Windows 8 vs 37" screen?

bluechair84

I'm beginning to get a bit fed up of straining to make out our XP powered media centre at 768p. Everything looks lovely and crisp, but the font looks like it was written by ants. Of course, it would be nicer to run it at full 1080p but my eye balls would be on fire trying to make anything out... And I'm beginning to have new problems with XP that I didn't have last year; I spent over two hours last night seeking out and destroying a virus which my scanner hadn't noticed. The graphics card had major issues earlier this year and it took nVidia an age to release a new driver, whilst flash player is being a pleb at the minute. Microsoft annoucned it will no longer be offering support for XP too... I might have to give up on what has so far been a brilliant system for me.
So, everyone is whining about how Win8 is designed around touchscreens which won't benefit the desktop user. I'm wondering if this will actually be good for my media centre though - bigger icons, gesture orientated interface, and hopefully it will be designed to be legible at full HD resolution.
I have a Win7 CD going spare as I've no need for the laptop it originally went onto. Do you reckon that a media centre viewed on a 37" would be benefitted by going the whole hog to Win8 though?

nicklouse

having downloaded win 8 onto one of my PCs i would not bother.

never had an issue on my big screen with 7.

one thing that supprised me was that microsoft security essentials was not compatible with Win8.

there is no start button. you need to sign up to some other MS services and they give you a Hotmaol account even if you have no interest in it.

I posted som Mozilla HTPC interface a while back which i will be trying when i get the big TV back.

but more than happy with Win 7 on the other stuff.

PS I will be waiting for the next version or a non touch version of 8.

I can not see 8 working in my work envioment.

bluechair84

I've had a look around for a Mozilla interface, but have only found Thunderbird so far. What software do you mean?
Whilst looking I did come across MediaPortal which looks to have a 1080p interface. If enough driver updates come up for the hardware I can massage XP through the later years of it's life. And if something like MediaPortal improves the GUI, then I'll be well happy.

Thewaylander

And why not jsut scale up your windows text in 1080p?

text isnt a fixed size in windows you know.....

nicklouse

bluechair84 wrote:

I've had a look around for a Mozilla interface, but have only found Thunderbird so far. What software do you mean?
Whilst looking I did come across MediaPortal which looks to have a 1080p interface. If enough driver updates come up for the hardware I can massage XP through the later years of it's life. And if something like MediaPortal improves the GUI, then I'll be well happy.

what are you wanting to do?

bluechair84

I want to make the GUI easier to use at 768p and higher. The HTPC is used mainly for radio, movies, photo editing, video editing and iPlayer. Really, an HTPC shouldn't be the bearer of my working studios but it's the only powerful computer I have so I sit on the couch and do any editing from there. Anyway, I won't be able to change the interface on these. But the internet and windows is a very 'distant' place at HD. I just want everything to be a bit easier to navigate through. Increasing icon and font sizes just makes thoe whole thing look a bit messy... A media centre skin will probably be the answer if Win8 isn't going to fill the void.
Oh, and I think Nick, you've posted about the Mozilla interface before, is it Kylo? I tried it and didn't like it much.

nicklouse

yep that was it.

the reason for asking was your mention of MediaPortal.

try XBMC

http://xbmc.org/about/

YeehaaMcgee

Can you clarify exactly what you;re trying to do, and why you're currently struggling?
you have a 37" screen, but how far away from it are you sitting, and what resolution does the screen support?

bluechair84

I can't add much more than my previous post... a 37" is powered by the HTPC, it's running at 768p and supports 1080p, but icons and text are a bit small, especially around the GUI. I tried Media Portal last night and the big bold links make it much easier to see and navigate through. Unfortunately, I don't yet like the layout but I think I can change that with a different skin and settings. Sat 8feet from the screen.

YeehaaMcgee

How far away are you sitting from the screen?

bluechair84

bluechair84 wrote:

Sat 8feet from the screen.

edit -- it's probably less than that, around 6-8 feet depending on where on the couch I am...

Twelly

Sorry to interrupt but isn't the usual pattern with Windows operating systems crap, good, crap, good, crap, good etc.?

3 - good
95 - crap
98 - good
2000/ME - crap
XP - good
Vista - crap
7 - good
8 - ???

Windows 7 works fine for me and I use it on a 32" screen. I won't bother swapping to 8.

YeehaaMcgee

bluechair84 wrote:

bluechair84 wrote:

Sat 8feet from the screen.

edit -- it's probably less than that, around 6-8 feet depending on where on the couch I am...

Well, 8 feet is a long long way to be standing from a screen to do any editing.
Can;t you bump the screen up to 1080p, but get a little stool or something to sit nearer the display when you're doing photo editing?
That's what I do with mine. Sit in the LaZboy for watching telly on media center, then grab a stool and sit nearer it to edit photos and such.

craker

I run XP / Mediaportal / 768p and it's a great combo. I can do productivity type tasks using the standard Windows UI but you're much better off sitting at a desk or using a laptop. As others have said, change the font size in Windows if you like, it does depend on what your trying to do.

Edit - Mediaportal makes much more sense with a remote control. XBMC seemed intuitive enough with a keyboard but I'd still get a cheap remote for it.

bluechair84

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Can;t you bump the screen up to 1080p, but get a little stool or something to sit nearer the display when you're doing photo editing?

I could yes, I haven't up to now, but I could do my editing much closer than I currently do. I'll shuffle the coffee table next time I'm working in an editing suite I think and try it at 1080p.

craker wrote:

I run XP / Mediaportal / 768p and it's a great combo. I can do productivity type tasks using the standard Windows UI but you're much better off sitting at a desk or using a laptop. As others have said, change the font size in Windows if you like, it does depend on what your trying to do.

Edit - Mediaportal makes much more sense with a remote control. XBMC seemed intuitive enough with a keyboard but I'd still get a cheap remote for it.

Media Portal is looking pretty good now I've changed skins. I can browse my films in a much clearer way than when sat on the couch browsing the folders in XP. There's a few problems with getting it to present folders in an easily browsable way. I do have a remote too which came with the case, but I've never really used it after the first month or so. Felt happier with the mouse and keyboard...

YeehaaMcgee

Ah, Hang on, something's just dawned on me.
You don't have Media Centre built into WinXP do you?
I think I may understand the problem now!

bluechair84

Yes that is correct!
And as if to demonstrate perfectly what was originally typed last night; XP has started to disintegrate. My first response must have been lost in one of it's many crashes. No virus, no hardware malfunctions, drivers up-to-date, no dodgy software, nothing recently installed, but no BSOD to give me an error code... I can find no explanation for it's sudden inability to be a computer. A computery friend thinks a virus has probably come and gone, leaving behind some damaged windows files, he thinks it's best to reinstall the OS. So I may as well go for my Win7 option. If it can't be setup to look good on a large screen, I'll continue trying Media Portal.

YeehaaMcgee

a sudden bout of BSOD usually signals RAM failure, or less commonly, another motherboard component failure.
When it is RAM failure, that can generally be attributed to the power supply deteriorating/failing, and being unable to deliver sufficient voltage and current to meet the system's demands.

The only time a software component can cause a BSOD is when you've just changed something, like installing a new driver. Everything else is a hardware issue.

bluechair84

bluechair84 wrote:

but no BSOD to give me an error code...

Programs are hanging, refusing to close despite forcing it from task manager, some won't fully open, sometimes the computer won't shut down - but it never gets to BSOD so I can't find out what is causing it, despite it getting to a full freeze on ocassion. I did find a virus that AVG hadn't spotted and spent three hours locating and manually killing it two nights ago, but the system only mildly improved afterwards.

craker

You could try Hiren's Boot CD http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd/ - burn it and boot its got hundreds of tools built in - Memory checkers, system checkers, defrag,etc etc. Alternatively grab an Ubuntu disc and boot from it; if Ubuntu's stable and you can't find any fault then XP is cacked up somehow?

bluechair84

Not heard of these methods of repair before - but I'm going to stick with installing 7 for the time being. Even in safe mode XP is being an arse, not shutting down and such like. I think it's fooked. I'm a bit gutted, it's like loosing a dog to traffic! XP in my HTPC has been so faithful!
It will be interesting to see what the final release of 8 is like as it does look like it would solve my GUI issues... I heard a rumour that it was going to be released from $50 dollars to try and be competitive.

YeehaaMcgee

bluechair84 wrote:

bluechair84 wrote:

but no BSOD to give me an error code...

Programs are hanging, refusing to close despite forcing it from task manager, some won't fully open, sometimes the computer won't shut down - but it never gets to BSOD so I can't find out what is causing it, despite it getting to a full freeze on ocassion. I did find a virus that AVG hadn't spotted and spent three hours locating and manually killing it two nights ago, but the system only mildly improved afterwards.

AH, sorry, head up my arris this morning

Since you're installing 7 now anyway, Media center should do everything you want from a HTPC, it's interface is specifically designed to be used "from the couch" so to speak.
But as for editing and so on, I'd still reccomend a stool or something to sit nearer the screen.

Windows 8 is a curious beast. I appreciate what they're trying to do, and seeing their "Surface" demo devices shows perfectly the advantages of their idea.
However, I don't think it's quite "there" yet. Maybe in a few months when a great deal more "metro" apps are available, then it'll be a fantastic option. But it needs a little time right now.
It reminds me of the change to Windows 95, where it had promise, but the applications weren't available to really take advantage.

YeehaaMcgee

Tell you what though, whilst you're messing about with OS installs anyway, why not check out Windows8 Release Previwew for yourself?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/wind ... se-preview

Only takes about 15-20 minutes to install from DVD.

nicklouse

not a fan of 8.

looks like it has MSE built in as MSE is not compatible with it!

no option to check for updates....

no program pop up....

or not that i have found yet. but I can see some possibilites.

YeehaaMcgee

Media Center is an optional extra, which I believe is going to be free to (effectively) anyone who pays for Win8 (yes, the stupidity is astounding).
Not sure what you mean with "no option to check for updates" or "no program pop up"?

nicklouse

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Media Center is an optional extra, which I believe is going to be free to (effectively) anyone who pays for Win8 (yes, the stupidity is astounding).
Not sure what you mean with "no option to check for updates" or "no program pop up"?

when you press start in XP or the Win logo in 7.

and show all programs.

YeehaaMcgee

Not sure about "all programs" - although I'm almost certain it's there.
To force a check for updates, just start typing "update" on the start screen.

bluechair84

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Tell you what though, whilst you're messing about with OS installs anyway, why not check out Windows8 Release Previwew for yourself?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/wind ... se-preview

Only takes about 15-20 minutes to install from DVD.

hmmmm
[stroking chin]

Daz555

TwellySmat wrote:

Sorry to interrupt but isn't the usual pattern with Windows operating systems crap, good, crap, good, crap, good etc.?

3 - good
95 - crap
98 - good
2000/ME - crap
XP - good
Vista - crap
7 - good
8 - ???

Windows 7 works fine for me and I use it on a 32" screen. I won't bother swapping to 8.

You missed out a few there - 1.x 2.x, NT3.x, NT4 etc.

The good/bad pattern does not really exist - besides 2000 was excellent and like NT was aimed at the enterprise customer rather than the home user. Even Vista is not so bad despite its reputation - once it was service packed and all the 3rd parties finally got off their collective backsides and updated their drivers/utils etc, it really became quite decent.

As for Windows 8 preview - I have played with it on a tablet and really liked it. I also have it installed as a virtual on my desktop PC. Windows 8 with a mouse though - hmm - not convinced.

YeehaaMcgee

Daz555 wrote:

As for Windows 8 preview - I have played with it on a tablet and really liked it. I also have it installed as a virtual on my desktop PC. Windows 8 with a mouse though - hmm - not convinced.

I agree with that on the whole. However, after using Win8 for about a week or so on a desktop or laptop, I end up with all my regularly run desktop apps pinned onto the taskbar anyway, just like with Windows7 - so the difference becomes minimal.
Win8 (desktop) handles multi monitors nicely though. I particularly like how it will automatically "prefer" portrait-oriented pictures for portrait monitors.

bluechair84

Well, after the death of XP over the last few days, Win7 has gone in and has media centre too, so I don't need to faff about with Media Portal. It also looks much better with icons and text sizes increased - a bit like some kid went mad with the crayola on my TV... but it's all far more legible and navigable. And media centre looks like it will do the job of browsing media in folders in a nicer way than just the usual windows folder.
On top of that, the BluRay drive was able to handle Moulin Rouge for the first time. It's the only disc the system couldn't play but it seems Win7 fixed that too...

[start Moulin Rouge abuse]