Anyone using Windows 8 as Primary OS?

[Kat]

Have just bitten the bullet, and installed the 64-bit RTM on my 'main' machine.

This means I have 3 machines running 8, two as their main OS.

The P4 desktop doesn't have a 'main' OS as such, probably runs XP more than
anything, but has the 32-bit DP installed on one of its drives.

And the AS5735 is perfectly happy with the 32-bit CP.

 

[rich4421972]

I'm curious, why so anti-multiboot?

I've personally always got a minimum of dual boot, usually a triple.

I've never found it to be a hassle at all :huh:

And unnecessary?

Often it's very necessary if you like running an OS with all available resources. Virtual machines can only take you so far - if you want the full 'experience' of an OS, you have to go a proper/native install. Linux distros especially.

I virtualize almost everything. I haven't set up a dual boot in probably 5+ years. The hassle is dealing with bootloaders, etc. Not too mention, if you are new to Linux and are setting up a Linux dualboot, but cannot get the Linux machine onto the internet...you often times have to reboot back into Windows and then Google for the issue. This isn't an issue with a vm.

As far as how far virtualization can take you...it's pretty darn far.

I think there is yet another reason not to "dual-boot" or triple-boot."

What happens when you are done testing the other OS?
Your system contains one small Windows (Linux, OS/2, Hackintosh, BSD or any others) -readable partition and several other partitions that the host bootloader does not recognize. In addition, your MBR has been rewritten so you will have to manually go back and fix everything in the BIOS just so you can have your disk back.

With Virtual Box or VMware (or whatever), this is not a problem. Unwanted virtual drives can just be deleted and you have your old system back in one piece. And, finally, your data is not corrupted as a result of fiddling around with things. At least that's my view of the situation.

 

[TallLefty21]

I upgraded my main home PC the day Windows 8 hit Technet, so 2+ weeks ago. I chose to dive right in because I wanted to use it full time instead of running it on a VM. I wanted to use it full time to see if there was any chance I'd come around and like the OS.

The OS is fast, stable and I haven't had many problems. But I have absolutely no use for the Metro/Start screen. Mine is completely blank and has been for over a week. To launch or find what I need I simply tab the Windows key and type in what I'm looking for (just as I do in Win7). So for the most part I'm living in a very similar world to Windows 7. I haven't had the time to dig deep into the OS yet to discover what else really separates it from Win7.

As for Win8's role in the rest of the world, I don't see how this is going to be a successful OS. The masses will despise it. The loss of aero, the loss of the Start menu, the "two OS's living in one" issue. The average business user out there will hate this OS.

 

[Vipermk2]

Had it installed and fully operational for over a week now, set as dual boot, but not touched it. It works exactly the same as 7 (at least in the ways that I use it) so find no need to use it at all, and why should I, it looks as flat as win 98.

I'm sure there will be a need to use it for some operations but the way I use my PC, there's no need for it, 7 does all I want and probably more.

I had XP for years and loved how stable it was after SP1, then Vista came along, I tried it and found it bloated and slow. 7 was a breath of fresh air, it was fast and extremely stable, morso than XP. Again I find 8 is bloated and slow, there's a noticeable difference in boot times, 7 is about 6 seconds faster and on a SSD that is quite a lot.

Unless someone comes along and shows me how really good 8 is, i'll be sticking with 7

 

[Frank1]

I had it as primary on my desktop. For me it works better as a primary than as a VM. At this point I'm OK with it.

 

[jancawa55]

I am on my third try of Win 8 builds, using RTM now. I have gotten rid of sign in screen and it boots to the start screen. Unpinned the things I won't use and generally the OS works with no problem other than these for me. I can't watch a DVD, torks me off, I am a cable cutter and don't use cable for TV, so buying a DVD of a TV season, watching it once and selling it off quick holds my costs down. I use Nero 11, which I already own, for whenever my SSD dies again and I need to restart the whole thing. Nero won't work in win 8. One of my favorite games is Scrabble Blast, for playing while listening to Netcasts. Even though I have Nero and Scrabble on a storage disc, they still won't work, oh I forgot Bejeweled which may work but I lost my activation thing. So, with 78 days left on this version I am about to reboot with my Nero boot disc and restore Win 7 to put me back where I was.
I know the world is going to streaming but for now the DVD option still works out cheaper. If anyone has a DVD option I don't know of, please let me know. By the way, I live in the desktop most of the time with no touch screen so the advantages of Win 8 aren't that great of an issue for me. There is no prob with Win 7 and I am leaning toward that today.

 

[24c]

I have it on 2 outta 3 desktops and on 1 outta 1 laptops.

 

[Mrmath130]

I use Windows 8 CP as my primary OS for my desktop, with Ubuntu as my secondary. As for boot times, it literally takes three seconds off a 7200 RPM HDD. Dunno why it's taking so long for you, ViperMk2. As for "Bloated," it only uses 1-2 GB RAM for me, although I have seen a few spikes to about 2.5 GB for no apparent reason. It doesn't use much CPU, either, maybe one of my 3.1 Ghz cores. Of course, this is just my machine, and I don't have any startup programs except Steam and Skype. Every computer is different, and yours may just be one with long boot times.

 

[brummyfan]

I am on my third try of Win 8 builds, using RTM now. I have gotten rid of sign in screen and it boots to the start screen. Unpinned the things I won't use and generally the OS works with no problem other than these for me. I can't watch a DVD, torks me off, I am a cable cutter and don't use cable for TV, so buying a DVD of a TV season, watching it once and selling it off quick holds my costs down. I use Nero 11, which I already own, for whenever my SSD dies again and I need to restart the whole thing. Nero won't work in win 8. One of my favorite games is Scrabble Blast, for playing while listening to Netcasts. Even though I have Nero and Scrabble on a storage disc, they still won't work, oh I forgot Bejeweled which may work but I lost my activation thing. So, with 78 days left on this version I am about to reboot with my Nero boot disc and restore Win 7 to put me back where I was.
I know the world is going to streaming but for now the DVD option still works out cheaper. If anyone has a DVD option I don't know of, please let me know. By the way, I live in the desktop most of the time with no touch screen so the advantages of Win 8 aren't that great of an issue for me. There is no prob with Win 7 and I am leaning toward that today.

Try VLC Media Player - CNET Download.com and see.

 

[dyinisis]

I have it installed as my primary OS and have been exploring it for about a week now. Although I do like several features, I am going to be re-installing 7 because I feel limited in 8. The most frustrating aspect of 8 is the lack of simple menu choices. For instance, I can view photos in the photo app but when I want to export them, open them with another program, or really anything other than just viewing them... windows 8 limits those actions by not providing you with menu options other that four or five basic command choices. It's like having a mobile phone OS on your PC! Even the apps available for it like the eBay app are useless because of these limited menu options, forcing you to go to the actual website to do practically anything other than buy! This format is appealing to a non-user who will enjoy the simplicity of its design. But anyone who likes having multiple options available to them will be disappointed because of the restrictive nature of its interface. The user who doesn't rely on right-clicking to explore other possible actions might actually feel more comfortable having only five or six actions available to them, but people like myself who are not intimidated by having several choices will feel like they have given up any control that they once had over their files for a smartphone styled PC! Upgrading to 8 is like taking a step backward in my opinion from 7 to XP

 

[brummyfan]

You are not tied up with only Photo App, you can choose your own default programs to view or edit, most of the Metro Apps are designed for tablets. As you can see in the attached pic, you can change the default program, send to where ever you want, edit with paint.

 

[Kat]

Good one, Brummagem.

I did that to open mine in Paint-Shop Pro.

Used it for many years, and was surprised to find that
the earlier versions (I use PSP 8) worked better than
the later Corel versions.

If you don't need/can't afford Photo-Shop, this is the
next-best thing. I've used it for about 16 years.

Highly recommended.

 

[dyinisis]

You are not tied up with only Photo App, you can choose your own default programs to view or edit, most of the Metro Apps are designed for tablets. As you can see in the attached pic, you can change the default program, send to where ever you want, edit with paint.
View attachment 8390

This is true in the 7 mode only! In 8 mode you have the photo app that allows you the ability to sync your photos from FB, this is cool, but you can't do anything with them because they can't be exported! Making that feature useless! It's like the media center on 7, its great and you'd like to use in place of media player, but you can't make a playlist in media center and that is a must have feature... so you use media player instead!

 

[brummyfan]

@Kat, Thanks.
@dyinisis,
I am sure that you would agree that Metro Apps are in their infancy and we must expect some shortcomings, however I have sent a feedback regarding the limited functionalities and hope in course of time MS may do something about it.
As I don't have a tablet or a touchscreen, I just ignore the Metro altogether and use the Desktop most of the time but for people those who have tablets, metro is very handy for quick browsing, travel info, weather, messaging...etc.

 

[zace200]

Windows 8 is fantastic and I do use it as my main OS BUT tile apps are not working like weather,photos,videos and all the other default tile apps, still its very easy to remove those junk as I personally don't like those(outlook.com had me satisfied)and now start menu contains all the installed app icons and in desktop mode now empty except recycle bin, it looks cleaner this way and organized.

Just my thought though

 

[kbz1960]

Well I installed it on my old lappy last night as the only OS on it. A HP G60 120US and so far it seems to be running well except when I was using teamviewer in the background working on a friends pc when I was in another chat program on my pc the typing was real delayed and would omit characters.

Still getting use to the start page as opposed to the desktop and see little use for metro also but all I need to do is click desktop and stay there. Can still do everything I could before so not so bad.

 

[TheGrantFitz]

windows 8 isn't flat, it's fat. it might be memory-consuming, but modern ui is just an "add-on" per say for a Windows 7 computer. No reason to upgrade or downgrade. It is almost the same, just with a friendly addition of a nice App Store.