Windows Vista 8

[Aspect404]

wtf?

My post was simply pointing out that 7 is the same version as Vista, as is 8. They have not compiled a new kernel, simply added some pretty features.

 

[TeknoBug]

More than you know...

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms724832(v=vs.85).aspx

Which is why upgrading from Win 7 to Win 8 isn't really worth it unless you want to (I'm not saying you shouldn't). Going from Win XP to Win 8 is more worth it, hell even from Vista to Win 8 is better.

 

[McGrace]

I only upgraded one computer because I am a computer professional and have to have some form of experience with the latest things...

I would recommend to others in a business environment to skip this update. Nothing new here of business substance.

 

[goose90proof]

I've been using Win8 for the past 6-8 months (pre-lease builds) so I've gotten pretty intimate with it. Boy... I tell ya what! At first, I HATED Windows 8 - absolutely hated it. Have my feelings changed? NOPE! However, I have learned to make the most of it. My 3 biggest gripes with Windows 8 are...

- No start menu
- Metro UI (see above)
- PC settings (replaces control panel)

I depend on the start menu for a lot. For me, it's a first step for a number of operations. I like to use the search field in the start menu to access almost everything in the control panel as well as run executables. Metro replaces this and has the same functionality as the search field if you just start typing into it, but it just doesn't work the same way. PC settings is a stripped down, minimalized control panel for changing certain settings. The control panel is still in there, but you have to find it and even then, the logical path to certain settings has been changed and that is very frustrating.

It's a good os for tablets, but not desktops. Somebody in here said they were skipping 7 and going to 8. Don't do that. Trust me, you don't want to do that.

 

[hafa]

My 3 biggest gripes with Windows 8 are...

- No start menu
- Metro UI (see above)
- PC settings (replaces control panel)

1) Actually, the start menu is just reorganized and shown as tiles in the Win8 UI*. Mouse over the lower left corner while on the desktop and click to go to the Win8 UI, then right click on the bottom to go to all apps. Same number of clicks as start>all programs, just shows tiles instead of a listing and things are automatically organized categorically.

2) The control panel has not been replaced. It's still there and works like it always has. Follow the instructions on item 1 above and you'll see the tile for it. Right click on the tile to pin it to the start screen or the taskbar.

Keep in mind that the above applies to the consumer or RTM release, and may not apply to the beta or consumer preview. My current opinion of 8 is surmised in this post.



*The UI formerly known as "Metro"

 

[The_Ryz_Factor]

I built a new system over the weekend and installed Windows 8 on it, and I love it.

The last OS I bought for home was XP, and I use Windows 7 at work. In my limited time over the weekend fiddling around with it, I have to say that I truly like Windows 8 the best of the three.

I don't really understand the hate for using Metro with a mouse and keyboard. I think everything works just fine doing things that way.

I think it's real slick and polished and I've had no problems running anything so far.

I can understand how a business may not want to upgrade to this, though. If I were a business owner, I would not upgrade. But for home use, I think this OS is fantastic so far.

 

[Alaric]

Borrowed my post from another thread. I'm still hatin' on 8.

My next OS may indeed be a Linux derivative. After reading this.

The app is no longer available


In some cases, an app might be removed from the Windows Store for violating the Terms of Use. When this happens, you'll receive an email notifying you that the app will no longer be available in the Store. The app will still appear on PCs you installed it on, but to help protect your safety, it will no longer work.

So , programs I've paid for may stop working because M$ has decided , after the fact , that the programmer/provider of my purchased software has in some way offended them. "For my own good". I have visions of Steve Jobs' ghost laughing hysterically. Microapple is coming to a desolate computing future near you.

 

[hafa]

Borrowed my post from another thread. I'm still hatin' on 8.

My next OS may indeed be a Linux derivative. After reading this.



So , programs I've paid for may stop working because M$ has decided , after the fact , that the programmer/provider of my purchased software has in some way offended them. "For my own good". I have visions of Steve Jobs' ghost laughing hysterically. Microapple is coming to a desolate computing future near you.

This only applies to apps from the Windows app store that run natively on the Win8 UI. You can still install any program you want to run on the desktop and have a shortcut in the Win8 UI. I've had no problem with dozens of programs, even old and obscure AS/400 emulators.

 

[Alaric]

I don't discount the possibility that Windows will be as locked down as Apple's products in the future. I saw no mention of refunding the cost of software purchased from 'The App(le) Store' that is then deactivated. The full page is here http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/what-happened-apps-pc
How can they do this ? Easy. Read the EULA. They are leasing the 'Apps' (Programs , damnit!). Misleading terminology (Purchase=lease the use of but never own) , an interface that annoys me , and no tangible benefits regarding my PC usage and equipment. I'm not going to give them forty dollars for what amounts to some things I don't need in a thing I don't want.

 

[Rotary]

THe new OSX 10.8 works with everything is what i been hearing, i might be giving that a try soon. I didnt have good luck with win8 at all, it felt like a kids toy. whatever not really my problem, ill move on.

 

[goose90proof]

1) Actually, the start menu is just reorganized and shown as tiles in the Win8 UI*. Mouse over the lower left corner while on the desktop and click to go to the Win8 UI, then right click on the bottom to go to all apps. Same number of clicks as start>all programs, just shows tiles instead of a listing and things are automatically organized categorically.

2) The control panel has not been replaced. It's still there and works like it always has. Follow the instructions on item 1 above and you'll see the tile for it. Right click on the tile to pin it to the start screen or the taskbar.

Keep in mind that the above applies to the consumer or RTM release, and may not apply to the beta or consumer preview. My current opinion of 8 is surmised in this post.



*The UI formerly known as "Metro"

I don't consider metro a simple reorganization of the start menu. Maybe I'm just butt-hurt over the change, but I don't like it. Start8 makes things more bearable though.

I originally said that the control panel was "replaced" but if you read through, you'll see that I clarify that it wasn't actually replaced, but the logical path to certain settings has been changed and that's confusing.

I don't like the learning curve. That's a personal problem, but a lot of people share the same sentiment. Perhaps it's just a tell-tale sign that I'm getting old. Excuse me... I'm going to go stand out on my lawn and yell at the clouds.

 

[hafa]

I don't consider metro a simple reorganization of the start menu. Maybe I'm just butt-hurt over the change, but I don't like it. Start8 makes things more bearable though.

I originally said that the control panel was "replaced" but if you read through, you'll see that I clarify that it wasn't actually replaced, but the logical path to certain settings has been changed and that's confusing.

I don't like the learning curve. That's a personal problem, but a lot of people share the same sentiment. Perhaps it's just a tell-tale sign that I'm getting old. Excuse me... I'm going to go stand out on my lawn and yell at the clouds.

I see it as analogous to the introduction of the ribbon in Office back in 2006. Veteran Office users had the worst time of it, while newcomers could do things much faster. In time, the majority of the veterans came around to the viewpoint that the ribbon was a more efficient interface.

I'm sure that I'll have some nits to pick over the UI over time as well. I'm also fairly certain that more tweaks will come out, both from MS and 3rd-party developers to allow further customization of the Win8 UI.

 

[Alaric]

More on the Apple-ization of Windows (an addendum to my last couple posts above)

3.4 Updates must not decrease your app’s functionality in a way that would be unexpected to a reasonable customer

Conveniently forgetting to add "That's our perogative"
I'm not anti-Microsoft , and I believe they have every right to run their corp. and OS any way they see fit. I am , however , starting to see why my uncle* calls MS "The Beast Of Redmond". LOL


*he also wrote the code for a major automaker's assembly line , robots and all.

 

[hafa]

More on the Apple-ization of Windows (an addendum to my last couple posts above)


Conveniently forgetting to add "That's our perogative"
I'm not anti-Microsoft , and I believe they have every right to run their corp. and OS any way they see fit. I am , however , starting to see why my uncle* calls MS "The Beast Of Redmond". LOL


*he also wrote the code for a major automaker's assembly line , robots and all.

I see the Win8UI "apps" as a layer over windows, really. they run solely in the Win8UI and not on the desktop, are not productivity programs as such, and are intended to follow Apple's model, as Alaric stated.

It's likely that very, very few businesses or professionals will ever even visit the "app store". I know I won't. This, however, will not prevent me from running anything I want on the desktop. Given the tremendous importance running any x86 program for the enterprise sector (where custom software often runs the enterprise) and the majority of professionals, this is not functionality we'll likely see diminished in our lifetimes.

The "app store" is great if you're looking to play angry birds, but irrelevant if you're doing work. MS has created a system that caters to both audiences; alienating either would have been counter-productive.

 

[OneArmedScissor]

Now Alen Ladavac from CroTeam, developers of Serious Sam 3, has defended Gabe Newell’s comments (via ubuntuvibes). He believes that Gabe did not overreact when he passed on his feedback about Windows 8.

“Gabe Newel did not overreact. What you don’t see here is that, under the hood, the new tiled UI is a means for Microsoft to lock Windows applications into a walled garden, much like the one on iOS. There is this “small detail” that Microsoft is not advertising anywhere, but you can find it dug deep in the developer documentation,” he posted on Steam’s forums.

He too criticized Windows 8 where no one can release an application unless they are routed through the Windows Store. He calls it a horrible idea.

“One cannot release a tiled UI application by any other means, but only through Windows Store!”

“I cannot even begin to stress out just how horrible this idea is! There is no side-loading, except for corporate use inside one company, and that works only on the enterprise edition of Windows 8. Do we all understand what that means? You cannot download an application from the Internet and run it on your computer. You have to get it from Microsoft’s store. Even if it is a free app!”

He also believes that the removal of the Start menu is way to force users to get used to the titled UI.

“Now, while in current state Windows 8 do look like they support plain desktop apps seamlessly, the removal of start menu and use of “charms” even on the desktop looks like a pretty blunt attempt to force users to “get used” to the tiled UI. It would be fine by me if it wasn’t for the aforementioned certification issue.”

 

[TeknoBug]

The more "noob" friendly a product gets, the harder it is for most people to get used to, this exact thing happened with MS Office 2007 and people hated the UI in that.

I upgraded yesterday after a dying hard drive and I got it working just like Windows 7 (disabled a few things and got Start menu and such). One thing I noticed is that Guild Wars 2 runs much better than it did in Windows 7 then again this is a very clean install so not so much processing clutter yet. I don't plan to install much since all I do is surf the net and play games but I also have MS Office 2010 for documents and resumes, so far I have AVG2013, Fraps, Steam, Origin and mobo/video drivers.

It took me a while to figure out how to close apps in the Metro, I ended up alt-tabbing which caused most of the apps to remain running which I didn't want, and then I did some digging around on Google and found that you have to drag from top down to bottom (just like the Blackberry Playbook does) and I found a way to disable the settings blade and the bottom left/top left corners while on desktop.

My mother upgraded her PC to Windows 8 and she's been frustrated with some confusion, my grandmother wants to do it with her PC and I know she won't like it.

 

[TeknoBug]

I see the Win8UI "apps" as a layer over windows, really. they run solely in the Win8UI and not on the desktop, are not productivity programs as such, and are intended to follow Apple's model, as Alaric stated.

It's likely that very, very few businesses or professionals will ever even visit the "app store". I know I won't. This, however, will not prevent me from running anything I want on the desktop. Given the tremendous importance running any x86 program for the enterprise sector (where custom software often runs the enterprise) and the majority of professionals, this is not functionality we'll likely see diminished in our lifetimes.

The "app store" is great if you're looking to play angry birds, but irrelevant if you're doing work. MS has created a system that caters to both audiences; alienating either would have been counter-productive.

The apps store is kind of an unnecessary thing but I downloaded Netflix and Tunein Radio so far, I didn't spend much time surfing around but I noticed the store is already loaded with apps. I also managed to connect to my XBox and it's kind of useless to me at this point.

 

[hafa]

Quote from Alen Ladavac

It seems to me that Alen Ladavac is either clueless or being quoted out of context.

Reread my last post regarding Win8 UI apps. The entire app store paradigm has no impact whatsoever on the functioning of the Windows desktop, programs running in Windows, or anything else outside of the Win8 UI.

Folks getting past the FUD and installing Windows 8 are all discovering the benefits.

The apps store is kind of an unnecessary thing but I downloaded Netflix and Tunein Radio so far, I didn't spend much time surfing around but I noticed the store is already loaded with apps. I also managed to connect to my XBox and it's kind of useless to me at this point.

I have to admit that I've not visited the app store recently, nor am I likely to in the future. The Win8 UI is a great launcher and makes things much easier when in tablet mode, or with the notebook touchscreen open. That's likely the limit of its functionality for me.

 

[OneArmedScissor]

It seems to me that Alen Ladavac is either clueless or being quoted out of context.

Reread my last post regarding Win8 UI apps. The entire app store paradigm has no impact whatsoever on the functioning of the Windows desktop, programs running in Windows, or anything else outside of the Win8 UI.

Folks getting past the FUD and installing Windows 8 are all discovering the benefits.

You didn't actually read the quote, did you?

 

[hafa]

You didn't actually read the quote, did you?

Yes, I did and it's pure FUD. Example:

You cannot download an application from the Internet and run it on your computer. You have to get it from Microsoft’s store. Even if it is a free app!

That's pure hogwash. I've installed dozens of programs, including many which are downloaded open source on my computer, no problem. All of them have tiles in the Win8 UI and open on the desktop as designed.

BTW, OneArmedScissor, YGPM