Just installed Windows 8 - A+ Microsoft

BigBlue8

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Not that this matters, but I'm 22 years old. I installed Windows 8 about an hour ago. I absolutely love this OS. It's refreshing and a new take on an outdated product, and I feel it's a step in the right direction. I'm definitely tipping my hat to Microsoft, because after reading reviews, I was honestly expecting the worst. Turns out, it's actually pretty great.

The installation time was much much less than that of the previous Microsoft OS. The quick installation process caught me off guard, as I was expecting similar times to Windows 7. It took, at most, 15 minutes for me to be set up and ready to go. A nice feature it had was to auto download drivers during setup(though I have had Windows XP and 7 be ready to go immediately with drivers installed.)

I'm not really sure why everyone I spoke to had so much trouble figuring Windows 8 out. I have a friend who advised against getting Windows 8 because he said it took him 2 weeks to figure out how to shut the computer down, but it turns out, my friend may be lacking common sense.

The first thing I done once I got the computer set up was go to the desktop app to look for a shutdown option. No option? Ok. Maybe the start menu has a option to shutdown. No option? Hmm. Maybe if I click my name and sign out of the account like I use to be able to with Windows XP(with multiple user accounts), there might be a shutdown option. Sure enough, there was the option to put the computer to sleep, restart, shutdown, etc.

Another problem that I heard people complain about was the lack of icons on the desktop and that they could never find My Computer, My Documents, and so forth. As with previous Microsoft products, a right click to the desktop will allow you to put the icons you want on the desktop app.

The apps worked flawlessly, and a nice change. I was a bit surprised with the new Internet Explorer. The IE app was a bit different, but not bad. Just from using it a little bit, it appears Windows 8 is geared towards user customization with the desktop and 'Start' menu, which is a good thing.

The one thing I did have trouble with a bit is multitasking. I figured out a little just by messing with it, but after reading up on it, it wasn't difficult at all. Different, yes, but not difficult. I have yet to do a time test to see if I'm more efficient with Windows 7 or Windows 8 when it comes to multitasking(I'm in college for medical administration, so multitasking is important to me), but I plan to later tonight.

The startup/shutdown times are twice the speed as the previous OS as well. I'm sure this change is welcomed by all, and rightly so. I also downloaded and tested ClassicShell, and it made the computer so simple that my 50 year old mother had no problem using it. It's nice if people aren't a fan of the new UI. I can see why people would hate it, but it doesn't bother me. I like it.

Windows 8 isn't as different from Windows 7 as I thought it was going to be. A lot of the stuff works the same way, and what doesn't, is common sense. There is always room for improvement, and I can see why a lot of people(especially the older crowd that use computers for Facebook) hate the new UI, but at the end of the day it is a solid, easy to use, operating system.

Windows 8 is everything I was hoping for and more. I(and I'm sure a lot of the younger generation, and perhaps some of the older generations) enjoy the apps and the new one OS fits all philosophy from Microsoft. I use a Windows phone, and have a couple tablets that I use for vacation, so the one OS fits all is a nice change in my opinion.

As I said, I can see why some people hate it. I have yet to test it for multitasking and games, but so far, I'm really enjoying this new OS. The learning curve isn't as bad as it is made out to be. If anyone out there is curious about Windows 8 and discouraged from trying it because of the negative opinions surrounding it (which is why I didn't test it sooner), don't listen to them. Install it and try it for yourself, and hopefully, you'll have a experience as awesome as I have with it.

Cheers!
 
Last edited:

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@BigBlue8,
Well said !!! I am in different generation. I did not play with Windows 8 until 2 weeks after the release. After one full day playing with it, I decided to build images for all my Windows 7 PC's and Laptop and they have been running Windows 8 since without a glitch. The word you use: "Common sense" is right on, with every version of Windows and with a little bit of common sense, you can customize it up to your imagination.
So far, all the applications such as Adobe Creative Suite, Power Director Video Editing Software, MS Office etc.... that were installed in Windows 7 all run with quick response and a lot smoother. I was never a fan of start menu so I did not even bother with Classic Shell, everything I do is in cascading context menu.
 

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@BigBlue8,
Well said !!! I am in different generation. I did not play with Windows 8 until 2 weeks after the release. After one full day playing with it, I decided to build images for all my Windows 7 PC's and Laptop and they have been running Windows 8 since without a glitch. The word you use: "Common sense" is right on, with every version of Windows and with a little bit of common sense, you can customize it up to your imagination.
So far, all the applications such as Adobe Creative Suite, Power Director Video Editing Software, MS Office etc.... that were installed in Windows 7 all run with quick response and a lot smoother. I was never a fan of start menu so I did not even bother with Classic Shell, everything I do is in cascading context menu.

I'm glad you like it as well. I'm highly considering installing it on my other 2 PCs. If I knew for sure my stand alone media players would work well with Windows 8, my other computers would have it installed. As far as I know, my media players work with 8, but still a bit buggy from reports.

People are just afraid of change. The change between Windows 8 and 7 isn't as bad as it is made out to be. Sure, it's a little different, but spend 30 minutes on it, and you're good to go. The only programs I installed thus far are Adobe Photoshop and IMGBurn. Both are working great, and I'm confident all of my other programs will as well.

I'm kind of regretting not making the switch sooner.

:thumb:
 

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Hmmm, a 1-post user gushing paragraphs over how amazing Windows 8 is.... Really??

You're just another "Microsoft Viral Marketing Agent" aren't you.

I don't even think people who like Windows 8 would claim it's "A+" material...
 

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I wouldn't even call Windows 7 A+ material, even though it's my favorite OS of all time...

Thank goodness Windows 7 security support will last many many more years.
 

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I'm glad you like it as well. I'm highly considering installing it on my other 2 PCs. If I knew for sure my stand alone media players would work well with Windows 8, my other computers would have it installed. As far as I know, my media players work with 8, but still a bit buggy from reports.

I do own 3 Media Players, 2 seagate Freeagent+ and recently bought a 3rd one from AIOS. It depends on the firmware of the player, with Seagate, I did have problem even with Windows 7, I applied some registry tweak then they all work and did the same for Windows 8. With AIOS, I did not have any problem and the reason I bought it because it can play any format that I throw at it.
 

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Coke is that you ?

You are deranged if you think I would make another user account to promote Windows 8 without monetary recompense... :)
 

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I will not be surprise MS pay employees to try to make damage control on forums.

HAHA! I love how when normal people say Windows 8 is good, it AUTOMATICALLY means they're a Microsoft employee! :D

I just have to question, why be going around on a Windows 8 forum when you're not using Windows 8? I've yet to understand why some people do that, they just go around throwing fits of outrage here and there about Windows 8, and they're not even using it! They're using Windows 7! What is this?!
 

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Well then! Glad to hear your Windows 8 experience is going so far! I have to say, the power options reside in the Settings charm, move the mouse pointer to the left hand corners and move to the middle to reveal them. Hit Settings, and you'll see the options right there. I was once also doing the logging out to shut down back in the day with the Developer Preview. Unlike some people, my pride wasn't damaged and continued to learn a new UI and OS versus backing down saying it's crap because a meager little UI bested me.

You should check out the Customizations thread, one being Post your Start Screen! Some pretty cool things you can do with it! You can also right click on folders and libraries and such and hit Pin to Start to make those items appear on the Start Screen.
 

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I have to admit, even as a Windows 8 supporter, I found this post out of the blue fishy for a number of reasons.

1) He claims he installed it an hour earlier, but claims to have done testing with all kinds of things, including Classic Shell and what not.. simply not enough time to have done that. Ok, maybe he was just say "an hour ago" meaning "a bit ago" or something..

2) He immediately jumps to a web forum, which he has never participated in before, and gushes about it. Seems odd. Maybe we were just lucky he found us. Maybe he used sevenforums and knew about the board. If so, why didn't he do some research here?

3) Talked to lots of people that were down on it, but went ahead anyways? Some people do.. but if he talked to so many people, why hadn't had he not posted on the board before? Particularly when this is the first place he went to to gush?

4) Seemed to hit all the common points people complain about and miraculously found no issues. He must be a genius because even I didn't get used to it that quickly.

Now, I think it's complete paranoia to claim that Microsoft is paying people to do this. That's ridiculous. This claim is always made in forums, and frankly doesn't hold up to Occam's Razor. It's probably just someone that likes Windows 8. But then again, it is possible everything they said is true, more or less...

Regardless, whoever it is does like Windows 8. So let's just take it for what it is.
 

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I liked Windows 8 from day one.... :shock:
 

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    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
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Now, I think it's complete paranoia to claim that Microsoft is paying people to do this. That's ridiculous.

If I was Microsoft's marketing department, I would certainly pay a team to post overly-positive comments on forums and Windows 8 articles all across the net. It's called viral marketing. It's real. What so hard to believe?

Does it seem dishonest to you? Ask yourself, when have advertisements ever been pillars of integrity? X-ray glasses anyone?

There was a recent news article about 1 BILLION fake YouTube views being removed from big production studio videos. I don't expect the average person to possess an ounce of skepticism about the media or big corporations, but for the rest of us, it's painfully obvious what's going on to manipulate public opinion.

Some of us won't be buying into it.
 

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If I was Microsoft's marketing department, I would certainly pay a team to post overly-positive comments on forums and Windows 8 articles all across the net. It's called viral marketing. It's real. What so hard to believe?

That says more about you than anything. Just because YOU would do it, doesn't mean they do it.

The fact is, Microsoft went down that road decades ago, and they got huge black eyes over it. It's called astroturfing, and there was a huge hubbub over back in the 80's. From what I understand, it's been official MS policy to not engage in astroturfing since then.

The fact is, now that Microsoft is a publicly traded company, they have a lot of rules they must follow, such as Sarbanes Oxley. They must also meet SEC regulations or risk having their stock de-listed. Astroturfing can be seen as a form of stock pumping, and if it was discovered that they engaged in that, they would be in serious trouble.

So yes, it IS ridiculous that Microsoft, or any large publicly traded company would engage in astroturfing. That's not to say that some employees might not, on their own, promote MS products. But there are also rules that MS Employees must follow when doing so, or risk termination. But, MS is a big company, and it's not outside the realm of possibility that some people do things that are against policy.


Does it seem dishonest to you? Ask yourself, when have advertisements ever been pillars of integrity? X-ray glasses anyone?

When's the last time you saw an ad for X-ray glasses?

Things are very different for publicly traded companies vs. private companies. There is now so much regulation in place that publicly traded companies can hardly look cross-eyed without running afoul of it.

There was a recent news article about 1 BILLION fake YouTube views being removed from big production studio videos. I don't expect the average person to possess an ounce of skepticism about the media or big corporations, but for the rest of us, it's painfully obvious what's going on to manipulate public opinion.

Some of us won't be buying into it.

And some of you are people that see conspiracies in every dark corner. Good to know who you are though.
 

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In the same vain, maybe all that post negative Windows comments are employees of a certain fruit company :p

BTW, who is hiding the ancient aliens :rolleyes:
 

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