Who uses Windows 8 as primary OS?

[Dot Matrix]

Guys don't bother, you are talking to somebody who installed old version of movie maker/WMP who aren't supported and potentially full of flaw already :)

I have Movie Maker 2.6 installed too... Jus' sayin'... ;)

[Brandon H Supervisor]

I have Movie Maker 2.6 installed too... Jus' sayin'... ;)

yeah, out of the whole old software debate thing, using the old movie maker is the only thing i support because Microsoft butchered that program when they added it to the live suite

it barely has a 10th of the features it used to have now

[BeerFan]

Guys don't bother, you are talking to somebody who installed old version of movie maker/WMP who aren't supported and potentially full of flaw already :)

Amen. There is now a second person added to my ignore list. (Y)

[Andrea Borman]

Guys don't bother, you are talking to somebody who installed old version of movie maker/WMP who aren't supported and potentially full of flaw already :)

Well I have got Windows Movie Maker 2.1 on Windows XP but I never get any updates for it on Windows XP. But Windows Movie Maker 2.1 for Windows XP works on Windows 7. And I have installed Windows XP Movie Maker 2.1 on my Windows 7. And it is working along with Windows Movie Maker 6 for Windows Vista and 2.6.

But even Windows XP and Windows Vista users never get updates for Windows Movie Maker.Probably because it is not a security risk.

And as for Windows Live Movie Maker.I cannot figure out how to use that. It's not user friendly at all. That's why I do not use it.

And WMP 11 is supported but it is for Windows XP and Windows Vista. But the adapted version WMP 11 for Windows 7,works on both Windows 7 and Windows 8. But if I had my choice I would have WMP 9. But I cannot get it to run on Windows 7.

But I have seen You Tube videos where some people have got WMP 9 working on Windows 7. By hacking the WMP 9 files with Resource Hacker. But I was unable to do it. Even though I tried it did not work for me. Andrea Borman.

[efjay]

Had to move to the dev preview over the weekend after a drive upgrade on my Acer W500 and its been pretty good, a few crashes but to be expected. What I will say is that I absolutely hate the desktop, its ugly compated to Metro and looks totally out of place and is a real chore to navigate with fingers on a tablet. I am forced to use it since programs like Zune, Metrotwit, Netflix and others dont yet have a Metro equivalent but still, Microsoft really should overhaul the UI or just remove it completely, complete waste of time and destroys the experience whenever you have to use it. At the very least they should add a Metro theme.

[Andrea Borman]

Had to move to the dev preview over the weekend after a drive upgrade on my Acer W500 and its been pretty good, a few crashes but to be expected. What I will say is that I absolutely hate the desktop, its ugly compated to Metro and looks totally out of place and is a real chore to navigate with fingers on a tablet. I am forced to use it since programs like Zune, Metrotwit, Netflix and others dont yet have a Metro equivalent but still, Microsoft really should overhaul the UI or just remove it completely, complete waste of time and destroys the experience whenever you have to use it. At the very least they should add a Metro theme.

Well, just disable the Metro theme like I have done. And then you will get the Windows 7 start menu. I find the Metro theme makes my Windows 8 run slow. But when I disable it,Windows 8 works much better. Use a software like Metro Controller to disable Metro. Or you can do a simple registry edit. Andrea Borman.

[pack34]

Well, just disable the Metro theme like I have done. And then you will get the Windows 7 start menu. I find the Metro theme makes my Windows 8 run slow. But when I disable it,Windows 8 works much better. Use a software like Metro Controller to disable Metro. Or you can do a simple registry edit. Andrea Borman.

Please stop calling it a theme. A theme is a thing on top of a thing. The Metro interface is a completely separate thing.

The issue that efjay was having was the lack of metro applications and that he/she would prefer to stay in the metro UI without having to even see the desktop. What you're suggesting would be the complete opposite of what he or she wants.

[efjay]

Well, just disable the Metro theme like I have done. And then you will get the Windows 7 start menu. I find the Metro theme makes my Windows 8 run slow. But when I disable it,Windows 8 works much better. Use a software like Metro Controller to disable Metro. Or you can do a simple registry edit. Andrea Borman.

Thanks, but I want more Metro on the desktop not less! And it flies on my C-50 APU and Kingston SSD, no performance complaints here.

[Anthonyd]

Wait for the beta next week if you want more metro!

[Andrea Borman]

Please stop calling it a theme. A theme is a thing on top of a thing. The Metro interface is a completely separate thing.

Well if it is not a theme what is it then? I thought an interface is a theme. But as I am running Windows 8 on a 1GB ram netbook.The Metro theme only slows it down and saddles down my operating system. Much better to disable the whole thing and have the Windows 7 start menu and desktop like I have done. Andrea Borman.

[Woelfel]

Well if it is not a theme what is it then? I thought an interface is a theme. But as I am running Windows 8 on a 1GB ram netbook.The Metro theme only slows it down and saddles down my operating system. Much better to disable the whole thing and have the Windows 7 start menu and desktop like I have done. Andrea Borman.

An interface is not a theme. A theme is just changing how an interface looks but it doesn't change the functionality and placement of objects in the interface. This is only a "theme" if the interface is allowed to alter the way it looks (images/colors), otherwise, there's not a theme, it's just the permanent way the interface looks.

[Andrea Borman]

An interface is not a theme. A theme is just changing how an interface looks but it doesn't change the functionality and placement of objects in the interface. This is only a "theme" if the interface is allowed to alter the way it looks (images/colors), otherwise, there's not a theme, it's just the permanent way the interface looks.

Well when you disable the Metro theme and get the Windows 7 start menu. Windows 8 looks exactly like Windows 7 or Windows Vista. And it works like Windows 7 too only Windows 8 is slower than Windows 7.

But I don't like IE10 or IE9. I want IE8 but you cannot have IE8 on Windows 8. But on Windows 7 I have IE8 and I have never upgraded to IE9. IE9 is slow and a lot of software is not compatible with IE9.

But the strange thing is that when I open Advanced browser or Green browser,the browser sniffer websites like What Browser says I am running IE8. But when I am on IE10 it says I am running IE10. So Windows 8 must have some of IE8s source code. Andrea Borman.

[pack34]

Well when you disable the Metro theme and get the Windows 7 start menu. Windows 8 looks exactly like Windows 7 or Windows Vista. And it works like Windows 7 too only Windows 8 is slower than Windows 7.

But I don't like IE10 or IE9. I want IE8 but you cannot have IE8 on Windows 8. But on Windows 7 I have IE8 and I have never upgraded to IE9. IE9 is slow and a lot of software is not compatible with IE9.

But the strange thing is that when I open Advanced browser or Green browser,the browser sniffer websites like What Browser says I am running IE8. But when I am on IE10 it says I am running IE10. So Windows 8 must have some of IE8s source code. Andrea Borman.

Wat?

IE9 is faster and more standards compliant than IE8. Most rendering issues are because developers use hacks that target IE. In older versions of the browser this would make the page display correctly. However, on IE9 and 10 it can break things. To fix this Microsoft has implemented a compatability view. You just have to click the broken page icon in the address bar and IE9 will render just like IE8 did.

Also, if you hit F12 you can change the "browser mode." Here you can go all the way back to IE 7 for web apps that won't work with newer browsers. IE10 may be able to detect when a page is broken due to browser hacks an automatically switch to IE8 mode.

If you prefer how the earlier versions of IE look then you can right click on the tabs and select "Show tabs on separate row".

[~Johnny]

Well when you disable the Metro theme and get the Windows 7 start menu. Windows 8 looks exactly like Windows 7 or Windows Vista. And it works like Windows 7 too only Windows 8 is slower than Windows 7

Windows 8 is both technically lighter and faster than Windows 7. The Building Windows 8 blog might be an interesting read for you if you have some time to spare.

[V23]

Windows 8 is a transitional product. If people are disabling the Metro UI now, and reverting back to the traditional desktop, they'll be clutching to Windows 7 for a long, long time. It's better to undergo a gradual change from Aero to Metro by using both in tandem rather than having to make the jump from only Aero to only Metro. If users don't like Metro, then they better start investigating OSX or Linux soon.

[heyitsheather]

I'm personally looking forward to trying out the consumer preview when it's released next week. I did give the dev preview a spin but ran into a few compatiblity issues so decided to hold off. I'll be loading up the up coming version on a bootable .vhd alongside my main Win7 install this time around.

[Anthonyd]

Windows 8 is a transitional product. If people are disabling the Metro UI now, and reverting back to the traditional desktop, they'll be clutching to Windows 7 for a long, long time. It's better to undergo a gradual change from Aero to Metro by using both in tandem rather than having to make the jump from only Aero to only Metro. If users don't like Metro, then they better start investigating OSX or Linux soon.

Why? Both OsX and linux are much much uglier than 7 (or Metro).

[PGHammer]

Most of the software that you use on Windows XP and Windows 7 works on Windows 8. But there is some software that does not work on Windows 8. Aim Messenger which I use on Windows 7 and Windows XP installs on Windows 8, but will not run. I get a log in error message telling me to change my connection settings. But when I tried this it still did not work.

The problem is that Aim messenger depends heavily on and uses Internet Explorer. And on Windows 95 for example,if you only have IE4 then you cannot even install Aim. As it needs at least IE6 in order to install and run.

And in Windows 8 we have IE10 which is the default version of IE. But on Windows 7 it is IE8 which is compatible with Aim. But unfortunately you cannot downgrade from IE10 to IE9 or IE8. As IE 8 and IE9 was never made for Windows 8. So I think the problem is IE 10 is the reason why Aim cannot run in Windows 8. As it depends on IE and users all of the settings from it to connect. So it could be that Aim Messenger is not compatible with IE 10 or Windows 8 as yet.

But however Pidgin and Instantbird messengers both work on Windows 8. And you can still connect to your Aim account and chat to contacts on Aim on Pidgin and instantbird. So these two messengers must be using a different connection method to connect to Aim as these both connect to Aim. But then both Pidgin and Instanbird do not depend on Internet Explorer like Aim does. They both use the Firefox source code. Which could be the reason why these two messengers work with your Aim account. but Aim Messenger does not.

But most of the software I was using in Windows 7 and Windows XP is working on Windows 8. Except for Windows Mail from Windows Vista.Which works on Windows 7 but not on Windows 8. But the Windows Sidebar from Windows Vista and Windows Calendar from Windows Vista does work on Windows 8 as it does in Windows 7. And so does Windows XP movire Maker 2.1 and Windows Vista Movie Maker 6 and 2.6 work.

Logitech webcam recording software which lets you record videos to your desktop will not install on Windows 8. BUT the USB Logitech webcam itself IS working on Windows 8. And Windows found my webcam drivers and installed them for me.

So you can use the webcam on Windows 8 with another desktop software such as MyCam and Windows Movie Maker 2.1.Which supports direct record from your webcam, but not the Logitech software.

I would say that 95 per cent of the Windows XP and Windows 7 software works on Windows 8. And you can disable the Metro theme and have a Windows 7 start menu of course. Andrea Borman.

The updated version of Logitech's webcam software (including Logitech Vid) from Logitech's site *does* work on the WDP - I have the QuickCam Communicate STX, and use exactly that software today. It will complain (which it also does in Windows 7); however, it works just fine.

Rather amusingly, the Communicate STX was sent to me by Microsoft itself as swag from the testing of Windows Live Messenger (along with, fittingly, a WLM *messenger bag* - like the webcam, the messenger bag still gets heavy usage).

The issue with the rather old Communicate STX is that the webcam itself only supports USB 1.1. (That is why I am looking at one of the midrange Logitech webcams - from the C270 up to the C525 and C615 - as an upgrade. Hardware - not software.)

[katilkurt]

WOW! It's stunning to see your fanatic answers to a nostalgists' posts, since Andrea made his/her point pretty straight. Please let people live their feel of nostalgia as they are!

BTW, I don't think I'm getting into W8 wagon anytime soon. I have never been in the mood of having starting almost everything over again with an OS install for a few years.

Time is too pricey for me and both XP and with its 64bit support, Win7 ticked solid milestones in my hard earned life with their bulletproof & rock solid experience.

I had to run simulations non-stop for many days on four XP and W7 computers I use. Only if my company starts giving away W8, and only if it would guarantee to take just a few hours of "unattended" setups to upgrade from W7 (and XP of course), I don't see me getting into Metro or W8 or anything other than that, in a foreseeable future.

There is only and only one aspect of W8 interests me and it's Cloud Storage integration via SkyDrive. I just started using Dropbox heavily to sync results on all these computers and I don't like the idea to rely on an independent company this much.

I don't know if there are any concept rises about LogMeIn access-like features in W8, as I'm heavily invested in using them too.

Just my 2 cents.

[V23]

Why? Both OsX and linux are much much uglier than 7 (or Metro).

I agree, but if people don't like Metro then those will be the only alternatives going forward.

[Anthonyd]

Actually, it would be pretty quick for you to upgrade 7 -> 8 if you have the correct version (ex: pro 7 to pro 8).

The upgrade should be supported, unlike XP -> Vista who isn't possible since there are too many changes.

I agree, but if people don't like Metro then those will be the only alternatives going forward.

Or they can stick to 7 until 2020.

(or just admit that they are wrong ...)

[V23]

Can someone please link me to the best guide for installing Windows 8 on a VHD?

Thanks.

[ShareShiz]

i installed the DP when it was available. had it as a dual boot on my laptop.

about a week ago my laptop was having some power issues with windows 7. decided to give windows 8 a full on test. forgot about some of the new features and thought some parts of the OS were lame. but then i keep finding new features that correct those failed parts. starting to love windows 8 more and more each day.

ohh and metro doesnt even phase me. dont see what all the fuss is about. think its mainly just noobtards that know nothing.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Can someone please link me to the best guide for installing Windows 8 on a VHD?

Thanks.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd758779

and you can create a vhd file in the disk manager (right-click computer and click manage) instead of using cmd for that part

[Shaun N.]

Windows 8 is slower than Windows 7.