[PCWorld]

Post your comments for How to get a new PC that runs Windows 7, not Windows 8 here

[Francois3000]

I do technical support in small businesses and know my clients(users) strenghts and weaknesses. When I install Win8, I customise their live tiles(Start) in such a way that they can easily find the programs they normally use. I customise their desktops in same way(all shortcuts where they are used to them. An extra halfhour to show them how to navigate, show them a few fun things in the apps, and they are hooked. Win8 for me is so much better than Win7. I think people are so scared of a bit of change, that they do not want to challenge anything in life anymore. Yet, give them a new smartphone, and they can work it in a short span of time. Make computing fun again! and half the fight is won.

[gfinms]

Microsoft will be doing us all a favor, if a SP restores the traditional UI in Windows 8. Give the Desktop user the option, and all the criticism ends. Forcing the current Windows 8 UI, on ones that do not want it, is not good business

[WinMac]

Batsu no warui

It's got be embarrassing to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer that PC users have to take such steps to bypass a newly minted OS that they have spent years developing. If Steve Ballmer was Japanese he would have to commit Seppuku. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai but in this case I think no one will stop him.

[laserw]

This article is almost 100% fact-free - at least at Dell it is hard to find a Windows 8 machine in most lineups. I refuse to settle for that sluggish operating system after having experienced EIGHT.

[astringbassman]

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This article is almost 100% fact-free - at least at Dell it is hard to find a Windows 8 machine in most lineups. I refuse to settle for that sluggish operating system after having experienced EIGHT.

Are you sure about that? Your comment doesnt make a lot of sense.

[thewazak]

More of the usual media anti-MS garbage ..........
Yawn.
When will these dumb-bums just accept that W8 is simply W7 on steroids?
Oh, heaven forbid that a user may have to press a different key now and again. What a tragedy!
I can understand why a satisfied W7 user with no immediate use for touch would not upgrade for now - but new computers?
"Oh I'm frikened! It's a bit different! Panic!"

[RockhoundsRock]

Why should an IT worker have to "configure" a user's desktop to more easily access programs they normally use? It seems Microsoft wants something more from its end-users than a mere GUI interaction. Typical PC environment. One spends money to buy a system that has to be "UN-convoluted" just to get it to do basic program utilization. In MS's intent to make something easier, it actually has made things much more complicated.
PC users, quite playing around with pretty interfaces and buy into a platform that works... right out of the box! Mac!

[LiveBrianD]

Fortunately, I think business machines will have 7 as an option for a while. (for 2 years after 8 was released I think - hopefully they'll have fixed it by then, and if not, most business machines have drivers for much older OSes - you can even run XP on new machines if you want) Heck, 7 is even the default on most Thinkpad configurations right now. I wonder if that says anything about 8's popularity...

[slamdunk]

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I do technical support in small businesses and know my clients(users) strenghts and weaknesses. When I install Win8, I customise their live tiles(Start) in such a way that they can easily find the programs they normally use. I customise their desktops in same way(all shortcuts where they are used to them. An extra halfhour to show them how to navigate, show them a few fun things in the apps, and they are hooked. Win8 for me is so much better than Win7. I think people are so scared of a bit of change, that they do not want to challenge anything in life anymore. Yet, give them a new smartphone, and they can work it in a short span of time. Make computing fun again! and half the fight is won.

You just compared a desktop OS to a mobile OS adoption. Apples and Oranges. The reality is that Windows 8 was built for more of a touchscreen application which few if any people have any use for if they are a traditional desktop user.

I love change if it is better. Windows 8 for phones is nice and smooth and makes sense from what I see. For Desktop purposes I am thinking why bother? What am I getting, that is significantly beneficial, that I don't already have or use on Windows 7?

Obviously alot of people are thinking the same way I am. My experience has been that is best to entire skip every other update cycle from MS. Generally a waste of money and time for most people. Most people should just do a clean install of windows 7 and wham!!! it is almost like a new PC!

[krm1255]

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I do technical support in small businesses and know my clients(users) strenghts and weaknesses. When I install Win8, I customise their live tiles(Start) in such a way that they can easily find the programs they normally use. I customise their desktops in same way(all shortcuts where they are used to them. An extra halfhour to show them how to navigate, show them a few fun things in the apps, and they are hooked. Win8 for me is so much better than Win7. I think people are so scared of a bit of change, that they do not want to challenge anything in life anymore. Yet, give them a new smartphone, and they can work it in a short span of time. Make computing fun again! and half the fight is won.

[krm1255]

No, permissions do not work. I also do tech support for small businesses and their independent software titles don't freakin' work, even though Microsoft says they will. They work on Windows 7 computers, so it is not the vendors' fault.

When an executable won't run even as elevated, UAC turned off, and permissions set as wide open as I know how, that's a Windows 8 problem. I can only conclude you haven't had to deal with this yet or you're just telling your clients to call the independent software vendor, which will get them nowhere.

[a161]

@Francois3000: Good point, I agree. I've had similar experiences with clients. Get them started, have fun and usually they'll thrive on their own.

I like W8. IMHO it doesn't deserve all the bad press. It has significant improvements. Also Windows 8 brings needed competition especially in the tablet and smartphone arena. Things are interesting with iOS, Android, Win8 and Tizen/FirefoxOS, Ubuntu, BB, and any others.

[MKZ1945]

It’s a good article at the right time. It also paints the picture I would expect, and from what I have seen from my own research. You can still get computers with Windows 7, but most are going to be put together with small business users in mind, or in short, on lower end machines. They are less expensive and really don’t require A processor designed for gaming to be productive. My main desktop computer is custom built to my specifications, but you can think of it as a high end 64 bit, 6 cores, i7 gaming machine. I had it delivered with no operating system and loaded Win 7 pro on it along with Office and other software I needed. I’m saying that to say this. I also use my Windows XP dual core Laptop occasionally with Office on it. It was high end about 7 years ago maybe, but today it would probably be hard to give away. Regardless, when it comes to running Office and other business software I need, the difference between the two machines in performance is hardly noticeable except when getting into multi-media areas.

Now, on to a related subject. Even I have referred to Windows 8 as basically being Windows 7 with a bunch of bells and Whistles. That is not entirely 100% true. Some of the code in Windows 8 is noticeably different in the performance area. An example I can give is that one of my more recent multi-media programs that I have is much faster in Windows 8 than in Windows 7. The reason why is that Windows 8 more effectively uses the processing power of my machine than does Windows 7. I can see this with a little utility called “Core Temp”. The same thing occurs with a couple of games.

Although I also have my business software loaded into Windows 8 and it seems to function as well as in Windows 7, I do not use it for working on my clients projects. There are two reasons why. I’ve not seen any difference at all in performance in either operating system for what I use it for. The most significant reason is that Windows 8 still does not have a proven track record for that use yet in my opinion, and since the code is different, I’m not sure what clashes might occur with the business software that would cause accuracy or other problems.

One of the great lines in the article is “In the end, don't trust what salespeople tell you.” I’ve stopped that a long time ago when I had to educate some of them on what they were trying to sell me. True with cars and electronic gadgets. Additionally, don’t trust what Microsoft might be telling you about how long they’ll be supporting Windows 7. Look how long they have extended their support of Windows XP. With most of the businesses I know either moving or having moved to Windows 7 from XP, do you really believe that they will stop supporting Windows 7 in 2015? Of course, they used the term “mainstream” so you can take that for what it’s worth. It’s the kind of crap I would expect out of Ballmer’s mouth, but I don’t buy it. I expect it’s just another ploy to try to get some to bypass Windows 7 for Windows 8. After all, he is just an overpaid sales person.

I’m not anti-Windows 8 like some here, but be smart people. Before you shop for anything, know what you need it for and insure it will support those needs. In addition, as with me and some others have found out, If you are looking at a new computer and you are moving up to a 64 bit machine from 32 bits, you better expect some software compatibility issues with some that ran well on your 32 bit computer. Your old legacy programs are probably going to be useless with the upgrade.

[orlbuckeye]

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I do technical support in small businesses and know my clients(users) strenghts and weaknesses. When I install Win8, I customise their live tiles(Start) in such a way that they can easily find the programs they normally use. I customise their desktops in same way(all shortcuts where they are used to them. An extra halfhour to show them how to navigate, show them a few fun things in the apps, and they are hooked. Win8 for me is so much better than Win7. I think people are so scared of a bit of change, that they do not want to challenge anything in life anymore. Yet, give them a new smartphone, and they can work it in a short span of time. Make computing fun again! and half the fight is won.

You just compared a desktop OS to a mobile OS adoption. Apples and Oranges. The reality is that Windows 8 was built for more of a touchscreen application which few if any people have any use for if they are a traditional desktop user.
I love change if it is better. Windows 8 for phones is nice and smooth and makes sense from what I see. For Desktop purposes I am thinking why bother? What am I getting, that is significantly beneficial, that I don't already have or use on Windows 7?
Obviously alot of people are thinking the same way I am. My experience has been that is best to entire skip every other update cycle from MS. Generally a waste of money and time for most people. Most people should just do a clean install of windows 7 and wham!!! it is almost like a new PC!

I went put and purchased a Windows 8 laptop on black friday just to learn Windows 8. The machine is an Acer 15.6" with touch screen and a backlit keyboard. I purchased touch but I use a mouse 99.9% of the time (the only time I use touch is to get top the charms menu. I love using the mouse to get to switch between apps. I alos use the Desktop 99.8% of the time and don't miss the start button at all. I have all my fav programs in the taskbar or shortcuts on the desktop. I did click the control panel option for quick access to the control panel. I kept my windows 7 laptop which is true Hi DEF and has an 18.4" screen. I love using my windows 8 machine to remote my machine at work. I use Juno to connect to my work network (desktop app) and then I use the the Remote Desktop app I downloaded from the Store to login to my pc. Eventhough the resolution is lower I now always use my Windows 8 machine. I did install Start8 but it slowed me down and now I wish MS never had a start button in their OS.

[orlbuckeye]

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Fortunately, I think business machines will have 7 as an option for a while. (for 2 years after 8 was released I think - hopefully they'll have fixed it by then, and if not, most business machines have drivers for much older OSes - you can even run XP on new machines if you want) Heck, 7 is even the default on most Thinkpad configurations right now. I wonder if that says anything about 8's popularity...

I think that depends on how you buy computers. My company has over 2000 computers and we purchase computers we get the current OS installed. Because we replace we still own the old license. Righr now our standard is still XP but our new PC's we order are with Windows 7. We take our image and install that no matter what OS is on the machine. We do have exceptions as some of our enterprise software requires certain version of browsers. We also have Sharepoint apps and those require IE. My PC here at work was purchased in 08 and it has the sticker for Vista but I have XP installed. Now if they upgrade me to Windows 7 we would have to purchase the license since my machine is licensed for Vista and below.

[AsokAsus]

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I do technical support in small businesses and know my clients(users) strenghts and weaknesses. . Make computing fun again! and half the fight is won.

Really? You do tech support for small businesses and half the fight is to make computing "fun". Too funny, paid MicroShill! Too funny.

I make my living doing exactly what you claim to do, and have for years. Not one single time have I had a business customer demand to have me make computing "more fun". Not one single time. And none were "afraid" of change either. They all, however, detested pointless, useless, productivity-killing change simply for the sake of change.

[AsokAsus]

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More of the usual media anti-MS garbage .......... Yawn. When will these dumb-bums just accept that W8 is simply W7 on steroids? Oh, heaven forbid that a user may have to press a different key now and again. What a tragedy! I can understand why a satisfied W7 user with no immediate use for touch would not upgrade for now - but new computers? "Oh I'm frikened! It's a bit different! Panic!"

I'm sick to death of this MicroShill claim that people are "afraid" of change just because they don't like something new because the new things sucks. There are tons of new things that are awful and not as good as the old things. Edsel, New Coke, Microsoft Bob, Vista, Olestra, Qwikster, Zune, The Newton Apple, Segway, and a few 100 other equally hated products. Are all the people who hated these things "afraid" of change. (BTW, notice that Microsoft dominates in terms of sheer numbers of product disasters?)

Also, change simply for the sake of change is worse than useless; it's a direct inhibitor of ease of use and productivity. Why doesn't Honda replace the old-fashioned steering-wheel on all of their car models with a floor tiller that you bat back and forth with your feet, move the starter into the glove box, and put the brake pedal next to the radio? That would be a new, "modern" interface wouldn't it, replacing that simply antique, fuddy-duddy, old-fashioned set of controls that have been around for a hundred years? Would you label anyone who didn't like that "afraid" of change?

[BulldogXX]

It's getting easier to spot the professional posters, since they're sounding more and more like their paymaster in Redmond.

The current round of talking points are created to make people who don't like the "Modern" interface look like curmudgeons or backward or resistant to change.

Microsoft must know that if they allow users to choice between the "Modern" interface and the Windows 7 interface, Modern loses. Instead, they tried to force the new interface on us. And now they're trying to belittle anyone who who doesn't accept it with open arms.

Can you see Steve Ballmer in a toga playing the violin?

[BearPup]

Or, you can do what I did: buy a refurbished new PC (laptop). My newly refurbished Dell Latitude came with Windows 7 pre-installed with a Windows 7 System Disk as well. No bloatware either. It was a true bargain @ $210 with 2 Gb RAM @ 2.00 GHz; its cruisin'!