Replies

Many times folks want to set up an email service for older folks who have never used nor want a computer. So they have come up with a good solution with the Presto mail service. I took a look and rejected it at first until I realized that those folks don’t want to have to type or feel pressured to respond. I wanted to be able to send my 83 year old in laws email as we traveled, but they want nothing to do with computers. In hindsight this would have worked because when they felt the need to respond they do it the comfortable way for them; They pick up the phone or pen and paper and do it their way.
http://www.presto.com/email-people-who-dont-use-computers.aspx

Here is the link to the “Living Senior” article describing how to set it up for another you want to have it.
http://www.retirement-living.com/how-to-receive-email-without-a-computer/

I only include that because many times we project onto others our desire to both send and receive, and perhaps the original people asking made that assumption. My in laws will not get or use a smart phone, nor let me set them up with a computer. The Presto service gets them emails. They respond in their way. Or not. They will also have the ready made tech equivalent to “the check is in the mail.” OH? We must not have gotten that email.

If you got the HP 3500 desktop with Win 7 Pro and Win 8 disk for later, you got a very good computer, and one of the very few that comes with both and an easy upgrade with the included disk to 8. I used many of those for my customers in the same boat as you find yourself in, and the systems were good quality, fast, and easy to setup. Used them since January 2013 and no issues from any of them.

You likely won’t need the reference book for 7 past having the comfort of it nearby after you get going with 7. If some of your programs will not run on the 64 bit system just keep your old computer with a KVM switch which lets you switch back and forth between two computers using the same keyboard mouse and monitor. So long as you just run the XP programs offline like Photoshop or video editing programs, all you need to do is copy the results to a USB drive or SD card and transfer them over to the new one. Just keep it off your network and the Internet and the XP machine will be safe for as long as it runs. If you don’t have room for two boxes then just take the drive from the old system and use it in an external drive dock that can be had new for under 20 bucks today in USB 2.0. Then you can access all your files from it on the new computer using 7.

Excellent question because many more are in the same situation and don’t want to ask. The very good responses on this thread will help more than just you.

The key to answering is first to tell us what version of MS Office did she buy a key for, and install. All versions of Office 2010 EXCEPT Office Home and Student (OHS) include Outlook. Some people confuse Office Home and Business which does include Outlook with OHS.

See included Office 2010 programs by version here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee523662(v=office.14).aspx

Many people buy OHS because it is the least expensive. Others have it today as a free included full use program in some tablets. If indeed she has OHS, then in order to get Outlook you would have to buy a separate license.

Assuming you have OHS, not Home and Business, you will not have Outlook. And even though it appears on your install list, what programs are unlocked are determined by your activation key. You cannot install Outlook from OHS.

Again assuming you have OHS, then find out if your daughter needs Outlook for a business contact manager or just for email. In the first release of the mail App on the windows 8 start screen it was not IMAP or POP 3 capable. I was disappointed as were most others so Microsoft fixed that by making their App compatible with most mail types in common use today. I use IMAP mail and have tried the Email App for the first time several weeks ago on a two week evaluation of the new Lenovo Miix 8 Windows 8.1 tablet. It came with free OHS activation key in the box, this no Outlook. So I tried the Mail App and it was very good, albeit strange for me when I was used to Outlook. However within a couple of days I began to like its simplicity.

So if your daughter has OHS, but used it only as her email program, have her give the Mail app a try, or buy a license for Outlook from a reputable online retailer.

Let me know if that cleared things up for you.

On edit: That is the same answer for BigBadSteve’s scenario.

You can also go directly to it using the built in file viewer going to C drive, programs/Office/Office 14. Then open it or pin it to the task bar or move to desktop just like with Windows 7.

I have worked for years uninfecting my customer’s computers but saving the data. Many of them click on the first search result or use download sites that have the previously mentioned “issues” shall we say? Some of my favorite download places when I need to search and do not know the product are FileHippo.com and majorgeeks.com. Most folks don’t know the company name for example many have CCleaner but don’t know it comes from Piriform.com which has many other free programs. It is always best to download from the company website. Piriform like others uses FileHippo as their first mirror download website. Right now FileHippo and Major Geeks don’t serve up hidden files but as with sourceforge that could change.

I agree with the previous posts. Know where you download from or don’t download. Even more important know what you are downloading! Many folks do free downloads of ANYTHING BECAUSE THEY READ ABOUT IT. If you don’t know if a program is reputable just search on it with problems at the end. For example. search for Windows secrets problems, or CCleaner problems. Many times even reputable programs come up with issues you can avoid before you mess up your system, trying it.

I too have used VLC for years, and found it to be much more powerful than I ever realized before. I just read a How – To Geek article that is a must read for other Windows power users. Check this article out for ten features in VLC like remote controls and streaming from it over a network?
http://www.howtogeek.com/173222/10-useful-features-hidden-in-vlc-the-swiss-army-knife-of-media-players/

I was amazed at how little I actually knew about a program I have been using for more than a few years!

I also have concerns with my data being elsewhere, as well as speed and cost, but security is foremost. I solved my problem by picking up an Iomega EZ Media and Backup Center. It also came with Iomega Personal cloud. It has a 2TB fast hard drive, and a built in server, in an enclosure the size of an external 3.5″ drive only. They clearanced them out for $149.99 when Iomega was bought out by Lenovo a couple of months ago just as I bought it. This gives me the capability to access 2TB of my music and other files with all my computers here at home via the dual band gig router. It is also a personal cloud I can access from any device when away. I just got it out and am starting to figure it out and it looks good so far.

My point is if you want storage and fast local backups, as well as online access from multiple devices, with as much security as you are willing to put into it, there are alternatives that cost far less once only, than slow remote servers that can change policies and prices or go out of biz with little or no notice. Granted, beginners may not understand it. But there is no rental for my very fast, very secure, 2TB of storage. They make larger.

If your goal is off site storage then these are not the answer. It plugs into my router with an Ethernet cable. If you want real time fast backups of select machines or all, and control of your own personal cloud then look into these kinds of devices. There are some awesome small servers like this that are great.

I do images to external drives. Backups after every Quicken home and biz session to SD card, and data to external drives in USB 3 docks and portable 2.5 drives. I currently have more than 12TB of 3.5″ drives in four 2TB drives and several 1TB and more 500GB drives. Then a 1TB, 500GB,and 320GB drives in USB 3.0 self powered enclosures. If I wanted off site storage I could store an image of the server in my portable office building out back which is finished out and climate controlled.

So regardless, most folks not into the tech will trust centralized storage to bail them out in a jam. If that server of mine were in my spare building and it burned down, where are my backups of my backups? Same issue with off site too. I used to keep my music and movies on analog books, CDs, and DVDs. Still do. Now retired my comments on places like this might be helpful. But my data? Only worthwhile to me. I and it just aren’t that important for quadruple backups. I just don’t like or trust others to manage my data externally. I even do local backups of my Outlook files, and am ditching all Google devices as soon as there is a Windows phone I like. I do not log into Windows and use local accounts. I am not interested in syncing them all. Nor do I use webmail or hotmail or G mail or Outlook.com. I am old school new tech.

Personal cloud storage is cheaper and very much faster.

I upgraded a new Win 8 Acer AIO from a previously used upgrade offer too. No problem other than it not activating until I called the US phone activation number, told them it had only been installed on one computer, and did the long number string drill. Worked fine for both the Pro, and the Media center upgrades at the time. A few weeks later my computer decided that Windows was not activated and a two day MS answer desk effort ensued which involved doing a remote assist and forcing the system to upgrade using the Pro license key I had, but another Media Center license had to be issued because for some reason the one from the upgrade offer for free was no good.

Great support from MS by phone, great level 2 tech who called on time and stayed with it. Big advantage for folks who bought the 40 dollar, or the 15 dollar in my case offers direct from MS as they know it is legit. I have one more leftover license of four bought, and have not decided where or when I will use it. Be aware it may deactivate. Mine did it when I used the store and it was a UEFI issue. BTW, Acer customer support was useless when, after we did a work around to get into setup with MS techs, I wanted to change the bios so it would allow a boot from the USB drive that the factory restore media creator insisted I use. The first level tech in India was screen reading and clueless. The supervisor kept insisting rudely that I needed to just follow his directions and he refused to acknowledge that the wireless keyboard was not loading in time to send a delete key stroke in time. After no help from them and using change settings to get into setup, they insisted my boot screen was not correct and when I read the boot screen top to bottom the guy got furious when I told him he needed to call his folks and get their screens for the new bios’ in line with what their customers are seeing. I have set up “legacy” support on my tablet and have already restored its image twice. I plugged in a wired keyboard and sure enough it booted into setup with the delete key. I am researching the bios settings with the bios folks next. You would think that since the wireless keyboard and mouse come with the computer, they would know that a wired keyboard is needed. I was cool with the arrogant rude level two guy because he was in his own world and apparently has similar situations come up regularly. Acer my have passed Dell at the bottom of the customer service heap where they were last time I checked. HP was surprisingly up there with MS as far as escalating to the level that knows what they are doing when my Envy X2 stopped charging.

Busy month.

So be aware if you do have activation issues with the promo offer upgrades bought from MS, MS will resolve them, but it can take a couple of days doing updates and renewing Windows while saving apps and data. And if your computer came with a wireless keyboard and you can’t get into setup to allow a new system OS boot, try a wired one.

You are smart to not put off saving your system. I have used all of the imaging programs mentioned and prefer the free native Windows imaging. I have imaged AND restored computers with Windows 7 Create a system image and then restored them using the repair disk more than fifty times. I have made and restored my system images since Win 98SE and XP with Ghost in 2000-2003, then Acronis True Image from 2004-2010 on XP and two Vista systems. Acronis TI 10 won’t work with Windows 7. Acronis goofed there as rather than buy five more upgrade licenses at then 29 bucks each, I now had a free imaging program in 7! I tried it while building that new system after having to start over when I goofed on the then new to me Win 7 groups and network settings. I have used it to image and restore many customer computers who are repeat customers with infections and who are indiscriminate “click on anything” users.

My suggestion would be to image the system from your new drive to the external one now. Then install the new drive and remove your still working old drive. Restore and make sure it boots and no errors occur. Then keep the old drive for a few months just in case. After a few months you can dispose of it by disassembly and hammering the platters into folded messes that can never be read again, or hook it up to your external dock or USB connector. I have heard that some folks say USB 3 is not supported by the Windows imaging program. I have USB 2.0 ports on all my new machines and would just connect to those if I had an issue with USB 3, since my USB three external dock is backwards compatible.

I agree that Acronis works great for those of us who have already learned their counter intuitive menus and interfaces. I also agree that Windows has no cloning program, but it does have partitioning software also built in to do all the partitioning needed by average users in disk management under administrative tools. For cloning the best tools out there are also free which do all the average user needs. These include Macrium Reflect Free, which also does images and will clone to smaller drives if the data fits. And for advanced users who are comfortable with Linux-like text user interfaces Clonezilla is a powerful tool. I dislike the interface but muddled through this one once, it worked, then switched to Macrium reflect, much easier. I really liked EaseUS Todo a few years back, but they took too much out of the free version. So, until Macrium goes the same way, I’ll stick with Win 7 images and their restore disk for images, and Macrium reflect free for my cloning. For XP, Vista, and if they remove Windows File recovery from Windows 8.1, I won’t have any issue using Macrium reflect free alone with all my machines except my wife’s desktop which is still 7 Pro, and my old backup system with plain Windows 7.

If I may reiterate a suggestion and take it a step further. Just replace it with the new drive then restore it. If it works report back here. Any issues make notes and check back. Lots of knowledgeable folks here who want to help.

Here’s a good article that discusses where things are going. It is pro desktop laptop, as well as touch.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/29/technology/pc-industry-fights-to-adapt-as-tablets-muscle-in.html?nl=technology&emc=edit_tu_20130729&_r=0

Again, for those considering a new tablet, instead of an iPad (We have never owned iPads, Pods, or phones so can’t comment) or Android (we had the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1″ and 7″) try the clearance priced Lynx at Amazon or if you need a work and leisure laptop the HP envy X2, or the more expensive touch and keyboard hybrids like the Yoga, Ativ, or Surface pro.

I was amazed at having a full blown computer with a larger screen than my Galaxy 10.1″ at 11.6, and weigh less!

Money wise, my X2 replaced my Heavy 14″ SSD and 8GB with second hard drive workhorse laptop, and my netbook I used for vacations and loved in airports, AND my Samsung tablet! Do the math.

Some things today I prefer or need a desktop for.

My Windows laptops and Android tablets have been replaced. At less than the cost for each were.

F.U.N.
I figured none of the objectors to touch screens with Windows 8 owned one and certainly had not gotten past the learning curve for what it was designed for.

I have you all at a disadvantage when we are talking about how much better it works with touch, for which it was primarily designed. I have ownership experience with both keyboard/mouse/touchpadAND touch Windows 8 devices. Your comments on touch with Windows 8 making it much easier are not experience based.

All of us have had keyboards and mice after Windows for Workgroups 3.1. except for the keyboard command DOS masters, like I was, who resisted the “stupid” mouse, also like I did, until we had no choice in the USAF when Windows 95 and Office was put on our computers. I remember keeping WordStar, a keyboard command based word processor on my computer for six months and not using Word claiming a lot of the same things posted here about touch. My second in charge, a younger troop, decided to teach me the mouse and Word in private. Today I am lucky if I remember the syntax for switches or how to pipe to printer of file in DOS. Because it is past for all but OS programmers and software designer/coders.

The touch screen is just an input device. Like a keyboard and mouse. Windows 8’s design is optimized for touch while keeping the features of the desktop. I use both and think you all do a disservice all but shouting down anybody posting with experience you don’t yet have. Sour grapes aside, some folks might believe you who are contemplating a new computer purchase, which, for an extra $100.00 – $200.00 invested, would have both touch and keyboard and mouse/touchpad. I am holding none of you back, you are. That not said to tell you you should get touch because I do. That said to tell you if you want to comment on touch and how much better it makes 8, then get it, test it. Even I could do that.

Instead of discussion I feel like I walked into a clique here. Thanks for dialing it down.

No touch because your fingers are greasy? I’d rather clean a screen than get the grease off my optical disks, SD card contacts, power button on the computer, volume controls, keyboard, mouse, touchpad. If that were a consideration how do we explain all the tablets and touch phones at the top of the industry sales today.

Folks, touch is what 8 was designed for. If you dislike touch don’t get it. However, for the others, if you are about to buy a new system, get one with both. It will be worth more later, and in the meantime you might just find how intuitive the apps really are, when you can use them much faster than with a mouse.

The form factors are changing. I have touch Windows tablets for pleasure and reading. I have desktops with wall mounted screens that use webcam gestures on one supposedly, and keyboards and touchpads/mice for when I need precision or a lot of writing.

Gerard, there are some great tutorials at the back of the Bing news app you can play with a click. Turning off apps from the tiles start screen not on desktop is as easy as Alt f4 if I remember correctly. Here is a great very short article that will give you the keyboard shortcuts you need to get a jump start. I did not watch the video, but do read the shortcut key combos and they will help you a lot.
http://windowsitpro.com/windows-8/top-10-windows-8-keyboard-and-mouse-survival-guide-0

Thanks F.U.N. so you don’t own a touch screen. I was not commenting on whether you should or why you don’t. I agree that the apps are not too intuitive without touch. My experience is that they are very intuitive with touch. But that came to me only with ownership and getting over the touch power curve. I already have non touch desktops and had the laptops and netbook I sold after I got the hybrid. I don’t do multi screens. But also don’t feel the need to criticize your use of them disparagingly. Thanks for answering the ownership part.

Gerard,
I bought two of those from there at that great price. I mistakenly posted here that I had two T600s because I use the touch tablet most of the time. They do not replace the touch screen but do make some gestures available that were not before.

BBearren, F.U.N. and Medico, a direct question to all three of you. And anyone else poo pooing 8 with touch screen. Do any of you own a Windows 8 machine with touch screen, and used it for more than a few weeks?? I am not talking about some playing in a store or on a friend’s machine or quoting what someone else said or wrote. I don’t care if you have had a touch screen on a cell phone or tablet, and hate them or love them. I am discussing Windows 8 full version standard or pro in daily use with full touch only. I am and never have implied anybody needs to run Windows my way. You can run it exclusively with a keyboard and mouse even with a touch screen. My question is limited to do you own a full Windows 8 machine with touch or not. Period. Not why you won’t, can’t afford one, can’t afford the screen.

Just simply have you at least a month or three using one full time/testing experience with it?

My comments about touch for desktops would only be understood by one who has touch screen and has desktops both with full 8. I certainly would not be doing typing on a vertical large screen I had to reach for. I would use a keyboard most of the time on a desktop with touch. However, I would regularly find myself reaching up briefly to do swipes not easily done, or impossible with mouse and keyboard easily. When my HP X2 little tablet is docked as an Ultrabook laptop I find myself doing that because it is a pain to go to charms with a mouse looking for the right corner spot. But a swipe without thinking anywhere brings up the charms and then two taps and it is shut down or restarted or put top sleep.

Using touch on a tablet does not relate even an RT tablet, because you aren’t using any desktop apps except for the ones in lite versions designed for it by MS. But using the RT tablet when you have the full 8 tablet or laptop/hybrid/desktop is an easy transition. Having bought and rejected an RT tablet I am saying that is not the same. I need a full computer not a hamstrung lite version too.

I think there is room to repeat that once you have a touch screen with 8, you find swipes and navigation easier the drop back down top your mouse and keyboard.

I don’t care if you do or not. It is just sounding like some folks who never actually got over the learning curve on a touch screen full 8 machine are feeling my posts threaten their decision not to buy touch. That is your decision not mine.

I am not speaking to those who have already bought. Or those who have already made up their minds. I like to keep an open mind, but not so open my brains fall out.

FYI,
Nowhere was I even implying you should run windows my way. Nothing there to get huffy about. I agree with everything you have said. I was just surprised when you jumped my smartphone only analogy trying to let keyboard only people know what it is like to have touch in 8 then lose it. My Jabra is a visor mounted speakerphone that transmits my smartphone music and call handsfree. Your issue with touch phones and bluetooth headsets, which I have and won’t use/detest, has nothing to do with the fact that my analogy was narrowly aimed at smartphone users. I am retired, and do not have an electronic leash like I had 24/7and had to answer within 30 seconds as senior leader in the military, and building steel buildings for five years after my first seven year retirement. If I am being shown who is a moderator here and who is not, I would appreciate a private message. I don’t know about here but whenever I was running things I praised in public and criticized in private.

I will early adopt and share my information freely. It sets some folks on edge as they feel intimidated. That’s never my intent. My humor using The Borg was just that humor. You see, I won’t allow FaceCrook, or Titter on any of my devices here. I have been a senior leader, nothing to prove, and am not in the least interested in popularity. I had to have a secure brick, then a cell, and while designing and erecting post frame buildings had a biz cell, which rang off the hook. I had a detested earpiece and a Motorola, then and swore when I retired no cells. I did not get one for three years after retiring again in 2009, got my first non-issued cell in mid 2012. I did not have one from 1997-2005 while fulltime rving, had one from 2005-2009 for biz. And never bought my own ever until last year. All the time with top notch personal computers. My Significant Harassment of 41 years did have one because she is a petite 5’1″.

I laugh and explain I was assimilated. It is humor and fun, nothing else. If you like social media I don’t, so? Smile and allow me to spend my money, my way, too.

My whole point is that when folks step back, it is easy to see where everything is going.

With Windows 8, we can stay keyboard and mouse, we can go touch, use both desktop and tiles, whatever, and still have a plethora of options. Have fun! Your comm issues will be solved by wearables like the watches and the gloves just done as a proof of concept only. Maybe those will work for you if they become available. So look here and watch the second video where he shows the leather work glove phone. It is really just an earpiece rearranged but could work for ya too!

http://www.smartphonesepicenter.com/talk-to-the-hand-gloves-created-by-o2-and-sean-miles/

BTW funtown, all the Windows 8 tablets have HDMI too an that is a trip coming from an Android Smartphone or an 11.6 or 10.1 tablet. (I use Netflix streaming on my phone from WiFi. ) They do slow down the unlimited from 3G to very slow after about 5GB of use a month. Very fast if I stay connected to WiFi when possible and my remote data stays fast too. I am setting up my first home server too and soon won’t need any real in machine storage. I got the Iomega, now Lenovo, 3TB EZ media and backup server with personal cloud accessible from all my devices mobile, across the country, or across my home. I’ll be streaming in house. I already have my dual band Gigabit router that will go over 300mbps, not dual band b, g, n, and ac, yet. My LG Blu-ray player with smart apps is dual band WiFi, as are the cards in the remote desktop.
None said to impress, all said to show the obvious trend to personal clouds to store media and large data so smartphones, tablets and laptops, as well as local and remote desktops, can log in and work. This includes surveillance cameras and the new Bluetooth standard coming out to control and check appliances and things like checking if the windows are all locked by the closed contacts broadcast to a smartphone enabled with it.

Mine isn’t a smartphone (don’t need or want one) but in order to get what I need in a cell phone I had to get a touchscreen phone. The best thing about this phone is the slide out keyboard, but I still much prefer the Razr.

The Razr had internet, voice dial (a built-in feature of the phone, not an extra cost service of the provider) . . . snip

bbearrren,
The operative term in that analogy was smartphone.

BTW my wife resisted coming over to the smartphone collective but I assimilated her earlier this year. Resistance was futile. She had an AT&T Razr flip phone that could do text but she blocked and cancelled text service.

I have a Galaxy proclaim smartphone which has voice dialing at no extra charge. It also works in text, and with the Google Navigate app. I can talk instead of type. People use shorthand in texts and I mess with my kids by replying with two page text answers using voice which makes fewer mistakes than I do on those teeny touch keyboards! It is faster than texting, and they think I am the fastest typist in the world!

When she found out it only cost $129.99 one time for the phone, and that that particular phone on Straight talk used Verizon towers, she finally gave up her five year old phone and ten year Cingular with rollover minutes and 500min for fifty bucks after taxes with a fair to poor signal out here in the boonies, for five bars, unlimited long distance, talk and text for from 35-40 bucks a month bought three or six months at a time. She loves it and I got her an on clearance new Jabra cruiser 2 like my two in my HHR and truck. FM retransmit of our music and phone calls over the car/truck stereo. She didn’t think she would use it much either, but she runs estate sales and looks up antiques art and collectibles on the Web, reads her mail, and has become a texter with our grown two boys. We still do not touch them while driving, and even though I am now permanently self enjoyed, I made it clear it was for my convenience and to always leave a message because I am not looking and choosing to ignore calls, I leave it in the car when out, and only take calls on the road hands free, since I have 32GB of music on it. My Windows phone will be soon. Right now my straight talk only carries an AT&T Win 8 phone. As soon as they get a good Nokia Win 8 on Verizon towers we will go with that. Funny thing is smartphones a year old and factory restored sell for at least 3/4ths of new. We also want the new camera technology.

While that may seem off topic, the whole idea is that MS has been first to have an across the board almost identical interface. My RT Surface tablet works identically from a user standpoint. Some one who only knows a Surface RT well will not even have a learning curve going to full Win 8 touch. Chrome and android are not the same and don’t have the programs available for productivity on local machines that Windows has. Apple is trying hard to change iOS to act more like OSX, but I know from using both that they have a long way to go before they can even catch up to Google. MS is tweaking, they are there and it will mature.

Today when you talk Windows 8 interface, it is a desktop that is really Windows 7.5 and with 8.1 will become more so. It is also an extremely intuitive touch interface, as well as a mobile RT that feels the same even though it isn’t an x86 compatible processor or OS. For non techies that simply means RT won’t run windows apps on its desktop not specifically written for it. (like the free RT Office apps written for RT) But they will be able to use it instantly as the interface the user uses is almost identical.

I am self enjoyed and fully re-tired from the military and several tech and engineering positions since. When active overseas started the first private Internet service using an octopus and rows of shelves with US robotics 56k modems. Talk about a hot NOC and loud! So despite being 61, my kids come to me for computer fixes and recommendations and recycle their old Nook colors and current Kindle ereaders for me to reset and root and give to Gkids and nieces and nephews. None of the Gkids want laptops except when in school and they are all pretty much finished with school. My point being my interest and early adopter and early sell habits while worth much more than later, actually costs me less.

So as I said, for those with smartphones . . .

Unlike Apple when they switched to Intel PC chipsets and dropped legacy support and all had to pay for all new apps in the 2005 time frame, if they wanted new machines it wasn’t just a learning curve, it was rebuying everything, Windows gave you a super desktop that runs all your Windows 7, Vista, and many XP programs, and a touch interface that both work seamlessly together, and once you have it down, especially in touch, you will have a unified mobile phone/camera/text/email/video/fast Internet device/news and productivity machine that in two years will be faster, smaller, lighter, and cooler, and rival standalone expensive devices. That’s just you phablet.

It was just five years ago most down here were all on dialup. Now we are using 30Mbps cable modems and 4G mobile services that are five to ten times faster than DSL Lite! At least three times faster than decent DSL.

With Windows, we get a five to ten year window with time to upgrade as we go, before we absolutely have to change hardware to use the software we want. No one else has that with all the support and free Service Packs and online knowledge without being ostracized for criticizing ant Apple product, or not wanting to go back to text based DOS like Linux.

I bought, set up, and had a blast with my Raspberry Pi last year. Sold it after boredom set in. Everybody keeps trying to tell me to try this or that Linux interface “Because it is just like Windows!” Why get an imitation? I have the real thing!

Trust me, go touch ASAP. The Lynx (has no camera just webcam facing user) is being clearanced amazingly cheap on Amazon that is why it replaced our Surface RT for good after I got my X2.

If anybody is about to buy a new tablet, the Atom new gen 1.8 will be much snappier than you would ever think. And be a great laptop too with their respective keyboard docks.

You all will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

I strongly suggest using 8 without modifying as the Classic shell I used at first really hamstrung me with it. I made that mistake. Then I got my RT and although not for me I saw touch was great, and got my X2.

I was in the middle of upgrading my systems and tablets and was shocked with touch at how intuitive Win 8 actually is. So now there are also some of us who love 8 with a touch screen. I have an HP Envy X2, a Lenovo IdeaPad Lynx Windows tablet, and am selling our Surface RT. If you have not used Windows 8 for at least a month with touch, you have no idea how wonderful the OS has become. The best way I can give you an idea is to ask those with touch smartphones if you can use them fast and smoothly with touch? Now if I removed the touch from your smartphone and forced you to use it only with a keyboard and mouse wouldn’t you be screaming for touch to be turned back on? Of course you would!

With full windows 8 we loaded our MS Office 2010 home and biz on both and even though they have 64GB of SSD, they both have micro SD slots. The Envy can take 32GB in the tablet, and up to 128GB in the keyboard dock. The Surface does not have Outlook and cannot do IMAP email so we are waiting to see if they do come out with an RT version of Outlook as promised with or soon after 8.1 is released. We have Android Galaxy smartphones but are shopping Windows 8 phones. We usually have three desktops, one for each of us and a spare in the spare BR for use by either of us if our main units needs repair under warranty. I repair ours when out of warranty, and sell my spare, move my current one to the spare spot, and set up the new desktop.

I goofed as I bought new tablets and hybrid just when I ran into 50% off an Acer 24″All in one with 2TB drive, 8 GB RAM and USB 3. But no touch screen! I didn’t know either. It does learn gestures at webcam but I’m not into that enough to make it work. I do wish I had waited and gotten touch. Yes, for heavy word processing I prefer the keyboard, and I use the Logitech T-600 Windows 8 touchpad but it just isn’t as good as 10 point touch.

I too thought that reaching for the screen would be arm wearying. But using it to get to where the keyboard won’t go easily is worth it. Right now I am using the virtual keyboard on my X2. for short posts It is faster than getting up to get the keyboard dock. in fact, I never use it because I have my desktops. but I use them maybe once a week? It is crazy, but I now see the end of the PC as we know it. I think we will be seeing hybrids for desktop replacements once we have faster cooler processors, and USB 3 ports with external drives, the cloud, and auto syncing with all devices I am signed in on as trusted devices.

I had the Galaxy Tab 10.1 with Android 4.1. I am not an app fanatic. I only used a few. Most are also available for Win 8.

Despite having a 64GB SSD, on my X2 I have a 32 GB micro SD card in the tablet part, and a 64GB SD card in the keyboard dock. So I technically have 260 GB of fast access data, and I have several external eSATA/USB 2.0 drive docks that have been replaced by USB 3.0 external drives and one external drive dock. So I can image the tablet and hybrid using the USB 2.0 dock I am keeping.

I sold my SSD and max RAM i3 Win 7&8 laptop that was just out of warranty, sold my old perfect 8″ travel favorite Acer netbook with XP, and the Galaxy Tab. My Envy X2 is the perfect laptop and tablet for me. Heck it would be the perfect desktop for 99% of the users I repaired/disinfected/installed systems for before I retired from that aggravation. Granted if you are a game player or video render artist or require CADCAM processor intensive computing then a faster desktop with touch can give the best of both.

I am worried that they are going to disable some of the best things about it.

I hate having to go to the desktop for Office and mail. Touch still works, but not as comprehensively as here in the Apps section. I much prefer the IE touch tile version over the desktop. I am used to the keyboard popping up when I put the cursor in a text field so when in desktop I take second to remember to bring the touch keyboard up.

All of that to let y’all know that when you upgrade to your next system get touch, us early adopters should have caused prices to get more reasonable.

See the forest past your tree. Now, explore.