windows 8
 

Does anybody know anything about this POS operating system?

I've replaced dad's xp laptop with a new W8 OS.

I'm trying to transfer the old info into the the new one via an external hard drive, so far, no luck.

I can't figure out how to download pics either.

I'm a Mac user.

Apparently XP is just a bit too old for automatic conversion

XP is so old that the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant does not allow you to migrate any settings or programs. You can keep the data files from your personal profile, but that's it.

As in "Micro$hit wants you to buy programs from their 'store', not use old XP software that may still work in Win 8 even if it can be migrated." Personally, I'm sticking with Win 7 + OpenOffice + T'bird for e-mail for a while; no real reason to upgrade. If I want a "start screen" and "tablet interface", I'll use an Android device, f--k you very much.

Over time, I understand how "legacy" devices can hold back technology. 32-bit XP compatibility gives way to 64-bit OS.

Windows 8 runs many 32-bit XP-compatible programs just fine. If they phased out 32-bit compatibility, it would be dead to many corporate clients out of the box. (It needs emulation for legacy 16-bit applications.)

I can actually vouch for the fact that it can run Access 2003 natively -- needed for a certain legacy database that I was dealing with.

Thanks folks.

The simplest way is to just drag files you want from your XP machine, to the hard drive and then do the same on the Windows 8 machine. Somethings you might just have to do manually.

XP was released in 2001. Something are bound to be different and no longer supported.

In terms of legacy support, Windows 7 64-bit dropped support of 16-bit programs. Windows 8 64-bit supports 32-bit programs just fine, just like Windows 7.

And, as it was already stated, you can install whatever software you'd like just like any other Windows OS.

... except that Micro$hit made it very hard to install Metro(Sexual) apps that don't come from their store. Pity that Gates and Ballmer didn't go the way of Jobs -- though flesh-eating staph would be even more amusing than cancer.

They only sell sideloading licenses in packs of 100, so small businesses that want to run custom Metro apps are basically f**ked unless they want to resort to the use of a crack -- equivalent to jailbreaking an iPhone.

Okay, AFAIK, the necessary info is on the external device, I don't understand how to drag & click on something that cannot be pulled up on the new computer.

So I can install W7 on this new computer?

If you've got the proper type of license/product key it rather easy.

What kind of files are we dealing with there? Are these just files that you drag and dropped on to the external? Or did some program prepare something for you and then put it onto the external?

You could install 7 if you wanted to. However I would not see a reason to. 8 has a lot of new features that are nice. Even if you do not like the new metroUI there are ways of disabling it so you are greeted with a more traditional style start menu/desktop.

Only sold in packs of 100, which basically anally reams smaller companies that want to use custom software.(*) Hope the next "Fukushima" happens at Hanford and the wind is blowing towards Seattle that day.

Basically, Jobs/Apple pioneered computing as a prison. Micro$hit is now trying to emulate them. Stallman was right about being glad that Jobs was gone.

(*)- a long time ago, I worked for a 10-person controls engineering company that used quite a bit of custom laptop software. The kind of thing that would have worked beautifully on a Windows tablet, actually. But with Microsoft's rules, they would have either have to have got reamed to the tune of $300 for 10 licenses per device, used a crack, or abused a "developer" license. I suppose they could have split a sideloading pack with several other small businesses as well, but why make things so complicated?

I haven't seen this packs of 100 thing. I've seen one off licenses you get via Visual Studio 2012. The ones that need renewed/armed after 90 days. That doesn't sound like too much of a bother for a small operation of a few people. 90 days is not that often.

For larger organizations, it says that you can use Windows 8 Enterprise connected to an Active Directory domain with appropriately set group policy options and be able to side-load applications no problem.

You seem to dislike Microsoft, just a little. lol.

Unless you were specifically writing Windows 8 Metro UI apps then you would have been fine. In my case, I am developing an application for a friend of mine's project and if I target only Windows 8 Metro, I will lose a good deal of the market as not everyone is going to have a W8 machine. So I am using a standard WPF type application that runs full screen and is tablet/touch friendly.

But why make things so complicated? And yeah, I think that people who want to control what you do WITH YOUR OWN F**KING HARDWARE should die of a painfully unpleasant disease.

If anything, Microsoft and Apple have made their software easier to obtain and provided so many discount classes, it's much better than the "good old days." Of course, it will never be as good as the old "sneaker-net" non-copy protected era, since free is pretty hard to beat.