150 replies to this topic 5 votes

[grayscale]

• Improved boot times
• New task manager
• different taskbar and window color
• semantic zoom
• Start screen makes it easier to organize frequently used application when I'm too lazy to type
• winkey+w/q/f - at first I was against the segregation of search results (I'm used to winkey->type, but once my fingers got used to these shortcuts), searching became a lot easier
• Live tiles. Since I want my desktop to be squeaky clean, the live tiles allow me to have infos without cluttering my desktop.
• flatter UI. the ancient icons did not become a deal breaker because 3rd party software is unlikely to update their icons as well.
• built-in MSE
• the Metro apps are still raw, and I doubt I'll be using those a lot, but I don't think that it outweighs the performance improvements of this upgrade
• casual games ) <- well, this one is just based on screenshots and a video since I only have RP installed

[rodritank]

Hey guys, just registered to leave a few impressions.

- Windows 8 is, by far, the fastest Windows I have dealt with to date. It simply works faster, not only on the boot time, but in everything. File Explorer, Internet Explorer (which I am back to after 4 years using Firefox), device installation and resource heavy software (Adobe software mostly).

- The Metro interface is very useful to me, even without touch inputs. I always dock the messaging app to the screenside and chat with friends from there. Recently I've found the joys of internet radio and I've been using radio apps from Windows Store. They are simple to use and pretty good looking. And they work, of course.

- Like many others, I frowned upon the new start menu in the beginning. But that lasted for hours. The new start menu may look confuse at first (due to lots of icons), but it is faster. It is faster because you have to click less to open what you want. Example: the task is to open hmm, dunno, Roxio Software:

Windows 7: click Start button > All Programs > Scroll Down > Roxio > click software
Windows 8: click Start > Scroll to software column > click software.

And that's because I just used the mouse!

- New task manager is brillant. Enriches the desktop experience, which is still awesome. I haven't used File History but it sounds like a great feature.

And that's my review on Windows 8.


I got questions for you guys:

- What nVidia drivers are you guys using?
- How's the network performance?
- Got any software that didn't work out of the box?

[CW-88]

Just the drivers off Nvidias website for W8 RP.

In regards to the other two questions I'm not sure, I havent installed much tbh, that can be my task for when I get home then I will post up what works/doesnt work. Im going to assume most stuff will tbh.

[gallo68]

I like Windows 8. It's fast to boot, to open and save files, as well as to copy files to/from usb sticks and everyday use in general. It's been a positive experience.

I use mainly Office apps, Excel and Word most of the time. My most frequent task is to send and receive e-mail. I don't use anything metro.

The only sad note is that my life depends on e-mail. I like to always have two working e-mail clients, just in case something goes wrong with one of them. Unfortunately, I can only send e-mails larger than a few lines using Windows Live Mail. All the other clients I've tried (Thunderbird, Outlook, Pegasus, eM) can only receive, but not send regular messages. They all can send messages with just a few words, but not reply messages or send messages with, say, ten lines. When I try to send a message using a client other than WLM, I get a pop-up window about a server timeout saying the connection was cut off by the server. All configurations are correct and the same e-mail clients work fine in Windows 7. I guess the culprit is my slow internet connection. I remember I didn't have these problems a few weeks ago when I had a faster internet service.

Hopefully these problems will be solved after october with the regular updates to the OS. Or maybe I'll just have to try a better internet service.

[Robbie Ride]

What do you like about Windows 8?

I like the speed of Windows 8 compared to that of Windows 7. It seems a lot faster from the boot experience to opening applications. Of course i'm using release preview which is far from perfect, there are minor issues i.e browsing a folder on another hard drive and using IE10 for anything heavy duty such a flash based games. What i can say that most of these issues will have been ironed out with RTM and once compatible drivers are available as at the moment i'm having some minor issues with certain aspects of my motherbaord not show stoppers and nothing to worry about in a big way.

How did you find the transition between W7 and W8?

The transition from Windows 7 to Windows 8 has been seemless and i wouldn't expect anything less. I performed an in-place upgrade to Windows 8 and to be honest this was my first ever upgrade as i think doing a clean installation to be much better. but it is true that upgrades do take longer but my experience consumed much less time than what other people have experienced upgrading from another OS to Windows 7.

Advice for people who like the look of W8 and have just started using it but are finding a few things difficult.

It will take some time to get used to the changes to Windows 8 but these in my opinion are mostly minor. The biggest change is obviously Metro (Modern UI) everyone out there is used to the traditional Start Menu and if you look at it this way, it's really a different layout and the way you interact with it, persistance and practice is the key here. I have to admit when i first used CP i hated Metro (Modern UI) and i was vocal about it on some topics here on Neowin but i have gotten use to it and i still am, along with Charms. But again once i get RTM i will probably love it.

It is best to play around with everything and familiarise yourself with it, everyone had to do this when Windows 95 came out, here was the Start Menu the biggest change to how a user interacts with everything i can imagine it took some time to get used to it and people did grow to love it, but it hadn't really changed other than how it looked and now it's changed in a big way.

[BigGiantHead]

I've been using the release preview for about 3 days or so, and I'm very impressed by the speed and responsiveness of the OS.

But I really miss the 'Recent documents' function from Windows 7. Is there a substitute/workaround for this in Windows 8 RTM?

Also, is there a desktop version of Windows Reader in the RTM?

[BajiRav]

I've been using the release preview for about 3 days or so, and I'm very impressed by the speed and responsiveness of the OS.

But I really miss the 'Recent documents' function from Windows 7. Is there a substitute/workaround for this in Windows 8 RTM?

Also, is there a desktop version of Windows Reader in the RTM?

Open "Computer" and search for,
datemodified:this month NOT kind:folder
save the search as say Recent and add it to your Favorites in file explorer or Pin it to start screen.
You can do this week or this year to change the range.

(good god this is my second post in past several months that I count as useful addition to these forums, it actually feels good to not argue around new stuff in 8)

[CSharp.]

is there a desktop version of Windows Reader in the RTM?

I don't think so. You might want to have a look at SumatraPDF instead.

[CW-88]

Just gonna bump this thread up for tomorrows release

Hopefully when the lucky people who get w8 tomorrow all activated will post some reviews of being able to do everything.

I'm currently trying to retrieve my msdnaa details from my university to see if i can get on it, not sure if it becomes available on it though and if my membership will still be valid considering I have finished my course, but it has been available for the last 2 years so I dont see why not

[CW-88]

Even though my poor poor thread is completely dead I thought I should at least add this link because it sums up how awesome windows 8 can be in Modern UI mode and shows the endless possibilities of how to use the OS with a surface device.
I still think its amazing in desktop mode but this is by far the best review of modern UI I have seen

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

[BajiRav]

This is a big facepalm for me but the Music and Video apps have an option to start in "My Collection" under settings. It's much better that way.

Another recommended thing: Need password before purchase in all App/Video/Music Store app. Enable it.

[Jason Stillion]

Starting using Windows 8, here's testing it out last night.
Here's my initial impressions.

Observations

Pro's

Faster Startup / Shutdown
Seems snappier / more responsive
Built in PDF viewing
Picked up all my drivers, two devices without win8 drivers, win7 drivers worked fine (Brother Laser Printer / USB TV Tuner)
Auto muting music playing when you turn on mic to record from web cam (it muted Google music playing in chrome wen mic kicked for recording).

Con's

Decentralization of control panel functions
More keystrokes / mouse clicks to just navigate
Flipping between metro / modern and desktop
(Desktop) Horrible aesthetics with it warping a colored frame based on current windows which might clash with the window it's framing. (Aero Glass would of been perfect here)
Left Corner / flyout to close to browsers forward backward buttons if full screen in upper left corner.

Neutral

Microsoft "push" to open a video, picture, audio file with metro apps, then give notification about other's apps that can play it (desktop).
Opened up mp3 file, opened in music app 1st, then choose media player as default when notfied, auto flipped to desktop media player, starting playing it there, while still playing it in the music app giving instant echo.

I do think Aero Glass effect would look nice on the desktop to be honest.

Charm Bar is not intuitive to bring up (Left monitor, middle) if your using dual monitors.


Smart Phone users vs non-smart phone users

The idea of metro/modern apps is familiar if your use to any modern smart phone, with apps linked to account, notifications, and how to use etc.
If you have someone that doesn't understand the basics of smart phone, and how things works with apps, this poses a learning curve.

[notuptome2004]

Starting using Windows 8, here's testing it out last night.
Here's my initial impressions.

Observations

Pro's

Faster Startup / Shutdown
Seems snappier / more responsive
Built in PDF viewing
Picked up all my drivers, two devices without win8 drivers, win7 drivers worked fine (Brother Laser Printer / USB TV Tuner)
Auto muting music playing when you turn on mic to record from web cam (it muted Google music playing in chrome wen mic kicked for recording).

Con's

Decentralization of control panel functions
More keystrokes / mouse clicks to just navigate
Flipping between metro / modern and desktop
(Desktop) Horrible aesthetics with it warping a colored frame based on current windows which might clash with the window it's framing. (Aero Glass would of been perfect here)
Left Corner / flyout to close to browsers forward backward buttons if full screen in upper left corner.

Neutral

Microsoft "push" to open a video, picture, audio file with metro apps, then give notification about other's apps that can play it (desktop).
Opened up mp3 file, opened in music app 1st, then choose media player as default when notfied, auto flipped to desktop media player, starting playing it there, while still playing it in the music app giving instant echo.

I do think Aero Glass effect would look nice on the desktop to be honest.

Charm Bar is not intuitive to bring up (Left monitor, middle) if your using dual monitors.


Smart Phone users vs non-smart phone users

The idea of metro/modern apps is familiar if your use to any modern smart phone, with apps linked to account, notifications, and how to use etc.
If you have someone that doesn't understand the basics of smart phone, and how things works with apps, this poses a learning curve.

The desktop control panel is the same as it ever was

[Nothing Here]

This is NOT the place to post your hatred about Win8. This thread is posted towards the people who actually LIKE Win8. So, with that said, please ONLY constructive opinions should be posted here. No negative comments please.

Windows 8 is a pretty good OS. Right up there with Win7. Almost. If Win8 was my idea, it would be full Metro. Not a half breed. No Bing related appz. Win8 should come out of the box with an app that will convert 3rd party appz to a Metro app.

Win8 is very stable. Much more so then Win7. Win8 also plays games more reliably then other MS releases. So, how would Win8 have been if it had been your idea?.

[+warwagon]

If Windows 8 was my Idea, it would have no Metro and be all desktop. The new desktop enhancements of Windows 8 are really nice, a nice upgrade from Windows 7.