Q: More than once in your column I have noticed that you recommend that a person get a PC with Windows 7 installed. I am wondering why you are not suggesting that a PC with Windows 8 or later makes more sense in view of Microsoft's decision not to update Windows 7 after Dec. 31 of this year.
Steve Erwin, Plainview, Minn.
A: The reasons to recommend Windows 7 just keep coming. My original reason was that most people disliked Windows 8 and 8.1, whose design scrambled the basic controls for Windows that users had been accustomed to for many years. My latest reason is that Windows 8 and 8.1 for PCs are on the way out after two years of slow sales. Windows 10 will arrive late next year.
Even though Microsoft's "mainstream support," for Windows 7 will end in January, that isn't a big deal. It only means the end of new or updated features. The more important date for Windows 7 users is the end of "extended support" in January 2020. That's when Microsoft will stop providing security patches for Windows 7, making the operating system a sitting duck for hackers who discover new security flaws in it. (This happened to Windows XP earlier this year.) For the next six years, Windows 7 will be safe.
How did we get to the point where an older version of Windows was better than a newer one?
Windows 8 and 8.1 removed the Start button menu, which was traditionally a guide to programs, and also de-emphasized the main screen, or desktop, so that it was no longer the center of the computing experience. In their place, Windows 8 and 8.1 had colored tiles that were optimized for use with touch screens, even though most PC users didn't have touch screens. I believed Windows 7's interface was better.
In September, Microsoft announced Windows 10 (there will be no Windows 9) will allow consumers to choose either the familiar interface of Windows 7 or the Windows 8 design (see tinyurl.com/m796ay3). I think most PC users will choose the Windows 7 interface, and that the Windows 8 design will be used mostly on touch-screen tablet computers and smartphones.
Why did Microsoft insist Windows 8 was the wave of the future when many customers objected? Many observers believe it was part of a Microsoft strategy to boost slow-selling Windows smartphones. The idea: if consumers became familiar with Windows 8 on PCs, they'd be more likely to buy Windows phones.
