OT: Windows 8.1

[Bill]

I thought I'd ask here as a dedicated Win8 newsgroup produced no answers, possibly because I come across as more Victor Meldrewish every day.

One scenario that I'm trying to get to grips with is my son's need for a machine that will cope with serious work on long rail journeys. Separately, I'm playing, seeing if I can cobble together something for a surveyor friend to use for onsite sketches and text. This might form the basis of a later full report

Son had to move from an Acer Windows 8 tablet convertible (hopeless to work on) to a Macbook Air running Win7 in a virtual machine, but complains about battery life.

So, I have a nice little old Lenovo X200T dual booting running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. For under 1/10th the cost, I think it out performs both the Acer and the Mac, but ........

To download anything from the Windows Apps store, W8 insists that the local login, which ensures the machine is recognised and usable on the local home business network, is _converted_ to a login that uses the Microsoft account name as the username. This displays the username, typically one's email address, in big letters across the top of the W8 big blob screen. So it would only take a quick glance for a fellow passenger to take a mental note of the online username and spy on the password.

I appreciate that it is possible to create another user with the original local username so that the machine will once again become usable on the home network and be more secure, but who wants multiple sets of AppData etc.?

In case the Linux chorus is booting up, I am also trying Android in a VM on Mint, but that isn't going too well and anyway I don't think it will run many of the Windows programs too well..

[Bob Henson]

Dual Boot? Why not just delete the Windows 8 and put it in the bin where it belongs? Then you won't need to solve the log-on problem.

[Tim Watts]

The correct way to get help on any forum full of MS fanbois is to preface the question like this:

sucks and Windows 8.1 sucks. This would not be a problem on Linux.

You will get flamed, but the flames will also contain the fix "just to prove you wrong".

The correct answer to all of this as you have almost alluded to is contained within your last paragraph

[news]

Does the Windows 8 login system not allow "2 stage login" (like Gmail and the Microsoft "Sky Drive" where as well as login and password a code number is sent to a mobile phone. This only needs to be done once on "trusted" machines ie the laptop, but would prevent an overlooked login and password being any use.

[news]

More info here

[Lee]

Is there really anything on the Windows Apps store which is a 'must have'? Haven't found anything myself ;) Ditch the Metro/ModernUI/whatever the crap is called these days and run in desktop mode - problem solved,surely?

[Bob H]

I have windows 8.1 running on my laptop, and I have disabled/ditched the said Metro/Modern UI, and use desktop mode. After installing a start button, it is just like windows 7 except a different background image and not many programs yet.

Some might ask why have I got it, but the only honest answer I can give is that I am a sucker for wanting to try out new operating systems.

[Johny B Good]

Well, there's no shame in admitting to such a 'healthy curiousity' (how else do get to know about the "Quirks" of the latest MS windows without spending _MY_ hard earned cash?).

I'm afraid to admit it, but I lost my 'curiousity' with MS windows when I saw how MS had cynically "Child Proofed" the win2k UI with that festering PoS known as winXP (that and the fact that they gave explorer a 'lobotomy' to boot).

[dennis]

I don't know what you have done but my win 8.1 desktop doesn't display any login credentials, except for when you are logging in.

[Bill]

In message , news writes

If I've understood this correctly, it would make things more secure, but would not alter the fact that the default login to get what presumably ought to be perceived as advantages eg apps, sky drive etc. is different from the login used as part of the local network.

It just seems totally wrong that the OS forces you to login in a special way and then displays part of the login credentials on one of the major screens.

[Steve]

Bill brought next idea :

Ditch the hideous crap that is Win 8 and just use Win 7. If yiou feel you MUST torture yourself with 8, install Classic Shell

or equivalent and make it look like 7.

[Bill]

I was referring to the Metro, Start or whatever it is called today screen.

I only have 90 days with this trial W 8.1 version before it turns back into the ugly sister (or is that the wrong way round?), and I'm trying to get into the mindset of the developers.

I was originally looking at my pen-convertible tablet laptops as a way of controlling virtual audio mixers, but the reason that wouldn't do what I wanted is another story. At the same time son bought and later sold his convertible Acer. Then along came the surveyor saying he was looking for a way to draw and write on-site. I'd seen the One Note app (which I understand is different from the other One Note?), and it looked part way there. Being able to poke or draw with a pen and/or finger seemed a reason for giving a little consideration to the big square button screens as a way of working, rather than just giving in and turning it back into W7.

The pen on the x200T is precise and works well ( and one finger works on one machine as well), but son couldn't find any way of getting accurate and pressure sensitive pen work to be any use on the Acer.

I'm genuinely trying to be open minded and use what Microsoft has provided.

[Adrian]

If he made the MacBook dual-boot, rather than running Windows in a VM, he'd find a big battery saving, I'm sure. Running a VM is not the most light-of-footprint jobs, with two OS and the VM manager running and demanding processor power.

That is, of course, assuming he needs Win apps rather than just being able to find something MacOS to do the job.

[Bill]

In message , Adrian writes

I know virtually nothing about what he is doing but he was at one stage running Parallels. I know he has tried various other ways of working.

I think Matlab is involved.

My surveyor went out and bought an iPad. I don't know how he is getting on with that, either.

I'm just a simple user who thinks I should be able to just open the lid and go. My biggest problem is the hairs that keep falling out and getting under the keyboard keys, so tablet working has some advantages.

[chris French]

youngest daughter got a new laptop for xmas, it has W8.1 on it.

I use it occasionally, can't say I have any problem with w8 really. don't really miss the start menu, don't think I use it much on my w7 machines anyway.

I do think moving between Metro and normal desktop a little jarring and that aspect needs work, bt then once i;m using it, I don't really leave the desktop. Daughter seems to happily flick back and fourth between the two

[dennis]

[Bill]

In message , "dennis@home" writes

Well, I don't know what I have done either, but my "Start" screen says Start on the left and on the right at the top, my email address as used for the Microsoft login.

I have searched menus, put in my name as " x x " and done everything I can think of but still my email address is there, and the local login was forced to change to this login when I went to the app store intending to try "One Note".

[Adrian]

Parallels is the VM manager, so wouldn't be needed if he wasn't running Windows virtually within OS X.

Matlab is available for the Mac.

[Theo Markettos]

Win7 in VMware Fusion doesn't behave too badly for me. Sometimes the software I'm running in it decides to eat power for no reason, but I suspect that would be the case anyway.

One idea you could do with VMs is to have a VM without networking, sharing files with the host machine. Then you don't need a virus checker, updates, etc which eat power. (Yes you can get the VM infected via the host share, but worst it could do is damage files on that share).

Theo

[news]

But if you have done what you need to at the app store cant you just change back to a local login as described here

(This is W8 but it looks just like 8.1 that I set up for a friend)