Windows 8.1 modifications

[Mike Henderson]

Some time back there was a discussion here (I believe) about some of the add ons to Windows 8.1 to make it more like Windows 7 - to get back the "start" button and a few other things. Can anyone remember that thread and point me at it?

Or offer advice on some of the ways to modify Windows 8.1?

Mike

[Dan Hintz]

Those were mods to 8.0. 8.1 is already mostly like Win7.

[Jerry Bruette]

Mike,

You might be refering to the thread I started about Win8 being a scary beast.

I'm not geeky enough to link it here but I'd guess you could find it.

FWIW I bought a Dell business machine with Win7 Pro with a Win8 license.

[Larry Browning]

Try startisback or start8.

[Mike Henderson]

Those were mods to 8.0. 8.1 is already mostly like Win7.

It's not bad but there's no "start" button, and it starts up with the tiles. Then you have to switch from tiles to the classic interface. Also, it jumps back to tiles every now and then - for reasons I can't understand.

The system seems to be solid but the tile interface just gets in the way. I bought a small laptop for travel that came with Windows 8.1 - a Lenovo yoga 11S (11.6" screen), light weight, SSD drive, and pretty quick. It has a touch screen but I don't see much value in the touch screen. I heard of a recommended product that gives you the "start" button, just like Windows 7 and suppresses the tile interface and would like to know if anyone has used it (and what it's called).

Mike

[I just don't know what happened to Microsoft - I can't imagine any corporate user putting up with the tile interface.]

[Mike Henderson]

Try startisback or start8.

I heard of start8 and "classic shell". Any opinions between the two?

Mike

[Greg Peterson]

I have nothing related to the OP to offer.

That said, I do have a few things to say about 8.1. And 7 for that matter.

First, 8.1 is just the first major volley into unifying a commercially developed interface onto a mix of hardware appliances. This is a fairly radical step, IMO. But Apple and Google are doing this to, so at the very least it is the lay of the land today.

As for 8.1, I have to make a conscious effort to imagine I am using a rather large smartphone or tablet. Once use this mindset, the interface made a lot more sense. The problem with this interface is that using a finger on a touch screen is more intuitive than the mouse. And the mouse is a very poor substitute for a finger, when the interface is designed for the finger.

The rules of the interface we have known for twenty years or more, are now strangely inconsistent and contrary to what we know. Confounding is a polite word for what I think of it at times. And this is my primary complaint with 8.

I have other complaints about 8, but 7 is just as guilty as 8 when it comes to making it more difficult to get to the things I usually usually want to get to.

But all in all, I don't see any of the OS's out there really doing any significant innovating. The computer has changed in many ways, and does many things faster than before, but I'm sorry, dressing up the interface is just simply a way of distracting the customers from the fact that you have done next to nothing in terms of pushing the state of the art in a way that is meaningful.

[Greg R Bradley]

It's not bad but there's no "start" button, and it starts up with the tiles. Then you have to switch from tiles to the classic interface. Also, it jumps back to tiles every now and then - for reasons I can't understand.

The system seems to be solid but the tile interface just gets in the way. I bought a small laptop for travel that came with Windows 8.1 - a Lenovo yoga 11S (11.6" screen), light weight, SSD drive, and pretty quick. It has a touch screen but I don't see much value in the touch screen. I heard of a recommended product that gives you the "start" button, just like Windows 7 and suppresses the tile interface and would like to know if anyone has used it (and what it's called).

Mike

[I just don't know what happened to Microsoft - I can't imagine any corporate user putting up with the tile interface.]

That is pretty much correct in my opinion. I buy about 10 new user stations per month for corporate clients. All HP business units with a 8.1 license and Win 7 Pro installed because it actually works. If you look at HP's higher end units, the Z series workstations, NONE have Win8 or 8.1 installed. There are many more sales for phones and tablet where a touch screen actually works than there are for businesses or someone who is actually trying to get some work done. Can you imagine a typical business actually using touch screen monitors? They would end up with 100% Workman Comp claims. My arms and wrists hurt just thinking about it.

[Brett Robson]

I heard of start8 and "classic shell". Any opinions between the two?

Mike

I installed Classic Shell right after buying my Win8 machine. I have no complaints with it. It gives you a start button and all the folders and options we're accustomed to from older Windows versions.

[Larry Browning]

I heard of start8 and "classic shell". Any opinions between the two?

Mike

Mike,
There are lots of start button restorers out there these days and AFAIK they all work well. They are all very cheap (less than $10) or free. I chose startisback mainly because it comes with a 2 PC license and I needed it for 2 PCs. If you do a little research on google, you will find lots of info on all of them. I have to tell you, this one little utility changed my whole opinion about windows 8. It was the best $3 I ever spent on software. I haven't seen those stupid tiles in months and I couldn't be happier. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.

[Pat Barry]

Honestly, after using WIndows 8 and 8.1 for two years I hate one thing about it. The way the stupid thing always pops up the bar of options on the right side of the screen. I use the touchpad, not a mouse, and whenever I slide my finger from the right side of the pad to the center, which I do all the time, the stupid banner pops up and interupts my work. I don't mind the tiles themselves - thats just different and easy to deal with. Get rid of that stupid bar popping up and they would be on to something. They figure its useful - maybe for a touchscreen - its a major annoyance for a standard laptop. I have no idea if it makes a difference for someone using a mouse but I bet it does there also.

[Mike Henderson]

I went with start8 and it seems to work well.

Mike

[Larry Browning]

Honestly, after using WIndows 8 and 8.1 for two years I hate one thing about it. The way the stupid thing always pops up the bar of options on the right side of the screen. I use the touchpad, not a mouse, and whenever I slide my finger from the right side of the pad to the center, which I do all the time, the stupid banner pops up and interupts my work. I don't mind the tiles themselves - thats just different and easy to deal with. Get rid of that stupid bar popping up and they would be on to something. They figure its useful - maybe for a touchscreen - its a major annoyance for a standard laptop. I have no idea if it makes a difference for someone using a mouse but I bet it does there also.

Pat,
I use a mouse but I work about 99% of the time on the desktop, in fact I can't remember the last time I did anything from the tiles screen. The bar of options on the right side of the screen is called the charms menu and it pops up from the desktop as well. I tend to have the opposite problem with the mouse, I can't get it to popup when I want it to. However, if you install one of the little utilities we have been talking about, (at least StartIsBack) I am pretty sure you will have the ability to turn off that behavior. Seriously, it will be the best $3 you will ever spend on software.

[Curt Harms]

I have nothing related to the OP to offer.

That said, I do have a few things to say about 8.1. And 7 for that matter.

First, 8.1 is just the first major volley into unifying a commercially developed interface onto a mix of hardware appliances. This is a fairly radical step, IMO. But Apple and Google are doing this to, so at the very least it is the lay of the land today.

As for 8.1, I have to make a conscious effort to imagine I am using a rather large smartphone or tablet. Once use this mindset, the interface made a lot more sense. The problem with this interface is that using a finger on a touch screen is more intuitive than the mouse. And the mouse is a very poor substitute for a finger, when the interface is designed for the finger.

The rules of the interface we have known for twenty years or more, are now strangely inconsistent and contrary to what we know. Confounding is a polite word for what I think of it at times. And this is my primary complaint with 8.

I have other complaints about 8, but 7 is just as guilty as 8 when it comes to making it more difficult to get to the things I usually usually want to get to.

But all in all, I don't see any of the OS's out there really doing any significant innovating. The computer has changed in many ways, and does many things faster than before, but I'm sorry, dressing up the interface is just simply a way of distracting the customers from the fact that you have done next to nothing in terms of pushing the state of the art in a way that is meaningful.

You should have been on Ubuntu forums when their Unity interface first debuted . Opinions expressed there were ..... stronger .... than I've seen about Windows 8. Unity was released in a less finished state than Windows 8.0 which didn't help. But the problem was similar, a dramatically different user interface and for the same reason, looking toward touch/mobile interfaces. And like Windows 8 it didn't take long at all for 'more sane' alternatives to appear/ gain a larger following.

[Al Launier]

Hopefully this post doesn't detract from the overall theme of this thread.

A problem I've consistently had with W8.1 is with Windows Live Mail. My local provider is Comcast & it doesn't/didn't work with SMTP, only POP3, that is until very recently. It now uses SMTP for outgoing mail (code 587) & POP3 for incoming mail (code 995). I was frequently unable to send emails to group addresses. I would have to go to Control Panel / Program & Features / Select & Repair Windows Essentials 2012. I would have to do this almost on a daily basis. I even tried to uninstall Windows Essentials 2012 (several times to no avail). However, within the last 2-3 weeks, after calling Comcast (for the umpteenth time) & changing the code from 465 to 587, it seems to be working much better, although I've had a couple instances where I had to go through the "Repair" routine.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what did you do to correct the problem?