Who uses Windows 8 as primary OS?

By AussieAnon
in The Fast Ring (Insider Previews)

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Dot Matrix

Posted
Posted

But cannot install Windows XP anyway,as I don't have a Windows XP CD. My 2 Windows XP netbooks came with Windows XP and I can reinstall my system using system recovery. But I do have Windows 7 CDs. But the question is would I be able to install Windows 7 on a new laptop if it comes with Windows 8? Which is what I would want to do.

I have posted here on the Windows 8 forums about the problems I had with Windows 8 Consumer preview is.Here-http://windows8forum...download-2.html

And a lot of people on that forum,like me prefer the Windows 7 start menu. So I am not the only one who does not like the Metro theme.Andrea Borman.

No wonder Windows 8 isn't working for you. You need something better than a netbook to test the true power of the OS.

Rising Star

Andrea Borman

Posted
Posted

Hey get it through your Skull Metro is not a theme is is Part of windows at its core it is the new start menu and everything you could do in the start menu you can do in the start screen. Simple as that

Well whatever they call the Metro theme it does not work on Windows 8 Consumer Preview. In fact I was in tears when I found out I could not have my start menu on this new and horrible version of Windows 8. Everyone here seems to think that the metro theme is great. But what is great about a theme and operating system YOU CANNOT USE?

I will NEVER upgrade to Windows 8, if I have to have that horrible horrible Metro theme. I was able to use the Metro theme on Windows 8 Developers Preview but that was different. As on Developers Preview,you could use it even with the Metro theme.

As it was quite user friendly and flexible. Meaning you could add software like Classic Shell or Start Menu XP to give you a Windows XP or Windows Vista start menu. You could use it in or out of the Metro theme. And you could disable the Metro them altogether.

And even when I did use the Metro theme alone I did not have any of the problems I had with Consumer Preview.

But Windows 8 Consumer Preview is a different story. It is not user friendly at all.In fact it's worse than Linux and I have problems using that also.But at least with Linux you have a start menu. And even on Ubuntu which at first glance does not have a start menu. If you click the taskbar at the top of the screen,the start menu comes up.

And on other versions of Linux if you right click with your mouse on the desktop,you get a Windows 98 like start menu,that lists all of your software and settings.

As I said on Linux it is not perfect and can never match Windows XP or Windows 7.But at least on Linux you have a start menu.but on Windows 8 you have got nothing.

Microsoft have got no right to do this to use. That is take away our start menu.we pay a lot of money to use Windows as Windows is not free to use. And this is how they treat us. Andrea Borman.

Grand Master

Quillz

Posted
Posted

Microsoft have got no right to do this to use. That is take away our start menu.we pay a lot of money to use Windows as Windows is not free to use. And this is how they treat us. Andrea Borman.

Actually, they do. It's their software and their intellectual property. They have the right to do just about anything they want with their software.

If you don't like Windows 8, don't pay for it. Windows 7 will not quit working.

Grand Master

Dot Matrix

Posted
Posted

Well whatever they call the Metro theme it does not work on Windows 8 Consumer Preview. In fact I was in tears when I found out I could not have my start menu on this new and horrible version of Windows 8. Everyone here seems to think that the metro theme is great. But what is great about a theme and operating system YOU CANNOT USE?

I will NEVER upgrade to Windows 8, if I have to have that horrible horrible Metro theme. I was able to use the Metro theme on Windows 8 Developers Preview but that was different. As on Developers Preview,you could use it even with the Metro theme.

As it was quite user friendly and flexible. Meaning you could add software like Classic Shell or Start Menu XP to give you a Windows XP or Windows Vista start menu. You could use it in or out of the Metro theme. And you could disable the Metro them altogether.

And even when I did use the Metro theme alone I did not have any of the problems I had with Consumer Preview.

But Windows 8 Consumer Preview is a different story. It is not user friendly at all.In fact it's worse than Linux and I have problems using that also.But at least with Linux you have a start menu. And even on Ubuntu which at first glance does not have a start menu. If you click the taskbar at the top of the screen,the start menu comes up.

And on other versions of Linux if you right click with your mouse on the desktop,you get a Windows 98 like start menu,that lists all of your software and settings.

As I said on Linux it is not perfect and can never match Windows XP or Windows 7.But at least on Linux you have a start menu.but on Windows 8 you have got nothing.

Microsoft have got no right to do this to use. That is take away our start menu.we pay a lot of money to use Windows as Windows is not free to use. And this is how they treat us. Andrea Borman.

As many have said, you're crying over nothing, really. All the functionality of the old Start Menu is still present in the Start Screen. Fundamentally, it's no different. All that's changed is the layout. You can still pin desktop apps, and you can still type to search. I honestly don't see why this is such a big deal.

Rising Star

Andrea Borman

Posted
Posted

Actually, they do. It's their software and their intellectual property. They have the right to do just about anything they want with their software.

If you don't like Windows 8, don't pay for it. Windows 7 will not quit working.

But Windows users do not even get to choose which version of Windows they use.In England they have already stopped selling Windows XP and Windows Vista. And you can only get those from a shop that sells second hand or reconditioned laptops.

So if they stop selling Windows 7 and we are forced to buy Windows 8 when we need a new laptop I don't know what I will do.because I cannot use Windows 8 the way it is.

Windows 7 is so user friendly,even a child can use it. But Windows 8 CP is not the same.I would love to try Windows 2000 but you cannot buy it any more. If Linux users can choose what version of Linux they want why can't Windows users?Andrea Borman.

Grand Master

Stoffel

Posted
Posted

Well whatever they call the Metro theme it does not work on Windows 8 Consumer Preview. In fact I was in tears when I found out I could not have my start menu on this new and horrible version of Windows 8. Everyone here seems to think that the metro theme is great. But what is great about a theme and operating system YOU CANNOT USE?

I will NEVER upgrade to Windows 8, if I have to have that horrible horrible Metro theme. I was able to use the Metro theme on Windows 8 Developers Preview but that was different. As on Developers Preview,you could use it even with the Metro theme.

As it was quite user friendly and flexible. Meaning you could add software like Classic Shell or Start Menu XP to give you a Windows XP or Windows Vista start menu. You could use it in or out of the Metro theme. And you could disable the Metro them altogether.

And even when I did use the Metro theme alone I did not have any of the problems I had with Consumer Preview.

But Windows 8 Consumer Preview is a different story. It is not user friendly at all.In fact it's worse than Linux and I have problems using that also.But at least with Linux you have a start menu. And even on Ubuntu which at first glance does not have a start menu. If you click the taskbar at the top of the screen,the start menu comes up.

And on other versions of Linux if you right click with your mouse on the desktop,you get a Windows 98 like start menu,that lists all of your software and settings.

As I said on Linux it is not perfect and can never match Windows XP or Windows 7.But at least on Linux you have a start menu.but on Windows 8 you have got nothing.

Microsoft have got no right to do this to use. That is take away our start menu.we pay a lot of money to use Windows as Windows is not free to use. And this is how they treat us. Andrea Borman.

First of all, the netbooks you are trying to put Win8 CP on don't have a high enough resolution to run Metro Apps.

To have the full potential of the CP you need at least 1366 x 768.

If you don't have a device with a resolution that high you will always have a crippled experience in Win8

Win8 still has a start menu, it just takes up the whole screen. You can organize all your apps on that screen, group them together in a way that makes sense to you, you can even name those groups. If you don't like that idea, you can still put shortcuts on your desktop of all your favorite apps, or pin them to your task bar

And yes you have to pay for windows, but nobody forces you to buy Win 8. And if it comes pre installed on a new device you can always install Win 7 on it, unless you have an ARM device

Rising Star

Andrea Borman

Posted
Posted

First of all, the netbooks you are trying to put Win8 CP on don't have a high enough resolution to run Metro Apps.

To have the full potential of the CP you need at least 1366 x 768.

If you don't have a device with a resolution that high you will always have a crippled experience in Win8

Win8 still has a start menu, it just takes up the whole screen. You can organize all your apps on that screen, group them together in a way that makes sense to you, you can even name those groups. If you don't like that idea, you can still put shortcuts on your desktop of all your favorite apps, or pin them to your task bar

And yes you have to pay for windows, but nobody forces you to buy Win 8. And if it comes pre installed on a new device you can always install Win 7 on it, unless you have an ARM device

But Microsoft have said they want to put secure boot on their Windows 8 laptops. So how can we install Windows 7?Andrea Borman.

Grand Master

Quillz

Posted
Posted

But Windows users do not even get to choose which version of Windows they use.In England they have already stopped selling Windows XP and Windows Vista. And you can only get those from a shop that sells second hand or reconditioned laptops.

So if they stop selling Windows 7 and we are forced to buy Windows 8 when we need a new laptop I don't know what I will do.because I cannot use Windows 8 the way it is.

Windows 7 is so user friendly,even a child can use it. But Windows 8 CP is not the same.I would love to try Windows 2000 but you cannot buy it any more. If Linux users can choose what version of Linux they want why can't Windows users?Andrea Borman.

Because Windows and Linux are different products with different licensing. And your analogy is weak anyway, because older versions of Windows are technically obsolete, anyway.

And again, if you have Windows 7 now and it's working for you, keep using it. Windows 8 will not prevent Win7 from still working. If you don't like Windows, don't buy it. Use Mac OS X or Linux or any other OS.

But frankly, as others have stated, the Start menu you claim is gone isn't gone at all, it's just been moved onto its own screen now. And I find Win8 no less "user-friendly" (a mythical term, to begin with) as Win7 was.

Grand Master

Stoffel

Posted
Posted

But Microsoft have said they want to put secure boot on their Windows 8 laptops. So how can we install Windows 7?Andrea Borman.

The only devices MS wants to lock are ARM based tablets, just like Apple locks their iPad.

Any other device you will be able to disable secure boot.

Proficient

DClark

Posted
Posted

I am using it. Only one problem: my monitor resolution is at 1920x1080, yet I am only getting 3 vertical tiles on the start screen. Yet, if I lower the resolution, I get more! (and less, as I lower the resolution further). I downloaded the latest Nvidia driver (for 9800GT) and the specific monitor driver (SyncMaster P2370), and no resolve.

Grand Master

Chris123NT

Posted
Posted

Oh. My. God.

This thread just makes me want to slam my head against the wall.

Andrea, noone is putting a gun to your head and forcing you to use Windows 8. Windows 7 will be supported until 2020. And writing to the president? Yeah, like he's going to care about what a company is doing. Microsoft is a company in business to sell products and make money. They're not a government entity, which is in the business of spending money and losing trillions.

If you don't like windows 8, don't use it. Simple as that. But judging by your desktop screenshots it seems you never used windows 7 the way it was meant to be used which explains why you can't get used to 8. Same concept when it comes down to it. Want to start word? Hit the windows key, type word, hit enter. Same in 8 as it was in 7, just a different start interface.

Proficient

FATILA

Posted
Posted

But Microsoft have said they want to put secure boot on their Windows 8 laptops. So how can we install Windows 7?Andrea Borman.

That is for ARM machines. Get yourself any x86 machine and install any version of windows you want. How about you download ReactOS which is very similar to windows 2000 and runs a lot of windows applications. Or use Windows 7 until EOL in ten odd years, who knows by that time you might be sick of computing and not care anymore anyway.

And who said windows xp was not for sale?

http://www.saverstore.com/product/20243082/7725665/MS-WIN-XP-HOME-REFUR

Can still buy Vista as well. I am sure windows 2000 can be bought on ebay. You do know how to install an OS don't you? You don't need recovery partitions or to be forced to buy a new machine.

Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

But Microsoft have said they want to put secure boot on their Windows 8 laptops. So how can we install Windows 7?Andrea Borman.

Secure Boot only applies (at this point) to WOA (Windows on ARM) as a requirement - it will be *optional* on non-ARM hardware, but not a requirement.

Veteran

migo

Posted
Posted

But Windows users do not even get to choose which version of Windows they use.In England they have already stopped selling Windows XP and Windows Vista. And you can only get those from a shop that sells second hand or reconditioned laptops.

So if they stop selling Windows 7 and we are forced to buy Windows 8 when we need a new laptop I don't know what I will do.because I cannot use Windows 8 the way it is.

Windows 7 is so user friendly,even a child can use it. But Windows 8 CP is not the same.I would love to try Windows 2000 but you cannot buy it any more. If Linux users can choose what version of Linux they want why can't Windows users?Andrea Borman.

If you buy a system with Windows 8 preinstalled you will not experience the problems you currently have with it on your netbook.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Ads have been turned off in the forums

      By Steven P. · Posted

      We have disabled advertising in the forums for now for an undetermined period. If you feel like you get a lot of value out of the site please do whitelist ads on the news articles, and/or consider getting a subscription, we offer two tiers, one at: $14 per year (support the site for just over a dollar a month) or the $28/year tier (just over $2/month) that disables advertising and affiliate link tracking throughout the site (so also on the news side). We also have a 'Buy us a coffee' page if you just want to make a one-time donation. I am not mincing words when I say it is becoming harder and harder to monetize publications like Neowin, it's a fact of life that when we can no longer afford to pay for everything we'll go like many other sites already have. It doesn't have to cost you anything There are other ways to support Neowin too, like posting on topic content in the forums (technical support/questions/helping others) and sharing our news articles.. this costs nothing but your time and is just as important as subscribing or making a monetary donation! Anyway thanks for your time and continued support of Neowin. Now in our 26th year, and hopefully many more! For all the lurkers out there that whitelist us, make a free member account, and see fewer (only inline) ads on the news side  
    • BATorrent 3.0.2

      By Copernic · Posted

      BATorrent 3.0.2 by Razvan Serea BATorrent is a lightweight, open-source BitTorrent client built with modern C++ and Qt 6, offering a clean, fast, and privacy-focused alternative to traditional torrent apps. It supports magnet links, .torrent files, resume data, sequential downloading, per-file priorities, and even imports from qBittorrent. Power users benefit from integrated RSS auto-download with regex filtering, duplicate detection, and automatic tracker lists from Stremio. Streaming is seamless thanks to auto-detected players like VLC and IINA. BATorrent includes robust VPN tools—interface binding, auto-detection for WireGuard-based services like Mullvad and NordLynx, kill switch, proxy support, and IP filtering. A full WebUI enables remote control, while integrations with Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby automate library updates. With themes, speed scheduling, system-tray alerts, and cross-platform support for Windows, Linux, and macOS, BATorrent delivers a polished, high-performance torrenting experience. BATorrent features: Core .torrent file and magnet link support Resume data — picks up where you left off after restart Import torrents from qBittorrent Create .torrent files from any file or folder Sequential download mode Per-file priority control (skip, low, normal, high) Seed ratio limits with auto-pause DHT, PEX, UPnP, NAT-PMP RSS Auto-Download Subscribe to RSS feeds — automatically download new torrents as they appear Regex filters — match only what you want (e.g. 1080p|720p, S01E\d+) Per-feed settings — custom save path, check interval (5–1440 min), enable/disable Auto-download — matched items are downloaded automatically in the background Supports magnet links, .torrent URLs, and tags Tray notifications when items are auto-downloaded Duplicate detection — never downloads the same item twice Stremio Stremio Addon System pre-installed — works out of the box Auto tracker list from ngosang/trackerslist Streaming Play while downloading — stream video files before the download is complete Supports mp4, mkv, avi, mov, wmv, flv, webm, m4v, ts Auto-detects installed players (VLC, IINA, system default) VPN & Privacy Interface binding — lock torrent traffic to a specific network interface (e.g. tun0) Auto VPN detection — identifies VPN interfaces (tun, tap, WireGuard, Mullvad, NordLynx, ProtonVPN) Kill switch — automatically pauses all torrents if the VPN interface drops Auto-resume — resumes only the torrents paused by the kill switch when VPN reconnects Proxy support — SOCKS5 and HTTP proxy with optional authentication IP filtering — load P2P blocklists to block unwanted IP ranges Protocol encryption (enabled / forced / disabled) WebUI Remote management — control torrents from any browser at http://localhost:8080 REST API with JSON responses Add torrents via magnet link or .torrent upload Pause, resume, remove torrents remotely View peers and files per torrent Dark theme matching the desktop app HTTP Basic Auth with SHA-256 password hashing Configurable port and remote access (localhost vs 0.0.0.0) Interface 3 themes: Dark, Light, Midnight (bat/vampire aesthetic) Real-time speed graph Detailed panel with tabs: General, Peers, Files, Trackers Filter bar: search by name, filter by state (Active, Downloading, Seeding, Paused, Finished) Drag & drop .torrent files and magnet links Drag & drop reorder in torrent list System tray with notifications (download complete, kill switch events, RSS auto-downloads) Splash screen with bat animation Bilingual: English and Portuguese (BR), auto-detected from system locale Bandwidth Scheduler Alternative speed limits — set different download/upload limits on a schedule Time range — configure active hours (e.g. 01:00 to 07:00), supports overnight ranges Per-day control — choose which days of the week the schedule applies Automatically switches between normal and alternative speeds Media Server Integration Plex — automatically trigger library scan when a download completes Jellyfin / Emby — same automatic library refresh via API Configure server URL and authentication token/key in Settings System Cross-platform: Windows, Linux, macOS Auto-shutdown — automatically shut down PC when all downloads complete (60s cancellable countdown) Auto-update system (AppImage on Linux, installer on Windows, DMG on macOS) CLI arguments: pass .torrent files or magnet: URIs directly Keyboard shortcuts: Space to toggle pause, Ctrl+A to select all, Ctrl+O to open BATorrent 3.0.2 changelog: Phone pairing & WebUI The browser WebUI was reskinned to match the desktop app — same dark palette, Inter font, flat surfaces, the real BATorrent logo (it was a random bat before), and a proper magnet icon. It now looks like the same product, not a separate dashboard. Pairing is one tap and zero typing: the generated WebUI password is now copyable, and the QR code carries the credentials — scanning it from your phone logs straight in (no typing the IP or password), then drops the credentials from the address bar. Search Two new providers: RuTor (CIS sources, no login, via a public TorAPI relay) and Torrents-CSV. Results are sorted by seeders (healthiest first), and each search now times out after 15 s so one dead provider can't hang the UI. Files & trackers Per-file priority is back: right-click a file in the detail panel to set Skip / Low / Normal / High. Rename an individual file inside a torrent (double-click or the file menu), separate from renaming the torrent. Remove a tracker from a torrent (the ✕ on a tracker row); adding was already there. Smart Paste on Ctrl+V — paste a magnet, a 40-char info-hash, or a .torrent URL straight from the clipboard and it's added immediately (text fields still paste text normally). Covers & titles Anime fansub naming ([Group] Title - NN) now resolves to the right show. Audio channel layouts in titles (DDP5.1, 7.1, …) are stripped so they don't pollute cover matching. Under the hood The legacy QWidget interface is gone. QML had been the only UI since 3.0.0 (reachable old code lived behind a hidden --legacy flag); with parity confirmed, the entire QWidget layer — main window, every dialog, the theme manager — was removed (~13,400 lines). The four restored actions above were features that backend already supported but the QML port had never wired. macOS: the WebUI password hash moved out of the keychain into app settings, so launching the app no longer pops a login-keychain password prompt on unsigned builds. The actual password still lives in the keychain. Cleanup: ~400 orphaned translation strings and a batch of dead code removed; internal duplication collapsed; an ARCHITECTURE.md added for contributors. Unit / security / memory tests and the ASan/UBSan/TSan sanitizers stay green. Download: BATorrent 3.0.2 | 30.5 MB (Open Source) Download: BATorrent Portable | 42.3 MB Links: BATorrent Website | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Politically funny images of the World

      By +primortal · Posted

    • Microsoft is making Windows 11's context menus faster, simpler, and configurable

      By C:Amie · Posted

      How about a global switch to turn the awful things off instead of a registry hack? Then everyone wins.
    • Microsoft resumes forced Copilot app installation on some Windows PCs

      By Captain_Eric · Posted

      This doesn't strike me as so shocking when... " IT admins do have some control over this rollout. If they choose to opt out, devices in their tenant won't automatically get the dreaded Copilot app"

  • Recent Achievements

    • Mentor
      grik went up a rank
      Mentor
    • Dedicated
      JKR earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • One Year In
      CHUNWEI earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Conversation Starter
      FBSPL earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • Week One Done
      I2D earned a badge
      Week One Done

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      475
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      262
    3. 3
      Skyfrog
      79
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      60
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      60
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!