Hello Support:
What is your current statement on Adagio running on Windows 8? The official statement from April of 2012 says it will likely work but "More detailed compatibility information will be provided as soon as it is available". Thank you.

Bruce:

I asked this recently, apparently there is no further update.

We have an in house Windows 8 workstation running Adagio from our server. Had issues that were mainly Windows 8. It currently seems to be stable but I wouldn't be keen to implement it at a client's site. Perhaps we've become overly cautious.

I had a client install on Win8 without asking me first.

They ran into some issues with the dictionary files and I had to copy the ones from my system to theirs, but once those were corrected, they seem to be running okay.

This, however, is on a single sysem, not on a network.

Thank you Doug, Terry and Ralph:
Apparently you fellows on the west coast are the technology leaders! Based on your experiences and with no update to Softrak's position, I think the prudent recommendation to any user is to stay with Windows 7 if possible. That's hard to do if one is purchasing a retail computer because those are mostly Windows 8. However computers intended for the business market are easily obtainable as Windows 7 since very few corporations have plans to adopt Windows 8 (yet).

I will have to do a Windows 8 install for multiple workstations and Windows 2012 soon. I have a Windows 8 computer running in our production environment. However, it is not a heavy user of Adagio. Hopefully, there isn't any problem.
I was able to install Adagio, PrintBoss, PayDirt, SnagIt, Rental for Adagio, etc and my Start List is almost impossible to read because I have pages and pages of tiles.

Unless somebody knows how I could have a different view of the tiles in the start list, I would like to request Softrak to make a new Workstation setup to show only 1 tile per module instead of 4 or 5. I was able to accomplish this by creating an Adagio folder inside C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. This folder only contains shortcuts to the Modules where other shortcuts exist.

Hi Patricia,

If the workstations aren't using touch screens (All In One), I'd dump the tiles (though on touch screens they're great). There's a free program called Classic Shell (http://www.classicshell.net/) that replicates the old Windows Start Screen. I haven't tried it because I'm using Windows 8 on a Surface tablet.

Here's a tip I learned at a recent workshop.

Make the "Desktop" tile the first tile in your set. Then, after typing your password to log on, press and hold the Enter Key for "1-Mississippi, 2-Mississippi" and you'll be taken directly to the desktop.

Thanks for the tip Andrew, but it only works with a real keyboard, not the virtual keyboards. But why would you use Windows 8 unless you had a touch screen? I've talked to a couple of people and they had no trouble getting Windows 7 put on their new computer(s) instead of Windows 8.

We are recommending to buy Windows 7. This client needs the Windows 8 computers for another solution. I can install a program to show the Start button for my computer but it is up to our clients' IT support person to install anything else that is not Adagio or Adagio Related.

Going to the desktop is not an issue. The issue is looking for information on the start list when you are showing all the installed applications.

Mike:

The other thing to consider is that eventually Windows 7 will be discontinued. When will depend upon the adaption rate by users. Think Vista, users stayed away so XP was retained. When XP came out it was well received so Windows 2000 was gone quickly.

Hi Patricia

Are you talking about the All Apps screen? It lists all programs, shortcuts, etc. I think I have about sixty items showing for Adagio. Go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs to see everything that All Apps shows. Try this link for cleaning those up: http://betanews.com/2012/08/02/tame-the-windows-8-all-apps-screen/ .

If that isn't it, I'm confused.

Doug:

I couldn't agree more but what's the incentive to change from Windows 7 to 8? Windows7 is a nice operating system. Unless you are using tablets or all-in-ones, there's not much reason to switch. I've tried entering data into OE using a pen but that was a fail. Couldn't compare to a keyboard. But I'm going to try to talk them into using tablets for inventory this year or next. Have your count sheets in Excel and use the pen to write the inventory counts directly into Excel.

Thank you Mike for the info.

As I mentioned in my original post, I know how to clean up the start menu. I was requesting Softrak to update the Workstation install because, in a company with many users, you will need to go through all the users and clean up their start menu (tiles).

If that is the way that W8 works, then the current workstation install is creating a crowded start menu when showing all applications.

Mike:

Windows 7 may be a nice product but if MS announcing no more Windows 7 sales allowed and hardware developers no longer support Windows 7, then what?

On the other hand Windows 8 could be another Vista, time will tell.

Hello:
Maybe time is already telling. The research group IDC released a report today that says PC sales were down 13.9% compared to the same period year. It contains the phrase "PC Shipments Post the Steepest Decline Ever in a Single Quarter". While some of that is attributed to the popularity of tablets, the report also contains the line "At this point, unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only failed to provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market". See IDC report on PC shipments Q1 2013

This study includes all sales, both consumer and commercial. The report doesn't provide statistics on the adoption rate of Windows 8 in corporate environments but I would be comfortable in saying that's very low (except in organizations without an IT department and who buy from a consumer-oriented retailer).

In Yukon, our work around after Windows 8 was an after thought:

The IT folks installed VMware on the one workstation in the network and he is running adagio programs through it in a windows 7 environment.
("VMware Player: The Easiest Way to Run a Virtual Machine")

Rumor has it that Windows 8.1 will have a startup option to boot/log straight into the desktop view. Windows 7 has been a stable platform for me for years. I'd only upgrade to ensure software compatibility. Perhaps they get it right with 8.1.

Since it has been a while that anyone has posted in here, are there still concerns with installing Adagio on to a Windows 8 computer? I'm looking at purchasing a new computer, so I want to make sure that there won't be any issues when it comes to installing Adagio.

Albert:

We recommend that our clients stay with Windows 7 Professional. Looks like Windows 8 is going to be another Vista. Eventually Microsoft will figure this out and come out with a business friendly OS again.

As far as I can tell, the only concerns (at least so far) are cosmetic in nature.

I only have a couple of Win8 PCs accessing Adagio and admittedly they are not heavy users but so far no problems that we can attribute to the Win8 environment.

Pete

Windows 8.1 is scheduled to be released Oct. 17 and as Bob said is going to have an option to boot into the Win 7 desktop. I don't think MS will abandon Windows 8 as they did with Vista. The Surface 2 is being released next month and they appear committed to the metro interface. 8.1 is also bringing back the Start Menu(to a degree). A good read about 8.1 release is here: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/18/windows-8-1-start-menu-17-october

They note an interesting tidbit about upgrading:
Windows 8.1 will only be installable on a computer without an operating system, or as an upgrade on a Windows 7 or Windows 8 computer.
Windows 7 users will have to reinstall all their programs after the upgrade, as only documents and file transfer is supported. Upgrades from previous versions of Windows, including Windows XP and Windows Vista, are not supported by Windows 8.1, unlike Windows 8.

Dan:

The Windows 8 release to manufacturer documentation of changes does not mention anything about a Windows 7 interface option. The tech writers still say that v8.1 will still a third-party solution to give you a Windows 7 interface.

My mistake. It's not the Win 7 desktop. But the Windows 8.1 product guide does specifically note that it can be configured to boot directly into desktop mode.

Dan:

I think all that means is that you don't end up with the really large tiles in front of you.

We have a site running about 5 Adagio computers, where all the workstations are either XP or Win 7.
All machines run nicely.
They purchased one new laptop with Win 8 and we managed to have Adagio running on this machine, but it is noticeably slower.
It takes considerably longer to start up the applications, and also the processing is slower.
I am not sure why this is the case, and I have asked the client to get their IT professionals involved to trouble-shoot.
(But at this point, it suggests to me to continue to avoid the new operating system.)

Samuel:

As several other commenters here (and a few million others worldwide) have noted: Windows 8 is another Vista.

In this case, the problems are in the whole concept of touch and swipe in a few million programs that are mouse and/or keyboard centric. This includes all normal office applications such as accounting.

Try to find a dealer who builds his/her own computers and was far-sighted enough to buy a bunch of Windows 7 licenses while they could.

I think you will find that all of the major brands can still provide business class machines with Windows 7 Pro. MS may be big but it's hard to ignore Dell and IBM when their insisting that Windows 7 is what they need to keep their customers. Same reason we were still able to get XP long after Vista was suppose to be king.

Hi Sam,

If the client's not able to downgrade to Win 7 PRO there are options to make Windows 8 act and feel like Win 7.
http://blog.laptopmag.com/make-windows-8-like-windows-7

Hi Doug,

We have a Win 8 machine in the office and desktop mode is very much the same as Win 7 without the start button. The graphics may be slightly different with flatter looking windows but functionally it isn't much different. The taskbar is there and windows explorer works pretty much the same way. I used desktop shortcuts and had Adagio modules on there working fine. With the 8.1 uprade, you can skip the metro UI on boot up and run pretty much exclusively in desktop mode. The link I posted for Sam is an app that apparently disables some of the annoying things about Win 8 and gives you a start menu back. But I haven't used it personally.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer Windows 7. But if people have purchased the machine already and can't get a downgrade, it's not the end of the world.