Windows 8 Consumer Preview Discussion

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

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Experienced

Wyn6

Posted
Posted

I really don't like we can't customize the Desktop anymore. There is no way to adjust fonts, border padding, title bar color, etc. I don't like this in Mac OS X, and I don't like that Windows is following the same direction.

You can actually customize the Desktop all you want. It's the Start Screen you can't currently customize fully. There is a level of customization, however. And, who knows what's in the future?

Grand Master

Eric Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Well I know that, but I saw some custom backgrounds here on the forums, I think, that's why I asked

Ah, I think there was a way to patch it in the DP. There's a post buried here somewhere that explains how to do it but I haven't been able to find it yet.

Proficient

marc2003

Posted
Posted

Are there driver releases from ATI and NVIDIA?

I can't find any on ATI site

https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1061120-amd-catalyst-drivers-windows-8-consumer-preview/

they don't support 7 series cards yet.

Grand Master

Quillz

Posted
Posted

You can actually customize the Desktop all you want. It's the Start Screen you can't currently customize fully. There is a level of customization, however. And, who knows what's in the future?

Not as much as you used to. Before, you could set your Desktop to Windows Classic, go into Advanced Settings and you could change fonts, title bar colors, etc.

You can't anymore in Win8. I really like the new Basic theme, but it's more crippled than ever before. You can't change fonts or colors or anything like that. And you can't adjust transparency on and off. I could have sworn it was possible to have a transparent Basic theme in the DP.

Grand Master

Quillz

Posted
Posted

So, I keep hearing rumors that Microsoft is going to disable Metro by default on regular desktops and other non touchscreen computers. But I thought they stated this wasn't the case at all. Does anyone have the final ruling yet?

Grand Master

Zain Adeel

Posted
Posted

ok so I have a question..

I want to replace my win7 install with this. That HDD is a lot faster.. maybe the stability issues I have is because of my very old 80gb HDD o which I installed the CP.

I wana know if its possible that when the PC turns on.. and I log in. it runs uTorrent in desktop even if I don't launch that tile. Also.

I need to end Alan Wakes last Episode before I do.. so it doesn't blow my game :p

also..

its just weird that....

the apps are so so featureless.

I mean.. how to see online contacts in the messenger app? how to filter feeds in the people app?

you know what.

Its ok. im not ruining my Windows 7 install. This thing is too unstable. The apps are lacking. I mean I cant really use it on a day to day basis :( as I did with the windows 7 beta. And vista beta 2.

damn MS. Looks like the apps were created in under a day each.

Can anybody tell me how to direct a folder to be added to the music library? collection?

i don't wanna add it to my library. Just the Music app. Is it possible?

Grand Master

Zain Adeel

Posted
Posted

alright. this must be a joke. When I go to desktop my messenger app logs out..

when I resume it it keeps connecting but never connects. And I have to close it and open it again.

God what were MS thinking releasing this as a Consumer Preview?? I wouldn't have mind if they took 2 months to actually make the essential apps work!!!!

Experienced

9UnknownMen

Posted
Posted

alright. this must be a joke. When I go to desktop my messenger app logs out..

when I resume it it keeps connecting but never connects. And I have to close it and open it again.

God what were MS thinking releasing this as a Consumer Preview?? I wouldn't have mind if they took 2 months to actually make the essential apps work!!!!

Same thing here. It keeps snapping back to the desktop and the few time its running its says "connecting" forever.

Veteran

~Johnny

Posted
Posted

Exactly, the preview looks like the previews you get over the icons of running programs on the taskbar right beside it. And those are clickable or you can hover over them while the new one just disappears. I moved the cursor a few times to the right to click because there's no reason why this wouldn't work. The preview should be clickable 100% or at least disappear instantly when you move too far away from the corner.

And what about touchpads? I imagine it could be a nuisance to hit the corner and click because they generally aren't as precise as a mouse.

The corners are by far the easiest place on the entire screen to hit with a mouse or touchpad. There's practically infinite error tolerance if you just keep pushing your mouse off screen :p All you have to do is move to the corner and click. It's exactly the same movement I was doing in 7, I don't even bother looking for the start button in 7 either, just move into the corner and click.

Neowinian

grking

Posted
Posted

Hopefully I can get some help. Love Win 8 so far. So, I have 2010 MacBook Pro that is Boot Camped, and was running Win 7 Home Edition. I installed Win 8 as an upgrade, and the installation went off without a hitch, with 2 exceptions.

First, I get no sound out of the headphone jack. The speakers work fine, the control panel says everything is hunky dory, and I tried reinstalling the drivers. No luck.

Second, same as above, but the trackpad does not work.

Anyone have any suggestions.

Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

Shocked with the amount of people saying " I Upgraded from XXXXXXXX"

Why would one ever run this as their main OS? It's a preview, far from final version. VM or Dual boot, but to upgrade your OS to this, now? Damn!

Several reasons, actually, in my case.

1. When I was dual-booting Windows 7 and the WDP, one thing that I did was test application (especially the daily applications I normally run in Windows 7) compatibility. I stated the results here quite plainly - not so much as ONE application I run on a normal basis broke. (In other words, not a single application-compatibility issue whatsoever.) Two applications I would normally run in Windows 7 were replaced by part-of-the-OS features (Virtual Clone Drive and Diskeeper Pro Premier got mooted by Windows Image Mounter and Burner and Disk Optimizer, respectively). Therefore I no longer had the application excuse.

2. Unlike a lot of non-desktop users, because I've been dual-booting on a desktop, there was a grand total of ONE driver issue with the Developer Preview; however, Windows 7 has the exact same issue - no included driver for the low-profile X-Fi XtremeGamer - despite it dating back to pre-Vista, Windows has *never* included a driver for it - not even on Windows/Microsoft Update. The Creative Windows 7 driver (and the applications as well) worked just fine in the WDP - and without fiddling with the Compatibility settings. (So much for the hardware support issue.)

3. Lastly, unlike some, because I play primarily single-player games, I didn't run into the Punkbuster-compatibility issue (the few multiplayer games I play even semi-regularly don't require, or include, Punkbuster). I have currently a grand total of ONE game that uses Punkbuster today - Blacklight Retribution - that I haven't tested yet. My current only GfWL game - Microsoft Flight - works just fine (the GfWL client was updated by the WCP upgrade process). Barring a possible issue with Punkbuster, there's no longer a *critical game X* hates Windows 8 issue, either.

Basically, the three reasons that would normally preclude running the first real beta of Windows 8 as main operating system are non-issues for me.

Even the detractors admit to few (in fact, in the majority of cases even with them, it's been one or none) application-compatibility issues (or game-compatibility issues except ones related to either Punkbuster or the GfWL client).

That makes the issue *user compatiblity*.

Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

Yeah, I am searching for them too. Might be nice to add some colors back there.

Are there driver releases from ATI and NVIDIA?

I can't find any on ATI site

There's a link to a driver for AMD GPUs in another thread - only the HD7xxx series isn't supported. A similar post in this subforum has links to nVidia GPU drivers.

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