[WIN8] Windows 8 Thread

[andyroo54]

Originally Posted by chainbolt

Me neither. What we get is the moaning of people who either haven't even tried W8 and wildly speculate, or the usual grunts when something new requires a few changes from old usage patterns.

I can appreciate or understand someone bemoaning something new, I did it myself, but like you said, if you haven't even used it it's a bit rich to even comment on it.

[fallenMeSsIAH]

I just installed the release preview today after using the consumer preview since it was released (couldn't be bothered re-installing Windows 7 after I had a play around and I got used to Metro pretty quickly) and it feels a lot more polished.

[the scotsman]

Originally Posted by fallenMeSsIAH

I just installed the release preview today after using the consumer preview since it was released (couldn't be bothered re-installing Windows 7 after I had a play around and I got used to Metro pretty quickly) and it feels a lot more polished.

Yea it does doesn't it. The UI feels more polished and looks a lot more "contemporary". Not all bubbly and cartoony....much more refined.

it's so very fast too, even compared to Windows 7.

[andyroo54]

Originally Posted by fallenMeSsIAH

I just installed the release preview today after using the consumer preview since it was released (couldn't be bothered re-installing Windows 7 after I had a play around and I got used to Metro pretty quickly) and it feels a lot more polished.

This is exactly what happened to me! But I'm still to lazy now to wipe my main machine again to the new release.. I've got on my laptop and it is tempting.. ah well I'm not going out tonight.. Might as well reformat my SSD to release prev!

ME:

[MR CHILLED]

Sheesh, dual boot is a real struggle now....

[andyroo54]

I made this short recording to show those just how well windows 8 runs on very modest hardware. This is an old laptop I wrote off at work because it's 4.5+ years old, and has a faulty internal power component where Dell quoted $400 for repair, so I wrote it off, but I thought I might play with it a bit this weekend before I bin it. I had a look at the fault but seems to be components related to the MB.

This is a very outdated laptop:

CPU: Intel Core 2 T5600 @ 1.83GHz

RAM: 2.50GB

Running 32-bit win 8 Release build 8400

Sound warning!

[mrbean_phillip]

Not bad, Andyroo.

Let me add to that - I've just installed Win8 Preview to my Thinkpad X60T (Tablet), 2Gb of Ram, 32-bit mode, and L7400 1.5Ghz CPU - and it is actually faster than XP SP3 used to be on it. Nice and speedy, to be honest.

Most devices are working, screen rotation not though, but a small matter - will check Lenovo's website later.

First impressions - different from Win 7, at least the Start-screen, underneath that, very easy to navigate. First time I try this, and to be honest, cannot see what all the negativity wrt Start-screen is about.

Yeah, different, but, all-in-all, not bad. I must admit, I quite like it, and will go well for Carputer use, or Kitchenputer or similar - I can see it being very touchscreen friendly.

But then again, I may have a few brain-cells missing, so yeah

ps: Luv your taste in music!

[Revenger]

I've been looking (more like obsessing) at that classic shell start menu playing arround with things etc.

A few things I have noticed are that game explorer is no longer viewable natively but its still installed and active just no link to the folder which you can get on classic shell.

According to microsoft:

The Games Explorer UI is not visible. All games registered with the Game Explorer are surfaced as tiles in the Metro UI,

Other various things as mentioned the shutdown box etc are all enabled but not natively shown as well as 'sleep' etc.

I have made a metro style start menu icon using some inbuilt windows icons I found and done my own backup classic shell menu with the main profile folders etc I'll share on here later in the next day.

[Shimmy]

Not sure if it's because I'm running win 8 within virtualbox but it seems highly buggy. Wanted to try running VS2012 to see how I'd go about developing apps for metro but gave up after the 10th crash.

Might have better luck installing it as a host OS.

I think their 'app' theme design it far too overly simplified, so much so that it's hard to work out where the navigation options are. That philosophy might work fine for windows phone 7 but I don't think it translates too well to the desktop.

The more I use it the more I believe this OS is tablet first then desktop a distant second.

[stmok]

Originally Posted by the scotsman

So you say all that and yet you haven't even tried Windows 8?

Why would I judge a product that has yet to hit production release?

Its like criticising a cake that has yet to be put in the oven.

Originally Posted by the scotsman

Metro isn't "forced" on anyone. The desktop as we know it is still there at the press of the Windows key. I use Windows 8 as my only OS on my laptop and I dont use Metro except to launch a few apps I have shortcuts for there.

I honestly can't see the issue.

The issue is that MS is gambling on trying a fundamentally different thing. It could backfire on them as it expressly targets a particular class of user as the default.

We've already seen (Vista era) that the Windows user base doesn't consist of blind followers who lavishly praise every new change Microsoft brings. If they don't like it, they'll just wait for the next version. Microsoft takes a financial hit for that particular version of Windows.

Even MS's own CEO admits such a dramatic change is a gamble, as they don't know how their user base will respond. It's really surprising that folks like yourself don't see this perspective.

Originally Posted by andyroo54

Sorry, why should I be careful? Of course I was talking about desktops/laptops, and actually, most business servers. I have no idea why you bothered to write what you did, you seem to be suggesting that MS should be scared that printers and GPS devices, or the HUGE supercomputer businesses are going to rise up and steal their PC market share??

*sigh*

The point is that Microsoft dominates desktop/notebooks, not the world's systems. They have tried many things to enter other markets and have largely failed.

Here's the part you missed: Strategic perspective of the technology market.

The market for portable devices is growing. The traditional desktop/notebook market is becoming less dominate in sales compared to the past. To put things into perspective...

In the first quarter of 2012 (January to March).
* Global desktop/notebook sales: 2.8 million units
* Global smartphone sales: 144.4 million units

It means Microsoft can no longer rely on the traditional market they've depended on for so long. Portable devices running on iOS and Android are becoming the dominant players in the consumer market. If those competitors evolve over time to sufficiently replace common desktop uses, Microsoft is in trouble.

While you don't see this, Ballmer does. He sees this situation as a threat to Microsoft's long term future. The game is changing around them, and they need to act. That's why he is pushing Windows 8 into this direction of being more consumer oriented and adopting ARM hardware as a variant: Windows RT...Not to mention getting Nokia as the provider for Windows-specific smartphones.

Another thing you have yet to grasp is that market share is not forever. Its not fixed. All it takes is a competitor to properly address their weaknesses and offer more benefits/features Microsoft does not at a lower price point. Microsoft will then be forced to react in some way. (Which can be drastic changes that its long established user base may not like and can outright potentially reject.)

...Market share dominance can be eroded by a persistent competitor and time. The one in the current dominant position is on the defensive, especially if they haven't been consistent themselves. ie: dropping the ball in one version and doing well in the following isn't consistency. (Since you aren't really moving forward in the overall scheme of things.)


While you may speak of lavish and praise for Windows 8 in its current form, it doesn't change the fact that you (nor Microsoft) is sure how its user base will respond to the changes of the final release. OCAU doesn't represent the general or mainstream consumer. Its an enthusiast site. And enthusiasts tend to make less than 5% of the overall computing population. Mainstream consumers are where serious money is made.

[the scotsman]

Originally Posted by stmok

Why would I judge a product that has yet to hit production release?

Its like criticising a cake that has yet to be put in the oven.

It may not be the final release but the concept of Metro is there and obviously won't change in any dramatic way between now and then. Sounds like a poor excuse to me.

[andyroo54]

Originally Posted by stmok

*sigh*

The point is that Microsoft dominates desktop/notebooks, not the world's systems. They have tried many things to enter other markets and have largely failed.

Here's the part you missed: Strategic perspective of the technology market.

The market for portable devices is growing. The traditional desktop/notebook market is becoming less dominate in sales compared to the past. To put things into perspective...

In the first quarter of 2012 (January to March).
* Global desktop/notebook sales: 2.8 million units
* Global smartphone sales: 144.4 million units

It means Microsoft can no longer rely on the traditional market they've depended on for so long. Portable devices running on iOS and Android are becoming the dominant players in the consumer market. If those competitors evolve over time to sufficiently replace common desktop uses, Microsoft is in trouble.

While you don't see this, Ballmer does. He sees this situation as a threat to Microsoft's long term future. The game is changing around them, and they need to act. That's why he is pushing Windows 8 into this direction of being more consumer oriented and adopting ARM hardware as a variant: Windows RT...Not to mention getting Nokia as the provider for Windows-specific smartphones.

Another thing you have yet to grasp is that market share is not forever. Its not fixed. All it takes is a competitor to properly address their weaknesses and offer more benefits/features Microsoft does not at a lower price point. Microsoft will then be forced to react in some way. (Which can be drastic changes that its long established user base may not like and can outright potentially reject.)

...Market share dominance can be eroded by a persistent competitor and time. The one in the current dominant position is on the defensive, especially if they haven't been consistent themselves. ie: dropping the ball in one version and doing well in the following isn't consistency. (Since you aren't really moving forward in the overall scheme of things.)


While you may speak of lavish and praise for Windows 8 in its current form, it doesn't change the fact that you (nor Microsoft) is sure how its user base will respond to the changes of the final release. OCAU doesn't represent the general or mainstream consumer. Its an enthusiast site. And enthusiasts tend to make less than 5% of the overall computing population. Mainstream consumers are where serious money is made.

Sigh yourself. You are making grand assumptions based on your opinion.


"If those competitors evolve over time to sufficiently replace common desktop uses, Microsoft is in trouble."

So you are suggesting that everyone will give up their laptops... for smartphones? That is what you're suggesting. How can I take you seriously?

"Another thing you have yet to grasp is that market share is not forever. Its not fixed. All it takes is a competitor to properly address their weaknesses and offer more benefits/features Microsoft does not at a lower price point."

Tell me more about things I've apparently yet to grasp, and also how much better you are than everyone else in this thread.

"While you may speak of lavish and praise for Windows 8 in its current form, it doesn't change the fact that you (nor Microsoft) is sure how its user base will respond to the changes of the final release."

Actually if you had been following the thread, I've only recently come around to win 8, and It would be a stretch even by the most idiotic imagination to call what I've said about it 'lavish praise'.

I hope it will do well, because I like the company and I like the OS. But of course anything could happen. I don't even really know what point you are trying to make. I don't need to be told that tech companies constantly get left behind.

But if you are going to try to rubbish something without having even having used it, then it would be fair to call that hypocritical.


"Why would I judge a product that has yet to hit production release?

Its like criticising a cake that has yet to be put in the oven."

You are ready to 'criticize the cake', so it seems your mind is already made up. And besides, as others have said, it's not going to change dramatically between now and release, so you've got no excuse for not trying it. You can put it on a virtual machine even, if you don't have another PC to spare. If you'd like to learn how to use a virtual machine, I will post a link below.

http://www.redmondpie.com/install-wi...w-to-tutorial/

[Sledge]

$15 upgrade for new WIN 7 PC's
Includes us AUSSIE'S !!
http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...dows_8_upgrade
https://windowsupgradeoffer.com/en-US/Home/ProgramInfo
About to get some new hardware for a HTPC.. might as well get win 7 with it.. then upgrade to win 8 when it comes out..
interesting:

While the offer will be limited to eligible customers who purchase a qualified PC, the upgrade may be installed on any compatible Windows-based PC with a qualifying operating system.

But.. does it include those of us who build our own PC's.. seems not.. but how do they know?

[Reaper]

Rather wipe my arse with and then flush the $15.

[fallenMeSsIAH]

^omg the start menu (metro) is now big and easy to read how dare they!

I like how going from consumer to release (clean install) it synced my lock screen, my documents links (ie downloads points to f:\downloads) and what not.