Windows 8 Consumer Preview Thread

Yes, I did, with the final preview. It worked absolutely fine with the exception that it leaves a Windows.old folder to be removed afterwards. All my applications worked fine afterwards and all the accounts and mail were there too.

Mind you, I have all my data on different disks so there was nothing dreadful it could mess up so if you have done that, back up your data before you start the upgrade - just in case. You probably already have a back up don't you?
 
Nymins said:
Has anyone installed Windows 8 over Windows 7, as in doing an 'upgrade'? Just got Windows 8 Pro free through DreamSpark, so was wondering if anyone has tried this and had any adverse effects (performance wise).

When I run it, it does a check of the system and it only lists Microsoft Security Essentials as a program that won't work on Windows 8. Strange considering its a Microsoft program, but its the only thing that is incompatible on my system.
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Uninstall MSE and you should be fine. Windows Defender takes over in Windows 8. Performance wise the upgrade will be fine providing your drivers behave.

The clean vs upgrade thing is a diminishing argument, especially if you have a solid state drive.
 
Thanks for the info. The only thing on my PC that is worth backing up is some photos and Uni work which I have backed up on various machines, so its not a massive deal if it goes wrong.

Will give it a think over, still not too keen on the Start menu.
 
Might be worth running a system image backup if space/time allows, since its so simple. You're very unlikely to have a problem but with IT you should always expect the worst.
 
magick said:
Haven't read through the full post but what's the general opinion of windows 8 on tech forum like OCUK? Good or Bad?
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The only thing people are really complaining about is the new UI/lack of Start Menu, which is a subjective thing. You're best off trying it for yourself.
 
Even that is not a valid complaint. You can install start menu mod then start the machine. log onto, use for many hours and log off windows without ever seeing metro.
 
Why does it take 3rd party open source software to give customers what they want in a new operating system?

I mean a company as big as microsoft didn't consider a lot of people don't want to there desktop to run like smartphone? Don't they do market research or have they hiring two many UI gurus or maybe is this a company losing its direction and purpose?
 
magick said:
Why does it take 3rd party open source software to give customers what they want in a new operating system?

I mean a company as big as microsoft didn't consider a lot of people don't want to there desktop to run like smartphone? Don't they do market research or have they hiring two many UI gurus or maybe is this a company losing its direction and purpose?
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Your argument is effectively they can never change their own product, that kind of thinking would have never seen the start menu included in the first place...
 
The best thing for me in Win 8 is Hyper-V (aside from the fact that I can't seem to RDP to the VMs for some reason) and also can't use full screen mode.

I'm sure that I will get used to the whole new UI but it does take a bit of getting used to alright. It's annoying when I'm doing something like viewing an email attachment in Outlook then it opens some fullscreen app to view your attachments. Once you reset all the file associations to non-metro apps then it will be fine.

A nice tip was to move the Desktop tile to the very top left and therefore when you start the machine and log in it takes you straight to the Desktop.
 
magick said:
I'm not saying don't change it. I'm just saying give customers the option to disable it.
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If you're disabling one of the core features of the new OS then you've gotta ask yourself if upgrading to W8 is worth it. Do any of the new features appeal to you enough to part with money? I can't say I've seen anything that makes me feel like upgrading. Even if windows 7 was my main OS I still see no reason to upgrade.
 
sniffy said:
If you're disabling one of the core features of the new OS then you've gotta ask yourself if upgrading to W8 is worth it. Do any of the new features appeal to you enough to part with money? I can't say I've seen anything that makes me feel like upgrading. Even if windows 7 was my main OS I still see no reason to upgrade.
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One thing Linux taught me is that an OS is more than just a window manager.

Admittedly each iteration of Windows only comes with one window manager, but overall the desktop/UI is just a small part of the OS. Changing the look and feel of the OS should be achievable without altering the good work done in other areas, such as improved performance, etc.

I say should be, because so far I've only seen Linux offer the ability to chop and change your desktop and window manager on a whim.
 
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FoxEye said:
One thing Linux taught me is that an OS is more than just a window manager.
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Well Ubuntu is my main OS but I still fail to see the point you're making. Obviously an OS is a lot more than a windows manager; I'm questioning what Windows 8 actually brings to the table in that respect. From what I've seen so far not enough to justify an upgrade.
 
Hang on, though, the 3rd party add-ons that provide a start button are a handy way of getting used to Windows 8. There's some learning involved with the new UI and probably some short-cuts to learn too to make working reasonably efficient. After some practice one finds the start button installed doesn't get used and can be uninstalled!

The 'Metro' can be a perfectly good start menu if organised and if the junk there is deleted. If, like me, you use a client like Thunderbird for mail, there is really no reason to use the 'Metro' mail client so it can be dumped Things like that clear up the main screen to allow for organizing the menu items. Then it is worth adding some shortcuts to the Quick Launch bar on the desktop. This does save time.

the fact is that the OS is faster an really better organised than Windows 7 and is worth the rather inexpensive upgrade even if it is only to get the new features apart from the 'Metro' interface which I, personally, am not fond of. Mind, who knows, the range of apps may grow to include some useful ones!
 
sniffy said:
Well Ubuntu is my main OS but I still fail to see the point you're making. Obviously an OS is a lot more than a windows manager; I'm questioning what Windows 8 actually brings to the table in that respect. From what I've seen so far not enough to justify an upgrade.
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Yeah sorry I was only picking up on the fact that win8 (supposedly) brings more to the table than Metro/Modern. I'm only going from what other people have said about it, because I have no desire to try it/buy it myself.

I'm more than happy with win7, and the extra performance of win8 is only a few % from the benchmarks I've seen.
 
sniffy said:
Well Ubuntu is my main OS but I still fail to see the point you're making. Obviously an OS is a lot more than a windows manager; I'm questioning what Windows 8 actually brings to the table in that respect. From what I've seen so far not enough to justify an upgrade.
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Depends what you want, have you looked at the features thread?

Features I want.

Integration with things like skydrive.
Syncing desktop and settings
Refresh & reset
I actually wont metro - get to see email, weather, callander, music etc without going into the app. Desktop is still unchanged and totally functional for software/games.
Snap screen
Fast boot

Then there's hundreds of improvements under the bonnet.

Then if we talk about mobile devices, then the list is about 10times as long.
 
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Glaucus said:
Depends what you want, have you looked at the features thread?

Features I want.

Integration with things like skydrive.
Syncing desktop and settings
Refresh & reset
I actually wont metro - get to see email, weather, callander, music etc without going into the app. Desktop is still unchanged and totally functional for software/games.
Snap screen
Fast boot

Then there's hundreds of improvements under the bonnet.
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Which thread is that? Personally I'm not interested in any of the things you listed, but obviously that's just me.
 
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