My thoughts on Windows 8

[Guest]

So my thoughts after installing Windows 8 on a Desktop PC with a Phenom X4 2GB ram and Nvdia 7025/630a graphics.
First off the new UI Metro is awful on a PC with a mouse/keyboard. Its not intuitive at all and really requires a touch screen or a tablet/smartphone. So I wonder if Microsoft will try to give a boost to the PC industry by nudging users to buy Touchscreen PC's? Or will they have a better default for traditional users?
I was able to finally navigate away from the Metro screen to a more traditional desktop theme. But alas its not a whole lot better so far. Knowing this is a developer version. I was not expecting RC quality and I was not disappointed. I was able to use Internet Explorer 10 with Flash downloaded from Adobe. But adding other programs is still a mystery so far. I went to Google and could not download Chrome as I have before. I was also amazed at how poorly the Windows UI improvements were. The scroll bar shrunk in Apple's Lion and seems to have become wider in IE 10?? The other issue is when using the Metro UI with IE your at Full screen all the time! I mean Full screen, no task bar no nothing. Just Web page. As I said before it was not easy figuring out how to navigate with Metro. After a day trying out Windows 8 I would say Tablets will be happy with what Microsoft has done. The rest who like the traditional user interface of Windows will be sadly disappointed. Oh its still there when you dig for it.
But the having to dig for it that's the problem. Unless Microsoft can give users a better set of options for Metro. I think Windows 8 will be a dud on the PC.

 

[christop]

From all I can tell running win8 is it is more geared toward tablets or touch screen. It is just win7 with a few tweaks. I don't see any point to an upgrade later when it is released.

 

[mavroxur]

Metro is horrendous on a desktop without a touch interface. It looks like Microsoft collaborated with Fisher Price to develop the new UI.

 

[beenthere]

To me that sounds like a fully finished release from Microsucks.

Dollar Bill's moto is: "Ship it - we'll try to fix it later".

 

[PepitoneConQueso]

Not to mention the XBox Live integration seems like a disaster. Microsoft is trying to take on Steam and that is not going to end well for them.

 

[hella-d]

Well I Do Like The Fact That Its Seems To Run As Fast On 512MB Of RAM As Windows7 Does On 1GB, That Ive Tested To Show That It Uses Multicore Slightly Better And Finnaly It Seems To Use Individual Cores Better As Well (About 1% Or So Less Idle Utilization), And Finally I Like The Desktops New Look And Even The Start Button And Windows Control Looks.

HOWEVER I HATE METRO!!, Please At-Least Give The End User The Option To Use The Standard Desktop.

 

[internetlad]

just having to sift through the metro is a pain, As far as i could tell there was no "disable metro" option in the control panel.

Also the location thing didn't work at all, it said I was in anaheim, So I assume they just locked in the location of the developer conference because the location thing wasn't done lol.

 

[sminlal]

I don't see a lot of point in desktop users complaining about the Metro interface since the "classic" interface will be there for them.

Now if tablet and portable device users say it sucks then I'd agree that MS has a problem.

 

[WR2]

I went to Google and could not download Chrome as I have before. I was also amazed at how poorly the Windows UI improvements were. The scroll bar shrunk in Apple's Lion and seems to have become wider in IE 10?? The other issue is when using the Metro UI with IE your at Full screen all the time! I mean Full screen, no task bar no nothing.

I'm not sure why you're having problems that I'm not. Chrome, Firefox, iTunes, Yahoo Messenger, Live Mail are all installed and running nicely.

As for IE - if you start it in the Metro UI it's the touch optimized version.
Start IE in the Desktop and it's the standard IE configuration.

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Customizing the Metro UI wasn't that hard to figure out but I would like some more flexibility on how to set it up. I expect that will come as more apps migrate to support Metro.
I can see why it might be a good idea to have a standard UI across a users PC, Notebook, Tablet and Phone. So far I can't see any major downside or limitations on the way I get work done.


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[harley girl]

If you want to change your location in the Weather app, click on the app, right click once you are in the app. A task bar will show up at the bottom of your screen where you can remove a city and add a city.

 

[rrr1431]

It seems that the applications are really just big square icon shortcuts placed on the desktop.

 

[internetlad]

It seems that the applications are really just big square icon shortcuts placed on the desktop.

I relate it more to a start menu, but it's all spaced out into the tiles instead of in a condensed list mode.

The big thing is that the metro is longer than the screen, so you slide it back and forth.

 

[alyoshka]

I kinda liked the speed at which it works. They certainly have come up with a really fancy UI, that really sucks without a touch screen but attaching a kinetic would really make a world of a difference, plus if you have one of those fancy pads with the pen used for electronic scribbling that could be modded into a full touchpad.
Although the basic UI is cluttered with a lot of junk that we may not all be using, it's something that they seem to have built for the Tablets.
On a overall note, I like the new look, just need to change the widgets to more of my own, like I did put Toms RSS on it. So if we get down to modifying the whole thing to our own liking , I really think this is a big step from the conventional OS.
I still have to try it on my eyefinity setup to see if I need to slide the whole UI to get to see all the tabs but if it doesn't need to slide and I can see it all, then this is going to be one hell of a touch OS.
What I really enjoyed was the speed, it took me 5 minutes to Install onto a SSD from a DVD and took me 7 minutes to install from a Pen drive to a standard HDD.
Now that is really very fast deployment even faster than a Ghost Image.
The second plus is it's a hell of a lot more faster than than the normal OS, getting started, opening a tab, new program, shuffling through windows, opening apps, browsers and all the other stuff just happens so damn fast.
Now, I think we need to just finetune it to our own needs and likes.

Of course I am still having a tough time finding my way about to the programs and of course Dual booting seems to be an issue.
Every time I click on the Start Menu Button it takes me to the damn widget screen and when booting into Vista X64 it just doesn't show that option.

Hmmmmm To get to paint, you need to goto search apps--- apps---- under "P" you'll find MSPaint....
Interesting....... a little roundabout..... but still interesting. And then you can pin it to the taskbar.

This would make the whole taskbar pretty cluttered I think.

Plugging in peripherals seems to be causing me some heartburn.

 

[Pyree]

There is now a new window 8 froum so we can all migrate there for thsi discussion. I am still downloading window 8. I will join the discussion after I install it.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

This topic has been moved from the section Windows 7 to section Windows 8 by Area51reopened

 

[alyoshka]

Yup, I guess so, just when I just pasted the earlier stuff on a new thread ,but, good it was moved fully. Could delete the new thread and not have a double post.

 

[alyoshka]

Gosh!! ALT+F4 Doesn't work on it.
There are no close program "X" for any of the Apps. and they keep filling up the RAM.
I have had to End Task from the Task Manager for nearly all the Apps once I started them that's something that needs to be looked into I think.

I loved the connecting to another display / projector and stuff like that.....kinda for the people who can't read english, but, it's better and easier for people new to the concept.

 

[vdr369]

can any one post a link to download windows 8 x64 version.I am curios to experiment on it.

 

[penguintech]

I can say after playing around with it for an hour or so, I am less than impressed. Not a fan of the Metro UI, and as an owner of a Touchsmart PC, I would not want to put this on my machine. I don't like how user un-friendly everything seems, hopefully this will change in later versions. I am aware that it's only a Dev. preview and many things I saw will be different when it comes to the end product. I don't like that there is no way to close out of programs, they just keep running in the background until they are stopped through task manager. I really think this is a step backwards rather than forwards. It will be easy for a 5 year old to navigate through, but for us grown-ups, I think it's a bit childish in nature. Click the box, see what happens. I think this one may go the way of Vista, as being one OS version that will be skipped by many users using 7 now. 7 is by far the most easiest and user friendly OS in my opinion. Not everyone is going to run out and get a tablet or a touch screen computer for an OS, especially one like this.
While I don't personally like it myself, it might just be for other users who will love the new interface. People who have to have the newest of everything and the like. While I don't like it now, that may change as things within the OS change. But I don't think so. I have to say I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

 

[Pyree]

Hi, run into a problem. There is a giant grey box on my desktop showing my time and wireless network. I don't think I click on anything there to bring it up (or at least I may have accidentally done something, but I was really careful on what I click). I tried to click on blanks on the taskbar, the desktop but it wouldn't go away. Anyone had that problem? Ideas on what is going on? It is not a gadget, I haven't select any.

Edit: restart and it goes away.

 

[alyoshka]

can any one post a link to download windows 8 x64 version.I am curios to experiment on it.

You can use any from the page below
http://www.multiupload.com/Q4E1IYS2Q6
or go to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516

 

[Pyree]

Since I am installing mine in a VM, I cannot test hardware driver compatibility. Does window 7 driver works alright on window 8? May be put in a few gpu in the mix?

 

[alyoshka]

I have not had to load a single driver till now. It just takes everything automatically.
Not on a VM though, but on a standard rig, I have had no problems, and I have installed it on 5 absolutely different rigs.

 

[Pyree]

Not even for gpu?

 

[alyoshka]

Nope, not even the GPU, the Nvidia were taken automatically from the net before I even got to see the desktop. Same case for the ATI and the Intel IGP too.