Windows 8 and the older user.

1upu5

1upu5

1upu5

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Dads computer just broke down, its 6 years old and was cheap at the time so no love lost.

Im putting him together a new one but i havent yet had the pleasure of using Windows 8. He doesnt like change and the simplest thing can blow his brains out so would I be better sticking with Windows 7 for him? Or is 8 easy to use?

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Is he a casual user? If so Win 8 is incredibly easy to use, just point and click once all his favourite programs are installed.

He'll probably also enjoy the fullscreen apps which are easy to see and use.
 
stick with windows 7 unless you want to be there 24/7 unless he is really tecky / smart, gf hates it tbh so i took it off her laptop as she couldn't find all her rubbish, which fair enough i hadn't put on it either, but it's not that easy for everyone and well needs a touch screen to be more user friendly for some.

i like it, but won't be changing for a few more months as yet, on a old system for now so i can test it for a while
 
Windows 8 is easier to use than Windows 7, nice big tiles and all that. I taught the in laws how to navigate about a 8 laptop in an hour. These were people who hadnt bought a computer since Time was still in business (was it Time or Tiny) the old machine had Vista on it anyway.

Just be a good lad and set up their profiles and email for them, remove IE completely and stick on Chrome with Adblock Plus.
 
Well if the old man is likely to blow his brains with 8 then it depends how much you like him if you choose 7 or 8 hehe
 
Move to 8, I moved my patents over and other than a few unrelated issues(like when installed the printer drivers, there was no printer control panel, now sorted), they love it, they can now find and install apps, which they could never do with conventional software.

The other massively good thing is the reser option, especially if you take a custome image, so in the off chance they mess windows 8 up, which I doubt they'll be able to manage, I can sort it in a few minutes.

Just spend a bit of time with them, setting it up and showing them how to use it. After that it is far easier for casual users.
 
Last edited:
theheyes said:
It's not really an ease-of-use issue though, it's a consistency issue. Trust me. :D
Click to expand...

If they consistently use it surely it is an ease-of-use issue? Just don't give them any false pretense by telling them it's the same. Tell them it's new and then show them how easy to use it is.
 
We know that the user in question is both of an older generation and (more importantly) resistant to change. We can reasonably assume that he had no prior complaints with Windows 7.

Windows 8 might be easy to use, but it's still quite a significant change from its predecessor and it doesn't sound like a worthwhile investment of time and effort to overcome the learning curve when you could just as easily install Windows 7 and hit the ground running.
 
Windows 8 might be a better long term replacement, I'm not saying you're wrong, but there is still the very real possibility it will get rejected long before he reaps the benefits.

For an individual who is resistant to change it's arguably the more likely outcome, whereas with Windows 7 you know with almost absolute certainty that it is going to meet existing expectations.

It depends how much the OP is willing to gamble. Both viewpoints are legitimate.
 
I enjoy Windows 8 and recommend it to family and friends when fixing their hardware, even though I've put forward my bit for 8 in this thread I'm inclined to agree with theheyes. Stick with what you know the old man will like.
 
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