Windows 8 thread

[Luckkill4u]

I love everything about Windows 8. Yeah it's a big change but man its like very part of it has improved. The new start menu was probably the hardest to get used to but I don't think I will ever go back to the old now. I love the new apps like Xbox Music and Smart glass and having my Gmail come up on my start screen with notifications is awesome. It surprisingly works well with my Android Gmail too. I did find a few glitches with some apps but that is expected when thus OS just came out. Honestly this so far has been the most product, easiest to use, smartest Windows OS yet. I will recommend it to anyone.

 

[Just Another Gamer]

I tried it and to be honest its just shit on a desktop or laptop and they shouldn't stayed with the same working formula they had before not shoved the metro UI which is meant to be used with a touchscreen onto a system that uses a mouse. Win8 works best on a tablet.

 

[Arras]

I've been using Win8 for over a month now and I'm pretty satisfied with it so far. I missed some stuff when I started using it and it took me ages to find the Search feature in the store, but now I like it. I don't really use the Metro apps all that much, but I do really like the new built-in mail client. I don't have an Xbox so I don't really care about the integration, but it seems pretty nice for the people that do have one. And last but not least: the new Microsoft Minesweeper available from the store for free is awesome.

 

[Gahars]

It looks alright for what is it, but I just upgraded to Windows 7 a good few months ago. I can't imagine I'll be making the leap to 8 anytime soon.

 

[Issac]

I'm getting Windows 8 for free from my school, so I am going to install it once I get an SSD, and been cleaning up my HDD from junk, and backing up that I want to save.

 

[qlum]

Windows 8 is just a small upgrade from 7 with a few essential things improved like file transfer and the task manager. The whole metro thing is optional and I got rid of it pretty quickly by installing classic shell, I now have a nice start menu as well which is really a must have for me. I can't always use Launchy and I never really see my desktop so for my lesser used programs it's the only way to go.

Is it worth the money I would say no especially if I where to get it legit I would have to buy the full license since I don't never went legit with 7. But as a pirate's upgrade it is a decent one. Just a few issues with the theme but really that is it.

One thing I can't put my finger behind is why any desktop user would want to ever use that whole metro interface as its just a lot better with a regular desktop and start menu.

 

[Lacius]

I've been using Windows 8 as my primary OS since August, and I like it. The under-the-hood improvements alone are reason enough to upgrade, in my opinion.

 

[Creqaw]

Just installed it and it isn't nearly as bad as some people make it sound. I can completely ignore the metro start menu and the rest of the OS works exactly as Windows 7. Haven't had any driver issues yet which is good.

 

[gifi4]

Nope. Why, you ask, well simply because I tried it back in a consumer preview and personally found it to be rather a pain in the arse. Hell, even when I was working at a PC repair shop, my supervisor said it himself: There isn't any point in upgrading if you're using a non-touchscreen PC / Tablets etc.

One other reason is, teaching my father the OS. You know how much of a pain it was to teach him how to stream his movies and shows to the PS3?! I don't have the time to teach him how to use Windows 8.

 

[shoyrumaster11]

I tried the release preview of Windows 8 on VMWare and I tell you, it completely sucked! I had NO internet access, really laggy default settings and just a really hard to get used to UI. Now I've been a Windows user for a long time, i'd expect something better out of Microsoft. So i'm keeping my Windows 7 laptop for the next few years to come. It does everything, W8 does nothing for me!

 

[suppow]

no way bro.

 

[redfalcon]

I tried the release preview of Windows 8 on VMWare and I tell you, it completely sucked! I had NO internet access, really laggy default settings and just a really hard to get used to UI. Now I've been a Windows user for a long time, i'd expect something better out of Microsoft. So i'm keeping my Windows 7 laptop for the next few years to come. It does everything, W8 does nothing for me!

You compare a preview release running inside a VM to a stable RTM version installed in a normal environment? lol.

 

[Arras]

If there's one thing that does annoy me it's that many of the App store apps are completely unsuitable for PC use. I downloaded some word game and I actually had to swipe with the mouse while holding down the left button to do anything. The Win8 interface itself is pretty nice though. I like the centralized search feature. Hit Win key -> type first four or so letters of the program you want to run -> hit Enter.

 

[Danny600kill]

I'm thinking of installing it as a second boot on my macbook, at the moment I have windows 7 as my secondary boot. The though of learning how to use Windows 8 as well as OSx scares me though haha

 

[DCG]

IMO, there's a bit to much switching between the Metro and "classic" interface.
It works fine, but the looks just don't satisfy me enough to make me switch my gaming laptop and desktop to 8.

If they gave me the option to switch every look and path to Win7, it would be a instant install.

Pro's:
It's quick in booting, internet connection speed and loading stuff. (on a HDD)
It reads ISO's natively
Certain internal transfers seem to be quicker.
USB preformance seems quicker
Device recognition is way better (at least for the stuff I tried)
Secure boot feature, haven't used it, but it should keep certain stuff off the pc's of less "nerdy" people (don't know a propper name atm. No harm intended)



Con's:
It looks like a child's toy, compared to a well customized Windows 7.
During certain tasks, you have to switch too much between metro and Classic (music, movies, images)
The titles are a spam fest... I installed Solidworks 2012, Win8 thought it was necessary to make a title for each and every .exe it installed ( whilst the program normaly only acces those itself, without user influence)
Background in metro isn't realy changable (I don't call pre-defined stuff a real choice)
Private info. Why the hell would I want to give all my personal information, manditory?!?!?!? Make that optional!
Start button. I use that thing on a hourly basis in win7....... And the absence of it in 8 does slow me down 2 seconds every time I have need for it...
Configuration options are a bit fragmented.


Mic:
Configuration options are accesable trough win + x. Which is a pro and a con. It is sometimes faster, but slower other times.


Well, I guess that sums it up a bit.

 

[EJames2100]

I'm on Windows 8 on a Desktop and I rarely use the Metro interface, the classic view does seem better(for lack of better word) than 7.

Also there's a program called Classic Shell that brings back the/a start button and other features, worth a check out definitely, if I didn't find that I would have switched back.

 

[porkiewpyne]

One thing I keep hearing from people citing as an improvement of W8 is the supposed improved Search function where you just press the Windows button and type the name (or part of it) of the program of interest.

Correct me if I am wrong here but doesn't 7 (and Vista I think?) already do that?

 

[EJames2100]

I don't know how it worked on either of those, but I just pressed it, typed Firefox and it opened Firefox, same with other programs and even a couple of apps on the Metro, seems decent, not something I'd use often though.

Just checked on broader terms and it brings up a list of related programs which is also useful for similar named programs/games, think it might get a bit more use off me now I know about it.

 

[Arras]

IMO, there's a bit to much switching between the Metro and "classic" interface.
It works fine, but the looks just don't satisfy me enough to make me switch my gaming laptop and desktop to 8.

If they gave me the option to switch every look and path to Win7, it would be a instant install.

Pro's:
It's quick in booting, internet connection speed and loading stuff. (on a HDD)
It reads ISO's natively
Certain internal transfers seem to be quicker.
USB preformance seems quicker
Device recognition is way better (at least for the stuff I tried)
Secure boot feature, haven't used it, but it should keep certain stuff off the pc's of less "nerdy" people (don't know a propper name atm. No harm intended)



Con's:
It looks like a child's toy, compared to a well customized Windows 7.
During certain tasks, you have to switch too much between metro and Classic (music, movies, images)
The titles are a spam fest... I installed Solidworks 2012, Win8 thought it was necessary to make a title for each and every .exe it installed ( whilst the program normaly only acces those itself, without user influence)
Background in metro isn't realy changable (I don't call pre-defined stuff a real choice)
Private info. Why the hell would I want to give all my personal information, manditory?!?!?!? Make that optional!
Start button. I use that thing on a hourly basis in win7....... And the absence of it in 8 does slow me down 2 seconds every time I have need for it...
Configuration options are a bit fragmented.


Mic:
Configuration options are accesable trough win + x. Which is a pro and a con. It is sometimes faster, but slower other times.


Well, I guess that sums it up a bit.

Some notes:
-Switching between Metro and Classic? You do know you can use the menu on the left (or Winkey + Tab) to switch between Metro apps without having to use the UI?
-Win+X does the same as right click in the bottom left corner.
-What would you use the start button for that isn't reasonably quickly available? Besides, 1-2 seconds every hour doesn't seem too bad.
-I agree with the shortcuts. I installed Visual Studio 2010 and it added about 30 shortcuts to the Metro menu o.0 They aren't that hard to remove though, right click all you want gone and select Unpin from Start.
-Private Info: I'm pretty sure you can create an offline account and use that instead of using your Windows Live account. You can unlink them at least.
-I really like the centralized search, as I said before. Instead of pinning 20 programs to my taskbar/start menu I just type the first few letters and hit enter.
-The customization is limited, true. However, eventually hackers will find a way to change and customize all that.

 

[redfalcon]

One thing I keep hearing from people citing as an improvement of W8 is the supposed improved Search function where you just press the Windows button and type the name (or part of it) of the program of interest.

Correct me if I am wrong here but doesn't 7 (and Vista I think?) already do that?

It did. But its not cited as improvement, but merely that there is zero difference in workflow compared to Win7. The only improvement is that the search is split in several categories (Apps, Files, Settings etc.). People probably didn't use it before because they were used to either the clusterfuck Startmenu of previous versions, or used a dock or something.