Windows 8

The OS on my new Acer Aspire 1 is Windows 8. I like Win 8. It's not as convenient as Win 7, I'll admit, but that's only because the Acer desktop doesn't have a Start Menu button. I really like drop-down menus. I hate touchscreen tiles. Last weekend I bought a new ASUS-Google Nexus 7 (2) with 32 GB of storage. I used it for an hour and hated every second of it. There's nothing wrong with it except that it's a tablet. I gave it to my 16-year-old son. He was thrilled. He's been playing with his Android OS HTC smartphone for the past 18 months and knows Android really well. He also likes touchscreens. I'm strictly a Windows guy. Once I add a Start button to my desktop, I'll be happier with Win 8.

This machine is just a netbook, but it works well, and it's fast enough. I can even get work done on it because it's got a keyboard and a mouse. It's got an 11" non-touch screen. I can make the font big enough to read. The keyboard is solid. The keys feel good. The CPU is relatively fast for a netbook. I used to use a 10" EeePC to edit biomedical papers every day. And before, that, I used to use a 9" EeePC. Both were fine. This is better. I don't need instant connectivity. But the boot time is much faster than my Core i5 desktop's, and when I wake the netbook up, it's almost instant on, unlike my Core i5 ASUS notebook.

I don't understand why people who understand how to operate Win XP or Win 7 have problems with Win 8. I think most of them are just MicroSoft haters. I'm no MS lover myself. I don't love any corporations, and they don't love me, so I figure that we're even on that level. It must be a religious war.