Two cheers for Windows 8

I vaguely remember hearing about Windows 8 something within the last month. I forget when exactly, maybe I was hoping it was a bad dream.

No such luck. It just popped up in my msn mailbox. (And by the way, why do I still have an email account that costs me about $10 per month when there's so many free email hosting sites available?)

"Windows 8 will transform the way you use your PC..."

Anybody ask me if I wanted to transform the way I use my PC?

Nope. I use my computer for Internet, word processing, and communication: Skype, email, and the Magic Jack telephone service. Basically, as typewriter and a telephone.

"...but it still does everything you expect and need a PC to do."

Why do I get the feeling this means I'm going to have to learn to do everything all over again?

Let's see, the last time I had a hard drive crater on my laptop and had to buy a new one, I thought, "OK, let's dig out the old software disc and install WORD."

Didn't work. So I called Microsoft. Turns out new computers won't support the old version of Word I'd been perfectly happy using for years. So I had to buy a new software package, the Microsoft Office suite in fact.

But I didn't want all the other stuff. Couldn't I just buy Word?

Well yes, but it would have been more expensive than the whole suite. Go figure.

My new word processor does so many more things than my old one. Not a durn one of which I use or particularly want.

One of the functions I use most frequently is the word count, very useful for a professional writer. On my old word processor it was a button away. On the current model it's on another screen. That's two jumps.

So forgive me if I don't react with all the enthusiasm the announcement seems to expect from me.

Rah, rah...