Download Windows 8 Preview

[SteveLord]

I wouldn't dismiss the metro ui just yet. Depending on how much control one has over it (especially administrators like myself) it may prove to be useful. I am sure there is also some way to disable it entirely....leaving you with what is effectively a suped up Windows 7. But...worth paying another $130+ for? Not sure yet.

 

[Automata]

The issue I have with it is that it doesn't offer me anything more than the basic start menu found in 7. It actually slows me down a bit, even after I'm a bit used to it. Try to right click Computer and go to Properties; oh, you can't. Yeah, it is a neat design, but it doesn't do anything but look pretty and slow me down. Therefore, it is a bad improvement.

 

[GoD_tattoo]

At least in my experience, most end users in a business organization have trouble with the simplest tasks using windows. And thats something that most users have been with for years. To put metro in front of them, it will stop productivity in it's tracks. What used to be three steps is now 5. IMHO it will be the Windows ME 2011(2012) version. I would never upgrade to it. The gains over windows 7 are not worth the cost.

 

[Redish Blue]

Well I am on windows 8 right now and I can't decide if I am impressed or not. The only reason I say that is because I am using it on a touchscreen. I have a 23'' acer T230H which had never really been useful until now. If I didn't have this I think I would have a similar outlook on it as most others in this forum because this UI is not meant for a mouse and keyboard at all.

That being said it is very touchscreen friendly and it works perfectly without any updates or drivers being installed. The metro UI is pretty interesting and I haven't played with it enough to decide if it is good or bad, but I don't see any glaring issues with it yet. I must also mention that the computer in my signature is what is power it so I don't know how well it would do on a tablet from todays market. A 1ghz dual processor with 1 gig of RAM and no discrete video card could have some problems running this. especially because nothing ever closes, its just frozen as you left it until you come back so that could easily bog down an underpowered system (like a tablet). I am interested to see where it goes and I would honestly like to have a phone, tablet, and computer than all ran a windows OS that got along well with each other which is the direction I hope Microsoft takes this in.

 

[ihrsetrdr]

Regarding the metro thing: keep in mind that this is far from being the finished product, and that the devs are watching to see where they need to make changes, based on user feedback.

I would expect that some kind of easy switcher button(or...?) will eventually be provided, to accommodate the different types of user(desktop vs. tablet).

 

[Automata]

With as much as we've seen them talking about Metro, I don't think it is going to change substantially.

 

[gt24]

So... the web browser in Metro won't allow any plugins to be installed... at all... at least so I see in the news. You can use a legacy browser in the legacy desktop environment if you need to.

http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/09/15/1257249/Windows-8-Wont-Support-Plug-Ins-the-End-of-Flash

I didn't have a chance to see if the Metro browser did Silverlight out of the box or not. If not then I'm sure Netflix just realized that they would have to make a Metro client or else people won't be able to see Netflix inside Metro at all.

As for flash... well... that won't quite work in Metro anymore so the comments of that article says. I haven't read the linked article in depth though.

 

[capttripppp]

I do believe I will stick with Window 7

 

[n1co]

I have two HDD's on my computer one with OS apps etc, the other with video's etc. Would it be possible to partition my other HDD and install windows 8 on it, and if so how would I choose between the two ?
Thanks

 

[Automata]

It has the same install process as Windows Vista and 7. Make sure to do "Custom" when it asks what type of install and it will allow you to select which disk to use.

 

[n1co]

Thanks for the reply so I would be able to run windows 7 on one hdd and windows 8 on the other ?

 

[Automata]

As long as the installer works, I don't see an issue with it. Remember, this is a very early beta release.

 

[Seebs]

Just downloade the x64 version. Will be putting it on my spare HDD tonite to see how it does on benchies... PCM05 specifically.

 

[Bobnova]

I was just going to ask that someone run SPI32m for me... You know you want to seebs

 

[Theocnoob]

Well I throughly hate MS. However, being an IT person I suppose its my duty to inform myself about the new nightmare thats coming... Off to download it.

^
Very well said.

 

[Seebs]

I was just going to ask that someone run SPI32m for me... You know you want to seebs

LOL... SPi32M will also be tested to compare against Se7en, XP and Vista.

 

[Ben333]

The issue I have with it is that it doesn't offer me anything more than the basic start menu found in 7. It actually slows me down a bit, even after I'm a bit used to it. Try to right click Computer and go to Properties; oh, you can't. Yeah, it is a neat design, but it doesn't do anything but look pretty and slow me down. Therefore, it is a bad improvement.

This is why I didn't like vista / 7. They change things in the GUI that have been the same way since Windows 2000... why? I can operate much faster on an XP machine, I mean I'm sure if I used 7 more it'd be easier but still, just leave things where they were...

 

[GotNoRice]

For someone like me who isn't looking to have their desktop computing experience transformed into that of a glorified smartphone, is there anything at all worth getting excited about? Will Metro do anything useful for me?

 

[terran2k]

tried windows 8, nothing wrong with the metro interface, I really only use a couple programs on my PC consistently. It would make accessing them simpler, so Im not a hater, but I do expect it to look nicer on the final release.

 

[kskwerl]

What is Microsoft doing???