Upgraded to Windows 7 from XP and Explorer to Chrome and nothing is the same or intuitive any more

[NNN0LHI]

Had to because my old computer crashed and burned.

Think I may be getting too old for this stuff?

Any suggestions?

Maybe I should get some younger hotshot to come in here and tutor me about this new stuff?

Anyone else been through this?

My desktop icons don't even look the same any more. Bing? Whats Bing? I don't know about any stinking Bing.

Any other older person ever been through this before?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Don

[steve2470]

1. let me try to help, Don

No, you are not getting too old for this stuff. Just give yourself a few hours to re-acclimate yourself to a new operating system and new browser.

Bing is a search engine, like Google: Bing Some people like it, some don't. The only thing that IS true, is that Google is more popular.

At the risk of sounding condescending, the best way to learn is by just clicking stuff and seeing what happens. It sounds dumb, but it's a very intuitive way to learn.

Yes, you can read tutorials and watch videos too. I never have, to be honest.

Feel free to ask ANY question here, no matter how dumb you think it is. I promise to be kind and patient and I'm sure the vast majority of DU'ers will be also.

Windows 7 Official Help from Microsoft
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/help

Google Chrome Official Help, from Google
http://support.google.com/chrome/?hl=en

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Bing is MS's search engine -- you can change your browser prefs back to Google

Last edited Sat Sep 1, 2012, 01:23 PM - Edit history (1)

or whatever you were using.

IE no longer has menus (!) -- download Firefox if you want something that looks just like the previous version of IE.

Word also has no drop-down menus -- now all the options take up screen space more permanently, shrinking the area availabe for YOUR text still further.

I'm working from XP at home; had to use Win 7 at work for the first time last week (I've been avoiding Win 7 -- pretty effectively) so I'm working from memory here. I think in the "Folders" Control Panel you can choose the Classic Windows appearance, which simplifies some things. Or maybe it's in the Start Menu Control Panel. I had to change the Display Control Panel to lower resolution to be able to read the screen at all -- the default setting produces teeny-tiny (I'm hearing the voice of RM here) little fonts.

As with almost all changes in Windows, the new version gobbles up more screen space and produces more visual clutter. Apparently MS hands out bonuses to its programmmers based on the load they place on the graphics cards.

Beyond that I can only offer sympathies and suggest it's really time to look at Mac OSX or Linux. Neither one is perfect, either, but Windows just seems too often to be the work of pinheads.




ETA: The TaskBar (at the bottom of the screen) now uses larger icons by default. Turn this off in the Start Menu/Task Bar Control Panel to restore the former look, and give yourself more room in the Task Bar for more open files/folders.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

3. The TweakGuides Tweaking Companion Windows 7 guide...

helped me familiarize myself to 7.

http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html

[NNN0LHI]

4. Thanks again everyone for all the help here today

Between you guys and my daughter coming by here after work today I think I am on the straight and narrow now.

Take care and see you all later.

Don

[Worried senior]

5. I am still hanging on to XP

When we bought the computer it came with XP pre-loaded along with a Windows 7 disk.

I like outlook express for mail and you lose that under 7 and I just really don't want to change until I have no choice.

[NNN0LHI]

7. From another senior I think the longer we wait the harder it will be

I never used outlook express so that didn't bother me. I have used a stand alone email program called Pegasus since I began computing. Its not the best email program and its not or everyone but I like it. There are many other stand alone email programs out there.

Just do what is comfortable for you.

Windows 7 is fine for me now. Though I do not like Google Chrome and have went back to using Explorer 9.

Good luck.

Don

[Warpy]

6. Going to Win 7 from XP is maddening

because a lot of things I depended on to compensate for poor eyesight were no longer there.

Then there's the awful "feature" that shifts open windows to the desktop as soon as you let go of the mouse, not fun when you're filling in an online form. If anybody knows how to defeat that one, please let me know.

In addition, it's like somebody moved my food bowl. I've found most of what I need, but it's been challenging. It's like having your mother in law rearrange your whole living space while you're on vacation. It just doesn't work right.

[NNN0LHI]

8. I purchased a pair of reading glasses to compensate for my poor eyesight and everything is fine now

Good luck.

Don

[Warpy]

9. Try the strongest reading glasses out there OVER bifocals.

Then you'll get an idea of just how bad my eyesight has been.

I've had 8 surgeries on the right, including a transplant, and two on the left. I still have trouble with low contrast print on some web pages but this particular box came with a magnifier built in, so I can cope with most of them.

Drugstore glasses by themselves are fine for anyone over 40 whose arms aren't long enough for them to read standard print. Studies have shown there is no superiority for prescription glasses for people with normal distance vision but poor close vision. Thought you'd like to know that.