Windows 8, enough after about 2 hours

[COKid]

To the above post, with all due respect, you really have no idea what the Average Joe will or will not do or how long Windows 8 will live.

[Astrum]

To the above post, with all due respect, you really have no idea what the Average Joe will or will not do or how long Windows 8 will live.

It seems neither does Microsoft.

[techguy77]

To the above post, with all due respect, you really have no idea what the Average Joe will or will not do or how long Windows 8 will live.

Oh i know a lot. Windows 8 won't get more than 15% market share mostly Tablet and Mobile devices before Windows 9 gets released. I expect that Windows 7 really takes on it so it will gain over Windows XP at the same time. So when Windows 9 gets released this is the picture: Windows 7 - 65%, Windows XP - 20%, Windows 8 - 13%, Windows Vista - 2%

[johnporter29]

Oh i know a lot. Windows 8 won't get more than 15% market share mostly Tablet and Mobile devices before Windows 9 gets released. I expect that Windows 7 really takes on it so it will gain over Windows XP at the same time. So when Windows 9 gets released this is the picture: Windows 7 - 65%, Windows XP - 20%, Windows 8 - 13%, Windows Vista - 2%

Are you a fortune cookie or one of these people who can see into the future? No, didn't think you was. You know nothing on how Windows 8 is going to perform, anyone who claims to has absolutely no right or basis to make that kind of claim. You can't predict sales of product based on its performance as a BETA product.

[n_K]

I'm reading a lot about having to use the keyboard and not the mouse, but there's gestures? Quite confused. And no, I've not tried it, nor will I be trying it (linux desktop here, without vmbox or anything and I've got 560MB free).

I love the keyboard, but I guess that's because I love CLI, I don't really get why you'd want to force most people to use a keyboard for a GUI interface? Unless I'm mis-reading people?

[Dot Matrix]

This would be a terrible decision by Microsoft because many of us love using the Metro experience on hardware that doesn't include a touchscreen and it works just as well on that hardware. If Microsoft disabled it by default, many "average users" wouldn't understand the benefits the Metro experience provides them over the old Start Menu and Desktop; they would believe Microsoft chose the experience it did for them because it's better for them, even though the Metro experience is actually better for them.

Agreed. Including the option to switch off Metro, would be detrimental to Microsoft's plans to move forward with the Windows OS.

[Dot Matrix]

There won't be a Windows 9. Microsoft is going to lose a lot of money with Windows 8...

How so? I think Windows 8 will do just fine in the consumer space. Microsoft still has 40% Windows XP users out there who will most likely be moving to Windows 8. You'll be lucky if even 1% of those users switch to Mac or Linux.

[migo]

I'm reading a lot about having to use the keyboard and not the mouse, but there's gestures? Quite confused. And no, I've not tried it, nor will I be trying it (linux desktop here, without vmbox or anything and I've got 560MB free).

I love the keyboard, but I guess that's because I love CLI, I don't really get why you'd want to force most people to use a keyboard for a GUI interface? Unless I'm mis-reading people?

There aren't really gestures, just hot corners.

How so? I think Windows 8 will do just fine in the consumer space. Microsoft still has 40% Windows XP users out there who will most likely be moving to Windows 8. You'll be lucky if even 1% of those users switch to Mac or Linux.

A few might switch to Mac. Linux won't get any, because Linux is a step back from Windows 7. OSX at least has a couple things that actually work better than Windows 7, so depending on what you prefer, you might like it. There isn't really anything to like about Linux.

[TruckWEB]

Or, like it happened with Vista, people will just stay with Win7 or ask for a downgrade to Win7. Apple did not see a huge increase of Mac users because of Vista, people just stayed with XP.

I still think that Win8 will succeed in the tablet world but will fail in the desktop and enterprise world.

It will take Microsoft Win9 to get it right.

Only time will tell....

[webeagle12]

Using Windows 8 Metro is like playing Jeopardy!! You just dont know what kind of **it is waiting for you on other side... ( well sort of)

[delete]

Microsoft still has 40% Windows XP users out there who will most likely be moving to Windows 8.

If they didn't want Vista or 7, they won't want 8. Those that do upgrade will choose 7.

[Joshie]

If they didn't want Vista or 7, they won't want 8. Those that do upgrade will choose 7.

We're at a point now where anyone sticking with XP is practically no different from someone sticking with Windows 3.11 when Vista launched. We used to think of these people as the grampas of computing. Since then, PCs have gone mainstream, and it's become apparent that this isn't a 'grampa' at all--it's a mindset of a group of people who hate the idea of relearning ANYTHING so much that they'll lock themselves out of new hardware just to avoid the software necessary to take advantage of it.

There are people in their 20s who are literally saying things like "If it ain't broke why fix it?" Or as I think of them: the most boring friends anyone could ever possibly have.

Like, the kind of boring that enjoys Celebrity Apprentice.

[psreloaded]

Or, like it happened with Vista, people will just stay with Win7 or ask for a downgrade to Win7. Apple did not see a huge increase of Mac users because of Vista, people just stayed with XP.

I still think that Win8 will succeed in the tablet world but will fail in the desktop and enterprise world.

It will take Microsoft Win9 to get it right.

Only time will tell....

I feel that by default Metro can be kept turned on but an option to switch it off and revert to the Aero experience should have been provided. Now that the whole start button is missing, i think that option is not going to be present. I have been using 8 cp for some time now and honestly, its a little bit annoying... specially while I am working on visual studio. Doesn't help my productivity positively at all.

I too think that there is a bright chance of this one going the Vista way... and hopefully they will get it right in Windows 9. lets see...

[acrufox]

Microsoft this time decided to leave its internal beta testers out of the loop and not even bother with it anymore for windows 8. We finally might have become an obsolete beta testing method for MS to use, but I have to wonder what the reaction of other fellow beta testers would have been on the beta newsgroups.

The consumer preview is supposed to give us some idea/incentive into wanting to buy this thing when it goes to RTM towards the end of this year. The current way metro is implemented on the desktop is nothing short of fail right now. I can make my way around just fine in it. But it just feels like they littered all these metro UI concepts everywhere.

I can't stop thinking how much wasted screen space the metro UI actually uses. I wanted to toggle some of my wireless settings so I click on the wireless icon near the clock and suddenly this overly intrusive window pops out and consumes the entire right hand on my screen. All I wanted to do was see what my current connection rate over wireless is (which you can no longer do from there)

Even setting up Windows 8 as a dual boot so I can use it as it is intended, a preview. I can't run setup from within windows 7 and tell it to install to the other blank partition I just created for it. I have to burn it to a disc or put it on a bootable pen drive and go outside of windows and run setup from there. I don't even get asked during setup if I want my user account to be local account. I have to wait till windows 8 setup is done with and go in and change my user options because I wasn't really given any choice to during setup.

My gripes aside, if you're going to rip the start menu/button right out of 8 in the manner MS has done, then you might as well scrap the rest of the Aero UI elements from 7 while you're at it. At least make the whole thing Metro, I mean if you have this much faith in the Metro concept then really users should have no problems fully embracing the concept by completely redoing the whole interface so it at least matches.

I feel like desktop mode in windows 8 is more like my refuge to windows 7 desktop app *lol* There have been a lot of improvements to 8 that have been done under the hood that I do like, unfortunately metro in it's current state is not encouraging me to say the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

So I finally got around to trying it out on a spare laptop over the weekend. "Oh dear" was pretty much all I could think. I admit that the hardware was a few years old, but I still wasn't seeing the amazing startup times that I'd expected from watching the demos. Having to drag things around to get places was frustrating with a keyboard and mouse; I kept wanting to put my fingers on the screen to drag windows around. Sure, this proved to me that Windows 8 would be good for a touch device, but not for a desktop/laptop which was my original worry. And finally, I couldn't do simple tasks easily. It took me 5 minutes to find the shutdown button, basically by holding the windows key and working my way through the keyboard until the option appeared.

I'm still not a fan of the Metro design, but that's a personal preference. The other reasons I mentioned above mean I'll probably avoid Windows 8 and stick to Windows 7.

[Ci7]

So I finally got around to trying it out on a spare laptop over the weekend. "Oh dear" was pretty much all I could think. I admit that the hardware was a few years old, but I still wasn't seeing the amazing startup times that I'd expected from watching the demos. Having to drag things around to get places was frustrating with a keyboard and mouse; I kept wanting to put my fingers on the screen to drag windows around. Sure, this proved to me that Windows 8 would be good for a touch device, but not for a desktop/laptop which was my original worry. And finally, I couldn't do simple tasks easily. It took me 5 minutes to find the shutdown button, basically by holding the windows key and working my way through the keyboard until the option appeared.

I'm still not a fan of the Metro design, but that's a personal preference. The other reasons I mentioned above mean I'll probably avoid Windows 8 and stick to Windows 7.

no need to dig for shutdown

ALT + F4

gotta admit ,the shutdown button isn't where we expect it to be.

at very least the option should be there in both the mini menu (by right clicking start screen) + computer power state should be present in the user profile next to log out

or at very least they should make side charm more obvious , as well as make accessing desktop setting charm faster

[Ci7]

i have feeling the whole W8 look like a beta for Windows 9 (refine all the clunks ,just like the way of Vista> 7)

Microsoft this time decided to leave its internal beta testers out of the loop and not even bother with it anymore for windows 8. We finally might have become an obsolete beta testing method for MS to use, but I have to wonder what the reaction of other fellow beta testers would have been on the beta newsgroups.

The consumer preview is supposed to give us some idea/incentive into wanting to buy this thing when it goes to RTM towards the end of this year. The current way metro is implemented on the desktop is nothing short of fail right now. I can make my way around just fine in it. But it just feels like they littered all these metro UI concepts everywhere.

I can't stop thinking how much wasted screen space the metro UI actually uses. I wanted to toggle some of my wireless settings so I click on the wireless icon near the clock and suddenly this overly intrusive window pops out and consumes the entire right hand on my screen. All I wanted to do was see what my current connection rate over wireless is (which you can no longer do from there)

Even setting up Windows 8 as a dual boot so I can use it as it is intended, a preview. I can't run setup from within windows 7 and tell it to install to the other blank partition I just created for it. I have to burn it to a disc or put it on a bootable pen drive and go outside of windows and run setup from there. I don't even get asked during setup if I want my user account to be local account. I have to wait till windows 8 setup is done with and go in and change my user options because I wasn't really given any choice to during setup.

My gripes aside, if you're going to rip the start menu/button right out of 8 in the manner MS has done, then you might as well scrap the rest of the Aero UI elements from 7 while you're at it. At least make the whole thing Metro, I mean if you have this much faith in the Metro concept then really users should have no problems fully embracing the concept by completely redoing the whole interface so it at least matches.

I feel like desktop mode in windows 8 is more like my refuge to windows 7 desktop app *lol* There have been a lot of improvements to 8 that have been done under the hood that I do like, unfortunately metro in it's current state is not encouraging me to say the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

+1

Wireless part is just over the top , would say they should stick with the one in W7

which is good enough

[Anthonyd]

I can't stop thinking how much wasted screen space the metro UI actually uses. I wanted to toggle some of my wireless settings so I click on the wireless icon near the clock and suddenly this overly intrusive window pops out and consumes the entire right hand on my screen. All I wanted to do was see what my current connection rate over wireless is (which you can no longer do from there)

You got it wrong all the way.

Before you had a tiny list of the available wifi, then you had to scroll a lot to find the one you are looking for.

With the new system included in Windows 8, it shows a huge list, no more need to scroll. And since you are focused on that list while using it, don't tell me it's a "waste of space", i'd rather say it's using efficiently the screen space available.

[JaredFrost]

You got it wrong all the way.

Before you had a tiny list of the available wifi, then you had to scroll a lot to find the one you are looking for.

With the new system included in Windows 8, it shows a huge list, no more need to scroll. And since you are focused on that list while using it, don't tell me it's a "waste of space", i'd rather say it's using efficiently the screen space available.

Saved wireless networks are always at the top, and even with it taking the whole screen if there is enough wireless networks I would sure as hell hope it scrolled.

[psreloaded]

So I finally got around to trying it out on a spare laptop over the weekend. "Oh dear" was pretty much all I could think. I admit that the hardware was a few years old, but I still wasn't seeing the amazing startup times that I'd expected from watching the demos. Having to drag things around to get places was frustrating with a keyboard and mouse; I kept wanting to put my fingers on the screen to drag windows around. Sure, this proved to me that Windows 8 would be good for a touch device, but not for a desktop/laptop which was my original worry. And finally, I couldn't do simple tasks easily. It took me 5 minutes to find the shutdown button, basically by holding the windows key and working my way through the keyboard until the option appeared.

I'm still not a fan of the Metro design, but that's a personal preference. The other reasons I mentioned above mean I'll probably avoid Windows 8 and stick to Windows 7.

+1

I think they could have waited for a version before removing the aero start all together and refined the other metro areas more... now its just a nonuniform UI... and some of the obvious things are really hard to find now.

[fobban]

You got it wrong all the way.

Before you had a tiny list of the available wifi, then you had to scroll a lot to find the one you are looking for.

With the new system included in Windows 8, it shows a huge list, no more need to scroll. And since you are focused on that list while using it, don't tell me it's a "waste of space", i'd rather say it's using efficiently the screen space available.

I liked it more before. I only have about 5 or so wireless networks, and in Windows 7 I just clicked the icon, moved the mouse a couple of cm and that's it. Now I click the button and then have to move the mouse all the way up!

Edit: Also, I'm not sure why I would be interested in turning on Airplane mode on my desktop PC. Maybe it's common, but I have yet to see a single person with their desktop pc on the plane...

[HawkMan]

Wireless on desktop....

[G1bster]

Rubbish I will give Windows 8 a wide birth thanks. 1st os from MS I will not purchase. Unless there is something really compelling like a 20% speed boost or something amazing but even then I think it would be a tough call. No love for metro on the desktop whatsoever.

[Som]

Wireless on desktop....

would you bring your desktop on a plane...

[Calum Veteran]

[. . .]

Edit: Also, I'm not sure why I would be interested in turning on Airplane mode on my desktop PC. Maybe it's common, but I have yet to see a single person with their desktop pc on the plane...

What's wrong with them including it just in case? Some desktop PCs can be carried around quite nicely (the monitor is included with the CPU in some cases), and some planes have plugs. Further, some very rich people with private planes may well have desktop computers ever-present on-board the plane.