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Comment by crispytx | Hacker News Reader

Agreed! Paint was the only Microsoft product that I actually loved.

They did the same thing with the calculator, turning what is probably the simplest app on the entire computer into a Metro-ified flat-design-meme store-dependent mess for absolutely no benefit.

A Metro-ified flat-design-meme store-dependent mess which takes a noticeable delay to load.

I've taken to firing up an instance of IDLE instead - which is actually a little nicer in the end

You need to give ipython a go.

I have one deployed on Digital Ocean (http://blog.mclemon.io/fedora-jupyter-on-a-linux-remote-usin...) but it's just not as convenient or quick as a local python repl for quick calcs and sums.

Cool post! But I run ipython / jupyter console locally for such use cases. It's nicer than plain python IMHO. Tab completion, coloring etc.

I went to open my calculator this morning and it told me it was in the middle of an update and to try again later. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes later it still wasn't done. I ended up using Google to calculate some basic math! How does Microsoft screw up such a simple application?

I've opened up the calculator a couple of times and gotten a prompt to rate/review it on the Windows Store... What is the purpose of doing that with built-in apps? It's just annoying.

Any app that prompts m for a review is an automatic one star.

But now the UI is made with XML. XML is cool. The execs read that in a magazine.

Welcome to windows. They have finally started bringing out great laptops, but I can just never go back to Windows.

You don't have a Kensington Keyhub? Calculator built-in, awesome for laptops and desktops.

Doesn't Windows include both the old calculator and the new calculator? I'm on Windows 8 and I have both.

10 yanks away calc.exe and replaces it with the metro version. You have to grab an old copy if you want the original back.

I wonder if you could get into legal trouble if you start to re-distribute calc.exe from older Windows version, as a free download. Probably yes, but it would look so ridiculous if MS lawyers would go after a random person doing that.

The thing is that your Windows 8/7/Vista/XP versions of calc don't even run on Windows 10. The only thing you can run is the Calculator Plus that was released for XP. Of course Microsoft did remove the download for that one.

cmd.exe and calc.exe from ReactOS can be used since ReactOS aims to be fully binary compatible. They look a bit bad though.

Or this is a good opportunity to use tools not built into the OS or write own replacements. It's a bit silly to have calc program dictated by the OS version.

>>I'm on Windows 8

Genuinely curious, why?

Not him, but I would have stayed on 8.1 too if it weren't for processor support. The only annoying thing about it is the start menu, which i only use for maybe 10sec/month. It's faster than win7 and has a bunch of features I would miss, and compared to 10 it's not as bloated with non-win32 apps with less functionality for everything, tracking that you can turn off, and all the other win10 stuff you've heard already.

I am also on Win8 (some of the time) and those are the reasons.

What is the processor support issue?

Kaby lake and zen are only supported on win10.

I forgot to update to 10 during the free period and I don't feel like paying $100 since windows 8 still works fine.

The new calculator is more useful to me than what came before. It does conversions too, which I use heavily. I like it.

The calc from Windows 7 also did conversions while being really quick to load and have tons of keyboard shortcuts.

I read that as conversations and thought Microsoft invented some bizarre calculator based messaging app hybrid.

Some time ago someone recommended SpeedCrunch to me for calculator stuff and I use it all the time now. It's a little bit less intuitive since it takes a syntax instead of presenting buttons, but it does a ton more.

The programming mode is invaluable to me. I do a lot of embedded stuff and it is an absolute godsend.

If any knows any other good simple programs for bitwise operations and binary conversion then I'm all ears.

Powershell.exe

I sometimes use a python REPL instead of a calculator. Python has `bin()` for binary representations. Plus imaginary numbers are built in. For more complicated stuff I reach for Wolfram alpha.

It really I've was already using Launchy instead of Cortana. So, when I saw what a mess Calculator had become in 10, Launcy ended up replacing that too for simple calculations.

It's sad, because by themselves programs like Paint and Calculator are simple. But, when done well, they come together to improve the quality of life while using Windows.

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