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

[Coke Robot]

The cloud features are pretty cool in 8. I can go to another PC running 8 and setup a new user account and use my Microsoft account and my settings, email, calendars, social networks and such transfer over without setting it up in each individual app or having to change settings in the Desktop.

Those features could be useful for some people (i.e. people who use multiple W8-based devices).

However it also means that your info can be easily scrutinised and then sold to advertisers.
It could also be used by cyber-criminals to gather info about your system.

I bet it will take a LONG time until Windows Cloud. A vast majority of the US doesn't have FIoS internet service with a gigabit of speed. It would be a major PITA to have to stream an operating system through a DSL connection.

Sure.
It wouldn't be Microsoft's problem though, it would be yours.

I'm sure terms, like "Luddite" and "Cheapskate", would be bandied about on forums.

I don't think the user data would be sold off to advertisers, not yet at least. But in the long run, I don't think Microsoft would open that avenue up. Even with their Bing search engine, they focus on search, not advertising like google, or with Hotmail, the adverts are usually Microsoft products or something from their OEMs. They kind of pride themselves on not doing what google does with email.

And probably yeah, I would bet those terms would be slandered. It would be like vista all over again: just get new hardware. Instead, it would be: just get a new service provider that charges more than yours currently does.

 

[Coke Robot]

Now finally some people that see win 8 for what it is almost ten years ago I frequented the forums of iexbeta when one in my lvl would have 4 or five windows pcs an xp,longhorn,server 03,98 on a live cd with a persistance file and my favorite windows freestyle that one day I made the connection myself by pure coincedence as I was trying to create an open session rewritable cd of xp much how linux has always had a live cd but back to the here and now win 8 has a boatload of hidden gems no the famous file system didn't make the cut because it was adapted. To take on journal file system a hybred that is incomplete because of meta stream data that ruins the performance and the tecnique was used in linux to allow one high performance file system communicate with all others and windows failed at that. Now comes security issues that have plagued since the days of 95 and windows millenium with service packs and such so they take power shell a dos hybrid and include explorer commands in it so one can run the pc without utilities like vnc and actually use virtualization to its proper lvl now I've only been playing with this release for a few weeks but it is the "heir appearent" without a doubt lol look at distros like pclos that strive for "works out of the box" well that is been windows forever now comes the dawn of cloud and virtualization box no more people that box can be on the other side of the world now and take the metro desktop does anyone remember the green pc sold at walmart it was a linux setup that had all apps just like win 8 and logon was very similar with respect to it controlled you more than you controlled it that said win 8 is a gem in itself waiting for people to tear it apart and try to keep microsoft from turning into another monopoly with everything having to go thru them first

A big problem that could erupt with using Linux is configuring a lot of things. I've heard from many Linux users that they always use Terminal for a lot of things to get them to work correctly. But that could be different.

That sounds like android ICS or whatever that you're speaking of.

 

[crawfish]

A good analogy would be like Longhorn being a cool airplane that crashed and its parts got scattered across the years....

...with the significant pieces yet to be recovered.

Well of course WinFS never made it. But I'm talking about how a lot of features and design elements from Longhorn either made it as it is in vista or 7 or 8 or they made it as a morphed version; like WinFS. In Server 2012, it has the new ReFS and Microsoft has hinted that it will eventually come to the client OS of Windows 8.

WinFS has been Microsoft's Duke Nukem Forever since, well, forever.

Back in Longhorn, when you opened your Pictures Library (a feature that ended up in 7) and hovered over a picture, it would expand to be a bit larger. In Windows 8 within a metro file picker, you hover over a picture and it expands a bit larger and it also shows some details about it.

I always turn all that nonsense off because of the endless disk groveling and the fact that it frequently interfered with deleting files. I configure Windows Explorer to display details for all folders, and it's much faster and more reliable that way. No one really needs features like that because they're present in programs that are dedicated to dealing with pictures and are far better at it. The Music Library is especially stupid, because there was an endless library rebuilding bug affecting WMC/WMP, and those programs have no way to catalog files that aren't in a library. A few months after Windows 7 was released, Microsoft crapified the Zune software in the same way, and after hundreds of protests on the old Zune forum, they finally relented and published a registry hack to free people from using libraries. The next version of the Zune software added it to the UI. There's just lots of fail WRT libraries, and I could list more.

 

[Night Hawk]

MS has always been behind on getting many things fixed! Take for example how long XP longed for numerous fixes until MS extended support after releasing SP3. The final service pack holds over 1,000 OS and security fixes for the now 11yr. old version.

The next version Vista saw multiple set backs trying to implement new things there. On the other hand 7 was the "right out of the box" working OS for most who run it. MS paid far more attention to detail with 7 over any previous version to insure better results. Unfortunately with 8 they decided to deploy a radical gui change over following a successful trend of two consecutive champion versions.

 

[sparky1]

Agreed. Windows 8 is a joke. It really is pathetically bad. I'd rather switch to OS X than use metro on a desktop.

And this is coming from a big Windows fan.

 

[startas]

One does not simply switch to osx. It costs a lot of money, because you must buy new hardware to, plus you can just stay with 7

 

[killericarus]

Not true at all one can switch to osx very easily without software and even if you don't belive that then google bootcamp for windows

 

[startas]

No, you just can't switch to osx from windows, because 1) it's illegal to run osx on non-apple computers (but possible), 2) osx supports very little hardware, so it's like 99,666% that it will not support your new pc or laptop.
But the most important thing is that you don't understand what you talking about - bootcamp is for apple computers, not for all

 

[Brink]

   Warning

Let's keep this friendly and on topic.

 

[killericarus]

To be correct yes the term bootcamp applies to running windows software on mac hardware but I gues you never knew what a hackintosh is then either? Lol costly its free as a bird and illegal like um as long as you buy it no its not illegial at all

 

[mart4494]

   Warning

Let's keep this friendly and on topic.

Good point, folks are getting a bit hot under the collar over this.

For me as an individual to change to Apple would cost more than a few $$$'s simply to stand still performance wise with the Win7 rig I've already got. No one is forcing anyone to change to Win8. If you've already got a perfectly good Win7 or Vista PC setup and working as you want it to then stay with it. I know more than one person who owns an Apple and things are not as rosy as they are made out. Visit some of the Apple forums and you'll see what I mean.

I wish MS hadn't called Win8, well Win8. Maybe MS Metro or Windows Metro. Clearly it is not for conventional laptop/desktop use unless you are prepared to compromise how you work. It is designed primarily IMO for phones and tablets. There are apparent speed improvements but I haven't experienced them but I guess it all depends on what hardware you are running. So unless there is a radical last minute change by MS I will not be 'upgrading' if that's what it's going to be called.

I hope though Win8 is a success in the market - phones and tablets as it's about time the fruit company had some real competition. MS would do well to concentrate on this alone and leave the laptop/desktop market to continue developing with Win7. Introduce some of the Win8 speed improvements (if possible) into Win7 via a service pack release. We can all then stay happy campers.

 

[Night Hawk]

   Warning

Let's keep this friendly and on topic.

You won't hear any objections from me on that! As I said from the start there will be a ton of mixed opinions about 8!

As far as the Metro UI itself that's only one part of the next version to begin with. Most simply want some option or method of disabling that part of it and simply go with 3rd party tools like Start Menu 7 or Classic Shell as the workaround to get past the gui change(unpopular no doubt!).

I think the two of us each on our own have been looking at other things and finding out that something still isn't right! MS has spent too much time pushing the Metro and Metro Apps but is slipping up on the essentials! The term "buggy" seems to fit best.

 

[startas]

To be correct yes the term bootcamp applies to running windows software on mac hardware but I gues you never knew what a hackintosh is then either? Lol costly its free as a bird and illegal like um as long as you buy it no its not illegial at all

1) it's illegal to run osx on non-apple computers (but possible), 2) osx supports very little hardware, so it's like 99,666% that it will not support your new pc or laptop.

 

[z3r010]

1) it's illegal to run osx on non-apple computers (but possible), 2) osx supports very little hardware, so it's like 99,666% that it will not support your new pc or laptop.

Utter rubbish, you show me the country that passed a law making it illegal to run OSX on a non-apple computer, it is however against apples licensing agreement which is where I think you are getting confused.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Didn't Apple set the lawyers on the Mac cloners (and crush them)?

Apple vs Pystar

On December 15, 2009, the judge in the California action issued a permanent injunction barring Psystar from manufacturing, distributing, or assisting anyone with any sort of device or technology "that is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure". The ruling applies to all current and future versions of Mac OS X and Judge Alsup made it clear that "Psystar will be selling Rebel EFI at its peril, and risks finding itself held in contempt if its new venture falls within the scope of the injunction." The ruling also requires Psystar to destroy all of its equipment and material that it used in the circumvention of Apple technologies by December 31.

Wikipedia
Psystar Corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[PaulGo]

Valve's Newell: Windows 8 "catastrophe" driving Valve to embrace Linux

Valve's Newell: Windows 8 "catastrophe" driving Valve to embrace Linux

Valve head—and one-time Microsoft employee—Gabe Newell has branded Windows 8 "a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space" at videogame conference Casual Connect in Seattle. The Valve boss continued, saying that in the fallout from Windows 8, "we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people." Newell criticised Windows 8 while talking about the future of the gaming industry, and you can read everything he said at VentureBeat.

He argued that one of the last remaining things keeping people away from Linux was the lack of games. Valve is working to bring Left 4 Dead 2 and other Steam titles to Linux in a move that Newell describes as "a hedging strategy." If his predictions about Windows 8 come true, he says "it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality."

Full article at:
Valve’s Newell: Windows 8 “catastrophe” driving Valve to embrace Linux | Ars Technica

 

[pparks1]

^ Even as a linux fan and everyday linux admin, I don't forsee windows 8 being the thing that pushes gamers over to Linux. I don't honestly see any reason why games aren't going to run well under Windows 8, they will just do so on the classic desktop...like most other apps.

 

[Tully]

Sounds like he is taken a cheap shot at Win8 to promote his games on Linux!

I looked at Linux & tried it but "No Thanks" it is trying to be everything for everybody!

Tully

 

[SIW2]

He doesn't seem to be talking about whether games will run on Win8.

His concern is the implemetation, leading to the reduction of desktop pc's- and the nature of MS app. store.

 

[Night Hawk]

Agreed! He seems to be addressing the potentials for the sales of new 8 machines thus effecting overall sales of existing plus new game titles. Most are likely to be appauled by the way 8 has been introduced as well as the not so user friendly changes made just to bring Metro and touchscreen as the absolute new gui for desktop as well as portables like Tablet PC, Windows Phone, etc.

Despite all that it would be something to see having something like Steam on another OS for a change rather then the other OS only able to carry the "Geek's OS" label. For the most part not so many will be rushing at the next version following the success 7 has seen to start with.

While the core elements would be bound to be seeing improvements the initial experience by most is an automatic turnoff as far as the pre-retail releases have been so far. The one thing is certain however that this will prove to be the version that you either love or hate with a passion due the way MS trashed the destkop operatiion side of things.

Hidden side bar to find not only the Settings and Apps but also Power options button for the shutdown options. Having fun looking for the Control Panel now seen as a right click menu right where the Start screen popup is throwing everyone off. The need to bring up the Start screen constantly going back and forth to that without any 3rd party app added on for Start>Programs, etc are the tasks making 8 a rough experience for many and a sloppy way of introducing a new gui!

That very much sums up what is being pointed at by Gabe Newell as well as the critism's seen with blog writer's.