I will be with XP forever no matter what else comes down the pipe. I fail to see why anyone wastes so much money just to be able to say I have the latest and then complain for six months at Microsoft who never listen to us anyway LOL.

Eastman-Kodak is the prime example of how a corporation can fail if you let brainless "MBA-types" rule the talent.

 

And stop criticizing us who have and use Win8 without issues.

 

That has been going on since Windows 95......Some people hated the jump from Windows 3.11 to Windows 95. And again with Windows ME and Windows Vista, and now with Windows 8.

 

Don't get bent out of shape over it. Some people don't have a problem moving forward, some people do, most people just don't like the direction MS has gone (including me). No big deal really as use whatever works for you.

 

Cheers

by the way... nobody is forcing you to install Win8.

...

And stop criticizing us who have and use Win8 without issues.

By the way, nobody is forcing you to reply to this topic. 

I never had a problem with it.

Neither do I. My day-to-day computing needs (and ancillary support progs for FSX) are run on an older Vista machine with no issues, apart from the very rare spontaneous reboot (maybe once every 6 months).

Having said that, my FSX installation runs on a separate lean and clean Win7 64bit installation. Networking the two has been a hit and miss affair but that is most likely PEBKAC. Oh well... :Sigh:

Windows 8 is what happens when a company designs software for its own marketing and strategic purposes rather than to fit a customer need.

 

Great comment!  This is such a classic example.  Changing the licensing for the new version of Office is another step in the same direction.

I never had a problem with it.

 

Same here.  Blanket statements condemning Vista don't always reflect real world experience.  I've had Vista 64 for four years now and have had zero issues with it.  It's fast and performance hasn't lagged over time.  Vista has never crashed on me.  As for Windows 8, my daughter's laptop came with Windows 8 installed and she's had trouble free performance for several months.  I prefer the Vista/Windows 7 interface over Windows 8 only because I'm used to it.  She took to the Windows 8 interface easily and never complained.

 

John

Maybe it will be like the last cycle. XP great, Vista terrible, 7 great, 8 terrible so well get a fantastic Windows 9.

Vista and 8 are completely different situations. Vista was just downright bad. It performed terribly and had numerous bugs. 8 has had very few, if not no major issues since I started using it at the beginning of December. I can't even think of a minor bug I've had. The only problem that most have with 8 is the Metro screen. People complain about it, but you have to give it a chance. I hated it myself, but watching a friend use it for long enough, I learned how it works and found that it is actually very useful. If you can just get past the new start menu, Windows 8 is an even more stable, optimized, and cleaned up Windows 7. It's the public's inability to accept something new that has caused it to be a failure, IMO. (I'm no fan of Steve Balmer either and wish that Gates was still in charge.)

So the joystick megathread does not count as a major bug,despite the fact that MS will not acknowledge this?

Maybe it will be like the last cycle. XP great, Vista terrible, 7 great, 8 terrible so well get a fantastic Windows 9.

 

Here's a preview of Windows Blue, the coming update to Windows 8. Not sure it's going to change many people's minds.

 

http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/25/4144618/windows-blue-video-preview-screenshots

Windows 8 DESKTOP is fantastic !!

Been using it since early release candidates.

 

Don't understand why they would be so bold as to remove the start button and force Metro on use,

 

 

I have been computing and flight simming for over 30 years and with some decent hardware, Win8 and DX10, I have never had FS running so well. I've had no more than but a few computer crashes all of which were the result of me doing something silly.

 

I personally don't like Metro.

I use it very little.

 

If your a windows 8 user these Stardock utilities are a must have.

 

START 8 -Lets me choose to either boot to desktop or metro.

A great start menu too, better then even win7.

 

FENCES - Really awesome utility allows me to organize my desktop in many cool ways that I just can't imagine doing without now that I have them..

 

I really recommend anyone with win8 to at least try these trial versions.

 

 

Then there are folks like my 84 year old mother. She loves Windows 8 Metro on her laptop. Only took me a couple minutes to show her how to use it.

Perfect for her to get the weather, check her mail, facebook, and solitaire.

 

However I certainly agree that Microsoft has and continues to make dumb mistakes on a regular basis.

 

The $40 upgrade I thought was one of the smartest decisions they ever made but unfortunately that didn't last long.

I too had a good experience at start (and using Start8) with Win8 Pro 64 bit, but as soon as I tried to install FSX Gold things got really bad, up to the point of giving up on it and reverting back to Win7 Home Premium 64bit.

 

I also am now using LM prepar3d instead of FSX Gold, and as far as I know it would have problems running in Win8(?)

 

Regarding DCS World, it allways ran beatifully on Win8, just as it does in Win7.

Long live XP!!!!

 

Yup.  I put XP on my FS machine.  I'm still using my old Gameport yoke and pedals, and they stopped supporting Gameport after XP, even with a USB adapter.  When you remove capabilities, you lose customers who use those capabilities.

Johnny19, on 25 Mar 2013 - 15:03, said:

What I think that most of the people who criticize Win8 have never even tired them in person...by the way... nobody is forcing you to install Win8. You have 7, Vista, XP among others and be merry with them. And stop criticizing us who have and use Win8 without issues.

I have Windows 8 installed on a test VM at my job. Not too impressed especially if it doesn't work well with FS9/FSX. Some say it does some say otherwise the bottom line is as time moves forward and support is discontinued for a version of Windows we don't have a choice. As things get old you have to go with the new options hence common features aren't compatible anymore. No one today could use Windows 95 with Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. This is why we wanted FS development to continue but seeing the culture all around at Microsoft I see it was not just us to feel the pain we were just the one of the first. Flight was an attempt to fit the Flight Simulator world in the confined new space Microsoft (Steve Ballmer) was creating for Windows 8. This whole model is being rejected world wide.

I've read & heard nothing but the results of 4 camps in this article as usual. These threads are common all over the Internet & in person with most individuals I know:

 

Camp 1.  People jaded by Microsoft or people who like someone pointed out thought the greatest thing in the world ever was Apple to come out with their product offerings starting with iPod/iPhone/iPad and even before.  So anything AFTER this by Microsoft will either fall on deaf ears because it doesn't have an Apple branding or they are unwilling to even faithfully spend any time with it because after all, Apple can do no wrong and what virus did they every give to anyone?  Besides, money fixes everything and I and them have plenty of it for them.  Funny part is the same people will bash Microsoft because most people got viruses was because you could download & install whatever you wanted from wherever you wanted unlike Apple's business model!

 

Camp 2.  Microsoft products were used because that's what they had to use at home or work but when it came to having the worldwide support of people being able to develop some mystical OS addition or didn't like to have to give money to a corporation then Linux was their baby.  Apple's OS architecture is good to have a Unix like kernel but the Apple camp is too religious and closed off and costs money so Google/Linux is all they will care to hear about.  Not to mention now that the OPEN Android platform is becoming laden with the plagues that the same people would bash Microsoft for.

 

Camp 3.  You've used Microsoft products all along and dealt with whatever it is you've had to deal with and somehow managed to get through the rough spots without much concern over it.  Whatever Microsoft has put out it's fine either way because you picked up a Dell or a PC at a mega store and had Office on it or can install software you gathered through the years and it does what it needs to.  You don't really have any interest in higher priced offerings by Apple or the web browser by google when you can have a whole PC for around $400.

 

Camp 4.  You've followed technologies for a long time and also use Microsoft products at work as well as built your own PC or a quite a few (which is not to say that the other 3 camps didn't). You've installed and used Linux distros but found them limited in what you can actually install and use it for since you are not starting your own internet provider. You've used Mac OS because either another family member had one or you created your own hackintosh but finding that their is little use to the playschool interface.  You may have even used Logic Pro/Final Cut Pro and either keep it around for that or find that the window counterparts are actually a bit more responsive so forget the Mac OS idea all together.  You've used Flight Simulator and want to get the most out of your experience by installing newer hardware and tweaking settings.  You also realize that Windows 8 as a natural progression from previous OS's and allows for what you've been used to and now offers ANOTHER avenue of software which you can take or leave.  You have a faster desktop experience with Windows 8 and are happy to live there and check into the full screen weather/news apps every now and then as well as see what new time wasting apps have been developed.  You may even use an iPhone/Android/Windows phone &/or tablet but as far as a desktop goes their is something familiar and something new.

 

 

I am in Camp 4 and am proud to be.  Prepar3d and FSX work BETTER on my machine in Windows 8 than they did on fresh installs on Windows 7.  I never had the big gripe with issues like people have claimed with Windows ME or Vista but hey maybe it's just because I knew better on what a good piece of software was or wasn't and how it may affect the OS.  I have Windows 8 for the last year and it is fast/fluid and is definitely not necessary to have touch.  I also have Windows 8 on a touch screen and for me gives me another option to choose how to use it.  I have seen and heard ALL THE SAME REGURGITATION by many co workers who are basically set in their ways and completely uninformed or just could care less to even try.

 

The MODERN UI program menu works PERFECTLY FINE AND FLUID without any touch!  I can scroll left and right or I can just start typing to find what I wanted not just on the desktop but in most searchable apps, not to mention I can click and drag groups of applications or individual tiles where I want them.  I don't need to spend my time in full screen apps if I don't want to and I am right at home on the desktop but I enjoy the option of having an app store just a window key away.

 

So to sum it up, a big part of the reason that Microsoft is not growing with Windows 8 is YOU!  You have a personal vendetta against them or you could care less because you're a fair weather fan and have fallen in love with Apple or Google or both but at the same time you still want to hold a place for Flight Sim!