Windows Vista 8

[gt24]

I'm not sure if I will transition to Windows 8. This is due to the consumer preview that I tried a while back.

I tried Windows 8 in a virtual machine.

The Metro interface was weird. I couldn't easily navigate around but then again I didn't experiment much. At that time there wasn't much information available as to how to walk around the interface and therefore I didn't experience much. Anyway, when I was done with this first session I went to shut down the operating system.

... well, I would have, if I ever found a way to shut down the operating system.

I know, there is a way to shut down Windows 8. That being said, it wasn't apparent how to do that in Metro. I have only experienced something like this once in a video game and that annoyed me greatly. I got over it but I felt that game made one of the dumbest user interface decisions possible in that, by hiding the way to exit, the game trapped you when you wanted the game to go away. (The game, in case you are wondering, is Burnout Paradise.) That being said, Windows 8 manages to emulate that mistake wonderfully.

(I know, if it was a physical machine then likely I could have hit the power button. That seems to be the Windows 8 way, to make you hit a physical button (power button, windows key) to do actions which you previously did by clicking a software button. So, that likely means that those not technically inclined will have little issue while I am running around looking for a software button (silly me). Still, that habit will take a bit of time to break.)

I didn't experiment with Windows 8 much more in the VM. I hoped that things would improve and I would try Windows 8 later. From what I hear on the internet, nothing has really changed in Windows 8 since that release.

Windows 8 is covered with confusing user interface issues (like the hot corners on the desktop) and gives me concerns about what hardware I am using (dual monitors means that I am likely to have great difficulty hitting the hot corners). With new software not having manuals for the sake of software giving appropriate contextual hints as you go along (usually), I'm worried that Windows 8 won't even bother with any hinting at all leaving you trapped in some part of the interface and requiring another device (Android tablet) to look up directions as to how to proceed.

It's not that I can't learn but more along the lines of me not knowing what to learn until I am trapped somewhere in the interface.

I don't want my system login tied to an internet service but I haven't heard of anything other than you needing Windows Live to log in to Windows 8. I am not sure where Microsoft is going with Metro being that Metro applications come from the Windows Store only and the desktop in Windows 8 is implied to be a legacy mode (especially when considering Windows RT... the ARM version... I hate their naming scheme for that). If Windows 8 is successful then would it mean that desktop mode goes away in Windows 9?

Anyway, I have heard that Windows 8 is a pleasure to use according to some people. Those people always show Windows 8 running on their tablet (pre-release tablet? Some demo model? I dunno.). Now, that isn't easy for me to experience since I haven't really seen many PC tablets (and the ones I saw are ancient now) so I have to take their word for it. So if Windows 8 is great on tablets and generally people dislike it on PCs then you can see how people falsely assume that Windows 8 requires a touch screen. Still, I'm not sure that even touch screen gestures would smooth over some of the irregular interface issues that I have mentioned thus far.

Maybe things will be better after Windows 8 releases, I don't know. To that end, I'll keep an eye out for reviews and such but it isn't sounding promising to me thus far.

The only reason why Windows 8 is even considered by me is that I like to fiddle with new things and that Windows 8 is going to be very cheap. Still, if Windows 8 is successful then computing is likely to change and I'm not sure if that will be a change for the better. If Windows 8 is a failure then seeing what Microsoft does in reaction will be interesting.


---

One last thought... on Android, I can close out applications (at least in Android 4) by bringing up the application switcher and sliding the application to the right. Some Android applications even have exit buttons on them (ok, only 1 program that I know of, but that likely means that others have that too). On Windows and other computers, the application can just exit. This is a good thing since I sometimes want the program to start fresh and new. If Windows pushes towards having programs never exit on their own then that will likely annoy me quite a bit. I'm not sure Task Manager will be sufficient to get the program to start in a new state either.

It is one of those things that I am likely thinking far too much about but it is another concern, in the back of my mind, about Metro applications which makes me a bit hesitant about the future, at least until I can experiment myself and get used to that.

 

[xander89]

I've done plenty of research, thank you. I simply do not buy into the "Vista is bad, 7 is good" groupthink. I've been using Microsoft operating systems since my first Tandy 1000 came with MS-DOS 2.1.

I dual booted XP and Vista for a while, and Vista was the clear winner. More stable, more secure, more compatible.

I dual booted Vista and 7 for a while as well, and found no reason to switch. The only real changes were to the interface, and I didn't like them. I prefer the Vista taskbar. UAC doesn't bother me. The 7 kernel has some minor performance advantages in some cases, but so does the Vista kernel. I dislike the 'ribbon' interface.

When it comes down to actual functionality, 7 doesn't do anything Vista isn't capable of, at least anything I need. I can't think of a single program, game, or driver that actually requires 7. Maybe there's a program or two out there that requires 7, but I've never seen one. There's a reason for that: 7 is built on Vista, and doesn't change all that much of the underlying structure. It's nothing like the jump from XP to Vista. It's more like the changes from 98 to 98SE.

Early buzz on 8 has been somewhat negative, but I won't be relying on others to form my opinions. I'll try it myself and see if it offers anything I want.

I swear MS pretty much ripped apart the vista Kernel ( taking some of it) and pretty much rebuilt from scratch? someone correct me if im wrong. It might be less extreme than that, but there is at least some difference to the kernel, among other things.

Either way vista was a massive flop IMO, i used both vista and 7 extensively.

also on the note of windows 8 unless it gives me essential features that wont be available on 7 ( mainly gaming related so new versions of DX etc) or performance increases in games, i doubt ill bother to invest the money.

 

[SteveLord]

Vista SP2 runs great IMO. I know many people with laptops that have it and it does fairly well.

I installed Windows 8 Developer on Oracle VirtualBox, but it's weird using it as a VM. I do wish I had a touch screen to play with...

I seem to be one of the few that can attest to actually using it on a touchscreen (HP 2740p). It does handle touch better than Windows 7. However, until there is a host of supported apps, I have no plans to mess with it anymore. The flare wears off after a few minutes and Apple's touch products create a high standard.

 

[Alaric]

The final straw for me was M$ eliminating the possibility of getting my desktop back and sticking me with that lousy Metro UI. Their "You'll use it and like it" arrogance sealed the deal. I'll stick with 7. If I had a new FX chip I would consider it , but that would be the only reason.

And I shall now cheerfully eat my words-nom nom nom. I decided that I should take a peek at the RTM since it's been a few months since I discarded my Developer Preview. Build 8400 has returned my desktop to me and so far made it a lot more like Win 7. Next will be those critics claiming M$ didn't change it enough from 7. LOL. I'll have to poke around for any advantages to make it worth the change , but if it's not worse it will be worth $15 to at least run current software.
Initial impression is neutral to slightly favorable , which is a big improvement over where I left Win 8 last.

 

[kmo_9000]

And I shall now cheerfully eat my words-nom nom nom. I decided that I should take a peek at the RTM since it's been a few months since I discarded my Developer Preview. Build 8400 has returned my desktop to me and so far made it a lot more like Win 7. Next will be those critics claiming M$ didn't change it enough from 7. LOL. I'll have to poke around for any advantages to make it worth the change , but if it's not worse it will be worth $15 to at least run current software.
Initial impression is neutral to slightly favorable , which is a big improvement over where I left Win 8 last.

Is there an option to return the start button to the desktop? When I tried it you had to move the mouse to the corner and that brought up the metro screen, but I never saw a start button.

Problem with moving my mouse to the corner is that with my dual monitors the mouse constantly just slides over to the other monitor making it hard to do this. Which is why having a real button there is important.

 

[TimoneX]

Allegedly classicshell can help restore the windows 7 under the hood. I dl'd the preview and attempted to setup a VM to give it a whirl, but the lamo installer failed citing a corrupt install iso. This despite it coming directly from MSDN and passing hash. Whatev, I'm re downing it and will try to restore it to win7 functionality. I do want access to the improved scheduler.

linky:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/classicshell/

Edit: With classic shell installed and the silly metro toy banished on the VM I can say I don't hate W8 so much. It's tough to tell the difference between it and the 7 x64 host it's running on. It's responsive even with only two cores. The new taskman is very nice.

 

[Alaric]

I had a Start button for about 30 minutes , then all the Win 7 features I was so pleased with faded away. Literally. Then I used the chassis power button after I was reminded that Win 8 doesn't have a fast boot time-it never shuts off. Win 8 hibernates instead of powering all the way down. I used the power button after that and couldn't get past the Logon screen afterwards. I reloaded the system image of W7 I made right before I installed 8. I may try again after altering the default Power Plan. It's odd how the install seemed to finish by creeping in for 30 minutes after the 'official' install claimed victory.

 

[Gautam]

I like windows 8, and I like metro. I was annoyed at the lack of a start menu (as I knew it) for about an hour, but then got used to it. There are only a couple of apps that I tend to use, and the metro start menu is perfect for that.It actually saves me clicks versus traditional start menu. It just takes some getting used to.

I tend to be a lot more flexible and easy going with this sort of thing than most, though. I don't really have any habits in set in stone, though the 7 search functionality and 8's failure to offer me an easy way to shut down the computer did annoy me a bit.

 

[Pierre3400]

I'll probably end up upgrading. I skipped W7.

Vista is a good OS anyway. W7 is basically just a new skin for Vista, underpinnings are pretty much the same. Vista just got a bunch of hate due to early problems, and it somehow became 'cool' to dislike Vista. I never bought into the negative hype, and Vista has been way more stable for me than XP ever was.

If you want to rag on 8 and compare it to a truly bad version of Windows, try comparing it to ME

Where on earth did you get this idea? Vista was useless!(Not to be cool) Windows 7 is what Windows 98 was, and Windows XP, its anything else in between those you skip!

 

[ratbuddy]

Windows 7 is what Windows 98 was

Right, 98 was a mildly upgraded version of 95, which wasn't that bad to begin with.

 

[Badbonji]

Yep, developers are actually forbidden to include a 'quit' button. Process lifetime management, as described here, http://csharperimage.jeremylikness.com/2012/06/process-lifetime-management-plm-and.html appears to mean that the user doesn't control when their programs are to be closed, the system decides for you. That source also says that stuff won't run in the background, it'll suspend until you bring it to the foreground again.

Maybe I'm just grossly misinterpreting the available information. Let me know if I am, please. Maybe this stuff only applies to tablets or phones or something. A desktop computer that can only run one program at a time, and only run programs specifically permitted by the OS maker.. well, I don't even want to think about that as the future of computing.

Yeah, this only applies to 'apps' (Why aren't they called programs any more? Too hard to say?) that run in Metro or whatever it's called now. Yeah, you can still fire up the desktop and hopefully run any programs you want.

I don't think they close automatically unless restarting/logging out or something. I tried it out on my Windows 8 (on my HTPC) and it keeps them open and you can just close them by hovering the mouse to the left side of the screen to view open apps. You can swap between them the same way.

 

[Rotary]

from vista to win7 is a BIG improvement, ill try win8, as long as i can turn off those dumb blocks

 

[someinterwebguy]

I tend to skip Windows versions, just like hardware, out of habit unless the new version has something I "must" have.

I remember using WindowsNT4.0/Windows 98SE on a dual boot until Windows 2K came out. Stuck with that and 98SE until Windows XP came out. Stuck with Windows XP until I built a machine in 2009 that had 8GB of ram and decided to go with Vista 64bit rather than switch to XP 64bit. I jumped to Windows 7 a little bit before Service Pack 1.

I loved NT 4.0, but it couldn't run the games and such that 98/SE could, so I had to dual boot. 2K was even nicer than NT 4.0, but I still needed 98SE for the aforementioned reason. XP was a breath of fresh air and marked the first time I could run a single Windows OS for all of my needs. I only moved to Vista because I needed a 64 bit Windows OS and I didn't like what I read about XP 64bit and figured that I might as well jump to Vista. My Vista experience was mixed, but Windows 7 was to me, what XP was almost a decade before - something that I'll stick with for the next several years.

I never touched Windows ME on my main computer, but came across it several times on computers that needed to be fixed. Now THAT, was a horrible OS.

As for Windows 8, I just don't see a compelling reason for me to upgrade at this point in time. I tend to avoid any new Windows OS when it first comes out as a habit. Perhaps when Service Pack 1 comes out for Windows 8, I'll give it another look. If they give one the option to go back to the GUI for Windows 7, instead of "Metro" or whatever they're calling it now, that would help.

 

[Arbiter Odie]

So, does anybody else have problems with windows 8 corrupting? Because on both the computers I've tried it, corruption occurs after every few re-boots. it runs chdsk, and finds tons of errors that it corrects.
If I skip chdsk, it fails to boot.

Am I the only one experiencing this? Did I manage to use two slightly corrupt iso images?

If this is not user error, then it's a serious problem.

 

[someinterwebguy]

So, does anybody else have problems with windows 8 corrupting? Because on both the computers I've tried it, corruption occurs after every few re-boots. it runs chdsk, and finds tons of errors that it corrects.
If I skip chdsk, it fails to boot.

Am I the only one experiencing this? Did I manage to use two slightly corrupt iso images?

If this is not user error, then it's a serious problem.

Are you using the RTM version or a beta?

After booting into Windows 8, I'd run a program to check the hard disks of the computers you're running Windows 8 on. As unlikely as it sounds, both of the computers you are using could be suffering from failing hard drives.

 

[Rotary]

This OS is going to be a hit or a miss for microsoft, the bad news is that if this dont turn out to be what they hope, then the market will turn, i really think if anything, they should of copied OSX UI " In a way" to drawl some mac users over

 

[kmo_9000]

This OS is going to be a hit or a miss for microsoft, the bad news is that if this dont turn out to be what they hope, then the market will turn, i really think if anything, they should of copied OSX UI " In a way" to drawl some mac users over

It would be perfect if they left the start menu where it was or at least gave more advanced users to re-enable it.

Having the windows 8 UI is great for those who might want to buy things from the store and have windows live integration but some people just don't want these things.

Personally though I wouldn't mind getting a windows 8 laptop (with a touch screen) or a windows 8 tablet. The OS just not catered for builders like us with custom desktops and no touch screen monitors.

People like us are far more likely to spend the extra money on a 120herts monitor over a touch screen monitor... windows 8 is just not refined for a non-touch based desktop setup. Windows 7 is and that is why they should give us the option to use the classic layout.

 

[Rotary]

I just got done testing out the RTM and I really think its hard to use because why am I having to LOOK for the button for shutdown, and why is it making me use a microsoft account, no button for my computer?

 

[redduc900]

Instead of using the Charms menu--> Settings charm--> Power button to select Shut down or Restart, just create shortcuts to both and pin them to the Start screen.

 

[Badbonji]

I just got done testing out the RTM and I really think its hard to use because why am I having to LOOK for the button for shutdown, and why is it making me use a microsoft account, no button for my computer?

It doesn't make you, I got 4 user accounts on my HTPC for each of my housemates. Whilst mine is a Microsoft account, another is just a standard account like in Windows 7. It just means that applications and settings don't get synced. And you can personalise the start menu to have My Computer, or do it the usual way with personalising desktop icons.