On 2012-09-21 6:24 AM, Jean Parrot -> Alan Zisman wrote:   
      
      
    AZ>> XP has a 'classic Start Menu' option; that was dropped in Vista   
    JP> and Win   
    AZ>> 7. Now, in Win 8 there's no (Microsoft supported) Start Menu at all -   
    AZ>> though the 'Modern Interface' tiles screen is sometimes referred   
    JP> to as   
    AZ>> the Start Menu.   
      
    JP>      You know what ? I had never changed this menu as I was thoroughly   
    JP> satisfied with the default. This said, as I still had this old XP box   
    JP> connected, I fired it up and had a peek at this Classic menu and then   
    JP> decided that the default, to me, was better. The old box was still   
    JP> connected as I was away for a while and I wanted then to test Wintype on   
    JP> it. Fun to go back in time to XP.   
      
   Seeing how you report being pretty happy with the Win 8 Desktop experience -   
   with no Start Menu at all, I suspect that you're not a big Start Menu user. I   
   suspect that's true of most Windows-users, who work with icons on the   
   QuickLaunch toolbar or the desktop rather that looking in the Start Menu - and   
   that's why MS can drop it from Win 8.   
      
      
    JP> NB: the Air user is still not watching her fingers and what they do. She   
    JP> had changed the screen background unknowingly (?). It took me a while to   
    JP> rectify this faux-pas but the PC experience helped me in so doing.   
    JP> Still, to me again, more intuitive on my beloved machine.   
      
      
   In the end, there is not really a 'more user friendly' system - it's a matter   
   of what you've gotten comfortable with. My son is a Windows-user, my daughter   
   a Mac-user; each has tried the other system and found it less comfortable.   
      
    JP>      $700.00 US for a share, good on them but it is not the computor   
    JP> market that did this, the iPhone 5 is the culprit. ;-)   
      
      
   iPhone + iPad - meanwhile, Windows PC sales are stagnant while Mac sales are   
   growing   
   - but modestly. Very soon, most Internet access will happen on mobile devices,   
   which already represent the majority of 'personal computing devices'. Like it   
   or not, it's the future!   
      
   Me, I'm mostly using Android devices these days - a Google Nexus 7 (7") tablet   
   is my most-used device, and I finally got a smartphone - a Galaxy Nexus phone.   
   The Nexus devices are Google designs that run 'clean' Android - without the   
   layers of glop added by smartphone manufacturers and mobile companies which   
   (in my opinion) complicate the interface and reduce battery life.   
      
   I signed on with small CDN mobile phone provider Mobilicity - their coverage   
   is not as widespread as the major companies, but they don't sign users to   
   fixed-length contracts, and they offered a $25/month unlimited calls,   
   unlimited texts, and (most important to me) unlimited data. The phone is   
   unlocked, so I can move - at any time - to another provider or use it with a   
   local SIM card when I travel, and I can use the unlimited data to 'tether' the   
   phone - using it as a WiFi hot spot for browsing with the notebook or tablet   
   when I'm on the go.   
      
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