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I had heard that Window 8.1 is to 8.0 what Windows 7 was to Vista. I took that as a sign of encouragement so I installed Windows 8.1 on a virtual machine to check it out before replacing my Windows 7 OS and, yes, it is indeed marginally better than Windows 8.0. However, the whole "app" interface looks like a throwback to when microprocessors were not capable of preemptive multitasking.
Now, I understand that such an interface is a good fit for a portable device where the screen is limited. But for a home computer with two monitors and no touch screen, it is a pain to work with.
So the question I have is: what am I missing here? Seriously, is there anyone out there using 8.1 on a desktop who really likes it, and why? What are its benefits. Otherwise, I am more than likely to go with Windows Server 2012.
Thanks.
m.bergman
For Bruce Schneier, quanta only have one state : afraid.
To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered. -- Voltaire
In most cases the only difference between disappointment and depression is your level of commitment. -- Marc Maron
I am not a chatbot
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You are missing nothing - you have Windows 7!!!
I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. (V)
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Windows Server has the same "Start Screen" menu as Windows 8. So you're not likely to get happy with that either 
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981 people disagree with you[^]
I'm not one of them.
Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952)
Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)
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No! It's 986! 
I'm not one of them too..
Don't mind those people who say you're not HOT. At least you know you're COOL.
I'm not afraid of falling, I'm afraid of the sudden stop at the end of the fall! - Richard Andrew x64
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I think it's better not to reveal the result of that poll...It can shade us in the wrong color... 
I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. (V)
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It's fine. No better, no worse than other OS's. I liked 7 and 8, Vista sucked and XP was hard to let go of. But 8.1 is good and I find it hard to see the problems people claim.
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Nagy Vilmos wrote: [Windows] 8.1 is good and I find it hard to see the problems people claim.
Me too. At first it was strange and I had to think of how do I do this and that, but I quickly got over that.
I used to keep using old desktop applications because they were familiar, but lately have been replacing them with metro1 applications as my preference.
I think that most people are uncomfortable with change. The 'who moved my cheese syndrome' and need to be forced to adopt anything new; to wit Windows XP. It didn't help that the next version was Vista which put the resistant to change folks in epileptic seizures, but there was nothing wrong with Windows 7. So why the resistance to changing from XP?
Windows 8/8.1 has gotten them twitching again. It will take dropping support for Windows 7 before they will have to upgrade and then in due time when there is another paradigm shift they will be lamenting 'why doesn't it work like Windows 8'.
1 - I know I am not supposed to say metro but it sounds better than modern.
Once you lose your pride the rest is easy.
I would agree with you but then we both would be wrong.
The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
I'm on-line therefore I am.
JimmyRopes
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It is partly about change taking some getting used to. But going from a multi-window, multi-tasking environment like the desktop (which has been around since Win95 and even back then was an extension of the multi-window paradigm of Windows 3.0 and probably earlier) to a single-app-at-a-time model is not just change, it is regression, and objectively worse.
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You can run 2 apps at a time if you split the screen.
If you need more then you still have the desktop for other apps.
Once you lose your pride the rest is easy.
I would agree with you but then we both would be wrong.
The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
I'm on-line therefore I am.
JimmyRopes
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Yes, you still have the desktop, because the desktop is vastly superior and Microsoft realised they couldn't actually take it away.
Two apps is marginally better than 1 but I (even when I'm not doing techie stuff) generally have about 20 windows open and I'm looking at at least 3 of them at any one time (e.g. browser, game, VOIP app).
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*sigh*
Use the tiles as a full screen start menu.
Reconfigure images and pdf's to open in a dekstop app.
If you still suffer from tile allergy, install a "classic" start menu.
-- OR --
Never again complain about all those stupid, backward and narrow-minded users who complain about the changes you made.
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Agreed completely.
Some things took some getting used to, but overall, it hasn't taken me any longer than I needed when switching from any prior OS to the next version (has there ever been two consecutive versions of Windows where MS hasn't shuffled things around just for the sake of it?)...
I use 8.1 every day, but frankly, I never see any of the much-maligned Metro crap as I'm always in the desktop environment.
In other words, just because Metro is there doesn't mean anyone has to use it. I use 8.1 just like I've been using previous versions of Windows.
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I liked Windows 7 and would have preferred that MS had continued in that direction.
But if you HAVE to use Windows 8, then "yes" - Windows 8.1 is better than Windows 8. Marginally perhaps, but still so much that I would say: Don't install Windows 8, but if you must, use Windows 8.1
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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I think 8.1 is better because they've fixed the desktop so it's actually usable again (without third party tools like Classic Shell), haven't they? The one-app-at-a-time Metro UI is just totally terrible for a computer environment, as it has been since 8.0, but if you boot to desktop you never have to see that (as long as you fix a few file extension associations that open up there like PDF ... grr).
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WOW !!!  
In code we trust !
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A ghost writer no doubt....
"The whole idea that carbon dioxide is the main cause of the recent global warming is based on a guess that was proved false by empirical evidence during the 1990s." climate-models-go-cold
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THESE PEOPLE REALLY BOTHER ME!! How can they know what you should do without knowing what you want done?!?!
-- C++ FQA Lite
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Interesting! 
But did you notice under his profile, he is being shown as a "Member since Thursday, January 2, 2014 (6 months)", but if you look at his reputation graph, it's showing the rep points since 2009. 
Whether I think I can, or think I can't, I am always bloody right!
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No I didn't. Shall I call the police or something?
Regards,
Rob Philpott.
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Just now. After you gave the link. 
Don't mind those people who say you're not HOT. At least you know you're COOL.
I'm not afraid of falling, I'm afraid of the sudden stop at the end of the fall! - Richard Andrew x64
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It's a feature. 
Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952)
Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)
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