Apps won't install - Windows 8

[canuckamuck]

I really need to get Skype running on my new PC. I went with a genuine win 8 OS, but now to get some programs you can't just download and install them. You have to get them through the Windows store. Unfortunately apps I get through the Windows store usually won't install, I just get the notification that they are pending.

I have tried the app troubleshooter, and I have done every win update I could find. Still no dice.

Anyone got an answer?

[wgdanson]

Just re-installed Windows 8 and ALL my apps and programs after a virus attack. No problems at all. Try re-installing Windows.

[canuckamuck]

I didn't get much response, so I decided to go ahead with upgrading to 8.1.

Now I have new problems as Microsoft does not accept the code they emailed to me, so I can't verify my Microsoft account.

So I have some work ahead of me to get that figured out.

In the meantime I discovered there is a Skype for desktops version which I installed without needing to go through the app store. Apparently the app version of Skype is garbage anyway.

[Chicog]

They really should have called it Window 8.

[canuckamuck]

Chicog, I know there was a joke in there, I am just to thick to get it.

Is it 'window wait'? If that's what you mean I concur that you spend a lot of time on extra steps, and watching those balls go round. Not to mention the endless attempts to give permissions to your data. I hate all the mono color screens you have to stare at waiting for some tile function to happen. I hate that right clicking is a thing of the past, for the most part, when you enter tile land.

But what you gonna do? Make your own OS?

I got everything working now. Microsoft had to send me an access code three separate times before one of them took. Apps load now, but somehow I need a password after a restart. I hate passwords on PC's, always trouble coming from that. Is there any way to eliminate the password part?

[10Yen]

You may want to download Classic Shell too, you get a neat start menu, Classic, Classic with 2 columns or Windows 7.

It's free to download, it's not an app.

http://download.cnet.com/Classic-Shell/3000-2072_4-75553853.html

[canuckamuck]

thanks, I'll give it a shot

[manarak]

The Skype App only works with a microsoft account or how they call it.

The Skype version for computers is still around though, try downloading that one:

http://www.skype.com/en/download-skype/skype-for-computer/

[Chicog]

It gets joking called Window 8 because when you open something like Skype it basically takes over the UI. Whereas on the normal desktop you can resize it to fit a corner, move it around at will, superimpose it on a word document or a browser, etc.

That's the interface most Windows users have learned to operate.

As for the password, yes you want one and keep it relatively complex.

[KittenKong]

You dont actually need a Microsoft account at all to install or use Windows 8 or 8.1 but they do hide the option to bypass it.

So far I have not come across any apps (worth having) that dont have a desktop version that will install in the normal way on Win8 without using the store. Skype certainly does, and so does Windows Mail (or Live Mail or whatever they are calling it this week).

[KittenKong]

As for the password, yes you want one and keep it relatively complex.

I disagree. I bitlock my entire Win 8 laptop drive with a strong password and I Truecrypt my user data partition on my Win 7 machine but I dont have a Windows user password on any of my machines.