Guys having just purchased a new desktop pc today have just noticed it has windows 8 installed on it, a quick search on windows 8 reviews on google has kinda put me off the pc due to the extensive complaints, moans etc off this new operating system !! is it really that bad ?!

any third party softwares worth considering to get me back to normality ??!!
have read that " classic shell " is a good one to try, any downsides to it ? any other programmes worth downloading for windows 8 ?

also whats the score with new computers these days as I notice there is no windows discs or anything contained in the packaging, is the operating system permantly installed on the pc or do you have to do a back up, if so is this all easy enough to do ?

planning to install a few av type programmes - whats still considered good these days - malwarebytes , spybot search and destroy, windows security av ( free )

a few questions there !! any advice would as always be very much appreciatted.

 

Use it, you might like it. Windows Security Essentials should be all you need.

 

Unfortunately you don't get a windows disk unless you request one these days.

Back up should be pretty straight forward and it very useful without a windows disk.

 

I use Classicstart8 for a normal Start menu and it's free.

 

Okay cheers appreciatte the info and yep will get the new pc up and running and who knows may even be one off the few who actually like the new system !!

am I correct in saying that the 8.1 update or whatever it is called does not bring back the start menu button - bit confused ?

any idea what sort off size you would need to back up windows 8 onto say a memory stick ? or is better done on a set off discs ?

 

And the windows malicious software removal tool which is updated monthly with new definitions.

 

Microsoft are releasing an official start menu soon, already available in some regions (not uk yet unfortunately)

 

You get used to it after a while but I would still like to be able to go into the desktop view and just use it like a Windows 7 machine. Hopefully they will sort it in the forthcoming update.

 

The release date for the Windows 8.1 update (which includes a kind of start menu) is 17th Oct and it'll be available on Windows update.

New computers shipping from 18th Oct will have it pre-installed.

Be prepared for a large (read several hundred meg) download. You can't uninstall it either.

I'd recommend jut coming to peace with the interface.

 

I hate it! Few downloads and you can make it look like windows 7

 

it is very annoying, except if you have a touch screen ..
I suppose it stops me using the wifes laptop lol .. still happy on win7 myself ..
be interesting to see how much 8.1 changes it ..

 

There are a couple of things about Windows 8 that I liked, but on the whole, I could not get on with it. To me it seemed pretty obvious that it was designed foremost to be for touchscreen / tablet devices, and on such devices it does work well, but not so much on your normal laptop / desktop, which would likely be the majority of machines it would be run on.

My wife's new laptop came with it installed and before purchasing I checked to ensure Windows 7 could be installed on the laptop as I was fairly sure she would be as frustrated as I was with Windows 8, and within a day of trying to use it, she had enough and wanted Windows 7 installed, which I duly did and she was happy.

The machine is setup as dual book, so when 8.1 comes out I will install it and take another look, but I suspect Windows 7 will remain the primary used OS on her laptop.

 

I have to totally agree with that statement, i myself have tryied windows 8 on my laptop for 2 weeks and i thought it was a bag of, s word. unleas you have a touch screen computer/laptop it will be a nightmare to use. luckily i got my money back from microsoft because it was within 2 weeks.

Now to a piece of advice, please check with your pc manufacturer for example HP, DELL, ETC, but there are some pc manufacturers that will include a downgrade rights, meaning if you dont like windows 8 you can downgrade to windows 7 equivalent version for free.