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CylonRed
MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County

CylonRed to workablob

MVM

to workablob

Re: Is Windows 8 the new "New Coke"?

I don't think the issue is stability - after all, its base is a tweaked Win 7 which is VERY stable. The issue is with the GUI.
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

Mele20

Premium Member

Re: Is Windows 8 the new "New Coke"?

Stable? I haven't had any BSOD's although I had a major problem when I could not boot and Dell support spent over an hour trying to fix the problem (which they claimed was a Microsoft one). I was informed that I could NEVER turn off secure boot permanently (unless I abandoned UEFI and reinstalled the OS) as I would get, eventually, a hang at Dell logo on boot and I might not be so lucky the next time and could have a unrepairable machine. MANY Dell users were reporting this same problem in the Dell forums and the tech who helped me said he had gotten over 200 calls that month alone from users who had the OS hang on Dell logo on boot/reboot. So, I have kept secure boot turned on and have had no problems for the past 4.5 months but I can't boot Linux if I ever want to so I wouldn't say Win 8 is stable at least in this regard.

Plus, I have MANY instances of File Explorer becoming unresponsive and closing. I wouldn't know this if I didn't peruse Event Viewer or look at the reports in Action Center where these all pile up because I don't allow automatic sending to Microsoft (although Microsoft has some method of getting around that and some errors get sent anyway with no permission from me and no notification that they have been sent anyway). Plus, File Explorer is frequently too slow to respond and since I use Windows Defender as my only real time AV, I doubt the AV is the cause. A MAJOR reason I bought a new computer with LOTS of RAM (16GB) was so I would not have slow Windows/File Explorer.

I think Win 8 just looks stable because unlike with XP you don't get the error popups. With XP, I would certainly know the moment Windows Explorer became unresponsive...I would know before it shut down and if I couldn't fix it and it did shut down I would know immediately and would see a report on my screen. I don't like that Windows 8 tries to hide everything from the user so they think it is stable. I have a zillion more errors and problems reported in Event Viewer than I ever had with XP. And, to make matters worse, when I try to get more information from Microsoft I get sent to a NON EXISTENT TechNet page. If I do send in error reports, I never ONCE have gotten a fix suggested from Microsoft (even when I have checked again for a fix MONTHS LATER).

I think stability is SURFACE stability only. I'll take XP stabllity any day over Win 8's.

CylonRed
MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
·Metronet

CylonRed

MVM

Fortunately - you are not the only one that has Win 8 - I know others that have few if any issues. Though it sounds like part of the problem maybe Dell as well.

If this was an every month happening with the general user I guarantee there would be a TON more info out there and negative reviews (just like Vista) - but 99.9% of the reviews critical of Win 8 has to do with the GUI.

Though I have to admit - I find it difficult to take a lot of stock in the post since you should want to go back to Win 7 as it runs circles around XP (I still have 2 machines running XP). Though I am SURE you have major issues with Win 7 and if you do - then you should have a LOT more with XP.
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

Mele20

Premium Member

I never had Win 7 (except for the public beta on a virtual machine that could not use Aero). I'm coming to Win 8 from 10 years with XP Pro on several different computers. I did not like Win 7 at all GUI wise or otherwise. I found Vista Ultimate that I got as a free gift from Microsoft (as a Windows panelist and the feedback testing) and had only on a virtual machine (so no Aero there either) more to my liking than Win 7 GUI wise but both had horrifically horrible Search and other problems (UAC) that Win 8 doesn't have (I disabled UAC in the registry and search is decent).

I had an awful time on Win 7 beta trying to have classic Buttons and Windows but no problems with that on Vista. On Vista Ultimate I was able to even import Microsoft Plus! so I had all my XP and 98SE themes I could use. I couldn't do that on Win 7 and Win 7 (the beta) forced me to make a new theme every time I started it (it would't properly save the theme I made...could have been something to do with Virtualbox but I read that most Classic Windows and Buttons XP users hated Win 7 beta so it wasn't just me) and I had a LOT of trouble even making a theme as it tried to force those awful accessibility themes!