What is the verdict on Windows 8?

Culbrelai said:

Whew my brain still runs on 256mb of RAM, kudos if you can remember all of that. I still need my start menu tho, and so do millions of others =P

Click to expand...

Yes! ...and this point is also applied when they removed Windows XP search engine. What does it matter that the replacement search engine is more powerful, if there is no GUI for it and you do not know hundreds of keyboard shortcuts for it?

Most people (me included) can't even memorize the few keyboard shortcuts for basic searches in Windows 7/8. Even in Windows XP, you had to customize it, but at least you could, to show the below pictured Search by default.

There is no keyboard shortcut replacement for quickly and easily searching based on any of these parameters which used to be available to us with a single click, just like the Start Menu had single click Shut Down, Reboot, and everything else. Jumping through hoops instead of giving us an OPTION of a Start Menu with single clicks, is not "change we need to get used to" - it is a painful step back, only curable with Classic Shell freeware.

hey the Win aero galss thing works

another good freeware options for a start menu is startmenu8 Seems to flow very well with the look of windows 8 and how it should behave. That said any of the start menu replacement things are bandaids over big wounds.

It appears to be in its v1.0.0 so I don't know if I tested it on Windows 8 release date, is is better than Classic Shell? I may give it a shot just to see if it looks better, but Classic Shell has been around since Windows 7 so it has a head start on all Windows 8 Start Menu software.


But more importantly, since Classic Shell effectively turns Windows 8 into [Windows 7 + all Windows 8 extras], what big wounds are there left?

Remember to turn off Smart Screen, AKA WGA Mk II

I'm gonna make a topic showing services, that aren't in w7, that are in w8, compiling their functions, etc.

Prolly stuff ppl already did but eh not on this forum.

EDIT:

Prolly won't make another topic, there are few new services.

"Background Tasks Infrastructure Service"

Seems pretty benine

http://www.blackviper.com/windows-services/background-tasks-infrastructure-service/

Maybe they split SVChost up so it wouldn't make so many iterations of itself :L

Will continue my bloodthirsty pruning.

Superfetch still exists, I disabled it and noticed no slowdown in boot in Windows 8 either...

KurtBlanken said:

If you want a start button get Windows 7. Windows 8 is not Windows XP 2013 edition so stop treating it as such. I am infinitely surprised at how unable people are to realize that a different product has different features. Or why people who clearly have no use for Windows 8 and don't want it are buying it, despite plenty of reviews.

Click to expand...

You can't buy a new computer with win7.


I hate the win7 search. It's horrid. It's user interface is more opaque than Dwarf Fortress, and that is a damn good trick.
Hell I didn't even know the win7 search had keyboard shortcuts, that's news to me.
I know it has some tag-ish things like you can use with google. Not that they actually work or anything. Search by date sure doesn't seem to.

Bobnova said:

I didn't even know the win7 search had keyboard shortcuts, that's news to me.

Click to expand...

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=616264

yes the startmenu8 work very well it is what I use

Just want to add my feedback on Windows 8.

I had been using Win 8 (got it cheap) for almost 3 months now. I have no problems navigating it, or using it. But lately I've been annoyed with 2 issues I've been encountering:

1. When playing a video it would sometimes go slow mo, both picture and sound. Have to reboot to get it back to normal.

2. Today I installed a stock program which I had all along. Win 8 froze on me 2 times when I had this program opened. I had to do a hard reset to get back into my computer. It never happened in Win 7 though I have had this program for years (the program had been updated to the latest under Win 7).

After Win 8 froze the 2nd time I had had enough. I restored a Win 7 system image. When Win 7 started it was like seeing an old friend.

Why choose one or the other, why not install both on different partitions and dual boot. That way if something goes wrong you can reboot into the other OS. The other thing to do is install every OS on relatively small partitions, set everything up like you won't it to be, then image those small partitions. Then WHEN, not if, *when* the OS hickups, you nuke & reimage back to when everything was working - and problem solved.


I have a quadruple Win7/XP/8/Vista boot and if I judged any of the four by exactly the kind of thing you describe then none of them would last me a long time. With Classic Shell installed, Windows 8 is nothing but [Windows 7 + Extras]. I have yet to see something universally not work under Win8 that does work under Win7.

i am still going for 7. i do not like what i read after reading about the way Windows 8 activates.

now correct me if im wrong

but i have noticed that since there is no RETAIL version, system builders must buy the OEM copy of windows 8. they can either sell or keep the PC if they want to and as for those with an existing windows xp, vista, or 7 installation, they can use the UPGRADE version.

i dont care what they did with the "discount" from dec 2012 to jan 2013, they could have made a upgrade version of W8HP for 50 dollars and the retail for 100. as for pro, they could have made it 150 dollars for upgrade and 200 for full.

i dont want an OEM copy. because (heres what i dont like) if you buy a OEM copy of windows 8, you will not be able to transfer your key from one computer to another since its OEM.

but if you do it with W7HP, your key would last four years and you could move that key to other computers all you want. but when you are upgrading hardware, you need to change out hardware one at a time or WGA will assume that you have a counter-feit copy of windows 7 installed.

i think ill take my chances with windows 7. if they dont bring back the start menu by windows 9, then ill be moving over to linux.

The OEM has a different EULA depending on if you are using it for system building or personal use.

http://personaluselicense.windows.com/en-US/default.aspx

Basically you can have your copy of Windows 8 installed on one computer (or virtual computer) you own, and can transfer it to a different computer at any time, but cannot have it installed on both computers simultaneously.

There are discussions on what each license option really means and MS clarifying it, but I agree that licensing explanations were messed up royally and should have been made clearer from the start. Nobody's suggesting people GIVE UP a perfectly working Win7 to go out and buy Win8, however, if the topic is an equal choice between Win7 and Win8 [equal choice, from the start]


Then, you stated activation and Start Menu as reasons to go with Win7.


So, I'm not a 100% on licensing, but I do believe that it has been clarified that we should be OK installing Win8 just like we did Win7 (someone else should link to discussions stating otherwise).


But I am a 100% sure that you can get Windows 8 booting into Win7-Looking Desktop + Start Menu with http://sourceforge.net/projects/classicshell/files/
where you can modify the Start Button to look just like Win7's Start Button using this:





So Start Menu is not a reason to give up Windows 8!

KurtBlanken said:

The OEM has a different EULA depending on if you are using it for system building or personal use.

http://personaluselicense.windows.com/en-US/default.aspx

Basically you can have your copy of Windows 8 installed on one computer (or virtual computer) you own, and can transfer it to a different computer at any time, but cannot have it installed on both computers simultaneously.

Click to expand...

this is all i needed. i feel more comfortable now.

c627627 said:

There are discussions on what each license option really means and MS clarifying it, but I agree that licensing explanations were messed up royally and should have been made clearer from the start. Nobody's suggesting people GIVE UP a perfectly working Win7 to go out and buy Win8, however, if the topic is an equal choice between Win7 and Win8 [equal choice, from the start]


Then, you stated activation and Start Menu as reasons to go with Win7.


So, I'm not a 100% on licensing, but I do believe that it has been clarified that we should be OK installing Win8 just like we did Win7 (someone else should link to discussions stating otherwise).


But I am a 100% sure that you can get Windows 8 booting into Win7-Looking Desktop + Start Menu with http://sourceforge.net/projects/classicshell/files/

all i need. feel even more comfortable now.

where you can modify the Start Button to look just like Win7's Start Button using this:


View attachment 125249


So Start Menu is not a reason to give up Windows 8!

Click to expand...

well then what about using it as a main operating system on my gaming desktop? i was suggested that i should use windows 7 for gaming wasnt i?

well im gonna go and bookmark that copy. if ti dosent turn out so well then maybe i can get a used laptop and throw windows 8 on that one...or linux. then again, i dont know where else i can put windows 8 at (since my desktop maybe running linux...)

now that i think about it, maybe microsoft really isnt helping. neither is amd with their support for linux nor intel (intel srt). if you think about it, its like everything is falling into a cluster fork.

i could use some more correction here. i really dont want to believe what i think im seeing here.

What is your question?

If it the question is should you use Windows 7 or 8 for gaming, then why not Windows 8? When people say game X does not work under Win8, and I do a search, I do see that there is no universal incompatibility. In other words, it's user error, not game X cannot work under Win8 for everybody.

So I would ask, which of your games do you think will not work under Win8?

c627627 said:

What is your question?

If it the question is should you use Windows 7 or 8 for gaming, then why not Windows 8? When people say game X does not work under Win8, and I do a search, I do see that there is no universal incompatibility. In other words, it's user error, not game X cannot work under Win8 for everybody.

So I would ask, which of your games do you think will not work under Win8?

Click to expand...

i do play Natural selection 2, The Specialists, tf2, left 4 dead 1 and 2, sven co-op, TFC, and sleeping dogs. oh and quake 1, 2, and 3.

i just want to be sure that im not making a mistake going to windows 8. i hate it when my mistakes cost me my time and money.

You should go with what you believe will be stable.
See if your titles work under Windows 8.
If they work under Win7, they should work under Win8.


Whenever possible, partition the hard drive into relatively small partitions and install a dual boot. And do not install large Apps/Games on the OS partition for quicker imaging/reimaging.

c627627 said:

You should go with what you believe will be stable.
See if your titles work under Windows 8.
If they work under Win7, they should work under Win8.


Whenever possible, partition the hard drive into relatively small partitions and install a dual boot. And do not install large Apps/Games on the OS partition for quicker imaging/reimaging.

Click to expand...

actually, ill be using intel SRT on Sata 6GB when i get PURCHASE a copy of windows 8 and two Sata 6GB drives.

If I may, I would strongly recommend a Solid State Drive to place your operating system(s) on. Small SSDs are inexpensive and are certainly big enough for Windows.

c627627 said:

If I may, I would strongly recommend a Solid State Drive to place your operating system(s) on. Small SSDs are inexpensive and are certainly big enough for Windows.

Click to expand...

i think it would be better for me to keep all my stuff on a 1tb drive that is accelerated with a SSD. its too complicated to install programs and games on one drive and have the others that dont like to install on other drives stay on the SSD. ever since i started using intel SRT, it has been running really well for me. as for my other posts about intel srt, its the boards fault. in fact, right now its getting ready to be sent back because it wont even turn on. so intel SRT still stands.

right now a Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB will only cost me 80 dollars and a ADATA Premier Pro SP600 for 50 dollars. this totals to 130 dollars.

if i wanted a 1TB SSD to take care of it all, it would cost this much

or this much for 500gb.

i am not going to keep all my data separated just so i can get more speed. i believe intel SRT is fast enough for what i want to do with my computer.