Techy Stuff Help!

[Deutsch Wolf]

I *think* some places will still sell you a laptop with Windows 7 installed. Harder to find of course but I believe the backlash to Windows 8 has been such that there exists sufficient demand for them. Probably only for the next six months or so, mind. Having had brief experience of 8 on my Dad's laptop I would avoid it like the plague, fucking horrible.

I have no idea on tablets to recommend, sorry! There are however plenty of laptops around these days that detach as a tablet if you so wish. I certainly wouldn't be going lock stock and barrel down the tablet route, I just don't think (from my very limited knowledge) that they're advanced enough at this stage. Not for what I would want/need anyway.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

That's good advice, thanks gentlemen.
I kind of prefer my laptop and don't mind coming into the study to use it, or looking at it the other way, I've not had any desire to sit in the lounge 'and play with my tablet'.
So it seems like getting a new laptop from Dell's used/refurbished/returned unused so we can't sell it as new (although it is) website.
But I need to get one with W7 on.

How many upgrades are there between XP and W7?
Mind you, I'm still using Microsoft Outlook for my emails. Prefer it to my GMail account which I have but don't use very much. I suppose that's gonna go too?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

No, Outlook's still included (in both 7 and 8).

The timeline went XP -> Vista (which was shit) -> 7. If you like XP then you will like 7. It's very similar and is (IMO, of course) the best OS Microsoft have ever brought out. It's intuitive, quick and does everything you want it to. 8 is their way of showing whizzy new stuff off without thinking how it works properly. End result: it doesn't.

 

[Boozad]

No, Outlook's still included (in both 7 and 8).

It isn't. Outlook is exclusive to Microsoft Office.

Roy, let me know a budget for a laptop as I know a great place that sells custom PCs/laptops/tablets. You can get Windows 7 installed on them. And if you're using the thing in one place it may be well worth considering a desktop, easier to upgrade and fix.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I thought Microsoft were bundling the Home & Student version of Office with Windows 8 now?

 

[Boozad]

The timeline went XP -> Vista (which was shit) -> 7. If you like XP then you will like 7. It's very similar and is (IMO, of course) the best OS Microsoft have ever brought out. It's intuitive, quick and does everything you want it to. 8 is their way of showing whizzy new stuff off without thinking how it works properly. End result: it doesn't.

7 is indeed the best OS Microsoft have ever released, it's perfect in virtually every way. 8 was the world's ever slowest knee jerk reaction to Apple's (and Android's to a lesser extent) domination of the 'mobile/not mobile integrated into your not mobile desktop' shit. Microsoft felt they were losing out so turned out Windows 8 not realising that people who use their desktops for work and productivity do not want to rub their fingers all over their fucking screens, selecting, copying and pasting text is hard enough on a touch screen so imagine how hard it would be to draw a schematic for, say, a substation in CAD or select objects using thousands of capture points with a polygonal lasso tool in Creative Suite with your fingers. Microsoft never thought of that and really weren't ready for the backlash and that's why shops were instructed to withdraw 7 from their bespoke systems in an attempt to boost sales of 8 by forcing it upon people who don't actually want it.
It eventually cost Steve Ballmer his job as the pig headed twat was adamant he knew what people wanted more than they did, and 8.1 was Microsoft's acknowledgment - disguised as a free upgrade - that 8 was an abysmal failure.

 

[Boozad]

I thought Microsoft were bundling the Home & Student version of Office with Windows 8 now?

They may do with 8, I've never even looked at any of the packages after my one and only run in with it, but 7 has no Office features at all.

 

[Boozad]

Another note Roy, it may be worth buying a machine with no OS on it, buying a licence keycode and downloading the relevant ISO from Digital River and installing it yourself. It could save you a lot of money.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

They may do with 8, I've never even looked at any of the packages after my one and only run in with it, but 7 has no Office features at all.

Ah, I see. I have Office on here and my Dad has it on 8 so I wouldn't have known any different. I never use Outlook anyway, even less use for conventional email since I got this phone, they all come through to here.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

It isn't. Outlook is exclusive to Microsoft Office.

Roy, let me know a budget for a laptop as I know a great place that sells custom PCs/laptops/tablets. You can get Windows 7 installed on them. And if you're using the thing in one place it may be well worth considering a desktop, easier to upgrade and fix.

Gav, I'm still doing work in Accenture and I need my laptop to show their Powerpoint material on. Which is another problem...
XP Powerpoint is miles away from their up to date version and it causes probs, but I do need to use it away from home.

 

[Boozad]

Gav, I'm still doing work in Accenture and I need my laptop to show their Powerpoint material on. Which is another problem...
XP Powerpoint is miles away from their up to date version and it causes probs, but I do need to use it away from home.

OK, you'll need to buy a copy of Office as well then unfortunately Roy. I'd recommend Microsoft Office 2010, nothing they've done since (2013 or 365) has bettered it. May still knock you back £100 or so though. I don't know whether Open Office would be any good for you, worth looking into. It's free.

 

[Boozad]

Ah, I see. I have Office on here and my Dad has it on 8 so I wouldn't have known any different. I never use Outlook anyway, even less use for conventional email since I got this phone, they all come through to here.

Yeah I've done five different installs of 7 now and it has no email client built in at all like XP had Outlook Express. They may even have stopped it with Vista to be honest, again I wouldn't know as I never touched it.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

Roy, let me know a budget for a laptop as I know a great place that sells custom PCs/laptops/tablets. You can get Windows 7 installed on them.

I'll run this vexed question past the committee Gav and get back to you.
Bit of a pisser really, as with this work coming up we've drawn up a list, kind of a priority list of things that need doing with said funds.
They range from a new Mattress to painting the outside of the house, including coming to at least one of the last couple of games at Molineux.

Until this morning we found that whoever installed the large shower base botched it and it's been leaking and we have blistered paintwork and a very small mushroom growing from the bottom of my daughter's door frame!!

Either way, it'll be a bit of a pisser all right if my laptop suddenly lies down! Then that'll become numero uno pretty damn quick!

So I'll get back to you on that. Cheers.

 

[Boozad]

The place I buy from (http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/) offer finance, the beauty of it being if you settle up the difference in the first year you pay no interest. You can carry the finance on for the full term if you like but obviously then you'll pay a lot more. If you can save up the difference you'd need to settle up within 12 months though it's well worth it.

 

[The Bear]

Odd. I got Outlook Express with my copy of W7. Either that or I downloaded it from Microsoft. I definitely didn't pay for it.

Though it takes a bit of fiddling to make it look like it did in XP.

 

[Boozad]

You can't use Outlook Express with Windows 7. So says Microsoft.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Windows Live Mail is free I think.

Like I say I have no need whatsoever for a standalone email client so couldn't tell you whether it's any cop.

 

[The Bear]

Ah yes it was Windows Live Mail. Just as good as OE.

 

[Boozad]

Yeah WLM comes with Microsoft Essentials for free. I've used Office since Office XP so I've only really ever used Outlook after ditching Express in about 2005 I think.

 

[Boozad]

Ah yes it was Windows Live Mail. Just as good as OE.

I always thought it was a cloud based client like Hotmail or something, didn't realise it was a downloadable local client. Good to know if anyone ever needs it.