Windows 8 stable enough?

samalex

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Just curious, is Windows 8 stable enough to run as a secondary system? My primary system at work is Win 7 and at home is OSX, but my laptop bounces between the two and is running Ubuntu Linux 10.04. Given I replace Linux with Windows 8 has anyone seen any show stopping bugs which might prevent me from using a system with Win 8 for casual use? The only mainstream application I'd really like to install is SQL Server 2008 R2 Dev Edition, which I've read in a few places does work on Win 8, but I'm just curious to see how stable you guys think it is at this point.

Take care --

Sam
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Ubuntu Linux 10.04
In short... no. if you notice most folks are ether using a dual boot or VM to play with 8. Why? because it is by its very title "developer build" unstable. It's still in production. Microsoft let us have this to provide feedback on how it is SO FAR :) Also a nice preview for folks who are planning to build apps for it. It's a baby.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 64x Enterprise
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    InterDual core E7500 @ 2.94 ghz
    Motherboard
    MSI
    Memory
    4gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia geforce 9400gt
    Hard Drives
    500gb sata
hmm well i'd say it depends on what u call stable....cause IMO stable means no or minimal crashing.....

PS all my normal apps run seamlessly on Win 8

the only thing ive noticed is inconsistent boot times....sometimes lightening fast @ others 3-5 times the usual
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Dev Preview
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    AMD PHENOM II 1090T BE
    Motherboard
    MSI-870A-G46
    Memory
    2 X4GB DDR3 1600 G.SKILL
    Graphics Card(s)
    RADEON 6850
    Hard Drives
    WD Caviar Black 2x1TB
    PSU
    Ultra X2 550W
    Case
    CM Centurion 5 II
I don't use metro ui, with a desktop gui its rock stable and slightly faster than win7. But please keep important data backed up because there may be unknown bugs and you don't want to lose stuff.
 

My Computer

I installed it on a seperate HDD so that it is seperated from Win7 (no double boot). After an initial problem which I ironed out, it runs very well. I have even installed some real "husky" programs that operate perfectly.

Like Bill. I work mostly thru the desktop, but sometimes you have to use the dreaded Metro. And imaging all your partitions on the system is a good idea. That was my initial problem . Win8 kept corrupting other partitions - even on the other drives (but I had my images).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Just curious, is Windows 8 stable enough to run as a secondary system?

In my opinion yes, but preferencialy keep your important data in a diferent disk or partition

:)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10.0.10122
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    My Build - Vorttex Ultimate
    CPU
    Core i7 @ 4500 MHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS Z87-Plus
    Memory
    32GB DDR3 @ 1822 MHz (OC)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon R9 280X 3GB @ 1180 / 6800 MHz
    Sound Card
    7.1 HDA
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD LG 22" + CRT LG 17"
    Screen Resolution
    1760 x 1320 / 1280 x 960
    Hard Drives
    1 x 240 GB SSD (System)
    3 x 500 GB HDD (Data/Media)
    1 x 2000 GB e-HDD (Backup)
    PSU
    ThermalTake 1000W PSU
    Case
    Corsair Carbide R300
    Cooling
    Corsair H60 (Push-Pull)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    60 Mbps (Down) 5 Mbps (Up)
    Browser
    IE, FF, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG Internet Security 2015
    Other Info
    Some wired stuff
I like to live dangerously. As such, I have made the Windows 8 Dev preview my only operating system on both my Desktop and laptop. My desktop has fared much better than my laptop. There are only a few minor things that have gone wrong on it (unable to print to network printer, for example). My laptop, however, will regularly freeze and not leave a crash dump or anything to help me diagnose the problem. Also, it is unable to exit hibernation, hanging on the screen that says "Windows Developer Preview" without the animation starting.

I am putting myself through this in order to get used to the new user interface. Hopefully, my computer is sending valuable information to the people at Microsoft to get this thing to be more stable.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Studio XPS 1340 / Custom desktop
    CPU
    LT: Intel P8600 Core 2 Duo (2.4GHz) DT: QX9770 Core 2 Extreme
    Motherboard
    DT: DX48BT2 from Intel
    Memory
    LT: 4GB of 1066MHz DDR3 DT: 8GB of OCZ DDR3 Dual Channel 1333Mhz Gold Series RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    LT: Nvidia 9400M G DT: GTX295
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DT: 2 Acer 23 iinch 1080p displays
    Screen Resolution
    LT: 1280x800 DT: 3840x1080
    Hard Drives
    LT: 320GB Seagate Momentus 7200rpm
    DT: 1TB Samsung HD103UJ 7200rpm
    PSU
    DT: 1000W Rosewill Bronze Series
    Case
    DT: Thermaltake Armor LCS
    Cooling
    DT: Custom assortment of wate rcooling parts
    Keyboard
    DT: Microsoft Sidewinder X4
    Mouse
    DT: Logitech wired USB mouse
    Internet Speed
    about 370KB/s down, 70KB/s up
Hi, freelancer91! :)

I take it you like to reinstall your OS over and over again on your main system until the final release, eh? ;)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, x64, DP8102 - Win7 Ultimate x64, Dual Boot
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba
    CPU
    Core 2 Duo T5500
    Motherboard
    Intel
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel 965
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop 17", Gateway 20"
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 (x2)
This isn't even the craziest thing I've done with my system. The craziest would either be the time I tried out Arch Linux or the time I Hackintoshed both of my machines. I don't have any data that I would be devastated to lose. If something does go wrong, I use a program like Acronis to restore.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Studio XPS 1340 / Custom desktop
    CPU
    LT: Intel P8600 Core 2 Duo (2.4GHz) DT: QX9770 Core 2 Extreme
    Motherboard
    DT: DX48BT2 from Intel
    Memory
    LT: 4GB of 1066MHz DDR3 DT: 8GB of OCZ DDR3 Dual Channel 1333Mhz Gold Series RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    LT: Nvidia 9400M G DT: GTX295
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DT: 2 Acer 23 iinch 1080p displays
    Screen Resolution
    LT: 1280x800 DT: 3840x1080
    Hard Drives
    LT: 320GB Seagate Momentus 7200rpm
    DT: 1TB Samsung HD103UJ 7200rpm
    PSU
    DT: 1000W Rosewill Bronze Series
    Case
    DT: Thermaltake Armor LCS
    Cooling
    DT: Custom assortment of wate rcooling parts
    Keyboard
    DT: Microsoft Sidewinder X4
    Mouse
    DT: Logitech wired USB mouse
    Internet Speed
    about 370KB/s down, 70KB/s up
This isn't even the craziest thing I've done with my system. The craziest would either be the time I tried out Arch Linux or the time I Hackintoshed both of my machines. I don't have any data that I would be devastated to lose. If something does go wrong, I use a program like Acronis to restore.
I have too many programs I use for work. I cannot risk having the DP or anything else as my main OS regardless of the data involved.
It would take an entire week, at least, to re-install all of those programs and set them up the way I want them.

I'll dual boot through this process until the final release and play with a few of the programs in the interim..

When I have work to do, I fall back to Win7. Heck, it took me this long just to get it exactly right after 10 years on XP. :)

Granted, when Win8 is officially released, I'll do it all over again but not until then - though I will play with it. :cool:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, x64, DP8102 - Win7 Ultimate x64, Dual Boot
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba
    CPU
    Core 2 Duo T5500
    Motherboard
    Intel
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel 965
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop 17", Gateway 20"
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 (x2)
This isn't even the craziest thing I've done with my system. The craziest would either be the time I tried out Arch Linux or the time I Hackintoshed both of my machines. I don't have any data that I would be devastated to lose. If something does go wrong, I use a program like Acronis to restore.
I have too many programs I use for work. I cannot risk having the DP or anything else as my main OS regardless of the data involved.
It would take an entire week, at least, to re-install all of those programs and set them up the way I want them.

I'll dual boot through this process until the final release and play with a few of the programs in the interim..

When I have work to do, I fall back to Win7. Heck, it took me this long just to get it exactly right after 10 years on XP. :)

Granted, when Win8 is officially released, I'll do it all over again but not until then - though I will play with it. :cool:

If you depend so much on your system, I suggest you be very careful. My first Win8 installation destroyed several partitions on the same and on other disks. Fortunately I had all the images on a disconnected external drive (it could not get at that one). So I was able to restore.

After some finagling I got it to work without incidents. But at first it was scary. You might want to consider the Virtual Box option.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Thanks, whs, good advice.
I keep my data backed up but I prefer to test out the new OS with direct hardware.

Apparently, it leads to less issues from what I've been reading so far. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, x64, DP8102 - Win7 Ultimate x64, Dual Boot
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba
    CPU
    Core 2 Duo T5500
    Motherboard
    Intel
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel 965
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop 17", Gateway 20"
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 (x2)
Sure, installing it on the real hardware is preferable. But it bears more risks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
I installed it on a seperate HDD so that it is seperated from Win7 (no double boot).

Wolfgang, how do you boot to your second HDD - the one with the Win8 installation? I've tried the VBox route but have had no success keeping Win8 stable enough to do anything of interest....I'm interested in your approach.

Regards,
Golden
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS X54C
    CPU
    Intel Core i3-2330M @ 2.2GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUSTek K54C
    Memory
    4GB DDR3 @665MHz (9-9-9-24)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD 3000 On-board
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Screen Resolution
    1366*788
    Hard Drives
    1*Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Not fast enough!!!
    Browser
    Comodo Dragon
    Antivirus
    MSE & Malwarebytes
I installed it on a seperate HDD so that it is seperated from Win7 (no double boot).

Wolfgang, how do you boot to your second HDD - the one with the Win8 installation? I've tried the VBox route but have had no success keeping Win8 stable enough to do anything of interest....I'm interested in your approach.

Regards,
Golden

Booting to the second HD is quite simple. You restart the system and when the BIOS spash screen appears, you tap the function key that gets you into the Boot screen (on HP that is ESC, on Dell that is F12 - but if you have a different system, the spash screen should say). Then you highlight the HD from where you want to boot (with the UP/DOWN arrows) and hit Enter.

When you rstart from Win8, it will automatically restart your default system. No need to go via the BIOS.

Now this works only, if the bootmgr for Win8 (the active partition) is on the second HD. To make sure of that, predefine a primary, active partition on that HD and then install Win8 into there. And make sure, that there is no other active partition already present on that HD. If there is, you need to define only a primary partition. The already existing active partition will take the Win8 bootmgr.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Got a desktop with 7 and a laptop with 8. Don't care what happens with the laptop so 8's the only OS on there and it's been fine thus far.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Black Label 7x64
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X6 1055t
    Motherboard
    GA-890FXA-UD5
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon HD 6790
    Sound Card
    X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AJ15
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900
    Hard Drives
    Barracuda 7200 SATA 280GB
    WD Caviar Green SATA 500GB
    PSU
    OCZ ModXStream 700W
    Internet Speed
    25 Mbps/25 Mbps
Its very much stable, I've used Adobe Indesign CS5, Adobe PS CS5, Corel Draw 15, MS-Office 2010, etc. and not even a single BSOD or any other problem, so I think it is stable enough.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 Ultimate (32bit), Win 8 CP (32bit)
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Compaq C734TU
    CPU
    Mobile Intel Celeron 540, 1866 MHz (14 x 133)
    Motherboard
    Hewlett-Packard Compaq Presario C700 Notebook PC
    Memory
    1526 MB (1024+512) DDR2 SDRAM-DDR2-667 (333 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel GL960/GM965 Chipset - Graphics Controller 0 [C-0]
    Sound Card
    Conexant Cx20561 @ Intel 82801HBM ICH8M - High Definition Audio Controller PCI
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG Philips LP154WX4-TLC1
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Momentus 5400.6 500325 2.5" 500GB
    PSU
    Don't Know
    Case
    It's a Laptop
    Cooling
    Internal Cooling
    Keyboard
    Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard with HP QLB
    Mouse
    Alps Pointing Device Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    Mobile Internet upto 256kb
I have W8 installed in my laptop on it's own(Vista gone), in my desktop dual booting with Vista, both are stable except for minor issues like uploading Youtube videos( using FF6). I really like the responsiveness and IE10's speed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire E1-571
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer Type-2
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD 4000
    Sound Card
    High Definiton Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 Pro 256GB
    PSU
    Generic
    Keyboard
    QWERTY
    Mouse
    ELANTECH Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    12.68Mbps
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
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