Windows 8!

[Kevin P]

Anybody else still working with Windows 8? Any new discoveries or tweaks to share?

Not yet, but I plan on downloading the beta and trying it out in a VM. See if it's better than 7 or the next turkey.

[Alaric]

The compatibility check it runs before downloading gave me a thumbs up for my Microsoft Virtual PC and VMware Server. Didn't mention my Oracle Virtual Box , though. I disabled the Metro UI on my wife's laptop and she is much happier with the classic Windows UI. She was ready to go back to Vista!

[Hdale85]

You can also use MetroUITweaker or something of the sorts and mess with a few other settings.

[impala454]

I don't see what the big whine is about the metro thing. To me it seems like it's just a much nicer looking start menu. Seems like a pretty nice interface to me, even for a plain old PC w/a keyboard & mouse.

[Alaric]

Metro sucks

I have the Consumer Preview on my wife's laptop and she HATES the Metro UI. I agree. Too many extra steps without a start button or classic start menu on the desktop. The Consumer Preview doesn't have the same registry key as the Developer Preview for it , so those hacks don't work. This is as close as I could get so far

http://www.wiztechie.com/2012/03/windows-8-consumer-preview-bypass-metro-start-screen-and-show-desktop-on-startup/

I may see if I can install the start menu program from my Win 7. Should be compatible. My desktop isn't a tablet and I don't need a full page weather app on a 19" monitor , for example. M$ seems determined to make us like the Metro. I'll like Linux before I do that. I don't understand why they won't let me set it up the way I want my desktop. I certainly won't pay for an OS that insists I adapt instead of the software.
Besides , it's just another layer of crap , unnecessarily complicating things.

[impala454]

Too many extra steps? I was running the Developer Preview for a while and all I had to do was click "desktop" and it was back to regular old Windows... clicking the start button would take you to the metro stuff but it seemed to work fine to me... /shrug.

[Alaric]

Instead of opening the start menu and selecting a program , I now get to "swipe" the screen until I find the "app" I want. It was easier to click 'start' , type "med" and hit enter and have Media Player open , for example. I realize it's just a different style start menu , but I don't want one that freaking big! The extra step adds a layer of code that seems to be pretty unpopular with folks , if the early reviews are any indicators. And the Start button is gone in the Consumer Preview. It's not an extra step-it no longer exists. I liked the Developer Preview better. lol
It's still very early on , but I prefer the earlier approach so far.

[Hdale85]

Yeah when you have MetroUI running when you click the start menu on the desktop it just brings metroUI back up.

[Alaric]

And M$ offers the option to bypass it in Win 8 Server!?!? They say it's not the "preferred" interface in that application. If it's not efficient enough for a server UI , why do they think the rest of us wouldn't want a more efficient way? I have a suspicion that there will be enough of a stink over it to have the option included in the final release. Or somebody will write a simple hack for installing the Start Menu from Win 7. I bet there are numerous people working on it now.

[Kevin P]

I installed the Consumer Preview in a VM, and it's like, whaa? Looks like something Fisher-Price would put on a kid's toy computer. I still haven't figured out how to do basic things like switch between apps (Alt-Tab works, but I didn't see any way to do it with a mouse). Nor could I figure out how to close an app (where's the red X button?) And to shut down, I had to hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and then find the shutdown option there. So in addition to a "start menu" that takes up 2 screens, it doesn't even have all the basic features. And when I did get to a normal-looking desktop, there was no start button. I had to use the "Windows key" to flip back to the start page thingy.

I guess I'll have to do some reading or run through a tutorial, but I've never had to do so with any other Windows version. The basic UI elements (minimize/maximize/close/move/size/etc) were the same up until now.

I saw somewhere where someone posted a screenshot of Windows 1.1 from 1985, and its tiled windowing scheme, and placed it next to a screen shot of Windows 8 Metro and its tiled windowing scheme. I guess we've come full circle. :rofl:

[impala454]

Yeah when you have MetroUI running when you click the start menu on the desktop it just brings metroUI back up.

That's the point... the metro interface is replacing the start menu.

[impala454]

It's interesting to see the way different people use their computers though. I for one rarely ever type anything into the Start Menu. In fact I actually use an app called Classic Shell that gives me the XP style start menu (as well as my FRIGGIN "up" button I must have in windows explorer).

I really haven't used the Windows 8 one enough to decide what I think of it yet.

[impala454]

The swiping motions are definitely not natural with the mouse/kb setup though.

[Alaric]

And first in line is...

http://www.ghacks.net/2012/03/02/vistart-restores-start-menu-disables-metro-ui-in-windows-8/

As soon as I give it a go I'll report back. :T

[Alaric]

Small glitch

I haven't bothered with "fixing" the Metro UI. I already decided to stick with Win 7. I downloaded a couple utilities from Major Geeks and Win 8 didn't know what to open the setup with. The files were _exe , so I tried adding the file association to explorer and failed. After some head scratching I tried the blatantly obvious and changed the file names to .exe and they ran with no issues. I tend to overlook the obvious sometimes. ops:
Overall I'm finding Win 8 to just be a pain in the @$$ to navigate and use. The Developer Preview was a lot better (for me). Unless I'm missing something really big , I smell another Vista in the new OS. It may be using fewer resources in hardware , but it seems to require more of my personal resources-not what I'm looking for in software. On the plus side , Windows 9 should be a winner!

It looks like most of the reviews are focusing on the Metro Mess , love it or hate it. That tells me the main body isn't newsworthy. Anybody find anything it does better than 7?

[impala454]

I really really liked the process viewer. HUGE leap from the standard old task manager. You could really analyze every process, how much memory it was using, disk reads/writes, all kinds of stuff. I haven't looked at it in a while (only tried 8 for a few days) but I really liked it a lot. Vast improvement.

[Alaric]

I haven't used it much , but I agree. It allows much more to be done with fewer trips. I'll score that one for Win 8. :T I don't want to sound like a Mac guy complaining about M$ (But why doesn't it do everything for me???) but I admit to leaning that direction. :rofl:

[impala454]

Not to open a can of worms but what does the MacOS do for you that Windows doesn't?

[Alaric]

LOL. I have no idea. I was just paraphrasing some stuff I've read various places. The back and forth between Mac and M$ guys in some of the tech forums is entertaining as all get out sometimes. I have no personal experience with Apple , other than hacking a relative's iPod when he forgot his password. I was just whining about the few extra steps here and there with Win 8. It's still in Beta , and I'm not the most tech savvy guy out here , so I know to take my comments with a grain of salt. I probably should have warned everybody else , too.

[impala454]

Yeah I used to be of the type that would never in a million years try out a "beta" OS, but since they're handing them out for free I figure I might as well give it a shot.

[Alaric]

It seems the easiest way to learn for me , and I don't have to mess up my own stuff doing it.

[Alloroc]

Overall I'm finding Win 8 to just be a pain in the @$$ to navigate and use. The Developer Preview was a lot better (for me). Unless I'm missing something really big , I smell another Vista in the new OS. It may be using fewer resources in hardware , but it seems to require more of my personal resources-not what I'm looking for in software. On the plus side , Windows 9 should be a winner!

Running it on a HP Slate 2. Makes so much more sense on a touchscreen. Great in fact. Especially the IE10 preview. I really like it...