Windows 8 The Verdicts ?

this whole "theres no start button" thing. Surely the main screen "is" the start button. Instead of a column of things to click on you now just have a screen of things to click on.

Now ive stuck all my apps on there and removed the clutter im suprised how little i actually miss the desktop.

Only thing that annoys now is the "you must provide administrator rights for this" popups despite my user account being set as an admin!
 
delta0 said:
Open IE from the desktop, not metro, then you will get the normal one.
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I know that. I just think metro IE and desktop IE should share same temp internet files/cookies etc. Seems daft that it doesn't.

So, anyone know the official way of making the address bar appear in metro IE?
 
Athanor said:
Just to add, there's a bunch of people here happy to try to help you solve the problems if you want to , ranting at us as people who "blindly defend", "stupid OS" "worst OS MS have ever done" is probably not going to help.

Your call and feel free to vent, but gives us some details and less mr angry and maybe people here can help? Just sayin'
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It was venting. Was not trying to offend people I'm sorry if it seemed that way, I was just extremely annoyed as there is no way round it, short from starting the computer in safe mode, however Windows 8 broke itself again while updating, then refused to boot, and it appears the F8 key nolonger gives the menu on startup, so you have to wait for Windows to realise there is a problem.

I gave up. If there is any idea on how to fix the issue then please let me know, but as such few are having problems I think I got as far as I could, short of writing a new driver (which I can't do).

kitch9 said:
Its a stupid os because you're having problems and we are all blindly stupid to use it even though we do not have problems?

Don't bother asking for help by the way, calling us all blind will solve all of your problems....
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I did not say you were stupid to use it. Stop putting words in my mouth, reread the original post and you may see why I was getting so frustrasted. And yes, it is a stupid OS as Safe mode sucks. Since when has Windows not allowed you to install/uninstall drivers and programs in safe mode? Since Windows 8 it seems.

Lucifurr said:
Can you get monitor drivers from the Dell support site. I tried having a look but didn't know what model you have.
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I looked but could not find any, just video card drivers and not even updated for Windows 8, yet anyway.
 
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Well I tried Windows 8, for like half a day. What has put me off and forced me to waste time and reinstall Windows 7 is listed below.

1) Sound card, X-fi Titanium fails to work well with the new OS, only a shoddy beta driver available (Creative pull finger out).
2) Punkbuster required for Battlefield 3 fails to work properly with the new OS and I get thrown out of the online games.
3)I have to drag my mouse to the far reaches of the corners of my 24 inch screen to activate certain tasks whereas, Windows 7 just lets me go to the left corner of the screen and all the options I need are just there.
4) No improvement in gaming, games run just the same in my opinion.
5) Boot time was worse then Windows 7 in my install.
6) The only app I liked was a cool pinball game that was free to download, the apps store is woefully short on decent programs that interest me.
7) As many others have said it is a pain to jump from desktop to (cough) Metro, unecessary and a waste of my time.
8) Logging in to a Microsft account and all the other accounts I have with it seem a chore and not straightforward as I would find in earlier versions of Windows. Click on an app, well Windows wants me to log in with a new account...

Conclusion, this is an unfinished operating system, that forces people to use software not all want to use. If I wanted an X-box I would go and buy one, if I wanted Microsoft Surface I would get that, this is a comical attempt by Microsoft to take our money for a tablet operating system. This is another Vista or Windows ME.

I will revisit it in the future with a spare disk drive and see if it is more user friendly, as Vista became a better Os two years down the line...

Oh and the comical thing is that it will not even play DVD's out of the box when most media a PC user has are on DVD, granted it will I think use data DVD disk's but not movies, Microsft should have put a native Blu ray player extension to media player, instead of a naff app that I will have to pay £6.99 for in the near future.
 
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VonScar said:
Oh and the comical thing is that it will not even play DVD's out of the box when most media a PC user has are on DVD, granted it will I think use data DVD disk's but not movies, Microsft should have put a native Blu ray player extension to media player, instead of a naff app that I will have to pay £6.99 for in the near future.
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Sorry but this is a good thing. The number of people who use Windows PCs to watch DVDs but don't have some form of media player software (VLC, XBMC or whatever) is vanishingly small, yet for every copy of Windows sold Microsoft had to pay a license fee for the DVD decoders which was inevitably passed on to consumers.

Same deal with Blu-ray playback - why make all customers pay to license something that only a tiny majority will use?
 
I beg to differ, multi-media capability out of the box has been a cornerstone of Microsoft since 2007 and possibly before.

Even at £15.00 I see this operating system as a joke and a step back in the evolution to the lowest common denominator. Instead we get"apps" dumbed down prgrams of questionable worth. If we want apps to play DVD's and such we such all get out our ipad's.

BTW I have software (playback), but find it inefficient and glitchy in comparison to having a solution integrated into my OS.

Basically Microsoft is cutting costs and passing on the savings to their shareholders and not necessaily their customers...How long will these cheap upgrade offers last? January 2013...two months from now. Slap on say £30.00 pounds for DVD software, for example Cyberlink...or pay for Windows Media Centre, something that held so little value previously they gave it away for free with previous operating systems.
 
I'm starting to really like W8 now, when I first tried the previews before RTM I really didn't like it or get on with it and was pretty vocal about it. Now I've installed it on my main machine it's very slick to use and after a bit of setting up is just as usable as W7 was with the added bonus of Metro and lots of free easy to access apps.

I'm a .net developer so spend a lot of time in the desktop so really wanted to minimise Metro access while working. It's really easy to do with just the normal desktop shortcuts and pinned app's to the taskbar. After this is done it's just work as normal but when you want to relax say on a Sunday morning and just surf around the place you can pop in to Metro and all it's goodness :) So Desktop as normal for work, Metro for relaxing and play.

I've found that W8 works pretty well on a desktop PC with large display but I still find it a bit poor on laptops with lower res. Windows trackpads just don't work as well as MBP ones so the experience just isn't as slick as OSX on a lappy. Still not tried it on a tablet yet but we should be getting one in work pretty soon.
 
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It's a bit weird at first but I am getting used to it the more I use it. Everything seems to work efficiently and well at the moment, the live tiles are pretty cool

Too early to call it a failure just yet but there are some strange things about this OS, some things more complicated than they should be!
 
VonScar said:
I beg to differ, multi-media capability out of the box has been a cornerstone of Microsoft since 2007 and possibly before.

Even at £15.00 I see this operating system as a joke and a step back in the evolution to the lowest common denominator. Instead we get"apps" dumbed down prgrams of questionable worth. If we want apps to play DVD's and such we such all get out our ipad's.

BTW I have software (playback), but find it inefficient and glitchy in comparison to having a solution integrated into my OS.

Basically Microsoft is cutting costs and passing on the savings to their shareholders and not necessaily their customers...How long will these cheap upgrade offers last? January 2013...two months from now. Slap on say £30.00 pounds for DVD software, for example Cyberlink...or pay for Windows Media Centre, something that held so little value previously they gave it away for free with previous operating systems.
Click to expand...

£30 to play DVDs? Come on - VLC does it for free. What's the problem?
 
VonScar said:
Basically Microsoft is cutting costs and passing on the savings to their shareholders and not necessaily their customers...
Click to expand...

The upgrade prices aren't exactly expensive, also W8Pro is cheaper than W7 pro or ultimate. Most home users don't even need W8Pro, it only really gives hyper-v, domain and side loading over std W8 making it even cheaper. Hyper-v isn't necessary with other VM platforms being so good just leaving sideload and domain which are hardly important for home use.
 
loltim said:
I know that. I just think metro IE and desktop IE should share same temp internet files/cookies etc. Seems daft that it doesn't.

So, anyone know the official way of making the address bar appear in metro IE?
Click to expand...

There is a setting in internet explorers options, that forces the browser to go to the desktop version even if executed from Metro. I guess thats not quite what you want though.

I take it you want the full screen experiance but with an address bar.

Can't help with the cookies and history, I have mine set to delete upon closing the browser.
 
VonScar said:
Well I tried Windows 8, for like half a day. What has put me off and forced me to waste time and reinstall Windows 7 is listed below.

1) Sound card, X-fi Titanium fails to work well with the new OS, only a shoddy beta driver available (Creative pull finger out).
2) Punkbuster required for Battlefield 3 fails to work properly with the new OS and I get thrown out of the online games.
3)I have to drag my mouse to the far reaches of the corners of my 24 inch screen to activate certain tasks whereas, Windows 7 just lets me go to the left corner of the screen and all the options I need are just there.
4) No improvement in gaming, games run just the same in my opinion.
5) Boot time was worse then Windows 7 in my install.
6) The only app I liked was a cool pinball game that was free to download, the apps store is woefully short on decent programs that interest me.
7) As many others have said it is a pain to jump from desktop to (cough) Metro, unecessary and a waste of my time.
8) Logging in to a Microsft account and all the other accounts I have with it seem a chore and not straightforward as I would find in earlier versions of Windows. Click on an app, well Windows wants me to log in with a new account...

Conclusion, this is an unfinished operating system, that forces people to use software not all want to use. If I wanted an X-box I would go and buy one, if I wanted Microsoft Surface I would get that, this is a comical attempt by Microsoft to take our money for a tablet operating system. This is another Vista or Windows ME.

I will revisit it in the future with a spare disk drive and see if it is more user friendly, as Vista became a better Os two years down the line...

Oh and the comical thing is that it will not even play DVD's out of the box when most media a PC user has are on DVD, granted it will I think use data DVD disk's but not movies, Microsft should have put a native Blu ray player extension to media player, instead of a naff app that I will have to pay £6.99 for in the near future.
Click to expand...

Sadly I agree on the above comments, Windows 7 was reinstalled last night on my pc.

Same problem with X-Fi Titanium not working as it should (not a cheap card either) plus I use the optical out on it and could not access it at all in 8.

None of my films & tv shows would not stream to my Apple TV either in 8, & yes I know that iTunes does not support 8 yet.

I was getting constant crashes even when sitting at the desktop & also shutdown errors (it was a fresh 8 install too), WOW would just crash for no reason at all.

Basically I cant use an os that is not reliable (for me anyway) all my hardware is up to date as well, when 8 was running I did enjoy using it, when the bugs are sorted out I will try it again. hopefully with a better result.

Still for £25.00 it was worth a punt.

Cheers all
 
JAzz said:
It's a bit weird at first but I am getting used to it the more I use it. Everything seems to work efficiently and well at the moment, the live tiles are pretty cool
Click to expand...

Serious?

Full screen applications on a PC desktop such as a Start Menu, Internet Explorer, Email, Contacts and messenger to me is not a way to work efficiently.
Maybe on a tablet/phone its better compared to droid and ios...

Live tiles... I dont see how this is of any use apart looking flashy.
 
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I think a lot of people will be looking at it and saying its made for touchscreen tablets and not desktops. In a desktop situ it is nothing more than a glorified Media Centre. On top of that no Start menu and no programs. As for Shutting Down, if you don't know where the settings menu is you have to switch off every time you Shut Down the O/S. Also since when does everyone have broadband internet. Not everyone can get internet so a lot of the new bits get lost by the wayside. It maybe fine for you but Joe Bloggs whom pays ten times as much as you just to get internet may find it too expensive. Cheaper on a tablet 3 or 4G tablet or mobile phone,but not on a home computer.
 
mark43 said:
Train wreck? I've not tried it myself yet, but based on everything I've read on here over the last few days most people seem to like it?
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It's not the features that are the problem, it's compatibility with software / drivers.

I don't even have any gripes with not having a start menu. The better file explorer more than makes up for it IMO.

Any Galaxy S3 owners had much luck with Kies? That's one example.

Also taking ownership of current drives with stuff on was a pain, until I found this handy little trick.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2814-take-ownership-add-context-menu-windows-8-a.html

It adds a context menu. Neat.
 
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