Windows 8 thread

[Notorious Honey Badger]

Anyone else checking out the preview?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...elease-preview
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8

Downloading it now, kind of excited to see how it goes.

[Coys1882]

Looking forward to Fanin80 and Hothotheat's opinions....

[TorqueDog]

Downloading as we speak.

Should be done in about 15 minutes. 3.22 MB/sec.

[Notorious Honey Badger]

I'm really displeased with this OS so far. It's so different and not necessarily in a way I like yet.

I dunno ill try more.

edit: I can only describe this as a very upsetting experience so far

[nik-]

I wanna try it, but I only have one PC. I'm seeing mixed reports on running in on Oracle VirtualBox, anyone here doing so?

[sclitheroe]

I really like the Metro interface. Speaking as dedicated Mac user, no less.

[Hemi-Cuda]

no way i'll be switching to this unless they make the Metro interface optional. it's a great idea for a touch screen tablet, but as a desktop OS it's so cumbersome compared to the classic start button

[Notorious Honey Badger]

if metro is optional, great. if not.. wow.

i dont even know what id do. what a horrible piece of cumbersome $$$$ it is.

[Rathji]

Having test run "Windows 8 Server", I can only say that it is unbelievably frustrating not being able to find simple things like, I don't know, the start button. Maybe it was just the version I was testing (a few months ago) but I was pretty aggravated after using it for a couple hours.

The only version of Windows 8 I have run was the dev version I believe, and it was extremely unpolished, but it wasnt bad. I should probably check this out to see if they have fixed some of my concerns.

Also, the versions I have run have been fine in VirtualBox

[OilKiller]

Download, installed, uninstalled, that is all...

[photon]

Windows 7 is the new Windows XP/Windows 95.

[Daradon]

If this is the the one with the boxes for different apps and functions I hate it.

As you said, great for a tab, idiotic for a PC.

Course I guess that`s the bet.

PC`s are dying.

[FanIn80]

I've missed around with it on and off throughout the different stages of it's availability. It does have some pretty neat features, but I think the two things that stand out the most are:

1. A whole new interface that people are going to have to re-learn. Obviously, it's not that big of a deal for people like myself and most of the users that frequent this tech section (in fact, I kind of enjoy the exploration factor behind it), but the majority of 'regular' users out there really don't like having to re-learn how to use their computers every few years or so. I talk to a lot of typical computer users on a daily basis, and that's the one complaint about Microsoft that I hear the most. In fairness, this can be said about a lot of different software companies... But unfortunately, those software companies don't create the operating system that controls the entire computer.

2. More product confusion. We're going from a desktop OS (Windows 7) being installed on tablets, to a tablet OS (Windows 8) being installed on desktops. I'm really hoping that Microsoft decides not to make the tablet-optimized overlay the default UI for desktops (opting to save that for tablets instead), but so far they haven't done that - and my 20 years of supporting their products makes me hesitant to believe they will.

Having said all of that, though, I do want to reiterate what I touched on in the beginning of this post. Windows 8 does have some pretty cool additions to it, and I'm looking forward to seeing it in it's final form. I'm really excited to see some of the Windows 8 tablets that should follow its release, I just hope there's going to be a way to disable the tablet stuff on a desktop install. The Metro UI is pretty cool but it's clumsy to work with on a PC with a mouse and keyboard.

[HPLovecraft]

I was under the impression that the classic Windows UI with start button would be the default, with this more tablet-esque UI as an option? I'm not as informed as some probably are, though, so I may be wrong.

However, as long as this tablet-esque UI is optional, and the default UI is similar to Windows 7, I'll be happy with it. I pre-ordered Leap Motion, and using that with Metro looks like it will be really, really cool and fun.

[To Be Quite Honest]

It seems Windows is trying to force extreme change rather than a gentle gradual slide. Not a good idea for desktop and laptop consumers! If it gets such terrible reviews from the public I am sure an update will come that will fix the interface.

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by To Be Quite Honest

It seems Windows is trying to force extreme change rather than a gentle gradual slide. Not a good idea for desktop and laptop consumers! If it gets such terrible reviews from the public I am sure an update will come that will fix the interface.

Yeah, Windows 9!

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by HPLovecraft

I was under the impression that the classic Windows UI with start button would be the default, with this more tablet-esque UI as an option? I'm not as informed as some probably are, though, so I may be wrong.

However, as long as this tablet-esque UI is optional, and the default UI is similar to Windows 7, I'll be happy with it. I pre-ordered Leap Motion, and using that with Metro looks like it will be really, really cool and fun.

It is a simple switch to have the "Windows 7" interface as your default interface, but the OOBE is set to Metro by default I beleive.

[Notorious Honey Badger]

So Windows 8 is here for the metro interface? And if 30% of users who get it turn it off right away why would we upgrade?

[opendoor]

Unless I'm mistaken, I don't believe Metro can be switched off natively. As far as I'm aware the only way to get the start menu back is with 3rd party utilities or registry hacks. And even then, the days for those things may be numbered as there were rumors leading up to the consumer preview that Microsoft was stripping out old code to prevent 3rd party utilities from getting the start button and menu back. Most of them still work, but whether that'll be the case with the final release remains to be seen. Most indications seem to be that Microsoft is making a concerted effort to make a permanent change in the interface.

[Notorious Honey Badger]

wow. ugh. wtf. fata you microsoft, if thats the case. fata you.