wife can barely use windows. Should I give her Windows 8?

[LCHIEN]

I'm making a new PC for streaming videos off the internet. My wife has been using a XP based laptop but its a bit slow and frustrates her with hangups and freezing and jerkiness sometimes. Not a technical person, doesn't find anything intuitive with windows, can't remember simple clicking instructions, won't use her glasses to read the messages. Couldn't program a VCR, and barely uses her dumb cell phone.

Should I load an old XP SP3 (which she's at least used to a bit) or win 7 on the new PC or would she be better off using Win 8?

[chopnhack]

Unless you have a touch screen, windows 8 is really not necessary. Win7 is good and an easy transition from win xp. Win XP support will be terminated in a few short months - i.e. - no win updates, etc. so if you intended to use it into the future you may want to make yourself a disk with all the service packs, etc.

[Cochese]

Win 7. Win 8, aside from the new Start interface, is mostly background improvements. Most programs run in the Desktop, which is basically a lightly skinned Win 7 anyway. It can be really annoying at times, honestly.

[radhak]

Win 7, hands down. Far more stable than XP, lesser error messages (or any messages to act upon), faster boot time, especially if you have an SSD for the boot drive. I timed mine - 9 seconds!

Moving from XP to Win 7, the start menu could confuse a bit, particularly when the 'All Programs' hide/show with mouse hover; you could counter that by pinning her favorite programs to the task bar or the start menu, or creating icons on the desktop (and show her the quick way of getting to the desktop - clicking the tiny rectangular 'button' on the right-most side of the task bar).

Win 8 can confuse anybody not using touch screen. My wife is a computer professional, and has to use Win 8 at work some of the times, and I can tell by her mood in the evening that she had to...

And a new desktop with the latest hardware should take away the hangs/freezes etc. Where are you buying the parts from?

[cabinetman]

Unless you have a touch screen, windows 8 is really not necessary. Win7 is good and an easy transition from win xp. Win XP support will be terminated in a few short months - i.e. - no win updates, etc. so if you intended to use it into the future you may want to make yourself a disk with all the service packs, etc.

+1. Good reason to go with Win7. LOML just got a new laptop and wanted Win7, as all her games run on it.

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[JimD]

If she had and used a smart phone or tablet I would say to go with Windows 8. I've only tried it out in stores looking for a new laptop for my son but you can run it without touching. All you do is point at the item with the mouse and click. But since you indicate she uses a "dumb phone", you probably want 7.

I'm trying to get my mother-in-law to buy herself a tablet. I could get her one but I think that decreases the chance she will use it. She has plenty of money, she is just afraid of computers. I bought myself a Samsung 7 inch and found it surprisingly easy to use for simple things. The font is too small, however, so I would recommend a 10 inch. Reading email, looking up something on Google, watching a netflix movie, jotting down a few notes, and many other simple things are easier on a tablet than a computer. I think they also are less intimidating to most people. The quick on and off is also nice. Just a thought.

Jim

[kirkroy]

+1. Good reason to go with Win7. LOML just got a new laptop and wanted Win7, as all her games run on it.

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You wife plays games? I just won't put up with that in a woman...

Sorry, couldn't resist the dumb joke.

[JR]

Loring, we seem to be married to the same woman!

I replaced LOML's XP laptop week with a Win 8 desktop. She's been in a constant rage ever since. Go with Win 7.

JR

[steve-norrell]

Similar issues here -- go with Windows 7.

[Habe]

Why not go with a tablet that uses the android operating system. Its basicly a large screen cell phone without the phone part. No key board or mouse needed, it's all touch screen stuff.

[LCHIEN]

Why not go with a tablet that uses the android operating system. Its basicly a large screen cell phone without the phone part. No key board or mouse needed, it's all touch screen stuff.

because i output the video to a 50" plasma TV

[dusty]

Unless you have a touch screen, windows 8 is really not necessary. Win7 is good and an easy transition from win xp. Win XP support will be terminated in a few short months - i.e. - no win updates, etc. so if you intended to use it into the future you may want to make yourself a disk with all the service packs, etc.

As stated, XP support is about to terminate. If you have an XP OS, do all the Microsoft updates now. Make sure you have SP3 which is one of the "critical updates".

If XP gives you what you need right now, it will likely give you what you need for a long time. As long as you computer continues to work and your IT needs don't change - you're set.

I have one W7 machine and 3 XP machines with which I am closely linked. They all serve me equally well. I recognize no significant benefits from the W7 machine over the XPs. Transitioning to W7 was no walk in the park for me.

[Cochese]

I need to check and see if my old XP machine is up to date. Having one for legacy applications is very nice.

[dusty]

I need to check and see if my old XP machine is up to date. Having one for legacy applications is very nice.

The list of updates is quite long (about 200). If you have not been keeping it up to date, brew some coffee, make a couple good sandwiches and go for it. About two hours if your machine is reasonably fast.

[Cochese]

It had SP3 before I upgraded. I'm not too worried about it.

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