Windows 8 release preview has been launched today

as far as the metro / desktop is concerned, the problem is a very small one as once one is working with the desktop, one rarely needs to leave it. On the old version i=of Windows 8 I put the needful shortcuts on the quickstart bar and everything works fine.

Against what I had heard, Classic Shell works fine in this current version so for those needing a start button and start menu go ahead and install it.
 
Does anyone know if Win 8 properly supports the Intel Z77 chipset? Everything (inc USB 3) is correctly recognised in device manager. The only driver I needed to install was the 'Intel Management Engine'. Do I need to install chipset drivers? The ones that came with my mobo don't install and I can't find any Z77 drivers on the Intel site.

Thanks
 
Good base operating system with an awful tablet interface slapped over the top which ruins the whole thing. Seriously, all they need is an option to disable metro and revert to a standard desktop/start menu for desktop computers and it will be perfect. I don't understand why they can't just do this and keep everybody happy
 
It's to try to force developers into making Metro apps.

It's seriously backfiring among the vast majority of Windows users I know though. I've found one person at work who liked Metro, and the people asked are Joe Average people.

You do wonder what they're doing with the feedback.
 
OverDrive said:
Does anyone know if Win 8 properly supports the Intel Z77 chipset? Everything (inc USB 3) is correctly recognised in device manager. The only driver I needed to install was the 'Intel Management Engine'. Do I need to install chipset drivers? The ones that came with my mobo don't install and I can't find any Z77 drivers on the Intel site.

Thanks
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Oh... I am running Windows 8 on my shiny new Ivy bridge with Z77 chipset. There's no reason why the drivers won't install - what board do you have?
 
I have the Asus P8Z77-V PRO board. Everything seems to work, it's just that the chipset driver does not install. The chipset installer appears to be an Asus modified package, it says the OS is unsupported when I try to run it.
 
been trying this yesterday, not too impressed, was even less impressed when i discovered i had to install media center and it will be a paid app when the w8 is officially released
really dont like metro, there should be an option to disable it
but if this is the future i WILL have to get used to it
 
I may give this a go later.

One thing that I can't get around is the complaint about shutting the computer down. Surely I can't be the only one that presses the power button to shut down...? I've been doing that since Vista!
 
LostPhil said:
One thing that I can't get around is the complaint about shutting the computer down. Surely I can't be the only one that presses the power button to shut down...? I've been doing that since Vista!
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LOL, I've not used the power button since Windows 95! ;)
 
OverDrive said:
I have the Asus P8Z77-V PRO board. Everything seems to work, it's just that the chipset driver does not install. The chipset installer appears to be an Asus modified package, it says the OS is unsupported when I try to run it.
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I know what might be wrong - did you upgrade from Windows 7 online? If you have your old OS installed, and the MB drivers as well, Windows 8 will upgrade the machine and keep the drivers.
 
challengedavid said:
there should be an option to disable it
but if this is the future i WILL have to get used to it
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If metro is the future of the windows os I'll probably but a mac instead of upgrading my Q6600 system.

LostPhil said:
One thing that I can't get around is the complaint about shutting the computer down. Surely I can't be the only one that presses the power button to shut down...? I've been doing that since Vista!
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Doesn't the power button just put it into sleep mode until you reconfigure the power profiles? I know it did with mine
 
No-One said:
Doesn't the power button just put it into sleep mode until you reconfigure the power profiles? I know it did with mine
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On my latest install of Windows 7, it was set to shut down as default. I always used to check it or change it straight after an install. Thing is, with devices going mobile, everyone will always be hitting a power button to switch it off anyway, why have it different for the desktop? Unless you wake-on-lan, you'll be hitting it to start the thing anyway!

Edit: Stupid corrective text!
 
XeNoN89 said:
Good base operating system with an awful tablet interface slapped over the top which ruins the whole thing. Seriously, all they need is an option to disable metro and revert to a standard desktop/start menu for desktop computers and it will be perfect. I don't understand why they can't just do this and keep everybody happy
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You can revert to the classic start menu without metro no problem. You can also change the metro theme.

http://betanews.com/2011/10/23/unlock-windows-8-hidden-features-with-bluepoison-2-1/
 
Love Metro or hate it, I think just about everyone can agree that the OS could be better where no touchscreen is present. Much like the feedback for Vista, the point here is that while many of the new features are good, they aren't implemented in quite the right way. Having Metro and the Desktop is almost like having two different operating systems; they barely talk to each other, yet you have to use the Metro Start Screen where you once used the Start Menu and the Start Orb has been replaced by a Charm (which, being quite frank, are horrible. Better in RP than CP, but still feel a bit wrong). I'm not quite sure how they are supposed to get around these niggles. From an end-user perspective I'd rather see the old Start Menu restored and Metro added as a program in the Start Menu (ala Media Centre), allowing me to choose where and when to use each UI. From Microsoft's perspective, revenue from the Windows Store, Xbox Live, Music, Video etc. is going to be too important for them to relegate Metro to tablets and as an alternative desktop/laptop UI. Metro is the primary UI now and it's where support is for the products and services that Microsoft wants people to use. They need to find a way to bring Metro and the desktop together while giving people access to these services. The current way isn't quite right, it doesn't flow.
 
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interesting, I hadn't thought of the revenue from the marketplace being much of an issue for the PC users' point of view. I can see that tablet users might spend there but I would have thought those of us on PCs would mainly stick to standard applications on the desktop.

in fact one can stay on the desktop all the time by simply putting shortcuts to one's applications on the quick launch bar and thus have access to everything without Metro. I would have though most people will do this. There are programmes to restore the start menu - Classic Shell works fine - so I think Metro might juts not do so well on the machines of people who user desktop applications.

I am not considering buying it as it doesn't really do much I need but if it were cheap enough to upgrade - Lion was £25 I think - would possibly upgrade. A price higher than that would make it a hard sell given that Windows 7 is so good.
 
I've been using Windows 8 on my works machine for a real world usage testing, to see if it offers any benefits over our current windows 7 image. So far, I've found only one thing (automount ISO images) to be the real benefit for us.

Personally, I don't see the need for metro - seems like all MS have to do is add in the classic menu option and a lot of any ill feeling toward windows 8 would be reduced.

On the plus side, metro aside it is a nice feeling operating system, but if you have windows 7 I'm yet to see the must have feature.
 
Gave the release preview a go last night,Its still horrible imo..not liking the Metro at all.

I cant see why anyone would want to upgrade from windows 7.

Will be interesting to see how much Microsoft charge for this when it comes out.
 
metro looks stupid 2560x1600 all squished and tiny in the left quarter of the screen. Why do I want a weather app, a shop, a default browser and a desktop without a start menu........This has to be the worst copy of windows I've ever tested.
 
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