Windows 8 is due out in a few days. We’ve tried the evaluation version a couple of times but didn’t get very far with it. After loading it twice, we decided that it wasn’t worth the effort to get to know it. The change was a bit too much from the Windows 7 that we’ve been using. Sure, we love to try new things but, because this was an evaluation copy, we didn’t feel comfortable changing everything around just to see what it felt like.

If we buy a new laptop or desktop, we might be forced into learning the new OS from Microsoft but, for now anyway, Windows 7 works just fine. Did you know that many businesses are still using Windows XP? XP was the last version of Windows that allowed you to run it on several different systems. For that reason alone, we’ve stopped buying anything from Microsoft.

If a Microsoft OS comes with a computer, we’re fine with that but we won’t go out and purchase anything that Microsoft puts out otherwise. Why? Because the pricing of any Windows version is far beyond what we consider a reasonable expense. Apple, for instance, offers their OS X software at surprisingly low prices, even offering a family package that allows the purchaser to load the OS on several different computers.

Yes, Apple sells hardware and their prices for that hardware are atrocious but their lovely operating system doesn’t break the bank. Windows, on the other hand, has to get all of their money from their various bits of software, mainly Windows. Additionally, Microsoft is heavily into Digital Rights Management, something that we feel goes against creativity and the development of new products and ideas. Part of the reason that the U.S. is heavily into a recession now can be traced back to initiative-killing DRM.

Something that we’ve played with before, and loved, is Linux. We’re in the process of moving towards a version of Ubuntu on one of our laptops, just to see what’s changed since the last type we tried. We’ll post our success or failures as we proceed. For now, tell us what you think of  Windows 8. Have you used it? Did you like it? Let us know what your experience has been like.

Thanks for reading!