Ask DACS Moderated and reported by Jim Scheef Ask DACS is a Question and Answer session before the main presentation at the monthly General Meeting. We solicit questions from the floor and then answers from other audience members. My role as moderator is to try to guide the discussion to a likely solution to the problem. Q – Has anyone installed Windows 8 and what are the impressions? A – One member (Richard Corzo) said that he has installed the download version of Win8. He used the 32-bit version because there was no 64-bit driver available for his scanner. He had to download the driver for the Sound Blaster sound card in this desktop computer as it was not on the Win8 DVD. Richard made the point that Windows 8 is “different” in that the Start Menu has been replaced by the Start Screen – menu items are replaced by colored tiles, some of which are dynamic and display information. His suggestion was that if you don’t think you will like the new user interface, then stay with Windows 7 and save the cost in time, effort and dollars required to upgrade. This started a healthy discussion which is covered in the following questions. A review of Windows 8 is beyond the scope of Ask DACS, but some basic facts are needed to understand the discussion. Leading into these questions it helps to understand that Win8 has two “environments.” The old desktop is still there and the regular applications that we run on older versions of Windows are displayed on this desktop, however there is no ‘Start’ button. The new (Metro) interface is a screen of colored squares and rectangles called tiles that replaces the start menu we have known since Windows 95. These tiles replace the shortcuts in the Start Menu that launch applications. Clicking on the tile of a Metro (the code name used at Microsoft for the new interface) ‘app’ launches a program that fills the entire screen, no matter how large your monitor. Win8 comes with Metro versions of many familiar applications as well as new. There are both traditional and Metro versions of Internet Explorer. Q – How easy or difficult will the “typical non-computer-savvy” user find the transition to Win8? A – Easy and difficult are relative terms, and the answer is always “it depends.” First, let’s agree that “user friendly” is what you know. Once you understand how a program or a user interface (UI) works, you adapt and after a while, it becomes second nature. At that point it becomes “user friendly.” I believe those who remember the transition to Win95 will agree. Richard voiced the position that the transition to Win8 will be difficult because when you first look at the Start Screen, it is not immediately obvious what to do. I disagree. What could be more obvious than to click on the tile for the program you want to run? To his point, there are “magic corners” on the screen and there is nothing on the screen to indicate how these work after the hints that play during installation. However, there are only four corners and you learn what is where pretty fast. I suggested that the Win8 “experience” is better if you use a Microsoft account as the login. Again, this is not obvious and Microsoft would likely get in more anti-trust hot water if they were to make this even “recommended”. The account can be a Hotmail, Live, or other Microsoft login and password. Doing so activates many of the Tiles on the start screen. News will show your news categories, Weather will show weather at your location, Mail shows number of waiting messages, etc. Q – Has anyone heard of limitations using multiple monitors with Win8 due to the tablet or touch-screen orientation of the UI? A – Richard said that he had read of ‘issues’ due to the magic corners, but this will be a good question for Jay Ferron, our December speaker, who will talk on Windows 8. D – Richard also mentioned a Logitech touchpad to replace (or supplement?) a traditional mouse. The videos on the Logitech website give a good idea how their products work with Win8. Sure, touchscreen devices are available – at a price. Touchscreen monitors, laptops and all-in-one PCs are all available, but are not cheap. Q – Is there a way to get the ‘traditional’ start menu in Windows 8? A – Of course! Many developers have produced programs that give you a start button and pop-up menu. With the caveat that I have tried only one of these, here are some menu programs and a registry hack. The programs attempt to add a start menu on top of the Metro interface. Some provide additional fancy features and tweaks. Many of these were developed and tested on the preview editions of Win8, so they may, or may not, work as planned on the retail version.
Q – I found that my Nook Tablet does not have the copy and paste function that we commonly use almost everywhere else. I often find this annoying. How common is it for an Android device to not offer copy and paste? For instance, does the Kindle tablet have copy and paste? A – In the absence of a response from the audience, I offered that both of my Android devices, an Asus Transformer tablet and a Droid 3 phone, have the copy and paste function; however, the implementation is different on each device. A member offered that in many cases it is the app that does or does not support copy and paste. Q – Does anyone know of a website that shows what areas have power? A – The CL&P website has a map showing power outages by town. The map was available the day after the hurricane.
Questions for the upcoming meeting can be emailed to askdacs@dacs.org. Disclaimer: Ask DACS questions come from members by email or from the audience attending the general meeting. Answers are suggestions offered by meeting attendees and represent a consensus of those responding. DACS offers no warranty as to the correctness of the answers and anyone following these suggestions or answers does so at their own risk. In other words, we could be totally wrong!
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