Review by Loyd Eskildson

I upgraded to Windows 8 because my Windows 7, which I generally liked, was repeatedly breaking down, possibly because of innumerable updates over the years. Windows 8 offered a brand new start and purported to also provide security enhancements. Since someone had also invaded my Hotmail account and was using it to send marketing pitches to others, I thought Windows would solve all my problems. Instead, it brought innumerable new headaches and frustrations, thanks to its confusing and difficult to learn interface . (I greatly prefer use of a keyboard and mouse instead of a touchscreen.)nnUsing Windows 8 is akin to decades-ago games such as Super Mario where one was constantly hunting for hidden coins or secret passages; in Windows 8 those coins/secret passages provide the means to access important screens and options. Unfortunately, they don’t reliably appear even when one knows exactly where they’re hidden. On the plus side, it is now easier to rid one’s computer of Bing and replace it with Google, once and for all. Another negative, while hardly important, is that the new Solitaire is less user-friendly than the one that came with Windows 7.

The really good news is that I soon learned about Windows 8.1 - a much simpler and intuitive version that allows those used to desktop procedures to make use of their computers again without having to constantly refer to a ‘How to’ book.