Monday, September 22, 2014

Windows 8.1 Addressing Some Of Basic Windows 8 Issues

Windows 8 was by far the most anticipated operating systems developed by Microsoft. However, it did not leave up to its expectations at all. Windows 8 was considered a failure by many experts and users alike. There are varied reasons for its downfall though.

One of the main reasons was the revolutionary changes brought in with Windows 8. Windows 7 and Windows 8 have a few things in common when it comes to the user interface and inbuilt features. When Windows 7 was such a huge hit, Windows 8 should have been something like an improvement on Windows 7 rather than a drastically different operating system.

The whole modern, metro-ized, and advanced user interface was very new for most users. Some interface features were confusing and difficult to absorb. Besides that, some of the basic features in traditional Windows platforms were absent in Windows 8. This was another most disturbing thing in the new OS.

There is no Start button or a Start menu in Windows 8. People became used to accessing applications through the Start menu. The new avatar, Start Screen, though offers easy navigation to pinned applications, was a lot puzzling to adjust with quickly. This seriously annoyed users who performed Windows 8 upgrade.

Windows 8.1 was Microsoft’s attempt to resolve some of the glaring problems with Windows 8. Microsoft says that things are pretty much simplified with Windows 8.1 update, and it adds many new features in its predecessor OS. Unlike Windows 8 upgrade from previous versions, users can install the new update from Windows Store just as installing a Service Pack.

Windows 8.1 is very similar to Windows 8, retaining all the applications on the desktop. This way, users need to worry about reinstalling the applications again after upgrading to Windows 8.1. However, it brings along some changes to the OS, aimed to rectify the issues with Windows 8.

The omission of Start button was one of the biggest criticisms of experts and users alike. That is why the first thing Microsoft did with Windows 8.1 update was attaching a Start button on Windows 8 desktop. Another improvement noticed was in the gaming department, as Windows 8.1 supported high-end games like none of the operating systems ever did before.

However, no matter what the changes and new features added to Windows 8 are, the tiled-based interface still keeps users away from adopting it. Let us hope that Microsoft soon comes up with something, and regains its fame in the market, as it had some time ago.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Market Share Of Windows 7, XP And 8.1 Rises, Windows 8 Falls

Even though the Windows 8 operating system is approaching nearly two years after release, it seems that many of the computer users are reluctant to do the Windows 8 transfer. This operating system virtually has no hope of becoming as popular as an operating system that was released in the year 2001. Despite the fact that the Windows XP operating system is no longer supported, the market share of this OS stands at 25.31% as of previous month. That is an increase from 25.27 percent from May. In the mean time, the market share of Windows 8 desktop operating system is just 5.93%, which is a drop from 6.29% in the month of May.

Even though the Windows 8 operating system is three years old, Windows 7 is by far the most popular desktop OS in the world and it occupies over half of the pie with a market share of 50.55%. This is a rise from 50.6% in May. Good news for Microsoft is that the popularity of the Windows 8.1 operating system is rising, but not by much. The market share of Windows 8.1 rose from 6-35% to 6.61% in June. There are likely two main releases for Windows 8’s fall. The conventional Windows users were much dissatisfied with the Metro interface and the missing Start button in the Windows 8 operating system. This has made many of the users who have done the Windows 8 transfer dissatisfied.

Numerous complaints were posted in the Windows support forums regarding the missing Start button in Windows 8 and it seems that Microsoft has heeded the complaints of their users. To resolve the complaints in the Windows 8 OS, Microsoft released Windows 8.1 and apparently, the users like Windows 8.1. OEMs are mostly selling computers loaded with Windows 8.1 as opposed to the Windows 8 OS. Considering that Windows 8.1 is a free update for the current Windows 8 owners, it is only natural that Windows 8 users would be taking advantage of the freebie.

 Nevertheless, the usage numbers of both Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 are small and it seems that it will remain that way for the duration of their existence. If you wish to know more on the market shares of different operating systems from Microsoft, you can contact the Windows support number. 

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Using The Charms Bar In Windows 8 OS

Many experts have declared the latest Microsoft OS, Windows 8, a failure. And shockingly, the recent sales figures indeed support their alleges. However, the ‘modern’ platform is not that bad an OS as many claim it to be. It just happens to be completely different from any of the older Windows operating systems, which we have used so far.

Microsoft took a bold decision to do away with the old desktop user interface, in favor of a new touch screen friendly UI. This led to the complete redesign of the Windows OS structure. If you upgrade to Windows 8, you will notice that there is no Start Menu or Task Bar in the new platform. Instead, you will see a tiled Start Screen for accessing apps in Win8, and a Charms bar to fill the gap of the traditional Task Bar.

Their functions are also somewhat different than it was in the previous versions. Charms bar is hidden in the right side of the OS main screen. You need to swipe to the right side of the screen or move the cursor towards that direction to bring out the Charms bar to the screen.

What options does the Charms Bar provide?

On the Charms bar, you will see a few options like Start, Search, Share, Devices, and Settings. Clicking on any of these options will open a new Window, where you can locate what you are looking for. For example, clicking on Start will take you to Start Screen.

In Windows 8, Start Screen essentially replaces old Start Menu, which shows you all the applications installed in your system as live tiles. Of course, the option Search in Charms bar is used for searching anything in the system, but in the latest Windows OS, Microsoft has upgraded the Search utility by integrating it with their Bing search engine, which allows you to expand the search to the internet.

The options Devices will take you to the page for accessing the options and settings for the different devices connected to your system. This is much like the Device Manager utility in the old Windows versions. The option Settings will take you to different OS options for WiFi, Language Settings, Power Options, Volume Control, etc. You can use the Share option to share anything with your friends online.

This was a short note on Win8 Charms bar. For more information about the latest Windows OS, contact our Windows tech support team today.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Steps To Tune Up Windows 7 OS

Even though Windows 7 is considered as a fast operating system, it might slow down after a few months of use. When you find that your operating system is no longer performing the way it used to, then there are certain things that you could do to improve its speed. In this post, we will take you through these methods in detail.

Increase the cores

According to the Windows help center, during the boot process, the computer uses one core. Now, if your processor is a dual core processor, the operating system is not making use of the other core. However, if you wish to experience a quicker boot, you may set multiple cores for booting. Follow the steps below to implement this.
  • Press the Windows logo key and R together to open the Run window. In the Run window, enter msconfig and click OK.
  • The above step opens the System Configuration Utility window. Select the tab Boot in the window and choose Advanced Options.
  • Choose Number of processors and type the number of processors. Select OK and then choose Apply. Restart your PC. 
Remove unwanted fonts

You can find many TrueType fonts in the operating system. Even though you may not use them, they would use your system resources, which could in turn affect its performance. Therefore, it is advisable to remove the other fonts. In order to remove the unwanted fonts, open the Control Panel window and go to the folder Fonts. You may move the unused fonts to a different folder.

Disable search indexing

The function of search indexing is to give you quicker results while searching. However, if you do not use the search function frequently, it is a good strategy to disable this feature. In order to disable it, open the Run window and type services.msc. Click the button OK. From the Windows services, locate the service Windows Search. Right click it and choose the option Disable.

Speed up shutdown

You can decrease the shutdown speed by making changes to the registry. Open the Run window and enter regedit. Click the button OK and this will launch the Registry Editor. Go to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control and right click the option WaitToKillServiceTimeOut. The default value is 12 seconds. You may change this and enter a lower number. Select OK and restart your PC.

With the above steps, you can improve the speed of your Windows 7 computer. For further assistance on Windows operating systems, you may contact the Windows help center or our technical support team.