My trusty old HP computer bit the dust the other day. And while it might have been something as simple as replacing the power supply, the easiest route was to buy a new computer – planned obsolescence, you know.
So now I've got Windows 8.
It's much faster, and for that reason it might be worth it, if you don't count the hours and hours spent trying to get everything hooked up to it and all my favorite programs to work. But there are at least two options available on the old operating systems that aren't yet apparent on the new one. There's no “Start” button along with all the options it provided. And there's no “Recent Items” folder which showed a list of the documents and programs recently used. That's a very handy feature when you need to find a half finished blog post.
Maybe those options are still available somewhere, but it's going to take some searching.
UPDATE: There's a work around for both of these deficiencies. First, for the “Start” button, download Classic Shell. Read reviews of it at CNET.com and PCWorld.com. Once installed, it places a “start” button at the lower left corner of the desktop where it belongs.
As for “Recent items,” open Drive C and search for “Recent Items.” When it shows up, make a shortcut and place it on the desktop or anywhere else it might be convenient.
Now for the important stuff. Where the hell is Solitaire?
SECOND UPDATE: There's a way to get Solitaire. Howtogeek.com tells how to do it either by logging onto Microsoft's site or manually. One way to do it manually is with a patch from a non-Microsoft site. I tried that, but the free trial version of McAfee blocked the patch from downloading. The alternate work-around requires a little adjustment to the exe file with the use of a hex tool – I used HexEdit. It's a little bit more time consuming, but sometimes you have to waste time to waste time.
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