3 SSL email service (gmail.)

So it's false that Outlook does not do POP3 on Windows 8.

As to the Youtube crashes, not one of the dozen Windows 8 laptops are doing that so I can't guess why your new laptops are doing that. Guess it's another mystery until more is known.

The application Start Stop would have to be discussed with it's maker/support as I can't look at that one.
Bob uses Chrome too.

- Collapse -
Other people on the internet are helping me

Other people on the net are helping me. They said they know more about their email settings than the techs at the ISP. They think they settings the ISP uses are for XP and not for Windows 8 and they are going to blame it on Microsoft because they think they don't know what they are doing.

They gave me some settings to try.

- Collapse -
I shared that Outlook 2003 and others are fine.
Nov 18, 2013 1:15AM PST

However I can't find which Outlook version you are asking about. We know the supplied mail system appears to not support POP3 but as we have Thunderbird, I can't see why I'd use Microsoft's busted email system that came with Windows 8.

http://blog.laptopmag.com/how-to-read-pop-mail-in-windows-8 repeats that POP3 issue and as I read that, it is not Outlook but Windows 8 Mail.

I know it's hard to do but as presented I'd like to hear what mail app we are chatting about.
Bob

PS. Typing this on a W8 machine with Firefox and have Outlook 2003 doing POP3.

- Collapse -
I have been also using since the '70s
Nov 17, 2013 1:45AM PST

I am 68 (very computer savy) and have used MS OS's from the earliest in 1980. I always move to the latest OS and some were terrible. Most forget the XP before SP1 was no prize. Vista has incredible modern features but almost requires a supercomputer to run smoothly. Win7 is trully Vista as it shouls have been.

I find Win 8 and particularly 8.1 just amazing - ease of use and first class performance with 8.1. Many use these computers for entertainment as well as enterprise. MS needed to bring windows into the modern world. My household has many machines - I have watched my 8 year old grandson interface with XP, VISTA, 7.1 etc. When he uses 8 and 8.1 there is a clear transformation in his ease of use and enjoyment.

I would suggest to you learn to use the desktop - in reality it takes you back to xp. Look for books on Win 8 that have a positive view on the OS

Win 8 and 8.1 is for now and the future.

All the best

- Collapse -
On the way down
Nov 17, 2013 7:01PM PST

Windows and many other softwares are degrading over time.
Best version of windows is XP and win 7 is not bad either.
Win ver 8 is bad.