Windows 8 Consumer Preview Discussion

By Roger H.
in The Fast Ring (Insider Previews)

 Share

Recommended Posts

Mentor

Azies

Posted
Posted

This is for the iPad crowd and they can't use more than one App at once, completely dumbed down for the tablet crowd.

Or you could use the Desktop... Seriously, it hasn't taken anything away except the start menu. As for multitasking in Metro, move your mouse to the lower left, and then move it upwards.

Mentor

anthdci

Posted
Posted

if this is the route they are taking then I will be more and more tempted to buy a mac. Why have they made it so hard to get into the control panel? When do I have to log off before I can shutdown? Why have they got rid of the start button, it was far easier to click that to open the metro interface than clicking a empty corner....

Grand Master

.Neo

Posted
Posted

This is for the iPad crowd and they can't use more than one App at once, completely dumbed down for the tablet crowd.

That's basically what a lot of people, including myself, have been saying from the very start. Windows 8 will probably make a decent tablet OS, however as a desktop OS it just isn't convincing me.

Grand Master

George P Global Moderator

Posted
  • Global Moderator
Posted

This is for the iPad crowd and they can't use more than one App at once, completely dumbed down for the tablet crowd.

Yeah because the desktop is gone and you can't use that to run multiple apps like always..... oh wait.

Grand Master

firey

Posted
Posted

omfg I love this OS.. To me this is better than Windows 7. I still have all the things Win 7 has, except more.

I honestly don't understand how, I've been playing with it for the past hour, it feels like a very broken interface slapped over a messed up version of windows 7.

Rookie

botham

Posted
Posted

The product keys are right there on the Windows 8 Consumer Preview website.

http://windows.micro...S/windows-8/iso

I downloaded it from this page only.... Trying to instal it in a VM and its not working :(...

Edit 1: I see it now... Missed it on all the excitement.....

Mentor

Azies

Posted
Posted

I honestly don't understand how, I've been playing with it for the past hour, it feels like a very broken interface slapped over a messed up version of windows 7.

After I got used to Metro, I've been flying through this faster than I do in Windows 7. I just had to get used to the gestures, and the way the start screen works.

Grand Master

firey

Posted
Posted

After I got used to Metro, I've been flying through this faster than I do in Windows 7. I just had to get used to the gestures, and the way the start screen works.

It's not working at all for me, the time it takes me to open a new program, or find a program I want with Windows 8, I can do 3 times over in Windows 7. Gestures are for touch, not mice.

Hell, I can't even get metro apps to exit.

Grand Master

Brandon Live Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Just thought I'd clarify one thing about Setup...

The "keep nothing" option is a completely clean install. However, it will install to the same drive you're currently booted from, and your old OS (and Program Files + Users folder) will be moved into a Windows.old folder.

If you want to do a custom install to a different drive, you'll want to boot to the ISO (via DVD or USB drive). Hope that helps! Have fun :-)

Mentor

pack34

Posted
Posted

if this is the route they are taking then I will be more and more tempted to buy a mac. Why have they made it so hard to get into the control panel? When do I have to log off before I can shutdown? Why have they got rid of the start button, it was far easier to click that to open the metro interface than clicking a empty corner....

win + control + enter

Press the power button on your machine to shut down

The start button was redundant, it's on your keyboard

Mentor

Azies

Posted
Posted

Just thought I'd clarify one thing about Setup...

The "keep nothing" option is a completely clean install. However, it will install to the same drive you're currently booted from, and your old OS (and Program Files + Users folder) will be moved into a Windows.old folder.

If you want to do a custom install to a different drive, you'll want to boot to the ISO (via DVD or USB drive). Hope that helps! Have fun :-)

Ah ok, thanks for clearing that up, wasn't sure that the install was similar between DVD and USB, I'm exploring the option of dual booting since I'm actually using a VM at the moment.

Mentor

Azies

Posted
Posted

thats funny x64 version win8 could not be installed hw incompatible

running i5 750 8gb ram

Hmm..

It's not working at all for me, the time it takes me to open a new program, or find a program I want with Windows 8, I can do 3 times over in Windows 7. Gestures are for touch, not mice.

Hell, I can't even get metro apps to exit.

You'd be surprised, it's really intuitive for me. For instance if I launch weather, Store and xbox live games, and then I want to close one, or switch between the two, I just move my mouse to the lower left in Metro, then move my mouse up the left side of the screen and I get a set of preview images. It actually takes me the same amount of time to open Chrome in Windows 8 than it does in 7.

Windows 7 - Log in, click the chrome button.

Windows 8 - Log in, metro appears, click the Chrome button on the start screen.

I had doubts about Windows Live integration, and it conflicting with WLM, however the OS seems to remember my ID, and automatically signs me into WLM.

Veteran

Twiddle

Posted
Posted

win + control + enter

Press the power button on your machine to shut down

The start button was redundant, it's on your keyboard

Considering I ripped mine off of my keyboards, due to fat-fingering it many times during gaming. It was far from redundant.

Grand Master

Vice

Posted
Posted

So i've tried it today and um I really think this is one of the worst things Microsoft has ever done. Instead of reducing Metro integration or giving us an off switch Metro integration has just been increased. Now the start button itself is gone as are many of the desktop apps. I can no longer find a desktop version of RDC for example. It is in Metro only now?

This is just pathetic how they are screwing over content creators, developers and anyone who uses their computer for more than Facebook. I know that they are trying to make windows as accessible to as many people as possible and it appears to do that they've had to build everything down to the lowest common denominator.

I can't believe I'm even going to say this but I'm not going to be upgrading to this. And I've upgraded my PC's to 95, 98, 98 SE, 2000, XP, Vista and 7. I even use a Windows Server 2008 R2 server (Which previously ran Windows Server 2003). I really am just in a state of shock that Microsoft has ruined the computing experience for so many of their customers.

If they wanted to get out of the desktop computer game this will definitely help.

Grand Master

firey

Posted
Posted

You'd be surprised, it's really intuitive for me.

To each their own, I feel it completely stupid having to draw on my screen with the mouse for it to do anything. Based on the time I've spent the past hour with it, unless metro can be removed, and tiles disabled, and a start menu brought back, windows 8 is not for me.

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

  • Posts

    • Google's NotebookLM gets some useful features you may have been waiting for

      By Aditya Tiwari · Posted

      Google's NotebookLM gets some useful features you may have been waiting for by Aditya Tiwari It's been three years since Google introduced its AI-powered note-taking and research app, NotebookLM. Just when Apple is about to kick off WWDC 2026, the search giant has announced a platter of new NotebookLM features that add agentic capabilities in chat and more advanced reasoning. For starters, NotebookLM now draws its fuel from Gemini 3.5 and Antigravity to improve accuracy and reliability. One of the things people have been asking for a long time is more transparency into the thinking steps. NotebookLM now shows expanded thinking steps in chat, providing better visibility into the thinking process. Google compared the upgraded NotebookLM with prior versions and found that it "achieved an average win rate of over 65% — a 15% point margin above parity — across our top five core evaluation dimensions," including accuracy & quality, multilingual support, large document analysis, document creation, and advanced research. It showed substantial improvements in analyzing large documents, achieving a 69.9% win rate. The system also delivered "exceptional performance" in advanced web research and source discovery with a 78.2% win rate. The AI research tool now generates outputs in more formats. You can give instructions to guide the outputs and download the generated files from the studio panel. Here are the newly supported formats: PNG and SVG for data visualizations and charts PDFs, docx, markdown, and text files for documents PNG, JPG, and GIF for images JSON and CSV for structured data XLSX for Microsoft Excel PPTX for Microsoft PowerPoint You can make edits after the outputs are generated. The feature is available globally; therefore, you can provide directions in one language and create outputs in another. Google said that it's also making it easier to get started with a project in NotebookLM. Instead of having a list of sources beforehand, you can even start with loose ideas, and NotebookLM can help build the repository of sources through the chat. For instance, you can find primary sources in other languages to get new perspectives or explore related works of an author. All of these new features are rolling out globally for those who can loosen up their pockets. They are available to users with Google AI Ultra and all Workspace business customers with AI Ultra access. Google has plans to expand them to more users in the future.
    • Politically funny images of the World

      By +Edouard · Posted

    • Microsoft making much needed change to Windows 11, 10 Patch Tuesday security updates

      By lonegull · Posted

      "...will no longer be bundled with the monthly Windows security updates or Patch Tuesdays. Instead the company is shifting delivery of these updates to Microsoft Update...". Three names that all refer to Windows Update. Does the author even understand what he is writing about?
    • Dell, HP PCs ran into endless reboot, BitLocker recovery loops but Windows 11 isn't to blame

      By eilegz · Posted

      and somehow windows is the only one with issue every patch tuesday is a mess, android macosx have all that and it never had issues locking people out of their own data.
    • 25th anniversary Xbox Series X unveiled with classic translucent green design

      By AnalystDan · Posted

      It's the ol': I told my kids I was older than Google and they thought I was joking. For me I was born the same year as the internet

  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      amusc earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      DJC50PLUS earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      DJC50PLUS earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Proficient
      Eric Biran went up a rank
      Proficient
    • Dedicated
      Conjor earned a badge
      Dedicated

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      501
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      238
    3. 3
      Steven P.
      75
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      74
    5. 5
      +Edouard
      69
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!