I have seen reports of Windows 9, probably out next year...

[TreasonousBastard]

and it looks really good. Although I'm OK with 8.1, it will be nice to have multiple open windows with all apps an a few other things that are on the way.

I know all about the kneejerk hatred of anything Microsoft, but I thought somebody might appreciate a seamless integration of desktop, laptop, tablet and phone with compatible apps and software.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Does it have anything in common with Windows 7?

I have Win 7 on both my laptop and desktop, and I love it. I hope Microsoft will support it for some years to come.

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Should look a lot like 7, but...

I have 8.1 looking like 7 so that's not such a big deal.

A lot of enhanced functionality is supposed to be there, and even more stable than 7 or 8.

[steve2470]

23. it will be more like Win7 than Win8.1 or Win8 is....

The consistent rumors are that the Start Menu (yay!) is making a comeback, albeit in modified form. They are also, supposedly, making it easier to avoid the "Modern interface" (the thing most people hate with a passion).

[hifiguy]

26. Classic Shell gives you the look and most of the feel of Win 7 on Win 8

It was the first thing I installed on my new computer. I LOATHE the smartphone style interface of Win 8.

[steve2470]

29. true, I did a workaround to avoid the Modern UI nt

[Tsiyu]

2. The multiple open apps sounds good to me

but I wish i could turn off some of the random swipe crap when I'm in the middle of working on something. The swipe to get charms and past webpages showing up is a curse when you're word processing. This needs to be refined for laptops.

Overall 8.1 is okay but it took some getting used to. We'll see if 9 is a disaster before we try.

You can be our guinea pig

[TreasonousBastard]

7. I hear they're rethinking the swipe so you can turn it off...

swiping works on phones and tablets, but not so good on desktops or laptops. I can already resize program windows like Wordperfect, Thunderbird and browsers, but I hate the fullscreen calculator or Solitaire windows and playing with the Windows key.

And the Charms bar might be going. Seems people either love it and use it all the time or hate it with a passion, so if it stays it will change.

We'll see it it follows the trend that every other OS release is the good one.

I find 8.1 stable and highly safe and usable, but If any of these leaks out of Redmond are true, I'm jumping on the next release.

[joshdawg]

3. I hope it's better than 8.1

Vista was better than 8.1 which is what I have now, and it's a POS.

[Unknown Beatle]

5. I have 8.1 and

I think it's great. I've used a Windows platform since 1987's Windows 2.

[Promethean]

6. I harbor an immense dislike for 8.

Everything I consider important is hidden in non-intuitive places. Some isn't even available unless you do a freaking search for it. The damned control panel you must do a word search for! I mean for goodness sake it is a user unfriendly mess with tons of practical utility sacrificed to make it function more like a freaking phone.

[TreasonousBastard]

8. I'll admit it's a pos to find out how to make changes...

but it's often more configurable than other versions once you figure out how.

I hate it that I'll get a How-to Geek article and slap my head "You can do that?"

[RobinA]

32. I Feel This Way

about everything since 3.1.

[santroy79]

9. Just get a Mac

I will never understand why people buy PC computers.

I have work on both for years and I own a Mac. Its just a way better computer. Easier to use, runs better, more user friendly

[TreasonousBastard]

10. PCs are cheaper, run more software, and...

don't come with snobby attitudes.

But they do come with a two-button mouse.

[santroy79]

31. yea they are cheaper

but you get what you pay for

and they dont really run anymore software the Macs do. That was true like 10 years ago.

The new Macs come with a two button mouse which doesnt actually have any buttons. Its pretty cool. check it out the next time you are at a best buy or something.

I will admit as far as gaming goes PC is probably your better system out of the two. But I never really understood that either because if Im gaming Im jumping on my PS4.

[hobbit709]

11. And costs 3 times as much to do less.

No gaming ability for starters.

[whistler162]

13. Well I have 12 year old PC's

running Windows 7, 32 bit. I can replace most parts in a PC without sending it to a "Apple" authorized repair shop. Oh and I can buy two or more new PC's for the price of a new Mac with the similar specs. But, if you have money to burn that is you decision.

[d_r]

14. it is good there are choices

I never understand why people buy macs, but everybody is just different.

[Skittles]

16. some of us detest Apple, for starters

[steve2470]

24. I've used MacOs, not enthralled with it

If I was a video-editing/production person, I might be. The hardware is exactly the same on Windows machines. There's a rumor that M$ will sell one Windows version for X price, then make the updates for free, as Apple does.

Each to his/her own.

[Vilis Veritas]

12. Technology is a tool.

No more so than a rock or a hammer. The biggest problem that I think average tool user has with their technology tools is the constant need to relearn the tool. I can pick up a hammer, even a different type of hammer (ball pin, flathead) and I immediately know how to use the tool due to the simple fact that its form and function have changed little over the years. We can actually become masters of the tool.

A master carpenter for example, becomes a master because he can master his tools. If they were constantly changing the design of the tools and the method by which he can use them so that every year or two he had to relearn his craft, he would never truly 'master' his craft.

Such is the problem with Microsoft. They constantly change their tool and method of use.

I am not a Mac user, but from what I have gleaned over the years from my friends in the Graphic Art industry, they love their Macs, because they can master their tool as it is not an ever changing landscape like the microsoft os.

I could be wrong, this is just my humble tech guy opinion.

[Le Taz Hot]

15. Windows 9????

I'm still cursing at Windows 8.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. I'm desperately clinging to my 5+ year old laptop because I don't want to be stuck with Windows 8

My wife's laptop has it and it looks horrible. Terrible. An abomination of abominations.

My laptop has Vista which wasn't exactly hugely regarded in its own right, but still is considered ions beyond Windows 8.

I only pray that Windows 9 is nothing like 8 and a lot more like what came before 8.

[davidpdx]

33. My computer is four years old and I'm hoping to replace mine next year

I'd prefer not to go near Windows 8 with a 10 foot-pole.

[MH1]

18. "it will be nice to have multiple open windows" -wait, what???

asks someone who has not moved on from Windows 7 yet.

IF that's what it sounds like, ya gotta be sh*ttin' me. What good is a Windows OS that doesn't allow multiple open windows?

[TreasonousBastard]

20. It's not as bad as it sounds...

to make it work on a tablet or phone, when you click a tile some apps open full screen. The stuff everyone actually uses, though, work just like they always did. It is stupid, but they're fixing it.

But, I have mine set up to look and act like Win 7 and hardly ever see those tiles, or full screen windows, unless I want to play Minesweeper.

The whole thing is a huge jump from "traditional" windows, but ends up working very well if you don't fight it.

[hunter]

19. I've become a grouchy old fossil with a kneejerk dislike of anything Microsoft or Apple.

Get off my lawn.

Back in the Pleistocene of computing I used to look forward to playing with new releases of Apple or Microsoft software. Now they are about as appealing to me as a tattoo of Justin Bieber on a dirty old man's butt.



No, no thank you. No, really, I don't have to see that. I'm certain it's a very nice tattoo but I must be on my way.

But we all have our own kinks. I divert my personal computers from the salvage stream, reformat the drives, and install Linux. The last shiny new computer I ever bought for myself had a 386 processor.

I knew the Apple fans would post in this thread, so I figured I'd add a Linux post too. Linux does what I want it to do without any fuss and it runs comfortably on older hardware.

[TreasonousBastard]

21. Finally, a Linux fan...

I tried to like Linux, I really did. I was a fan going back to AT&T's Unix machine back in the DOS, Apple 1, and CPM days. (I even remember TRS-DOS, which had more potential than any of them if someone besides Radio Shack backed it)

But, I'm not a hobby programmer any more and just want to get work done. So, as much trouble Windows might be, Linux is just too much work for too little reward.

[hunter]

30. Linux gets all my work done without any fuss or unnecessary expense.

It has the latest, most popular web browsers. It has writing, number crunching, and graphics tools that exceed my simple needs.

If I was locked into Photoshop, AutoCad, or the latest MS Word by work it might be different, but I'm not.

Linux is much more convenient for me than either Microsoft or Apple software.

[steve2470]

25. Linux is a great OS, no doubts

I'm lazy, I like the M$ handholding, I'll pay for it. I've used many Linux distros, so I could do it again easily if I need to.

[hifiguy]

28. One of these days I am going to have my computer-expert buddy

put Linux on all my machines. He's been a Linux guy for years.

[steve2470]

22. There's rumors M$ will simply call it "Windows" from now on...

Last edited Fri Sep 19, 2014, 01:42 PM - Edit history (1)

No more numbers or names. Also a rumor that RTM is later this year, with full distribution around April 2015.

The technical preview comes out 9-30-2014, so I may install it and test it, indulge my masochistic side

[TreasonousBastard]

27. Heard that, too, and the good news is...

that they're getting rid of most of the oddball variants we've had to deal with over the years. They fired the guy who gave us 8 and 8.1 was a big hint they remembered that you shouldn't piss off the market.

If you'll remember, Win 95 was just as big a leap back then but they sold it so well that people lined up to get it.

Seamless integration between phones, tablets, laptops and desktops with the cloud holding it all together-- the future will be interesting.

(Now, if we could just figure out why we want a watch hooked into all this...)