This will be Microsofts biggest ever flop, far bigger than Vista.

[Night Hawk]

Well, I've only just got the 64-bit RP to run semi-useably as a standalone OS (upgrade over Win 7 Home Premium).

The first thing that struck me was how bloody BLAND it looks, compared to the CP.

Second thing was that it still won't talk to my openGL games.

But I've had it up for a couple of hours now, and it hasn't fallen over or locked up yet.

Unlike my first attempt to install it, now THAT was a disaster.

NOTHING worked, and it'd lock up within minutes.

But without a BSOD, so I had no idea what the problem was. I suspect graphics.

OpenGL game titles to be omitted is the facts about 8! Most of them require DX 9 elements to install and run while DX 9 sees "incompatible with this version of Windows" on the few tries to get that to go on. Say good bye to many older games. The Steam titles that went on with a few others ran without problems but never saw any great performance boost over 7! That would be a lot of blogger's hype on that part!

When adding an 8 entry into the 7 BCD the CP seemed to run well. I had to use the newer Automatic repair option that replaces the Startup repair to rewrite the 7 host drive's mbr and boot files. Later when going to run the RP as a stand alone on the second OS drive I ended up using the PC Refresh option which automatically added 7 in. Both OSs were trashed due to the subsequent booting into 7 when selecting 7 from the 8 boot options.

Fortunately I was a little overdue for a clean install of 7 at the time and simply wiped both drives! First however once both froze up solid when going to start each the Disk Check tool bailed 7 out but 8... lingered a bit. Then when going to switch from Native ide mode to AHCI 7 automatically adjusted itself reinstalling the two OS drives as SCSI devices while 8 was history!

So much for the dual boot and RP install. A small portion of the second was set aside as the root and swap partitions for Linux to try out 7 and 8 VMs on the Linux flavor of VBox where the 7 install took but not 8. The RP on VBox is still going on the 7 host following the clean install of 7 as the last look so to speak.

The Enterprise 90 day for developers based more on the RTM will have a fast look there if it succeeds to install on VM or replace the Linux distro on the second drive "when i get to it" that is. With 8 unlike 7 and Vista before it this is one version I will be "taking my time" with!

 

[Vipermk2]

I could probably get used to using Windows in a different way but I'm afraid I can't get over the way Win 8 looks, it;s like going back to Win98, it's flat and so aesthetically unpleasant to look at. I can't see the point of moving over, why would micro$oft remove the option to choose Aero Glass? There were some work arounds to get Aero back but they have now been removed

 

[SIW2]

Even if you are prepared to jump thru all kinds of hoops to get it to behave something like a normal o/s - you are still stuck with the ghastly appearance.

I dare say the folks over at Deviantart will have some fixes for that.

 

[Night Hawk]

The removal of the Aero was for obvious gui changes. The transparency and other effects couldn't be developed for the Metro side of things especially aimed at mobile as well as touchscreen. For Vista and 7 you were dealing with the normal Start menu and Programs on the other hand.

I wouldn't necessarily liken 8 to 98SE just because the number sounds close. 98 was a different ball of wax there entirely where everything worked for what it was back then. Too bad newer 98 drivers were never written for video and suond at least to run some real classic oldies!

As far ad getting 8 to look and act like 7 however you will end up needing to dance through a lot of hoops! Addons like the LiberKey program for Control Panel functions and other things rather then finding mysteriously hidden popup menus.

It's as if MS was saying if you want to customize or simply want a normal desktop OS you have to go out and tweak it yourself! "We're too busy with the mobile market strategy presently!" That seems to be the overall consensus as to how most have been reacting to 8 so far. And any other advancements from where 7 stands will take the largest hit as a result being buried under the dismay.

 

[nick]

I've been using it some more this weekend and reading about some of the under the cover changes.

Now that I've started to understand the UI a bit more I have found the navigation stable and usable - not intuitive or aesthetically pleasing - but usable. Some of the improvements around security and performance are welcome. IE is certainly faster and personally I like the clean browser screen.

I just don't understand the lack of any hierarchy and containment in the navigation system. Containment works fine on a touch screen. This flattening out of all the program icons is crazy. It is very difficult to find things visually - you need to use the search functions.

Also the context shift between the Metro interface, the old Desktop interface, and the new "full screen applications" is jarring. This will be very confusing for many users.

The one thing I've loved about Lion and Mountain Lion on OS/X is the multi-touch gestures using a Track Pad. I can navigate to any desktop or application with a few swipes of my fingers. In Lion Apple has "similar" UI interface to Metro called the Launch Pad. It is based on a hierarchical containment model that mimics the iPhone and iPad environment. I use it to arrange my program icons. A big difference is it isn't the main UI interface. It is another desktop that is easily navigated to using a simple gesture. Also, full screen applications in Lion are independent desktop sessions. The UI concepts are cohesive and a natural evolution from the windowed environment paradigm.

Maybe patent concerns is driving some of Microsoft's decisions. It seems to me a more logical approach would have been to follow Apple's lead. Metro could have been an option, configurable as the default for touch screen users, contained hierarchy organization, and made with a little more glitz for the tiles. Also, full screen apps could just be another desktop session like Lion.

 

[eXcite]

I, on the other hand, found Windows 8 to be more aesthetically pleasing than Windows 7. I had always loved Aero glass, but when I experienced the RTM, going back to glass seemed weird and not at all delightful. When I first experienced Metro in the DP, it bothered me. I was one of the ones that hated on it. But as it progressed, I have to say I love Metro, and I don't have any programs installed that remove it or add back the Start Menu.

 

[Night Hawk]

So far there hasn't any program that removes it! Many are looking for some way of seeing it disabled until calling up the Start screen manually by simply moving the cursor into that corner while wanting to see the desktop auto load at Startup.

I readily agree with nick on how MS implemented the Metro.

I just don't understand the lack of any hierarchy and containment in the navigation system. Containment works fine on a touch screen. This flattening out of all the program icons is crazy. It is very difficult to find things visually - you need to use the search functions.

Also the context shift between the Metro interface, the old Desktop interface, and the new "full screen applications" is jarring. This will be very confusing for many users.

A ZDNet blog writer described it accurately as well when labeling it a "convoluted process" going through a series of additional steps simply to find the shutdown options. The lack of any built-in option to switch from Metro to any form of a standard desktop shows a lack of foresight when going to bring in a touchscreen interface while ignoring the concerns of the average user or even productive workstation environment.

IE 10 was definitely a big improvement over IE 9! I will waiting to replace 9 on 7 once a Vista/7 version becomes available since the initial updates following a clean install of 7 slap IE 9 on before you can blink an eye to uncheck the option. I still haven't removed IE 9 and downloaded the Vista download for IE 8 to get 9 off of either 7 build however now mainly using a different browser until the finished 10 is available.

 

[Alpha0mega]

luckily for me i have installed in dual boot, to my disappointment and the very NOT USER-FRIENDLY windows 8, i have just simply removed windows 8 completely and have my windows 7 ultimate running as great as ever..

Windows 8, makes it really a black hole, i agree to all those negative feedbacks.. i won't rate this windows 8 above 3 out of 10.

 

[Night Hawk]

3 out of 10? That's being generous as far as most running 7 are concerned!

In all seriousness however despite what some may find as a great leap forward by MS what most are reacting to is: 'What is this crap?"!

The best possible move MS could have thought of would be to have made the Metro part of a touchscreen edition of 8 rather then trashing all editions as far as what people look forward to as far as a normal desktop. This is why having two setup options to start with Standard and Metro would likely make 8 a better seller.

Despite being able to find your way around in given time compatibility issues especially for the gamers running old OpenGL and DX 9 required titles won't see any gaming boost when the games simply won't install or run. DX 9 won't go on in any form as many game installers require 9.

Device drivers are lacking and will be late as seen with Vista while 7 enjoyed at least beta drivers. The RP was disasterous when set up in a dual boot here with both versions freezing up solid while the RTM may not run into the same problems. Security as far as malware detection has definitely seen a leap there however being a plus factor. Typically MS wares in that regard have always been found to be "wimpy" when compared to other ffree and paid for programs.

 

[Got2bereal]

Maybe patent concerns is driving some of Microsoft's decisions. It seems to me a more logical approach would have been to follow Apple's lead. Metro could have been an option, configurable as the default for touch screen users, contained hierarchy organization, and made with a little more glitz for the tiles. Also, full screen apps could just be another desktop session like Lion.

It's been revealed at the Samsung vs Apple trial that MS and Apple has a patent agreement across the board. Whoever is in charge of the Win8 product must be smoking something really good because the OS is simply an epic fail.

What is the thought process with the annoying and difficult login and shutdown process? Have they actually seen Apple's acct creation and login process? It's near painless.

Have you seen how ugly and tedious is it to navigate through Windows Marketplace compare to Apple's Mac App Store process?

These are the types of poor decision making that causes companies to shut their doors for good but for MS they got billions in cash sitting in a Swiss bank. They can afford to lose they just force businesses to fork over more dough for more unnecessary licensing costs.

 

[PaulGo]

Windows 8 will be another disaster for Microsoft

...Windows 8 promises to become a replay of Microsoft Bob, Windows ME, and Windows Vista all rolled into one. It's ugly and hard to use, so I believe that a lot of consumers and especially enterprise users will reject it.

By ugly, I mean that the colours of the desktop are nauseating and the blocky rectangular desktop layout, while it might be somewhat suited for smartphones and tablets, is all wrong as a desktop motif.
There's so much wrong with Windows 8 usability that a brief column like this can't even begin to address it in detail, so I'll just say that I think Microsoft's ham-handed attempt to force tablet and especially PC users to work within the limited screen space available on smartphone displays is destined to fail.

Full article at:

Windows 8 will be another disaster for Microsoft - The Inquirer

 

[kala]

Windows 8 will be another disaster for Microsoft

By ugly, I mean that the colours of the desktop are nauseating and the blocky rectangular desktop layout, while it might be somewhat suited for smartphones and tablets, is all wrong as a desktop motif.

Except you got it all wrong. Who really uses "desktops" nowadays? Everything is mobile. Tablets are the future.

Windows 8 works perfectly fine with touchpad also (laptops), so Microsoft would kill itself if they would have done another "desktop", "laptop" OS as usually. Noone even cares about desktops any more (maybe only gamers, but why not get the console instead)

 

[slacker3343]

Except you got it all wrong. Who really uses "desktops" nowadays? Everything is mobile. Tablets are the future.

Windows 8 works perfectly fine with touchpad also (laptops), so Microsoft would kill itself if they would have done another "desktop", "laptop" OS as usually. Noone even cares about desktops any more (maybe only gamers, but why not get the console instead)

You are correct Kala, the future is upon us and many are going to kick and scream, I was one of them. When I first saw windows 8 I tossed my lunch with metro screen, but I have been using it. Have it set up for me needs and hot roded the desktop with classic shell for my love of that environment. Now I can learn the RT interface in small doses but I pretty much have it all worked out now. It's not hard to learn at all, just takes a few steps and pretty soon our off the races. It runs ridiculously fast in Virtual environment and even faster on my desktop. I have not put it on my new main rig yet I'm waiting for the official release I signed up for. Maybe its my pure visceral hatred for Mac that makes me like it more and trust me I HATE MAC, and I have dear friends that use them. I'll admit MS has a habit of dropping bombs on the public like a bunch of retarded gorilla's but MS had to get into this market period. Billions of dollars at stake, it's a shame it took them this long. Windows 8 will not be the bust some are almost praying it to be but they could still screw everything up if that app store is anemic.

 

[Vipermk2]

Noone even cares about desktops any more (maybe only gamers, but why not get the console instead)

Consoles have a long way to go before they come up to speed with most newer graphics cards in desktops.

 

[PaulGo]

Windows 8 will be another disaster for Microsoft

By ugly, I mean that the colours of the desktop are nauseating and the blocky rectangular desktop layout, while it might be somewhat suited for smartphones and tablets, is all wrong as a desktop motif.

Except you got it all wrong. Who really uses "desktops" nowadays? Everything is mobile. Tablets are the future.

Windows 8 works perfectly fine with touchpad also (laptops), so Microsoft would kill itself if they would have done another "desktop", "laptop" OS as usually. Noone even cares about desktops any more (maybe only gamers, but why not get the console instead)

Tablets and smartphones have their place, but a lot of home, business and office productivity work can still be done better on a desktop. I do not like the "Metro" interface for a desktop. Microsoft could have easily added a Windows 7 interface to Windows 8, and let users choose what is best for their uses. Perhaps as the applications for the Metro interface developed more desktop users would have tried the Metro interface, but by completely eliminating an interface that users have grown accustomed to does not make any sense.

 

[kala]

Windows 8 will be another disaster for Microsoft

By ugly, I mean that the colours of the desktop are nauseating and the blocky rectangular desktop layout, while it might be somewhat suited for smartphones and tablets, is all wrong as a desktop motif.

Except you got it all wrong. Who really uses "desktops" nowadays? Everything is mobile. Tablets are the future.

Windows 8 works perfectly fine with touchpad also (laptops), so Microsoft would kill itself if they would have done another "desktop", "laptop" OS as usually. Noone even cares about desktops any more (maybe only gamers, but why not get the console instead)

Tablets and smartphones have their place, but a lot of home, business and office productivity work can still be done better on a desktop. I do not like the "Metro" interface for a desktop. Microsoft could have easily added a Windows 7 interface to Windows 8, and let users choose what is best for their uses. Perhaps as the applications for the Metro interface developed more desktop users would have tried the Metro interface, but by completing eliminating an interface that users have grown accustomed to does not make any sense.

Lot of offices use notebooks these days also you know.

 

[R0bR]

Consoles have a long way to go before they come up to speed with most newer graphics cards in desktops.

It's not that consoles can't be made to have the same speeds in processing or graphic performance than desktops, that's easy to do. Considering that an Xbox cost less than a high end graphics card how will they ever sell a console as powerful as a PC? Rumor has it that according to leaked specs the next Xbox, supposedly due out in the next couple of years, is 6 times faster than the current one. That's not going to get it any closer to PCs but then again it will probably cost a third of the price of a top end gaming rig.

 

[chev65]

Windows 8 will be another disaster for Microsoft

By ugly, I mean that the colours of the desktop are nauseating and the blocky rectangular desktop layout, while it might be somewhat suited for smartphones and tablets, is all wrong as a desktop motif.

Except you got it all wrong. Who really uses "desktops" nowadays? Everything is mobile. Tablets are the future.

Windows 8 works perfectly fine with touchpad also (laptops), so Microsoft would kill itself if they would have done another "desktop", "laptop" OS as usually. Noone even cares about desktops any more (maybe only gamers, but why not get the console instead)

Who really uses desktops? Are you serious man? There are not just millions but billions of desktops still being built and used, WAY more than tablets IMO. Nothing, and I mean nothing will be replacing the desktop PC platform anytime soon. Period, end of discussion.

 

[Fredledingue]

IMO this frenzy about the tablets and smartphones is way overblown. Sure, they are formidable little pieces of technology but seriousely, not everybody needs them. Going mobile? Most of poeple arrive at the office at 8:30 and at 4:45 pm, they are already leaving, totaly forgetting their job until the next working day. Very few poeple have a profession that justify going mobile. Most poeple who have a laptop only occasionaly carry it outside of their home. Students and teacher carry them between home and college. Mobility is useful but they do need a normal laptop not a tablet which is a physical handicap.

I'll just say that I think Microsoft's ham-handed attempt to force tablet and especially PC users to work within the limited screen space available on smartphone displays is destined to fail.

Metro is a gadget interface designed for gadgets. That's why it's closer to B

B than anything else. Of course there are poeple who like gadgets and ludicrious stuffs so there must be poeple who like the Metro Start Screen. But as a primary OS for computer?! It's not serious!

 

[R0bR]

IMO this frenzy about the tablets and smartphones is way overblown.

http://mashable.com/2011/01/05/forrester-tablet-sales/

This article came out last January 2011, it predicted that by the end of 2011 just over 20 million tablets would be sold but instead it was 66 million tablets. The article predicts that tablets will eclipse PCs by a wide margin, although their numbers are off the trend is there. Why wouldn't Microsoft want a piece of that market share and why wouldn't they focus on Metro over the desktop given stats like these?