[Skyking747]

PC world, Windows 8 is not a mystery game to be solved like on my kids Xbox, but rather a full scale debacle. It really is a bad product. What astounded me was when MS WIN 8 techies confirmed what internet provider, (Road Runner) techies told me..."OUTLOOK 2010 does not work with Windows 8, no POP3". So, no more excuses and no more wasted time. Life is too short and my time is too precious to waste it trying to defeat de-bug what the arrogantly oblivious programers at MS have been allowed to create. Waste your time as you see fit but I am returning my new WIN 8 computer and will go shopping for a MAC.

[Skyking747]

Hemo2 said:

In a corporate environment, Microsoft published how to 'brand' your computers by setting a pre-selected image as your lock/logon screen. This no longer works in Windows 8 and there is currently NO solution to 'brand' your lock screen in Windows 8 with a pre-selected image from your organization. ALSO, there is no ability what so ever to display an image at the "logon" screen. (In Windows 8, the 'lock' and 'logon' screens are now 2 seperate screens.) AND Microsoft removed the ability to use your own images as a background for the Metro (Start Screen). AND, Microsoft made it impossible to replace the 6 default lock screen images you see in your 'Personal Settings' area corporate environments are stuck with the RIDICULOUS cartoon image of the Seattle Space Needle as the image that 'brands' their computers! There is a (very) difficult way to replace these 6 images, BUT, the thumbnails still show the old Microsoft images, thus, you really can't solve this problem! Not to mention, you can NOT pre-set a registry key in your Default User Registry Hive to simply pre-select the lock screen image you want! And to make matters worse, you can put all your custom images from your organization into the C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper folder for use as 'desktop' backgrounds, but your users can NOT use any of these images as a 'lock' screen background because Microsoft prevents your from browsing to this folder in the Personal Settings! AND let's not forget that you can NOT pre-customize the Metro (Start Screen) for your Default User Profile by adding/removing apps, organizing them, creating groups, etc.!!!! Basically my point is Microsoft has added another 'annoyance' to this long list of annoyances in that Windows 8 can NOT be customized in a corporate environment so you can deploy a common look and feel the way your organization wants, nor can you properly setup the Default User Profile in a manner you want so any new user that logs in will inherit a default look and feel and settings. And there aren't any acceptable solutions, or work aroudns for this. In other words, Windows 8 was designed for home use and not a real corporate or enterprise environment. (Which brings you to the only conclusion you can come to, which is Windows 8 is all about the "Store" as a money gold mine for Microsoft profits, and really isn't about functionality or work environments.)

[Skyking747]

I totally agree. It's just not very functional, which is sad as I need a functional computer for my business world dealings. So maybe a better story would be... Windows 8 Stinks, Now What? Really, what are my options if I chose to avoid this train wreck?

[LiveBrianD]

Skyking747, on 03 May 2013 - 05:41 PM, said:

PC world, Windows 8 is not a mystery game to be solved like on my kids Xbox, but rather a full scale debacle. It really is a bad product. What astounded me was when MS WIN 8 techies confirmed what internet provider, (Road Runner) techies told me..."OUTLOOK 2010 does not work with Windows 8, no POP3". So, no more excuses and no more wasted time. Life is too short and my time is too precious to waste it trying to defeat de-bug what the arrogantly oblivious programers at MS have been allowed to create. Waste your time as you see fit but I am returning my new WIN 8 computer and will go shopping for a MAC.

Windows 8 is just as compatible as 7, for the most part. (though there are some issues with sound drivers in a few cases) However, the built-in Mail app DOESN'T support POP3 - that might be where they got it from. (not that it's worth using anyway, as it seems a lot worse than outlook.com, which isn't even a desktop client) Office 2010 runs just fine under 8.

[lwestbr]

I am new to Win8, I have no pwd on Windows, however, today when I brought up my laptop it says it's locked. Is there some way to circumvent this lockout. I hit enter it brings up my name and locked with Welcome then quickly disappears...it is the blue screen of death! HELP!!!

[slimslob]

One thing that I did not see mentioned: If I wanted to play Xbox games, I would have purchased a Xbox game console not a laptop computer. How can I copy the Windows games from either XP or Vista as that is what my older laptops are.