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have you tried listening to an mp3 or viewing photos? i don't think ive ever swore soo much at my pc.

I do both in the Consumer Preview; in fact, I use the same applications I did in Windows 7.

In both cases (as is also true with video) I have multiple application options - therefore, I do the same thing I did with Windows 7; right-click the file->Open With-> (application).

That's what you do when an application (any application) insists on *pilfering* file associations from your preferences.

I cannot stand the idea of the Desktop mode continuing to exist and I would like the Metro experience to fully replace it at some point.

This is why the lovers and the haters will never agree.

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They should at least rename the OS to 'Microsoft Metro' then. That could actually be a good idea in any case, to at least come out with a mobile touch-optimized OS with that name. This whole 'Windows everywhere' thing just might backfire on them in the consumer marketplace.

Okay, don't want to make another thread about this, but is there a way to tell, if your PC was shutdown improperly?

On 7, we'd get a screen with 'Safe Mode' options and 'Start Windows Normally' option.

Is there a way to tell Windows was shut down improperly in 8?

To provide feedback to Microsoft, you'll need to sign up for a Connect account (if you don't already have one) at:

http://connect.microsoft.com

It requires a Windows Live ID, Hotmail login, or Passport account - gotta love how Microsoft has taken almost 14 years to realize just one account is best overall. Anyway, once you sign up and log into the Connect site, you'll need to go here:

https://connect.micr...ownloadID=41522

to get the "Windows Ecosystem Readiness" page so you can download the "Windows Send Feedback Tool" installer. I did all this yesterday to send in a few bugs and some feedback, takes a few minutes to get it all working properly but it only requires that one time.

Hope this helps... normally I would just post you the direct download link to the installer file but since this technically isn't a publicly available tool (it requires a Connect account to get it) I'm just providing the info on how to get access to the link.

Actually, it's not Microsoft's fault

The Microsoft Passport ID program (way back in 2000) was the ancestor of the Microsoft Accounts program that exists today. Even then, it worked across the various services that Microsoft provided.

As Microsoft has added additional services, that same Passport ID that I originally got (for free) in 2000 has gained support. Live Mesh/SkyDrive. Connect. XBLA (first on Xbox/XB360, and now XBW with Windows 8 Consumer Preview). GfWL (which will semimerge with XBW with Windows 8 RTM).

What's changed is *user acceptance* of single-ID - in 2000, it was hated and despised. (Didn't matter who tried to create it, either - only Apple, with their closed ecosystem, actually got away with it.)

NOTE - Why didn't I add Hotmail and Windows Live? SImple - both programs took Microsoft Passport into account from their beginnings. *All* passport.com accountholders have a Hotmail account ([email protected]) with the same password. Again, us as users, not Microsoft.

Okay, don't want to make another thread about this, but is there a way to tell, if your PC was shutdown improperly?

On 7, we'd get a screen with 'Safe Mode' options and 'Start Windows Normally' option.

Is there a way to tell Windows was shut down improperly in 8?

Actually, there's far less need to worry about improper shutdown in even the Windows 8 Consumer Preview than Windows 7.

I have - many times - deliberately shut down the CP improperly; where 7 would whine and complain, the CP starts up and keeps right on keeping on.

Number of other operating systems that recover that smoothly, time after time - none. (Despite the insistence of Linux users to the contrary, if you improperly shutdown a desktop or server running most Linux distributions, you WILL have some issues.)

Actually, there's far less need to worry about improper shutdown in even the Windows 8 Consumer Preview than Windows 7.

I have - many times - deliberately shut down the CP improperly; where 7 would whine and complain, the CP starts up and keeps right on keeping on.

There are a lot of power failures in my area. I try to keep them to minimum, but some, you just cant avoid.

Its a good thing, in a way.

However, sometimes, mostly at night, I would schedule the system to turn off at a specific time.

Now, during the time, if a power failure occurs, I wouldn't know, because I am sleeping.

So, this is probably another one of those dumb questions, but will the visual styles of 7 work on 8?

And icons will work no matter what, right?

Yes, they will work on Windows 8 but not vice versa.

Edit: sorry, I read themes while you asked about visual styles. My bad.

The default user profile is the setup that all new logged in users get as their profile to begin with. As it stands without this ability I cannot see deploying this OS in our laboratories where I work successfully. Due to this limitation I cannot recommend upgrading to it.

Has anyone found a functional method for setting up a default user profile in 8? Without that functionality I cannot see this taking off in an enterprise/educational laboratory setting.

Are you talking about a guest account?

Because any serious company/school is using domain accounts, not local accounts.

The default user profile is the setup that all new logged in users get as their profile to begin with. As it stands without this ability I cannot see deploying this OS in our laboratories where I work successfully. Due to this limitation I cannot recommend upgrading to it.

Are you talking about a Live account? Or something else. I'm not quite following.

We are domain based. Have been for years. You can make a user on the system, setup everything up the way they have requested for everything to be installed and configured for one account. Then you would copy that account in the default user profile so that everyone that logs on gets the exact same setup. We do not use roaming profiles as that is not an option. Different labs are to have different software load outs and different settings.

No we cannot use a live account.

Sorry for being confusing.

We are domain based. Have been for years. You can make a user on the system, setup everything up the way they have requested for everything to be installed and configured for one account. Then you would copy that account in the default user profile so that everyone that logs on gets the exact same setup. We do not use roaming profiles as that is not an option. Different labs are to have different software load outs and different settings.

No we cannot use a live account.

Sorry for being confusing.

What's blocking you from doing it on Windows 8? Because c:\users\default is still here.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

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    • Oh, I did. And it's even worse than I was hoping! Besides a lot of techno-babble jargon (yes I understand 100% of it but it's still all just techno-babble) there's 2 key points that make me super-weary about even considering testing this out. -- By default, after installation, a relay is automatically set up, so you do not need to care about that. * Non-chatmail apps use email servers as a long-term message archive while chatmail clients use email servers for ephemeral instant message relay. * Supporting the full variety of classic email setups would require considerable development and maintenance efforts, and complicate making chatmail-based messaging more resilient, reliable and fast. -- Basically, the end-user device is the 'server' (relay) so there is NO ARCHIVING whatsoever because every message is necessarily ephemeral. Great for techno-paranoia (and for illicit activities preferring no tracks to cover) but terrible for everybody else. It's also ironically contradictory to engineering principles of redundancies besides the transport layers due to the explicit absence of any persistent storage. Instead of 'classic email address' retaining multi-GB messaging archives on its server, now every device must retain 100% of those storage demands. (Email messages were originally meant to be short correspondences, not the multi-MB attachments boondoggle that now exists with unlimited spam engines flooding every potential recipient.) Any device swap or reset (or loss) makes the entire message history go bye-bye forever... lest there's an off-device auto-archival "relay" mechanism that's really a separate server that holds onto all transported messages (an email server) that utilizes 'chatmail email address' identities (like an email server) and its own persistent storage archive (like an email server). But... this solution is hoping to exist alongside real-world email address identities (based on the email server relay pathway) but simply render messages in chat thread format in an ephemeral manner (with contents being encrypted, and messages auto-expiring) ... In the end, it's a chat app/experience for the Web3/P2P-at-all-costs zealots. (I have accts on all sorts of federated web3 services so I understand the technical and non-technical alike.) For any practical users, however, it's just another service to download/install, register, cross-share id cards/qr codes, but know that there's no history/archive whatsoever (by design) so no account/message recovery whatsoever... update the device, install a bummed update patch, or dare upgrade your device... all history, poof, gone. Ya gotta start everything over again like they're a brand new person.
    • You've tried DuckDuckGo and Brave Search, now get serious with SearXNG by Paul Hill Over the last decade, it has become quite trendy to dump Google Search in favor of privacy-preserving alternatives such as DuckDuckGo, Startpage, and Brave Search. These search engines have done a very good job at highlighting dodgy practices by Google, such as adjusting search results based on what it thinks you’ll like (filter bubble) and stalking you around the web to advertise to you. While these search engines are good starting points when compared to non-private services like Google, there are still quite a few issues with them. For example, both DuckDuckGo and Brave Search require running non-free JavaScript in your web browser, which is comparable to running proprietary software on your computer, meaning you can be sure about what it’s actually doing in the background. Another issue is that these search engines are hosted on the respective companies’ servers, and you are using a service that you don’t control. Finally, DuckDuckGo, while offering privacy features, relies heavily on Microsoft’s infrastructure for its results and, in the past, has permitted Microsoft tracking scripts. If you are looking for a more private search solution than DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, and Startpage, then I recommend taking a look at SearXNG. It is a privacy-respecting metasearch engine that can be used via different public instances, which is useful for mobile users, or you can install it on your computer or server and run it locally with maximum control. Unlike Google, Bing, or Brave Search, which crawl the web and have their own search indexes, SearXNG is a metasearch engine, meaning it taps other search engines, stripping your identifying data, such as IP address, user agent, and cookies, in the process. 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    • Dear Neowin, If it is not too much trouble, can you start using the new-ish designations for Insider Preview? "Experimental" is different than "former Dev" as it can apply to different models, eg 26H1 or 26H2 etc, right? No need to seed confusion IMHO. And, please "finally" update your graphics. OK?
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