Try Retro

They are wonderful when they work, computers, but for most of us, artists in particular, they are just a convenience.

Which is why when might MicroGreedy decided to do an upgrade, meaning something you didn't want, don't need and would live happily ever after without, they do it under the cover of darkness.

Sure they call it a New, Improved and Exciting Service Pack or Operating System but what it really means is replacing all of your programs.

Now I have been advocating a switch to Linux for years. The Ubuntu brand of Linux is as user friendly as a high-geek OS can be and will act like Windows most of the time. Yes, it does take time to learn it and there will be programs which you can't find a replacement for, but you won't have to deal with constant repair alerts, virus warnings and retooling all of your hardware.

Windows doesn't care how much you like your system the way it is, the only way for them to make more money, which is what they care about, is to sell you a new OS. So they've thoughtfully ditched XP which we all know and for the most part love and now we have Windows 7 or 8 or 8.5 or whatever.

I don't do tiles, or social networking, I visit my friends over diner or coffee and when I want to get to a program I click on the start menu and there it is.

But not in windows 7 and 8,. MicroSleezy has done away with the start menu.

Thanks a lot Microjerk.

But you can go back to that familiar and trusted interface with Classic Shell.

http://www.classicshell.net/

Now you can have all of those "improvements" that you didn't want and have it in a way that you can get around the new "features."

Take a look and see if this works for you. It is free. (What you thought I would change in the New Year?) And that means you can try it and if it doesn't work, uninstall it!

Or you could try Ubuntu

http://www.ubuntu.com/