Windows 8 who's buying/upgrading

ChileanLlama · 12 Oct 2012 at 23:04

V F said:
Microsoft is crazy at times. They make things hard when it doesn't need to be.

Pfft.... who upgrades an OS? I preferred retail due to less complications with activations. Plus I still like to be able to use the previous OS. Not void a previous key.

They've replaced OEM with System Builder and the license is apparently more relaxed. So should be simpler rather than harder.

Syther101 · 12 Oct 2012 at 23:06

I have tried to get along with it multiple times now. Currently giving it another try at the moment. But nope, I just don't like it one bit. I am utterly disappointed. I mean it's not going to affect me in any way but still It would have been nice to have a new OS.

I mean for example I want to open chrome. I press the start button and start typing to find it. Well hay there it is let me open it. OW god it's opened it in the horrible metro interface. Maybe if I right click it will have an option to open on the desktop. Nope. So now the start menu simply doesn't work.

Give me this Microsoft. PLEASE!

thingemajib · 12 Oct 2012 at 23:07

BluSky said:
I have a convertible touch screen ultraportable that I may buy it for. My desktop though will be staying on windows 7 for the forseeable future.

this

wolvers · 12 Oct 2012 at 23:15

ChileanLlama said:
You should be able to do it from the preview according to an MS blog post, but they've not confirmed how you'll verify the license you're upgrading, I suspect you'll be asked for the key.

Don't know whether it will allow 32bit to 64bit, but I'd guess it will give you the option if detects your key is 32bit Vista and you're currently 64bit preview.

Cheers. I'll look into it then.

Edit; this must be that blog post.

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/...07/02/upgrade-to-windows-8-pro-for-39-99.aspx

MagicBoy · 12 Oct 2012 at 23:32

Halfmad said:
That's where I disagree, wife has a phone running Windows 8 and it works brilliantly on it. I'm just not convinced yet that it's suitable for a desktop PC.

Doubt it. Not out until November.

ChileanLlama · 12 Oct 2012 at 23:40

wolvers said:
Cheers. I'll look into it then.

Edit; this must be that blog post.

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/...07/02/upgrade-to-windows-8-pro-for-39-99.aspx

Yep that looks like the one (I have posted it elsewhere on here before in one of the long Win8 threads). Check out the comments later on from the OP and eventually he confirms that there'll be some way of getting the upgrade on RP/CP machines without having a qualifying OS/license installed.

Muel · 12 Oct 2012 at 23:40

I kinda like it. Not sure if I'll be going with it over W7 for my desktop OS. I've already got 2 licenses for it (Brightspark ftw), and running one in a VM now.

I like the interface personally, but I don't think I'll find it as productive as W7.

I do like that they're trying to move on from the start menu though. It's such a flawed UI component IMO.

trickynickyuk · 13 Oct 2012 at 00:41

I agree with above if the made the ui better then maybe but having it the way it is, is like having windows media center open all the time and the was annoying at times as well i don't like the fact that they have taken a lot of style of it

sj80 · 13 Oct 2012 at 01:29

I'd probably buy Windows 8 if I ever wanted a touchscreen tablet, but I'm a pretty dedicated desktop user and that's not likely to change. While Modern UI may work well on a touchscreen tablet it's a bad joke on a large screen desktop PC with a mouse and keyboard. Of course I can stick with the desktop and ignore Modern easily enough most of the time, but the little desktop tweaks since Windows 7 aren't significant enough to be a worth the upgrade in my opinion.

Apart from that, I just find the direction that Windows is taking to be pretty worrying. A lot of people are talking about the new tablet UI and apps as the future of windows, with the desktop a legacy component that'll fade into the background like the command line did. As someone who prefers a keyboard and mouse and uses features like multiple windows, I obviously don't want to see that happen. To me buying Windows 8 is a vote in favour of tablet optimised crippleware rather than a fully featured desktop UI.

DeathStorm · 13 Oct 2012 at 01:49

trickynickyuk said:
I agree with above if the made the ui better then maybe but having it the way it is, is like having windows media center open all the time and the was annoying at times as well i don't like the fact that they have taken a lot of style of it

It's an improvement when you know what you're doing, I'm still amazed they haven't clearly explained what each corner does and it's just assumed that hey the right corners give you charms and the top left gives you fast app switching (plus modern app switching) and the bottom left gives you the start screen.

I know there's an intro video when you install but it just tells you to use the corners and not exactly what they do. That or some kind of visual indication that each corner provides a different function, rather than having these magical corners on a computer (a bit like when they removed the top left program icon from windows but clicking in the top left still brings up the old menu, it's bad design although it looks cleaner).

V F · 13 Oct 2012 at 01:54

Logitech touch pad is appealing.

wolvers · 13 Oct 2012 at 08:47

DeathStorm said:
It's an improvement when you know what you're doing

That is so true.

theheyes · 13 Oct 2012 at 08:47

sj80 said:
Apart from that, I just find the direction that Windows is taking to be pretty worrying. A lot of people are talking about the new tablet UI and apps as the future of windows, with the desktop a legacy component that'll fade into the background like the command line did. As someone who prefers a keyboard and mouse and uses features like multiple windows, I obviously don't want to see that happen. To me buying Windows 8 is a vote in favour of tablet optimised crippleware rather than a fully featured desktop UI.

People say a lot of things that tend to wither in light of the facts. The command line, for example, is still around today. Windows 8 supports multiple windows just fine. Surface will be sold with a keyboard. Two types of keyboard no less.

The whole notion that Microsoft is going to completely phase out the desktop over the next couple of years is just nonsense.

Lucifurr · 13 Oct 2012 at 09:50

I will be getting this for my desktop. I have been using it on my work laptop since the RTM version was released and I think its great. It took a bit of getting used to. I was skeptical when running the previews on VMWare but since actually having it as main OS on my laptop I have really warmed to it.

I still use mainbly desktop apps just like I did on Windows 7 and I am liking the improvements they have made with the desktop ui like having the taskbar on both screens when using multiple monitors.

The impression I am getting from a lot of replies is that people don't like change. It reminds me of when Office 2007 was first released. People seemed to adapt to a new way of doing things and I personally find the ribbon better than the old menus. Hopefully the same will be true of Windows 8.

ChileanLlama · 13 Oct 2012 at 09:58

DeathStorm said:
It's an improvement when you know what you're doing, I'm still amazed they haven't clearly explained what each corner does and it's just assumed that hey the right corners give you charms and the top left gives you fast app switching (plus modern app switching) and the bottom left gives you the start screen.

I know there's an intro video when you install but it just tells you to use the corners and not exactly what they do. That or some kind of visual indication that each corner provides a different function, rather than having these magical corners on a computer (a bit like when they removed the top left program icon from windows but clicking in the top left still brings up the old menu, it's bad design although it looks cleaner).

Agreed, there needs to be far more in the way of education/tutorials especially for those using it on a desktop PC (if you're just using Metro via a tablet or phone then it's less of an issue). It takes a while to readjust to everything, not just a couple of hours, but a few days or weeks.

It makes me wonder how many people have really given it a proper trial. I understand if people don't like the look of the new UI, but when people are dismissing it as being a tablet only abhorrence or that it's less functional in some ways just makes me laugh and they have no credibility with me as they're just jumping on a popular bandwagon and/or not the power users they think they are if they're unable to adapt to the changes.

Sure the new UI is not perfect, but it's pretty good for the first iteration. Just needs some polish now. From a desktop perspective it's arguably the same if not better than Windows 7. I just wish they'd spent a bit of the budget improving the taskbar/pinned items to allow more flexibility.

lcg · 13 Oct 2012 at 10:32

Yes, I will be buying and upgrading to Windows 8.

vanandjuanunited · 13 Oct 2012 at 10:34

Win 7 still good enough for me

delpy8 · 13 Oct 2012 at 10:51

Syther101 said:
I have tried to get along with it multiple times now. Currently giving it another try at the moment. But nope, I just don't like it one bit. I am utterly disappointed. I mean it's not going to affect me in any way but still It would have been nice to have a new OS.

I mean for example I want to open chrome. I press the start button and start typing to find it. Well hay there it is let me open it. OW god it's opened it in the horrible metro interface. Maybe if I right click it will have an option to open on the desktop. Nope. So now the start menu simply doesn't work.

Give me this Microsoft. PLEASE!

Hi how do you get windows 8 to show this???

sj80 · 13 Oct 2012 at 10:54

theheyes said:
People say a lot of things that tend to wither in light of the facts. The command line, for example, is still around today.

I said that the command line faded into the background, not that it disappeared completely. The point is that while the command line still has niche uses, all the mainstream software quite quickly became graphical. Even if I was a dedicated command line fan I couldn't avoid using a graphical interface today.

A lot of people are predicting that the same thing will happen with Modern UI. While the desktop may not be completely removed, the main entertainment and productivity software will eventually become touch optimised Modern UI apps, and the desktop will just exist for software development and other specialist uses. Obviously if that happens then it would make it hard to avoid Modern without ditching Windows completely.

theheyes said:
Windows 8 supports multiple windows just fine.

The legacy desktop does, but not the Modern UI and apps that Microsoft are promoting as the future of Windows.

Glaucus · 13 Oct 2012 at 10:58

sj80 said:
The legacy desktop does, but not the Modern UI and apps that Microsoft are promoting as the future of Windows.

Yes it does, well two windows side by side.

The desktop is still there, who knows what updates metro will get in the coming years, let alone w9/w10