OMG. My 86 year old father just bought a new laptop with Windows 8

[Whovian]

And now wants me to trouble shoot it.

I am a geek but want to go nowhere near that OS after what I have read.

[Cooley Hurd]

1. It's Win7 with a different start menu...

instead of clicking in the lowerleft corner for it, hover your mouse in the lower right corner until you see something pop out from the right side - this will bring you to your start menu

[GoCubsGo]

7. Yes, and if you don't like that...

...here is one of many programs you can download to give yourself the old "start" button:
http://download.cnet.com/Pokki/3000-12565_4-12842484.html

It even boots the computer straight to the desktop once you log in, without going to the Windows 8, tiled menu. You can still get to the tiled menu through the "charms" bar that pops up on the right hand side, when you move the cursor to the right side of the screen. And, you can get it by using the button with the window on it. Also, if you happen to open one of the "apps" that are tiled, you can close them by hitting alt-F4.

I will agree that there is some really dumb stuff in this operating system, but there are also some easy work-arounds. There's some really good advice in the Computers & Internet Group, for a start.

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

10. Quick question for you...

How do you shut down a Dell with Windows 8 from the desktop...I have to go to the "tiles", then "log off", then "Shut down". Can I just directly shut down from the desktop?

[GoCubsGo]

12. Pull up that "charms bar" on the right.

It's the one that pops up along the right side of the screen if you point your cursor in the upper right hand corner, and it comes up regardless of where you are. Click on "settings" (the one that has the icon that looks like a cog wheel--the bottom one), then on "Power", and then "Shut Down". You can shut down from anywhere. If you download and use that "start button" program to which I linked, you can shut down as you would in XP or 7.

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

17. Found it....Thanks!

[tradecenter]

2. OMFG.

Tell him to go buy the Windows 7 cd and load it onto his new laptop. He's going to hate Windows 8, it sucks big time.

[Fumesucker]

3. Here, this might help

[Nictuku]

5. Hilarious Video!

My boss at work wants me to learn Windows 8. Why?? I think this is going to be a version of windows to just skip, like Vista.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

8. I snorted

[jonthebru]

4. Its not so bad.

Its just windows with a different picture and start menu.
You can figure it out easily.

[Old Codger]

6. Beta tested 8

Not a lot different from 7 if you get rid of the metro desk top and use the traditional, it is supposed to be optimized for touch screen but most of us don't use touch on a desktop computer...still like 7 better and have no plans to (upgrade?) in any future I can see.

[pansypoo53219]

9. oh shit. i kiss my mac.

[Whovian]

11. I never thought I would rec a mac

before 8.

[watch the sky]

13. LOL, I think you should help him out, you may learn something

btw, your father sounds awesome to me - most people that age I know won't go near a computer at all.

[Whovian]

14. Smiles. I will. It seems I am doomed to learn this OS whether I want to or not.

[Kaleva]

15. Make sure you put in a block to certain adult themed websites!

[Logical]

16. No real "geek" would be scared of windows 8. Or any OS.

[Whovian]

18. I bow to your superior geekdom!

I really don't want to learn 8. I have a feeling it will be around as long as ME.

[Logical]

19. Learning anything techy is fun. I bought a Raspberry Pi for fun this Xmas. No real use but geeky.