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Can (and Should) You Continue to Use Windows 8 or ? - Make Tech Easier - Available on

 

In this respect, Windows 8 and 8. Windows XP users could do this by installing Launchy. This is one area where the Start option is quicker and cleaner, and you're not doing yourself any favours by ignoring it.

If you don't like the Start screen, you can configure Windows 8. To do this, type nav into the Search box and click the top option. The old-fashioned desktop approach is to right-click the Taskbar, select Properties, go to the Navigation tab, and check the box that says: "Go to the desktop instead of Start when I sign in". Alternatively, you can do it via the Control Panel: look for "Appearance and Personalization" or "Taskbar and Navigation".

This does not remove the Start screen, nor does it bring back the old menu system, so you may want to stick with Classic Shell. However, you can bring up a useful menu by pressing the Windows key and X, and this offers more functions in Windows 8.

This pop-up menu also provides easily accessible restart and shutdown options. There are many other improvements to Windows 8. Most of the "tablet" apps have been improved, including the Bing-based apps Weather, Finances, News Sports etc , Xbox Music which now has a free radio feature , and Xbox Video.

Since these "modern" apps are quick and convenient, I can't see any reason not to use them. They work very well with a mouse with a scroll-wheel, as hundreds of YouTube videos attest. It does have a learning curve, but if you can be bothered to learn it, it's excellent. This is not to be despised, it's the future.

In fact, quite a few users are still sticking to Windows 7, and that operating system lost all support back in January As it turns out, losing support does not immediately mean the operating system is a sitting duck in the cybersecurity world. By deploying a solid antivirus, maintaining a good firewall, and staying safe while online, you can continue using an old operating system.

In fact, these are all points we covered in our guide to securing Windows 7 past its support deadline. If you want to continue to use Windows 8 or 8.

However, for those looking to upgrade to Windows 10, a few options are still available. We have an extensive tutorial on how to use the Windows 10 media creation tool showing all detailed steps. You need to at least purchase a valid license of Windows 10 for activation. Some users claimed that they are still able to get the free upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 8. We cannot verify these claims.

You can try it out and see if you can get the upgrade for free. If not, you will have to buy the Windows 10 license online. There are new hardware and software requirements , and it may not be very easy to fulfill the compatibility needs.

The other hardware requirements include WDDM 2. Yes, you can. Although the error was partially corrected by Windows 8. Windows 10 puts that right, albeit with an imperfect hybrid of the Windows 7 Start menu and Windows 8 Start screen.

On desktops and laptops, the Start menu emerges from the bottom-left corner of the screen, with most-used programs listed down the left-hand side, along with a link to an A-Z listing of all installed apps, while the right-hand side shows the Live Tiles of the Windows 8 era.

On tablets, it works very similarly to the way it did under Windows 8. We still think there's work to be done with the tiled section of the Start menu. With four different tile sizes and an awkward drag-and-drop system, it's too easy to end up with an untidy, gap-strewn mish-mash of tiles.

And once you've got more than a few live tiles activated, your screen can start to look like a Las Vegas casino, with a wall of rotating, scrolling squares each trying to catch your eye. Yet, it's undoubtedly an improvement on what went before for non-touchscreen devices. Other notable new additions are the Cortana search bar in the bottom left of the Taskbar. We'll talk more about Cortana later, but the search bar lets you enter voice or typed searches for apps or files stored on your PC.

You can click the My Stuff button in search results to perform more advanced searches of your own files, which certainly makes it easier to hunt down specific files than with Windows 8. However, we still find it easier to instigate advanced searches from within Files Explorer called Windows Explorer in 8.

Windows 10 did eventually add the option to search emails through this box, which is a great addition. Talking of Files Explorer, that's had a refresh too. Aside from a stark new set of icons, Explorer now has a Quick Access view which shows your most frequently opened folders at the top of the window, with a list of recently accessed files just below, making it easier to quickly pick up where you left off on files that are nested deep in folders.

You can still pin your favourite folders to the left-hand pane of Files Explorer, but this does create some duplication with the frequent folders pane just next to it, whilst the Libraries first introduced in Windows 7 are now almost hidden from view. The new Explorer is a modest improvement on Windows 8. One significant new interface element for businesses is virtual desktops. An idea brazenly lifted from the Linux world, Windows 10's virtual desktops let you keep different sets of apps open in different desktops.

You might, for example, have one desktop dedicated to communications with, say, Outlook, Slack and Skype running and another for work on a particular project Excel and a web browser. It allows you to compartmentalise your work, and avoid having desktops cluttered with several open windows, but it's frustrating that many apps designed to run full-screen on a touchscreen can only occupy a single desktop.

Winner : Windows 10 corrects most of Windows 8's ills with the Start screen, whilst revamped file management and virtual desktops are potential productivity boosters. An outright victory for desktop and laptop users. Even though it was the biggest overhaul of the OS since Windows 95, Windows 8 was remarkably stable and bug-free from the get-go. When it was first introduced, the Windows 8 Store felt half-baked. In Windows 8.

Having all of your software under one roof is a convenient way of working, and apps update automatically now as well. The Store has a new look, with at-a-glance descriptions and ratings that make it easier to sort through recommended programs and games so you can spot the best of the new apps on the platform. Like SkyDrive, Skype is an essential part of the Windows experience in 8. Right from the lock screen, Microsoft promises Skype will be "front and center" which may sound appealing or off-putting depending on whether you prefer Google Hangouts.

More tech-savvy users who enjoy a poke around in their computer settings may have given Windows 8 a miss because of the hodgepodge created by the Start screen PC Settings app and the familiar desktop Control Panel. Windows 8. Hang back and you run the risk of getting left behind.