Windows 8, first impression

I thought when I fell into my bed last night, I’d be so comfortable that I’d instantly be asleep.  That was not to happen.  I tossed and turned until after 3:00 in the morning before I finally succumbed.  By the time I woke up at 7:30, my plans to get back on the job and start mowing had flown out the window.  I just couldn’t do it.  I guess recuperation takes longer the older you get, and my birthday on Monday just added another notch to the stick.

I fiddled with the new computer for a while, and came up with this collage of pictures that my daughter Robyn took on Saturday afternoon.  It was a hot day, and when one of those ice cream trucks with the incessant song ringing came by, she treated everyone to a refreshing snack. 

I haven’t heard one of those trucks in a long time.  When I was a kid growing up in Chicago, a guy on a bicycle might pedal through the neighborhood ringing his bell.  The front of his bike had a big metal cooler on it with the sweet frozen treats inside.  It sure was more exciting to me than hearing the Rags-A-Lion man shouting with his horse and wagon as he made his way down the alleys in the city!

I suggested to Dan that everyone eat their treats outside, and he agreed.  All colors of ice cream and sherbet were squishing through those little fingers as the sun and heat helped melt everything.    Robyn didn’t get pictures of everyone, but the five grandkids are represented.  Had I not been ill, I would have been clicking away myself.

Anyway, I digress.  This post is supposed to be about Windows 8.  When Dan and I were looking into a new laptop to order for me on Sunday night, he assured me that that any hesitations I had about using Windows 8 were not grounded in reality, but were all opinions I had heard in the blogosphere.  You know, sometimes we mature folks speak one language, and our children speak another.  However, I took his advice and ordered a new Dell 17.3” screen laptop with Windows 8.  He knows about all those numbers about RAM and such that are a mystery to me, so I relied upon him to not lead me astray.

Often, when he is trying to teach me something technical about my computer, we both become very frustrated.  That’s where the different language stuff comes into play.  He can’t understand why I’m not getting what he’s saying, and I can’t understand why he doesn’t understand my repeated questions.  I don’t think I’m stupid, you know.

After all that I’ve said, here’s my first impression of Windows 8… I like it!  I like those big squares with things I can click on once.  I’ve eliminated those I’ll never use, and added my favorites like Live Writer and Picasa, and if you click on the ‘desktop’ you get right to a screen that’s familiar like Windows 7.  Yes, there’s a learning curve, but then I had someone to take me (a little tersely at times) through the basics.  Repeated prompts by Daniel helped a lot, but I was on my own once I left a few hours later.  I think it’s working out, and I’m sure anyone with questions about it would get a calm reply from Rick. 

I did have to call Dan once today though, because try as I might, I couldn’t figure out how to shut the dang computer down correctly since there wasn’t that familiar start button (that also included a shut down/restart option).  It took him less than 30 seconds to walk me through that procedure.  Perhaps now I’ve left the 90’s and entered the new millennium??  Time will tell…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy