Poll: Windows 8 Experience (How do you like it?)



Recommended Posts

post-2-0-55982000-1344517345.jpg
"I AM BALLMER AND YOU WILL LOVE WINDOWS 8!"

Inspired by the Windows 7 experience thread, which is now unpinned and locked, we have put together a Windows 8 satisfactory poll.

Vote!

Leave your comments below.

Some facts:

So far been loving it, just need me some more time with it but after the last 2hrs, i can say it's pretty sweet :)

Installed it on 3 systems now, even an older Dell Latitude XT Tablet and that works "good" so far.

  • Like 1

I really like it. I have the Start Screen set up the way I like it, it's fast, all my programs work and I really like the RTM theme. Still haven't come across any "Modern" apps I'd actually want to use on my non-tablet computer. But it's early days.

Something went wrong with the install the first time (upgrade install), and it got stuck in a loop of going into recovery mode, and it saying it was unable to fix the problem. Restored a backup and tried again and it worked (which is why I gave the install 2/5).

So far, 5/5 on the first 2, compatibility is excellent and the install process is quick and easy, but I only gave 3/5 on the last one as I simply cannot stand the start screen and I think the themes are absolutely horrible

4/5

4/5

2/5

The setup was easy enough with only a couple of hiccups which had more to do with the laptop than the OS.

Compatibility is also a 4/5 because anything I tried to install seemed to work without problems. It doesn't get 5/5 because it was impossible for me to test everything for compatibility with the short time that I was using it.

2/5 for the features. It's not because I found features to be missing compared to previous versions of Windows, but rather because while all the features that I would normally use may have been there, I found them very difficult to find.

Providing I can fix up this laptop soon, I may give the Windows 8 trial a go and see how it has improved. I'm pretty sure the above scoring won't change for me though.

It feels more complete but some things I'm unsure how they were passed by testing. Things like padding in text boxes in the apps and the title colour staying a near black when using a black window colour. It's a good upgrade from WIndows 7 but it still feels unfinished in areas.

For the most part pretty happy with it. Speed and compatibility is excellent, so far everything works and pretty quickly at that. Experience wise it needs a bit of polish in a few areas yet, but for a first release that's to be expected. Start screen I'm quickly falling in love with. (Mostly, again needs a few tweaks.) Think the only thing I'm probably not very happy with is the default desktop theme... but then again I pretty much hate the default theme in any OS regardless, waiting for the third party modders to get busy releasing.

Installation: 5/5 (Installed in <10mins on a non SSD system)

Compatibility: 5/5 no problems whatsoever

Features: 4/5

some of the necessary apps such as Music, Video, Photos, Messaging and Mail still feel unfinished. (for example, the Mail doesn't pick up my custom highlight color)

I like the new start screen customization option, that really makes it look better but they should still provide an easy option for custom backgrounds.

Desktop themes is a hit-miss, I don't really play around with this stuff anymore but the default unfocused windows are difficult to tell apart when they overlap.

No problems upgrading from windows 7,

I have noticed one annoyance though, The desktop version banner remains. So am i forced to seeing

Windows 8 Enterprise

Build 9200

on the desktop from now on? or is there an easy method to disabling it. It's a legitimate copy that I downloaded from Technet.

I just wanted to post this

http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/16/3246185/this-is-my-next-windows-8

Awesome review from a mac user! :) Gives an amazing image of the endless possibilities of next gen UI

  • Like 1

I just wanted to post this

http://www.theverge....-next-windows-8

Awesome review from a mac user! :) Gives an amazing image of the endless possibilities of next gen UI

You mean a completely awkward paradigm that is completely cumbersome on a desktop/laptop?

I still defend the usability of w8 on a desktop, but lets not get into, will clutter up another thread

I just thought it was a good review of a surface application of W8, best one I have read tbh. :) thats the only reason I posted it

  • Like 1

I just wanted to post this

http://www.theverge....-next-windows-8

Awesome review from a mac user! :) Gives an amazing image of the endless possibilities of next gen UI

I just finished reading that, it is written rather nicely and balanced.

Aside from a few issues its fairly smooth sailing. However I can't the Window frame colours, they all look horrible with my wallpapers, plus if I have it dark, I cannot read any writing in the title bar.

I just wanted to post this

http://www.theverge....-next-windows-8

Awesome review from a mac user! :) Gives an amazing image of the endless possibilities of next gen UI

Thanks for the link. It's nice to read something positive about the possibilities that Win8 offers without having to read through all the same nonsense about the Start Screen vs the Start Menu.

  • Like 1

The interface is VERY VERY UGLY, as I posted in another thread. I PREFER CIRCLES. All these squares look like crap!

At least on Windows 7, and prior, desktop icons can be transparent and any shape you want!

Yes. And desktop icons in Windows 8 can still be transparent and any shape you want.

Fun fact: desktop icons for Windows 8, 7, and before would highlight with a rectangle whenever you'd actually select them. The rectangle is always there. It's just more visible on the Start screen.

I have a MacBook Pro Retina I use for home and work. I deleted my Windows 7 yesterday and installed Windows 8. I absolutely love Windows 8. It is different and some workflow changes are in order. As human nature we are resistant to change and this is a pretty big one for our everyday lives. I am sure quite a few people will want Win7 back just like everyone wanted Win 3.1 back after their upgrade to Win95.

I am excited. Even though it looks touch based so far, its a great experience with a mouse and keyboard. One tip I would give is learn keyboard shortcuts. Give it some time and you will be way faster in Win8 than Win7. Another thing I like is that Microsoft went their own way with this. Great job by them. Its probably to early to say this but its almost like this is MS 2.0 or the rebirth of MS.... whatever the case it I love this direction.

  • Like 1

Tried installing on an old pc, wouldn't go due to lack of virtualization. Ended up installing Arch instead and it runs flawlessly. Installed on a virtual machine on main desktop. Find the UI to be a major step back. The lack of transparency, the blockiness (not very smooth), and the full screen launcher feel like the progress made with vista and 7's ui was scrapped for something easier (which I don't like, nor find easier in som respects).

Install was mindless (which is good). I know without hacks the Start menu won't return, the "Modern UI" start screen, and squared borders will remain, but I like many others I'm sure would prefer a MS Built solution. I think the UI is 100% my reason for staying with 7, and probably will do so until the above is either rectified, or 7 becomes obsolete, at which point I will likely make the full move to linux.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • WhatsApp is getting usernames, and you can reserve your preferred one now by Fiza Ali Sharing your phone number isn't always something you want to do, especially with people you've just met. Whether it's someone from a class, a local community group, or a sports team chat, handing over your number can feel like giving away more personal information than necessary. That's exactly the problem WhatsApp is trying to solve with its upcoming usernames feature. The company has announced that users can now reserve a unique WhatsApp username ahead of the feature's wider rollout later this year. Once usernames become available, they'll let people connect without revealing their phone numbers. It's a change that makes a lot of sense for group chats. Right now, everyone in the group can see your phone number. With usernames enabled, that won't necessarily be the case when someone contacts you for the first time. WhatsApp says it's opening username reservations early because more than three billion people use the app, meaning plenty of people are likely to want the same usernames. Reserving one now gives users a better chance of securing the name they actually want before the feature launches more broadly. If your preferred username is already taken, WhatsApp will also offer a built-in username generator to suggest available alternatives. The feature isn't only aimed at individual users. Creators, businesses, and organisations will be able to claim the same username they already use on Instagram or Facebook, making it easier to keep a consistent identity across Meta's apps. Furthermore, privacy is a big part of how WhatsApp is introducing usernames. There won't be a public directory where people can browse or search for usernames. Instead, people will need to know your exact username before they can start a conversation with you. Additionally, users can also choose to enable a username key, which adds another layer of control by requiring people to enter that key before sending a message. Once the feature rolls out, people who choose to use a username will no longer have their phone number shown when messaging a person or business for the first time. If you want to reserve a username, make sure you're running the latest version of WhatsApp, then head to Settings > Account > Username. The tech giant says usernames will roll out gradually over the coming months, and users will receive an in-app notification when the feature becomes available in their country.
    • When I think about a network, there are really two aspects, the hardware and the wiring. So here is what I would do for both. Wiring: Use Cat6A for the patch panel, outlets, and all structured cables (cables installed in walls). Run plenty of Wireless Access Point (WAP) cables, as a general rule, assume a signal can only pass through 2-3 walls and can't pass through a floor (that is conservative, but trust me on this if you want strong WiFi)  Cat6 patch cables are fine for now if you don't plan to run 10gig, those are easy to replace later if needed. Run OS2 single-mode fiber to anywhere you think you may have a server or sub-switch. (yes, single-mode for everything on a small network, don't mess with multimode unless you have entire racks of servers and that minor module cost and power savings will matter). If you really want to future proof, also run fiber to any high density WAP locations, it is likely that WiFi 8 WAPs will push the limits of 10g. Run 6-12 pairs of single-mode fiber between your MDF and the building's MDF, even if you only need 1 or 2 pairs now, those extra pairs will pay off down the road. Hardware: (its easy to say "get all the features incase you need them", so instead of futureproofing, I am going to take approach of suggesting areas worth investing in, and areas you can save money). Don't overspend thinking you need every feature on every port. You don't need 10g on every port, you don't need PoE on every port. Don't overspend on redundancy either, unless you are ready to buy two of everything, don't waste money buying two of some things and not others. Dual power supplies are worthwhile, but probably not HA or multi-path redundancy.  Get 1 "distribution layer" switch that your router/firewall will connect to as well as all your access layer switches below. This should be a 10g switch with a combination of copper and SPF ports and should be a fully managed switch. Given that you said it is a small network, I suggest also using that distribution layer switch for servers and WAPs, meaning it will need PoE. Speaking of wireless, get good professional tri-band WAPs, and either turn on the band stirring options, or limit 2.4 to an IoT only SSID. This will provide a solid WiFi capable nearly everything but the highest of bandwidth clients...you could even consider skipping wiring workstations depending on usage. Access layer switch for workstations and printers can be cheaper switches, 2.5g is a good sweet spot between price and future proofing, but even 1g is fine for most individual clients (the kind that could probably be fine on WiFi). You can consider saving a little on access layer switches by only getting 1 PoE switch for whatever needs it (remember your WAPs are connecting to the distribution switch, not here), and non-PoE for your workstations, because desk phones are falling out of favor. You can also save money here by not buying managed switches if you don't need them--but really do some soul searching there, if you go this route, then anything that isn't on your workstation VLAN would either need to be connected to the distribution switch, or its own access layer switch. Also, don't feel like you need a fancy fabric stacking switches for your access layer, that is the point of the higher-end distribution layer, to remove the need for things like that at this level. Home Hardware: I'm realizing the above assumed an office setting, if this if for your house and home lab then the above still applies, but you'll probably want everything managed and PoE, just because, but you probably also don't need multiple access layer switches. If your total port count is below 24, just skip separating distribution layer and access layer and just get one nice switch with the features you want. If you are at the point of considering a 48-port switch, I would instead get a nice high-end distribution switch for things that need it, and cheaper access layer switches with specs based on the needs of connected devices. For home use, don't worry about home running every device to the main switch, there is nothing wrong with running sub-switches for your media areas and office, those essentially become your access layer, just look for sub-switches with a 10g uplink so sharing bandwidth isn't an issue.
    • Google Meet brings Gemini note-taking to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers by Karthik Mudaliar Google's Gemini-powered "Take notes for me" feature inside Google Meet is now available to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers. The features work on Google Meet for web as well as on mobile, and Google says that subscribers can use it for meetings they host in many supported languages. As the name suggests, "Take notes for me" allows Gemini to listen to a meeting, generate a summary, identify action items, and save the notes as a Google Doc in the user’s Drive. After the meeting, the organizer receives an email recap with the summary and action items, while the notes can also be attached to the related Calendar event depending on the meeting setup and sharing settings. The feature isn't automatically turned on for everyone, though. Google says that all meeting participants are notified when note-taking is turned on, and users can start it from the pencil icon in Meet or enable it for future calls through Meet’s meeting records settings. For work or school accounts, administrators can also control whether the feature is available and may require explicit participant consent for note-taking, recording, or transcription features. The feature first launched back in 2024, when it was available just for selected Workspace users. Over the years, Google added refinements and more options, including the ability to enable it when scheduling meetings via Google Calendar. Google's support docs say that the feature currently supports English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish, but only one language at a time. Meetings with multiple spoken languages are not currently supported, and Google recommends using the tool for meetings between 15 minutes and eight hours. The new feature makes Google Meet closer to its rivals that have AI tools already built in. Microsoft Teams has recently started offering Copilot and intelligent recap features that summarize meetings, surface highlights, and help with follow-ups, while Zoom’s AI Companion can also generate meeting summaries from desktop and mobile meetings.
    • GnuCash 5.16 by Razvan Serea GnuCash is a personal and small business finance application, freely licensed under the GNU GPL and available for GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. It’s designed to be easy to use, yet powerful and flexible. GnuCash allows you to track your income and expenses, reconcile bank accounts, monitor stock portfolios and manage your small business finances. It is based on professional accounting principles to ensure balanced books and accurate reports. GnuCash can keep track of your personal finances in as much detail as you prefer. If you are just starting out, use GnuCash to keep track of your checkbook. You may then decide to track cash as well as credit card purchases to better determine where your money is being spent. When you start investing, you can use GnuCash to help monitor your portfolio. Buying a vehicle or a home? GnuCash will help you plan the investment and track loan payments. If your financial records span the globe, GnuCash provides all the multiple-currency support you need. Between 5.15 and 5.16, the following bugfixes were accomplished: Bug 421610 - RFE: Include logical dates for View->Filter by "date range"The Select Range section of the Date tab of the register's Filter By dialog box is changed to provide relative, specific date, or days ago options for the start and end of the filter range. The Show number of days item label is changed to Show from days ago to better reflect what it does. Bug 436105 - esc key not working as expected in register: Enable the escape key to cancel a field edit. Bug 797384 - Gnucash doesn't handle commodity prices with big numerator/denominator properly. Bug 798004 - Next gen UI for stock transactions Bug 799314 - Add "enter now" option in scheduled transaction editor. tab to allow users to select the scheduled transactions to be included in a “Since Last Run…” window. If there are no instances of a selected transaction triggered by today’s date, the next instance is triggered. Bug 799751 - autocomplete crash Bug 799759 - Users can't Enable entries via Checkboxes on Scheduled Transactions PageAllow the Enabled box in the list of scheduled transactions to be operated instead of having to open the transaction editor dialog and change the Enabled checkbox. Also added use of the Name column as the secondary column sort for all the other columns. Bug 799762 - Poor handling of cases where hidden/placeholder accounts are used in the account register Bug 799766 - Double line preference not respected in search register Bug 799767 - POST /accounts in bindings/python/example_scripts/rest-api is broken Bug 799777 - `xaccSplitSetParent`: reparenting a committed split silently drops its KVP slots (online_id, cap-gains links) Other changes & improvements: Numeric values may now be selected to copy in the Accounts page. Add new Finance::Quote source Finnhub.io: Free API key (personal/non-professional use) available at https://finnhub.io. Set FINNHUB_API_KEY environment variable to API key to use this source. As of June 2026, free tier API limit is 60 API calls/minute. The Investment Lots report has new optional columns for Computed Annual Growth Rate. Python Bindings: Improved translation of primary object (Account, Transaction, Split, etc.) so that they can be treated as normal Python objects. This is accomplished with SWIG magic so no existing code is obsoleted. Python Bindings: Better conversion of GLists to Python lists. Python Bindings: Destroy the QofSession in the Python Session dtor to prevent leaving the database locked. [engine] Add first-class online_id accessors for Split and Account and make them available to Python bindings, removing the unused Transaction online_id property. Improve C++ implementation of QofBook. Correct the Doxygen doc for qof_instance_get/set_kvp. [gnc-log-replay.cpp] fix incorrect guid dump Add some Boost library requirements needed by libgnucash-guile to CMakeLists.txt so that missing feature will fail at configure time. Use Compile-time Regular Expressions instead of std::regex in gnc-filepath-utils.cpp and instead of boost::regex in the CSV importer, with the CTRE v3.11.1 header added to borrowed [gnc-filepath-utils.cpp] null check char* arguments Add ChartJS licenses. Removed AEX from list of commodities. euronext.com is now using JS based anti-webscraping. [report-core] always offer options summary in reports. This is useful to debug reports. The Add options summary option is removed because it's no longer optional. Remove remaining obsolete IMContext from sheet Fix blurry text in HiDPI offscreen-rendered widgets Add port field to database connection dialog: The convention of appending the port number after the host isn't obvious. When editing a split in the register treat the account as being changed only if it isn't the one selected before editing instead of if the user performed an edit Return immediately from qof_book_destroy if hash_of_collections is null. If qof_book_destroy is called on a QofBook* freshly created with qof_book_new (usually because it was used to create a session that now must be destroyed) it would try to empty the non-existent hash tables, crashing. Clean up Flathub metadata to solve warnings at flatpak build time. Be consistent in naming GncPluginPage and GncPluginPageRegister HTML: Remove unimplemented function declarations. [gnc-html.cpp] remove unused buggy string conversion functions Convert libgnc-html to C++ Apply -Wall -Werr -Wmissing-prototypes to C++ compilation on Windows and fix the resulting errors. New and Updated Translations: Arabic, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, German, Finnish, Hungarian, Korean, Norwegian-Bokmal, Spanish Download: GnuCash 5.16 | 176.0 MB (Open Source) Links: GnuCash Home page | Other Operating Systems | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Microsoft finally launches WSL Containers in public preview by David Uzondu Microsoft has announced that WSL containers, a feature that allows developers to run Linux containers natively inside Windows without the need for Docker Desktop, is now available in public preview several weeks after Microsoft previewed it at Build 2026. To use the new container feature, you first have to install the latest pre-release version of the Windows Subsystem for Linux by running a quick update command in your terminal: wsl --update --pre-release After installing, you'd get access to the new Linux container CLI (wslc.exe) and the programmable API. Microsoft said that the CLI has a "familiar format" that matches the toolsets developers already use every day. If you know standard Docker commands, your muscle memory will translate directly to wslc.exe, which even features a built-in alias called container.exe. You can quickly run a full Ubuntu KDE desktop container by exposing ports, or pass your graphics card straight into a machine learning environment to run PyTorch workloads. Passing the --gpus all flag inside the run command instantly links your hardware. Image via Microsoft As for the API, developers can now embed Linux container operations directly inside native Windows applications without exposing the command line to users. The team integrated the API directly into MSBuild and CMake, so developers can define container steps directly in project files. Apart from bringing the CLI and API into public preview, Microsoft also said that it's working on a new default file system called virtiofs to speed up file transfer rates between Windows and Linux. Microsoft also introduced an experimental networking mode named consomme, which resolves compatibility issues with corporate VPNs by routing Linux network traffic straight through Windows. One thing to note about WSL containers is that they don't run in your standard WSL distributions; instead, every application and CLI session spawns its own lightweight Hyper-V utility VM in the background. This basically reduces the chances of one app snooping on the container of another app.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      BA the Curmudgeon earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Conversation Starter
      rosiecharles earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      KMilenkoski1202 earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      534
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      269
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      150
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      98
    5. 5
      macoman
      66
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!