Where is my Aero Glass in Windows 8?

It's in the personalization area, right click on the desktop for that menu, then go to change the color in the options at the bottom of the window. :)
 
And the total white look to everything is most annoying in Windows 8. When you open programs the whole thing is basically white. Like IE. No contrast at all. No shading. ... I'll stop now and that is just that one thing that drives me nuts.

The other things are USB going missing in the middle of jobs using drivers from HP that have been updated to work with Windows 8. I know that's not a true Microsoft problem but in many ways it is. If USB devices don't work well on it, that's a problem. And who knows if it's HP software or USB drivers, either way, two different all in one printers from HP with updated Windows 8 drivers downloaded from HP site and used to install it, failed in the middle of a group of page scans to fax.

That's nuts.

And why can't you get to the Control Panel from the upper right corner when on the Start page? Why do you have to go to the Desktop to use the upper right corner to get to the Control Panel?

/rant off

Sure there are some nice things about Windows 8. And if you get used to the Start page as a Start Menu PLUS, type of thing, it's OK.

But no Aero? When you open programs, menus, etc., it's all 'flat' and 'white' and without real style. After the beauty and ease of use and it just works of Windows 7 ... sigh... Windows 8 is overall, a real let down to me.

As John says, yes, we will be using it. That's for sure. We as technicians, we have no choice. Technology, like rust, never sleeps.

But I don't have to like it...
 
LilBambi said:
And the total white look to everything is most annoying in Windows 8. When you open programs the whole thing is basically white. Like IE. No contrast at all. No shading. ... I'll stop now and that is just that one thing that drives me nuts.

The other things are USB going missing in the middle of jobs using drivers from HP that have been updated to work with Windows 8. I know that's not a true Microsoft problem but in many ways it is. If USB devices don't work well on it, that's a problem. And who knows if it's HP software or USB drivers, either way, two different all in one printers from HP with updated Windows 8 drivers downloaded from HP site and used to install it, failed in the middle of a group of page scans to fax.

That's nuts.

And why can't you get to the Control Panel from the upper right corner when on the Start page? Why do you have to go to the Desktop to use the upper right corner to get to the Control Panel?

/rant off

Sure there are some nice things about Windows 8. And if you get used to the Start page as a Start Menu PLUS, type of thing, it's OK.

But no Aero? When you open programs, menus, etc., it's all 'flat' and 'white' and without real style. After the beauty and ease of use and it just works of Windows 7 ... sigh... Windows 8 is overall, a real let down to me.

As John says, yes, we will be using it. That's for sure. We as technicians, we have no choice. Technology, like rust, never sleeps.

But I don't have to like it...
Click to expand...

Actually, not sure about IE, but for the Office Suite, you can change it to a dark theme, same thing with Visual Studio 2012. I think the idea of the dark theme originated from the popularity of the dark theme for the Visual Studio IDE, and they carried that over to their other programs.

For a few other programs there's a light and dark theme.

The other things are USB going missing in the middle of jobs using drivers from HP that have been updated to work with Windows 8.
Click to expand...

That seems strange though, never happened to me before...

And why can't you get to the Control Panel from the upper right corner when on the Start page? Why do you have to go to the Desktop to use the upper right corner to get to the Control Panel?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I noticed this as well, that could be useful, but I think they assume that if you need it, you'd have it just pinned as a tile.
 
Yeah, I know AceInfinity, but I don't want a dark theme here or there, or a dark theme at all really. I want what my Aero glass in Windows 7 does when I am not on the Start page ... I guess you can say, I have been to Paris and I don't want to go back to the country ... as the joke goes. ;)
 
LilBambi said:
The other things are USB going missing in the middle of jobs using drivers from HP that have been updated to work with Windows 8. I know that's not a true Microsoft problem but in many ways it is. If USB devices don't work well on it, that's a problem. And who knows if it's HP software or USB drivers, either way, two different all in one printers from HP with updated Windows 8 drivers downloaded from HP site and used to install it, failed in the middle of a group of page scans to fax.

That's nuts.
Click to expand...

I have had no problems thus far with any USB devices on my HP dv7-1020us + Windows 8.

Then again, I haven't [tried to] install drivers for my Canon 4100 Series (MF4150) yet.

EDIT: Looks like Windows 8 drivers are available -

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/suppo...s_series/imageclass_mf4150#DriversAndSoftware

I'll be interested to see if all works.

EDIT #2: Someday I will learn to read posts correctly as I just realized you were talking about HP Printers, not HP systems! :banghead:
 
It is interesting. Regular printing worked fine. Scanning here and there worked fine. It was when you tried to fax multiple pages that it went to crap and totally lost USB connection in the middle of the job! Very weird and something that the lady has always been able to do with Windows 7 and Windows XP in the past.

LOL! Yep, it's the all in ones with fax capability that were the issue.
 
@ace - what ms productivity product is written as a craplet (metro app?)
office?
server 2012?
exchange server?
o! i know! visual studio!

my point is that the place where work gets done in win 8 is obscured by the metro toys (apps, craplets) & that no (zero) ms productivity products are written to it. that makes it (metro) useless in a business environment.

however, any young person joining a company today grew up with ms windows and is intimately familiar with it.
metro is different from what they grew up on. easy to learn? no joke. push the button. but even so, it remains useless.
 
Temmu said:
@ace - what ms productivity product is written as a craplet (metro app?)
office?
server 2012?
exchange server?
o! i know! visual studio!

my point is that the place where work gets done in win 8 is obscured by the metro toys (apps, craplets) & that no (zero) ms productivity products are written to it. that makes it (metro) useless in a business environment.

however, any young person joining a company today grew up with ms windows and is intimately familiar with it.
metro is different from what they grew up on. easy to learn? no joke. push the button. but even so, it remains useless.
Click to expand...

Visual studio as a Windows 8 app? :confused2: It doesn't exist.

I use various Task management apps on a daily basis on my Surface. Much easier than my iPhone to use... I also use financial apps, key/password holders, I can write quick notes to sync to skydrive in the cloud, and lots more.

my point is that the place where work gets done in win 8 is obscured by the metro toys (apps, craplets) & that no (zero) ms productivity products are written to it. that makes it (metro) useless in a business environment.
Click to expand...

Not really, and for it to be useful to a business environment they don't have to be MS productivity "products" though. That business could write their own app to be used by their employees if they truly wanted. I think the convenience and portability of an RT device too, for using the apps, would be much more cost effective than a full blown laptop, and because of the features embedded in a Surface, it would be great for many other things too.

however, any young person joining a company today grew up with ms windows and is intimately familiar with it.
metro is different from what they grew up on. easy to learn? no joke. push the button. but even so, it remains useless.
Click to expand...

Yes, I understand you have called it useless... But you have not yet provided any supporting evidence as to why exactly it is "useless". Even if you go to school and learn something, you'll be forced to change after you are out of school by your employers to learn new things anyways. That's just the way technology is.

If it is easy to learn, how is that not a point in itself for why it is not useless? It would be cost effective for people to be using an easy to use OS.

You can continue to call the apps toys, junk, useless, etc... But until you provide any valid reasons you don't have good grounds for a debate lol.

We're all adults here though :smile9:, I probably won't change my opinion for now because of my experiences with Windows 8, and you probably won't change yours, and that's entirely fine! No problem with that at all. I am open to anything "bad" that there is about Windows 8 that people find though. I like challenging that to see if something can make whatever it is better, or hearing it out at least. People who enjoy Aero for example, if it weren't for some people out there already, we would have been stuck with the plane jane "flat" and opaque look. Because people still like aero though, developers have come out with modifications to make it possible.

:thumbsup2:
 
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windows 8 desktop is fine. (boring and lifeless, but fine.)
my complaint will remain metro & its non-productive apps. (formerly known as craplets.)

metro is fine if the user bought a pc as they do a toaster. they bring it home, plug it in, add bread, push a button & voila! toast! yummm!
some of us, including yourself, ace, use a pc to do work. the metro interface is fine when you take a coffee break and want instant toast, i mean, news or weather. But you certainly cannot accomplish work with it.
 
Temmu said:
windows 8 desktop is fine. (boring and lifeless, but fine.)
my complaint will remain metro & its non-productive apps. (formerly known as craplets.)

metro is fine if the user bought a pc as they do a toaster. they bring it home, plug it in, add bread, push a button & voila! toast! yummm!
some of us, including yourself, ace, use a pc to do work. the metro interface is fine when you take a coffee break and want instant toast, i mean, news or weather. But you certainly cannot accomplish work with it.
Click to expand...

Eh... I find it actually really really handy for my email notifications that I get, along with a few other things. The notification system itself is a +1 for me :). It is even more handy on my Surface.

I will say that there are a few things that I don't like about Windows 8, but just like every OS, it's no different. And the things I don't like about Windows 8 have become classified as minor now that I know Windows 8 a bit better. I've been playing with it for half a year now, and you grow to like it. I don't think I'd go back to Windows 7, but I have the choice to do so at my fingertips :)

Through my online experiences, I have seen it is a split decision as to who likes it and who doesn't. MVP or not, I give my honest opinion about things, and my opinion of Windows 8 has changed for the better now that I forced myself to use it for a while. :thumbsup2:
 
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I still want my Aero. I hate this flat lifeless color or lack there of, in Windows 8. Even the lack of color actually has dimension on Mac OS X. Not that I like the lack of color there either. But the lack of color and dimension is downright ugly in Windows 8.

IMHO of course. And it's great that we all have our own opinions on this. I just want to be able to have my opinion work on Windows 8 like it does on Windows 7.

I don't even care so much about the Start 'page' if there was Aero on the Desktop.
 
Aero Glass is more than just transparency; it has dimension, depth. Makes it easier to see what is what on the screen.
 
@ace, yes, i will use 8, and may grow to like it. i read in another thread, the workplace of a fellow member has indeed developed work-related app(s) - possibly for the pc, but that point was not clear. the loss of the start menu is a minus, not a plus, nor can it be classified as an improvement.

@gz, @lilbambi, i too believe win 8's desktop environment to be dull and lifeless, perhaps so to starkly contrast the bright colors of metro / modern / app buttons, a way to lure the unsuspecting, much as nuts in the bottom of a glass bottle trap a monkey's hand.
 
Temmu said:
@ace, yes, i will use 8, and may grow to like it. i read in another thread, the workplace of a fellow member has indeed developed work-related app(s) - possibly for the pc, but that point was not clear. the loss of the start menu is a minus, not a plus, nor can it be classified as an improvement.
Click to expand...

How so? You can't classify it as a minus just because people are not used to not having a start menu. It's easy to get used to after a while. But in my opinion, playing devils advocate, I think it's much better, as now instead of a tiny little menu that made use of a little bit of space, you've got a full screen display of all of those items and much more.
 
Actually, when we are talking about a person's opinion, of course they can say that -- if that is their own opinion.

A person's opinion, is by it's very nature, a very personal thing, their very own opinion and they are entitled to that opinion. We, or others, may or may not agree, but they are entitled to their opinion. :thumbsup2:
 
At this point, I too feel it's a minus. I may change my mind at some point in the future, but right now. It is a UI minus.
 
For anyone that is interested, I have found another Start-Menu replacement that does a good job... Unfortunately, it isn't free... Just like Start8 it has a free trial period then costs a small fee...

The program is called Startisback... It has a very functional start menu and seems more stable than Start8 (I had some odd crashes when running Start8 on my desktop PC, and others have reported system instabilities)

Here is a screenshot.

startisback.jpg

As soon as I find a free one that works well, I will let you know.
 

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