With so many users still praising the virtues of XP, even on sites such as this, I do feel that many will stay where they are.
That's where I'm at, currently. I have so many things going on in XP-Pro-SP3, that would never work in any later OS, that there is just NO WAY that I'll make any other OS my mainstay.
I also feel the emphasis on the touch screen is, for the moment, unreal. Like Catt, I do not have a touch screen, and, maybe, never will. But, for me, I cannot see myself reaching across my keyboard to touch my screen, when the mouse is sitting under my right hand. As it is, for my general use, I only use the mouse to open programs, my little digits then flick around the keyboard.
Hopefully, between now and Autumn, Microsoft will incorporate a method to alternatively use the more familiar desktop and start menu. Feedback from all areas shows that this is a common request. Users will then have to satisfy themselves as to whether they have a worthwhile improved OS, or should stick to what they now understand
Apparently, the touch screen has come into its own, on POS devices (cash registers) and cell phones, tablets, etc., but for a home computer, where you might set there playing Sol for hours, or working a forum <
add name of your favorite forum here > I just don't see the touch screen ever replacing the mouse and keyboard.
On the trusty old Commodore 64, the mouse never really came into its own, but the joystick sure did. Weird, but I've never owned a joystick for the PC. With the PC, I moved up to the mouse. With just two buttons and one ball, the first mice were about as ergonomic as a brick-bat.
So far, I've not figured out how one would simulate the actions of a wireless wheel mouse with a touch screen. Poorly, I would imagine.
Now if someone ever comes up with a way to run Outlook Express in Win-8, that would be a noticeable improvement.
There are several programs that restore the START button, Start Menu, etc, to Win-8 but when I tried them on my own PC, one or another of them messed up my Win-8 at the registry level.
I did a re-install of Win-8 to start over with a clean slate. Right now, I'm using no such program, but I have all the functionality of Win-7, by just using what's available in Win-8.
Everything's there, , , it's just not as easy to get to as it was in previous OS's.
I've just not been able to get Windows Mail working yet (WinMail.exe)
Maybe some programmer (hacker) will figure that one out, someday.
Thanks Dave for a great post.
The Doctor