ISSUE : Downgrading Windows 8.1 to Windows 7

[Murdoch]

1 hour ago, Graf Zahl said:

 

The technical reason is that Microsoft added yet another way to make a menu that's incompatible with the old one.

The real question should be why they never stick to the tried and true, but constantly have to reinvent the wheel and causing interoperability issues with older software.

 

Exactly and yes the visual difference between the two menus is easy to see.

[Maes]

On 4/16/2022 at 7:50 PM, Graf Zahl said:

Should someone hijack your computer and it turns out this was due to gross negligence on your part (running an old OS would count!) you may be held liable for the damage.

 

That's hardly on the same league as e.g. owning firearms and not storing them securely (the legal requirements vary, but that usually means storing them separately from their ammunition, unloaded, and perhaps even in an armored cabinet/safe), only for them to be e.g. stolen and used in illicit activities. Sure, if you are a business which relies on data security/personal confidentiality, then stakes and expectations are higher, and there may be legal accountability in certain cases.

 

But FWIW I've never heard about victims of a botnet being held accountable for the botnet's misdeeds. But sure, you could attract unwanted law enforcement attention and waste their time and yours. OTOH I never heard of anyone -important- getting canned for e.g. data leaks from banks or public offices. Maybe some super low-level disposable IT dungeon grunt, and that's it.

[Edward850]

3 hours ago, Graf Zahl said:

No more drag & drop of files onto the icons to open the file with the selected app.

Right click->open with. That's what it's there for. You can still drag into shortcuts too. However likely that's been disabled because it ran in conflict with the same following problem:

3 hours ago, Graf Zahl said:

Forced grouping of multiple instances of the same app into the same icon with a very clunky selection interface for the multiple instances.

This doesn't really work with pinned programs, because this would mean the pinned icon somehow has multiple physical icons in the same taskbar. And frankly pinned programs are far more useful than some really specific style choice.

[Graf Zahl]

1 hour ago, Edward850 said:

Right click->open with. That's what it's there for. You can still drag into shortcuts too. However likely that's been disabled because it ran in conflict with the same following problem:

 

I know that function - you make the bogus assumption here that a) the file is being dragged from Explorer and b) getting entangled in the file association setup is wanted.

BTW, "Send to..." tends to work better than "Open with..." anyway if you add a link there. Due to lack of drag&drop my list there got quite a bit longer than under Windows 8.1.

 

 

Quote

This doesn't really work with pinned programs, because this would mean the pinned icon somehow has multiple physical icons in the same taskbar. And frankly pinned programs are far more useful than some really specific style choice.

 

Yes, the pinned program then has more than one icon in the taskbar indeed, one for each open instance. This has been working fine in the past without issues, and it still does with a non-broken taskbar replacement.

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by Graf Zahl

[AndrewB]

1 hour ago, Edward850 said:

Right click->open with. That's what it's there for.

 

Any time a common action requires more inputs or more time/effort than before, that is a downgrade in the UI. Once you have 10 or 20 of these little downgrades, the OS itself becomes a significant downgrade.

 

UI matters.

[HavoX]

13 hours ago, Spineapple tea said:

How is this thread two pages long?

Make that three pages. :-p

But at least it's been civilized (so far) and there's a lot of good points.

Edited April 19, 2022 by HavoX
damn typos!

[Frost-Core]

15 hours ago, Murdoch said:

 

Ah... why not just get a wireless mouse?

 

As for metro, as others have pointed out, get Classic Shell.

I actually had my wireless mouse's battery go down, but it charged back after i disconnected it and left it for DAYS, one thing is that when i open up PC Settings in 8.1,  it reopens, its so annoying microsoft u suck, i use classic shell for the stuff

[ChopBlock223]

31 minutes ago, Frost-Core said:

I actually had my wireless mouse's battery go down, but it charged back after i disconnected it and left it for DAYS

I only use mice which take AA or AAA batteries, as I can then instantly swap them when they go dry, and not have to stop using it as I wait for it to charge.

 

Oh, I could use one with a fixed lithium battery while the cable is connected, but that eliminates the point and comfort of it being wireless. Two AAs last months anyway and swap in seconds, and the mouse tells you well ahead of time when it starts running low.

[MFG38]

9 hours ago, Edward850 said:

if your problem is icons being in the centre [...] then you can just move them to the left, it's literally an option.

 

An option that's only in Win11 Pro and it doesn't even keep it there unless you activate a license for the OS.

[Edward850]

4 hours ago, MFG38 said:

 

An option that's only in Win11 Pro and it doesn't even keep it there unless you activate a license for the OS.

That's quite untrue. I'm running home on one machine and it has the option fine.

[MFG38]

16 hours ago, Edward850 said:

That's quite untrue. I'm running home on one machine and it has the option fine.

 

I stand corrected then.