Since it's release, I've been running windows 8 on vm, so I'm yet to fully enjoy its full benefits. I don't plan to buy a windows 8 desktop, so I have to wait for the windows 8 tablet.
Windows 8 discussion
- Thread starter SNGX1275
- Start date
I am surpised how fast it works on my old Athlon X2 4850 (AM2, 45Watt , 2.5GHz)
But I hope some improvements will be made to make it more desktop oriented, and stop Checkdisk from running after each time I use 8 on my dual boot (XP SP3) system.
But I hope some improvements will be made to make it more desktop oriented, and stop Checkdisk from running after each time I use 8 on my dual boot (XP SP3) system.
I've installed the release Preview on a Samsung Series 7 Slate and on a HP TouchSmart convertible laptop. Both installs were painless and all hardware was properly detected although I still needed to download AMD drivers for the 5450 dedicated graphics in the HP. Install Firefox, Chrome and Office 2010 (my standard additions on all PCs) and all are functioning correctly as is the Zune software (I have a Nokia Lumia 900 phone). I also found several apps that I'm finding useful including Kindle app, Tom's Hardware app and Rowi Twitter app. Finding that as I use these PCs I'm adapting to the new interface and many things are easier/faster then Win 7 although I also added shortcuts for system shutdown and restart on the Start Screen as I did find the "hidden" controls for these to be somewhat annoying.
I haven't tried this on a desktop yet although much of the usage on the HP are as a standard laptop with keyboard and mouse and almost all usage with the Samsung Slate is as a tablet although I occasionally use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse with this. I also added the Preview Media Center feature on both since I use a Win 7 All-in-One with a Ceton cable card tuner as my DVR and wanted to see if I could watch that content on the Win 8 devices (yes in many cases - determined mostly by PlaySure DRM in Win 7 Media Center) pretty much if I can transfer a recoded show to a Win 7 PC and watch it I can do the same on the Win 8 ones.
I haven't tried this on a desktop yet although much of the usage on the HP are as a standard laptop with keyboard and mouse and almost all usage with the Samsung Slate is as a tablet although I occasionally use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse with this. I also added the Preview Media Center feature on both since I use a Win 7 All-in-One with a Ceton cable card tuner as my DVR and wanted to see if I could watch that content on the Win 8 devices (yes in many cases - determined mostly by PlaySure DRM in Win 7 Media Center) pretty much if I can transfer a recoded show to a Win 7 PC and watch it I can do the same on the Win 8 ones.
I down loaded W8 beta - hated it. I thought Metro was the stupidest thing I ever saw so I removed the partition and went back to 7. I've since down loaded the latest preview and have been using it since it was first released. I'm now starting to get use to it and like it over 7. Basically, Metro is your start button. You can easily stay on the normal desktop or toggle back and forth. I only used 7's start button for the run command. I can easily do that now while in Metro - just start typing. All of my games and applications like Office are either on my desktop or in the task bar- just like it was in 7. What's the big deal? There are many reasons to upgrade to 8 when it's fully released. It's just a matter of getting use to it like anything new. MS is trying to bridge the gap between the PC and Smart Phone. I find it a good fit between the two. I for one will be buying the new OS like I did for every other major OS since the first release of WINDOWS 95!
How the hell do you get the start menu back!
it's Metro
My first visual impression of Windows 8 is it's too plain and lacks sophistication. Tile layout is too basic and kinda dull. I've read and heard that Windows 8 is a major change from your typical windows. It will take some retraining... not intuitive. I am hesistant on adopting it right now. Happy with Windows 7
Around 450 million copies sold of windows 7, I think Microsoft must work hard to place windows8 on their PC's too. Although everyone is waiting for this operating system, but I am pretty happy with windows 7 currently running on my PC. I won't install windows 8 unless there are much powerful tools in this much awaited OS.
Jcanno0759
Posts: 13 +1
Windows8 definitely has a learning curve. I think it will grow on me over time
To be honest, this is the first version of Windows that didn't get me excited one bit. I hope that the final release will change my perception but based on my experiences with the developer preview and the consumer review (yes, I have actually downloaded them and installed them on my computer), I don't think I will want to run it on my productive laptop (spare laptop maybe). I have the following opinions about Windows 8:
1) The interface is way too childish and unprofessional, I tried to like it but I really can't.
2) Windows 8 really kills the mouse, the mouse is supposedly a very precise input tool but Windows 8 completely takes it away and gives me a dumb-down interface that is supposed to be used with fingers.
3) Unproductive switching between Desktop mode and start menu mode, which really hurt my workflow.
Don't get me wrong, W8 is good for entertainment PC. I do have an HTPC and would love to install W8 on it but maybe only if I get W8 for free. I really don't feel like I want to pay 200 much less 100 for the most boring UI ever released since Windows 3.1.
1) The interface is way too childish and unprofessional, I tried to like it but I really can't.
2) Windows 8 really kills the mouse, the mouse is supposedly a very precise input tool but Windows 8 completely takes it away and gives me a dumb-down interface that is supposed to be used with fingers.
3) Unproductive switching between Desktop mode and start menu mode, which really hurt my workflow.
Don't get me wrong, W8 is good for entertainment PC. I do have an HTPC and would love to install W8 on it but maybe only if I get W8 for free. I really don't feel like I want to pay 200 much less 100 for the most boring UI ever released since Windows 3.1.
For a normal user the metro interface is good enough but let's take a moment and see how I use windows.
-I open up photoshop, notepad++, 3 browsers (20 tabs), 3-4 explorer windows, filezilla, and other programs when I start working on my websites (or when I work for someone else).
-using the start menu I could see the recently opened files and it was easy to reopen them. now I can't
-using the star menu to search meant that I could compare my results with something that I had opened in another window. now I can't do that since it's fullscreen
-using multiple monitors is harder
-other small changes that although for a tablet make sense for a desktop user are counter-intuitive
Spending more time doing small things means that the productivity goes down and stress goes up.
I avoid using metro as much as I can when I work, but still use windows 8 because of the performance improvements that they made compared to windows 7 (less ram, boot times, etc).
You are saying that MS is just trying to bridge the gap between PC and Smart Phones, but that is just not true. MS is just trying to catch up to the rest of the tablet/smart phone market at the expense of the PC market. We do not need the same OS across multiple incompatible platforms, we need optimized OS's for these platforms that might share some common features (being able to run the apps from tablets on a PC just like any other program, sans the always fullscreen, would have been amazing).
I saw the comparison of Win8 vs AOL -- hilarious similarities. We all know how the latter turned out, but you can pretty much find any saying or comparison jab by surfing FB for a few minutes.
In all seriousness, Win7 was the big jump from the assumed standard XP (don't even say Vista) and it was a long time coming. Win8 has some interesting quirks that may take time for the general populace to accept, but at least we don't have to wait so long between viable OS editions. The question is whether 8 is good enough to persuade everyone to upgrade from 7.
In all seriousness, Win7 was the big jump from the assumed standard XP (don't even say Vista) and it was a long time coming. Win8 has some interesting quirks that may take time for the general populace to accept, but at least we don't have to wait so long between viable OS editions. The question is whether 8 is good enough to persuade everyone to upgrade from 7.
cruza9
Posts: 6 +0
I finally installed W8 RP to a Lenovo x201 Tablet. With an Intel i7 and 4GB and Intel HD graphics 1280 x 800 resolution. I have to say that having the metro and being able to switch back to desktop is quit a cool feature. I have notice that most of my apps I have installed no restart required. The only thing that is not working is W8 is the snap-in capability. I found out that it does not work for low resolutions like mine. I hope that Microsoft can give support for these type of low resolutions for the snap-in to work. Overall, is running smooth and I have not encounter any issues with hardware or software. I really enjoy the metro since is can quickly see what is going on with all my digital world out there.
The only thing that is not working is W8 is the snap-in capability. I found out that it does not work for low resolutions like mine. I hope that Microsoft can give support for these type of low resolutions for the snap-in to work. Overall, is running smooth and I have not encounter any issues with hardware or software. I really enjoy the metro since is can quickly see what is going on with all my digital world out there.
I have it installed on my Acer TimelineX and I've been using it on and off at home and university.
Using Windows 8 with keyboard and mouse makes me feel like it's talking down to me. A bit of a 'move your mouse and click the BIIIIIIIIIG buttons!'-sort of feel, if I could describe it. I think of myself as a power user, and the bright colours and big buttons throw me off.
I'll admit, I'm still not used to the full screen apps. I like running Windows with lots of windows open and multitasking between everything open at once, and having only two things open at once in Metro - especially one of them in an extremely minimized size - feels too restrictive.
And then switching to and from Metro to desktop feels incredibly jarring, especially with how different they look and operate. I can't say I'm a fan of it. Desktop mode really doesn't seem to work in something like this.
Basically, trying to use it like I would Windows 7 makes it feel very clunky and restricted. Come time for Windows 8's release, I won't be upgrading my desktop.
But, it's not to say I dislike Windows 8. Again, using it with keyboard and mouse feels like a waste, but with those big and colourful buttons, it would be perfect on a tablet. Windows 8 was built for touchscreens and trying to use it without one doesn't let it show its strong points. Those touch gestures to switch and exit applications, for instance, are awkward to do with a mouse, but would be extremely easy and intuitive to do by touch. And especially as a small, single-window tablet, having a bright and colourful Metro interface with only two applications open side-by-side at a time actually makes sense and feels miles ahead of any iPad or Android tablet.
As for Metro, as much as I complained about how bright and colourful it is, I'm surprised at how elegant it is. Clean lines, solid eye-catching colours, and very smooth animations and transitions. And all it is is text and colour. No fancy logos or icons or flashiness - just bright colours and sharp text. Others have tried with all sorts of nonsense and none are as good or as simple as Metro.
For this, I almost regret not getting that HP Touchsmart laptop way back, because it would have given me a better feel for Windows 8, and I think I would have enjoyed using it more my touch than keyboard and mouse.
Overall, Windows 8 is a tablet operating system and trying to use it on a conventional keyboard and mouse desktop doesn't let it do what it was designed for. For sure, I won't be upgrading Windows 7 on my desktop to Windows 8. But, I'll certainly be looking into a Windows 8 tablet for portable use. I've been thinking of getting a tablet, but I'm not particularly fond of the iPad or any Android tablet. A Windows 8 tablet, on the other hand, would be my perfect portable device.
With Windows 8 as a tablet OS in mind, however, I really hope Microsoft doesn't hype Windows 8 too hard as 'the next Windows'. It's a nice operating system, but it's not Windows in the traditional sense and trying to market it like that will have it fail. Power users will have little use for a touchscreen-based operating system. It will need to be marketed and moved with a good tablet in order to succeed.
tl;dr - bad for desktops, ideals for tablets, won't upgrade from Windows 7, would get a Windows 8 tablet.
Using Windows 8 with keyboard and mouse makes me feel like it's talking down to me. A bit of a 'move your mouse and click the BIIIIIIIIIG buttons!'-sort of feel, if I could describe it. I think of myself as a power user, and the bright colours and big buttons throw me off.
I'll admit, I'm still not used to the full screen apps. I like running Windows with lots of windows open and multitasking between everything open at once, and having only two things open at once in Metro - especially one of them in an extremely minimized size - feels too restrictive.
And then switching to and from Metro to desktop feels incredibly jarring, especially with how different they look and operate. I can't say I'm a fan of it. Desktop mode really doesn't seem to work in something like this.
Basically, trying to use it like I would Windows 7 makes it feel very clunky and restricted. Come time for Windows 8's release, I won't be upgrading my desktop.
But, it's not to say I dislike Windows 8. Again, using it with keyboard and mouse feels like a waste, but with those big and colourful buttons, it would be perfect on a tablet. Windows 8 was built for touchscreens and trying to use it without one doesn't let it show its strong points. Those touch gestures to switch and exit applications, for instance, are awkward to do with a mouse, but would be extremely easy and intuitive to do by touch. And especially as a small, single-window tablet, having a bright and colourful Metro interface with only two applications open side-by-side at a time actually makes sense and feels miles ahead of any iPad or Android tablet.
As for Metro, as much as I complained about how bright and colourful it is, I'm surprised at how elegant it is. Clean lines, solid eye-catching colours, and very smooth animations and transitions. And all it is is text and colour. No fancy logos or icons or flashiness - just bright colours and sharp text. Others have tried with all sorts of nonsense and none are as good or as simple as Metro.
For this, I almost regret not getting that HP Touchsmart laptop way back, because it would have given me a better feel for Windows 8, and I think I would have enjoyed using it more my touch than keyboard and mouse.
Overall, Windows 8 is a tablet operating system and trying to use it on a conventional keyboard and mouse desktop doesn't let it do what it was designed for. For sure, I won't be upgrading Windows 7 on my desktop to Windows 8. But, I'll certainly be looking into a Windows 8 tablet for portable use. I've been thinking of getting a tablet, but I'm not particularly fond of the iPad or any Android tablet. A Windows 8 tablet, on the other hand, would be my perfect portable device.
With Windows 8 as a tablet OS in mind, however, I really hope Microsoft doesn't hype Windows 8 too hard as 'the next Windows'. It's a nice operating system, but it's not Windows in the traditional sense and trying to market it like that will have it fail. Power users will have little use for a touchscreen-based operating system. It will need to be marketed and moved with a good tablet in order to succeed.
tl;dr - bad for desktops, ideals for tablets, won't upgrade from Windows 7, would get a Windows 8 tablet.
NightAngel79
Posts: 230 +79
I'm dual-booting this. I suspect I will keep with 7 for the foreseeable future. I like 8 and if I had a windows phone I would probably love it even more
xplayer
Posts: 26 +1
my computer scores are as follows:
WEI Sub-scores:
Processor: 8.2
RAM: 8.2
Graphics:8.0
Gaming Graphics: 8.0
Corsair SSD 240GB: 8.0
its working great but only have some compatibility issues for some programs and some hardwares but I think for hardwares there will be solutions soon with companies starts to make drivers for there devices as well as for programs there will be new versions that support windows 8 we have just to wait tell then. but over all it seems so good for me its great.
WEI Sub-scores:
Processor: 8.2
RAM: 8.2
Graphics:8.0
Gaming Graphics: 8.0
Corsair SSD 240GB: 8.0
its working great but only have some compatibility issues for some programs and some hardwares but I think for hardwares there will be solutions soon with companies starts to make drivers for there devices as well as for programs there will be new versions that support windows 8 we have just to wait tell then. but over all it seems so good for me its great.
dividebyzero
Posts: 4,840 +1,271
Just running through some benchmarks on a clean install of Win7 x64. Once finished, I'm re-running them with Win8. The winner gets priority in my primary rig. Time to start climbing the learning curve.
SNGX1275
Posts: 10,615 +467
I tried to upgrade the CP to the RP from within Windows without any success. It didn't say I couldn't, it just wouldn't take the CD key. Will attempt to boot off the disk and do an upgrade that way, but I think I got a bad burn because its struggling to boot off the disk. Not sure I have the desire to reburn and try again tonight, but if I do I'll update.
zardy
Posts: 7 +0
Here's my system summary:
Operating System
MS Windows 8 64-bit
CPU (WEI 5.5, the same with W7)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
Brisbane 65nm Technology
RAM (5.5, 0.3 points higher)
2.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 302MHz
Motherboard
ECS A740GM-M (CPU 1)
Graphics (2.0, from 3.2)
Gaming Graphics (4.0, 0.1 higher)
ATI Radeon 2100 (Elitegroup)
Hard Drives (5.9, 0.7 points higher)
156GB Western Digital WDC WD1600AAJS-00L7A0 ATA Device (SATA)
Audio
IDT High Definition Audio CODEC
being satisfied with Windows 8 Consumer Preview installation (knowing its buggy because it's still in preview stage), decided to clean install Windows 8 Release Preview and use it as primary OS in our home desktop, compared to W7 and W8CP installation, W8RP boots way way faster. W7 would open desktop 1 - 2 mins. (with optimization applied), while W8CP would open metro ui menu (xD) 3 - 6 mins., I thought this problem was caused by my hardware components being incompatible, until W8RP installation showed 45 secs. to 1 min.. The feel of opening explorer, applications was improved also. But I observed that the WEI Score of my gaming graphics dropped from 3.2 to 2.0, but I'm fine with that, because it is just an onboard graphics. Our family uses this desktop for heavy facebook browsing (haha) tetris gaming and some typing jobs, I made a rundown for them to be familiar with navigation, and they don't have any bad comment at all. My brother also uses this for some games, such as Warcraft in W8CP, I can't find anyway to make the sounds for the game work, also, the game runs on a very very slow fps, but its fps was restored after installing its driver and W7 compatibility mode. Developers said its not a bug and said that we should contact hardware manufacturers, but in W8RP, we tried to run Warcraft again, and it worked fine, with sounds working and good fps, just like the old W7 days.
Operating System
MS Windows 8 64-bit
CPU (WEI 5.5, the same with W7)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
Brisbane 65nm Technology
RAM (5.5, 0.3 points higher)
2.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 302MHz
Motherboard
ECS A740GM-M (CPU 1)
Graphics (2.0, from 3.2)
Gaming Graphics (4.0, 0.1 higher)
ATI Radeon 2100 (Elitegroup)
Hard Drives (5.9, 0.7 points higher)
156GB Western Digital WDC WD1600AAJS-00L7A0 ATA Device (SATA)
Audio
IDT High Definition Audio CODEC
being satisfied with Windows 8 Consumer Preview installation (knowing its buggy because it's still in preview stage), decided to clean install Windows 8 Release Preview and use it as primary OS in our home desktop, compared to W7 and W8CP installation, W8RP boots way way faster. W7 would open desktop 1 - 2 mins. (with optimization applied), while W8CP would open metro ui menu (xD) 3 - 6 mins., I thought this problem was caused by my hardware components being incompatible, until W8RP installation showed 45 secs. to 1 min.. The feel of opening explorer, applications was improved also. But I observed that the WEI Score of my gaming graphics dropped from 3.2 to 2.0, but I'm fine with that, because it is just an onboard graphics. Our family uses this desktop for heavy facebook browsing (haha) tetris gaming and some typing jobs, I made a rundown for them to be familiar with navigation, and they don't have any bad comment at all. My brother also uses this for some games, such as Warcraft in W8CP, I can't find anyway to make the sounds for the game work, also, the game runs on a very very slow fps, but its fps was restored after installing its driver and W7 compatibility mode. Developers said its not a bug and said that we should contact hardware manufacturers, but in W8RP, we tried to run Warcraft again, and it worked fine, with sounds working and good fps, just like the old W7 days.
I put the Windows 8 Release Preview on a Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop. The laptop came with Windows Vista and I wanted to get away from Vista with the quickness so it didn't bother me that programs that Windows 8 said were compatible turned out not to be compatible at all. Question: Why does MS Office 2010 have to be reinstalled with Windows 8? Never mind.
Anyway, the improvement of Windows 8 RP over Vista is immediate. I don't have frequent programs that crash, the load times for my programs is a much faster (with Vista MS Word would take about thirty seconds to load; with RP it takes about ten seconds), and the interface is much friendlier and pleasing than the clunkered (sic) mess that is Vista. While I can't connect my HP printer and play Diablo 3 (for whatever reason this game just takes sits in install status for hours on end), I am quite satisfied with my upgrade to RP and do not intend to go back to Vista nor will I be buying Windows 7. Once the full Windows 8 is released I will be buying that and upgrading my eight year old Toshiba Satellite and will be using this as the OS in my computer build.
Anyway, the improvement of Windows 8 RP over Vista is immediate. I don't have frequent programs that crash, the load times for my programs is a much faster (with Vista MS Word would take about thirty seconds to load; with RP it takes about ten seconds), and the interface is much friendlier and pleasing than the clunkered (sic) mess that is Vista. While I can't connect my HP printer and play Diablo 3 (for whatever reason this game just takes sits in install status for hours on end), I am quite satisfied with my upgrade to RP and do not intend to go back to Vista nor will I be buying Windows 7. Once the full Windows 8 is released I will be buying that and upgrading my eight year old Toshiba Satellite and will be using this as the OS in my computer build.
