Windows 8 Consumer Preview Thread

Curio said:
Is there a way of having a webpage shortcut on the Metro screen? And is there a way of customizing the way the Metro panels look - changing the logo/icon/etc?
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I haven't found a way to do this. you could have a short cut to your browser and have the webpage on the bookmark tool bar maybe?

So far as altering the tiles... as far as I ,know we are stuck with the ugly squares and rectangles which are great for fingers on tablets but no use at all to mice and keyboards.
 
groen said:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CxfyP8eYl90/T4Y3OlmJOeI/AAAAAAAAFP8/juo0lxS7l-M/s500/windows8-demotivational-posters-history.jpg[[/QUOTE]

AOL was a great success for many years just not by the people who like to use computers as a computer.
MS I think ideally wants people to have not a clue whats happening in the background, gives them more control right


[QUOTE]I haven't found a way to do this.[/QUOTE]

Pretty sure its possible. Certainly when an app has a helpfile page, you can have as an icon, etc

Yea I just edited an existing link, Right click a blank space on start menu to get all apps displayed. Look for a spare browser link.
Rename it, alter the properties to the address you want. Pin to start, then drag it over.
[url]http://i.imgur.com/E6tZj.jpg[/url]
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It's me birthday in a few weeks and I saw the Iconia Tab W500 £90 off so nabbed one and stuck Windows 8 on it.

Bloody love it and for day to day stuff it's open more than my laptop now.

It's quite different after getting used to mouse/keyboard but becomes intuitive quickly.

A great geek toy.
 
Have been using it a few days and have mixed feelings. I like the Metro interface - using it on a HTPC machine and it works nicely with the touchpad on the media keyboard because you don't have to be too accurate. However - and as many have said before me - they should have just kept the start button on the desktop. If you're dropping into the desktop you're going to be doing things that require more navigating and it's a pain without the start button. Don't understand the logic of removing it. Sure, I can have shortcuts to everything, but still seems odd to remove something that has become so ingrained in everybody's minds. Yes, things have to change eventually, but just deleting the start button and leaving everything else the same is just clumsy.

IMO, they should have just called this Windows Tablet/Media/Mobile/Whatever and kept it separate from "traditional" Windows. Most businesses are going to be using Win 7 until, what, 2020? They aren't going to want to swap to 8 having finally upgraded to 7 (we still have half the machines on WinXP here), and the Metro interface won't go down well with your average Joe Desktop either.
 
I have a pretty high spec laptop that started giving me a few issues after two years running the stock Dell Win 7 install. The final straw came when it wouldn't go into sleep mode. I bit the bullet, cloned the drive and then wiped it and loaded Windows 8 CP.

At first I was totally lost without the Start button and Control Panel, but eventually I started to 'get it'. Yes the Metro interface feels 'out of place' on a laptop/desktop, but it isn't unusable, just different. I treat it as the 'real' start menu, and it seems to be getting into my head. I've always been a lover of keyboard shortcuts, so learning a few new one's has not been a chore.

The big bonus has been the improved performance. This is a Studio XPS laptop, quad core i7 720QM Clarksfield CPU, 4G memory, 16" HD RGB LED screen, ATI 4670M gfx and a Samsung SSD. It comes with a 9 cell battery as standard and running windows 7 I could barely get 2 hours out of it, running windows 8 I'm currently seeing over 3 hours of web-browsing and email etc., Nothing taxing, but I'm comparing like with like here. It also boots ridiculously quickly, the log-in slash screen is there in seconds, and it shuts down equally quickly, once you've found the well hidden icon that is!

I'm looking forward to being able to buy a tablet with proper Windows usability, memory card slots, USB connectivity and the ability to run my PC programs, I will definitely hold off the iPad purchase now, even though I love my iPhone. Windows 8 may have compromises (as all OS's do) but I think it shows promise and isn't as bad as it has been painted.
 
Ah, the old start button! I really think this was a mistake to leave such an important bit of the system out. However, I have been using Windows 8 for a while now and have adapted to working with it - I had to do something on Windows 7 yesterday and couldn't quite remember where to go! To adapt, though, I have had to populate the desktop for shortcuts to things I use and put the main programmes on the shortcut bar. That done, I don't visit Metro at all except for the Messenger Program which I haven't been able to disable so I just use the Metro one.

I came across "Classic Shell" that puts back a start button and standard (i.e. XP) style menus back in. It is a free program and would make the OS more usable for people.

As a non-tablet user, I have a lot of doubts a to whether the this OS is going to be worth buying. It doesn't seem to be that much better than 7, apart from taking up 5GB less space on the disk. I suppose it will depend on the price they want....
 
What have i done?
Thought id give the windows 8 preview a look at last night so i decided to download it via MS website.
I know it will take time to get use to but id rather just go back to my good old windows 7 but is that possible? At the time of installing i though it would do a dual bootup allowing me to choose either but it just throws me straight into windows 8.

Do i need to do a fresh install of windows 7?
 
silversurfer said:
Mine lets me dual boot. Try Run > Msconfig
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I just installed win7 again. Think i'll just wait until the proper release comes out and play with it then.

Id like to delete the windows.old folder created but keep getting a prompt saying i must be the trusted installer. Im loosing a lot of memory somewhere. At least 25gb.
 
prescott28 said:
If you can find the tool 'Disk Cleanup' it will clear of the windows.old folder but make sure there is nothing in there you need beforehand.
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Keep getting the prompt that i need permission from SYSTEM to delete the files. Im the main user of my computer so why dont i have full control??
 
Lorddalron said:
Keep getting the prompt that i need permission from SYSTEM to delete the files. Im the main user of my computer so why dont i have full control??
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Mmmm, difficult. I suggested this way as it was how i got rid of win.old after upgrading to Windows 8. It worked fine - after I went round the houses trying to find this same answer. however, I am not really sure how it works with Windows 7. I somehow vainly hoped it would work the same,
 
Not a fan of how it keeps asking admin permission and routinely refuses apps ability to use a directory.

I did the refresh which appears to be a reinstall. Im not sure there is any advantage, it keeps the desktop icons. I could have copied over myself tbh
The program settings arent there though, emails, etc It wipes the taskbar and start menu of anything useful
Java can now be installed

I have to go back through every app selecting admin on properties so it can start without errors. But it saves time on reinstalling them I guess
 
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silversurfer said:
Not a fan of how it keeps asking admin permission and routinely refuses apps ability to use a directory.
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I've been using Windows 8 for a while I and I don't remember coming across that problem.is it any particular sort of program or programmes in general causing problems? you can always alter the User Account Control setting to stop these things popping up of course. I often mean to but never get round to it.
 
How on earth do i do a factory reset on my computer through windows 7. All i keep getting in a restore point from today. I just want to start a fresh as if i got the pc today and re-install windows 7 and hacve my HDD back. Last week i had 110gb now i only have 62gb cos i cant delete windows old etc.
 
prescott28 said:
Ah, the old start button! ....

I came across "Classic Shell" that puts back a start button and standard (i.e. XP) style menus back in. It is a free program and would make the OS more usable for people.

As a non-tablet user, I have a lot of doubts a to whether the this OS is going to be worth buying. It doesn't seem to be that much better than 7, apart from taking up 5GB less space on the disk. I suppose it will depend on the price they want....
Click to expand...

I've installed 'Classic Shell' and that has made the desktop view a lot more familiar! I had to change the defaults settings so I could still switch back to Metro with the Windows key, but otherwise it seems to work OK.

I do like the spell checker that seems to work everywhere.
 
I take it most people saw the announcement of editions today?

Windows 8
Windows 8 Pro
Windows RT (RunTime) for ARM devices

Windows Server 2012 (what was Windows Server 8)

Most users will use Windows 8, if you want to join a domain, want client HyperV or Bitlocker you'll need Pro. Windows Media Centre also available on Pro too
 
Saw the announcement and the most interesting thing is that they may well be adding a start button in for Pro / Domain users. Still can't see anyone using this for business use though.


M.
 
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