Basecamp won't open, says .NET Framework 1.0 not installed

You've been reading too many bloggers who haven't used it any more than you. My desktop Win8 system doesn't have a touchscreen and doesn't need one. I'm also a keyboard maven. The only thing missing for us serious keyboard users is Alt-tab. I thought I would miss that a lot but I don't.

Aside from that change there is nothing... absolutely nothing!... that will hamper your ability to use it like Win7. And a few nice improvements in the bargain.

...ken...

I'm aware you can use it in a desktop form, which behaves "similar to" previous windows. And I know you don't "need" a touch screen. ~ But that's primarily what Win-8 was designed for. (Touch screen interactions with "surface computing.") Using Win-8 this spring, I recall I had to go through the "touch style" login screen to get to the desktop I prefer. And while there were ways to bring back the "start orb", MS kept killing them off, one by one.

Aside from being a bit faster to boot (not an issue with SSD's anyways), I still don't see real benefits unless you want a touch screen..... Especially if one relies on Virtual-PC VM's for some older business software. And as much as I hate to admit it, I use several "AddGadgets.com" desktop gadgets to monitor Windows. ("controversial") ~ I'm well aware that "workarounds" exist for both of these v.8 omissions & more, but why workaround when you don't need to....

On a curious note, what about Win-Tab? Does 3-D scroll still work (instead of alt-tab) while work working in the "old desktop mode?" (Guessing the answer is no.)

PS: The following enhancements (rollbacks IMO) in Windows 8.1 should have been part of the initial release. (They are also the primary reasons I reverted to v.7 on this new notebook.)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dn140266.aspx
Boot to Desktop: You can now configure Windows 8.1 to boot directly to the desktop after logon.
Desktop and Start Screen: Improvements have been made to better support users who prefer a mouse and keyboard experience to access applications.

~Aero is gone in 8x, and I actually recall missing that visual effect when I evaluated v.8. (Vain I know. But this being missing from the GUI actually left me with the feeling I was running on old/cheap hardware!)

I'm aware you can use it in a desktop form, which behaves "similar to" previous windows.

No. It's not "similar to previous windows". When you go to the Desktop it *IS* Windows, not just similar to. That's the whole point of Windows 8.x. You get the full version of Windows for desktop/laptop use. AND you get the touchscreen/mobile capabilities of the Metro interface for tablets, if you want it. And you get some nice enhancements to Windows.

If you don't want the mobile capabilities, just set the preferences to boot straight to the Desktop and forget about the mobile stuff.

The beauty of this approach is that if you ever decide to buy a laptop with a touchscreen, there are times when the ability to just tap the screen to produce an action is really handy, even in the Desktop.

Aside from being a bit faster to boot (not an issue with SSD's anyways), I still don't see real benefits unless you want a touch screen..... Especially if one relies on Virtual-PC VM's for some older business software. And as much as I hate to admit it, I use several "AddGadgets.com" desktop gadgets to monitor Windows. ("controversial") ~ I'm well aware that "workarounds" exist for both of these v.8 omissions & more, but why workaround when you don't need to....

There is never any reason to upgrade to a newer version of an operating system if your current one is getting the job done and you don't want or need anything the new version provides. Also, when you have your mind made up in advance that the newer version is "bad" you will just look for things that support your opinion, making it a totally negative experience. It's called a self-fulfilling prophecy. So in your case you are better off staying on Windows 7 until/unless you see something in a newer version that catches your interest. AND you can approach it with an open mind rather than just setting out to find all the things you think will pi$$ you off.

On a curious note, what about Win-Tab? Does 3-D scroll still work (instead of alt-tab) while work working in the "old desktop mode?" (Guessing the answer is no.)

Win-tab doesn't work in Win8. I had completely forgotten about it so I had to try it in Win7 to remind myself what it does! It's pretty but I don't see any particular functional value in it versus Alt-tab. That would be why I never bothered to use it and forgot it was even there.

On a more positive note, when testing the Win-tab for you I discovered that MS has put Alt-tab back in Win8.1. So thanks for getting me to check that out. I might not have noticed for a long time otherwise (shows how quickly I've adapted to not having it!).

~Aero is gone in 8x, and I actually recall missing that visual effect when I evaluated v.8. (Vain I know. But this being missing from the GUI actually left me with the feeling I was running on old/cheap hardware!)

Not an issue for me. I have two monitors sitting side by side. One is connected to my Win7 tower and the other is connected to my Win8 tower. The Win7 system is using Aero. If I look for specific differences I can, of course, find a few. But I have to look intentionally to find them. In using the two systems side by side every day I simply don't notice any difference that affects my usage in any way.

I use one keyboard and mouse with Microsoft's excellent Mouse Without Borders app to access both systems. So it's really like using a single system with two monitors. If there were any significant differences in any aspect of usability - either visual or manual - they would be jarring. Since installing Win8 and setting it up the way I want it (something you do on a new installation of any operating system) I just continue to use the two systems the same way I did when they were both on Win7.

I do occasionally wish that my Win7 system had a few of the enhancements from Win8. But mostly I just continue to use them without any issues.

...ken...

Hey TRAKBAK,

Just for completeness I thought I should mention that my computer experience goes back to the days of the mainframe dinosaurs. I've been a computer professional since 1973.

My first personal computer was an Osborne 1 portable computer that I used at home and at work. It ran the CP/M operating system. I've used every version of MS/PC-DOS as well as every version of Windows. I was even a Microsoft beta tester for a few versions of Win 2.x and 3.x and Windows for Workgroups 3.x (the first really *good* version of Windows!).

I also use VMs for those occasional times I want to use a different operating system. I even still have a CP/M emulator that lets me run most of the software from my Osborne. Did you ever encounter MicroPro's original office system - WordStar/CalcStar/DataStar - that was out there long before WordPerfect or MS Office? I can still do the WordStar "diamond" (Ctrl-S, -D, -E, -X) that was used for cursor control on systems/terminals without cursor keys.

When it comes to using the computer I'm pretty old school .. I consider the mouse a fairly recent - and wimpy - addition to the user interface. My preference is to keep my hands on the keyboard. But I'm quite capable of adjusting. So I use the mouse effectively. And after using my smartphone and tablets for a couple of years now I can assure you my next laptop will have a touch screen because there are many times it would be so much easier to just tap the screen rather than shoving a cursor around with a mouse or touchpad.

Let me be clear that I'm not promoting mobile computing to anyone who doesn't need or want it. Touchscreens, like the mouse, are just an addition to our arsenal of navigation tools. There is still nothing more accurate than using the cursor keys to make fine adjustments to the cursor position. I have replaced the onscreen keyboards on my phone and tablets in favour of ones that have cursor keys for just that reason.

But just as using a mouse to get the cursor quickly from one spot to another is much more efficient than using the cursor keys to shove the cursor long distances, sometimes a quick tap on a touch screen is an even more efficient way to get the cursor to the spot you want.

Even an olde pharte like me can figure that out. Perhaps you aren't lazy enough to see the advantages. :)

Even though I can run any version of DOS or Windows I want to, I rarely do. I find nothing particularly attractive about the old operating systems, other than to respect them for what they were in their day. In this case, with respect to Windows desktop (non-mobile) computing, Windows 8 is an incremental improvement from Windows 7. Someone with an open mind will immediately be able to see the improvements and decide whether they are anything they are interested in or not. Someone looking for reasons not to change at this time will find plenty of them. But most of them will have nothing at all to do with the Windows Desktop.

...ken...

Hi Ken;

Not the same, but similar. (I know where you're coming from.) And when MS moved from 8.0 to 8.1, they fortunately added back some functionality desktop users came to expect (demand) but were not provided with in Win-8. (The very reason I reverted from v.80 and went back to 7.) You may in fact have more expertise than I do. Worth noting, I too worked on (learned on, cut my teeth on, whatever you want to call it) main frames back in a college basement, and thought I was cool when I was introduced to the Screen Editor (SE editor instead of the "old shool" line editor) while writing pascal code.... Apple-II, Dos 3.2, 3.3, 4.0 (known to corrupt without reason/warning), 5.0, 6.0, Windows 3.0, 3.1, 3.11, 95, NT, 98, ME, SE,, 2000, XP, server 2003, Vista (32 & 64), 7 32 & 64), and now 8 64bit... I've "lived" in all of them. And the only time I "stepped down" was with 8.0, even when I should have but didn't (Understatement: Vista was HORRIBLE in terms of performance.) ~ I'm not saying never, but just not now. Win-7 64 has been "bulletproof" since almost the day I installed it.

8.1 might be fine now, but that's what should have been released in the first place. ~ I expect Windows 9 (eta 2015) to be a blockbuster OS.

I've migrated this exact image I'm running now (from a previous Lenovo T61p to this HP 8770w notebook via bare metal restore with all software intact of this exact same image, just changed to a new MS license key). This notebook shows no signs of Windows-7 64bit being slow/tired or even remotely "ill." ~ Compared to previous frustrations with the other (Post DOS OS's), like you said: I'll stick with what works for now....

PS: Alt-Tab is good! (And if I was "tablet bound" I'd work with 8.1, but I'm not.) My eyes don't like small screens as I hate wearing reading glasses in public! Because of this, "I hate to love & love to hate smartphones." (I don't even own one actually largely because of this.) ~ Ah, the pleasures of aging gracefully!

I've worn glasses since grade 2 so the "reading glasses" just come along for the ride. I have a friend with the same vanity as you .. refuses to take his reading glasses when he leaves the house. It can be a pain having to be his seeing eye dog whenever he has to read something less than 16 point font now that his arms are too short for him to do it himself. :)

The biggest problem with tablets and smartphones is that everyone is following Apple down the rathole of higher resolution. The super high res of modern tablets and phones means they can use smaller fonts and still have them nice and crisp. So they do. That's great if you're under 40 with good eyes. Not so much otherwise.

The nice thing is that you have multiple options on mobile operating systems for making text larger. I have reached a point where I can travel with just my 7" tablet and my 4.7" smartphone. And if it was necessary I could actually get away with just my smartphone, really. I did a one-week motorcycle trip this summer with just the phone and got by just fine.

Of course I can cheat if I have to. I have a USB-HDMI adapter that lets me connect my tablet or phone to any flatscreen TV and use it as a "monitor". Both devices look great on even a 720p screen. A could add a nice Bluetooth keyboard if I wanted to be able to do more than a trivial amount of typing on the road. My phone, charger and HDMI cables, and a BT keyboard would still be far smaller and lighter than my 9" netbook was.

The phone and tablet both have excellent GPS chips in them. I use ALK CoPilot because Garmin refuses to sell an Android app. Too bad because it's a nuisance having to make the choice to either drag along a Garmin GPS so I can use all my Garmin maps and data, or use the phone to travel light and live without the Garmin stuff.

Fortunately I like to have all the toys! :)

...ken...

Fortunately I like to have all the toys! :)

What's the difference between men and boys?

The price of their toys :p

Good evening everyone...

This thread has become rather entertaining! - Your post got me laughing Ken about the eye thing! Truth is, the need for reading glasses is a total PITA, not really a vanity thing! (maps to menu's to reading small print in packaging..... And when I don't have an extra set of "eyes" handy, Arrrggghhhh!

The biggest problem with tablets and smartphones is that everyone is following Apple down the rathole of higher resolution. The super high res of modern tablets and phones means they can use smaller fonts and still have them nice and crisp. So they do. That's great if you're under 40 with good eyes. Not so much otherwise.

How ironic can things get?: Last evening I was in Best Buy talking with a google employee (yes google was dressed in gray & "in the house".) ~ I spoke with him briefly asking a few key questions about "google ChromeCast." I was contemplating how well a b/t keyboard & mouse (with a tablet/smart phone) might work with a large HD TV. ~ I have no problems seeing things 10 feet away, my vision is only effected up close. (I was actually thinking how nice it would be to work on this HP 8870W notebook PC, but view a crisp 65" HD screen ~10 feet away, instead of this 17.3 screen, without needing any glasses.....
About 4 years ago I was sitting here (exact chair, on my T61p looking at the taskbar thinking): Wow, I've got something in my left eye. "It's a little blurry." I did the "rub the eye thing" expecting the "sharpness" to return and that was the specific moment I realized my eyes were "aging." ~ Ironically at the time of the "revelation", I had been looking at & checking the time in the Windows taskbar.... I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT MOMENT IN TIME WHEN I REALIZED IT WAS THE EYE ITSELF! (Totally explains all the comments made about me "squinting behind the screen." ~ Flashing back nearly 15 years ago: A doctor noticed and told me I had an "astigmatism" in my left eye & told me I would begin to notice it in my 40's.... Wow, that doctor was good, really good! (And to think that I honestly thought he was FOS as the time!)

So now I buy the biggest screen notebooks I can, run hires & wear glasses so that all is well. (It's also why I have the largest screen GPS I can find for "on the trail.") ~ Reading glasses are just not feasible when I'm in the woods.

~Bob

In regards to the original issue, a previously installed set of topos turned out to be what prevented Basecamp from opening after adding .Net framework 3.5. Or, at least, after deleting them and re-installing from the disc Basecamp finally opened for me.

Who would have thought a set of topos could have been the cause..... ~ Glad you got it working!