After Microsoft updates to Windows and Office over the past few years here is all I can say:

 

I'm so excited

That I just can't hide it

I'm about to lose control

Don't think I like it

 

My "pointed" comment

 

 

other games on the lower right corner

 

Seems like we have a very similar taste in games! I've got all the same ones you've got there!

 

 

On the subject of Windows 8.... I picked a Win 8 Pro licence at the end of 2012 when they were selling them at a knock down price. I paid £25 for mine. Suffice to say I did not like the Modern UI. The good news is I purchased Stardock's Start8 for a very small amount of money and now boot straight to the desktop where I have a start menu that is even more customisable than the one I had in Windows 7.

 

Windows 8.1 is a very fast and efficient OS, I've got it set up so I never have to use the Modern UI, and to be perfectly fair I really like Windows 8. I think most people took one look at the Modern UI and said "Gurgh!" and never digged any deeper. It's a shame really because other than that it's a great OS.

One of the core upgrades was networking, and since 90% of addons operate with FSX on the network it's improved performance gets better as you use more addons.

News to me....

As per Forbes Magazine

 

Apple Brand Value $104.3 Billion

Microsoft Brand Value $56.7 Billion

 

Market Share is meaningless when Microsoft is giving away Windows8 Pro for £25, and in order to get Apple O/S you have to buy a machine from Apple.

 

Each Apple Licence has greater value then a Microsoft licence because it is a package that includes a hardware sale.

On the Windows 8.1 start menus posted above clicking that white down arrow with the circle around it near the lower left corner displays a program list with headings, at least some of headings are apparently representing folders in the user's start folder. Some programs that are compatible with earlier versions of Windows work better than others. I've encountered a few where Windows 8.1 even refuses to run the installation program. So far I haven't attempted installing any flight simulators on Windows 8.1 (I have some limited recent experience with X-Plane on a 7" Android tablet).

The OS also rapidly opens the text box for a search as soon as a letter is typed with the start menu on the display. Over the 6 days I've had the Windows 8.1 laptop the desired program is displayed on a clickable list by the time the third letter is typed (often faster).

 

On the laptop's touch pad swiping from the right edge displays "charms" (links) for things like sharing, devices (including printers) and setup. From the start menu the setup charm includes things like personalization and the control panel. From the new Windows 8 apps the list resulting from clicking the setup charm varies as appropriate for that particular app.

Quite honestly I wish the next windows would have the simplicity of windows 95 just a basic OS with internet explorer and a calculator.

Quite honestly I wish the next windows would have the simplicity of windows 95 just a basic OS with internet explorer and a calculator.

Don't forget Reversi:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGvHNNOLnCk&feature=youtu.be&t=30s

http://www.tapscape.com/hp-reverts-windows-7/

 

HP is going back to Windows7.

Something interesting for you guys to check out...:

 

Thanks for that. Good to hear 'Windows 7 is back'.  Mind you, it never went away

 

 

think most people took one look at the Modern UI and said "Gurgh!" and never digged any deeper. It's a shame really because other than that it's a great OS.

 

I wish it was just the UI that is the problem with Windows-8.

I usually disable the Ui on my customers' PCs from new,  yet W8 can still be a total pain, especially trying to repair it when it all goes wrong. Its a battle even to get into Safe Mode quicky compared to W7.

 

http://www.infoworld.com/d/microsoft-windows/windows-8-review-yes-its-bad-200113

--

As per Forbes Magazine

 

Apple Brand Value $104.3 Billion

Microsoft Brand Value $56.7 Billion

 

As a flight-simmer I'm interested in gaming computers, not tablets or iphones or Xbox1's running Windows.  If Windows-based PCs ever stopped being produced I'd personally rather switch to Linux/Ubuntu rather than buy an overpriced Mac.

 

But each to his own. At the end of the day the end result is the same. Pixels on a screen

 

http://www.neowin.net/news/apples-pc-market-share-rises-or-falls-who-knows-the-analysts-clearly-dont

It's a shame really because other than that it's a great OS.

People often say this but never back it up by stating what makes it so great that Windows 7 doesn't have. I'm curious.

Off the top of my head:

 

It's at least as fast as Win7. it boots faster than Win7. If you use a MS account to log in it saves user preferences across different computers (useful because I regularly use both a desktop and a laptop). When I reformat and reinstall it automatically reinstates my old preferences and settings. MS integrated a much better version of the Security Centre into Win8. It has native support for mounting iso images. SkyDrive is integrated into Windows Explorer. I find the tabbed Windows Explorer in Win8 much more functional than the one in Win7.

 

For £25 I'm not complaining.

As I'm not using a touch screen Windows 8 offers absolutely nothing positive to me, I'm definitely going to keep using Win 7 until something better comes out. I don't see why some people upgrade their OS just for sake of staying "up to date" even if the new version doesn't have that much new relevant improvements. 

Off the top of my head:

 

It's at least as fast as Win7. it boots faster than Win7. If you use a MS account to log in it saves user preferences across different computers (useful because I regularly use both a desktop and a laptop). When I reformat and reinstall it automatically reinstates my old preferences and settings. MS integrated a much better version of the Security Centre into Win8. It has native support for mounting iso images. SkyDrive is integrated into Windows Explorer. I find the tabbed Windows Explorer in Win8 much more functional than the one in Win7.

 

For £25 I'm not complaining.

 

Boot times don't interest me much since I turn my PC on then in the 48 seconds it takes until the desktop is useable (Win7 on a hard drive) i simply do something else like make a drink. 

 

User prefs again could simply be done as an update to windows 7. Same with SkyDrive integration (my DropBox integrates with explorer in the exact same way for free by the way).

 

Virtual CD-ROM by Microsoft allows you to mount iso's and was recently updated to support 7 and Vista. Free.

 

For £25 i'd want my money back. None of those features save for a few seconds cut off boot speed couldn't of been done via a free update to Win7.

I just don't understand... They were doing so well with how Windows and Windows Server were going. Why did they have to do such radical changes to the OS, and also their business?

 

You're REQUIRED to have a Microsoft account in order to download/upgrade to Windows 8.1... That is ridiculous! In which Windows version EVER from pre-Windows 8 did you EVER need an account to download updates?

There is a workaround for this,unplug/disconnect your internet connection,enter random data into the field with an @ sign,then it will give an error and an option to create a 'normal' user account.