Developers Preview vs. Consumer Preview

cdwriter2

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Location
New Zealand
Hello,

I downloaded the Windows 8 Developers Preview in September last year and have been offered the Consumer Preview through DreamSpark today.

I haven't installed either but I have the Developers Preview already downloaded.

Is there a difference? Is it big? Which would you recommend?

Thanks,
Caleb Watson
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Developers Preview
    CPU
    AMD Dual Core 2.2GHz
    Motherboard
    HP DV5 Laptop Standard
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Mobility
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Inbuilt
well, since i try to never look back, i went on Win 8 C.P. Unfortunately this morning the 28 updates available where busy for 75 minutes, so i cancelled, restarted, but ..... the same.

So tried to reninstall Win 8 C.P, but this did not work and i could not start in Win 8 D.P. Always the machine tried to finish (?) the updates.
So deleted the Win 8 C.P, restarted Win 8 DP and will give it another try on sunday when i have more time.

Thank god, that the reserved partition still works on the other drive.

Anyway to answer your question, was on CP for 2 days and definitly go back A.S.A.P.

At first it was annoying that

Start disappeared

Control Panel was DIFFICULT TO FIND

explorer same

powerdown same

settings same

search same

BUT....THANKS TO BRINK....

Everything gets EASY:

Winkey + I shows you: Settings (desktop/power/network)

Winkey + Q = search

Winkey+D = desktop after one click

Winkey+ E = explorer

Winkey+ W = search in settings

So thanks Shawn for the good work you did.

Jeff
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    INTEL CORE I--3770K LGA1155
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V
    Memory
    KINGSTON 2400 MHZ KHX24C11K4 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    INTEL HD GRAFICS 4000
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philip BDL3245€ 32 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 SAMSUNG 840 PRO RAID 0 ON BOARD 2 x 128 GB
    Keyboard
    LOGITEC MX™ 5500
    Mouse
    LOGITEC MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    120 Mbps
Hi there
can't understand this long install and poor performance stuff about W8 Consumer Preview.

I installed on a small ACER NETBOOK -- took 17 mins (WITHOUT an SSD) -- installed from a USB.

As for Developer preview vs Consumer edition -- I was going to keep the developer preview - but as I'm not a developer and have no interest in developing Metro apps I decided to go with the Consumer edition.

Its run everything I want - and more swiftly and without problem any problems whatsoever.

Desktop shown. It's faster than W7 (at least in my case).

I also have things like Photoshop CS5.5 64 bit working and VMware running a couple of VM's including a Windows 2003 SERVER VM so no probs even for complex applications.

To get decent short cuts on the desktop just from the Metro start screen on the app tile choose Open File location -- then right mouse click on the program and choose send to desktop==>create short cut.

I like some on the desktop and some on the taskbar. You can choose either or both.

I agree that particularly for the preview more people are going to tweak and tinker with their systems than the bog standard retail user the control panel should be on the start window by default -- but search the apps and then pin it to the taskbar and start window -- then it's there if you wanted. I had the same brief over the snipping tool -- did the same -- a couple of mouse clicks and you can forget about these really TRIVIAL problems.


There are some changes I think we all would like to see -- the Tiles are too bland, not easily (if at all) customisable and the icons on standard windows applications e.g office stuff look ridiculously tiny and forlorn in the middle of that huge tile space.

However this is a PREVIEW so I can live with these -- I quite like the navigation -- remember this is NEW WINDOWS not an UPDATE of W7. Both products will co-exist for many years --W8 is not being aimed at corporates who only having started rolling out W7 won't change AGAIN any time soon.


With SSD's everything just flies (as does W7 too).


Cheers
jimbo
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
of course recommend the latest windows 8 consumer preview, there are many improvement waiting us to enjoy. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7, XP and Windows 8 CP
You can't expect the average user to know all the key combinations just to get out if 8 what was a quick simple mouse click in 7.
I don't think the business community would go for something with such a major learning curve.
 

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System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ultimate x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built.
    CPU
    i7-860 OC @ 4.214GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Maximus III Formula
    Memory
    8GB (4x2GB) OCZ Dual-Channel DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 CL 8-8-8-24
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GTS-250 w/1GB DDR3
    Sound Card
    On-daughterboard SupremeFX X-Fi 7.1 Surround
    Monitor(s) Displays
    VisionQuest VQL-22WSHD LCD Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050 (native)
    Hard Drives
    2x Western Digital Caviar SE16 500G SATA2 HDD
    1x Western Digital Caviar SE16 750G SATA2 HDD
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    OCZ EliteXtream OCZ1000EXS 1000W ATX12V 20/24 Pin
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    Antec 1200
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    Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultima XT Universal CPU Liquid Cooling Kit & Swiftech MCR320 Triple 120mm Rad
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    Logitech G11 gaming keyboard
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    Logitech MX518 optical gaming mouse
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    Cable DSL
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    Visiontek TV Wonder 650 Theater PCI-E TV Tuner Card
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    Nmedia C98 USB2.0 Flash Card Reader Black with Front USB, HD Audio, e-SATA, Firewire
    Nmedia Black Aluminum Panel 5.25IN Internal Bay with 20X2 Media Center Programmable LCD Display
    OCZ OCZUSBATV4G Atv Dual Channel Flash Memory Drive 4GB USB2.0 (dedicated ReadyBoost)
Well, my first impression of the Consumer Preview was that MS got it backwards. As if Developer Preview should have come after the Consumer version and not the other way around.

What bothered me was, when installing CP, MS put it on my Win7.....I did not get the opportunity to choose my partition/drive myself.

And then because installing updates was busy for about 75 minutes and not stopping, I deleted that partition for a fresh start. Since everytime I restarted updates kept on going, without doing anything???

Then the 2d install and MS now did put the CP over the DP without asking again. Nice....do not like not being in control of my own PC.

Furthermore with DP, network was ok instantly, Lexmark printer was installled, but if you think it was like that in the CP, forget it.

had to troubleshoot the problem with the printer and let MS fix it.

The network was worse, could not set it up properly. Could not, from another pc, enter my machine. (on all 3 of them the same problem).So I had to create the other users on my CP version and then it was ok instantly. Something I never had to do before.

But has said, no big difference with the previous version.


Jeff
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    INTEL CORE I--3770K LGA1155
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V
    Memory
    KINGSTON 2400 MHZ KHX24C11K4 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    INTEL HD GRAFICS 4000
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philip BDL3245€ 32 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 SAMSUNG 840 PRO RAID 0 ON BOARD 2 x 128 GB
    Keyboard
    LOGITEC MX™ 5500
    Mouse
    LOGITEC MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    120 Mbps
I think if you execute the setup.exe from the Source folder you'd get the choice to install it in the preferred partition.

I totally forgot this and it too overwrite my W7, but luckily all files and programs remain as I selected to keep all settings.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    CP
Well Aem, I installed first from the setup.exe, but no no option, so my good Win7 was gone. Then I tried through the downloaded file, some story.

But install from a USB hard drive took me around -10 minutes

Jeff
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    INTEL CORE I--3770K LGA1155
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V
    Memory
    KINGSTON 2400 MHZ KHX24C11K4 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    INTEL HD GRAFICS 4000
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philip BDL3245€ 32 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 SAMSUNG 840 PRO RAID 0 ON BOARD 2 x 128 GB
    Keyboard
    LOGITEC MX™ 5500
    Mouse
    LOGITEC MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    120 Mbps
There is also more compatibility with older programs (better than in Win7). Surprisingly i find DirectX 5 applications to run better than in Win7.

I use Win8 CP in VMware on my laptop. I've used DP on a dual core desktop with an 80gb IDE HDD and it booted in 10 seconds... 10 seconds every time, so it's not only good with ssd's but with clean hdd's also.

I needed to adapt to metro for the first days but I would sacrifice the start menu in Win7 for better compatibility and speed in Win8. Still testing the beta, not fully using it for the moment but everything works.

So far so good
Hopachi
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy DV6 7250
    CPU
    Intel i7-3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP, Intel HM77 Express Chipset
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4000 + Nvidia Geforce 630M
    Sound Card
    IDT HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6' built-in + Samsung S22D300 + 17.3' LG Phillips
    Screen Resolution
    multiple resolutions
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 250GB + Hitachi HDD 750GB
    PSU
    120W adapter
    Case
    small
    Cooling
    laptop cooling pad
    Keyboard
    Backlit built-in + big one in USB
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei
    Internet Speed
    slow and steady
    Browser
    Chromium, Pale Moon, Firefox Developer Edition
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    That's basically it.
I think reason mine took forever was i chosed to keep all files and setting from W7.

I remember from W7 install that in the Source folder (extract the iso or downloaded file and you will see Source folder) you run the setup.exe in there and it'll give you the option.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    CP
If you need more speed: Better to backup all your important files and use a clean install. But then you'll have to install all your programs again.

The upgrade method is good but will have to deal with a fragmented disk and maybe some bloated software. That's slowing things down.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy DV6 7250
    CPU
    Intel i7-3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP, Intel HM77 Express Chipset
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4000 + Nvidia Geforce 630M
    Sound Card
    IDT HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6' built-in + Samsung S22D300 + 17.3' LG Phillips
    Screen Resolution
    multiple resolutions
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 250GB + Hitachi HDD 750GB
    PSU
    120W adapter
    Case
    small
    Cooling
    laptop cooling pad
    Keyboard
    Backlit built-in + big one in USB
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei
    Internet Speed
    slow and steady
    Browser
    Chromium, Pale Moon, Firefox Developer Edition
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    That's basically it.
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