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Windows 8 - BEWARE !

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Peter Bentley 彭达理
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« on: October 18, 2014, 11:35:57 am »

Hi  All,

I mentioned  a  while  back that  I  recently  bought  a new  lap  top  for my  home  use  in retirement ( Lenovo  X240) ,  which  my  company's   software  guy  has now  set  up   in my  home  in tandem  with my  5- year old Lenovo  X201S + Windows  XP    in a  very "cool"  home office    configuration with a   2  GB back-up  remote  wifi  home  server .....  all  very  "cool" (also very  cheap )

If  any of  you  are  computer  nerds ( or even  semi-nerds) ,  you   will  know    that    the  highly  reliable Windows  XP is  now  extinct,  insofar  that     MSN  no  longer   supports  the  software   with updates.  (But of  course the   software   still  runs  flawlessly).

When  buying  my  new  laptop  I  therefore   took  careful  advice  as  to  what  software  to  buy,  and  was  strongly advised   NOT  to  go  for  Windows  8, so  I  took  Windows  7  instead.  So far,  zero  problems. Just a  couple of  updates per month,  which  was  also the  case   with  XP  in the past

But,  I  was  very  impressed when  visiting   Singapore a  couple  of weeks   ago   at  how  handy a   tablet  / notebook - type  (  'Ipad"  type)    computer  can be   for   convenience  and  instant   viewing,   so  I  decided to  buy  one just  for   carrying  my  data  base  and  instant  viewing.

No other   reason.

So I  went to my local  computer   supermarket  (which,  living  in  the  heart  of  Wanchai, HK  is  just  at the   ground  floor  in my  apartment  block !)   and  bought  the  simplest  / cheapest  "Ipad"   type   tablet   I  could  find  for the ridiculously tiny  sum  of   US$300. 

It's  an  Acer , made  in Taiwan,  which  amazingly  came  with  a   Intel  Micropressor *, fully  legal Windows  8  and   even   Norton   anti-virus ! 

Totally  amazing  value  for  money considering  that  I  just spent  more   than that  to   get a    simple    custom-made rosewood  stand  made  for  an  antique Gurkha   "Kukri"  knife, and   I also  spent  even  less   than that  to  buy a  complete new  set of   good   quality dining chairs!

Long  spiel  but  here's  the    rub....

The   Acer  tablet    indeed came with  fully  legal  Windows  8 , and  the  moment  I  turned  it  on  it  auto-linked   with my  home  wifi  and self-guided  me  through a  few  set-up  steps -  just  as  if   there  was a   computer   consultant  sitting  in my  home. Within  half  an  hour  I  had  all my  hotmail,  the  Forum,  Google,  all  my  favorite  websites...  everything  working   which  required  (for  me)  an  IQ /  software nerd-ness   level  of   less  than  plant life  to  manage .   Totally amazing

But   still  the rub....

Almost every time  I   turn  on the  tablet  there's   a  message   which  says  that  Windows   needs  to  install  another 20,  30,  50,  80   updates   so  " please  do not  turn off  your  computer" .   I then have  to  leave the  tablet  running  - sometimes  for  hours -  until the  updates  have  finished   downloading  and  self-installing. And I mean   HOURS  :  impossible   except    on battery   charge. In the  meantime the  tablet  is  useless.

When I  mentioned this  to  my  company  software  guy  he  said  ( and I  quote)  :  "that's  exactly   why  I  told   you  NOT  to  buy  Windows 8  for   your  new  laptop  !  With  Windows  8   you  literally  have  to  keep  your    laptop /  tablet...    running  24/7  just to keep  up  with  the  updates"

Wow !

It's  like  buying a  new  car  and  then  being  told  to  send  it  back to the   dealer  every  other day  for  an  upgrade....

The  moral of this   story  is  :   stick   with  Windows  7 !

Cheers

Peter

* For  super  super  nerds:    the  Acer  came  with  a   32  GB   Hard Drive. I  naively  thought  this  meant   32  GB  of  free  memory   space,  so  I  could   easily  slot  in my   12  GB    VMIPB Data  Base.  But  NO!    About   25 GB of the  HD was   already  occupied  by    Windows 8  software,  so   all that  was  left  was  7  GB.  Thus  I  had  to  fork  out  another  US$ 40   for  a   slot-in  mini  SD  32  GB memory   stick to  expand  the  memory .  Lesson  learned !







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rpfstoneman
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« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2014, 12:15:31 pm »

 
Peter,

I'm the furthest thing from a nerd, so my knowledge is somewhat limited.  I did however purchase a Lenovo MT-20283 ideapad (a thin laptop) this last spring and it currently has Windows 8.1.  Other then it being a pain in the ass to learn the new format, it is working fine as my main computer at home and on the road, and I'm not experiencing any of the upload issues you are having.  Having the multi-use of a wireless mouse, the touch pad with a touch screen is a new experience for me for I have not delve into the smart phone market yet.     

Charll
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Charll K Stoneman, Eureka, California USA, Collector Since 1979.

Peter Bentley 彭达理
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« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2014, 12:41:27 pm »

Hi Charll

Glad  to  know  you   you are  not  experiencing the  same  teething   problems  as  my  Acer  tablet !

It's  possible  that  Acer   because  it's  a  budget  - but - licensed   Intel/  MSN  manufacturer    only   issues    an  early  Windows  8  version

I'm not a   computer  nerd  so  I  don't  know  these  things

But  what  I  DO  know   is 

1.  Our  HK   local  software    consultant    warned  all  my company's  staff  off  Windows 8

2.  Our  Head  Office   software   dept  refuses  to   authorize  use  of  Windows   8  on  all   company     computers    which are  paid  for   directly   from  HO  ( !)

Anyway... we live  and  learn.

It  was  truly amazing   to see  how  my  new  Acer  tablet   wriggled  its  way  into my  home   wifi  network  like a  little    rabbit    burying  in deep  into a  home   burrow  ! 

Beware  ! Bill Gates  and  the  NSA  are  watching  us  all !

Cheers

Peter

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rpfstoneman
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« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2014, 12:47:37 pm »


Quote
Beware!  Bill Gates  and  the  NSA  are  watching  us  all!

Yes, Peter I know.  Wink  Charll
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Charll K Stoneman, Eureka, California USA, Collector Since 1979.

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