OK, here we go....

[FSeal]

Sure, if you get the metro crap out of the way, Windows 8 can be productive. NO ONE can be "Productive" running/viewing one app at a time full screen. (No one I know anyway).

Windows 8 is a great OS with a piece of crap UI bolted onto it. Shame really... There should be a "consumer" version and a "Professional" version, with and without Metro. Simple. Brilliant. Shamefully not so...

 

[Kat]

Now half-way through the 90-day trial.....

I've had no issues at all that weren't related to the fact that 8 is new and different.

They've been sorted and the OS itself is running just fine.

Compatibility issues are virtually non-existent, and even some stuff that wouldn't run on Vista/7 will run.

All-in-all, I'm very happy with it, Metro does not hinder my productivity to any appreciable degree.

In fact, I've gone full-circle, 8 is now my main OS, and Windows 7 (64-bit HP) is now in V-Box....I
did try Hyper-V, but couldn't get USB to work. V-Box and Hyper-V don't play well together, either.

Will I upgrade? Almost certainly. But I'll be keeping 7 on at least one machine.



**EDIT: - I was working on my brother's machine the other day (Win 7 HP 32-bit) and he was very
amused to see me getting annoyed because I kept going for the bottom-left right-click 'guts menu'
and it wasn't there....

 

[Coke Robot]

I'm mildly surprise at you Kat.

 

[Kat]

I'm rather surprised myself, CR.

I was SURE that I wasn't going to like the RTM as soon as I saw it, but was
determined to persevere with it as I had the free 90-day licence.

Unlike the RP/CP, I did a lot more to it and with it, and tested a lot more
progs, experimented with different custom hacks etc.

I wanted to see if I could set it up to suit ME. And I could. Apart from getting
transparency Win 7 style back. And that WILL happen eventually as soon as
someone codes a decent 3rd-party app.

Now, unless I whack the mouse cursor into a corner, I sometimes find
it hard to be sure whether I'm in 8 or 7.......

I haven't found anything I could do in 7 that I can't do in 8. Maybe done a bit
differently, but can still be done. Power DVD takes care of DVD playback, and
this machine came with Acer Clear-Fi, which functions somewhat like WMC if
required (not currently installed)..

That right-click 'start' menu option should have been in 7, tho.

 

[Kat]

I have the OS rocking along nicely, usability-wise, and have been
doing some experimenting with customisation.

Now, thanks to srg84, I have my desktop gadgets back...

The actual Win 7/Win 8 CP ones, not 3rd-party.

Better and better.

Now for transparency, and I'll be happy as a pig in s#%t...

 

[Kat]

WARNING: Some may think 'TL-DR', but no-one ever learned anything by not reading...


Gidday, trendsetters.... been a while since I updated this thread, but things didn't turn out the
way I originally thought they might.

I originally anticipated that this thread would be a litany of woes and hassles.

BUTT....., the bullet has finally been bitten.

The Enterprise trial has gone for a Burton, and I am now running the Pro RTM.

All activated and legal.

Also, for Mystere and the other nay-sayers, it is an UPGRADE over my W7 installation.

But then, I KNEW everything would work cos I tested the CP as an upgrade.

And, it did.

Funny thing, but I was running the W7 install last night, and it aggravated the s#1t out of me.

Love the Aero in 7, but kept looking for W8 features and couldn't find them.

Got very 'browned-off' very quickly.

Pulled the 32-bit CP off the AS5735 last week due to there being no more updates for Defender.

And put it back again last night (Yep! Another upgrade. Over W7 Ult). Banged Avira and
MalwareBytes on, and am laughing.

I'm the first to admit that I knocked the s#1t out of W8 at first, but then so did most who only
ever tried the (absolute crap) DP. But I've always found the CP to be rock-solid and (for a beta)
pretty-well bugless. Almost as good as the W7 beta.

Give me the option to put the CP Aero into the RTM/OEM/Retail version, OR let me put Metro
into W7, and I'd be a very happy man.

I haven't, as yet, installed ClassicShell or any other Start Orb replacement (but probably will, as
I tend to use both the Ord and metro) and find this Pro version to be perfectly useable with a
mouse (no version works very well with a laptop scratch-pad, and mine is better than most).

No, trendsetters, I'll be staying with W8, and W7 will be installed on my long-suffering P4HT along
with all my other OSes (it has multiple HDDs, each with a fully-working OS, ranging from DOS/Win
3.11 to Vista, as I will NOT dual-boot. I just plug the relevant HDD in, and I'm good to go... ).

Next step, getting WMC installed and working.

TTYL....

 

[Kat]

One p1sser, though....


I wish I could have imported my Start Screen from the Enterprise RTM trial to the Pro RTM.

As it is, I have to set the S.O.B up again from scratch.

 

[Coke Robot]

Well then, I must say bravo!!

Also, this is why we take screenshots when we upgrade, Start key and PrintScreen, have yet to fail me.

 

[Kat]

No worries, mate...

 

[shane88]

WARNING: Some may think 'TL-DR', but no-one ever learned anything by not reading...


Gidday, trendsetters.... been a while since I updated this thread, but things didn't turn out the
way I originally thought they might.

I originally anticipated that this thread would be a litany of woes and hassles.

BUTT....., the bullet has finally been bitten.

The Enterprise trial has gone for a Burton, and I am now running the Pro RTM.

All activated and legal.

Also, for Mystere and the other nay-sayers, it is an UPGRADE over my W7 installation.

But then, I KNEW everything would work cos I tested the CP as an upgrade.

And, it did.

Funny thing, but I was running the W7 install last night, and it aggravated the s#1t out of me.

Love the Aero in 7, but kept looking for W8 features and couldn't find them.

Got very 'browned-off' very quickly.

Pulled the 32-bit CP off the AS5735 last week due to there being no more updates for Defender.

And put it back again last night (Yep! Another upgrade. Over W7 Ult). Banged Avira and
MalwareBytes on, and am laughing.

I'm the first to admit that I knocked the s#1t out of W8 at first, but then so did most who only
ever tried the (absolute crap) DP. But I've always found the CP to be rock-solid and (for a beta)
pretty-well bugless. Almost as good as the W7 beta.

Give me the option to put the CP Aero into the RTM/OEM/Retail version, OR let me put Metro
into W7, and I'd be a very happy man.

I haven't, as yet, installed ClassicShell or any other Start Orb replacement (but probably will, as
I tend to use both the Ord and metro) and find this Pro version to be perfectly useable with a
mouse (no version works very well with a laptop scratch-pad, and mine is better than most).

No, trendsetters, I'll be staying with W8, and W7 will be installed on my long-suffering P4HT along
with all my other OSes (it has multiple HDDs, each with a fully-working OS, ranging from DOS/Win
3.11 to Vista, as I will NOT dual-boot. I just plug the relevant HDD in, and I'm good to go... ).

Next step, getting WMC installed and working.

TTYL....

I agree with everything you said, you hit the nail on the head. I too have done the same exact things you mentioned but only I ran RP instead. I loved the aero in RP, I believe it will be back someday and as for now I'm not focusing on it and just enjoying using win 8.

 

[Mystere]

Also, for Mystere and the other nay-sayers, it is an UPGRADE over my W7 installation.

I've said time and again, that if the upgrade works, great. If it doesn't, then you will spend more time trying to fix things than if you had just done a clean install to begin with.

All i'm saying is that if you have problems, then you should just do a clean install right away, otherwise you will probably spend hours or days fixing problems, only to have to end up doing a clean install eventually anyways.

 

[Kat]

No argument with that, and I was quite prepared to do a fresh install if it hadn't worked.

I did run the CP as an upgrade for some time, so I had a good idea what worked and what
didn't, and I don't tend to run a cluttered machine anyway.

And no, I don't recommend it for everyone, nor am I suggesting that all upgrades are
trouble-free. I know from painful experience that they are not.

All good...

 

[Kat]

Well, THAT didn't go well at all. I've had a pretty good experience with W8 so
far, but that has come to a grinding halt.

The W8 Pro RTM is an activation nightmare. Never again!

Things were going swimmingly until Windows decided to update.

Instantly de-activated itself.

Reinstalled product key Accepted. BUT 'Windows is not activated. View details
in....etc'. Checked in there, and it says it WAS activated.

But I couldn't DO anything that needed activation.

After several re-installs, both u/g and fresh, and getting no-where, I gave up
in disgust, and went back to the Enterprise Trial, which expires in 6 weeks and
can't be re-armed.

No, I did NOT call MS by phone, as I loathe speaking on phones at the best of
times, and this wasn't one of them. And I shouldn't EVER bloody-well HAVE to
call MS just to activate an OS.

This debacle has made me very wary of purchasing W8 retail now, because of
this useless and frustrating activation setup they have. I am VERY reluctant to
go through this crap with a version I've PAID for. And I've no reason to suspect
that I won't.

So, much as I like W8, it looks like it'll be W7 for a while yet (unless someone works
out a way to keep the CP/RP or the Enterprise trial alive past their expiry-date).

Sad, really.

 

[Coke Robot]

Hmm, I've seen that happen with a puter running the RP of Windows 8. It says it's not activated, but yet it says it's activated but doesn't do bihourly restarts. I'm guessing there's a glitch to be worked out.

 

[Mystere]

I'm confused. You say you're trying to activate Windows 8 Pro, which would mean you purchased it. Then you say this has made you wary of purchasing it. How are you trying to activate it if you have not purchased it?

 

[Kat]

Er, sorry, I thought I'd posted a reply, but it mustn't have posted.

The version concerned was the Pro RTM. It is NOT a hacked or cracked copy.

It activated and ran fine till it took updates.

Then it deactivated.

On re-activation, it refuses to make up its mind whether activated or not.

Not good enough, and certainly enough to make me wary of purchasing the
retail version.

I refuse to spend hours activating software, I'll simply use something else instead.

 

[Mystere]

I'm still confused. You said specifically that this problem has made you wary of purchasing windows 8. How, exactly, are you activating the RTM version if you have no purchased it? Your comments contradict each other. I'm not asking you if it was a hacked version, i'm simply trying to understand the problem, and understanding the nature of the product key you're using helps to identify the problem.

Can you please clarify your confusing comments.

 

[Kat]

OK...

Installed and activated it, online.

No worries. Ran it for a couple of days while installing drivers etc.

When it notified me of updates being available, I installed them.

It requested a reboot and was then not activated.

Input the key, and then on the System screen it said NOT activated.

Clicked on the link next to that, and it said it WAS activated.

But it behaved as if it wasn't, although there were no restarts.

I've read of others having the SAME issue, sometimes it 'fixed' itself, sometimes not.

As I said re Coke Robot's reply, it is probably a glitch.

But not one that should be allowed to occur.

Activation should at MOST be a one-click once-only affair.

Not by phone, and never more than once.

 

[Coke Robot]

I would imagine there's something kinking up in the pipeline, considering it's a new OS with new activation methods than before, along with the usual piracy that goes along with a new Windows OS. I remember reading some similar stories when Windows 7 came out. Someone had bought a copy of 7 legit, but later got a message saying that it's not activated and/or a message saying they may have been a victim of software counterfeiting. A call to Microsoft usually fixed it.

But this time it seems more or less a glitch out.