Windows 8 Release to Manufacturer Build Leaks

[shakirmoledina]

actually the metro is as good as the start menu if not better ie. cleaner. the problem is that not all programs appear in the list like i cannot even add it to all apps... can I? i will need to check this again.

speed wise, i was using w7 on my desktop (32x) and it used to take upto sometimes 20 seconds to shut down. now it does so in 5.

 

[FAST6191]

Going to try it as soon as a Win8 Pro RTM surfaces up. There are SO many contrasting opinions that I must try it for myself to decide.

EDIT: Windows-to-go intrigues me massively. Looks like I'll give the Enterprise version a spin too.

Other than the domain, group policy and the usual stuff there as far as I see it is just EFS/bitlocker and to be frank I think I would rather go TrueCrypt if I had to head down that path.
Edit- misread your post As for windows to go I thought that was enterprise only (rather than just pro)? I like that MS are doing it but virtualbox has been pretty portable for a while now and there are other portable windows options. This said if it makes for a few less licensing headaches I am definitely up for it.

Re: industrial machinery I will go one further and point at things still in the 386/486 realm- got called a couple of times by panicked people when their CNC, testing machines and other similar machines that contribute seriously to their income fall over. Was kind of a pity to lose my dos machine I kept around but dosbox does very well these days and the likes of the arduino/teensy do well should I need something like a serial port. Shockingly my collection of 30 pin and 72 pin ram has not been depleted unlike my collection of DDR which even if I ignore upgrades gets drained quite often these days thanks to broken sticks of it.

"ISO mounting built in."
About time I guess (similar to their support of zip) but I am about as excited about that as I am about windows notepad: better than nothing but replaced the second real work has to be done and certainly not a true selling point. A new copying feature though..... if it can avoid lying to me about how long it will take I guess I can consider leaving teracopy.

On boot times... granted I still turn my computer completely off almost every day (got stung by a few power bills) but between whatever standby is called today and hibernate I am kind of reminded of the recent javascript speedup stuff that the various browsers got themselves into a competition over but at least that had some truly tangible benefit in the end.


If it carries on like this I might have to actually pay proper attention and maybe consider not going in for the skip every other windows OS if I am to continue using windows at all routine. I was considering an upgrade of 7 for a few clients still on XP but if 8 turns out like this it might be mint and 8 as a terminal server/RDP in the corner routine.

Jamstruth although I agree most offices could do with a bit of customisation MS have made it very clear it can be disabled via group policy and otherwise. MS went back on it?. I will have to see how http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/features.html plays out for windows8 as well.

I have probably said it before but interesting times we find ourselves in, I was almost considering having a bit of a snooze but it looks like that plan is out.#

Edit2
Re: Command line vs GUI. I would contend both of those have a very valid place in computing and losing either would be bad (which is probably why it has not been done so much).

 

[Magsor]

I have been running windows 8 since dev preview.
I think Microsoft missed the boat on this one, and its gonna cost them. I think they should have included a linux environnement into the UI. We are in 2012 for god sake.
The Android wave is coming and if you want to stay afloat you have to give high end users some toys to work with.
Windows 8 is by no means for low end users (anymore). Metro UI is nice and all but all they did was make an improved Unity. I was sad they did not improved it further on on consumers preview.

Windows 8 is just... not exciting.

 

[Pong20302000]

Going to try it as soon as a Win8 Pro RTM surfaces up. There are SO many contrasting opinions that I must try it for myself to decide.

EDIT: Windows-to-go intrigues me massively. Looks like I'll give the Enterprise version a spin too.

Well heres a list of xurrent leaks

Windows 8 x64 Enterprise N version
Windows 8 x64 Enterprise
Windows 8 x86 Enterprise
Windows 8 x64 Professional
Windows 8 x86 Professional
Windows Server 2012

 

[DjoeN]

I know 1 thing

- I'll wait till i can install a legit version through my work on my pc

On the other hand, instead of shouting out why it suxs over other OS's (Did MS ever roll out a perfect OS? (MS-Dos not counted )) we better wait for a final release
and then see and shout about it?

Mostly it's always like this with MS (i do hope this line gets broken with Windows 8)

Bad OS - Better OS

- Windows 95/98 -> Windows 98SE
- Millenium -> XP
- Vista - Windows 7
- Windows 8 - ???

 

[Adr990]

"Perfect OS" ?

There is no such thing like that.
There are just main key differences between OS's.

Linux is free and open source and virus free and stuff
Windows is compatible with most software and easy and stuff
Mac is colorful and expensive and doesn't care for hot fixes and viruses and stuff

 

[Shuny]

It's sad because if we could get rid of the Metro UI, Windows 8 would be a great OS :/

 

[Damian666]

It's sad because if we could get rid of the Metro UI, Windows 8 would be a great OS :/

totally agreed man

 

[matthewn4444]

Hate the Metro Ui, but Windows 8 is faster and feels faster than Windows 7, so I will have to guess used to the new UI.

 

[jalaneme]

Just because it works on Windows 7 doesn't mean it was coded correctly. Look at all the games still being sold that don't even adhere to the user/admin rights system implemented in Windows XP. Take decades of lazy coding and slap rootkit DRM on top of that, and you have some games that break with every windows version because they're fucked up.

Then, on the other hand, you have things that were coded correctly and continue to work years after release. Take Diablo 2 for example. It's 12 years old, but it runs even on Windows 8.

well adding a even newer OS to the mix is not going to help matters is it? not all games from 10+ years ago will work on windows 8, and the same for windows 7 not a lot of games work for that and look how long that has been out for, like i said before upgrading to a even newer os is not going to make the situation any better, people seem to think because it's the latest it must be the best, that is just simply not the case all the time.

 

[jalaneme]

It has ready to use improved USB 3.0 drivers, also a way better usage of drivers and applications of Printers etc.
ISO mounting build in.
Another kind of File History
New kind of file moving and copying
hardware audio acceleration
Hyper-V

not a lot of people use usb 3.0 so why would anyone care about a feature that hardly anyone would use? iso mounting cane be done in windows 7, yes it's 3rd party but the feature is still there its not the end of the world, plus anything that microsoft integrate into the os they always mess up anyway, can anyone tell me who uses the feature to burn data to a dvd in windows explorer? no? didn't think so.

 

[Jamstruth]

In all honesty its just Windows 7 with a tablet UI slapped over it. While I do think its a fantastic option for a tablet, its pretty much pointless for a desktop and is more of a hindrance than an upgrade.

Windows 8‘s Metro interface may be controversial, but it looks like few PC users will complain about the new operating system’s performance. The PCWorld Labs put the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 through a battery of tests and found it generally faster--sometimes a lot faster--than Windows 7.

We tested using our WorldBench 7 tests, performed on the Labs' baseline system, which is built around a 3.3GHz Intel Core i5-2500K processor. That CPU is coupled with 8GB of DDR3 RAM clocked at 1333MHz, a 1TB 7200-rpm hard drive, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card. (...) We loaded the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 on the system, and compared our results with the numbers we already had for the same system running Windows 7.

Windows 8 ran through WorldBench 7, our comprehensive performance benchmark, 14 percent faster than Windows 7. Generally, any difference of 5 percent or more on WorldBench is noticeable (...) If you hate waiting for your PC to get going, you should like Windows 8. Our system started up at least 35 percent faster running Windows 8 than it did while running Windows 7. Under Windows 7, our average startup time was 56.2 seconds. Under Windows 8, that time dropped to 36.8 seconds (...)

Source

We can draw some interesting conclusions from these benchmark results. The first and most obvious is that boot times have been cut down further, and Microsoft has managed to shave another second off the time it takes to start up the test system. Microsoft promised to slash boot times, and it seems that the promise has been delivered. (...) It usually takes AMD and NVIDIA some time to optimize and perfect their drivers for a new operating system, with drivers having to mature for several months before we see similar performance between the new operating system and the old one. This time around it seems that things have settled down quickly and that we're seeing performance that is on par with a mature operating system. (...) We're also seeing quite an improvement when it comes to audio and video transcoding. This is something I've come to expect from betas of Windows operating systems. It's an area that Microsoft seems to put effort into improving, and that trend continues with Windows 8.

Source

Looks like quite the upgrade to me.

He said hindrance. Not slower. Yes there have been upgrades behind the scenes but the Metro UI just breaks workflow completely.

People must be on drugs if they think windows 8 is better than 7 version 8 breaks a lot of pc games, why would you DOWNGRADE to a tablet ui? Its pointless, microsoft don't give us a choice and shove this horrible os down our throats, faster? Cleaner? Do you work for microsoft or something? How can a dumbed down os be faster when its useless for everything? If you are a casual user who just plays facebook games all day then windows 8 is for you as you don't need to do anything else, for serious pc related stuff windows 8 is useless.

How is it "dumbed-down" or in any way more limited then Windows 7 when it has all the functions Windows 7 has plus the MetroUI plus tidier boot routines plus slightly better overall performance? It doesn't "break games" - it just doesn't have proper drivers yet because, suprise, suprise, it's not out yet.

Either show some benchmarks that prove your little theory or shush because you're simply wrong, and it doesn't take "working for Microsoft" to realize that. By the way, nobody's shoving anything down your throat - you don't have to buy the OS.

Once again I think he's referring to how terribly it handles on a desktop. I've used it a bit and maybe you do get used to it after a fashion but I just can't get over the constant Metro switching I have to do to make the OS do what I want. Its possible for full screen start menus to work. I use one all the time in Gnome3 but I just dislike it in Windows 8. All the functions of Windows 7 are there but they seem vastly less accessible behind the tablet interface. The kernel and back end stuff have definitely been improved but unfortunately I see the interface (the main part of the computer I care about as a user) as a grave misstep.

 

[Foxi4]

*snip*

No, the first poster stated that it's just MetroUI slapped over Windows 7 when it's not - it contains numerous performance tweaks. The second poster stated that the system is dumbed-down and "breaks" a lot of applications, I explained that it's not dumbed-down, it's extended and games not always work because the system does not contain proper drivers yet - they will be updated before the final release. It was also insinuated that the system is slower when in fact it's faster, that and the system was called "useless unless you only use it for facebook games" when it's not, it just requires NVidia's, Intel's and AMD's etc. support in form of drivers.

Read the whole thing, not just the MetroUI rant. The system's better, if someone hates Metro, he or she is welcome to download a third-party Start Menu.

 

[raulpica]

I'll just disable MetroUI altogheter an d that's it

 

[some1ne]

I actually disabled metro by replacing "explorer.exe" with the Windows 7 one.
It feels like an improved Windows 7

:V

 

[Rydian]

Just because it works on Windows 7 doesn't mean it was coded correctly. Look at all the games still being sold that don't even adhere to the user/admin rights system implemented in Windows XP. Take decades of lazy coding and slap rootkit DRM on top of that, and you have some games that break with every windows version because they're fucked up.

Then, on the other hand, you have things that were coded correctly and continue to work years after release. Take Diablo 2 for example. It's 12 years old, but it runs even on Windows 8.

well adding a even newer OS to the mix is not going to help matters is it? not all games from 10+ years ago will work on windows 8, and the same for windows 7 not a lot of games work for that and look how long that has been out for, like i said before upgrading to a even newer os is not going to make the situation any better, people seem to think because it's the latest it must be the best, that is just simply not the case all the time.

My point is it's THE PROGRAMS that are at fault if they don't run on 8. 8 is backwards-compatible with programs written correctly for 7.

 

[YayMii]

Not installing this yet as I don't have a proper PC right now and there aren't actual Boot Camp drivers out yet.

I actually disabled metro by replacing "explorer.exe" with the Windows 7 one.
It feels like an improved Windows 7

:V

That actually works? Does it break any of the new features (like ISO mounting)?

 

[Bobbyloujo]

I wish I had a touch screen device to test this out with. I'm undecided on whether or not I like the UI... It's certainly nice for tablets though. There will finally be tablets that are useful!

 

[loco365]

I actually might consider upgrading to Windows 8. It runs better than Windows Vista or 7 on my ancient desktop computer.

 

[Kioku]

Ironically enough from what I said earlier.. I experienced some slight problems. Installed the RTM build. Everything went fine, until I decided to try itunes. Keep getting error 7 which is due to an error with .net framework. I have 3.5 and 4 installed.. and it worked fine on the release preview. If anyone else here installed it and has itunes working, PM me. So confused.

Heh. Still enjoying it, though.