My lap top is dying.
should I go Windows 7 or 8?

thanks - Gene

Windows 7!!!! What have you been using? Windows 8 is OK if you have a touch screen and want to use it. If you use the laptop as a normal computer (typing on the keyboard), stick with Windows 7. XP was great; Vista sucked; Windows 7 is great; Windows 8--we'll see. They're still working on it.

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Post # 2 was sent by my wife, a computer person for the Pathology Dept at University AZ (ret). It no way changes my stand on dropping out of the blog, but I thought her opinion might help Gene.

I agree with Bill's post above. Windows 7 is better for most everyone unless you have a real specific reason to get Windows 8. I have Windows 8 on my other computer and have downloaded Microsoft's free Windows 8.1 Preview, but I really don't see that as being much of an improvement. I use my Windows 7 computer 95% of the time. Upgrading from Vista to Windows 7 was a no-brainer; not so with Win 7 and Win 8.

I am no computer person, but Windows 7 works great. Real techies that I know are very disappointed (and confused) with Windows 8.

Please go with Windows 7 - and INSIST that is what you want installed!

I know Windows 8 is considered de rigueur now by MicroSLOTH - but most techs I know hate Windows 8 and prefer Windows 7.

Win 8 is mostly for tablets, (touch screen) and is in my opinion, ugly and hard to circumnavigate. I've seen it, used it and I hate it. Stick with 7 by all means -

To add to what Betty said about INSIST: My house was robbed twice in one week this past January, and naturally the laptop was taken (that's all I use anymore). My daughter was put in charge of finding me a new one, and I specifically said I did not want Windows 8. She could not find a store anywhere around us that would sell us one with Windows 7! And we're within the D.C. metro area.

She finally went online and found a brand new HP in a store in California where a wonderful techie agreed to install Windows 7 and ship it to us. The prevailing thought between her and the techie was that the big wigs knew they had a lemon on their hands with Windows 8 and were deliberately forcing people to buy it by refusing to install Windows 7. So be careful.

Unless you have to have Windows for work stuff, you should at least look into/consider a Mac. I've been a Mac guy for 7 or 8 years now and you couldn't pay me to go back to Windows. I know it makes me sound like a snob, but I'm really not.

I was considering a Mac! Last month I was so frustrated that I bought a laptop with XP on it. Suddenly all my old programs that didn't work before came back to life. I'm back with old friends who don't require a ribbon adjustment.

Microsoft will stop supporting Win XP early next year. That means no more security patches via automatic updates. Your machines will become more and more vulnerable to malware and viruses as time goes by. Where I work XP machines will no longer be allowed on the network. For Win 7 users you can download from Microsoft "XP Mode" which will create a virtual XP machine on your computer. In that way you will be able to run all old programs that require XP.

Joe

(09-28-2013 10:39 PM)jonathan Wrote:  Unless you have to have Windows for work stuff, you should at least look into/consider a Mac. I've been a Mac guy for 7 or 8 years now and you couldn't pay me to go back to Windows. I know it makes me sound like a snob, but I'm really not.

When I first started in the newspaper business, we were one of the first papers in our region to switch to Macs, because they are so much better for graphics. I had never had a course on computers, yet I was able to teach myself the Mac. As I advanced in my career, I became the "expert" on using the Mac. The only problem I had was that software was hard to find, which I understand now isn't as big an issue. I still use PCs now, though, just because it's more convenient for me, but I have to admit that I still miss the Mac, although it's been so long since I used one I'm not sure how easy it would be to switch.

That said, I refuse to go to Windows 8 and hope my laptop and desktop last for a good bit longer, although the hard drive on my desktop is making a whirring noise. I have my Tarbell book backed up on THREE external drives.

Best
Rob

(09-29-2013 09:45 AM)Rob Wick Wrote:  That said, I refuse to go to Windows 8 and hope my laptop and desktop last for a good bit longer, although the hard drive on my desktop is making a whirring noise. I have my Tarbell book backed up on THREE external drives.

Best
Rob

That's smart, Rob. My hard drive on my laptop died this summer when I was writing an article on the tragic history of the Old Clubhouse (of course!) but my son managed to email the article to me before the whole thing crashed. I am now piecing together my novel from sections I had saved before which actually is not a bad thing as it's easier for me to revise that way. I bought a new hard drive but I kept Vista so you may not have to change to Windows 8 if you lose your hard drive.

My husband did buy a new PC with Windows 8 which my family finds very annoying to use. The computer guy says Microsoft alternates between good products and ones people are not happy with so we can expect that Windows 9 or whatever the next one will be called will be a great improvement over Windows 8.

Linda,

I still feel more comfortable with paper. While I have over 10,000 documents on the hard drives, I have that much or more in paper files sitting around my office. While fire is always a possibility, it is far less remote than a drive crashing. In an effort to save space, I scanned all my old college papers which I kept as well as some articles that I used on earlier projects, and if those files ever become corrupted, all that will be lost. Not that my college papers are a gem of any kind (not with my grades!), but they do remind me of some pretty good times.

Best
Rob

Windows 7. I bought a new lap top a few months ago loaded with Windows 8-I hate it. It is not user-friendly at all-can't say enough bad about it.

(09-29-2013 09:34 AM)JB Banning Wrote:  Microsoft will stop supporting Win XP early next year. That means no more security patches via automatic updates. Your machines will become more and more vulnerable to malware and viruses as time goes by. Where I work XP machines will no longer be allowed on the network. For Win 7 users you can download from Microsoft "XP Mode" which will create a virtual XP machine on your computer. In that way you will be able to run all old programs that require XP.

Joe

That's true but I refuse to be intimidated by lack of Microsoft support. Their upgrades have caused me far more problems over the years than virsuses and malware. Running in "XP Mode" does not always work especially for older programs.

Don't get me wrong, I still use Win7 on my main laptop but for my writing and other stuff that I don't use the internet for, I'll use my old technology.

Hopefully this won't be too confusing, but there are ways to return to Windows 7 on a Windows 8 computer. One way is to create a separate partition on your hard drive and create a dual boot system. This is not as difficult as it sounds. When done correctly you will be given a choice of booting into Win 7 or Win 8 at startup. Of course you need to have kept your Win 7 disk from the original computer it was installed on. An easier way, however, is to download a program such as VirtualBox. You can then install most all old Microsoft (plus Linux and others) operating systems; I still have my disks for Win 98, Win ME, and Win XP, and I enjoy the challenge of trying to get them to work in VirtualBox. (My wife says I take computer nostalgia too far, and she is correct.) Neither Win 98 or ME work very well for me, but XP works so well I wouldn't even know it's operating within the main operating system. Also, when it comes to installing Windows 7 on another computer in your home there is the question of the product key not working on the second computer. However, using the phone, I was able to do this by contacting Microsoft and deactivating Windows 7 on the original computer and activating it on the second one. This saves a good deal of money as you don't have to buy a new Win 7 disk.