Windows 8 Consumer Preview Thread

I always jump in with both feet on new versions of Windows, so i'll be running this as my main OS now until the official launch.

So far I'm liking it, some things do need some work,(Warning over exaggeration incoming) clearly the fact that its takes 15 IT experts 15 minutes to shut the bloody thing down is an issue, and most of the default apps are clearly designed for a tablet not a desktop.

I like the idea of mail, calender etc integration but I don't ant to be tied to MS services since I have all this with Google, hopefully they will release their own apps into the app store to replace the MS ones.

I'm not hating the new "Start" bar/menu/window thing, it leaps in and out nicely enough but is possibly a bit brash for me, the idea of the icons is nice but only once all applications start using tiles properly, until then it will look quite messy.

To sum up, generally a good product, it needs work but could be good when tweaked!

One issue I currently have is that the ATi drivers won't install properly, has anyone got a link to a set that work?
 
I am another one who doesn't see any mileage in Windows 8 on the desktop. I just don't think the clunky buttons, so essential on a touch screen, are acceptable on the desktop. In the Developer Preview one could get rid of the Metro screen and revert to a Windows 7 look but this is now blocked.

It is not as though there are so many technological reasons to upgrade at least nothing worth dumping Windows 7 for. I am sticking to 7.

As to the ribbons in Office - I hated them when I first tried them but, once one knows where things are, they are much faster to work with. It is just a bit of a steep learning curve.
 
I've now replaced windows 7 on my main PC with windows 8... Figured if I want to try, why not just jump in with two feet!

So far, its a mixed bag... I can see the improvements to explorer and the background windows stuff, love the new ribbon for explorer not so sure on Metro as yet.

I guess my biggest problem with Metro is that during this preview, my main programs such as steam, origin etc do not run in this mode and as there is not a games explorer any more and the xbox stuff won't run in New Zealand, I have to either search for my game by typing or by opening the application... Before it was start-games explorer-game; now it takes me a bit longer...

I can see how metro will be quite good for the desktop as I don't actually use my desktop, it is always empty apart from the recycle bin... but the apps need work and support needs to come from 3rd parties fairly quick.

Windows 8 Metro on an HTPC however would be immense! As long as I can get my harmony remote to flip between metro and WMC and the arrow keys to work then it is the perfect replacement as the tiles would be far more useful that then desktop!
 
Now I've had a play, take a look at this...

win8desktop.jpg


At first I didn't like that you pinned favourites to the start screen but then I thought, Hotmail next to Mail. Netflix (which takes me to the desktop Silverlight IE) next to Zune etc. I have my wife pinned to the front like I do on my windows phone. The tiles for non metro apps take me straight into them so I really don't have to delve much into the desktop.

Ok so many of the apps are buggy as hell and there aren't nearly as much of them. I think the charm bar is borked as it is. Too hard to get to. Settings and Share should appear as a transparent bar or as three dots as they do on win phone when the option is available. But this is a beta, not a release candidate never mind a final so I'm positive it'll get fixed. Just look at the developer release, that was near unusable.
 
Some battery life tests vs Win 7...

laptopa.png


laptopb.png


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So even in the unfinished Consumer Preview, Win8 is already:

Faster,
Much quicker at booting,
Uses considerably less RAM,
Has less processes running,
And lasts longer on battery.

So in all the major important areas it's better than Win 7. This isnt even mentioning all the new desktop features and cool **** like Storage Spaces.

Yet people still moan about Metro, even when you dont have to use it 99% of the time on a desktop. I've been doing actual work on W8 for the past day and not had to use Metro once, everything is pinned to my Task Bar.
For the one thing i do use Metro for - Search, it's MUCH better than Win 7. It also displays WAY more results on my high res screen (100+), rather than in the old cramped and messy Start menu that shows a handful of things at best.
 
Photek said:
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The most important question that the majority of people who work day-in day-out with Windows will ask is 'can this work in an office'. From what I've seen (I've only played with the Dev Preview) I can confidentally say 'No'.

There are far to many reasons to list - the interface is great on a touch-screen device (though I can think of nothing worse than trying to game on a fingerprint ridden PC) I can also see the reason why they ported the Kinect over (even though it is much more expensive than a XBOX 360 one).

I've had every version and variant of Windows since 3.10 including the none-popular ones such as Vista (which was fine for me). I guess this one will be a miss unless they move back to a more 'traditional' interface. This is more of a Windows for kiddies.

An extra minute of battery life (when I mostly use a desktop) and a couple of seconds quicker boot is not going to move me away from Windows 7.


M.
 
Not for the minimalist is it judging by all your screenshots.

This is awesome for touch screen devices but not in a million years am i digging this just by reading and looking at it.

I think ill mirror my SSD and then install this onto it at the weekend.
 
Battery life count is higher in the Windows 8 ones :confused:.

The UI is a bit, meh, I don't want that crap.
Sure, it's "intuitive" etc, but I want my run of the mill UI I've been used to, do whatever elsewhere =/.
 
m4cc45 said:
ihavenoideawhatimtalkingabout
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Typical comment i've already heard a million times from people like you. You know what the real problem is here? CHANGE. You dont like it because it's new and different.

As i've just said, i've not used Metro once in a whole days work. And this is real work, not just writing word documents, this is things like graphics, web design and CAD software. You dont have to use Metro so whats your problem?? Are you even aware that the desktop still exists in W8? :confused: You use whatever interface suits your needs. I dont use Metro on my desktop because i have little use for it and the desktop already does everything i need. But on a tablet Metro will be excellent.

I simply switch to whatever UI is best suited to the device i'm using. ONE press of a button - WIN Key. Not hard is it? Why is this so hard for you people to grasp?
 
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