Windows 8 The Verdicts ?

james.miller · 12 Nov 2012 at 12:27

Blue160 said:
The start button is always visible rather than being hidden in a random corner of the screen. Also having shutdown in settings defies logic. since when has shutdown been a setting? ....
A good OS needs to be intuitive to use, and this one isn't. Businesses won't roll out Windows 8 if they have to retrain their staff to use the most basic functions.

somebody may have mentioned this already, but it has as much to do with settings as it does the 'start' menu.

ShakenNstirred · 12 Nov 2012 at 12:38

I wasn't going to upgrade to win 8 when I seen the tiled screen, but after seeing you can get the start menu back and that the upgrade was only 24.99 I decided to get it.
have to say I'm liking it a lot

kitch9 · 12 Nov 2012 at 12:41

Winston said:
Do you really spend that much time shutting your pc on and off?

The way some are going on about it you'd think it takes 30 minutes or something.

Thank god my keyboard has a sleep button... I don't what I'd do if faced with the monumental task ofshutting down my pc once a day...

theheyes · 12 Nov 2012 at 13:15

DanF said:
I'm really loving W8 on my MBP, work really well and seems faster in pretty much every way than OS X the only thing is gestures aren't quite as nice even after using some custom paid for drivers but I can live with that to get some proper programs running, maybe it will become usefully once again.

What's the battery life like compared to OSX?

demonix · 12 Nov 2012 at 14:55

builder22 said:
still can't find out how to download the .iso incase i ever need to reinstall windows 8

i upgraded from xp, have tried running the upgrade assistant again as suggested but it now says 'not available in your country/region'

does this mean if i upgrade my pc/ build a new one that I'll have to buy a proper copy of windows 8 as well as the upgrade I already bought ?

The e-mail you received after you purchased the upgrade should contain a link that would allow you to download it again.

prescott28 · 12 Nov 2012 at 14:56

kitch9 said:
The way some are going on about it you'd think it takes 30 minutes or something.

Thank god my keyboard has a sleep button... I don't what I'd do if faced with the monumental task ofshutting down my pc once a day...

TwsT · 12 Nov 2012 at 16:01

hyperst said:
Still discussing shutting down?

Just hit the power button on your case, easiest way

or don't turn it off

worked out my pcv costs less than 50p a day to leave on that's like 1 pint less a week so by leaving my pc on I'm saving my liver haha xD

Mr Krugga · 12 Nov 2012 at 16:13

TwsT said:
or don't turn it off

worked out my pcv costs less than 50p a day to leave on that's like 1 pint less a week so by leaving my pc on I'm saving my liver haha xD

And wasting £180 worth of electricity every year...

Take an average electricity cost of 15p/kWh in the UK, my PC uses around 160W in idle plus 70W that my 27" monitor uses, so 230W in total, which works out at 5.5 kWh over 24h.

Cut that in half and that's a saving of £150/year. Doesn't include the times where my power consumption goes to a little over 450W, which would probably skew the result up a fair bit.

10h in idle with monitor on, 2h at full load and 12h of idle, that's around 5260W in total, so not far off. I can save at least £110 a year by having my PC turned off at night.

willhub · 12 Nov 2012 at 16:43

I've had to do a fresh install, upgrade was a bag of spanners, did not feel fresh at all.

Anyways I love it, no need for gadget for radio anymore, TuneIn Radio for it, then the Metro IE I don't mind, I like it, seems fast enough and looks nice, and there are some other nice apps too.

Avast AV is causing a few problems but that's sorted, not going back to Windows 7 now, and looking forward to Office 2013 too

I can see myself spending a lot of time within the Metro interface if it had a good Twitter app.

mrjagga · 12 Nov 2012 at 16:48

willhub said:
I've had to do a fresh install, upgrade was a bag of spanners, did not feel fresh at all.

Anyways I love it, no need for gadget for radio anymore, TuneIn Radio for it, then the Metro IE I don't mind, I like it, seems fast enough and looks nice, and there are some other nice apps too.

Avast AV is causing a few problems but that's sorted, not going back to Windows 7 now, and looking forward to Office 2013 too

I can see myself spending a lot of time within the Metro interface if it had a good Twitter app.

You don't need it, Windows Defender protects against viruses and malware in Windows 8.

But in the same boat as you, just got it. Brilliant OS, took 10-15 mins to get used to but i like the look and feel of it.

willhub · 12 Nov 2012 at 16:50

You sure Windows Defender is as good as Avast?

prescott28 · 12 Nov 2012 at 16:52

willhub said:
You sure Windows Defender is as good as Avast?

How does one tell? Not having any viruses doesn't prove anything, though with Microsoft Security Essentials I never had any problems. I am sticking with Defender for now, but would love to know how good it really is and if I ought to get a better solution.

mrjagga · 12 Nov 2012 at 17:16

prescott28 said:
How does one tell? Not having any viruses doesn't prove anything, though with Microsoft Security Essentials I never had any problems. I am sticking with Defender for now, but would love to know how good it really is and if I ought to get a better solution.

Good point, im a MSE user myself, tried to download it but wouldnt let me, it told me that Windows Defender already did the same job and it didn't need to be installed. Im sure it should be pretty solid, Microsoft Firewall is standard and does a brilliant job so i expect Defender to do the same especially considering they included it as a default malware/virus protector. I think the thinking behind it was that people don't know a lot about anti-virus/anti-malware products and are confused about the best one and sometimes even how to install them. So including it as the default anti-malware/anti-virus protection means they have to make sure it is solid software and does the job as it is a major part of how windows 8 will be perceived.

TwsT · 12 Nov 2012 at 17:21

Mr Krugga said:
And wasting £180 worth of electricity every year...

Take an average electricity cost of 15p/kWh in the UK, my PC uses around 160W in idle plus 70W that my 27" monitor uses, so 230W in total, which works out at 5.5 kWh over 24h.

Cut that in half and that's a saving of £150/year. Doesn't include the times where my power consumption goes to a little over 450W, which would probably skew the result up a fair bit.

10h in idle with monitor on, 2h at full load and 12h of idle, that's around 5260W in total, so not far off. I can save at least £110 a year by having my PC turned off at night.

Depends which way you look at it. On a side note windows 8 monitor power off set to never actually works unlike in windows 7 it's great for work when i'm testing stuff.

TwsT · 12 Nov 2012 at 17:21

kitch9 said:
Uhm, you move the mouse to the right corner then move it to settings, click, then power then click....

Windows 7 you move the the left corner click, then move the mouse to shut down then click.

Or, just click the power off shortcut on your desktop, and start menu.......

Don't you have an AMD thread to crap all over anyways?

See below for those who still have an "issue."

http://blog.laptopmag.com/how-to-shutdown-windows-8-in-just-one-click

Windows key + L then click shut down works too

kitch9 · 12 Nov 2012 at 17:56

TwsT said:
Windows key + L then click shut down works too

You'll have noticed I haven't gone too much in keyboard shortcuts, people are already struggling to remember the mouse stuff never mind going advanced!

DanF · 12 Nov 2012 at 17:59

theheyes said:
What's the battery life like compared to OSX?

Not sure yet, it's pretty much always plugged in. Seems a little warmer underneath so I doubt it'll be as good.

Yaayuh! · 12 Nov 2012 at 19:09

After using 2013 for a little while. I can see that it's going to fit in nicely with the whole style of W8.

Faustus · 12 Nov 2012 at 19:23

kitch9 said:
So you are willing to learn OS X as a different OS, but not Windows 8?

Why is that?

Windows 8 search couldn't be easier... Open Start / Metro (1 click.) and type. If you have an easier way I'd love to know it. Does OSX use telepathy to read your mind or something?

Ah, trying to explain to the uninitiated eh, always a difficult brief. OS X takes almost no learning as it's very Windows like but probably better in some respects. I also know how to use 8, my argument is that MS are trying to reinvent the wheel when the wheel still works perfectly well.

Take W7 search, as soon as one types in the box you get a vertical list of results neatly in the corner which doesn't interrupt the workflow. Move to OS X spotlight search - you get a nice drop down vertical list in the top right hand corner which doesn't interrupt the workflow. Now move to 8 and access search - for some inexplicable reason I now transported to a full screen app completely interrupting the workflow. This isn't the only example of W8 multiple personality though it does demonstrate its clunky nature.

kitch9 · 12 Nov 2012 at 20:00

Faustus said:
Ah, trying to explain to the uninitiated eh, always a difficult brief. OS X takes almost no learning as it's very Windows like but probably better in some respects. I also know how to use 8, my argument is that MS are trying to reinvent the wheel when the wheel still works perfectly well.

Take W7 search, as soon as one types in the box you get a vertical list of results neatly in the corner which doesn't interrupt the workflow. Move to OS X spotlight search - you get a nice drop down vertical list in the top right hand corner which doesn't interrupt the workflow. Now move to 8 and access search - for some explicable reason I now transported to a full screen app completely interrupting the workflow. This isn't the only example of W8 multiple personality though it does demonstrate its clunky nature.

What is this fabled "workflow" you speak of? What are you doing that requires you cannot leave it even though it's still running?