Windows 8 First Impressions

[evereti]

Totally agree with Philgates. I should give up my Samsung Galaxy Touchwiz UI for Metro, not in a million years, Then I should give up my beautiful Win7 desktop UI for something that looks like Win98 with colour, don't think so.

Re Google and desktop, try downloading Android x86 and dropping it onto a USB stick. It boots up quick and is just like android on a phone or tablet, comes complete with office and seems to have all the drivers etc.......and its free...

 

[mdmd]

Why is this unfair? Do you know how I work with my computer at home. My home and my work productivity are very similar. I'm a systems admin and I run and test similar things in my home lab and at work.

Facebook was just my example above, there could be many other things that cause issues as well. And I do use Facebook for work purposes. I have many friends and colleagues that I contact via Facebook soliciting advice, opinions or experiences. Same reasons why using this forum is ok for work too. I learn from here and apply to work.

Don't let the guy from Iceland know about your Fbooking.

Well, I am retired, but, perhaps incorrectly, I assumed that work is for office jobs, ie. reports, spreadsheets, presentations, proposals etc... Fbooking, unless allowed, I guess, should not be a part of the workplace.
(never used Fbook, wouldn't know how to use it)
... also, I don't work in an office environment, so I plead ignorance here.

 

[Kat]

One of the problems with people that "review" or "test" an OS in a virtual machine, is that they don't have any of their productivity apps installed. As such, they never really get a true impression of how using it on a day to day basis is. They only focus on the new stuff, not how it works with their old stuff. this leads people to wrongly conclude that the system only works with the new stuff, or to simply forget that it's more than just the new stuff.

This leads to the conclusion of "Ok, I've tested enough. Now, let me go back to my old windows so I can be productive and get stuff done". If you truly want to test an OS, you have to have EVERYTHING you use on a daily basis in it, so you can understand how it fits into your workflow, not just how you THINK It will fit into your workflow.

A very good point, Mystere.

I started testing and playing with 8 in Virtual-Box, once I felt confident with it
(CP 32-bit) I dumped it on my second laptop as an upgrade over my Win 7
Ultimate setup. That was in March.

Everything worked fine, so much so that the machine is still running the same
upgraded setup without a single issue (bar the inevitable 'bities' always found
in beta software).

This machine currently runs the 64-bit Enterprise RTM set up as a clean install,
but with all the same progs & apps installed as the other laptop. Everything
works perfectly, and all the tweaks and 3rd-party software I use (Classic Shell
anyone?) had already been tested on the other machine.

This installation is fast and rock-solid. Loving the OS itself, even Metro (I use
both the Start Screen AND the Start button).

Just don't like the push to the cloud, and the drift towards a 'closed' environment
like the Fruit-Gum Company. I'll be working to avoid that sad eventuality.

And I WOULD like to have 'proper' Aero back....

 

[Mystere]

I do love my Galaxy S3, but the thing that is frustration is that you're limited to 7 app screens. One nice thing about Windows phone is that (I believe) there is no real limit on it.

 

[pparks1]

I do love my Galaxy S3, but the thing that is frustration is that you're limited to 7 app screens. One nice thing about Windows phone is that (I believe) there is no real limit on it.

I have an s3 as well. I only use 3 of my app screens. I created folders on the primary screen and almost everything lives in this those folders.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Tolerable

Hi Mdmd, thanks for the welcome, I posted this before reading other threads, and clearly after doing some reading, I can see that Win 8 is not popular, though that's not a surprise to me.

It's not popular with a small subset of very vocal people. Every poll that's been taken has shown that it's about a 2:1 in favor of Windows 8 and Metro. And that's just in people that express an opinion either way. There are probably a lot more people that are unconcerned either way.

​ TechRepublic Infographic: Who's making the move to Windows 8? | TechRepublic You will probably need to click on the image three times to see it fullsize.

I actually think that for many, Windows 8 will be fine and many people will simply tolerate and adjust to it.

I think pparks1 is right, I could tolerate it if I was forced to use it (IMO, just like the "Ribbon" in Office 2007).

If you haven't used the previous versions (<=Office 2003 or Windows 7) you probably won't have any problems.

At least with W8 you can get free add-ons to obliterate Metro.
I've never found a free add-on to kill the "Ribbon" in Office.

IMO, Linux Mint (MATE) is better than tolerable.
If I didn't already have Ubuntu 10 LTS installed on my HDD, I'd install Linux Mint (MATE) as my Linux Distro.

Er, I doubt the average average user knows what Linux is or knows how to burn an .iso. And Ubuntu is still a waste of time for me. I still have to edit fstab and add noatime for my SSD, and if I want maximum versatility I still have to manually mount all my HDDs. In 2012. I'm pretty certain Linux will always be a fringe OS.

I hate manually mounting drives too.

Since you know how to edit "fstab", just add your HDDs to "fstab" and they'll be available at boot up (that's what I did).

 

[Ztruker]

I couldn't pass up the $39 Windows 8 offer. I figured even if I didn't want to use it now I might in the future so better to get it cheap while I could.

I installed it in a Dual Boot setup and have been using it a lot. Took 3-4 days to get it setup the way I want, which is basically so it looks, feels and works like Windows 7 and my wife is happy with it (a big hurdle indeed).

The last thing I got working was a real Start button. I know some of you think it's a waste but I much prefer it to the Metro interface. I even got Windows 7 Gadgets back so I could use the Weather gadget.

It's not as attractive as the full AERO Glass desktop in Windows 7 but it's not bad and everything works except Acronis TI 2012 which refuses to install (probably due to a poor Windows version level check).

I think I'll stay with it and remove my retail Win 7 Pro from this desktop system and upgrade my Vista Home Premium X64 with it.

I'll do an image backup of my 126GB SSD, clone the 80GB drive Win 8 is installed on to the 128GB SSD and see what happens. If that works then I'm all set. If not then I've have to do a clean install to the SSD but I don't think that will be necessary.

 

[mdmd]

Tolerable

Perhaps. About Making the Move to Windows 8?
Windows 8 has only been for sale to the general public for 5 business days?
Forgive me, I would be glad to guess that most of the respondents to that chart never even used Windows 8.

 

[lehnerus2000]

I don't know about them

Tolerable

Perhaps. About Making the Move to Windows 8?
Windows 8 has only been for sale to the general public for 5 business days?
Forgive me, I would be glad to guess that most of the respondents to that chart never even used Windows 8.

View attachment 10381

Maybe they tried the previews?
This isn't the only site that's had people using W8 for the last year.

I've tried (on VHDs):

• W8 DP
• W8 CP
• W8 RP
• W8 Ent

Only W8 DP and W8 Ent were able to correctly install my sound driver.

 

[Coke Robot]

I don't know, to me the most vocal against Windows 8 are IT people or oriented around there that first take down Windows 8 as it's too difficult or time consuming to learn, as they've probably seen people within an enterprise with OS transitions and have seen their fair share to know Windows 8 will be take a while to learn. And, they also tend to reject anything that causes an upset to a traditional computing scenario that they have already adapted to. They prefer feature sets over UI changes.

But honestly, the hype around it being awful is posh. I haven't found a SINGLE thing that Windows 8 doesn't do that I couldn't do with Windows 7. In fact, there are things about 8 that I can't do with 7, and things I can do faster and more effective with 8 than 7.

Setting that aside, yeah, people will vote with their wallets. I've already seen reaction personally to 8 being overwhelmingly positive. Many people I've shown it to during the development phases really liked it. Some had their dissent about it, but when they used it with a bit of navigating advice, they enjoyed it. Keep in mind this was without touch. When Windows 8 was released, I meet a couple people that were really impressed with the new tablet/hybrid/laptop/convertible form factors as well as the touch AIO form factor with Windows 8. One guy in particular spent a lot on an ipad, but returned it in favor of a Lenevo Yoga, because it was the perfect hybrid of two UIs and form factors. Another person I saw liked the touch ultrabook, and was considering buying on as a gift for his wife. One of my friends that works at my local best buy told me yesterday that people were coming in asking about the Windows RT tablets. They don't have one on display, yet he actually sold one the other day. To the everyday PC user, Windows 8 seems like it's better received. That, is the majority that counts, not a bunch of croons crowing and moaning about the ruining of the desktop when that form factor is being left behind for mobile ones.

 

[Max Peck]

One of the problems with people that "review" or "test" an OS in a virtual machine, is that they don't have any of their productivity apps installed. As such, they never really get a true impression of how using it on a day to day basis is. They only focus on the new stuff, not how it works with their old stuff. this leads people to wrongly conclude that the system only works with the new stuff, or to simply forget that it's more than just the new stuff.

This leads to the conclusion of "Ok, I've tested enough. Now, let me go back to my old windows so I can be productive and get stuff done". If you truly want to test an OS, you have to have EVERYTHING you use on a daily basis in it, so you can understand how it fits into your workflow, not just how you THINK It will fit into your workflow.

I agree. I think that's what my mistake was, not testing it as a live environment. Perhaps I should have imaged my system and done that awhile ago. Oh well, lesson learned. As it is I think the system will work fine for me. Aside from a little eye candy in the desktop (Aero and Gadgets) the system is as it was. The new color scheme is still customizable, though, so I'd say there's no loss here. Even the Metro side is less ugly to me than it was sometime back ... it kind of grows on you. Acquired taste, I guess.

-Max

 

[Coke Robot]

One of the problems with people that "review" or "test" an OS in a virtual machine, is that they don't have any of their productivity apps installed. As such, they never really get a true impression of how using it on a day to day basis is. They only focus on the new stuff, not how it works with their old stuff. this leads people to wrongly conclude that the system only works with the new stuff, or to simply forget that it's more than just the new stuff.

This leads to the conclusion of "Ok, I've tested enough. Now, let me go back to my old windows so I can be productive and get stuff done". If you truly want to test an OS, you have to have EVERYTHING you use on a daily basis in it, so you can understand how it fits into your workflow, not just how you THINK It will fit into your workflow.

Exactly what I did. Used Windows 8 from day one everyday for over a year.

 

[rialcnis]

I upgraded to Win 8 Pro the morning of release. I was shocked and floored how well the install went on my complex system. A+++

It was a step up from any previous install on any system I've ever seen (which is all of them).

I knew I'd be annoyed by no Start button or search frame on the left of taskbar. i doubted very much I'd like the Tile system on a desktop PC---what was the point? All those bright colors reminded me of my free and useless Microsoft "Kin" cell phone I have. (not a smart phone, but has sliding tiles). I just hoped the desktop side of it was as good or better, then Win 7. I was willing to look at this What Used to be Called Metro thing....


The first day after the excellent and virtually perfect install (with two minor external hardware issues), I went through the annoyances of the minor differences on the desktop, but by the next day I was pleasantly surprised as I began to scratch the surface and discover all the new features coming with the thing that Used to be called Metro.

Microsoft has really thought this one ahead. It's a visionary OS.

Those griping IMO, oughta relax and realize that for many people, this system will be the replacement for Apple as welll as Win 7.

I use an IPAD and it's a nice for lying in bed and readin forums etc. but it's a very dumbed down toy, but Win 8 Pro will kill it on tablets. The integration MS has planned on here is massive and takes the whole OS thing into another dimension.

Everytime i click the charms I find something new.

Granted the timing out trying to log into the store or with the APP is still a mess, but that will iron out now that people at large are using the system.

What this system makes me want to do now, is go ahead and max out my ram, from 8 to 24 gigs, (even if its not useful yet) pick up the latest, greatest Nvidia GTX 690 card, maybe upgrade my 3 year old motherboard and finally add a panoramic display setup. Then down the road I'll get a tablet and give the IPAD to my 89 year old mother to look up her crossword puzzle clues.

Every time i look deeper into Win 8 I find more features and things improvements over the old hat Win destop and i am sure they will keep improving it bigtime. The old Win 7 type desktop is just training wheels and will go the way of the plow.

Visually Win 8 What used to be called Metro, is amazing. My desktop Icon mess that is always filling my 27" screen is now neatly organized by Win 8 in sliding tiles. So utterly cool.

I think the negativity some have about the new OS will melt away. After a few service packs with even more features and as the new hardware comes out I think we will see a continuation of MS dominance.


Some Third Party vendors might drag their feet having to keep up with MS again, but so what.

Now MS has to straighten out the network time-outs and broken APPS (whats up with this Microsoft Maps? among many others I've tried) will not cut it. But this is a revolutionary system and it is expected it will have growing pains.


BTW: I think we should just call the thing that used to be called Metro, "Surface."

 

[ant1]

Installed windows 8 last week, and find it great.

Windows 8 is part of Microsoft's strategy to reconquer the mobile (phones and tablets) and web/cloud based realms, in which it hasn't really been competitive these past years. They're going after both Apple and Google, and imho they're doing it right.

One of the ways they're doing it is by unifying the user experience between all platforms, see outlook.com and the metro interface (which is present on all platforms). Bing has also been greatly improved, offering all the functionalities Google does. Apparently Office 2013 will seamlessly integrate with the cloud, whether you use it on the desktop (my preferred usage), or through web based interfaces, in a direct confrontation with google apps. And SkyDrive becomes the personal cloud based storage space for all this.

Windows 8 on the desktop probably depends on how you set it up.
I set it up as a real desktop solution, switched all default file types to desktop apps, mainly windows desktop graphics viewer, and VLC for multimedia files, removed all the metro apps I don't care about (weather, stocks, and all those things...), and basically turned the start screen into a start menu. Don't feel the need for a third party stat menu, and don't have any problems with the metro interface whatsoever.
And that works fine for me, but it's probably a question of personal preferences.
It's just like windows 7, only better.

On an ARM tablet or phone I would be using the metro interface of course, but as long as it synchronizes with the cloud and my desktop apps can synchronize with it too (through SkyDrive probably).. I'm fine with that. I have an IPhone, but when I have to/want to change phones I will seriously be considering a windows phone, that's for sure... it may come down to what apps are available on windows 8 phone by then (what's the official name ? windows 8 phone is kind of long). IPhone's advantage is the apps imho, a lot of good apps are only on iphone, most NASA apps are only for iphone for example.

In my view Windows 8 on the desktop offers you the choice, use it as a desktop solution, as a metro solution, or as a mixed solution, whatever fits your needs and wants best. In any case you can benefit from the unification of the platforms and cloud based solutions. And Microsoft has pushed this unification father than Apple ever has by offering us the choice of user experience (desktop, metro, or mixed) on the PC.
Can't stand Apple's control freak approach to personal computing, and that's what I like about Windows, you always have the choice... and if you don't want choices being made for you... ;-)

 

[Max Peck]

Although I'm happy with Win8 on my laptop at the moment I'm not to the point where I think it will replace my iPhones and iPad. I have quite a bit invested in the Apple infrastructure right now as far as content goes - purchased books, music and apps. I'm also not going to force yet another GUI change on my wife, or myself for that matter. We're both very pleased with the way the iPhone works. Switching to a Microsoft phone would be nuts ... even if it was equivalent or better. Let's just throw away all the apps and learning time on the iPhone just because we want to be on Microsoft? Not going to happen.

Since I AM a Windows developer, though, it makes sense for me to extend my platform that I've built my career around and learn to write to Metro. I may buy a "Surface" for that reason but not as a replacement for the infrastructure I already have. Apple and Microsoft are just going to have to co-exist in my house. They both have something to offer.

-Max

 

[Chrono]

Took me 20 minutes or so to find everything I need. Right-clicking the bottom-left corner gets you most of the programs you'll be using to maintain the OS. It's not unintuitive at all. The desktop is exactly the same as 7, minus a start button, and it's generally faster than 7. Navigating Metro is not a hassle at all if you take time to actually learn the interface.

I'm just getting tired of people saying, "Oh its a tablet os that was designed for tablets and has desktop features tacked on". That is not the case. I can get around just as fast, or faster, than I did in 7. If they half-assed the desktop aspect, they did a pretty good job.

 

[Max Peck]

Took me 20 minutes or so to find everything I need. Right-clicking the bottom-left corner gets you most of the programs you'll be using to maintain the OS. It's not unintuitive at all. The desktop is exactly the same as 7, minus a start button, and it's generally faster than 7. Navigating Metro is not a hassle at all if you take time to actually learn the interface.

I'm just getting tired of people saying, "Oh its a tablet os that was designed for tablets and has desktop features tacked on". That is not the case. I can get around just as fast, or faster, than I did in 7. If they half-assed the desktop aspect, they did a pretty good job.

My impression exactly. I don't miss the start button at all. The desktop is exactly the way it was before I upgraded it otherwise. It "just works".

-Max

 

[Philgates]

Ok I'm back, and have read all the posts to date, and seems many are missing my point here, so just to give a background on why I feel Microsoft's recent offering is nothing but a poor market strategy reaction to the competition, I'll clarify why. And before I start, I have had no issues with getting around Win8, took me 30 minutes or so. Think it would be fair to point out too that I have some experience with IT, (MCSE) System build, hardware and software Diagnostics, etc, etc. Hands up those that have a windows phone? form an orderly cue of one! ok your not impressed, well lets give you all some facts, back in 2008, Microsoft predicted that their new up and coming mobile software technology would see a 50% increase on sales, but by 2012 (May) what actually had happened? Well it will come as no surprise to you all, that and I quote:

Microsoft's Mobile Share Plunges 27%

In the latest sign that Microsoft's high-stakes bet on a new, unconventional mobile platform isn't paying off, numbers released Wednesday show that Redmond's overall share of the wireless operating system market fell 27% in the first quarter, to a meager 1.9%.Analysts will watch closely to see if the Lumia is able to reverse Microsoft and Nokia's mobile slide in the second quarter. If not, some might conclude that Microsoft's Windows Phone gambit has failed.

Why has Microsoft failed? simply because no one wants these crap tiles, failed tiles which have now been bolted onto our desktop, under the all hailed Windows 8, the greatest advance since windows 95? how such a huge and successful company could have come up with this half baked monstrosity of a so called advance beggars belief. I have never knocked Microsoft since the days of win 3.1, and win95 was indeed a major advance, but to me Win8 is a massive strategy failure, but that's Microsoft's problem.

My problem though, was how to get this thing more efficient and objective, instead of going around the trees, or flashing back and forth between that metro crap, and desktop, first thing that had to go was the rubbish Win8 start tiles, new as soon as I Googled someone would have come up with a port for win7 Start menu, and sure as eggs Ex7ForW8, came to the rescue, now we have the Win7 start menu back, what a relief! And so the story goes on, with more hacks and ports to be searched to overcome the inadequacies of win 8, when I finally finish this project what will I have? Win 7 again, nice one Microsoft! When will you get it, no one wants your crap tiles on phones or anything else.

At a time when Microsoft are failing surely they could have come up with something better for their flagship desktop, than bolting on this miserable mobile failure, which they are now being sued for copy right infringement, it's just such a missed opportunity by them, I just don't get it one bit, Have always enjoyed the Windows journey, but it's my view that Microsoft have lost their way, let's hope they employ Google Maps before the next incarnation.

​

 

[area 66]

Good post Philgates

 

[NaySayer]

"how such a huge and successful company could have come up with this half baked monstrosity of a so called advance beggars belief"

It's a transitional OS intended to bridge the gap between tablet/smart phone users and traditional desktop users. I hear a lot of whining and complaining from people overcome by inertia and afraid of change, but the desktop is still there, so what's the problem? We all heard the same complaints when DOS went away... It's a disaster, I can't get anything done, blah blah blah.