Windows 8 discussion
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posermobile89
Posts: 72 +0
My thoughts on my limited trials with windows 8 is that it feels like it is made for a tablet and desktop users are getting the shaft. I love the features they added, such as improved multi-monitor support, the new task manager, better file management windows, but all of that is restricted by metro. Those things aren't useful unless you are in the normal explorer as opposed to metro. but everything is so centralized to metro that these new features almost seem irrelevant. Everytime I hear of a new or improved feature I get excited, but then remember I HAVE to use metro which made me decide I'm just going to wait until Window 9, skip Windows 8, and stick to my good old Windows 7
jizzyburnizzy
Posts: 80 +30
I really dont like the metro interface. I like a clean minimilist desktop. I think I'll end up getting windows 8 just to learn it, but I'm more than happy with windows 7 right now. I can see why metro would be nice for the tablets/touchscreens tho
complexxL9
Posts: 69 +14
Tried to install it on vmware some time ago, failed as it seems it was not supported at that time. Will try now on hyper-v and get back with my impression.
I have had a lot of good times with Windows 8, when my install of Windows 7 ultimate died I just got the Consumer Preview because...well I want to see what it was like and I finally had an excuse.
I can say I would definitely buy this when it comes out, but I am still worried about compatibility as well as game performance. A few games I have just did not work.
On the whole, I used the Metro interface quite a lot but I was mostly in standard desktop mode.
can't wait!
I can say I would definitely buy this when it comes out, but I am still worried about compatibility as well as game performance. A few games I have just did not work.
On the whole, I used the Metro interface quite a lot but I was mostly in standard desktop mode.
can't wait!
this is great for tablets. maybe only for that.
I wanted to try Windows 8 on my old Fujitsu P1510D, but unfortunately it wants a 1024x768 resolution as a minimum as well as multitouch.
I tried the previous preview in VirtualBox and didn't like the interface that much, but if it's possible to get the old desktop back with no hint of Metro, then I might give it another try. From what I've read there are enough tweaks underneath the hood to make it a worthwhile upgrade over 7.
And all that said, I'm just now planning to switch from Vista to Windows 7 on my main PC, so it's not like I'm going to rush and buy 8 right now. I won't mind winning it, but otherwise will probably wait to see what the next version has to offer. (I had a license to 7 since it came out, but Vista feels okay to me, and reinstalling is a hassle. However I bought an SSD which I think is a good excuse to install from scratch.)
I tried the previous preview in VirtualBox and didn't like the interface that much, but if it's possible to get the old desktop back with no hint of Metro, then I might give it another try. From what I've read there are enough tweaks underneath the hood to make it a worthwhile upgrade over 7.
And all that said, I'm just now planning to switch from Vista to Windows 7 on my main PC, so it's not like I'm going to rush and buy 8 right now. I won't mind winning it, but otherwise will probably wait to see what the next version has to offer. (I had a license to 7 since it came out, but Vista feels okay to me, and reinstalling is a hassle. However I bought an SSD which I think is a good excuse to install from scratch.)
yRaz
Posts: 6,397 +9,459
EDIT: reposting this here to enter the contest
I don't think it'll be as bad as everyone says it will be. What I'm most interested in seeing is the integration between windows phone 8 and windows 8. I like the metro UI but I really don't see the purpose of it not defaulting to the desktop or having a start button. As far as tablets are concerned I think it will be a great OS. It's MS trying to combine tablets and desktops that worries me. Touch interfaces are going to become increasingly more common, which is where it will shine. However, many of the readers on techspot are not interested in that aspect of it. W8 should be able to determine if it is being run on a desktop or tablet and adjust itself accordingly.
I'm not sure how I feel about the lack of a start button. Having only watched demos of it and not actually using it I can't form an unbiased opinion of it. When in the metro UI I've heard people can just start typing and it will start searching for related programs. I'm constantly hitting the start button just to use the search feature. So, will that save me a step? I'm not really sure. I think that I will need about 10-15 hours of using the OS before I can really decide if it's a help or a burden.
Windows 8 wont be the vista 2 everyone is talking about. Vista was a resource hog that was unstable with countless driver problems. It wasn't until I did a complete upgrade where all my hardware was vista-era hardware that my problems went away. That's all well and good but I shouldn't have to drop $1200 on a new system just for it to work right. Seeing as how so much of the windows 8 kernel is based on windows 7's, I don't think we will have any of those compatibility errors. I'm impressed with MS adding ARM support to W8. Being able to run a full desktop environment on a tablet is quite impressive. As long as it manages resources better than android then it will be worth considering. I'm curious about none ARM software running on ARM hardware. Will there be an "app store" for ARM only software? What kind of support can we expect from the ARM side of things
I don't think it'll be as bad as everyone says it will be. What I'm most interested in seeing is the integration between windows phone 8 and windows 8. I like the metro UI but I really don't see the purpose of it not defaulting to the desktop or having a start button. As far as tablets are concerned I think it will be a great OS. It's MS trying to combine tablets and desktops that worries me. Touch interfaces are going to become increasingly more common, which is where it will shine. However, many of the readers on techspot are not interested in that aspect of it. W8 should be able to determine if it is being run on a desktop or tablet and adjust itself accordingly.
I'm not sure how I feel about the lack of a start button. Having only watched demos of it and not actually using it I can't form an unbiased opinion of it. When in the metro UI I've heard people can just start typing and it will start searching for related programs. I'm constantly hitting the start button just to use the search feature. So, will that save me a step? I'm not really sure. I think that I will need about 10-15 hours of using the OS before I can really decide if it's a help or a burden.
Windows 8 wont be the vista 2 everyone is talking about. Vista was a resource hog that was unstable with countless driver problems. It wasn't until I did a complete upgrade where all my hardware was vista-era hardware that my problems went away. That's all well and good but I shouldn't have to drop $1200 on a new system just for it to work right. Seeing as how so much of the windows 8 kernel is based on windows 7's, I don't think we will have any of those compatibility errors. I'm impressed with MS adding ARM support to W8. Being able to run a full desktop environment on a tablet is quite impressive. As long as it manages resources better than android then it will be worth considering. I'm curious about none ARM software running on ARM hardware. Will there be an "app store" for ARM only software? What kind of support can we expect from the ARM side of things
Regarding Windows 8 RT, I'm waiting to know more about it. I think it was said that the desktop will be available there, but can't find the reference. I also want to know how the version of Office that comes with it will compare to the x86 versions.
One thing I don't like about the ARM version is that it won't be possible to run Visual Studio natively on it. I hope it's just a temporary measure until it's compiled for that platform. I really want to see the ARM version become equivalent to the x86 one.
One thing I don't like about the ARM version is that it won't be possible to run Visual Studio natively on it. I hope it's just a temporary measure until it's compiled for that platform. I really want to see the ARM version become equivalent to the x86 one.
I have replaced my win7 just to try the consumer preview when it came out.(I'm still using it since I'm too lazy to reinstall everything again - to many big programs that I use for web development)
The first thing that I noticed was the boot time, a pretty big improvement compared to win7. Also the wireless takes much less time to connect.
It also uses a bit less RAM but I can't compare it to win7 since I had tons installed when I formatted.
But when it comes to video drivers, I've had some problems. I have a GMA 4500m (a bit older laptop) and the drivers that intel supply do not work with win8 (they even restricted it in the ini file - I tried manually changing the ini file but it still didn't install correctly). After looking through some older drivers I found one that didn't restrict the installer on win8 and it finally worked, but it took many hours. It still has some minor hiccups (it reminds me of win7 beta), nothing important.
Next is the METRO interface... I don't like it. It's full-screen, hard to get used to and frankly I feel like microsoft is insulting us by saying that we are too stupid for more complicated things. Sure it looks great and for a tablet it's actually pretty good but when I use a mouse and keyboard I feel like playing a game, a very bad console port. I used to work with the start menu pretty often, but now I try to avoid it. Also searching while in full-screen is really annoying, like when I want to write something that I have on my desktop and can't use copy-paste or when I want to compare things.
I've made my own Start Menu button in the task bar by putting some shortcuts that I use into a folder and then making a new toolbar
. Too bad that the search function is still in the metro interface.
So in the end? I like the improvements but I dislike metro. I'll keep using win8 for now but I don't think they can save the new interface from being completely redesigned in the next windows."Changes for the sake of changes" does not work in the IT&C world.
The first thing that I noticed was the boot time, a pretty big improvement compared to win7. Also the wireless takes much less time to connect.
It also uses a bit less RAM but I can't compare it to win7 since I had tons installed when I formatted.
But when it comes to video drivers, I've had some problems. I have a GMA 4500m (a bit older laptop) and the drivers that intel supply do not work with win8 (they even restricted it in the ini file - I tried manually changing the ini file but it still didn't install correctly). After looking through some older drivers I found one that didn't restrict the installer on win8 and it finally worked, but it took many hours. It still has some minor hiccups (it reminds me of win7 beta), nothing important.
Next is the METRO interface... I don't like it. It's full-screen, hard to get used to and frankly I feel like microsoft is insulting us by saying that we are too stupid for more complicated things. Sure it looks great and for a tablet it's actually pretty good but when I use a mouse and keyboard I feel like playing a game, a very bad console port. I used to work with the start menu pretty often, but now I try to avoid it. Also searching while in full-screen is really annoying, like when I want to write something that I have on my desktop and can't use copy-paste or when I want to compare things.
I've made my own Start Menu button in the task bar by putting some shortcuts that I use into a folder and then making a new toolbar
. Too bad that the search function is still in the metro interface.So in the end? I like the improvements but I dislike metro. I'll keep using win8 for now but I don't think they can save the new interface from being completely redesigned in the next windows."Changes for the sake of changes" does not work in the IT&C world.
I tried Win 8 in a VB and I thought it was so amazingly great! I loved how unfunctional it was. Motions controls with a mouse are so horrible that I loved it. Restricting people to the Metro interface was such a pain I started to tear up from joy. Let's not forget how wonderfully frustrating Win 8 is going to be when you're running 500 programs since you can never shut down any of them. They just keep running in the background. This is all great news to me. I run Linux, so hopefully with Win 8 being such garbage it'll push more developers into the free arms of Linux.
I am almost entirely for Windows 8. I tried it out on both my laptop (HP Tablet PC circa 2008), and my desktop (with two monitors). I am really digging it for my laptop, it's quick and totally works well, it was a little clunky with my desktop, but that's because I tried using metro-only apps for a bit (and now I know that I won't do that again-- unless I snap them (which is a great feature, actually!)).
I'm perfectly fine with the Metro start screen, and do you know why? I do one thing with the start menu in 7: open it up so I can type a command/program to run. And that's exactly what I can do with the start screen in 8. Nothing for me has changed. I'll pin programs I use often to the start screen, and it'll be even more helpful. Plus, live tiles are cool, there is no getting around that.
So overall, I do very much like Windows 8.
I'm perfectly fine with the Metro start screen, and do you know why? I do one thing with the start menu in 7: open it up so I can type a command/program to run. And that's exactly what I can do with the start screen in 8. Nothing for me has changed. I'll pin programs I use often to the start screen, and it'll be even more helpful. Plus, live tiles are cool, there is no getting around that.
So overall, I do very much like Windows 8.
I have been using Win8 since Release Preview was available and in the short period of time, have come to really enjoy using the product.
This was not the case on day one. I was unimpressed with MS that they were forcing me to change to Metro. I have a Apple iPad, Android phone, Windows 7 Notebook and now MS has decided to change the rules.
I dual installed Win8 on my Win7 HP notebook with the intention to test Win 8, and use Win7 for everyday use.
Day one, hour one, I was ready to uninstall Win8 and move back to Win7, jump into the Apple corral and move on. Although the drivers installed perfectly there was too much change. It took me a short while to get my head around Win8 and change the Metro Tiles to reflect my favorite apps.
The short of it is, Windows 8 grows on you. By mid day I had configured Win8 the way that works for me and it works. Quicker than Win 7 and to be honest easier. Will everyone feel the same, probably not. MS do some marketing and either give users the option to chose Desktop, or make the learning curve easier for the average user. My wife had one look at the Metro screen and decided to boycott all Windows products. This lasted a couple of days and she has calmed down.
I will let you know how things pan out.
This was not the case on day one. I was unimpressed with MS that they were forcing me to change to Metro. I have a Apple iPad, Android phone, Windows 7 Notebook and now MS has decided to change the rules.
I dual installed Win8 on my Win7 HP notebook with the intention to test Win 8, and use Win7 for everyday use.
Day one, hour one, I was ready to uninstall Win8 and move back to Win7, jump into the Apple corral and move on. Although the drivers installed perfectly there was too much change. It took me a short while to get my head around Win8 and change the Metro Tiles to reflect my favorite apps.
The short of it is, Windows 8 grows on you. By mid day I had configured Win8 the way that works for me and it works. Quicker than Win 7 and to be honest easier. Will everyone feel the same, probably not. MS do some marketing and either give users the option to chose Desktop, or make the learning curve easier for the average user. My wife had one look at the Metro screen and decided to boycott all Windows products. This lasted a couple of days and she has calmed down.
I will let you know how things pan out.
MilwaukeeMike
Posts: 3,216 +1,469
I had a similar experience to Brett... I have two monitors and some of the Metro stuff requires you to put the mouse against the edge of the screen. For me this was the edge that borders the other screen and it was hard to use. Maybe this can be changed.
I also miss the start button, and found myself using the start key on my keyboard a lot.
I'll give it some more time, I like how the Metro screen is customizable and looks like it could be pretty useful once I get used to it.
I also miss the start button, and found myself using the start key on my keyboard a lot.
I'll give it some more time, I like how the Metro screen is customizable and looks like it could be pretty useful once I get used to it.
I appreciate MS finally realizing they had to change their interface for tablets but not leaving option to turn it off for desktop is just not smart. I will not be switching, 7 works really well for me and what they will be asking for upgrade will not be reasonable. Take a page from Apple's book and offer cheap OS upgrade and I may reconsider...
I have used the latest release as my main work computer for a week now and have reverted back to Windows 7. Here are a couple of points regarding my experiences using Windows 8 on a desktop PC.
- Metro and the standard desktop are currently 2 different eco-systems with gaps in their interaction. For example it is possible to show notifications when you lock the screen regarding how many unread emails you have. Sounds good doesn't it? Well if you use Outlook 2010 as your desktop mail client as I do, the notification for unread mail is not aware of that. It does not register that you have read your mails in Outlook 2010, only unread mail in the Metro Mail application. Not a big deal - why don't I just use the Metro mail application instead? Well, it can't send notifications to the desktop. In other words the only way to know if a mail has arrived is by keeping the Metro mail application open on one monitor taking up at least 1/5 of the screen if you anchor it to one side. This way you can see if a mail has arrived and still work using the desktop but if I was running Outlook 2010 then I can see if a mail arrives because a little envelope appears in my system tray. Thats a very small icon compared to keeping an application open taking up screen space. Result - I turned the mail notifications off and lost a cool feature of the OS. Maybe this will work differently in the official release but it doesn't right now. For now its half thought out and a bit crap. Metro applications should be able to send notifications to the desktop.
- The Start Menu/Button. To make up for the lack of a start button I have the control panel pinned to the desktop taskbar as well as an explorer shortcut. This gets me to my system settings and libraries quickly where I used to use the start button. Using the actual Start screen is "interesting". I usually end up using it just to search. ie Hot corner to activate the Start screen then type what I want. Apart from that the current batch of Metro applications aren't very interesting and to be honest they take up so much screen for what they do, they just seem like a waste. Full screen ugly splash screens steal focus when you open an application - they are so hideous and only offer basic functionality where my desktop applications have all the features I need and more. So on a desktop the massive Start screen is just a full screen search box for the sake of losing the start button so I learn to use my computer the new way. Not impressed to be honest.
To be honest I don't understand what they are thinking.
I've already written some positives and negatives in this thread but I tested the "Release Preview" a week ago.
I was so surprised that the small things that are easy to fix yet really big oversights had not changed since the previous release.
I.e. the icons that appear when you right click in the lower left corner where the start button would be (well, there are no icons, only text which makes it very difficult to locate anything, you can't go by vision but must actually read which takes allot of time)
And the "touch interface" which lets not get me started how poorly it works with dual monitors.
But also with a single monitor it's super annoying to get it to pop up (well, when you do want it to pop up, when you don't it seems to come up all the time!)
And now since I'm a power user maybe it's silly but the "Matro Apps" are still just plain crap compared to the desktop variants, I.e. want to do anything in "Windows Update" in Metro?
Type "update" press twice button down to go from default of "files" to "settings"
Press enter whichg brings up the interface, but if you want to actually read anything abouyt the update or change anything you need to go back to the desktop interface because pretty much nothing can be done.
The Metro interface is great for tablets, if I would have a touch interface at my work's CAD/CAM workstation my arm would need surgery once per week due to being overstressed.
I don't see how this interface can be sold to either the work industry or power users, but maybe that's the point, they don't expect to?
I've already written some positives and negatives in this thread but I tested the "Release Preview" a week ago.
I was so surprised that the small things that are easy to fix yet really big oversights had not changed since the previous release.
I.e. the icons that appear when you right click in the lower left corner where the start button would be (well, there are no icons, only text which makes it very difficult to locate anything, you can't go by vision but must actually read which takes allot of time)
And the "touch interface" which lets not get me started how poorly it works with dual monitors.
But also with a single monitor it's super annoying to get it to pop up (well, when you do want it to pop up, when you don't it seems to come up all the time!)
And now since I'm a power user maybe it's silly but the "Matro Apps" are still just plain crap compared to the desktop variants, I.e. want to do anything in "Windows Update" in Metro?
Type "update" press twice button down to go from default of "files" to "settings"
Press enter whichg brings up the interface, but if you want to actually read anything abouyt the update or change anything you need to go back to the desktop interface because pretty much nothing can be done.
The Metro interface is great for tablets, if I would have a touch interface at my work's CAD/CAM workstation my arm would need surgery once per week due to being overstressed.
I don't see how this interface can be sold to either the work industry or power users, but maybe that's the point, they don't expect to?
How are game and modding capabilities on Windows 8, I ask because things like Minecraft and just having a fun time on Grand Theft Auto require these things. I'm not at all sure on anything of Windows 8.
windows 8 will be my first 64-bit os I upgrade to.
Not sure about gaming performance but the desktop side of the OS is identical except the odd menu moved about and no start button. ie hit the windows key+R and type regedit, does the same thing. No difference. Metro games probably won't let you mod and mess about with them but the standard PC games should be business as usual. Didn't see anything to suggest otherwise.
Demigod001
Posts: 21 +5
I really like it, and that was a surprise. I had read all the bad opinions on the metro interface but after a power supply failure and much smoke I had to rebuild and reinstall so I tried the preview. It did take a couple hours to get used to but was surprisingly intuitive. In short order I was able to do what I normally do.
the down side is the apps. I dont rarely use news streams etc on my desktop and wont on my start screen but they were easy to clear out The video app was a but rubish with the seek bar and controls in the middle of the screen but mp classic hc solved that problem. I did like the email app.
As for the start menu itself I like it as its a lot easier to sort, grouping icons as I wish, reminds me a little of win 3.1 with its icons and folders in a way kicked into the 21st century. As NASA goes back to Apollo so windows go back to 3.1 lol.
So over all I like it, the apps could be better and I do miss minimizing and non full screen apps but I get that on the desktop screen with "normal" programs so it just took some getting used to. I love the faster boot and shutdown too.
the down side is the apps. I dont rarely use news streams etc on my desktop and wont on my start screen but they were easy to clear out The video app was a but rubish with the seek bar and controls in the middle of the screen but mp classic hc solved that problem. I did like the email app.
As for the start menu itself I like it as its a lot easier to sort, grouping icons as I wish, reminds me a little of win 3.1 with its icons and folders in a way kicked into the 21st century. As NASA goes back to Apollo so windows go back to 3.1 lol.
So over all I like it, the apps could be better and I do miss minimizing and non full screen apps but I get that on the desktop screen with "normal" programs so it just took some getting used to. I love the faster boot and shutdown too.
