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codydog
join:2001-11-29
Newport, RI

codydog to plencnerb

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Re: [WIN8] Some Observations about Windows 8

This may well be the dumbest question, but I am on win7 pro, will upgrading to win8 pro, decrease my latency? This pc has plenty of punch and the Upgrade Ass't says I am all set to upgrade, but would prefer not to learn a new windows just yet. I am running on fios too.

Basically looking to speed up from when I hit a key here to when it hits a server in Chicago.

Thanks

Freddy
Premium Member
join:2005-05-17
Arlington, VA

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Ah, resolution. That could explain the problem. I'm using 1920 x 1080, so I actually need to increase the size of images to make viewing easier.

Good point. I didn't think of that.

Freddy
67845017 (banned)
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL

67845017 (banned) to Glen T

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to Glen T
said by Glen T:

Cool. Someday, when I get a couple of hours, I'll read through your setup instructions and give it a try. In the meantime, out the box, with a typical user setup, it doesn't work for me.

FIFY

JohnInSJ
Premium Member
join:2003-09-22
Aptos, CA

JohnInSJ to codydog

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said by codydog:

This may well be the dumbest question, but I am on win7 pro, will upgrading to win8 pro, decrease my latency?

I don't believe the tcp/ip stack is much changed or changed at all from win7
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

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This monitor is a Dell Ultrasharp rated as the best LCD monitor in 2003 by PCWorld and Consumer Reports. It is 19" 5:4 ratio at 1280x1024. It has about 28,000 hours on it and is still great. It is not an "outdated" monitor. Dell still sells these and 20" Ultrasharps to businesses.

Freddy's icons are gigantic to me. In Vista Ultimate, running currently on a virtual machine, and Win 7 public beta that I had during beta time on a virtual machine, I used Advanced Display, created MY OWN theme and then used Item list to get it just right. On Vista Ultimate, I had to figure out how to import Microsoft Plus! from XP so I could create my own themes or use favorite XP ones. I didn't need Aero because my video card has nView which gives me transparency of the taskbar and all windows and bunch of other great capabilities. The new nVidia card on the W in 8 machine to my horror does not have nView. I went looking for it and learned nVidia is currently providing it only on PROFESSIONAL nVidia cards but nVidia forum moderator has a thread on how to get it off a professional card and installed on regular current nVidia cards so I will try that and have transparency that way.

Microsoft has denied me these abilities in Windows 8. The Dell USB Keys are here (plane arrived one hour ago) and FedX should be delivering them within the next two hours. I'll then be able to downgrade to Win 7 Pro and do a clean install of it or do a clean install of Win 8 in Legacy Mode. What I did when I had the public beta of Win 7 was go through the hideous accessibility theme and completely redo it so it was as I wanted and then I saved it. The beta Win 7 didn't like saving it and if I had to reboot that virtual machine the beta was on, Win 7 would try to load anything but the theme I had saved...but I read Microsoft fixed that in the release version.

So, if I install Win 7 Pro, and turn off Aero, then I should be able to have Windows display as I prefer it to display. I should be able to do that on the Desktop part of Win 8 (and that Metro stuff should not even be present on a Desktop computer using Win 8). There are some nice things about Win 8, but display trumps EVERYTHING ELSE and if Microsoft is hell bent on denying me the right to a PLEASING display on Win 8 then I won't use it. It has nothing to do with my monitor and its resolution (which is a perfectly acceptable resolution for a 19" 5:4 ratio LCD monitor). My Video card on the new machine lets me use dual monitors and I may order another Ultrasharp like the one I am using. I don't need a widescreen monitor because I don't watch movies on my computer. For Utube HD videos, I can watch those on my 46" Samsung Smart TV. I have considered purchasing a 24" Dell Ultrasharp widescreen monitor but I think I would prefer two 19 or 20 Ultrasharps instead...I can run one screen across both monitors, etc.

As for the tray icon size that is controlled by Advanced Display/Item/caption buttons so I can make them like I want. I have correct spacing of the icons also. Microsoft should not take these important aspects of display on a desktop away from users in Win 8. Microsoft should not have taken away the ability of Desktop Sweeper to sweep the Desktop icons into hiding either. I've used it since Windows 95 and I don't think it has been modified since way back then as it simply has worked on every version of Windows until Win 8. You can see from my screenshots that the monitor icon in the systray is green when the desktop icons are hidden and then if I click the monitor icon in the systray it turns blue and all desktop icons are visible. This way I can ENJOY my theme. Why take that away from me in Win 8? As for hiding systray icons, why would I want to do that? They are there so I can access them easily. I don't want to have to unhide them all the time! Nor do I wish to have to unhide to see if one program has disappeared and is not running. I can see in a glance if they are all there and unhidden.

I have no objection to Microsoft creating a version of Windows that works on tablets and phones. But I do object to them trying to force that on Desktops where it does not belong IMO.

The only potential fly in the ointment here is that I have seen posts from Dell employees claiming my new video card will not work on Win 7. That doesn't make sense since Dell is obligated to honor my Microsoft downgrade rights from Win8 Pro to Win 7 Pro so they should not have altered the new nVidia card to not work on Win 7. Dell employees seem very confused about downgrade rights, clean installs of Win 8, etc. so I am hoping those remarks are just due to confusion about a new OS, etc.

Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

Blackbird

Premium Member

7 Opera desktop icons on your top pix? I'm impressed...
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

Mele20

Premium Member

This is an old machine. I have a bunch of Opera versions installed on this machine. But I didn't keep any version 9 ones....wish I had. Those were nice.
67845017 (banned)
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL

67845017 (banned)

Member

Opera 9.01 here.

»www.oldversion.com/downl ··· .01.html

Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

Blackbird to Mele20

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to Mele20
said by Mele20:

... I didn't keep any version 9 ones....wish I had. Those were nice.

You can always go home... try Opera Archive . Every Opera version you could ever want, back to 3.21.

RazzyW8
@rr.com

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Anon

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»www.howtogeek.com/113187 ··· ndows-8/

This is cool.......

Kramer
Mod
join:2000-08-03
Richmond, VA

Kramer

Mod

Yes, very nice. I was wondering if there would be a way to modify that menu.

plencnerb
Premium Member
join:2000-09-25
53403-1242

plencnerb to Mele20

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to Mele20
Holy cow batman! That's a lot of icons!

I know personally, I would go nuts if I had that many icons on my desktop at any one time. I did try to see what it was like, and I copied a bunch of jpg files to my desktop...at my resolution, I was able to get 22 across and 10 down, which is LESS then what you have going down. Not to mention the number of items in your system tray...is every one of those icons a running program that starts when your computer boots up?

The other thing that I have noticed is that, like a lot of us who post here, you have been running Windows for a very long time. We all have programs that we have run over the years that we all like, and wish there was a way for them to run forever on every future version of Windows.

But, I think the reality is, programs do have a life span, and at some point, you have to let those old programs die. All of us on this forum probably can name quite a number of applications going back to Windows 95 that they loved to use, and wish they could still use today.

I'm not saying you need to abandon all past applications and be "forced" to change with the times...that's not it at all. However, I think there is a choice that you need to make here. Are those programs that important to you that if they are not supported or work the same way in the next version of Windows, that it will force you to not upgrade? If not, what options are out there that give you the functionally of that existing application so you can upgrade your OS?

Finally, I think you do need to take a step back from all the modifications you make to try to "fit" the OS to be the way you want it to be. As an example of what I'm talking about, you probably saw that very long post that I made in this thread showing the 67 steps that I went though when I installed Windows 8. I had a similar list for when I installed Windows XP, and do you know it was 3 TIMES as long as that list. Why was it so long? Well, prior to running Windows XP, I used Windows 2000. I loved Windows 2000 so much that I did everything I could to try to make XP be Windows 2000. When Windows 7 came out, I wanted to do the same thing. But, I did not. Instead, I came up with a new approach. Run things as close to default as possible. Before I go in and try to change this that and the other thing, I felt I needed to run it the way it was designed, and see if I liked it. How would I know if it was good or not if the very first thing I did was modify the heck out of it?

I did the same with Windows 8. At first, I wanted to go figure out how to make all the exact same changes in Windows 8 that I had made in Windows 7. But then I stopped myself, and remembered what I did when I first installed Windows 7. Run as default.

I'm not saying no one should be allowed to modify settings or customize the OS to fit their needs. If that was the case, the options to change things would never have been coded in the first place. That is what makes Windows so great, you can customize it as much as you can.

But, I think the bottom line here is this. There is a "happy place" somewhere in the middle between "No changes" and "I want to make Windows 8 look and run like Windows XP". Each person is different, but I think if you are able to find that happy medium in the middle somewhere, then you may have a better experience with whatever version of the OS Microsoft comes out with next.

--Brian
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

Mele20 to Kramer

Premium Member

to Kramer
said by Kramer:

said by Mele20:

The problem with the icons on the desktop on Win 8 is that they are GIGANTIC and will quickly cover the desktop area. and They cannot be made smaller, that I can find...just as I can't make the systray icons tiny or closer together they sprawl completely across the taskbar...

Are you talking about the Desktop or the Metro Tiles? To change the icon sizes on the desktop simply click one and roll the mouse wheel while holding the control key. You pretty much have an infinite size range there. As far as the Systray icons, why not just hide the ones you don't need?

Yes, thanks. Using the mouse scroll wheel does make the desktop icons small like I want. I forgot that as I have had them small for so long and not changed the size that I had forgotten you can do that.

As for the Metro tiles I just right clicked on them and got rid of most of them. Much better. I am really glad to have the animated ones gone.

JohnInSJ
Premium Member
join:2003-09-22
Aptos, CA

JohnInSJ

Premium Member

said by Mele20:

I am really glad to have the animated ones gone.

You can turn off the live update of ANY live tile
»www.howtogeek.com/115913 ··· ndows-8/
67845017 (banned)
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL

67845017 (banned)

Member

Giving away answers to those dastardly MS secrets I see. For shame!
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

Mele20 to JohnInSJ

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I hadn't read that at howtogeek.com but that is a great site for help with Win 8. I've used a lot of their tips already.