Windows 8

[Antome]

I'm liking it so far.
Not liking the new start menu however, so

windows key+R (No proper start menu atm, so no run button :dah:)
type regedit.exe and press enter (we're changing a variable in regedit)
go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Software>Microsoft>Windows>Explorer
Double click "RPenabled"
Change from 1 to 0

To get rid of it and such. Downside is that it (sometimes??) uses the usual start logo, which is unfitting if you're using the metro ui.

Ima liking the fidelity they give you with personalizing the ui now.

screenie: http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb42 ... esktop.jpg (I made big adjustments to the theme)

 

[XCVG]

I haven't tried it, but I don't like the 'user-friendly' direction Microsoft is going. Windows 7 was supposed to be simplified, and everything is more complicated. And they got rid of the BSOD. That being said, I'll wait for an actual release to make a final judgement.

Also, is the taskbar always on top, or did you do that?

 

[Zero]

Windows 7 is pretty easy to use, I'm not sure what's more complicated about it.

As for Windows 8, Metro looks nice (although definitely not a replacement for the desktop), Live integration seems cool, and I'm really excited for ARM support, but I want to wait for a future build before I try it for myself.

 

[ToastBucket]

I've downloaded it but haven't yet had time to try it out. Quite excited myself.

 

[Mako321]

I've downloaded it but haven't yet had time to try it out. Quite excited myself.

 

[Bush]

I don't get the hate on metro. It's totally optional, and its going to be amazing having windows tablets.

 

[Antome]

I don't get the hate on metro. It's totally optional, and its going to be amazing having windows tablets.

Overlay isn't really optional at all, as I said in the first post you have to change a registry value to use the old start menu.
But Dang man, I'm loving the customization you can get with themes now.
A problem however, is that you only get complete control with high contrast themes, which screw up the CSS in websites for some reason.
Another thing to note is the faster boot times. Very nice.
The built in anti-virus is probably good enough too.

 

[Noah]

Honestly, I'm sure windows 8 will be a great OS, but being that I just bought 7, I don't see myself buying 8. There are other ways to get my hands on the OS. Honestly, I think Microsoft needs to stop releasing new Operating systems every couple years. What happened to service packs? Vista had what, 2? Windows 7 loses support in 2015. XP doesn't lose support until 2014 and has been out for almost 10 years. I swear, Microsoft would fail if so many people didn't bu their products.

 

[grossaffe]

I swear, Microsoft would fail if so many people didn't bu their products.

 

[ShockSlayer]

wat.

I'm currently running 7, was running XP bout 2 years ago, *Can'tSayThisOnTV*ing skipped Vista godDang.

I hate Vista with a passion.

All my pals had laptops, all my pals had Vista, all my pals were idiots that came to me with their problems.
I'm a nice guy but I'd sooner choke down 10 orphans unsalted than try to fix Vista for someone.

SS

 

[bic]

At work I threw it on an old Dell GX280, and it actually runs pretty okay except for the Metro UI stuff because it has some crappy Sillicon Graphics video chipset. If it had something like a GeForce 9400 it would be fine. It takes just over 20 seconds to get to the desktop from power off. (My boss wanted to play with it too, and the things' getting wiped anyway so I figured why not.) I'm serioulsy thinking of dual-booting it on a new hard drive in my Thinkpad, if only because it boots so quickly.

Pentium 4 3.2
2.5 gb RAM
160 gb dying hard drive (partition around the bad parts )

 

[Zero]

Overlay isn't really optional at all, as I said in the first post you have to change a registry value to use the old start menu.

That's the new start menu though, which doesn't look that bad imo, Bush was talking about the non-desktop Metro UI.

I think Microsoft needs to stop releasing new Operating systems every couple years. What happened to service packs?

Yeah I don't see the problem at all. Microsoft has always come out with a new version of Windows every 2-3 years, with the exception being XP (I guess because of delays developing Vista). For technology, that's a completely reasonable amount of time, as Windows 7 has already been out since '09. This is also only the dev preview version, the retail release will come much later. Its a pretty good system, compared to Apple's yearly OSX versions.

 

[Noah]

I do see your point, but Microsoft would keep a lot of people happy if they were to do major updates on the OS, release the updates for free, then every 5 years or so release a new one. The thing with Macs is, most of the time the OS upgrades are free. 100% free. It asks, "Would you like to update to 10.X.X?" Free is always nice. If Microsoft did the same, that would be awesome. But, they are all about making money and having Indians answer their phones, so oh well.

 

[Zero]

No, they are $30.

What you mean are equal to the free windows update patches and service packs MS gives.

I do agree though, if you are updating from the OS right before, you should be able to pay a really cheap update rate (like $30-$50). If you're still on XP or something, then obviously its understandable if they make you pay more though.

 

[Antome]

That's the new start menu though, which doesn't look that bad imo, Bush was talking about the non-desktop Metro UI.

It's practically not even a metro ui by default. It's aero, I just want and changed the theme around myself.

What sucks however, is that the high contrast themes(which you have complete control over) Screw up CSS.

 

[Noah]

XP is what I use for gaming/game editing. (Pokemon, SMW, etc.) I use 7 for everyday use, since it runs faster than XP. The updates Microsoft does on their operating systems are plain stupid and pointless, besides security updates. They change NOTHING. Money is the main factor. If I do switch to windows 8, I won't be buying it.

 

[Mako321]

XP is what I use for gaming/game editing. (Pokemon, SMW, etc.) I use 7 for everyday use, since it runs faster than XP. The updates Microsoft does on their operating systems are plain stupid and pointless, besides security updates. They change NOTHING. Money is the main factor. If I do switch to windows 8, I won't be buying it.

You don't seem to know what you're talking about.

 

[XCVG]

Why would you use WinXP for gaming and Win7 for everyday use? That's backwards. DX11 alone is reason to switch to Win7 for gaming.

Windows on ARM support is bullflax. It's been explicitly stated that it will not run traditional Windows apps, which basically makes it pointless. It'll be like Windows Phone dressing itself up as Windows. Seriously, Microsoft, get back in bed with Intel. Nobody gives a *Can'tSayThisOnTV* about MeeGo, and Win8 ARM doesn't have legacy support. Win8+Medfield (or whatever the Heck they are calling it now)=

 

[Bush]

Why would you use WinXP for gaming and Win7 for everyday use? That's backwards. DX11 alone is reason to switch to Win7 for gaming.

Windows on ARM support is flax. It's been explicitly stated that it will not run traditional Windows apps, which basically makes it pointless. It'll be like Windows Phone dressing itself up as Windows. Seriously, Microsoft, get back in bed with Intel. Nobody gives a *PLAQUE* about MeeGo, and Win8 ARM doesn't have legacy support. Win8+Medfield (or whatever the Heck they are calling it now)=

Uh what? ARM is going to be *Can'tSayThisOnTV*ing amazing. All devs have to do is recompile, and BLAM, hello power efficient Win 8 slates.

 

[bic]

I think Microsoft needs to stop releasing new Operating systems every couple years. What happened to service packs?

Yeah I don't see the problem at all. Microsoft has always come out with a new version of Windows every 2-3 years, with the exception being XP (I guess because of delays developing Vista). For technology, that's a completely reasonable amount of time, as Windows 7 has already been out since '09. This is also only the dev preview version, the retail release will come much later. Its a pretty good system, compared to Apple's yearly OSX versions.

Windows version history in a nutshell:

1.0 - 1985

2.0 - 1987

2.1 - 1988

3.0 - 1990

3.1 - 1992

95 - 1995
..... OSR2 - 1997

NT 4.0 - 1996
..... SP1 - 1996
..... SP2 - 1996
..... SP3 - 1997
..... SP4 - 1998
..... SP5 - 1999
..... SP6 - 1999

98 - 1998
..... 98SE - 1999

ME - 2000

2k - 2000
..... SP1 - 2000
..... SP2 - 2001
..... SP3 - 2002
..... SP4 - 2003

XP - 2001
..... SP1a -2002
..... SP2 - 2004
..... SP3 - 2008

Vista - 2006
..... SP1 - 2008
..... SP2 - 2009

Win7 - 2009
..... SP1 - 2011

Basically the people complaining about Microsoft not supporting XP after 13 years of free updates are whiny babbys who don't remember a world where XP hadn't been invented yet or are hopelessly entrenched in using the 2 ghz Pentium 4 tower they bought in 2004 and are afraid of change. To put that in perspective that's basically like complaining about how Microsoft doesn't support Windows 98 anymore right now.

The retail version of Windows 8 is probably only going to come out a couple years from now. The first released milestone build of Windows 7 went out in January 2008, then the beta leaked in December, then the release candidate was opened in April 2009, and finally the RTM version came out in July 2009. Depending on how long they take to rework this UI, we'll probably see it on store shelves in 2013 or 2014.