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geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: TheQsanity on Wed, 24 October 2012, 18:42:57

Title: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheQsanity on Wed, 24 October 2012, 18:42:57
Windows 8 is coming out in 2 days and there have been a lot of speculation. What are your thoughts on Windows 8?


  • Will you be getting a copy?
  • What do you think of the low price?
  • What are your opinions on the new features?
  • Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?
  • What do you think of the new ribbon feature in place of the Windows Explorer address bar?
  • Any features that you love and is the soul reason you are getting the new OS?
  • Will you be getting a Windows 8 tablet or Smartphone?
  • How will the new OS affect your gaming?
  • Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?
Post your thoughts, opinions, and reviews here! :)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Wed, 24 October 2012, 18:53:31
Long live Windows 7!!!

(http://www.resetwindowspassword.com/images/article-images/windows7-04.jpg)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: alaricljs on Wed, 24 October 2012, 18:58:22
8... blech.  I only just switched off XP ~1.5 yrs ago.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Wed, 24 October 2012, 19:05:59
I seemed to have been noticing a pattern with Windows operating systems: they'll release a ****ty OS, then they'll release a decent one... and it repeats.

The primary example of this beginning with Windows ME (****) then Windows XP (good) then Windows Vista (****) and finally Windows 7 (good).

So, my prediction for Windows 8:

****!!!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Grimey on Wed, 24 October 2012, 19:07:11
Nope, they have "okayed" the usage at the office, but most people don't care.
Seems like a fair price given the adjustment they are asking users to take.  If the ecosystem takes off for the Windows Store, this could be a fairly decent source of revenue.
I don't care much for hidden menus to be honest.  Outside of providing different ways of accessing the same information, I don't really see any features that get me excited.
I suspect they will figure it out at some point.
IE is generally something to be avoided, but I am the wrong userbase.
Nope
Nope
Probably won't
I am personally interested in the adoption rates.  Windows releases tend to come with some unpolishedness out of the gate as a rule, but this time is somewhat different.  The whole model is changed with MS getting into the hardware business and creating a app store of their own. 

I writing .net code pays the bills, but I wouldn't say it is fun or exciting.  *nix based computing is far more satisfying for my own work, which can probably be derived from my answers above.  Windows 8 should be a fun show regardless of how it turns out, I am feeling a crash and burn or a moderate success as the two options.[/list]
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Wed, 24 October 2012, 19:12:04
I probably will, the upgrade is reasonably priced and I want to get either a tablet or phone with win8 as well.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lanx on Wed, 24 October 2012, 19:36:25
ppl like me who have used windows since 3.1 know that every other windows os is the one to use, so just wait until windows 9. anyone who uses win 8 will just have flashbacks to windows 95/ windows 2k, windows me, windows vista, heck some of us even remember the days when we would take copies of windows nt from our high school lab and install it, just to get a stable os, (back then no one cared about piracy, heck our school teachers even encouraged sharing, but we did have a term for it back then, warez).

side note, i only upgraded to windows 7 from winxp cuz win7 supported ssd and trim for ssd, where as winxp almost didn't? (i forgot if there was a patch for ssd/trim or not for win xp, but all i remember is that win7 handled ssd's better)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Wed, 24 October 2012, 19:38:24
ppl like me who have used windows since 3.1 know that every other windows os is the one to use, so just wait until windows 9.

That's essentially what I said...

Well, ALMOST...

I seemed to have been noticing a pattern with Windows operating systems: they'll release a ****ty OS, then they'll release a decent one... and it repeats.

The primary example of this beginning with Windows ME (****) then Windows XP (good) then Windows Vista (****) and finally Windows 7 (good).

So, my prediction for Windows 8:

****!!!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Dabboo on Wed, 24 October 2012, 19:41:47
I have been on Windows 7 for about 9 months now after moving from my old XP machine which I was on for 4 years. Windows systems typically run in a tick tock cycle. meaning usually every second release of windows is good and the one in between has typically more flaws. Considering 98 was good, 2000 wasn't, XP was great, Vista started poorly and W7 was good we can expect that this trend will likely continue with W8.

- Will you be getting a copy?
It's not likely. It would need to be a vast improvment over W7 to entice me to buy it.

- What do you think of the low price?
I think this is a good strategy to use to fight OSX as their releases are typically at a lower price point and it may entice OSX users to transfer over if they're not putting too much money down.

- What are your opinions on the new features?
I think one of the main features, the Metro UI, has caused a bit of a stir. People have complained that W8 is too tablet/touch centred and isn't for desktop use however the Metro UI can be easily turned off and is replaced with a classic desktop much like Windows 7. I haven't been using W8 on a daily basis yet so I can't give a justified opinion but I'll have to see how it goes.

- Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?
I doubt it will be a problem. Like every new OS you've got to get accustomed to it and the people who don't understand how to use it probably are not the same people who will be updating to it.

- What do you think of the new ribbon feature in place of the Windows Explorer address bar?
It looks like a nice update to the current explorer, I can't say much else as I haven't used it too much.

- Any features that you love and is the soul reason you are getting the new OS?
None have jumped out at me as being good enough to make me want to update.

- Will you be getting a Windows 8 tablet or Smartphone?
No, Android is my platform for now.

- How will the new OS affect your gaming?
Considering I wont be moving to it, it will not affect me but the type of person who games a lot is not the type of person to update to a new OS without first reading further into it.

- Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?
I'm not sure if this is in W8 but I want the ability to open .GIFs in the Windows Photo Viewer like XP would. for some reason they removed that feature in W7 and now any .GIFs I must open in a browser.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tipo33 on Wed, 24 October 2012, 19:44:10
I honestly haven't used windows since XP service pack 2,  when I switched to using linux full time.  The new release will not effect me in any way shape or form, apart from more quizzical looks when people ask me for technical assiatance, without understanding that I work in a very small niche within computers.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: sth on Wed, 24 October 2012, 19:45:55
i doubt it.
still too expensive
unfortunate
every microsoft os is a problem for PC users
shi+awful. the ribbon was never a good idea and continuing to ram it down users' throats in an attempt to create a new paradigm just sucks.
son, have you even been paying attention?
jesus no
not at all? as in, i won't start.
microsoft still can't figure out how to render fonts.

Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: rowdy on Wed, 24 October 2012, 20:08:17
    Will you be getting a copy?

Nope, not until I have no choice.

    What do you think of the low price?

Surprising.

    What are your opinions on the new features?

Meh.

    Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?

Yes.

    What do you think of the new ribbon feature in place of the Windows Explorer address bar?

Bleah.

    Any features that you love and is the soul reason you are getting the new OS?

n/a

    Will you be getting a Windows 8 tablet or Smartphone?

Nope.

    How will the new OS affect your gaming?

As long as Minecraft runs ...

    Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?

Not until I've seen it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Larken on Wed, 24 October 2012, 22:59:41
The only reason why I'd use Windows 8 is if I get a Surface tablet. I've been playing around with the release preview for a few days, so far I'm quite underwhelmed. The problem with reworking the interface and streamlining how information flows is a good idea, but I already have windows 7 set up the way I like, and MetroUI doesn't benefit me much.

Not to mention the amount of relearning you need to do - current windows users would be a little stumped when they first start up windows 8. Hell, I have problems using it and I learnt how to use mac os x within the first hour of buying my macbook (it's really just that intuitive at that time.). My reasons for sticking with windows is largely because of the control I have over my system and the settings I'm comfortable changing under the hood, and w8 seems to take that away.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Wed, 24 October 2012, 23:06:44
Sadly, the surface isn't the best example of what win8 can do, being a kinda gimpy version with it being dumbed down to use with ARM style processors.  The new Asus ones that use atom processors that were announced last night are a bit better, but it's probably going to be closer to this time next year before win8 tablets rock the house with the Haswell chip.  i5/7 processors with the current draw and heat dissipation of a tegra or snapdragon.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: thegunner100 on Wed, 24 October 2012, 23:10:31
I'm interested in getting a Lumia 920 in the future, but that's about it for windows 8. I'll probably stick with 7  and maybe try out 8 on someone else's computer, or maybe even on my older computer.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Wed, 24 October 2012, 23:36:19
The 920 is going to be freaking awesome unless something stupid happens.  I want one a lot, but I'm on Verizon, sooooo I get to make do with a htc 8x
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: totallymonkey on Wed, 24 October 2012, 23:39:50
Will you be getting a copy?
Yes, and already have a couple of copies

What do you think of the low price?
Good move, as this should help the upgrade process for most people

What are your opinions on the new features?
Sorta hit or miss, most of the time when I use it on my desktop/laptop I am in regular desktop mode, and that's fine.  On a tablet, however, the metro/touch interface is really nice, fluid and easy to use (once you spend 5 minutes learning how to interact with it)

Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?
Only if they refuse to take 5 minutes to learn the new interactions.  For desktop users, the learning curve is a bit more, but not very hard.

What do you think of the new ribbon feature in place of the Windows Explorer address bar?
Good, I like the ribbon.  It puts all of the most accessed operations right there.  **** menus, and the ribbon can be hidden if you don't want to use it.

Any features that you love and is the soul reason you are getting the new OS?
Faster bootup time, faster start from sleep, better power management, better file transferring, etc...  On a tablet, the reasons are mostly around the user experience.  It's very enjoyable.

Will you be getting a Windows 8 tablet or Smartphone?
Both (Probably Lumia 920, but maybe 8X), and I"m getting a Surface RT.

How will the new OS affect your gaming?
It won't.  Everything I do for gaming works on Win8.  I"m not much of a casual gamer though, so won't be playing much from the marketplace.

Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?
Over time the experience will be refined and tuned, and once people get used to the new way of using Windows it wont be a problem.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Wed, 24 October 2012, 23:42:43
I tried it, and tried it. I do not like it. My desktop is not a f*cking tablet.
I won't even pirate this version.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: thegunner100 on Wed, 24 October 2012, 23:44:43
The 920 is going to be freaking awesome unless something stupid happens.  I want one a lot, but I'm on Verizon, sooooo I get to make do with a htc 8x

There's actually gonna be a special version of the 920 for Verizon, from what i've read.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Thu, 25 October 2012, 00:00:54
I've seen unconfirmed reports about the 820, but supposedly the 920 is locked to AT&T for the first 6 mos (that may be weeks, though)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Thu, 25 October 2012, 01:02:10
  • Will you be getting a copy?
  • What do you think of the low price?
Definitely—as the upgrade price is low, and discounted until 1/1/13, it almost seems stupid not to upgrade.

  • What are your opinions on the new features?
There are a number of great new features on the desktop such as the revamped file transfers, native image mounting (vhd/iso), hyper-v built in, vastly improved task manager, boot times are much faster, performance is up, power savings are increased. There's a ton of other improvements "under the hood" as well, which add up to Windows 8 being the best OS Microsoft has built so far.

The downside is that it also happens to come with the "Modern UI" (previously Metro) which is simply terrible in my experience with it. The apps are nothing more than glorified phone apps, and are far too big to work well on the desktop. You have intrusive hot-corners for it on the desktop, and they killed the start menu. However, once you use a tool to disable the hot-corners (too bad they didn't provide an official way to customize them) and if you like, install one of the many start menu replacements (so far, Start8 (http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/) has worked best for me) you don't ever have to see Metro again. I have no interest in having my desktop account linked to an online ID, and I've yet to see anything on the store that is remotely interesting. I just don't think the Metro style even allows for anything more complex than a "big phone app" rather than a "tablet app" like you would get on the iPad, and even a "tablet app" is still worthless on a desktop PC or even a laptop. The UI just seems to lead towards functionally basic apps that are horrible to navigate on the desktop, and not that much better on a tablet in my opinion.

  • Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?
Absolutely. Most people won't know that you can effectively disable Metro entirely, and will be confused by the experience. Even on a tablet, the Metro UI is not intuitive at all in the way that iOS and even Android are.

  • What do you think of the new ribbon feature in place of the Windows Explorer address bar?
I hate the ribbon - the mishmash of icon sizes and button styles result in a visually complex and confusing UI. It also wastes about 3x as much vertical space as a standard toolbar. I basically never use toolbar buttons though, and you can minimize the ribbon, which ends up being smaller than the toolbar it replaces, so I'm not that bothered by it.

  • Will you be getting a Windows 8 tablet or Smartphone?
Absolutely not. I will be sticking to my iPad for tablet use, as it has a thriving marketplace and a suite of apps that I rely on, which aren't likely to see Metro alternatives soon, if ever. I generally dislike the widescreen format for tablets, as it forces them into horizontal use. 4:3 is much better suited to my habits. (primarily reading in portrait)

I don't really have a need for a smartphone, and while Windows Phone 8 seems somewhat interesting, an iPhone would probably still be my first choice. (especially for iCloud sync between it and my iPad)

  • How will the new OS affect your gaming?
Well I ran into compatibility issues with GFWL titles refusing to launch, and The Walking Dead did not detect my Xbox 360 controller, so it's off to a great start. I'm sure these issues will be ironed out quickly though. Note: I was running the developer preview (final release build) not the old preview build.

  • Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?
I ran into some compatibility issues with a number of programs, but I'm not sure that they will actually be updated unfortunately. I was unable to get DVD playback working with madVR (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=146228) at all (it requires a hack (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=153191) to work in Windows 7) and a number of .iso images I had would give me errors when trying to mount them. (on Windows 7 I use Virtual Clone Drive (http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html) which apparently has issues with Windows 8 )

Ran into some other minor compatibility issues such as tools like WizMouse (http://antibody-software.com/web/software/software/wizmouse-makes-your-mouse-wheel-work-on-the-window-under-the-mouse/) not working any more. I'm sure there will be a few other applications/utilities that also don't work as expected in Windows 8, which is why I am going to purchase my upgrade at the discounted price, but probably won't be running it for at least another month or two.

microsoft still can't figure out how to render fonts.
Choosing to render fonts in a way that actually looks good on a computer display, rather than trying to emulate print is a choice they made, it's not something they "can't figure out".

OS X font rendering looks terrible on anything other than a "Retina display" which finally has enough DPI that fonts don't look fuzzy.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: sth on Thu, 25 October 2012, 01:36:04
microsoft still can't figure out how to render fonts.
Choosing to render fonts in a way that actually looks good on a computer display, rather than trying to emulate print is a choice they made, it's not something they "can't figure out".

OS X font rendering looks terrible on anything other than a "Retina display" which finally has enough DPI that fonts don't look fuzzy.

whatever dude you just have objectively bad taste. it's a legitimate lifestyle but it is plagued by attraction to ugly things and the willingness to defend them even though there is nothing worth defending. the ONLY people who say OS X' font rendering is fuzzy are people who are used to the skull****ing that is cleartype. more power to you though.

also... limited time for cheap upgrade price then what if you miss the window?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: DarkShot on Thu, 25 October 2012, 01:41:43
Still up for debate. If I had a touch enabled PC, I certainly would. I really do like Windows 8, however as 7 serves its purpose on my main machine, I might not.
Great! I'll most certainly purchase a license instead of using the OS through undesirable methods now that it won't cost have the value of a brand new computer.
I like a lot of what they've done. The revamped UI is fantastic, and most certainly geared to touch far more than 7 was. They've reworked the backend for a handful of things such as the bootloader, multi-monitor support, a hybrid-hibernation for fast boot, and numerous improvements overall. However, while it's very geared to touch...
...It isn't overly desirable to use with a laptop touchpad or mouse. I've been using the RTM dev preview on my laptop and love how speedy it is, but it's frustrating to use without a touchscreen. Touchpad alone is painful and having a mouse improves the fact, but it's certainly meant for a combination keyboard and touch input.
However, everything does have keyboard shortcuts, many of them similar to the same ones that have been with Windows for a while, so if you're a person who uses said shortcuts, it shouldn't pose to be too difficult an issue to overcome.
I don't mind it. It does take up a lot of room, but I can see how it would be valuable to 70% of PC users who just aren't powerusers like us or even slightly tech inclined. Likewise, great for a touch environment.
Faster copying speeds, better multi-monitor support, integrated messaging and notification system, and the slew of new hardware coming out.
I plan on getting a Windows 8 tablet with a keyboard dock to replace my laptop. The ASUS Transformer Book is looking unbelievably promising. If I can get an 11.6" device with the dock, Core i3 and say 64gigs onboard for less than a grand I'll be sold even on that.
It won't. Unlike RT, you can install software from any source, just like many PC gamers have been doing since forever. If you seriously think this is an issue, it just means software won't be in the Microsoft store.
Boo hoo.
It won't affect anything else in that regard.
There's a lot of negative speculation about Win8, saying the that the Odd versions are good and the Even ones are not so.
I think that's wrong. Windows 8 is fantastic. People need to use it for themselves to draw their own personal conclusions on the OS before bashing it.
The issue with Vista was MS' neglect to release a new version after 7 years. They rewrote the OS, so of course software and drivers broke. They didn't for 7, and now 8, so most if not all software running on 7 will perform as good as if not better on a Windows 8 machine.
The only downfall I see with it is a temporary one, and that is the learning curve for the new IU. The start menu is insignificant in the sense of hindering you, but the Metro context controls do take a bit of getting used to. Apart from that, it's honestly impressive. I'm quite pleased to see Microsoft take the path they have, and am excited for this OS.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Thu, 25 October 2012, 02:03:02
whatever dude you just have objectively bad taste. it's a legitimate lifestyle but it is plagued by attraction to ugly things and the willingness to defend them even though there is nothing worth defending. the ONLY people who say OS X' font rendering is fuzzy are people who are used to the skull****ing that is cleartype. more power to you though.
Objectively bad taste? It depends on whether you want fonts that are actually rendered with a screen intent, or a print intent. For people that are not graphic designers, sharp font rendering is preferable to OS X's bold, fuzzy print-style font rendering.

Once you get to retina resolutions, the opposite is true. You have enough resolution where the Mac style of font rendering no longer looks fuzzy, but well anti-aliased instead. That being said, Windows' font rendering still looks noticeably sharper, even on Retina displays.

also... limited time for cheap upgrade price then what if you miss the window?
Then it costs more like a traditional Windows upgrade did. Not sure on the pricing, but they announced it if that is a concern for you.

Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Thu, 25 October 2012, 02:05:03
Trolls be trollin' 

(No hate, just...(http://www.igorwaver.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/59.jpg))
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lorem-Ipsum on Thu, 25 October 2012, 02:13:42
Will you be getting a copy?
    I may get one free from my University... not that I'll use it.
What do you think of the low price?
    Is the price different? About time.
What are your opinions on the new features?
    It's not a feature! It's a bug!
Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?
    Yes.
What do you think of the new ribbon feature in place of the Windows Explorer address bar?
    Not paid that much attention. You mean the design I hate about office is coming to IE?
Any features that you love and is the soul reason you are getting the new OS?
    None whatsoever
Will you be getting a Windows 8 tablet or Smartphone?
   No way, probably another android.
How will the new OS affect your gaming?
   It won't, I will continue to game on consoles.
Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?
   Have they upgraded bluescreen? It's my favourite windows program. I think they should add the paperclip to it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Thu, 25 October 2012, 02:50:49
What do you think of the low price?
    Is the price different? About time.
It's $40 for an upgrade now. Personally I think they should ditch upgrade versions, and only sell "Windows 8" at that price, the same way that Apple only has one version of OS X, and it costs $20 whether it's an upgrade or not.

How will the new OS affect your gaming?
   It won't, I will continue to game on consoles.
I'm sorry to hear that.

Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?
   Have they upgraded bluescreen? It's my favourite windows program. I think they should add the paperclip to it.
(http://i.imgur.com/pg5az.png)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lorem-Ipsum on Thu, 25 October 2012, 04:26:31
What do you think of the low price?
    Is the price different? About time.
It's $40 for an upgrade now. Personally I think they should ditch upgrade versions, and only sell "Windows 8" at that price, the same way that Apple only has one version of OS X, and it costs $20 whether it's an upgrade or not.

How will the new OS affect your gaming?
   It won't, I will continue to game on consoles.
I'm sorry to hear that.
I run Linux and rarely play games at all so a console fits my needs fine.

Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?
   Have they upgraded bluescreen? It's my favourite windows program. I think they should add the paperclip to it.
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/pg5az.png)


Woot woot!!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: jeroplane on Thu, 25 October 2012, 05:22:58
Sadly I am stuck on Windows Vista, as I bought this computer stock from Dell during that period. I want to build a brand new computer early next year, but I'll most likely be installing Windows 7 on that unless W8 really impresses me. OS's don't really bother me too much, though. I'm okay with adapting to new ones. Currently I also use a MacBook Pro on the go with OSX, so I'm used to switching between OS's.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: vun on Thu, 25 October 2012, 05:55:14
From what I've seen it doesn't offer enough for anything without a touchscreen to bother upgrading from Win7. Although I might give Windows phones a more serious look when I need to get a new phone soon-ish. And then just get another Android phone anyways.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Seltox on Thu, 25 October 2012, 06:33:54
I won't be getting it.  It's just not worth the price (even if it is super cheap for the upgrade).  I'd get nothing out of it I don't already get from Win7, and i'm slowly migrating almost all of my PC usage over to linux anyway.

I'm actually a bit concerned about the fact that the only way to get an 'app' onto the metro interface is through the Windows store, which Microsoft has a monopoly on (and no 'adult' content is allowed on there, including most popular video games).  Sure, it's absolutely 0 problem at the moment while we have the desktop interface and people are still developing for it, but what about in 10 years when the desktop interface is viewed as old and obsolete, that there's no real point developing on it because everyone just develops for metro now (in the same way we can still write applications that run in the DOS environment, but who would?).  I don't like the idea of Microsoft being able to control what gets through and what doesn't - the reason I stuck use my desktop computer is the fact that I have complete control over it, not someone else.  I don't want Microsoft to have that level of control.

So, like I said.. No problem now, but a potential issue in the future if things go the way Microsoft would likely want it to be.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Anynoupy on Thu, 25 October 2012, 12:03:27
Will you be getting a copy?

Definitely not.

What do you think of the low price?

Good point !

What are your opinions on the new features?

Didn't pay much attention. But I hate that "Metro" UI.

Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?

Probably, as it is quite a big evolution on the UI side, although you can go "back to normal", at least almost. And I'm not really fond of that Marketplace policy, although it might help not-enthusiast people not to get malwares by downloading stupid stuff, and getting checked (I hope and believe) stuff from the Market.

What do you think of the new ribbon feature in place of the Windows Explorer address bar?

Hm, I don't really get what we are talking about there. I'll just say yes ... :p

Any features that you love and is the soul reason you are getting the new OS?

None ?

Will you be getting a Windows 8 tablet or Smartphone?

Probably not, but curiosity will tell for the smartphone side.

How will the new OS affect your gaming?

It won't. If any game doesn't run thanks to Wine, I'll boot on 7 and make it run. Otherwise I'll stick with OSX/Linux, which allow me to game pretty well.

Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?

Nope.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: SmallFry on Thu, 25 October 2012, 12:13:29
I like Windows 8, but we (my boss, an intern, and I) are trying to figure out how to deploy Symantic (crappy enterprise anti-virus) on Windows 8 before we start deploying it all.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Thu, 25 October 2012, 13:10:11
I had been happily using Windows XP for years, and would have kept on until the bitter end, but when I started seeing what Windows 8 was all about, last spring, I knew that I had to make a move.

I migrated to Windows 7 in June, and the experience has been 90% positive. There are still some features that I miss, but overall, it has treated me very well. This will be my home for the foreseeable future.

The idea of online stores and programs and data storage scares me to death. I think that it is great that I can archive important information somewhere far away, and to be able to download software without even having to stand up and walk across the room, but simply being offline for a few minutes or hours or days makes me know that I need all my gear and data, virtual and hard alike, within arm's length and not dependent on anything but an electrical wall plug.

I also got my first smartphone last summer, a Samsung Galaxy Android, and it has been a painful learning curve. There are things about it that I really like, but the smartphone experience is something altogether different.

Desktop computing is where it's at for me, laptops are OK, for what they are, but I want a powerful behemoth for my "real" workstation. My Model F-122 is just a part of all that mass of computing beauty and pleasure.

Everything else is just toys, thin gestures at shallow simulated computing.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tanilolli on Thu, 25 October 2012, 15:52:03
Will you be getting a copy?
I already have a copy of Windows 8 Pro through my college with MSDNA.

What do you think of the low price?
I think it's a great price point and it's very competitive with Apple's strategy. It's a great way to get more users to upgrade to the new OS.

What are your opinions on the new features?
I'm not really liking the new formerly called Metro interface because it messes with my workflow. I loved being able to drag files out of the start menu into Photoshop, Premiere, VLC, and Winamp just to name a few.

Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?
Yes, many users will be confused as to how to quit metro apps, return to the start menu, and bring up items in other hot corners. I feel like many users are going to be angered when they accidentally click on a corner or try to drag something and have something else happen.

What do you think of the new ribbon feature in place of the Windows Explorer address bar?
I can't say I like it. While it offers many new features, it hampers the experience I was used to. For instance, with winamp, I could easily click "Play all with Winamp" from within a folder. Now it hides these options that used to be easy to access.

Any features that you love and is the soul reason you are getting the new OS?
It's really well designed. Windows 8 feels really refined and elegant compared to previous versions.

Will you be getting a Windows 8 tablet or Smartphone?
Yes, but maybe not the surface. I'd like to wait and see what the competition brings to the market first.

How will the new OS affect your gaming?
Not at all. I've tested all my games with it and they seem to perform identically with my GPU compared to my Windows 7 install.

Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?
I still think they should allow the standard start menu to be used. This would be ideal for business users with inept employees that will most likely be calling support asking what happened to it. Then again, most businesses will most likely stick to Windows 7.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Thu, 25 October 2012, 16:18:39
I seemed to have been noticing a pattern with Windows operating systems: they'll release a ****ty OS, then they'll release a decent one... and it repeats.

The primary example of this beginning with Windows ME (****) then Windows XP (good) then Windows Vista (****) and finally Windows 7 (good).

So, my prediction for Windows 8:

****!!!
Did you actually notice that or are you just parroting the same crap that's being said everywhere despite being retroactively shoehorned nonsense?

e.g like this guy.

ppl like me who have used windows since 3.1 know that every other windows os is the one to use, so just wait until windows 9.

For instance the last three iterations are commonly referred to as XP = good, Vista = bad, 7 = good, which is pure BS. XP had all the same issues that Vista did upon it's release, it bumped performance requirements, had buggy drivers, incompatible software/hardware issues, etc. However because it was so long and two major service packs before the replacement, everyone had forgotten about that by the time Vista rolled round, and were used to running an old operating system on massively overpowered hardware.

People also fail to realise that a fully patched Vista is basically the same as Windows 7, Vista's issues were almost entirely due to it being a major overhaul and an associated increased demand in performance (the "Vista Capable" marketing didn't help any, with Microsoft bowing to the likes of Dell and allowing underpowered hardware to be certified capable). Run an up to date version of Vista on modern hardware and you'll find it's only superficially different from Windows 7.

Windows 8 again isn't all that different from 7. Vista, 7, and 8 are all pretty incremental updates, with the GUI being the most obvious and contentious feature. Personally I don't think it's that big a deal, having went from DOS to pre-95 Windows to post 95 Windows, I - and most people - have seen UI shifts before, it's really the kids that grew up on 9x and XP that are throwing their toys out of the pram over having to launch applications in a slightly different way from before. Actually, in my case, I launch applications in exactly the same way as on 7 - Windows key + type first few letters of the application I want to launch + press enter. It's significantly faster than taking my hand away from the keyboard to use a mouse, and you'd think on a forum dedicated to keyboards there'd be more users with that mindset.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Thu, 25 October 2012, 16:34:21
I like Windows 8, but we (my boss, an intern, and I) are trying to figure out how to deploy Symantic (crappy enterprise anti-virus) on Windows 8 before we start deploying it all.
Is there a reason you don't want to use Microsoft Security Essentials? (you paid for it with your Windows license)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Findecanor on Thu, 25 October 2012, 17:06:50
Chromium ate my post ... but here I go again:

I like some things about the Metro interface. A lot of thought has gone into it. However, I don't like the way that it has been integrated with the desktop world.
I would definitely have designed some things differently. For instance, I would have put a task switcher into the Metro interface that would be accessed at the same border as the task bar on the desktop and then let the same gesture be used to unhide either. I think that they should have made it so that Metro apps (and/or Metro tiles) could have been used as desktop widgets, or live on the screen border.

Under the hood, the Metro / RT system is modern in some ways, but antiquated in others... For instance, developers should have been forced to make scalable apps for different resolutions and sizes instead of only having to support a set number of pixel-spans. We no longer live in a world where almost every monitor is 14" and it makes sense to say "640x480 resolution". Different devices have different screen sizes and screen resolutions (DPI !!) and they are not related.

I predict that Microsoft is going to lose a lot on Windows 8.
People will absolutely hate that the Start Menu is gone. Much worse though, is that people are going to confuse Windows tables with WindowsRT tablets and be very angry when they find that they can not run desktop apps on the tablet that they just bought.

People don't actually like Windows or Microsoft very much. The Windows brand has a bad reputation, that of spyware and of other problems with the computer.  Why did Microsoft not choose to leverage the "Metro" brand?
Instead of calling the phones "Windows phones", they should have called them "Metro phones". Instead of having "Windows tablets" and "Windows tablets", they should have "Windows tablets" and "Metro tablets".

I do like that the kernel is less bloated. I do like the improved multiple-monitor support. I do like the use of async under the hood in the "Windows Runtime" - I predict that it will catch on elsewhere. (I have used this model extensively when programming web applications, before I heard that Microsoft had started using it)

I don't think there is any chance that I will install Windows 8 on any PC that I own, or to buy any "Windows device".
I don't want a feature-limited tablet. I want a fully-fledged PC in a tablet form factor, with battery life like a tablet, something that can replace my netbook in all respects and be more portable. I am more interested in seeing how hackers are doing in installing flavours of Linux onto various tablets that might have been running Android, WindowsRT, iOS (or whatever! it does not matter!!) originally. I have dreamed of having such a device since the mid '90s. Even though Microsoft does not seem like they will deliver it themselves, their presense in the tablet market may drive manufacturers towards constructing more capable hardware that is more like what I have in mind.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Thu, 25 October 2012, 17:20:16
I don't think there is any chance that I will install Windows 8 on any PC that I own, or to buy any "Windows device".
I don't want a feature-limited tablet. I want a fully-fledged PC in a tablet form factor, with battery life like a tablet, something that can replace my netbook in all respects and be more portable. I am more interested in seeing how hackers are doing in installing flavours of Linux onto various tablets that might have been running Android, WindowsRT, iOS (or whatever! it does not matter!!) originally. I have dreamed of having such a device since the mid '90s, but Microsoft is not going in the right direction for me.

From what I've been able to determine, this is as much a hardware issue as anything else.  Now there is an incoming tablet from Asus that runs an Atom processor and full win8, instead of RT, but it has issues with battery life and the inability to do much graphically.

With that said, once the haswell architecture is ready, you'll see i3/5/7 processors with internal graphic processing that rivals mid-tier PCs and the current draw and cooling needs of ARM processors.  Fortunately, this is *maybe* a full 12 months from hitting retail shelves which means you'll be able to have your proverbial cake and eat it, too. 

Personally, I think your feelings on how Microsoft and Windows are viewed are a bit dated.  Also, naming their portable devices something other than windows could have caused a larger size of market confusion than what will be had now with the two different OS tablets.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Thu, 25 October 2012, 17:21:34
Win8 has a buch of upgrades if you have been following its development especailly if you have a newish system that supports the stuff. Ill be upgrading my computers ASAP!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: SmallFry on Thu, 25 October 2012, 18:13:14
I like Windows 8, but we (my boss, an intern, and I) are trying to figure out how to deploy Symantic (crappy enterprise anti-virus) on Windows 8 before we start deploying it all.
Is there a reason you don't want to use Microsoft Security Essentials? (you paid for it with your Windows license)
Not known to me, we run a VM for all of our virus stuff. I would assume because things can get past MSE. I personally haven't tried too hard (being a student and all) to get a virus at school, but I've never seen one come through even on the computers of which my peers go to the shadiest of sites.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: DarkShot on Thu, 25 October 2012, 18:13:39
I don't want a feature-limited tablet. I want a fully-fledged PC in a tablet form factor, with battery life like a tablet, something that can replace my netbook in all respects and be more portable. I am more interested in seeing how hackers are doing in installing flavours of Linux onto various tablets that might have been running Android, WindowsRT, iOS (or whatever! it does not matter!!) originally. I have dreamed of having such a device since the mid '90s. Even though Microsoft does not seem like they will deliver it themselves, their presense in the tablet market may drive manufacturers towards constructing more capable hardware that is more like what I have in mind.

That is in essence, what you get with a lot of the soon to come Windows 8 tablets. Microsoft is making a device to set the standard and expect OEMs to meet and most certainly exceed it. Intel ULV chips have been getting more and more efficient. Battery tech is forever improving. It isn't a hard thing to believe.

I agree with you in that many consumers will be confused with the difference between a Windows RT device and Windows 8 device, but don't make the mistake yourself, the latter can act as a complete replacement if your primary machine is a notebook given that it's a quality machine.

Take for instance the most promising Windows 8 tablet 'hybrid' I've seen from ASUS, the Transformer Book (http://www.asus.com/vivo/en/transformerBook.htm). This machine is a full fledged Ultrabook in every sense:
-Core i3/i5/i7
-4gigs of RAM
-128gig SSD
-13.3" 1080p display
-Micro HDMI
-MicroSD

The dock itself, adds on more tasty goods:
-500gig HD
-Extended battery
-Standard SD slot
-Mini-Display Port
-LAN
-2x USB 3.0 ports
-Backlit keyboard

This is only the start. There are a lot of promising devices coming that are probably in the planning stages right now, but this OS is forcing OEMs to raise the bar on overall quality of Windows devices as well. You will verywell be able to take a single portable device, say a 10" Windows 8 tablet, dock it, and have a completely separate workstation running off the tablet itself.

It's only a matter of time before such a thing happens. Lenovo already had the idea with the Thinkpad. It'll happen with everyday tablets.

Microsoft has managed to bridge the software gap of having a usable portable device that can also be your primary work horse, if anything this will encourage OEMs to do what you and I have yearned for, for a long time.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Thu, 25 October 2012, 18:22:57
Since, after reading other's posts, it appears as though i'm one of the only people here who seems to have even used the Release Candidate and full release version before grabbing a pitchfork (the shop I work at has a Technet subscription, and we got in licenses a couple days ago.) I'll give you my opinion.

FIRST OFF: It's not that bad. Think of the (not) Metro interface as the New Start menu and once you learn your way around the niche stuff (reorganized control panel as in every OS, other tweaks) it's pretty much the same damn OS as 7 was.

I do miss Aero. I don't agree that it was "Cheesy" I thought the glassy look was nice and it seems like with windows 8 they're scrambling to gain back people who jumped onto the Apple bandwagon and got idevices. M$ seems to think it was because people like the "clean look" and "clean lines" and "how clean it is" when, in fact, they're just sippin' the kool-aid.


Will you be getting a copy?

Personally? Doubt it. I've got windows 7 and it works fine for my needs. If I was somehow disallowed my copy of windows 7, I'd probably go for 8.

What do you think of the low price?

If this is particularly referring to the upgrade price, I don't care much for in-place upgrades, and as said above, I have 7 and it works fine for me.

What are your opinions on the new features?

Personally, I think they're optimized for tablets, as everybody else does. As long as I can tap the winkey and search for whatever I want to run from there it's all learning new menu layouts. They're not THAT bad.

Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?

Only neophytes and those who are too resistant to change to even give new products a chance.

What do you think of the new ribbon feature in place of the Windows Explorer address bar?

I use shortcut commands and right click, If I had to search for a few seconds to click an icon, I probably wouldn't notice a difference.

Any features that you love and is the soul sole reason you are getting the new OS?

Honestly, I'd consider getting a surface tablet. I think those will be very nice.

Will you be getting a Windows 8 tablet or Smartphone?

Waiting for the Lumia 900 series to hit Verizon (They borrowed Gabe Newell's clock, I think.) and surface looks promising, but no, not immediately.

How will the new OS affect your gaming?

Haven't tried gaming on it. Ran the Heaven3D benchmark on a windows 8 machine (not mine) and it ran just fine so I doubt at all even if I switched to it. So long as it runs steam, we're golden.

Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?

Only that people are bastardizing it before they even use it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: DarkShot on Thu, 25 October 2012, 18:24:51
Only that people are bastardizing it before they even use it.

Bingo.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Thu, 25 October 2012, 19:40:24
If any of you are saying Win 8 is bad just because of what used to be called metro, I think its very shallow thinking on your part.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: SmallFry on Thu, 25 October 2012, 20:13:59
Agreed. I have been using the Metro UI at school a little in the IT office and it is cool!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: 1391401 on Thu, 25 October 2012, 20:20:00
Depending on how it's received it could be a game changer in the mobile world - especially in corporate mobile

Vista was a disappointment on non-bleeding-edge hardware.  If you ran it on a good dual/quad core CPU it was a good OS and brought a LOT of solid security features (in the back end not just that annoying popup).  W7 was phenomenal on all hardware and was definitely a nice incremental and what Vista should have been.  I will buy 8 but I'm not rushing to the store just yet. 
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Ian S on Thu, 25 October 2012, 20:30:41
Talking about 'desktop' PC.

I still use XP.  I like the clear small outline drawn icons.  I use the quick launch area on the task bar and have about 50 icons / programs in there.  I run the PC from the mouse, I never use keyboard short cuts.  I'm utter crap and remembering names and will never be able to type them into some search field to open what I want.  I think in pictures and know where what is, not what it's called.  I recognise the pictures and click on them, I good at that, it's quick and easy and works well for me.  I really hate the win 7 wide transparent pasty barely visible Icons.  They don't work for me at all.  I'm not an idiot, in fact mostly very far indeed to the other end of the scale but I do have a visual disability and can't easily see text, so in that way, and with names, I am partially an idiot.

I feel I'm being marginalised out of being able to use a PC as they seem to be reducing the intuitiveness and the icon and mouse method less available.

Many people who have posted in this thread, and others on this subject, have viewed this new OS from only their own point of view and seem unable to comprehend that the needs ads particular skills and disabilities of others are not the same as theirs.

I'm not some kind of "enter the array of demeaning comments about people who don't like change" but I am someone who likes to find the best tool for the job and keep using that and not change and change again for the sake of change that is not improvement.

They should offer a GUI that meets people needs, not deny people what they are familiar with.  Changing it because they think swirly transparent crap will make them more money.

I used Win 7 last week to set up a home theatre PC for a pal and I hated it.  It was a massive relief and pleasure to get back to something that is easy to use.  That's not just about familiarity but the simple ergonomics.  Not that the XP GUI couldn't be better for my use.

Also also found that they deleted Outlook express so I'd have to somehow get some new way to get POP3 emails.  What I have works.  I learned, I know how to use it.  I don't want to and object to having to p1ss away a chunk of my life learning some new way to do the same thing just because it suits some corporations financial plan.

I had a couple questions but I've forgotten what they were.  Every time I start on this MS Win OS subject I get annoyed quite quickly.  It gives me much stress and always has.

Change for the sake of change and having something new to sell instead of perfecting what was already there.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: WhiteFireDragon on Thu, 25 October 2012, 20:49:39
I played around with W8. Seems like a step backwards from win7, just like how vista was a step backwards from XP.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Thu, 25 October 2012, 21:01:39
I played around with W8. Seems like a step backwards from win7, just like how vista was a step backwards from XP.
I think both your comments are wrong in every which way.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: DarkShot on Thu, 25 October 2012, 21:05:21
They should offer a GUI that meets people needs, not deny people what they are familiar with.  Changing it because they think swirly transparent crap will make them more money.

To be completely fair, they are. It is touch centric, but of course we're going into the age of touch, so it's needed. Even for the non-touch users, it gives realtime information to those who might want it, and a simple, large menu to pick and choose the programs they want to run stuff in. And I'm speaking only for the start menu. You still have the taskbar for desktop mode that you can pin apps on, and there's the desktop itself to launch applications should you want.

Like you'd do to your living room, they've rearranged things with newer furniture and gotten rid of some of the old.

And the QL area isn't the only way to launch apps. Sure it might be the most convenient, but

I played around with W8. Seems like a step backwards from win7, just like how vista was a step backwards from XP.

I don't agree with that.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Thu, 25 October 2012, 21:23:25
They should offer a GUI that meets people needs, not deny people what they are familiar with.  Changing it because they think swirly transparent crap will make them more money.

To be completely fair, they are. It is touch centric, but of course we're going into the age of touch, so it's needed. Even for the non-touch users, it gives realtime information to those who might want it, and a simple, large menu to pick and choose the programs they want to run stuff in. And I'm speaking only for the start menu. You still have the taskbar for desktop mode that you can pin apps on, and there's the desktop itself to launch applications should you want.

Like you'd do to your living room, they've rearranged things with newer furniture and gotten rid of some of the old.

And the QL area isn't the only way to launch apps. Sure it might be the most convenient, but

I played around with W8. Seems like a step backwards from win7, just like how vista was a step backwards from XP.

I don't agree with that.

I decided it's easier to just say ^^ this.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Ian S on Fri, 26 October 2012, 08:00:23
Regarding the living room analogy; Plenty of people like to change for the sake of change, a change is as good as a rest, etc.  I don't.  I tried it every way in the 1970's and '80's, found out what worked best and stuck with it.  Changing won't make it work better unless it's usage changes, then an update can be done.

With the PC desktop it's the same; the usage has not changed.  My 23" 16x9 screen is not touch sensitive.  For me I expect they're making it worse to use, not better.

I preferred the look and feel of GUI's before XP.  How may of you remember 'File Manager' and still lament it's passing?  I forget now exactly which elements they took away or degraded but I was disappointed with the XP GUI.  I avoided Vista and have not liked Win 7.

Sure the OS needed work over the years but the GUI is what we're talking about here in thread and is what is annoying so many people, not how much better the back ground technical tasks are performed, it's a given that that kind thing has to be evolved or stop working.

You need different horses for different coarses, at the moment this company appear to be trying a one size fits all approach, and that is never going to please all the users.

What amazes me is that with 7 billion people in our species that there aren't loads of people writing and offering their own personal ideal GUIs that end users world wide can pick from to suit their own very particular needs.

It amazes me that there aren't a load of operating systems to chose from.  Our species certainly doesn't work together for it's own good.  Although internet forum 'Group Buys' do buck that normality.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Fri, 26 October 2012, 08:12:18
Regarding the living room analogy; Plenty of people like to change for the sake of change, a change is as good as a rest, etc.  I don't.  I tried it every way in the 1970's and '80's, found out what worked best and stuck with it.  Changing won't make it work better unless it's usage changes, then an update can be done.

With the PC desktop it's the same; the usage has not changed.  My 23" 16x9 screen is not touch sensitive.  They're making it worse to use, not better.
Computers are still intimidating to a large number of people on the planet, and I don't think anyone would argue that interfaces had been perfected and there is no need for change.

Windows 8 brings a number of improvements that have nothing to do with touch, and it's really easy to disable Metro and never see any of it.

I preferred the look and feel of GUI's before XP.  How may of you remember 'File Manager' and still lament it's passing?  I forget now exactly which elements they took away or degraded but I was disappointed with the XP GUI.  I avoided Vista and have not liked Win 7.
Can you be more specific about what it is that you were disappointed with in XP compared to previous versions of Windows, or what you don't like about 7?

What amazes me is that with 7 billion people in our species that there aren't loads of people writing and offering their own personal ideal GUIs that end users world wide can pick from to suit their own very particular needs.
The operating system isn't what's important to people, the software you run on it is. Most people just live inside a web browser or office.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Fri, 26 October 2012, 10:41:35
For instance the last three iterations are commonly referred to as XP = good, Vista = bad, 7 = good, which is pure BS. XP had all the same issues that Vista did upon it's release, it bumped performance requirements, had buggy drivers, incompatible software/hardware issues, etc. However because it was so long and two major service packs before the replacement, everyone had forgotten about that by the time Vista rolled round, and were used to running an old operating system on massively overpowered hardware.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

EDIT: Another thing that bit vista was, firstly, laptop manufactuerer's like Acer & Dell putting it on a single core Celeron 1.8 machine with 512 mb DDR ram and calling it a day. No modern OS (Even XP) will run properly on those sort of mobile specs, in my opinion.

When crApple swooped in with the "i'm a mac, i'm a pc, hey vista why do you suck so bad, it's because i'm retarded and slow" ads, public opinion just dropped and m$ basically disowned it.


I'm not saying vista is the best OS, i'm not even saying it's better than 7 or XP, i'm just saying it's not near as bad as most people think. I've met people (customers) who admit they've used vista for a while and like it, but that still doesn't mean I could sell a refurbished machine with vista on it to save my life to some people.

Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lanx on Fri, 26 October 2012, 12:10:58

EDIT: Another thing that bit vista was, firstly, laptop manufactuerer's like Acer & Dell putting it on a single core Celeron 1.8 machine with 512 mb DDR ram and calling it a day. No modern OS (Even XP) will run properly on those sort of mobile specs, in my opinion.

Not true, i have and still use a netbook, your basic 10in 270atom 512mb from 3 years ago running xp, it ran great with 512 (i did upgrade to 2.5 when the memory market was cheap).


i've had a htpc for years, it might have been upgraded (when i upgrade it get's the hand me downs, or when wife upgrades etc), but it's relatively the same, it connects to my PC, largely now it's become my tv, because of stupid cable costs(i have to have basic cable, cuz i have comcast internet) my htpc is my huluplus  pc that i use to watch all my tv, heck hulu is even faster with anime than the independent subbing groups.

Any, i've tried using the interfaces such as Boxee, or xbmc to control everything, that "overlay" interface just ends up slowing me down, i have to flip through so many hoops to get to where i want, it's akin to putting in a GPS and no matter what you can't force it to go the "shorter, faster route" that you know by heart.

this is what i envision metro is like to many (i will admit i haven't had time to evaluate it)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Fri, 26 October 2012, 14:25:58
Only that people are bastardizing it before they even use it.
Precisely. When you actually question the most vitriolic anti-Windows 8/Metro people it appears all they've done is seen a few screenshots, noticed it's different from what they're used to and immediately ran to the nearest Internet forum/comments page to spew out their hatred for it.

e.g.:

this is what i envision metro is like to many (i will admit i haven't had time to evaluate it)
lol...
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: DarkShot on Fri, 26 October 2012, 15:23:25
this is what i envision metro is like to many (i will admit i haven't had time to evaluate it)

I might suggest you try it out. I mean not to attack you, but it's as Malphas said, you're best off to form your own opinion after you use it for a couple days and see how it handles. Saying you haven't tried it but talking down is like looking at pizza and saying it tastes like ass when you haven't had a bite.

It isn't perfect, nor is it an entire different world, but Microsoft has done well in what they were aiming to do.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Fri, 26 October 2012, 15:26:48
this is what i envision metro is like to many (i will admit i haven't had time to evaluate it)
lol...

At least he admits that he hasn't used it. Hell some people don't even realized they've basically been brainwashed.

That said, I just used the windows 8 RT surface tablet and

daaaaaayum

is it ever nice. THAT is what Win8 is built for. M$ pulled out all the stops. The construction, while somewhat angular, is magnesium. Gives the unit solid construction and a nice weight. Certainly at least on par with the iPad. The cover/keyboard is SURPRISINGLY responsive and solid. It behaves much like a regular keyboard, you can rest your fingers on it, and it seems to be very well thought out and produced.

Of course, windows 8 compliments the touch screen beautifully.

If you seriously believe that windows 8 is "the next vista" or "the next bad ms OS, wait for 9" head to any shop that is demoing the surface tablet and try it out. Very impressive stuff and syncs seamlessly with skydrive, win8 desktops and other cloud-based solutions.

Very, very impressive. Keep an eye out for this. I'm not a "tablet" man, but if I get in the market, I'm looking at a Surface.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Fri, 26 October 2012, 15:33:28
Migrating to a new OS is quite traumatic for a lot of us. Once every 5-8 years is plenty for me.

I used DOS until the first service pack of Win 98 came out. I was very happy with 98 and used it until I bought a computer with XP pre-installed about in about 2004.

I only moved from XP to Windows 7 in June of this year.

In each case, I was driven at least as much by problems related to compatibility problems with newer and/or older software and/or hardware than pure lust for change.

The move to 7 from XP was to just barely catch up to the curve rather than get ahead of it. Just because Steve Jobs hated keyboards does not mean that everybody does.

Windows 7 locks me out of a few older programs that I like. Yes, I know that there is a "compatibility mode" which is great, but I usually bite the bullet and move on at some point. But, for me, "moving on" meant only as far as 7.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: MMB on Fri, 26 October 2012, 15:53:49
For the desktop, there's not much reason to upgrade over Win7 other than to say "I have windows 8". On the tablet side, I like Windows RT (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6392/the-windows-rt-review). It's recent reviews on Surface get really great ratings.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: m00nshake on Fri, 26 October 2012, 16:16:20
I'll probably try it on my desktop since my student account is still active and its free, although I will say normally I'm wary of trying any new Windows OS until it's been out awhile.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Fri, 26 October 2012, 16:37:08
For the desktop, there's not much reason to upgrade over Win7 other than to say "I have windows 8". On the tablet side, I like Windows RT (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6392/the-windows-rt-review). It's recent reviews on Surface get really great ratings.

In a nutshell.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: DarkShot on Fri, 26 October 2012, 17:17:53
For the desktop, there's not much reason to upgrade over Win7 other than to say "I have windows 8". On the tablet side, I like Windows RT (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6392/the-windows-rt-review). It's recent reviews on Surface get really great ratings.

I'm gonna install it on my desktop tonight. I was able to get a Win8 Pro upgrade license for $15 so I'll see how it goes. After I have everything on my computer that I need, I'll talk about what I like and dislike, as my laptop is used rarely whereas my desktop is on and used almost all my home spent wakeful hours.

I look forward to trying out an actual Windows 8 tablet device.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Fri, 26 October 2012, 18:02:21
That said, I just used the windows 8 RT surface tablet and

daaaaaayum

is it ever nice. THAT is what Win8 is built for. M$ pulled out all the stops. The construction, while somewhat angular, is magnesium. Gives the unit solid construction and a nice weight. Certainly at least on par with the iPad. The cover/keyboard is SURPRISINGLY responsive and solid. It behaves much like a regular keyboard, you can rest your fingers on it, and it seems to be very well thought out and produced.

Of course, windows 8 compliments the touch screen beautifully.

If you seriously believe that windows 8 is "the next vista" or "the next bad ms OS, wait for 9" head to any shop that is demoing the surface tablet and try it out. Very impressive stuff and syncs seamlessly with skydrive, win8 desktops and other cloud-based solutions.

Very, very impressive. Keep an eye out for this. I'm not a "tablet" man, but if I get in the market, I'm looking at a Surface.
While the Surface might be nice hardware (though the screen is low resolution, and 4:3 is much better suited for tablet use) I just don't think having a device that is stuck with "Modern UI" apps is worthwhile. I just don't see much potential there, and having Office & IE as the only desktop apps you can run seems like a very strange decision.

I think the Surface Pro has potential to be good, but x86 hardware just isn't ready for that form-factor yet. Haswell next year could change things in a big way, however.


For the desktop, there's not much reason to upgrade over Win7 other than to say "I have windows 8".
It's quicker, it's a lot more efficient (both in memory usage and power consumption) it takes up less space (I have about 5GB extra space on my SSD now) there are some great new features that haven't had much attention, and there are a number of UI tweaks and other OS improvements that make it a worthwhile upgrade, especially at the discounted price it's selling for right now.

If you don't like the "Modern UI" stuff, spend $5 on Start8 (http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/). With that installed, you get back a Windows 7 style start menu (mostly feature-complete, at least for how I used it previously) and you never have to see "Modern UI" again, unless you actually want to.

I haven't seen a single "Modern UI" app that seems worthwhile using on the desktop, so that's how I have it set up now. There are free apps that offer similar features, but Start8 requires almost no configuration and worked best out of the ones that I tried.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tanilolli on Sat, 27 October 2012, 15:48:13
So I decided to pop into BestBuy today to see if they had any devices with touchscreens running Windows 8 and I got a chance to spend some time with an Acer laptop with a built in touchscreen. It felt like a very natural experience finally using the Modern UI with a touchscreen. Everything was really responsive, and the gestures work great on the touchscreen. The thing I was most impressed with was how snappy the maps application was using multiple fingers to navigate. I'm really impressed with Windows 8 now but I don't have a touchscreen display at home to use it with. I think I'll wait until the Surface Pro gets released before I make the switch.

Also, pro tip for anyone trying to find touchscreen laptops in stores. Simply drag your finger across the displays in the isle while walking and see which ones exit the screensaver  ;)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: CKTofu on Sat, 27 October 2012, 19:38:45
I'm running it through VMWare to test it out, but I'm not liking the UI  for desktop uses. For a tablet, fantastic, aside from the swipe-down-to-quit thing, that seems like a problem. Currently performance is at a disadvantage compared to Windows 7, the cold boot time is faster, but not that fast, and the pressure Microsoft is putting to get people to use Metro apps is annoying. The Start Window in theory could actually be better than the start menu, were they to make the tiles smaller and make the search functionality work a bit more fluidly (like Win7). I'm giving Windows 8 until the $40 upgrade sale stops to see if they make any additions to the functionality that would make it worthwhile, or to improve the performance beyond that of Windows 7. Otherwise here's hoping Windows 9 will be worth it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Ian S on Sun, 28 October 2012, 11:12:05
From reading more, it seems that the £25 'upgrade' is not the value it appears.  Apparently your older Office does not work with Win 8 so you have to fork out £180 for the 2012 version. 

And to get rid of the, IMO, ridiculous 'Metro' start page as much as possible, you have to purchase third party software, but you still lose the start menu, I personally find that menu useful.  I don't want to work around, adjust, get use to a useful part not being there!!  Whatever way anyone tries to paint it, that's a down grade.

The more I read about users personal experiences with trying to install it, installing, trying to use and using it, the less interested I am in wasting time with it, and I don't need more stress, I have enough of that already.  Most of the positive reviews are one sided and leave out (any) important info and very much look like they've been written by the sales and marketing teams.

I read the reviews on Amazon UK; only about 20 reviews, about half saying they'd never use it again and half gushing a nauseating sales pitch.

Personally I don't want to have to purchase new 2012 office to replace what's not broken and is doing the job adequately already.  I don't want to purchase third party hacks to work around it's crapness to get back to a productive product that I can already use without having to Google for the first month or two to find out how to do simple stuff I can already do.  I want an intuitive GUI where I don't have to learn anything to use a PC, just use it in the way that seems to make sense using common sense and logic.  That has always and evidently still does not apply to products from MS.

The Mac SE20 I used in the 1980's made sense. I didn't have to learn how it worked more than a brief introduction to using the mouse and treble clicking.  I was then straight away using PageMaker, Database, and word processing.  From never having seen one before, I was able to use it straight away professionally for DTP and office admin.  At home I had an Atari for running MIDI for my small home studio and playing some games, we didn't have Google and I didn't have to read a load of help files to learn how that worked either as that also made sense.  MS products have never made logical sense to me in that way to configure or use them, they need to be patiently comprehended and learned.  It shouldn't be that way.

I'm not sure how my XP PC could be faster, it starts in about 60 seconds and shuts down in about 20sec so maybe that could be but its not an issue as the modem takes more than a minute to get going.  Apart from that I'm not waiting for anything to open, work, do anything.  I have 560 tabs open now in Firefox and it's fine, not stalling or any problems.  I run Winamp and AudioBurst FX 32bit re-sampler to play music and at the same time as all that can run a full res 1080p video clip.  My PC, according to the 'wall wart' Wattmeter uses 45W in normal running with a peak of about 85W.  People keep say how much faster Win 8 is than Win 7.  Was Win 7 slow?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: SurgeonKyle on Sun, 28 October 2012, 11:16:46
Bought myself a copy from my work and it's pretty rock solid (especially since it was all of 70 bucks for the pro version) coming off of a clean install I'm liking it so far even if it is a lot harder than I expected it to be to adjust to the new scheme, but damn it's faster, looks alright, and lets me do everything my seven install did so I can't complain too much, just hope there aren't going to be any vista sized security holes (praying to god)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Beta32Delta on Sun, 28 October 2012, 16:34:52
Not a fan of it, for tablets sure, but for desktop I don't see the point. I think its going to be eventually known as vista 2 sales wise.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Rumudiez on Sun, 28 October 2012, 20:00:16
I love how all the negative reviews for Win8 complain about desktop functionality getting screwed over, whereas the positive reviews are strictly boosting its tablet and touch screen performance while still doing "everything my seven install did," which is completely subjective anyways.

I really hate the different versions they have.. Is it actually worth it to manage a product by taking out features you developed already for a cheaper product? It's annoying because many of my programs only run in whole on Ultimate/Pro versions.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Sun, 28 October 2012, 20:03:50
From reading more, it seems that the £25 'upgrade' is not the value it appears.  Apparently your older Office does not work with Win 8 so you have to fork out £180 for the 2012 version.
What version are you running? I think everything from 2007 onwards works fine in 8?

And to get rid of the, IMO, ridiculous 'Metro' start page as much as possible, you have to purchase third party software, but you still lose the start menu, I personally find that menu useful.  I don't want to work around, adjust, get use to a useful part not being there!!  Whatever way anyone tries to paint it, that's a down grade.
Start8 (http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/) is $5 (£3) and basically turns Windows 8 into an enhanced version of Windows 7.
You can have it disable Metro entirely - no more Metro start screen, no more hot-corners, and it brings back the Windows 7-style start menu. (or alternatively, a Metro-style one that stays on the desktop and doesn't fill your screen)

I'm not sure how my XP PC could be faster, it starts in about 60 seconds and shuts down in about 20sec so maybe that could be but its not an issue as the modem takes more than a minute to get going.
I boot to the desktop in about 10 seconds with Windows 8 compared to about 45 seconds for Windows 7.
That might not seem like a big deal, but I would often just leave my PC on idling rather than shutting it down due to the delay. (I don't like sleep as it tends to have issues with some of my hardware)

My PC, according to the 'wall wart' Wattmeter uses 45W in normal running with a peak of about 85W.
You're only measuring the idle state (unlikely to change) and the peak power consumption. (also unlikely to change) Those kind of power meters are often inaccurate with PCs as well.

Windows 8 allows the system to get into an idle state much quicker, and for longer periods of time. It will also support better power-saving states in upcoming processors. (Intel's Haswell (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6355/intels-haswell-architecture) architecture for example)

(http://i.imgur.com/daacD.jpg)

I am also noticing that power management seems to be much more dynamic and responsive in Windows 8. In Windows 7 my system basically only ever jumped from being completely throttled at 1.6GHz, to running full-tilt at 4.5GHz. There was never any intermediate, and there were a number of tasks which caused the CPU to stay in the 1.6GHz state, even though they were considerably slower when doing so. On Windows 7 I ended up disabling CPU throttling, which is very wasteful.

In Windows 8, my CPU is scaling anywhere between 1.6GHz and 4.5GHz depending on the demands being made of it. I've often seen it running at 2.x or 3.x GHz rather than only switching between 1.6 & 4.5
I haven't noticed any performance drop when enabling all the power-saving features in Windows 8, unlike Windows 7. XP is much worse than that, even.

Memory usage is down, leaving more memory free for applications.
In general the UI just seems more responsive than Windows 7.
File transfers are noticeably quicker, and there is now an excellent status display giving you information on their progress. (Windows 7's information was useless at best, and estimates were often wildly inaccurate)

People keep say how much faster Win 8 is than Win 7.  Was Win 7 slow?
It wasn't slow, but 8 is faster. That's never a bad thing.

Not a fan of it, for tablets sure, but for desktop I don't see the point. I think its going to be eventually known as vista 2 sales wise.
I'm quite sure Microsoft will be happy selling another 60 million copies of Windows then...
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: ra7c7er on Mon, 29 October 2012, 10:54:23
I will be holding off on it for a while I don't see anything it does on the user end that is fundamentally better than windows 7. I know it has some more secure background/security things but that isn't enough for me to switch.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Ian S on Mon, 29 October 2012, 11:43:13
Thanks for your detailed and helpful response :)

Quote from: NKRO
What version are you running? I think everything from 2007 onwards works fine in 8?
2003.  So that alone would appear to be a sufficient deal breaker.

Quote
Start8 (http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/) is $5 (£3)
Thanks I'll forward that onto my pal who's planning to upgrade.  He's had the trial version for a few months on not his main PC and can't, doesn't want to, deal with Metro.

Quote
boot to the desktop in about 10 seconds with Windows 8 compared to about 45 seconds for Windows 7
Yes I also do leave it running a bunch of programs where I might not if it came on near instantly with them all immediately usable.  10 sec boot does not mean with everything running though, so I'd still leave it on.  I've not tried to use sleep since the '90's when it didn't really work.

Quote
Haswell (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6355/intels-haswell-architecture)
Thanks for the link and image.

These various power saving and performance enhancing features are all good to have and I like to have them.  But at what cost.  New office.  Other stuff that I have that is old and work well on XP that probably won't.  Eg, Revosleep that keeps my extra internal HDDs off.  I simply can't have them all spinning all the time.  I expect there will be others.  Maybe I'll upgrade in a couple of years when these things have been fixed by their respective programmers.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Mon, 29 October 2012, 12:29:01
I'm not going to be relying on any of the "Start button" apps, as It seems m$ is standing firm on putting the kaibosh on the start menu.

Realistically, the Metro interface is just a full-screen start menu, So I don't see what the fuss is about.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Rumudiez on Mon, 29 October 2012, 13:44:11
The fuss is that it's not the start menu and is less friendly to the methods we've all become so accustomed to in using the start menu for the last half dozen versions of Windows. WinKey -> Search just became five strokes longer..
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: DarkShot on Mon, 29 October 2012, 14:10:24
The fuss is that it's not the start menu and is less friendly to the methods we've all become so accustomed to in using the start menu for the last half dozen versions of Windows. WinKey -> Search just became five strokes longer..

Press the Win key -> start typing -> arrow down to the context you want to search in -> select the file/link/whatever

It really hasn't added all that much to it. If anything, it's much more powerful as it's a universal search for not just programs, but files, and anything else within the means of the apps you can select.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: smoke070 on Mon, 29 October 2012, 14:32:19
I'm loving it, even though i'm kinda cheating.. I'm using it with Start8 and I uninstalled all of the apps and I don't even touch the Metro nonsense. But i'll take the performance benefits and stay future-proof.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Mon, 29 October 2012, 15:16:09
The fuss is that it's not the start menu and is less friendly to the methods we've all become so accustomed to in using the start menu for the last half dozen versions of Windows. WinKey -> Search just became five strokes longer..
The Start Menu is antiquated crap, though. No-one even uses it anymore (according to personal experience and Microsoft's telemetry). Why would anyone want to go through half a dozen clicks in a cluttered, disorganised menu of fairly small proportions meaning your clicks have to relatively precise and therefore take longer, when you just just hit winkey and type, or just have a large, easy and quick to click tile on your screen instead?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Mon, 29 October 2012, 18:23:02
2003.  So that alone would appear to be a sufficient deal breaker.
Well it is over nine years old at this point, but it's understandable that you wouldn't want to upgrade if you need to upgrade office. (I assume alternatives like LibreOffice (http://www.libreoffice.org/) don't suit your needs)

Yes I also do leave it running a bunch of programs where I might not if it came on near instantly with them all immediately usable.  10 sec boot does not mean with everything running though, so I'd still leave it on.  I've not tried to use sleep since the '90's when it didn't really work.
Hibernation wakes just as quickly as a cold boot does for me, and I haven't had the issues with it that I get with sleep. It does eat up some hard drive space though. (3/4 of your  total RAM which may be an issue if you have an SSD)
Sleep usually works fine for me on notebooks, but I tend to have issues with peripherals that are left connected to the system when sleeping a desktop PC.

These various power saving and performance enhancing features are all good to have and I like to have them.  But at what cost.  New office.  Other stuff that I have that is old and work well on XP that probably won't.  Eg, Revosleep that keeps my extra internal HDDs off.  I simply can't have them all spinning all the time.  I expect there will be others.  Maybe I'll upgrade in a couple of years when these things have been fixed by their respective programmers.
Again, completely understandable. There's no point in upgrading just for the sake of upgrading, or if it means a lot of unnecessary additional costs. For me, Windows 8 brings a set of useful new features, performance improvements, and power savings. If you're happy with how your system is running on XP, other than security issues, or buying new hardware (you should not use Windows XP if you have an SSD) there's probably no real reason for you to change.

The fuss is that it's not the start menu and is less friendly to the methods we've all become so accustomed to in using the start menu for the last half dozen versions of Windows. WinKey -> Search just became five strokes longer..
It's the same in Windows 8 as it is in Windows 7 - hit the windows key and just start typing. The difference is that I find the presentation to be unintuitive on a desktop machine, and they split things off into different categories now. By default it only searches applications, control panels and files are split off into separate categories.

The Start Menu is antiquated crap, though. No-one even uses it anymore (according to personal experience and Microsoft's telemetry). Why would anyone want to go through half a dozen clicks in a cluttered, disorganised menu of fairly small proportions meaning your clicks have to relatively precise and therefore take longer, when you just just hit winkey and type, or just have a large, easy and quick to click tile on your screen instead?
Microsoft can claim whatever they want, but it doesn't change the fact that I use the start menu all the time. I use it as a quick app/file launcher (hit the Windows key and start typing) and I keep infrequently used applications pinned to it. (utilities like WinDirStat, Acronis TrueImage etc.) Frequently used applications get pinned to the taskbar so I can access them with the Windows key and the corresponding number.

The Modern UI start screen interrupts my work and takes over my screen. I also find the file search less than useful in its presentation compared to the list found in the start menu.
While the click targets may be larger, there is considerably more distance to  be travelled to get to what you want on the Modern UI start screen. With the start menu, I have to move a maximum of about 450 pixels to select any of my 10 pinned apps, and the click targets are still fairly large. With the Modern UI start screen, I have to cover the entire distance of my monitor.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lanx on Mon, 29 October 2012, 20:10:42
The fuss is that it's not the start menu and is less friendly to the methods we've all become so accustomed to in using the start menu for the last half dozen versions of Windows. WinKey -> Search just became five strokes longer..
The Start Menu is antiquated crap, though. No-one even uses it anymore (according to personal experience and Microsoft's telemetry). Why would anyone want to go through half a dozen clicks in a cluttered, disorganised menu of fairly small proportions meaning your clicks have to relatively precise and therefore take longer, when you just just hit winkey and type, or just have a large, easy and quick to click tile on your screen instead?

the whole point of the start menu is that it is for a gui, a graphical user interface, what you are proposing is basically dos, the difference between clicking on what you see vs. typing what you want from memory.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Tue, 30 October 2012, 01:53:00
Im likeing it so far i cant actually wait to have it on my main computer to get some real use into it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Tue, 30 October 2012, 15:02:20
The fuss is that it's not the start menu and is less friendly to the methods we've all become so accustomed to in using the start menu for the last half dozen versions of Windows. WinKey -> Search just became five strokes longer..
The Start Menu is antiquated crap, though. No-one even uses it anymore (according to personal experience and Microsoft's telemetry). Why would anyone want to go through half a dozen clicks in a cluttered, disorganised menu of fairly small proportions meaning your clicks have to relatively precise and therefore take longer, when you just just hit winkey and type, or just have a large, easy and quick to click tile on your screen instead?

the whole point of the start menu is that it is for a gui, a graphical user interface, what you are proposing is basically dos, the difference between clicking on what you see vs. typing what you want from memory.
You realise you're on a keyboard enthusiast forum, right? "From memory" is a bit of a stretch as well, remembering the first few letters of the application you want to use is hardly testing anyone memory ability. You're also rather cynically ignored the part of my post where I said you can just click the tile instead.

The Start Menu is antiquated crap, though. No-one even uses it anymore (according to personal experience and Microsoft's telemetry). Why would anyone want to go through half a dozen clicks in a cluttered, disorganised menu of fairly small proportions meaning your clicks have to relatively precise and therefore take longer, when you just just hit winkey and type, or just have a large, easy and quick to click tile on your screen instead?
Microsoft can claim whatever they want, but it doesn't change the fact that I use the start menu all the time.
That's a shame for you, but the world moves on and some people get stuck in their ways and left behind.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Tue, 30 October 2012, 17:19:11
That's a shame for you, but the world moves on and some people get stuck in their ways and left behind.
Can you elaborate on how I am being "left behind" by not using the Metro start screen?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: crthell on Tue, 30 October 2012, 18:27:15

Will you be getting a copy?
--I have one, actually. I've been testing since the Consumer Preview, and have the 90 day RTM trial. After that, I may or may not buy a copy.
What do you think of the low price?
--Its about time!
What are your opinions on the new features?
--I love the enhancements to startup, which greatly reduced boot times. I don't like the new Modern interface, as the transition between Modern and the classic desktop is clunky and counter-intuitive.
Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?
--Yes. My grandma spent over fifteen minutes trying to find the option to shut down.
What do you think of the new ribbon feature in place of the Windows Explorer address bar?
--I like it! Its an improvement over the Windows 7 Windows Explorer layout. The best layout, IMO, was the Windows 2000/XP layout with the menu bar. This is a close second in my mind.
Any features that you love and is the soul reason you are getting the new OS?
--Besides the Modern UI, there are really no groundbreaking features. Its more of an incremental upgrade under the hood.
Will you be getting a Windows 8 tablet or Smartphone?
--No. I'm not a tablet fan, and I'm happy with my iPhone 3GS (for a little longer, anyway.)
How will the new OS affect your gaming?
--I'm not a huge gamer, but all of the games I've tried to play run perfectly. Every Windows 7 app should work fine. Windows 7 is NT 6.1, 8 is NT 6.2, so again its pretty incremental.
Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?
--The transition between the new Modern UI and the old classic interface. Its awful! Gestures are awkward with keyboard and mouse setups. Also, there are two control panels, etc.- a Modern UI version, and a classic version. Modern UI apps are counter-intuitive and hinder powerusers due to their fullscreen nature.

heckyeah!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: vun on Tue, 30 October 2012, 18:57:22
I would consider upgrading, but I figure I can't downgrade if I don't like it so I probably won't. Yes, I know Win8 might get a lot of flak from people who haven't really tried it, which is why I have been rather quiet about it as I've only had a brief look at it on a friend's laptop. Although so far there isn't really a lot that appeals to me, the ribbon is just another way to do things I currently have no problem doing and makes a visual mess, the whole metro thingie seems to be a more cumbersome start menu, although I almost never click "all programs" on the start menu, but I do use the recent programs, pinned programs and explorer shortcuts on it all the time. From what I've seen Win8 just makes this more cumbersome as well. It's supposedly better than 7 regarding performance, but currently I don't need that extra performance enough to want to permanently switch to Win8.

As for those saying "get with the times" and similar comments; exactly how is the new UI a step forward for PC power-users?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lorem-Ipsum on Wed, 31 October 2012, 11:47:10
Well after my scathing review I'm now planning on replacing windows 7 with 8 on my laptop..... of course dual booted with Linux/BSD
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Wed, 31 October 2012, 12:49:25
The IT guy for our local hospital was holding an extended conversation about win8 with me, and he basically compared it to win3.1-->win95

"When it first came out, everybody HATED 95. I hated it. It was so different and nobody wanted it. Now, everybody is angry that the start button is getting removed. Think about when the start button was introduced."

He proceeded to show me through the news and sports apps. The sports app could be huge for sports nuts, as you can pin your favorite team, and it will give you a breakdown of who's hot, who's cold, the entire team roster, schedule, and standings, as well as streaming headlines straight to your live tile. That's a pretty cool feature, but everybody is too busy yelling about how the windows 8 UI breaks desktops to realize that there are some cool advancements in it too.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: schizrade on Wed, 31 October 2012, 14:39:49
I am enjoying it. New stuff.

It works great for somebody that has left hand on a keyboard and right on the mouse. Very fast.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Wed, 31 October 2012, 15:12:29
That's a shame for you, but the world moves on and some people get stuck in their ways and left behind.
Can you elaborate on how I am being "left behind" by not using the Metro start screen?
What I mean is you'll become one of "those people", like how you still get people who refuse to use computers entirely for instance. The traditional desktop in Windows 8 is akin to the MS-DOS mode in Windows 9x - it's a legacy feature that's going to become gradually stripped down further and further in successive incarnations of Windows as applications and people become less reliant on it, until eventually it won't be there at all. So you'll be left either begrudgingly using it whilst complaining like an technologically-illiterate pensioner, or using Windows 7 long after it's become obsolete and barely usable, or perhaps off using some irrelevant Linux distro that nobody cares about. Either way, everyone else will have moved on as I said, happily using touchscreen interfaces and a variety of form factors.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Wed, 31 October 2012, 15:36:39
Your argument that Windows 7 will eventually be useless doesn't make any sense to me.  I think of it this way... I can still use a computer running DOS 6.0 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11, and still be able to do much of the stuff I could do on a modern PC.  High-speed internet, email, web browsing, etc.  Sure, all the software is obsolete, but THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S USELESS!!!

Where is Microsoft Windows (http://geekhack.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1912) when you need him?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Wed, 31 October 2012, 15:45:22
If you think a PC running DOS and Workgroups 3.11 is still relevant then there's no point even discussing it since our perceptions of reality are too radically different to bother, ha ha.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Wed, 31 October 2012, 15:48:53
I am simply saying that said PC with DOS and 3.1 is NOT useless, and never will be COMPLETELY useless (until it physically dies).  The same can be said about Windows 7 20 years from now... it will NEVER be totally useless.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Wed, 31 October 2012, 15:51:52
But it will still be an irrelevant piece of **** that nobody in their right mind uses. Which is the state DOS and Windows 3.1x are held in regard as by the majority of non-delusional people today.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Wed, 31 October 2012, 15:56:27
True... except if you're Microsoft Windows (http://geekhack.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1912)...

Why are you saying that anyone who uses obsolete operating systems are delusional?  I know for a fact that some people might consider vintage computing a hobby, much in the same way we consider mechanical keyboarding to be a hobby.  Are you saying hobbies are only for the delusional?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Wed, 31 October 2012, 16:13:56
This is like the third time now you've somehow not understood what I've said, despite it being blatantly straightforward.

i.e.

"Your argument that Windows 7 will eventually be useless" - Never said this (with your level of Asperger's-esque level of literalness).

What I did say is that Windows 7 will eventually become irrelevant, I suppose you could consider this me saying it will become "useless", but only in a practical reality sense as oppose to absolute literal meaning of it having no potential use. e.g. A Ford Model T isn't literally useless, as it can still function, but realistically yes it is.

"Why are you saying that anyone who uses obsolete operating systems are delusional?" - Also never said this. What I quite clearly said was that if you consider DOS/Windows 3.1x to still be relevant to modern day mainstream computing then you're delusional.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Wed, 31 October 2012, 16:15:06
I like some of the under the hood enhancements, and that it is less bloated in regards to disk space which is nice for us ssd users. I hate the ui changes. But I don't hate it becuase it's different, I hate it becuase it's not what I want, just like every other MS ui in history. Once I know how to mod all the resources that they have moved around, I will probably go ahead and upgrade.
I haven't really used the start menu since pinning on the taskbar was introduced, so that isn't much of an issue for me. I don't care about the live tiles junk on the start screen as I have been a rainmeter user for years enjoying most of that funtionality already.
I don't like the aesthetics of the ui changes, or understand why they moved so many options around again needlessly.
In my opinon they shouldn't have bothered with the start screen at all, but just integrated it with the desktop. Just have everything on the desktop ready to go, save the trouble of switching to another view for no f-ing reason.
I do agree that it is way too touch centric. It also would not have been hard to have all of that as a package as they have done in the past, which you can go into windows components and disable/remove.
I don't and never intend to own touchscreen or tablet pc, so I don't give a s__t about those features. Asides from gaming there is nothing else keeping me on Windows. If steam manages to gather enough interest in publishers to get linux ports done problem solved and MS can turn Windows into an iOs/droid imitating piece of crap all they want.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Carnage on Wed, 31 October 2012, 18:03:18
Bleh so far w8 looks as promising as vista... From what information I've gained and experimented with i strongly disliked this new style there going for. Plus I believe the current version right now isn't anything special IE performance wise i actually think windows 8 booted faster and shut down quicker but in cpu, gpu, ram, etc benchmark tests it seems as if its a slight bit slower then a un-modded windows 7 86 bit. Which is nothing special itself i only switched to w7 because dx11 isn't optimized for windows xp. For now ill stay with my modded w7 ultimate 64 bit and registry edits. At least until there is either a good reason to switch for a new direct x or bench markings improve over w7. But we shall just have sit and wait i will be keeping a close on w8 capabilities maybe something interesting will be unleashed...
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Wed, 31 October 2012, 18:12:40
What I did say is that Windows 7 will eventually become irrelevant, I suppose you could consider this me saying it will become "useless", but only in a practical reality sense as oppose to absolute literal meaning of it having no potential use. e.g. A Ford Model T isn't literally useless, as it can still function, but realistically yes it is.

Despite the danger of edging this pissing match forward, i'm going to say I see where both you and CLiB are coming from. I think what you desired to say is that using windows 7 (or the included features thereof in a future iteration of windows) will become highly impractical. Theoretically you COULD run most o the commands ( and it is still necessary to run some higher-level commands, ie IPCONFIG ) via DOS today, but you wouldn't expect Quickbooks 2013 to come out and feature support for DOS.

and as far as saying
Quote
I can still use a computer running DOS 6.0 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11, and still be able to do much of the stuff I could do on a modern PC.
I think you would find that a LOT of what you do nowadays couldn't be achieved by doing that. Hell, most modern websites barely work with anything older than IE7, never mind Netscape Navigator. Most any new off-the-shelf printer, specifically inkjets and lasers (You could get an OkiData 320/420 to work fairly easily in an IBM compatability mode) and never mind finding manufactured ink or toner (again, the ribbons would be readily available) for those units lol.

However. . .  You could run MS Paint.

I had a lot of fun with MS Paint.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Wed, 31 October 2012, 18:29:25
I keep an old DOS/9x box around. I only use it for old games that won't run on anything newer and go totally mental in vms though. I won't even connect it to my home network, let alone the internet.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Wed, 31 October 2012, 18:38:34
I keep an old DOS/9x box around. I only use it for old games that won't run on anything newer and go totally mental in vms though. I won't even connect it to my home network, let alone the internet.

I've found DOSBox works pretty well for that, but I DO know of a lady who uses an OkiData printer set up with windows 9X to run an old-ass excel document (literally probably one of the first m$ office programs) so you wouldn't be alone there.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: crthell on Wed, 31 October 2012, 18:39:58
For the desktop, there's not much reason to upgrade over Win7 other than to say "I have windows 8". On the tablet side, I like Windows RT (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6392/the-windows-rt-review). It's recent reviews on Surface get really great ratings.
Surface really interests me. I'm thinking about taking the Pro version (with an i5, I think) for a spin when it comes out.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Wed, 31 October 2012, 18:41:45
For the desktop, there's not much reason to upgrade over Win7 other than to say "I have windows 8". On the tablet side, I like Windows RT (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6392/the-windows-rt-review). It's recent reviews on Surface get really great ratings.
Surface really interests me. I'm thinking about taking the Pro version (with an i5, I think) for a spin when it comes out.
same already saving up!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Wed, 31 October 2012, 20:41:22
What I mean is you'll become one of "those people", like how you still get people who refuse to use computers entirely for instance. The traditional desktop in Windows 8 is akin to the MS-DOS mode in Windows 9x - it's a legacy feature that's going to become gradually stripped down further and further in successive incarnations of Windows as applications and people become less reliant on it, until eventually it won't be there at all. So you'll be left either begrudgingly using it whilst complaining like an technologically-illiterate pensioner, or using Windows 7 long after it's become obsolete and barely usable, or perhaps off using some irrelevant Linux distro that nobody cares about. Either way, everyone else will have moved on as I said, happily using touchscreen interfaces and a variety of form factors.
Actually, I'm quite happy with my PC staying on the desktop, and using an iPad alongside it.

I don't think that Metro is a good interface for touch, and I think it's a terrible interface on the desktop. Metro seems to be in-between Android and iOS. With the iPad, there are actually very complex apps available for the device that have allowed it to replace a notebook for some people. (even people that deal with code, due to apps like Diet Coda (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/diet-coda/id500906297?mt=8) now)
With Android tablets, most of the apps there are still just phone apps that have been scaled up rather than tablet experiences.
With Metro, a lot of the apps have tablet interfaces, but are functionally on the level of basic phone apps. The Metro design language doesn't really allow for an app to get much more complex than that.

I've yet to come across a single Metro app that is actually useful yet.

Surface really interests me. I'm thinking about taking the Pro version (with an i5, I think) for a spin when it comes out.
I recommend waiting until Haswell if you don't need it now. The problem I have with Surface is its form-factor, especially the Pro version. With the keyboard cover attached, a lot of users are going to end up wanting to use it like a laptop, but there is no rigid connection between the surface and the keyboard, so it needs to be sitting on a table to use it that way - you can't use it on your lap etc.

As a tablet, I just don't think it's all that good. The hardware seems underpowered, and Windows 8 RT seems slow in general compared to iOS.

I must say though, I wish my iPad had a kickstand. I don't like the smart cover at all, and have yet to find a stand for it that I like. (Magnus (http://tenonedesign.com/magnus.php) seems ok, but it's still not integrated and only allows for landscape use)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Wed, 31 October 2012, 20:51:05
This is like the third time now you've somehow not understood what I've said, despite it being blatantly straightforward.

i.e.

"Your argument that Windows 7 will eventually be useless" - Never said this (with your level of Asperger's-esque level of literalness).

What I did say is that Windows 7 will eventually become irrelevant, I suppose you could consider this me saying it will become "useless", but only in a practical reality sense as oppose to absolute literal meaning of it having no potential use. e.g. A Ford Model T isn't literally useless, as it can still function, but realistically yes it is.

"Why are you saying that anyone who uses obsolete operating systems are delusional?" - Also never said this. What I quite clearly said was that if you consider DOS/Windows 3.1x to still be relevant to modern day mainstream computing then you're delusional.

Just stop saying that what I said is irrelevant.  It is relevant, considering I was using it to make a comparison... so no, I'm not delusional.

Ok, I'm just going to shut up now... I don't want to continue debating and end up hurting someone's feelings or something (which tends to happen when I get into a debate). 
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: vun on Wed, 31 October 2012, 21:14:09
I've yet to come across a single Metro app that is actually useful yet.
This is really similar to the problem I'm having with the argument going on in this thread; I haven't read it too carefully but it seems Malphas thinks those who won't embrace Win8 will be left behind, although I've yet to see anyone mention a reason as to why the new UI in 8 is a step forward in any way, unless they also claim touchscreen to be the future. In which case I would say the touch experience is highly subjective and is, as far as I can see, in no way superior to what we already have.
Although I haven't been able to give Win8 a proper test, so if anyone can enlighten me on how the UI changes are a step forward that would be nice.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Thu, 01 November 2012, 09:09:23
Perhaps I am too old-fashioned, but I have little desire to give up my "big" computer rig for what I would consider to be "toys" (to trivialize them a bit).

Since I sit at a desk and do actual real-world work for the majority of my computing time, the most efficient workstation for me is a tower case that I can open up and upgrade any of the many hardware components at will, 2 monitors, a nice keyboard that is easy, fast, and pleasant to use, and a good mouse.

My computer-related hobbies, including photos and music manipulation, have requirements that approximately parallel my work needs.

The fastest possible internet connection is always a positive, but not always under my control.

Yes, I now have the capability to watch old episodes of "The Beverly Hillbillies" on my telephone while sitting outside on a park bench, and take a photo of a butterfly that lands beside me there, but that is not a part of my core computing experience.

I do not foresee owning a touch-screen monitor on either a laptop or a desktop computer for a decade, maybe a bit sooner on a laptop, but that is still 2-3 OS changes in the future. And do I really want to have to reach up and touch the screen all the time for everything I want to do? What I hate most about using my smart phone is that while I am doing anything, MY HANDS ARE IN THE DAMN WAY and I can't see what is going on!

People here love to post those ridiculous and biased diagrams to show how small keyboards are ergonomically superior to large ones. Why is it not best for a comfortably seated human to look forward at a screen perpendicular to his eyes, with head erect, and work with his hands in a position that is natural to them?

Until a significant portion of the computing public really wants to use a touchscreen as their primary computing interface, why write it into the OS as a core default procedure? Sure, make it an option, but it seems secondary, at most, to me.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lorem-Ipsum on Thu, 01 November 2012, 09:36:45
Well I've had windows 8 installed less than 24 hours and I've already broken it beyond repair.

Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Thu, 01 November 2012, 09:46:24
Perhaps I am too old-fashioned, but I have little desire to give up my "big" computer rig for what I would consider to be "toys" (to trivialize them a bit).

Since I sit at a desk and do actual real-world work for the majority of my computing time, the most efficient workstation for me is a tower case that I can open up and upgrade any of the many hardware components at will, 2 monitors, a nice keyboard that is easy, fast, and pleasant to use, and a good mouse.

My computer-related hobbies, including photos and music manipulation, have requirements that approximately parallel my work needs.
And most people that are purchasing computers for themselves, rather than using a work-provided device, use them for browsing the web, reading email, using IM, watching videos and listening to music. The extent at which a typical user wants to edit photos is easily handled by these devices as well. (cropping and adding color filters)

I do not foresee owning a touch-screen monitor on either a laptop or a desktop computer for a decade, maybe a bit sooner on a laptop, but that is still 2-3 OS changes in the future. And do I really want to have to reach up and touch the screen all the time for everything I want to do? What I hate most about using my smart phone is that while I am doing anything, MY HANDS ARE IN THE DAMN WAY and I can't see what is going on!

People here love to post those ridiculous and biased diagrams to show how small keyboards are ergonomically superior to large ones. Why is it not best for a comfortably seated human to look forward at a screen perpendicular to his eyes, with head erect, and work with his hands in a position that is natural to them?
Touch-screen monitors on the desktop are never going to work. This is why Apple, despite pushing touch forward with their phones and tablets, have not made any move towards touch in their desktops or notebooks. The way forward with touch is multitouch trackpads/mice, and potentially devices like the Leap Motion (https://leapmotion.com/).

Until a significant portion of the computing public really wants to use a touchscreen as their primary computing interface, why write it into the OS as a core default procedure? Sure, make it an option, but it seems secondary, at most, to me.
84 million iPads in two years seems fairly significant to me.

Well I've had windows 8 installed less than 24 hours and I've already broken it beyond repair.
How on earth did you manage that?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Thu, 01 November 2012, 10:16:04
Well I've had windows 8 installed less than 24 hours and I've already broken it beyond repair.

There are people who bought ferarris and totalled them in 24 hours, doesn't mean it's a bad car, y'knowwhatimean?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Thu, 01 November 2012, 10:57:09
NKRO -

That Leap device looks very cool and I would be happy to try it. In fact, I would consider getting one sooner rather than later.

However, I am a person who has never had any particular love for mice, in fact I have always actively disliked them.

I got an early Logitech trackball 20 years ago that I used quite a lot until I started doing more CAD work. Trackpoints are OK as space-savers, but seem very imprecise and limited, and trackpads are simply impossible for me. Maybe it is large clumsy fingers, dry skin, whatever, I just can't help but feel that I am always fumbling and can never achieve any decent control or accuracy.

Keyboards, however, are a totally different story. I learned to type in the late 1960s on a manual, and typing is very easy and natural to me. I would give up a mouse in a heartbeat, but what takes the place of a keyboard?

I know that Steve Jobs hated keyboards, but what about people who generate thousands of words a day? No way am I going to dictate them into some sort of software translation program! And what about doing a lot of number entry and calculations?

Take my mouse, please.

But not my keyboard!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: mztriz on Thu, 01 November 2012, 14:33:17
What's with all the haters? I'm not even a fan of Windows, but Win 8 isn't that bad...

Will you be getting a copy?
I already have one, free and licensed through my university.

What do you think of the low price?
Doesn't everyone like lower prices?

What are your opinions on the new features?
Modern UI (aka metro) is fail on a desktop.

Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?
I can see a lot of people getting tripped up by the lack of a start menu, but it shouldn't be too big of a deal.

How will the new OS affect your gaming?
All of my steam games run perfectly. It's faster than Win 7 and with better image rendering, too.

Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Thu, 01 November 2012, 15:26:56
This is like the third time now you've somehow not understood what I've said, despite it being blatantly straightforward.

i.e.

"Your argument that Windows 7 will eventually be useless" - Never said this (with your level of Asperger's-esque level of literalness).

What I did say is that Windows 7 will eventually become irrelevant, I suppose you could consider this me saying it will become "useless", but only in a practical reality sense as oppose to absolute literal meaning of it having no potential use. e.g. A Ford Model T isn't literally useless, as it can still function, but realistically yes it is.

"Why are you saying that anyone who uses obsolete operating systems are delusional?" - Also never said this. What I quite clearly said was that if you consider DOS/Windows 3.1x to still be relevant to modern day mainstream computing then you're delusional.

Just stop saying that what I said is irrelevant.  It is relevant, considering I was using it to make a comparison... so no, I'm not delusional.

Ok, I'm just going to shut up now... I don't want to continue debating and end up hurting someone's feelings or something (which tends to happen when I get into a debate).
Seriously, what is wrong with you dude? Did I say you were delusional? Did you not understand my last post where I broke it down as simply as I could what I was saying and why you didn't get it? Again, even here you've misunderstood me as saying you were being irrelevant when what I clearly said was DOS/Windows 3.11 was irrelevant - as in irrelevant to the modern computing ecosystem.

Read again.

If you think a PC running DOS and Workgroups 3.11 is still relevant then there's no point even discussing it since our perceptions of reality are too radically different to bother, ha ha.

Not "relevant to the debate", I was saying relevant in general. It's hard to have a debate when you're constantly having to explain to the other person their own failings in comprehension.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Thu, 01 November 2012, 15:36:09
What I did say is that Windows 7 will eventually become irrelevant, I suppose you could consider this me saying it will become "useless", but only in a practical reality sense as oppose to absolute literal meaning of it having no potential use. e.g. A Ford Model T isn't literally useless, as it can still function, but realistically yes it is.

Despite the danger of edging this pissing match forward, i'm going to say I see where both you and CLiB are coming from. I think what you desired to say is that using windows 7 (or the included features thereof in a future iteration of windows) will become highly impractical. Theoretically you COULD run most o the commands ( and it is still necessary to run some higher-level commands, ie IPCONFIG ) via DOS today, but you wouldn't expect Quickbooks 2013 to come out and feature support for DOS.
No, I meant irrelevant, like I said. Impractical is correct also, of course, but it's not the main issue I was dealing with.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Rumudiez on Thu, 01 November 2012, 22:12:00
I'm calling you out, Malphas: you're acting incredibly narrow-minded and appear to support the opinion of "follow the trends and new releases no matter what," which many socio-technologically inept people share, and are looked down upon as noncritical and ignorant of actual changes and their respective effects.

By the time Windows 7 is as deprecated as DOS is today in the market, they'll have rereleased Windows 8 as Win9, and then come out with another "groundbreaking" interface in Win10 and finally changed the naming scheme for the 11th installation. If Windows 8 is a failure, Win7 will last that much longer and same deal with 9, 10, etc.

I know for a fact that all of my friends who work with computers only access different programs with WinKey -> type, btw. It's not a small percentage of the computer-using population that we, as technologically literate people, care about, which Microsoft doesn't have a way to track.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Thu, 01 November 2012, 22:34:13
I know for a fact that all of my friends who work with computers only access different programs with WinKey -> type, btw. It's not a small percentage of the computer-using population that we, as technologically literate people, care about, which Microsoft doesn't have a way to track.

Not to jump on the bandwagon since I haven't installed it yet, but can't you still do this with win8?  Isn't it just the start menu itself that's been done away with?v
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Rumudiez on Thu, 01 November 2012, 22:40:37
Yes, but it does require more strokes and has an obnoxiously overbearing interface that gets in your way while you try to do one simple thing. If they skipped a version and went straight to default Mac OS features like they have been, they'd just have a shortcut ready universal search bar part of the Explorer bar already.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Thu, 01 November 2012, 22:43:22
snip
 has an obnoxiously overbearing interface that gets in your way while you try to do one simple thing.
 snip

I think this is why I'm seeing a knee jerk reaction.  I don't feel that the new interface is any of the adverbs and adjectives you just used.  It's different (I've used it, but I don't use win + typing now, so I don't think to try that) but I like it.  I don't understand the vitriole on either side of this though, to be honest.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Rumudiez on Thu, 01 November 2012, 23:09:43
I'm a graphic and web designer: UI and general design are my thing, and IMO Microsoft needs to hire a 3rd party to get the job done right. I find all the new GUI to look nice and certainly aid the low end user, but to me, it's a huge downgrade in terms of usability and aesthetics. Maybe I shouldn't lump everyone who's computer literate++ in with me, but I would argue many advanced users are inclined to agree, especially given the reception of Win8 from popular sources.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Thu, 01 November 2012, 23:24:10
See and that's the thing, too.  I think advanced users forget how in the minority they are.  This is no knock, but it's like with how iOS looks.  If it looked more like one of "us" would like it, there's an almost certainty that it wouldn't have taken off like it did.  That's the market that Microsoft is going for.

I'm kinda in the middle.  I like being knowledgeable about the stuff, but I like things that just work without me knowing what made it work.  It's part of why I get halfway through putting an iMac, an iPad and an iPhone in a cart online and end up backing out when I realize what I'm doing. 
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Rumudiez on Thu, 01 November 2012, 23:44:08
In a perfect world, we'd have both, and that's really what Microsoft looks like it's trying to do. Keep the desktop for older users, and introduce the Metro UI for in between and new or new-seeking users. I feel like the classic desktop got the short end of the stick with a pretty noticeable margin, though, and that's what makes Win8 look so bad for me.

This thread isn't about OSX or Macs, but I'd like just to say that while they do a lot of things automatically, they're always intuitive and if you want to do something differently, the System Preferences are two clicks away and much, much better organized than the ever-mysterious Control Panel.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Thu, 01 November 2012, 23:58:56
True that, but has control panel been great in a very long time?  Not saying you're saying it's new in win8, but yeah.

And really, I'd have to see what it takes to go to a classic look.  If it's not as easy as "click classic windows" in a customize menu that you can get by right clicking the desktop, then yeah that's dumb.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: poopmat on Fri, 02 November 2012, 00:56:12
(http://www.zdnet.com/i/story/62/72/002900/meh.jpg)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Fri, 02 November 2012, 07:05:39
This thread isn't about OSX or Macs, but I'd like just to say that while they do a lot of things automatically, they're always intuitive and if you want to do something differently, the System Preferences are two clicks away and much, much better organized than the ever-mysterious Control Panel.
That's true, but there's also considerably less options contained within System Preferences compared to Control Panel.

OS X has also been making their OS more tablet-like, but they haven't yet gone as far as actually running tablet apps on there. There has been a shift towards implementing full-screen apps on the desktop though, which is a giant step in that direction. Personally I think OS X has been going downhill since 10.4 from a power-users perspective, and 10.5 was the last OS where they actually had good window management.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lorem-Ipsum on Fri, 02 November 2012, 10:00:44
I've now been using windows 8 on my laptop for about a day and I must admit I rather like it.

It won't become my main OS as I prefer Linux and BSD but I would be happy to use it if I had to.
On my laptop it runs much faster than windows 7 did and the new start menu(screen), although controversial, is actually very functional.

Windows 8 is certainly now my windows OS of choice.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: winzds on Fri, 02 November 2012, 13:54:54
 Windows 8 is a very good Operating system.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Fri, 02 November 2012, 15:16:40
By the time Windows 7 is as deprecated as DOS is today in the market, they'll have rereleased Windows 8 as Win9, and then come out with another "groundbreaking" interface in Win10 and finally changed the naming scheme for the 11th installation. If Windows 8 is a failure, Win7 will last that much longer and same deal with 9, 10, etc.
None of this will happen.

I know for a fact that all of my friends who work with computers only access different programs with WinKey -> type, btw. It's not a small percentage of the computer-using population that we, as technologically literate people, care about, which Microsoft doesn't have a way to track.
I can barely make sense of this. Are you saying all of the people you know use Winkey + type? That's exactly what I'm saying. Or are you saying that people generally don't use this? In which case fine, but I was making the point that it's hypocritical/lacking in self awareness to be complaining about a GUI that actually encourages use of the keyboard rather than mouse on a forum dedicated to keyboards.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Fri, 02 November 2012, 15:25:46
This is like the third time now you've somehow not understood what I've said, despite it being blatantly straightforward.

i.e.

"Your argument that Windows 7 will eventually be useless" - Never said this (with your level of Asperger's-esque level of literalness).

What I did say is that Windows 7 will eventually become irrelevant, I suppose you could consider this me saying it will become "useless", but only in a practical reality sense as oppose to absolute literal meaning of it having no potential use. e.g. A Ford Model T isn't literally useless, as it can still function, but realistically yes it is.

"Why are you saying that anyone who uses obsolete operating systems are delusional?" - Also never said this. What I quite clearly said was that if you consider DOS/Windows 3.1x to still be relevant to modern day mainstream computing then you're delusional.

Just stop saying that what I said is irrelevant.  It is relevant, considering I was using it to make a comparison... so no, I'm not delusional.

Ok, I'm just going to shut up now... I don't want to continue debating and end up hurting someone's feelings or something (which tends to happen when I get into a debate).
Seriously, what is wrong with you dude? Did I say you were delusional? Did you not understand my last post where I broke it down as simply as I could what I was saying and why you didn't get it? Again, even here you've misunderstood me as saying you were being irrelevant when what I clearly said was DOS/Windows 3.11 was irrelevant - as in irrelevant to the modern computing ecosystem.

Read again.

If you think a PC running DOS and Workgroups 3.11 is still relevant then there's no point even discussing it since our perceptions of reality are too radically different to bother, ha ha.

Not "relevant to the debate", I was saying relevant in general. It's hard to have a debate when you're constantly having to explain to the other person their own failings in comprehension.

Ok, whatever.  You are obviously very knowledgeable about this, much more so than I.  Perhaps I've been saying things out-of-place this whole time...

I apologize if I made it look like I was being rude, I was just trying to make a point (and apparently it was not a great point to make...)

Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Rumudiez on Fri, 02 November 2012, 17:20:20
I can barely make sense of this. Are you saying all of the people you know use Winkey + type? That's exactly what I'm saying. Or are you saying that people generally don't use this? In which case fine, but I was making the point that it's hypocritical/lacking in self awareness to be complaining about a GUI that actually encourages use of the keyboard rather than mouse on a forum dedicated to keyboards.
I'm saying Microsoft analytics don't have a way to determine who is computer literate (assuming we are computer literate and someone who struggles with the basics of what a computer does to make things happen isn't) and that we, as computer literate people, are more apt to certain methods and know more about how to easily and appropriately access different functions, and thus points that Win8 is very friendly to new or less technical users are all moot in this thread.

My point is to watch the context of opinions: average users and tablet users don't have reasons to specifically like or dislike any changes so long as they can still with some amount of ease access the few basic functions they use regularly, whereas we have a wider vocabulary of technological terms and have a deeper understanding and INTEREST in the way things work and are more entitled to giving criticism on feature changes, additions, and subtractions that do affect our methods. <- long sentence is badly worded
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Upcboy on Fri, 02 November 2012, 18:10:43
I've had windows 8 for a while(beta testing). And really its not that differnet yeah the start menu is gone but honestly I don't use it in windows seven if i need a program I open it and type what i want. Simple as that. And that still works in Windows 8. So there is very little change for me.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Ugly Genius on Fri, 02 November 2012, 19:49:01
I've been using 8 since it's official release date.  For the most part, I like it. 
My only complaint is that on a desktop, the Start Screen seems like an unnecessary contrivance.
That said, when Windows 95 came out, I felt like it's Start Menu was a misused and overburdened Apple menu.  (Which I still think it is.)  Over time, I got used to the Start Menu, though.  I've never relied on it as much as other Windows users, but I rarely, if ever, wonder if I like it or not.  It's just there.  Sometimes I use it.  Sometimes I don't.  I'm sure, given enough time with the Start Screen, I feel the same about it.
Besides that, the underlying OS of Windows 8 is solid and I have no problems with it.  I'll probably stick with it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: bail_w on Sat, 03 November 2012, 01:31:32
only if Microsoft allow me to disable Metro mode, then i will love Windows 8
Title: Re: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sat, 03 November 2012, 01:36:32
only if Microsoft allow me to disable Metro mode, then i will love Windows 8
there is no metro mode just a new start menu...
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: longweight on Sat, 03 November 2012, 03:05:28
Love it.
Title: Re: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sat, 03 November 2012, 03:23:02
Love it.
same here.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: longweight on Sat, 03 November 2012, 03:25:51
I am enjoying how angry the internet seems to be about it! I can't wait for Win8 Lumia 920 and SurfacePro!
Title: Re: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sat, 03 November 2012, 03:28:13
I am enjoying how angry the internet seems to be about it! I can't wait for Win8 Lumia 920 and SurfacePro!
dude you and I are on the same wavelength! Surface Pro FTW!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: longweight on Sat, 03 November 2012, 03:34:43
The only thing that makes me sad is having to use a Microsoft account.. I wanna use gmail and have full integration!
Title: Re: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sat, 03 November 2012, 03:39:15
The only thing that makes me sad is having to use a Microsoft account.. I wanna use gmail and have full integration!
that would be nice but this inst android or a chrome book so well just have to wait until google makes some windows 8 apps.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: longweight on Sat, 03 November 2012, 03:40:49
I might have to jump back to Microsoft for email, calendar and skydrive.
Title: Re: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sat, 03 November 2012, 03:44:55
I might have to jump back to Microsoft for email, calendar and skydrive.
just add gmail to the mail client and you cab sync calendar and contacts with it and im sure dropbox will come out with an app soon.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: concertomi on Sat, 03 November 2012, 04:57:03
I'm loving windows 8 actually, think just need more time getting used to the new stuff they added. It's also good news for developers since they are able to list their applications on the Store to get more exposure. Give it more time I guess, people will switch imo.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Sat, 03 November 2012, 10:34:33
I can barely make sense of this. Are you saying all of the people you know use Winkey + type? That's exactly what I'm saying. Or are you saying that people generally don't use this? In which case fine, but I was making the point that it's hypocritical/lacking in self awareness to be complaining about a GUI that actually encourages use of the keyboard rather than mouse on a forum dedicated to keyboards.
I'm saying Microsoft analytics don't have a way to determine who is computer literate (assuming we are computer literate and someone who struggles with the basics of what a computer does to make things happen isn't) and that we, as computer literate people, are more apt to certain methods and know more about how to easily and appropriately access different functions, and thus points that Win8 is very friendly to new or less technical users are all moot in this thread.

My point is to watch the context of opinions: average users and tablet users don't have reasons to specifically like or dislike any changes so long as they can still with some amount of ease access the few basic functions they use regularly, whereas we have a wider vocabulary of technological terms and have a deeper understanding and INTEREST in the way things work and are more entitled to giving criticism on feature changes, additions, and subtractions that do affect our methods. <- long sentence is badly worded

So essentially you were quoting me to argue against a point that I never even made in the first place rather than my actual arguments?

It doesn't matter than Microsoft can't discern the computer literacy of the users in its statistics, all that matters is that overall most users barely use the Start Menu anymore, that's reason alone for a drastic UI change. There's definitely a lot of work to be done on Metro, I'm not saying it's perfect by any means, but crying that they should just keep the same Windows 9x-derived GUI forever (which is the position of most of the anti-Metro whiners) has no credibility whatsoever in the face of actual facts. I think you're a bit deluded if you think being a more advanced user gives you more entitlement to give criticism, or that your critique is more valuable than novice users - it's not. Microsoft has always been about making software for the masses, and have no interest whatsoever in compromising broad appeal in order to accommodate a minority opinion.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: shawn o on Sat, 03 November 2012, 18:28:45
I see no reason to upgrade from WIndows 7....so I won't.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sat, 03 November 2012, 18:30:31
I see no reason to upgrade from WIndows 7....so I won't.
all the benifits of a faster and more optimized windows...
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Sat, 03 November 2012, 18:31:40
I see no reason to upgrade from WIndows 7....so I won't.
Stick with the time-tested, proven reliable OS.  Good plan...

If I ever do choose to switch to Windows 8, it will only be after it's been around for a while... at least 6 months.

WINDOWS 8 MUST PROVE ITSELF!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sat, 03 November 2012, 18:39:10
Prove itself as in what exactly? It already does everything win 7 does...
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Sat, 03 November 2012, 19:09:46
Gladiatorial rules.  It has to kill win7 in a colosseum fight.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Sat, 03 November 2012, 19:27:46
Gladiatorial rules.  It has to kill win7 in a colosseum fight.

In all seriousness, yes.  It has to prove that it is better than Windows 7, otherwise I don't see any reason to upgrade.

Let me put it this way: if my uncle tells me to try Windows 8, I will try it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Sat, 03 November 2012, 20:59:48
I'll still try it because I like the looks of the new phones and the upcoming generation of processors and what they mean for tablet computing. 

If things shape up how they look to be, I'll replace my giant pc with a tablet running better specs and since they'll have usb and hdmi connections, just plug them into my trusty peripherals when I'm sitting at a desk.

But if win8 is as efficient as it seems as well?  I'll probably have been using win8 for the entire year while this stuff gets finished and polished. My main pc usage now is netflix and web, I game more on my ps3 and haven't missed much in terms of playing MMOs in the past three months.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: DEAD_BEEF on Sat, 03 November 2012, 21:49:13
•Will you be getting a copy?
  Already have it.
•What do you think of the low price?
  It's a hell of a lot better than previous versions.
•What are your opinions on the new features?
  I like having anti-virus built-in, I also like having built-in virtualization though I've yet to try it (virtual NetBSD coming soon).
•Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?
  Depends on the user.
•What do you think of the new ribbon feature in place of the Windows Explorer address bar?
  Give <ctrl>l a try. It's still an address bar.
•Any features that you love and is the soul reason you are getting the new OS?
  I like to do periodic clean installs and windows 7 is getting prohibitively update-intensive.
•Will you be getting a Windows 8 tablet or Smartphone?
  Nope. I don't really like mobile phones. Although my Nokia n9 is pretty slick.
•How will the new OS affect your gaming?
  Not much of a gamer. I'm about to try "Unmechanical". Loved "Limbo".
•Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?
  I hate metro, I mean seriously hate it. I do like the fact that they've kind of incorporated what's left of the Zune software via the Xbox Music app, and the metro Video player but I would have way rather had a rewrite of windows media player than two crappy metro apps. I'm trying to work myself into a state of denial about how much I hate metro, hopefully I'll soon be talking about how great it is.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lethal Squirrel on Sat, 03 November 2012, 23:19:31
Well, um... you see. I, uuu..  love it!! :D
Very pleasantly surprised. It seems clean, snappy, and elegant. and there are things that just make it satisfying

only thing I don't care for is the crappy search bar. it doesn't seems to bring up nearly as much results as 7. for example, in windows 7 I could type in "partition" to find the disk format and partition utility, and it would pop right up. on 8, it won't find it, as far as I know anways. It's like that with almost everything I've tried searching for.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Rumudiez on Sun, 04 November 2012, 02:10:01
all that matters is that overall most users barely use the Start Menu anymore

All that matters in what I spend my money on is the changes in other peoples' behaviors. Yeah, I'm arguing against the point you make in every post and don't seem to realize it...
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tcv on Sun, 04 November 2012, 06:19:38
After looking at some reviews I think i'm going to stick with Windows 7 for awhile.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Sun, 04 November 2012, 06:34:26
all that matters is that overall most users barely use the Start Menu anymore

Where in bloody hell did you get this information?  Oh right, the internet.  Because everything posted there MUST be true...

I am telling you as an IT professional, that there are still MANY users that still rely on the Start menu as their main way of navigating through Windows and their installed programs.  And as an IT professional, I also know that the average person HATES having to learn a new UI for a new piece of software (the Ribbon in the new Microsoft Office, being example).  Therefore, the average person will HATE Windows 8 for that exact reason...

Now considering that most of us here are above-average computer users, this need not apply to all of us.  But when talking about people in general, you can't speak for them unless you speak to them (and believe me, I hear people at work complain every time I upgrade them from Office 2007 to 2010).
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Batmann on Sun, 04 November 2012, 06:43:25
So right about people hating to learn new UI,
when I switched to Mac I hated it at first and after getting used to I now prefer it by far, spotlight is way more powerfull than a start menu, plus you trigger it with your keyboard which is very efficient
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tufty on Sun, 04 November 2012, 09:01:43
You're still using Spudlight?  Install Quicksilver (http://www.blacktree.com/)... 
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Sun, 04 November 2012, 10:00:50
all that matters is that overall most users barely use the Start Menu anymore

All that matters in what I spend my money on is the changes in other peoples' behaviors. Yeah, I'm arguing against the point you make in every post and don't seem to realize it...
No, you can use whatever OS you like. The problem is when you aren't able to separate your experience from the debate over Windows 8 in general and try to suggest that Microsoft's actions are flawed in removing the Start Menu based on your own usage patterns rather than the reality of the current market in general (which you have done previously).

all that matters is that overall most users barely use the Start Menu anymore

Where in bloody hell did you get this information?  Oh right, the internet.  Because everything posted there MUST be true...
Like I already said earlier, Microsoft's telemetry data is clear evidence of this. My personal experience of seeing how people use their computers backs up the fact, so I have little reason to doubt it based on a few people whining on Internet forums unless they (you) can provide evidence to the contrary.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Rumudiez on Sun, 04 November 2012, 15:40:55
No, you can use whatever OS you like. The problem is when you aren't able to separate your experience from the debate over Windows 8 in general and try to suggest that Microsoft's actions are flawed in removing the Start Menu based on your own usage patterns rather than the reality of the current market in general (which you have done previously).
So my own experiences don't make a difference in what's pertinent to me and my purchases? As I've said in previous posts... CONTEXT. There is NOTHING outside of CONTEXT, and while Win8 is fine in the context of low end, common users, it ISN'T to all the people that complain about it.

Now, to make a ridiculous example that you might actually understand, imagine a plague killed all of the human-edible fruits, vegetables, and grains in the world, and the only way to survive is to eat grazing animals that can digest plants like grass that we can't. The catch is, you're a vegan and are completely repulsed at the thought of eating animals. So, do you give up your entire previous life to "follow the herd" and eat a different diet, or do you die? You, Malphas, would drop everything you have ever stood up for and chow down because that's just what everyone else who each has a different backstory than you is doing, while we, who are consistent and defend our preferences and habits, would struggle in the new environment.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Sun, 04 November 2012, 15:48:33
Now, to make a ridiculous example that you might actually understand, imagine a plague killed all of the human-edible fruits, vegetables, and grains in the world, and the only way to survive is to eat grazing animals that can digest plants like grass that we can't. The catch is, you're a vegan and are completely repulsed at the thought of eating animals. So, do you give up your entire previous life to "follow the herd" and eat a different diet, or do you die? You, Malphas, would drop everything you have ever stood up for and chow down because that's just what everyone else who each has a different backstory than you is doing, while we, who are consistent and defend our preferences and habits, would struggle in the new environment.

Hey, you're right.

That is a ridiculous example.

I'm going to go ahead and say that some people prefer the taste of meat. Just because you apparently don't like Win8 doesn't mean other people don't appreciate the improved performance, use of live tiles to provide streaming information and improved functionality on touch-based machines.

Sure, you have to cope with a new start menu and a modified layout, but come on, this is like if you had a car with, I don't know, a manual transmission, and then the same model of car got released with a semi-auto transmission and everybody is ****ting their pants "I have to deal with a paddle shifter now! This is an outrage"

Seriously, Windows 8 and Windows 7 are, besides some pretty basic changes in the UI, pretty much the damn same OS. Everything that ran on 7 will run on 8 just fine.

If you want to see outrageous UI changes, try out literally any flavour of linux.

"My toolbar is on the side now? WHO DESIGNED THIS?"

EDIT: Also, not meant as a personal shot, but the scenario you described above speaks to me more as a refusal to adapt just as much as a moral obligation. I would say the majority of the complaints about windows 8 don't come from self described "power users" who feel that windows 8 is a step backwards, I would say that it comes from the ignorant (I.E. uninformed) to the changes and don't care to learn about them before using the machine. AKA the guys who love windows XP so much and only updated to 7 six months ago  because their buddies convinced them that it's "good" and "better than vista" or something, and they are now outraged that M$ is releasing "yet another cash in"

Face it. 7 Is already 3 years old and XP is over a decade old. The start menu was introduced in windows 95, nearly 20 years ago. It's had it's day in the sun.

I would say 3 years is very much ample time for an OS refresh.

Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Sun, 04 November 2012, 16:53:58
Like I already said earlier, Microsoft's telemetry data is clear evidence of this. My personal experience of seeing how people use their computers backs up the fact, so I have little reason to doubt it based on a few people whining on Internet forums unless they (you) can provide evidence to the contrary.

Well, I'm basing my opinion on what I hear people tell me at work.  Guess it's probably not the best information to base my opinion on, but it's the information that's most relevant to me personally.  I am sure you're fact based opinions are more accurate to the above-average computer user (of whom there are very few at my workplace).

I must give you kudos though... your arguments are beginning to open my mind and make me see that perhaps my initial standpoint on Windows 8 was horribly wrong and, when the time comes, I may actually make the plunge and give Win8 a shot.

But that's only going to happen if my current install of Win7 dies within the next month or two (which very well could happen).
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Batmann on Sun, 04 November 2012, 17:09:12
You're still using Spudlight?  Install Quicksilver (http://www.blacktree.com/)...

trying it atm, it's shiny but what made you switch to it?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Sun, 04 November 2012, 17:22:14
This thread has made me more positively disposed to Windows 8 than I was a week ago.

However, I am typically a glacially "slow adapter" of operating systems, the only one I jumped on in less than 12 months was Windows 98, and that was because I got a new computer with 95 just a few weeks before 98 came out, and the upgrade was free.

The thing that excites me is that it is faster. Does that mean that the hardware requirements are similar, or, gasp, lower?

My son is running a Windows XP box that should, on paper, be more than adequate for Windows 7, but I have tried numerous times and it simply will not install. If the hardware requirements are not too stiff, I would consider upgrading him (games, you know, not heavy-duty ones, he's only 13) before me.

We are talking about an AMD 64x2 and about 2GB of ram with 2-80GB hard drives. Some decent video card that was hot 5 years ago.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Sun, 04 November 2012, 17:31:15
http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows7/products/system-requirements

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/system-requirements

TL;DR: They're exactly the same.


Basically if you're running any decent dual core processor (I'd say high end pentium dual core 775 chip or a Core 2 Duo) Slap 4 gigs of RAM in (it's cheap enough) and upgrade him to 7 or 8.

EDIT: Didn't see you posted your specs. It might be that your board isn't compatible somehow? If the drives are SATA and not in a RAID, try setting the drive detection to AHCI in the BIOS (IDE should still work fine though. . .)

EDIT2: Is it a manufacturer PC? A Desktop, I assume? I've seen osme issues with DELL pc's that won't reinstall because of how the drive is set up or something, I can't remember at the moment but, as I said, it's most prevalent with DELL and I think i've seen it with HP once or twice too.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: shawn o on Sun, 04 November 2012, 19:31:17
I already know that there are no Windows 8 drivers for my sound card (Asus Xonar Essence STX). Or my Ceton cablecard tuner.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Mon, 05 November 2012, 03:48:10
I already know that there are no Windows 8 drivers for my sound card (Asus Xonar Essence STX). Or my Ceton cablecard tuner.
There were drivers posted on the ASUS site last month. http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/Audio_Card/Xonar_Essence_STX/PCI_STX_8_0_8_1813_W8.zip (http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/Audio_Card/Xonar_Essence_STX/PCI_STX_8_0_8_1813_W8.zip)

You will probably find that the Windows 7 drivers for devices work just fine on Windows 8. I seem to recall reading that Windows 8 had native driver support for someone's Cablecard Tuner now over on another forum.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Mon, 05 November 2012, 10:48:12
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2012/08/06/getting-older-drivers-to-work-in-windows-8/
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Mon, 05 November 2012, 14:08:48
No, you can use whatever OS you like. The problem is when you aren't able to separate your experience from the debate over Windows 8 in general and try to suggest that Microsoft's actions are flawed in removing the Start Menu based on your own usage patterns rather than the reality of the current market in general (which you have done previously).
So my own experiences don't make a difference in what's pertinent to me and my purchases? As I've said in previous posts... CONTEXT. There is NOTHING outside of CONTEXT, and while Win8 is fine in the context of low end, common users, it ISN'T to all the people that complain about it.
Jesus Christ, you're obtuse. Why can't you understand what I'm saying here? You're totally free to hate Windows 8 or think whatever you want about it, that's your opinion. However that's not what you've been saying in this thread, what you've been doing is making broad assertions as to what Windows 8 is in general, in fact you just did it in this post I quoted with no self-awareness whatsoever.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Wed, 07 November 2012, 04:33:32
Just installed win 8 on my lappy my main pc ill let you know more once i have everything moved back over.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tufty on Wed, 07 November 2012, 05:09:54
You're still using Spudlight?  Install Quicksilver (http://www.blacktree.com/)...

trying it atm, it's shiny but what made you switch to it?
It means I barely touch the mouse any more for stuff that isn't in-app mousing to carry out specific mouse only actions.  Launching apps, searching for files, pretty much everything can be done from quicksilver.  It's spotlight on steroids.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lanx on Wed, 14 November 2012, 12:43:49
so somehow i was able to fix my 30g x2 raid ssd and decided to go get win8 for the wifes computer (i won't put a new operating system on my work/home computer). Man it's blazing fast... but that's it, i mean i "tried" to work with the new ui and metro, but i can't get the corners correctly cuz my wifes computer is dual screen, also she's using a cherry ml4100 so i have to ctrl+esc everything, man win8 is annoying beyond it's sheer speed.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Wed, 14 November 2012, 13:00:08
also she's using a cherry ml4100 so i have to ctrl+esc everything

at the risk of sounding retarded

HOLY **** I NEVER KNEW YOU COULD DO THIS!

You just may have saved the model M on my bench. I was finding it exceedingly annoying to get around in windows 8 with no winkey.|


In other news, the more I use 8, the more I like it. It's very snappy, I would risk saying even more so than 7.

was using a machine running a 180GB intel 330 SSD, 8GB RAM and an i5-3330. VERY responsive, very quick. Solid platform. It's pretty amazing to know that you can get this performance for such a low price tag (comparatively to even a windows XP machine a decade ago)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lanx on Wed, 14 November 2012, 13:34:04
ctrl+esc only brings up the desktop/pseudo start menu, i do not believe you can make it do windows key + s (or whatever those combinations do, since i've never used the windows key in 15 years and have always physically ripped out the key cuz of gaming).
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Wed, 14 November 2012, 13:37:13
I posted the ctl+esc=winkey thing a while back and was taken to task over it.

Apparently that is just a menu, and does not really simulate the actual Windows keys.

However, if there is some key that you never use (what are those things above the home cluster for?) you can remap it to be a Windows key.

edit: Lanx beat me to it. I have used KeyTweak and it is very easy, although it requires a reboot.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Wed, 14 November 2012, 13:52:31
Yeah I sadly realized that after the fact. Still better than nothing.

An external program wouldn't work since I mostly use it on customer pcs
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Thu, 15 November 2012, 03:28:29
I like win 8 the more and more i use it the only thing that bumming me out is theres no driver for my dac so far :(
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Bry on Thu, 15 November 2012, 14:37:21

-------> Hell no.


-------> I don't see it as a low price. I see their previous prices as being absolutely ridiculous. I think everyone envies the profit M$ must make on stuff like MS Office Pro.


-------> Unnecessary. Trading functionality for "oooo pretttttty." GTFO.


-------> Not if they don't buy it.


-------> IE lol. That is still a thing?


-------> No and no.


-------> No.


-------> Hopefully it sucks and a lot of people buy it. Then I can get tons of free wins off baddies who are busy alt tabbed trying to fix their Win 8 problems.


-------> If I want to use a smartphone OS, I will use my smartphone.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Thu, 15 November 2012, 15:11:59
Wow Bry seems youve got something stuck up your butt to be hating this hard on something you seemingly know nothing about.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Thu, 15 November 2012, 15:25:08
Didn't you know it's cool to hate things that are new and made by Microsoft?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Thu, 15 November 2012, 16:15:47
Didn't you know it's cool to hate things that are new and made by Microsoft?
Sorry no, no I didnt...
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Thu, 15 November 2012, 16:27:53
So I rebuilt my box at work into a windows 8 box with solid specs, and within the first couple hours of use got the :( SUMTIN WONG BSOD.

Pretty sure it's hardware related (Used cheap RAM as that's all we had to pull out of stock) or possibly related to the video card I used (general fab defects, possibly)

If this was my first experience with WIN8 I would not be impressed but since I actually know what's going on, I'm pretty sure it's hardware.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lanx on Thu, 15 November 2012, 17:41:04
i'm really tired of the OS... taking over stuff, like i use the wifes computer as the photo/video drive, you know the one that holds the pictures. so like i click on a pic and it uses xbox media something to show me the pic, i click on a movie and it uses xbox, and i can't get out of it to get back to desktop.

now i know this is on purpose, but i NEED to get to the desktop when i want, i don't want to be "stuck" in an application if i don't want, so i had to download picasa and vlc and let those programs handle all the pics and vids so that win8 won't hijack my desktop, wtf! (btw was gonna do picasa anyway, the facial rec is awesome, and i backed up the previous settings)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Thu, 15 November 2012, 17:56:57
win+d is desktop but anyway this should help you learn the basics I posted it a while back http://tinyurl.com/cqbx6f7
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: esoomenona on Thu, 15 November 2012, 17:57:43
Also, alt+F4 to close the program.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lanx on Thu, 15 November 2012, 19:24:24
i put on classic shell
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: NKRO on Fri, 16 November 2012, 09:08:02
i'm really tired of the OS... taking over stuff, like i use the wifes computer as the photo/video drive, you know the one that holds the pictures. so like i click on a pic and it uses xbox media something to show me the pic, i click on a movie and it uses xbox, and i can't get out of it to get back to desktop.

now i know this is on purpose, but i NEED to get to the desktop when i want, i don't want to be "stuck" in an application if i don't want, so i had to download picasa and vlc and let those programs handle all the pics and vids so that win8 won't hijack my desktop, wtf! (btw was gonna do picasa anyway, the facial rec is awesome, and i backed up the previous settings)
Uninstall the default Metro apps, or right-click the files and change the program they open with by default.

The first time I tried running a file associated with a Metro app, it asked me whether I wanted to open it in a Metro app or the desktop.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Fri, 16 November 2012, 11:05:27
winkey+D = Desktop

Alt + Tab = next program

winkey = start menu (metro)/Desktop

winkey + e = open explorer (aka My Computer aka Computer)

It still surprises me how many people simply ignore the 101 windows key shortcuts and take the long way around every time.

If you don't care for the songs and videos opening in the apps, just install something like Media Player Classic and make it the default program instead.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Fri, 16 November 2012, 21:28:24
Non-Unicomp buckling spring users live in a universe without Windows keys.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sat, 17 November 2012, 02:54:38
The win key has been very usefull ever since win7, possibly earlier.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Mon, 19 November 2012, 12:05:52
Non-Unicomp buckling spring users live in a universe without Windows keys.


LOL IKR, my boss is constantly pulling his hair out when he uses the bench space with the M on it. My reply? "Get 4 Unicomps (1 for each bench spot) and you won't have to deal with it"
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: YMSNoms on Tue, 11 December 2012, 08:02:12
I love windows 8 by far the best windows so far,
My only gripes are the left hand metro menu coming up when you swipe down in starcraft
and not being able to turn it off without CTRL ALT Delete
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Johan on Tue, 11 December 2012, 10:19:12
I guess its cool, it boots really fast and other stuff. I just haven't figured out how to turn the system off without logging out.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Tue, 11 December 2012, 10:27:48
I guess its cool, it boots really fast and other stuff. I just haven't figured out how to turn the system off without logging out.

Right side widgets->settings->power
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Johan on Tue, 11 December 2012, 10:51:48
Thank's, seems like there should be a shorter way though.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Tue, 11 December 2012, 10:59:12
Thank's, seems like there should be a shorter way though.
Agreed but their isnt you should have to go into settings to get to the power options.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Tue, 11 December 2012, 11:45:40
Thank's, seems like there should be a shorter way though.
Agreed but their isnt you should have to go into settings to get to the power options.

I wish it were an option in the start menu itself, but this isn't that cumbersome.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: thebeargentile on Tue, 11 December 2012, 12:24:24
Thank's, seems like there should be a shorter way though.
Agreed but their isnt you should have to go into settings to get to the power options.

I wish it were an option in the start menu itself, but this isn't that cumbersome.

You can also Ctrl Alt Del, then click the power icon in the lower right, and shutdown.  Still more cumbersome than it should be, but it's easier for me than going through the settings.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: baldgye on Tue, 11 December 2012, 12:27:45
what they should do is maybe put it in a menu thats one key-stroke away?

I heard that in demo builds they tried putting it in the start menu, but had to remove it becasue dev's got confused and would keep shutting down there PC's by accident.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: thebeargentile on Tue, 11 December 2012, 12:38:58
I think another part of the equation is that Microsoft just doesn't want you to shutdown your computer as often... Windows 8 is really aimed at notebooks and tablets, and they've put a lot of effort into making systems wake from sleep and hibernation much more quickly, and with fewer problems that with previous OS's.  I think they're trying to push the idea "Why shutdown, when you can just going into standby, and restart from where you left off?"  I still prefer to shutdown when I'm not going to be using it for a while, or am throwing my laptop in a bag.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Tue, 11 December 2012, 12:54:47
I am warming up to the concept of upgrading, but am probably at least a year away from actually doing it.

Bloatware is my big bugaboo, so if 8 is leaner and cleaner than 7, that is a good thing. Faster is better.

I do hate the migration away from the desktop environment. For instance, to shut down in XP, it was simply Windows (or, for me, Control-Escape) + U + U and walk away.

Edit - Duh! Google it, fool. "Windows" then "Right Arrow" then "Enter" - even easier with the right pinkie doing the right arrow and numpad enter

An operation that requires a combination of keyboard and mouse has little value, dialogue boxes and other things that force you to type some and mouse click some are very annoying.

And my big clumsy fingers still have an inordinate amount of trouble with touch screens.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: microsoft windows on Tue, 11 December 2012, 13:05:55
Who needs Windows 8 when Windows 3.1 already has a version for tablets? And Windows 3.1 doesn't have a start menu either.
(http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4e13224b49e2ae1761120000-400-300/windows-for-pen-computing-kicked-off-microsofts-tablet-efforts-back-in-1991.jpg)

(http://aliennerd.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/20111228-_1020183-1.jpg)

I'd take Windows 3.1 any day.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Tue, 11 December 2012, 17:44:20
Who needs Windows 8 when Windows 3.1 already has a version for tablets?

incoming lawsuit from apple.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: tjcaustin on Tue, 11 December 2012, 18:33:42
Who needs Windows 8 when Windows 3.1 already has a version for tablets?

incoming lawsuit from apple.

It does say samsung on it, so they have a chance of winning.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Tue, 11 December 2012, 19:40:34
It does say samsung on it, so they have a chance of winning.

Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: DEAD_BEEF on Thu, 13 December 2012, 08:30:07
Other than not being able to disable the fancy new UI, I like it. The longer I use it the more I hate the metro UI though. I just can't understand why, if there isn't a touch interface detected, it isn't disabled with an option of turning it on if you suck. Then Microsoft could analyze their telemetry data and see how many people turn it on! Also the UI hardly adds anything that couldn't have been accomplished by having the live tiles on the desktop. You can shutdown from the desktop with Alt+F4 but you really do need to be 'on' the desktop not in an application on the desktop.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Fri, 14 December 2012, 02:23:02
After learning all the [Win+...] shortcuts, Windows 8 is just awesome. As an OS, it's damn near perfect. The only thing I wish it had was bash as the default command line shell, not that dumb ass underpowered cmd.exe bull****.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: codymaust on Fri, 14 December 2012, 04:46:05
After learning all the [Win+...] shortcuts, Windows 8 is just awesome. As an OS, it's damn near perfect. The only thing I wish it had was bash as the default command line shell, not that dumb ass underpowered cmd.exe bull****.
PowerShell is pretty awesome.. I'm still a complete PS noob, but it's miles ahead of CMD.exe simply because it has common Unix commands aliased to CMD.exe commands ( 'ls' = 'dir' ). You can also run a cmd shell within PS if needed.

And after spending a month or so with Windows 8, I love it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: baldgye on Fri, 14 December 2012, 09:50:47
Also, alt+F4 to close the program.

in the beta i was using that to bring up the shutdown popup too
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Krogenar on Fri, 14 December 2012, 11:40:03
It feels like Win7 (which is great) with a bit more stability and a touchscreen enabled frontend that doesn't really work for me. This whole tablet thing feels like an attempt to make computers accessible to people with zero (or less than zero) command line experience. And that's fine. I'm a computer geek and like getting under the hood. They should have some way of disabling that feature entirely. Also, I don't want to send user feedback to Microsoft to 'make things better' and during my install of Win8 I had to say 'No' to that option quite a few times. But at least they notified me.

Overall, I like it. It's not Vista.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Fri, 14 December 2012, 14:44:34
in the beta i was using that to bring up the shutdown popup too

Does that not work anymore? because that's a great idea.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: baldgye on Fri, 14 December 2012, 15:14:13
in the beta i was using that to bring up the shutdown popup too

Does that not work anymore? because that's a great idea.

no idea, I use my pc and so use win7 lulz
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: nullstring on Fri, 14 December 2012, 15:17:41
Other than not being able to disable the fancy new UI, I like it. The longer I use it the more I hate the metro UI though. I just can't understand why, if there isn't a touch interface detected, it isn't disabled with an option of turning it on if you suck. Then Microsoft could analyze their telemetry data and see how many people turn it on! Also the UI hardly adds anything that couldn't have been accomplished by having the live tiles on the desktop. You can shutdown from the desktop with Alt+F4 but you really do need to be 'on' the desktop not in an application on the desktop.

Pretty sure you can disable the Metro UI
https://www.google.com/search?q=disable+metro+windows+8&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: sammsorensen on Sun, 30 December 2012, 21:29:43
I seemed to have been noticing a pattern with Windows operating systems: they'll release a ****ty OS, then they'll release a decent one... and it repeats.

The primary example of this beginning with Windows ME (****) then Windows XP (good) then Windows Vista (****) and finally Windows 7 (good).

So, my prediction for Windows 8:

****!!!

People don't like change.. Windows 8 is different and I personally don't like it as much as win 7, but it is definitely not on the level of Vista or ME.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Mon, 31 December 2012, 02:53:01
The first change in any long standing product is bound to cause much gnashing of teeth. The 2nd revision comes out just when people are so used to bashing the 1st one that it seems like the best thing ever. That's how it will always be. Not just with Windows.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: precarious on Mon, 31 December 2012, 03:17:11
"What does Windows 7 not do that I wish it did?  What's wrong with Windows 7?"

My answer to this is "nothing," and so, I see no reason to use Windows 8, lest I should wish to torture myself with endless ponderings of "why the hell did they change this and now I can't change it to something which is rationally defensible?"

Not all change is good.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: davkol on Mon, 31 December 2012, 07:42:11
I have two issues with Microsoft Windows in general.

They changed a lot of things in GUI with the release of Vista, and now they've done it again. This is an issue for corporate and incompetent users. They need a conservative, stable environment, and honestly, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I've heard even Microsoft accept this fact, and the start menu should return with the first service pack. There was a sh1tstorm going on because of similar changes in the GNU/Linux lands, when KDE4 and GNOME 3 were announced & released. However, you could still use something conservative, such as GNOME 2, which hasn't been updated for two years now (actually, it had seen only rather minor incremental changes since at least 2006), and it will be maintained at least for another year or two as MATE. You can't do this on MS Windows.

Situation isn't perfect for power users either. The UI and configuration is just ridiculous. I've had to work with a Windows server, and it was a nightmare, mostly due to terrible documentation, user-unfriendly GUI, and black magic in registers. Not saying that situation on unix-like systems is perfect, but at least it's not insane.

I have to admit I'm lucky enough I don't work with servers on daily basis... Unfortunately, even stuff like window management in Windows sucks. I've developed my own efficient workflow to get things done, but there's no way to get it working in MS Windows without tons of tweaking. All I want is real tiling, both desktops and tags/activities, keyboard shortcuts for _everything_, and some compositing effects (I can live without wobbly windows, something expose-like is just enough for me).

The second thing I hate about MS Windows, and especially Win8, is copying Apple-like approach. EULA has always been ridiculous, but *centralized* app store? Misusing Secure Boot (read something about keys on Surface; say goodbye to *general purpose* computers)? Dear Microsoft, GTFO.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: volund on Sat, 05 January 2013, 11:26:03
I've been using Win 8 since release on my desktop, mainly due to the fact that I have to support everyone and their grandma buying new Windows 8 units at work.

Likes-
Significantly improved load times
improved task manager
improved multi manager supprt
common interface across multiple platforms
win 7 under the hood

Dislikes-
Non-intuitive for most people (I found it simple, but supporting it is another story)
lack of basic customization aspects (changing tile colors)
idiotic issues with time synchronization and MS account passwords
lousy OEM driver support causing update loops (I'm looking at you HP)

Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: FabsSpeed on Sun, 06 January 2013, 03:40:09
I use Windows 9 for 3 month and really like it! Fast and stable!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: chewyfruitloop on Sun, 06 January 2013, 09:42:33
this is about all i can say about it
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: rowdy on Sun, 06 January 2013, 22:58:10
^ LOL although ifit really was that bad no-one would be using it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: davkol on Mon, 07 January 2013, 02:58:59
^ LOL although ifit really was that bad no-one would be using it.

People are using _Facebook_... its user interface is the least intuitive and user-friendly I have ever seen. It's a nightmare, but surprisingly enough, people are still using it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Mon, 07 January 2013, 10:22:57
I am surprised at the constant reference to the concept of "intuitive" and how many programs are designed on a scenario of use by persons who have no computer experience.

At this late date of 2013, are there really that many people (over the age of 3 and under the age of 80) in the ("civilized") world who have never yet used a computer?

I would argue that, today, the concept of "intuitive" means similar in look and feel to the Microsoft/Windows 3/95/98/XP/7/etc desktop appearance trajectory.

For people who have expected to find some sort of "start" button in the lower left of the screen, since Bill Clinton was president, opening programs in any other way is decidedly "counter-intuitive" in my opinion.

After decades of conditioning, you can't really fundamentally change the rules of the game and expect people to be happy.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Tue, 08 January 2013, 16:55:09
Hate to say it, but eventually the older generation will die out, and the vast majority of people on this planet (at least in the civilized areas) will be computer-literate. The whole concept of what we consider "intuitive" will change, as so much more will be taken for granted.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: davkol on Tue, 08 January 2013, 17:57:48
Hate to say it, but eventually the older generation will die out, and the vast majority of people on this planet (at least in the civilized areas) will be computer-literate. The whole concept of what we consider "intuitive" will change, as so much more will be taken for granted.

That's pretty naive. I definitely cannot call most young people in a developed country computer-literate as long as it includes


It's sad, but I can see it almost every day in real life, unfortunately.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: chewyfruitloop on Tue, 08 January 2013, 18:17:58
Hate to say it, but eventually the older generation will die out, and the vast majority of people on this planet (at least in the civilized areas) will be computer-literate. The whole concept of what we consider "intuitive" will change, as so much more will be taken for granted.

I'm actually quite worried about the future of stuff like operating systems based on what I've seen from the people graduating 10 years behind me.
When I graduated I had done low level OS design and assembler etc as part of my degree.  One of the guys who I worked with last year, didn't even know how to do memory allocation, or know what a memory leak was, he'd only ever written code in Java.

So computer literate he may have been, actually useful when it comes to making something like windows...not so much
Lots on CS courses just teach .net or java now because you have auto memory management etc, but they're dogs really.

Think the same really applies to UI design.
Win 8 may be ok on an MS fondle slab, but desktop machine...
think the only way it would be any good would be on a 30 inch screen set up like a draftsman's table
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: sugosugita on Tue, 08 January 2013, 23:48:27
^ LOL although ifit really was that bad no-one would be using it.

People are using _Facebook_... its user interface is the least intuitive and user-friendly I have ever seen. It's a nightmare, but surprisingly enough, people are still using it.

Amen brother. Facebook is ludicrously ill-designed. Little frames everywhere? is this 1998?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: deepthawt on Wed, 09 January 2013, 22:01:04
At first I resisted windows 8.
Then I figured it would be inevitable that someone at work would have it and I would be asked to help, so I loaded it up.

Ok, I reasoned, they added something useless (metro UI) to monetize apps, and discarded something useful (start menu) to force people to use the metro, but the core OS is still good.  They added some nifty things like the copy files dialog and ... not much else that comes to mind

The more I use it, the less I like it.  Things are scattered about in non obvious places.

It seems that when windows functionalities are first added they are grouped in meaningful places with similar functionalites, then the human-use and ergo-specialists get involved and they become abstracted in conceptual models that are more related to doing something that I don't do, instead of grouping things by what they do.  The entire UI seems abstracted away from what I need.

And to make things worse Microsoft feels it is their prerogative to decree the new UI paradigm as exclusive.

It continues to annoy and rub me the wrong way.

and that's my opinion.





Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Lorem-Ipsum on Fri, 11 January 2013, 09:42:18
Well I've now been using it for some time. I'm a linux user generally but I need a windows OS somewhere for my Uni work. I quite like window 8 TBH. It needs a LOT more polishing and I think the metro interface needs work but the OS itself seems a lot better. They seem to have removed a lot of the windows xp junk and so it runs a lot more smoothly, there are less processes to keep track of and the experience feels cleaner.

The UI change is an obvious drawback but if you make the best of it instead of fighting it, it can actually be quite nice to use.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: nraymond on Fri, 11 January 2013, 23:00:12
My problem with Windows 8: it is built on Win32.  Still.  This is sad, for many reasons.  More info:

http://arstechnica.com/features/2012/10/windows-8-and-winrt-everything-old-is-new-again/ (http://arstechnica.com/features/2012/10/windows-8-and-winrt-everything-old-is-new-again/)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: volatilecoffee on Sat, 12 January 2013, 15:24:53
It is 8x better then 7 (pun intended)
It takes less space, runs better, boots faster, a lot of people say it has horrible compatibility but I find it is MORE compatible with older games
I love it and would pay for it over and over
The only argument anyone has is OOOOHH MADE FOR TOUCH SCREEN BUTT=HURT fine, disable it -_(\ You can even get the start bar back if you are not a complete idiot
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: precarious on Sat, 12 January 2013, 15:42:22
It is 8x better then 7 (pun intended)

is slime a horse morphing dragon zord pun intended
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Sat, 12 January 2013, 19:45:31
My problem with Windows 8: it is built on Win32.  Still.  This is sad, for many reasons.  More info:

http://arstechnica.com/features/2012/10/windows-8-and-winrt-everything-old-is-new-again/ (http://arstechnica.com/features/2012/10/windows-8-and-winrt-everything-old-is-new-again/)

*      *      *      *      *      *

Much of this is way over my head, but it was a very enlightening and disheartening read.

I would love to get away from Windows and its bloatware, but after a 3-year flirtation with Ubuntu, I am going to give it up and join the 90% full-time again.

Windows 7 has been pretty good to me so far.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Sun, 13 January 2013, 01:51:56
That's pretty naive. I definitely cannot call most young people in a developed country computer-literate as long as it includes

  • ability to solve problems (at least read error messages and act accordingly) and learn from them,
  • efficient use of apps/UI (e.g. use styles in a text processor),
  • basic knowledge of security in computer systems, networks etc.

It's sad, but I can see it almost every day in real life, unfortunately.

I wouldn't include those in "computer-literate". As a software developer, I'm constantly amazed at how many people, including software developers with decades of experience, just absolutely will not read what's in front of them.

But really, that's my entire point. What we currently consider intuitive just doesn't apply, and will continue to change.

I'm actually quite worried about the future of stuff like operating systems based on what I've seen from the people graduating 10 years behind me.
When I graduated I had done low level OS design and assembler etc as part of my degree.  One of the guys who I worked with last year, didn't even know how to do memory allocation, or know what a memory leak was, he'd only ever written code in Java.

So computer literate he may have been, actually useful when it comes to making something like windows...not so much
Lots on CS courses just teach .net or java now because you have auto memory management etc, but they're dogs really.

This is the truth.. although, can't say I'm that mad at it. Just means my salary is going to go up year after year :)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: davkol on Sun, 13 January 2013, 04:56:21
That's pretty naive. I definitely cannot call most young people in a developed country computer-literate as long as it includes

  • ability to solve problems (at least read error messages and act accordingly) and learn from them,
  • efficient use of apps/UI (e.g. use styles in a text processor),
  • basic knowledge of security in computer systems, networks etc.

It's sad, but I can see it almost every day in real life, unfortunately.

I wouldn't include those in "computer-literate". As a software developer, I'm constantly amazed at how many people, including software developers with decades of experience, just absolutely will not read what's in front of them.

But really, that's my entire point. What we currently consider intuitive just doesn't apply, and will continue to change.

Your changing requirements so that more people will pass awkwardly reminds me of the ongoing education crisis. Almost everybody has a diploma, but remains uneducated.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: linkz on Sun, 13 January 2013, 07:55:26
Not liking it. They're trying to implement many things that are better suited for a touch screen device.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: 4LI4Z on Sun, 13 January 2013, 09:40:57
Windows 8 just feels wrong. One reason more to change to the linux way of life. A PC is meant to be used with our loved keyboards and a mouse, not by using it with a touchscreen like a tablet or a smartphone.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Sun, 13 January 2013, 13:02:25
Your changing requirements so that more people will pass awkwardly reminds me of the ongoing education crisis. Almost everybody has a diploma, but remains uneducated.

I said "computer-literate", but without clarification of the particulars of what that meant. When you laid out some details, I disagreed with those. I wasn't changing anything so much as specifying. If we disagree on what "computer-literate" means, then so be it.

Maybe we need a new term. Maybe more "internet-literate" rather than "computer-literate". I meant more like these kids who can use the hardware to visit Facebook, play video games, and browse the internet in general without having a clue as to the more technical details of software/hardware, and who just get completely and utterly stumped when a message box shows up, and they go into "get rid of the message box" mode and don't bother reading it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Malphas on Sun, 13 January 2013, 14:17:39
Windows 8 just feels wrong. One reason more to change to the linux way of life. A PC is meant to be used with our loved keyboards and a mouse, not by using it with a touchscreen like a tablet or a smartphone.
Windows 8 actually promotes more keyboard use than previous versions. That's what I find so odd about people on these forums complaining about having to use keyboard shortcuts in Windows 8 for things would be previously done with a mouse (e.g. Windows key + type to search for a program, as opposed to navigating the Start Menu with a mouse).
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Sun, 13 January 2013, 14:31:52
I keep using more keyboard shortcuts all the time. I even have one to come to this forum, which is embarrassing.

Anything that eliminates mousing is a good thing, in my opinion. As a pointing device, editing photos and drawings, certainly, but for mundane functions like "open" or "save", no.

After dismissing 8 altogether, I am now ready to give it a go - when the first service pack comes out - but not before!

PS - any guesses about when that will be? I get the feeling that they will accelerate the schedule quite a bit.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Sun, 13 January 2013, 17:42:37
To be perfectly honest, this is the first Windows release that I will recommend without reservation to anybody before it's first service pack. It's that solid.

I've been running RTM since early August, and haven't had a single crash or error. And I do software development. It's the most stable Windows release ever.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: yester64 on Sun, 13 January 2013, 22:11:39
Well once i have no pc which win8 will not reject, i will try it out for myself. I read a lot of good stuff about it on ars. Even though i have Win7 running i don't mind to switch but i need to see it for myself in order to make that decision.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sun, 13 January 2013, 23:37:20
To be perfectly honest, this is the first Windows release that I will recommend without reservation to anybody before it's first service pack. It's that solid.

I've been running RTM since early August, and haven't had a single crash or error. And I do software development. It's the most stable Windows release ever.
I havnt had any crashes that wernt firefoxes fault so i would have to agree there.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Mon, 14 January 2013, 00:26:22
I believe the Windows 8 requirements are actually less than Windows 7, but regardless, if you're machine will run Windows 7, it should run Windows 8.
Title: Re: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Mon, 14 January 2013, 04:49:49
I believe the Windows 8 requirements are actually less than Windows 7, but regardless, if you're machine will run Windows 7, it should run Windows 8.
their the exact same except graphically which is less because of no aero which im happy about.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Dreadwyrm on Mon, 14 January 2013, 05:35:57
I really don't like the Metro interface, but apart from that, it could as well be a phenomenal OS (I didn't really do any research), but the fact that the main screen looks like something a drunk cubist Picasso designed seals the deal for me. Also, still no colemak support out of the box. Meh.
Title: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: BlindRAGE606 on Mon, 14 January 2013, 05:43:16
With Start8, it transforms the OS onto something completely useable.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Mon, 14 January 2013, 10:48:02
There's nothing a start menu can do that the new start screen can't. It's just a full-screen start menu. You don't even have to have any patterns on it, just plain dark gray.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: deepthawt on Mon, 14 January 2013, 22:41:18
@BlindRAGE606

With Start8, it transforms the OS onto something completely useable.

I totally agree, for $5 its worth it to have things organized in sensible places and not have to deal with the metro screen.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Tue, 15 January 2013, 02:26:07
I'm actually, honestly baffled by this. What does the start menu give you that the start screen doesn't? I'm honestly confused here.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Tue, 15 January 2013, 02:27:25
I'm actually, honestly baffled by this. What does the start menu give you that the start screen doesn't? I'm honestly confused here.
all the pop out stuff for profile folder my computer control panel and network?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Tue, 15 January 2013, 11:19:03
Yeah, all that stuff's still there (just checked). Anything else?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: kabar on Tue, 15 January 2013, 11:32:28
Installed classic shell immediately, solved metro problem. Haven't noticed any marked difference in performance compared to 7, though 7 had given me a bsod a few weeks ago which is why I updated. I will say this, Windows 8 is stable. I've seen people compare it to Vista and I think that is just unwarranted, it's a great OS.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: chewyfruitloop on Tue, 15 January 2013, 18:01:55
true fact...

we have an app at work that we thought we could trial on a surface or other such
the basic requirement was that it can run a wpf app and has 3G so it can be used by the guys that dig holes in the road
...theres no Windows RT with built in 3G
Win 8 Pro won't have support for it

we have 3 guys who work for Microsoft in the office and they sit behind me....their wtf was palpable when they found that out from their RT guys in their office
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Tue, 15 January 2013, 18:37:15
bloatware at its finest
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Tue, 15 January 2013, 23:12:38
Yeah, all that stuff's still there (just checked). Anything else?

soo where is it?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Wed, 16 January 2013, 00:01:50
soo where is it?

Hit the start button and start typing. I found Documents, Music, Videos, Computer, Control Panel, Network, Devices, Default Programs. Hitting Win+W (Settings) brings up even more when searching.

Granted, it's not a popout menu, but what does that actually bring to the table, anyways?
Everything you need is easily accessible via the keyboard (which I'd imagine GeekHackers would appreciate), unless you're the type of person who needs to see things before they know what they're looking for.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Wed, 16 January 2013, 00:29:20
soo where is it?

Hit the start button and start typing. I found Documents, Music, Videos, Computer, Control Panel, Network, Devices, Default Programs. Hitting Win+W (Settings) brings up even more when searching.

Granted, it's not a popout menu, but what does that actually bring to the table, anyways?
Everything you need is easily accessible via the keyboard (which I'd imagine GeekHackers would appreciate), unless you're the type of person who needs to see things before they know what they're looking for.
popout menu is nice and quick because i know where everything is located already 95% of the time. was just using win+e before start8 which was alright there was just lots of arrowing or double clicking involved.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Wed, 16 January 2013, 02:04:33
popout menu is nice and quick because i know where everything is located already 95% of the time. was just using win+e before start8 which was alright there was just lots of arrowing or double clicking involved.

But what did you do before you knew where everything was? You had to learn that at some point. This is the same thing. It's a new paradigm, and requires a little bit of learning. And I daresay it's way more intuitive.

But ultimately, to each their own.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: sordna on Wed, 16 January 2013, 02:40:03
My recommendation to friends and family using Windows is this:

It's now a good time to upgrade to Windows 7 (from XP) if you haven't already, or buy a new computer with Windows 7 while it's still an option :-)

As for Windows 8, we'll have a much better idea about it in another year or when Windows 9 comes out... It sounds like a joke, but this kind of careful strategy helped many users avoid Vista and go from XP to 7. Hurrying to upgrade to any brand new Windows OS is never a good idea, and there is no reason to either (if you're happy with what you have) since apps continue work on the older Windows for years. I would only get 8 on a touch-screen laptop.

Disclaimer: I'm a _biased_ *ubuntu user, and generally my thinking regarding timing of OS upgrades is this:

*ubuntu upgrades: go ahead and upgrade during beta
Ubuntu upgrades: wait a couple weeks after release
Mac OSX upgrades: wait a couple months after release
Windows upgrades: wait a couple years after release :-)
Title: Re: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Wed, 16 January 2013, 04:41:16
popout menu is nice and quick because i know where everything is located already 95% of the time. was just using win+e before start8 which was alright there was just lots of arrowing or double clicking involved.

But what did you do before you knew where everything was? You had to learn that at some point. This is the same thing. It's a new paradigm, and requires a little bit of learning. And I daresay it's way more intuitive.

But ultimately, to each their own.
i found it with determination!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Turkishrambo on Wed, 16 January 2013, 18:20:57
as a person who works in IT

windows 8 is ****
Title: Re: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: SmallFry on Wed, 16 January 2013, 18:43:16
as a person who works in IT

windows 8 is THE ****
FTFY:) I have been playing with it at school(also work in IT) and it is very nice IMO, we did put the Classic Start on, just to help any students who aren't too PC friendly.
Title: Re: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Turkishrambo on Wed, 16 January 2013, 19:47:28
as a person who works in IT

windows 8 is THE ****
FTFY:) I have been playing with it at school(also work in IT) and it is very nice IMO, we did put the Classic Start on, just to help any students who aren't too PC friendly.
its not intuitive at all.

i only used it for like half an hour but i had to keep asking how to get to places -.- i see windows 8 as purely a tablet / touchscreen interface
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Wed, 16 January 2013, 19:53:51
as a person who works in IT

windows 8 is THE ****
FTFY:) I have been playing with it at school(also work in IT) and it is very nice IMO, we did put the Classic Start on, just to help any students who aren't too PC friendly.
its not intuitive at all.

i only used it for like half an hour but i had to keep asking how to get to places -.- i see windows 8 as purely a tablet / touchscreen interface
i had to do th same thing when i first used android as well... i guess you could have read or watched something instead but who wants to do that?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: deepthawt on Wed, 16 January 2013, 21:23:49
Now that new PCs are coming in at work, I'm seeing a trend whaen i ask them how they like it.
younger people, or people accustomed to using smart phones seem more at home with W8 (consumers)
older people, developers and content producers miss the start menu.
Since I installed Stardock's start8 start menu replacement i can get by with it ok if I ignore the koolaid stand that comes with every fresh install.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Wed, 16 January 2013, 21:27:40
Now that new PCs are coming in at work, I'm seeing a trend whaen i ask them how they like it.
younger people, or people accustomed to using smart phones seem more at home with W8 (consumers)
older people, developers and content producers miss the start menu.
Since I installed Stardock's start8 start menu replacement i can get by with it ok if I ignore the koolaid stand that comes with every fresh install.
koolaid stand? sorry im confused

my favorite thing about start8 you can still get to metro too
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: deepthawt on Wed, 16 January 2013, 21:42:32
koolaid stand? sorry im confused

If you drink the microsoft koolaid, you'll appreciate windows app store integration that is so readily available in the pre-populated metro tiles.
The whole social media, join your life to the cloud, be a consumer, buy stuff at the windows app store and like the colored blocky tiles on facebook to reward yourself, mentality just seems so far removed from what I need from a computer.

I remark that its like a koolaid stand because a) you have to drink the koolaid, b) they try to sell it to you, c) it seems to cater to immature or childish tastes.

on the + side: beneath all that nonsensical UI litter the underlying OS itself hasn't hiccuped even once while I've been using it personally.

edit: I don't mean 'you' personally of course, no affront intended.

edit: .oO(I wonder if I'll ever be able to make a post that doesn't need to be edited after it is submitted.)

edit:  :-X this post still needs editing, and now I'm babbling.. I give up.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Thu, 17 January 2013, 07:35:48
I have followed this thread with some interest, although I have never touched Windows 8 personally.

As a user who values "lean, clean, and mean" very highly, I am tantalized by the improved underlying OS, even as I can understand why they have to crap it all up - obviously - they want to make their money after you buy the OS, not on the OS itself.

For me, one-time purchases are palatable, while ongoing subscriptions are most distasteful. More specifically, I want to get everything the way I want it, then just use it.

Running a Microsoft update every other Tuesday or so is not too cumbersome, but I do not want to feel like I am walking on quicksand.

And I fear being held hostage to an internet connection. Every couple of years, my family and I lose our internet connection for half a week, and it is traumatic. The more I can keep locally and the less I have to depend on the cloud, the better.

Don't get me wrong, I love all the online utilities, Dropboxes, and Google Docs and ways to store and share, but I want those options to be ancillary, not core.

There have always been "Classic Theme" and "hide" options and so I am very sorry to hear that M$ has decided to stay in your face all the time.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: dohboi on Thu, 17 January 2013, 07:47:14
*ubuntu upgrades: go ahead and upgrade during beta
Ubuntu upgrades: wait a couple weeks after release
Mac OSX upgrades: wait a couple months after release
Windows upgrades: wait a couple years after release :-)

^^^^
He speaks the truth! Although idk about the ubuntu because I don't use it. :p

Although I don't think Windows 8 is that bad. Vista was different visually for XP users, but it did have series issues with the OS. Windows 8 is different visually as well, but it seems to function a little more efficiently. Of course, there is still a period of time where they do have to work out some kinks, it seems very stable for it being a few months old.

The only real thing I REALLY wish it had was a integrated photo previewer like OSX, or a previewer you can use if you're in the Desktop. If I only had one screen and had to view a photo because its simply too small in the explorer, it would default to the photo tile app... WHICH IS FULL SCREEN... WTF!? :eek:

For the average user, that's an automatic loss. Microsoft could learn a thing or two from Apple and make a few things a little easier for the average user, instead of throwing them what seems like an OS within an OS.

Let's also take this time to thank Adobe for Bridge because if I have to see that stupid tile spiral onto my screen again... >:D
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Thu, 17 January 2013, 15:50:03
The only real thing I REALLY wish it had was a integrated photo previewer like OSX, or a previewer you can use if you're in the Desktop. If I only had one screen and had to view a photo because its simply too small in the explorer, it would default to the photo tile app... WHICH IS FULL SCREEN... WTF!? :eek:

Open With>> Photo Viewer.


Yep, it's still there, they just use the app by default

Of course, if you're just looking for thumbnails, just right click the window and choose view large/extra large icons. That gives you a thumbnail so long as you have it enabled.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: dohboi on Thu, 17 January 2013, 20:27:01

Open With>> Photo Viewer.
  • always open with this program


Yep, it's still there, they just use the app by default

Of course, if you're just looking for thumbnails, just right click the window and choose view large/extra large icons. That gives you a thumbnail so long as you have it enabled.

Thanks for the info! But I was already aware of that. :p

I should rephrase that to, "a zoom feature like Preview in OSX." I believe Preview is what it called in OSX, but I'm probably wrong. I'm sure you all have seen zoom feature it has. I wanted to be able to hit spacebar and the image will zoom in, or a video will start play. Using that, I rarely even used a media player for movies.
Yes, that is asking for a bit much but I've been a little spoiled by OSX for the past couple years. :p

The average user will never know what to do to get it to default to another program too.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Internetlad on Fri, 18 January 2013, 12:44:23
Yeah, I agree that a lot of the "Default" stuff is set up in a "non standard" way (as compared to older windows OSes.)

I think there still is a way to get a "preview" of it. Let me mess around a bit and see.


EDIT:
Click on the "View" tab on the toolbar and select "Preview Pane"  Resize as necessary. Is that what you wanted?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Fri, 18 January 2013, 12:47:11
Thanks for the info! But I was already aware of that. :p

I should rephrase that to, "a zoom feature like Preview in OSX." I believe Preview is what it called in OSX, but I'm probably wrong. I'm sure you all have seen zoom feature it has. I wanted to be able to hit spacebar and the image will zoom in, or a video will start play. Using that, I rarely even used a media player for movies.
Yes, that is asking for a bit much but I've been a little spoiled by OSX for the past couple years. :p

The average user will never know what to do to get it to default to another program too.

You're talking about Quicklook. And yes, Windows needs one of those badly.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: dohboi on Fri, 18 January 2013, 14:00:00

You're talking about Quicklook. And yes, Windows needs one of those badly.

I hope they integrate something like that soon!

Yeah, I agree that a lot of the "Default" stuff is set up in a "non standard" way (as compared to older windows OSes.)

I think there still is a way to get a "preview" of it. Let me mess around a bit and see.


EDIT:
Click on the "View" tab on the toolbar and select "Preview Pane"  Resize as necessary. Is that what you wanted?

I guess that's as close as it gets! Not as convenient as OSX, but it's kinda there in a way.
Title: Re: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Fri, 18 January 2013, 14:07:01

You're talking about Quicklook. And yes, Windows needs one of those badly.

I hope they integrate something like that soon!

Yeah, I agree that a lot of the "Default" stuff is set up in a "non standard" way (as compared to older windows OSes.)

I think there still is a way to get a "preview" of it. Let me mess around a bit and see.


EDIT:
Click on the "View" tab on the toolbar and select "Preview Pane"  Resize as necessary. Is that what you wanted?

I guess that's as close as it gets! Not as convenient as OSX, but it's kinda there in a way.
i personally dont see a point becuse most of the files i deal with either arnt supported or fully supported directly with windows.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Ian S on Sun, 20 January 2013, 17:20:42
In this thread someone said Win8 is more compatible that Win7 with older programs.

Does Office 2003 work with Win8?

No, I don't want to pay £nnn to replace what already works.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: volatilecoffee on Sun, 20 January 2013, 17:39:33
-redacted
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: volatilecoffee on Sun, 20 January 2013, 17:42:54
-redacted
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: WRXChris on Sun, 20 January 2013, 17:49:48
sorry if this has already been covered, but how is win 8 with eyefinity?  I have a 3x1 horizontal display matrix and am concerned about the metro stuff where you have to use the right and left side of the screen (5760 pixels is a lot of scrolling).  any thoughts anyone?  $40 is so cheap and I don't want to miss out but if it's just horrendous with 3 displays then i might as well pass.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sun, 20 January 2013, 18:04:09
sorry if this has already been covered, but how is win 8 with eyefinity?  I have a 3x1 horizontal display matrix and am concerned about the metro stuff where you have to use the right and left side of the screen (5760 pixels is a lot of scrolling).  any thoughts anyone?  $40 is so cheap and I don't want to miss out but if it's just horrendous with 3 displays then i might as well pass.
noo clue does eyefinity trate it all as one monitor ? if so its span all th monitors then but the boxes can only be so big so most stuff will be on the most left monitor
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: dohboi on Sun, 20 January 2013, 18:44:23
In this thread someone said Win8 is more compatible that Win7 with older programs.

Does Office 2003 work with Win8?

No, I don't want to pay £nnn to replace what already works.

I think 8 will install a shim for the program? I'm not too sure since I briefly read about it. I'm also not too sure about how well the program will perform with the shim.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sun, 20 January 2013, 18:45:45
nop 2003 will not work i believe you need 2007 or newer 2013 is right around the corner
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: WRXChris on Sun, 20 January 2013, 19:48:51
sorry if this has already been covered, but how is win 8 with eyefinity?  I have a 3x1 horizontal display matrix and am concerned about the metro stuff where you have to use the right and left side of the screen (5760 pixels is a lot of scrolling).  any thoughts anyone?  $40 is so cheap and I don't want to miss out but if it's just horrendous with 3 displays then i might as well pass.
noo clue does eyefinity trate it all as one monitor ? if so its span all th monitors then but the boxes can only be so big so most stuff will be on the most left monitor

yeah eyefinity treats all 3 screens as one monitor.  I may pick up a copy to play around with and just to have it since its so cheap! 
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sun, 20 January 2013, 20:07:38
sorry if this has already been covered, but how is win 8 with eyefinity?  I have a 3x1 horizontal display matrix and am concerned about the metro stuff where you have to use the right and left side of the screen (5760 pixels is a lot of scrolling).  any thoughts anyone?  $40 is so cheap and I don't want to miss out but if it's just horrendous with 3 displays then i might as well pass.
noo clue does eyefinity trate it all as one monitor ? if so its span all th monitors then but the boxes can only be so big so most stuff will be on the most left monitor

yeah eyefinity treats all 3 screens as one monitor.  I may pick up a copy to play around with and just to have it since its so cheap! 
runs way better in my experience too
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Mon, 21 January 2013, 01:29:12
Isn't Eyefinity AMD only?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: singaporean123 on Mon, 21 January 2013, 01:31:25
I've read through this entire thread, and quite a bit on some review sites.

Should I upgrade to windows 8 pro for 15USD?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Mon, 21 January 2013, 01:55:20
Isn't Eyefinity AMD only?
Nvidia has a equivalent now
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Mon, 21 January 2013, 01:55:43
I've read through this entire thread, and quite a bit on some review sites.

Should I upgrade to windows 8 pro for 15USD?
yep for sure id spend the extra 5$ on start8 too
Title: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Mon, 21 January 2013, 03:06:38
If you can't live without the start menu. I'd give it a shot without it first. You might like it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Mon, 21 January 2013, 03:09:00
If you can't live without the start menu. I'd give it a shot without it first. You might like it.
I tried form release till christmas still prefer the start menu
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: singaporean123 on Mon, 21 January 2013, 03:18:23
I've read through this entire thread, and quite a bit on some review sites.

Should I upgrade to windows 8 pro for 15USD?
yep for sure id spend the extra 5$ on start8 too

Any incompatibility issues with windows 8 and programs/games?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Mon, 21 January 2013, 03:20:15
I've read through this entire thread, and quite a bit on some review sites.

Should I upgrade to windows 8 pro for 15USD?
yep for sure id spend the extra 5$ on start8 too

Any incompatibility issues with windows 8 and programs/games?
no difference from win7 in my experience
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Rhinofeed on Mon, 21 January 2013, 16:12:23
You can get Windows 8 Pro for only $15 right now with their http://windowsupgradeoffer.com/.

I upgraded last night and so far it's been working quite well - I like the new Modern UI and Explorer, especially. Well worth the $15.
They don't track anything, so even if you have a home built PC you can just put "Other" as the PC Brand and virtually anything in Retailer and Model. I just put Newegg for retailer and "Nathaniel's PC" for model, lol.

Since it's going up in price after January, get the deal while you can - it's legit.

edit: Although I realized maybe you're all well aware of this deal already. Oh well.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: mmmty on Tue, 22 January 2013, 23:05:25
I'm getting used to it. Played around w/ it at work a few days. I think I got AD to work but no Exchange tabs.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: sordna on Wed, 23 January 2013, 00:44:24
You can get Windows 8 Pro for only $15 right now with their http://windowsupgradeoffer.com/.

I upgraded last night and so far it's been working quite well - I like the new Modern UI and Explorer, especially. Well worth the $15.
They don't track anything, so even if you have a home built PC you can just put "Other" as the PC Brand and virtually anything in Retailer and Model. I just put Newegg for retailer and "Nathaniel's PC" for model, lol.

Are you sure they don't track anything? Don't you need to provide your Windows 7 activation key ? (And if so, can't they track if it was activated within the eligible time period, and not years ago ?)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Wed, 23 January 2013, 01:28:36
Are you sure they don't track anything? Don't you need to provide your Windows 7 activation key ? (And if so, can't they track if it was activated within the eligible time period, and not years ago ?)

No, they don't track anything. No, you don't need to provide your Windows 7 activation key. Just fill out the form, they send you a promo code to use during checkout. The only catch is that you have to order it via the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/upgrade-assistant-advisor).

I just did it 2 days ago on a Windows 7 VM I installed specifically for the purpose of getting another Windows 8 license.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: singaporean123 on Wed, 23 January 2013, 01:46:35
I installed windows 8 and it took about 1hr to completely install.

I think it's quite alright! At first I thought the metro screen(start screen)= THE ONLY SCREEN. So I was like wtf is this sh!t. Turns out, it's only the start screen, which looks quite neat IMO.

Does any veteran users have any tips/things that you should do with windows 8? like things to install, things to avoid, etc??
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: sordna on Wed, 23 January 2013, 01:49:34
Cool, thanks for the info.
It's interesting that they allow installing Windows 8 on another PC... I read in the FAQ that as long as you have an eligible PC (which apparently they don't really track) you can install Windows 8 in another PC.

It's a bummer you have to register with Microsoft though, as opposed to buying an installation DVD from any retailer.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: dohboi on Wed, 23 January 2013, 03:45:45
Cool, thanks for the info.
It's interesting that they allow installing Windows 8 on another PC... I read in the FAQ that as long as you have an eligible PC (which apparently they don't really track) you can install Windows 8 in another PC.

It's a bummer you have to register with Microsoft though, as opposed to buying an installation DVD from any retailer.

I have the installation disks! :p

There isn't a awesome holographic top anymore. They went with the modern route and solid colors. The only cool looking part is the box itself. The activation key in on a separate card so you can either lose it easier, or store it in a safer spot.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: mmmty on Wed, 23 January 2013, 08:26:28
I installed windows 8 and it took about 1hr to completely install.

1 hour!? I think it's the fastest version of Windows to install. Was it an upgrade install? Maybe you need a new computer??  :)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: fohat.digs on Wed, 23 January 2013, 08:33:25
Wait, this is downloading, right?

I would love to have an actual disk, or be able to burn one myself.

My DSL connection is pretty lame, but are we talking about downloading at least a couple of gigs, then installing?

I was planning to try this next week.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Wed, 23 January 2013, 08:53:58
Wait, this is downloading, right?

I would love to have an actual disk, or be able to burn one myself.

My DSL connection is pretty lame, but are we talking about downloading at least a couple of gigs, then installing?

I was planning to try this next week.

yea you download it

you have the option to burn a disc or make a flash drive or if you get the ISO you can do both

yea a single layer DVD

go for it do it before the 31st though
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: singaporean123 on Wed, 23 January 2013, 08:55:15
I installed windows 8 and it took about 1hr to completely install.

1 hour!? I think it's the fastest version of Windows to install. Was it an upgrade install? Maybe you need a new computer??  :)

It took about 30mins to download the file, and another 45min + to upgrade from windows 7.. my computer is quite cheap actually. In USD it costs like 500 usd to build? No SSD as well :P
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: mmmty on Wed, 23 January 2013, 09:24:41
OIC, it was an upgrade that's why it took so long.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Wed, 23 January 2013, 11:29:34
I was blown away by how fast Windows 7 installs. Windows 8 blows Windows 7 out of the water.

I used the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool) to make an installable USB drive (min 4GB required). Using that, a fresh Windows 8 install took about 10 minutes.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Wed, 23 January 2013, 11:33:47
I was blown away by how fast Windows 7 installs. Windows 8 blows Windows 7 out of the water.

I used the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool) to make an installable USB drive (min 4GB required). Using that, a fresh Windows 8 install took about 10 minutes.
i have yet to try over USB 3.0 but i kind of want to try :D
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: mmmty on Wed, 23 January 2013, 11:43:02
USB 3.0 install to SSD drive =  :eek:
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Wed, 23 January 2013, 12:45:14
USB 3.0 install to SSD drive =  :eek:
yep ill try when i put win8 on my desktop
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: dohboi on Wed, 23 January 2013, 14:52:02
USB 3.0 install to SSD drive =  :eek:

Haven't tried that yet, only used the OEM disks so far. I wonder if its any faster on striped SSDs. :p
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: mmmty on Wed, 23 January 2013, 15:03:42
One problem I see is WinPE may not have USB 3.0 driver and only reading at 2.0 speed or not seeing USB drive at all.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: rowdy on Wed, 23 January 2013, 15:08:36
I installed windows 8 and it took about 1hr to completely install.
1 hour!? I think it's the fastest version of Windows to install. Was it an upgrade install? Maybe you need a new computer??  :)

I was blown away by how fast Windows 7 installs. Windows 8 blows Windows 7 out of the water.

I used the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool) to make an installable USB drive (min 4GB required). Using that, a fresh Windows 8 install took about 10 minutes.

Interesting variation in install time, which could depend on the hardware it was installed on and the installation media.

I had Windows 95 install down to about 8 minutes back in the day - going from a new blank HDD to a fully working Windows 95 on the network with internet access.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Wed, 23 January 2013, 15:30:27
How the hell did you do that? Slipstreamed install?

I've never seen Win95/98 take less than 70 minutes from the install CD.
Title: Re: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Wed, 23 January 2013, 19:13:51
One problem I see is WinPE may not have USB 3.0 driver and only reading at 2.0 speed or not seeing USB drive at all.
win7 had this problem but with the built in usb 3.0 win8 driver thi should be all good.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: rowdy on Wed, 23 January 2013, 19:39:25
How the hell did you do that? Slipstreamed install?

I've never seen Win95/98 take less than 70 minutes from the install CD.

This was maybe 10 years ago, I really can't remember now, apart from the time.  There wasn't much of it to copy, not like the dozens of GB of bare OS install that you get these days.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: darksakul on Wed, 23 January 2013, 22:33:03
    Will you be getting a copy?
Maybe, just for test/ Educational purposes

    What do you think of the low price?
Not bad BUT this should be the norm not the exception. The Price goes back up after April.

    What are your opinions on the new features?
Why would I want a Table UI on a Desktop PC?
Touch Screen Gestures do not mix with mouse and keyboard controls.

    Will this new OS be a problem for PC users?
Yes. New UI  is not very intuitive UI for anyone not using a touch screen.
I also had some admins that worked with NASA and the FAA tell me this OS is crap.

    What do you think of the new ribbon feature in place of the Windows Explorer address bar?
WTF?! Don't fix what is not broken MS!

    Any features that you love and is the soul reason you are getting the new OS?
What are you smoking, and can I have some?

    Will you be getting a Windows 8 tablet or Smartphone?
Unlikely. Android is my baby.

    How will the new OS affect your gaming?
Not at all as I am sticking to Win 7

    Anything else that you think that should be addressed about Windows 8?
Microsoft stop shoe-honing **** no one wants. Also the Menu UI visual theme is ugly as sin.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Thu, 24 January 2013, 01:06:29
This was maybe 10 years ago, I really can't remember now, apart from the time.  There wasn't much of it to copy, not like the dozens of GB of bare OS install that you get these days.

True story. I haven't done it on modern hardware.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: singaporean123 on Thu, 24 January 2013, 23:44:12
I've been having some problems lately. yesterday there were 25 updates to be installed on my computer. i believe it's the update of the windows 8 drivers.. after it reaches 100% configuration, it just shows "Restarting" ( I clicked update and restart ). The restart continued for quite a while, until i had to manually switch off.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Turkishrambo on Fri, 25 January 2013, 09:09:03
The messaging app is SO silly, they stop supporting MSN but the implement msn messenger INTO the OS?

-.- so weird.
 
Ive been using it for about a week now and it still feels like one of the notorious bridging OS's microsoft seems to like doing. If you install classic start menu then yeah youll likely be happy, theres also small features i like... however there is ALOT of rough edges that NEED fixing, which is comparable to vista/7.

The messaging app broke my skype until i stopped using my microsoft account and used a local account instead.

The only reason to get it right now is the price, which is why i got it.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Fri, 25 January 2013, 13:21:31
The messaging app is SO silly, they stop supporting MSN but the implement msn messenger INTO the OS?

-.- so weird.
 
Ive been using it for about a week now and it still feels like one of the notorious bridging OS's microsoft seems to like doing. If you install classic start menu then yeah youll likely be happy, theres also small features i like... however there is ALOT of rough edges that NEED fixing, which is comparable to vista/7.

The messaging app broke my skype until i stopped using my microsoft account and used a local account instead.

The only reason to get it right now is the price, which is why i got it.
MSN/Windoows Live Messenger is now dead they integrated it with skype
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Fri, 25 January 2013, 13:21:50
I've been having some problems lately. yesterday there were 25 updates to be installed on my computer. i believe it's the update of the windows 8 drivers.. after it reaches 100% configuration, it just shows "Restarting" ( I clicked update and restart ). The restart continued for quite a while, until i had to manually switch off.
never use driver from windows update unless you have to
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: sordna on Fri, 25 January 2013, 13:28:35
MSN/Windoows Live Messenger is now dead they integrated it with skype

Anybody knows when a web-version of skype will be available ?  Messenger worked as a web app (and most of Office does) ...
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Fri, 25 January 2013, 13:57:07
I havnt the slighest clue though idk how likey itll be available since everything runs on apps now days.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Fri, 25 January 2013, 13:58:16
O wait sorry a bit tired here would you be talking like a "cloud" app?
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: sordna on Fri, 25 January 2013, 14:36:27
Yes, actually Microsoft is converting everything to cloud apps, no? Even for enterprise (office365) but also if you have hotmail / outlook.com account, you can create and edit office documents using a web browser, even with a chromebook. So everything is moving to the cloud, and I would guess Skype (now a Microsoft product) would be too, especially if it replaces Messenger which had a web-app version.  Look at it another way, all IM / video chat apps (yahoo, google talk, microsoft messenger) were web based, and now Microsoft will be the only one that will not have a web-based option?  No, Skype is bound to have a web-app version, so you can use it on thin clients, chromebooks, and the like, my question is not "if" but "when" ? :-)
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sat, 26 January 2013, 10:41:00
yea i agree that everythings goinkg to web apps which I dont like but its whats going to happen
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: WRXChris on Sat, 26 January 2013, 11:47:13
After a few days using win8 + classic shell, im very happy I grabbed it for $15 while I could!  I may pick up another license for my old crappy atom-powered netbook; does anyone know if it runs faster than 7 on very low-end machines?

I really like the small touches like better info when copying files, smoother driver installs, etc. I havent had flickering issues with eyefinity like I did with 7, but they could show up later, they usually started when updating amd graphics drivers without using driver sweeper first.  The start screen is an atrocity but thankfully there are quite a few third party start menu apps, im using classic shell because its free.  Overall I like it quite a bit so far, I havent found anything that's worse than 7 IMO!
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheProfosist on Sat, 26 January 2013, 11:50:16
great to hear ive had a close experience
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: TheQsanity on Sun, 27 January 2013, 20:43:18
We still have three more days to redeem the $15 Windows8 right?

http://www.windowsupgradeoffer.com/en-US/SelectCulture?previousController=Registration&previousAction=Index

I already have one but for $15 dollars, I might as well pick up another.
Title: Re: Windows 8, your thoughts?
Post by: Turkishrambo on Mon, 28 January 2013, 15:58:48
We still have three more days to redeem the $15 Windows8 right?

http://www.windowsupgradeoffer.com/en-US/SelectCulture?previousController=Registration&previousAction=Index

I already have one but for $15 dollars, I might as well pick up another.

It clearly says you have to buy a new windows 7 computer to be qualified

"Buy a qualified Windows 7 PC today
Register for the offer
Redeem your upgrade"