Windows 8 Release Preview Discussion

[Andrea Borman]

If ticking those boxes to enable My Computer etc on the desktop work, why do you have shortcuts to them on your desktop instead ?

And since when did any OS past Vista call it "My Computer" ? It has just been "Computer" for nearly 3 OS's

Are you messing around with some lame XP theme that makes it look like Windows 8 ?

No No. Ticking those boxes in the settings is to put the My Computer and other shortcuts on the desktop. But sometimes they get accidental deleted, so I right click to create an addition shortcut.

And I renamed the Computer,Documents icon and folder to My Computer,My Documents myself, like on Windows XP. As My Computer,My Documents sound more personal than Computer or Documents.

But ironically on the Classic start menu on Windows 98,Windows XP,and Windows Vista it is just called Documents and Computer.Which you cannot rename unless you have the modern start menu on Windows XP and Windows Vista. Unless you install Classic Shell's Classic start menu.Then you can rename, and Classic Shell's Classic Windows 98 start menu is much more customisable than the Microsoft one. And you can enable the search bar,which you can't on the Microsoft Classic start menu.

You can rename all of the folders to anything you want except for the Network icon and folder.Which you cannot rename on Windows Vista,Windows 7 or Windows 8,it won't let you do it. So the most you can do is to create the Network shortcut on your desktop and rename the shortcut My Network.

But Windows XP DOES let you rename the Network icon and folder to what name you want. But Windows Vista,Windows 7 and Windows 8 does not. I don't know why that is.

And to get the Windows XP wallpaper on Windows Vista,Windows 7 or Windows 8 you can just download an image of the Windows XP wallpaper theme,bliss found in Google images. And save to to your computer and set as your desktop background. Or copy the wallpaper from Windows XP.

And Classic Shell gives you the Windows XP start menu on Windows 8. And you can download Windows XP start buttons from Devant Art. Which are bitmap images you can add to Classic Shell to create a custom start button.

But only on Windows 8. You can't change the start button,on Windows XP,Windows Vista ,Windows 7 or any other version of Windows except Windows 8.Andrea Borman.

[Lee G. Veteran]

In that desktop icons window ?

Yes, it shows its new name if it's been renamed. For example:

[Brandon H Supervisor]

I mean to even install it, MS are forcing Metro on us I wouldn't expect them to allow it to be installed on a device Metro can not run on

If it is possible, then there could be a way to fool Metro into thinking the rez is too low and it disable itself without side effects

there was a way to trick metro into thinking the screen was higher rez then it was in the CP (or was it the DP) but the hack was fixed so it doesn't work anymore

and yeah it can be installed on an unsupported resolution but the metro apps just won't work

[Detection]

No No. Ticking those boxes in the settings is to put the My Computer and other shortcuts on the desktop. But sometimes they get accidental deleted, so I right click to create an addition shortcut.

And I renamed the Computer,Documents icon and folder to My Computer,My Documents myself, like on Windows XP. As My Computer,My Documents sound more personal than Computer or Documents.

But ironically on the Classic start menu on Windows 98,Windows XP,and Windows Vista it is just called Documents and Computer.Which you cannot rename unless you have the modern start menu on Windows XP and Windows Vista. Unless you install Classic Shell's Classic start menu.Then you can rename, and Classic Shell's Classic Windows 98 start menu is much more customisable than the Microsoft one. And you can enable the search bar,which you can't on the Microsoft Classic start menu.

You can rename all of the folders to anything you want except for the Network icon and folder.Which you cannot rename on Windows Vista,Windows 7 or Windows 8,it won't let you do it. So the most you can do is to create the Network shortcut on your desktop and rename the shortcut My Network.

But Windows XP DOES let you rename the Network icon and folder to what name you want. But Windows Vista,Windows 7 and Windows 8 does not. I don't know why that is.

And to get the Windows XP wallpaper on Windows Vista,Windows 7 or Windows 8 you can just download an image of the Windows XP wallpaper theme,bliss found in Google images. And save to to your computer and set as your desktop background. Or copy the wallpaper from Windows XP.

And Classic Shell gives you the Windows XP start menu on Windows 8. And you can download Windows XP start buttons from Devant Art. Which are bitmap images you can add to Classic Shell to create a custom start button.

But only on Windows 8. You can't change the start button,on Windows XP,Windows Vista ,Windows 7 or any other version of Windows except Windows 8.Andrea Borman.

Cool. not sure why anyone would purposely make anything Vista > 8 look like XP but each to their own :)

Yes, it shows its new name if it's been renamed. For example:

Heh, well I guess we never stop learning :)

[Detection]

there was a way to trick metro into thinking the screen was higher rez then it was in the CP (or was it the DP) but the hack was fixed so it doesn't work anymore

and yeah it can be installed on an unsupported resolution but the metro apps just won't work

Yea the DP was the last one you could disable Metro, but if you can install on a device with a rez too low for Metro, then I`m sure there will be something similar to UXStyle that can be run as a service and intercept whatever Metro looks at and tell it the rez is too low

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Yea the DP was the last one you could disable Metro, but if you can install on a device with a rez too low for Metro, then I`m sure there will be something similar to UXStyle that can be run as a service and intercept whatever Metro looks at and tell it the rez is too low

i think you misread what i put, i was saying there was a way to trick metro into working on a resolution that was below the requirements

the reason you were able to disable metro completely in the DP was because the old code hadn't been removed yet

[Detection]

i think you misread what i put, i was saying there was a way to trick metro into working on a resolution that was below the requirements

the reason you were able to disable metro completely in the DP was because the old code hadn't been removed yet

Ah right, well I was talking about installing 8 on a system that does not have the required rez to run Metro, (The netbook we were discussing) hence if this is true, there could be a way to kill Metro

[Andrea Borman]

i think you misread what i put, i was saying there was a way to trick metro into working on a resolution that was below the requirements

the reason you were able to disable metro completely in the DP was because the old code hadn't been removed yet

Yes I read a post on the web and saw some videos. That said you could download a driver to make your screen resolution higher on a netbook. So you could run Metro apps.

But the driver was an Asus driver and I have got an HP Mini netbook. So it would not be compatible.

And no I don't have any Metro apps on my netbook.I uninstalled them,which you can do. As they don't work on a netbook,because of the screen resolution problem.

But you don't need the Metro apps to use Windows 8.You can just use the non Metro software you use on Windows 7. Andrea Borman.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Yes I read a post on the web and saw some videos. That said you could download a driver to make your screen resolution higher on a netbook. So you could run Metro apps.

But the driver was an Asus driver and I have got an HP Mini netbook. So it would not be compatible.

And no I don't have any Metro apps on my netbook.I uninstalled them,which you can do. As they don't work on a netbook,because of the screen resolution problem.

But you don't need the Metro apps to use Windows 8.You can just use the non Metro software you use on Windows 7. Andrea Borman.

that's still not what i was talking about

i believe it was in the CP you could change something in the registry to trick metro into thinking your screen resolution was higher than it really was allowing metro apps to work on a lower resolution display such as a netbook

(or maybe that was just to allow screen snapping, I don't remember as i didn't need to use the hack)

[Lee G. Veteran]

Andrea, why don't you use a laptop instead of a netbook? I'm sure you'll enjoy Metro more using a higher resolution. You have 7 netbooks, right?

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Andrea, why don't you use a laptop instead of a netbook? I'm sure you'll enjoy Metro more using a higher resolution. You have 7 netbooks, right?

we've tried telling her that since back during the DP but she won't listen

[Andrea Borman]

that's still not what i was talking about

i believe it was in the CP you could change something in the registry to trick metro into thinking your screen resolution was higher than it really was allowing metro apps to work on a lower resolution display such as a netbook

(or maybe that was just to allow screen snapping, I don't remember as i didn't need to use the hack)

Do you mean this post here-http://liliputing.com/2011/09/how-to-enable-windows-8-metro-style-apps-on-an-older-netbook.html

This was where I read about installing a driver to make your screen resolution higher on a netbook. And it also talks about a registry hack as well. Andrea Borman.

[Andrea Borman]

Andrea, why don't you use a laptop instead of a netbook? I'm sure you'll enjoy Metro more using a higher resolution. You have 7 netbooks, right?

But when I looked in the shops at the big laptops,they only have 64 bit Windows 7 not 32 bit. And I want 32bit Windows not 64 bit. But you can only get 32 bit Windows 7 on netbooks.

I have Windows 7 installation CD with 32 bit Windows 7. But if I installed 32 bit on a 64 bit laptop it would have to have 32 bit drivers or there would be problems. And so if I bought a 64 bit laptop it might not have the 32 bit drivers needed to run 32 bit Windows.

It seems that now in England all the shops that sell new Windows 7 laptops only sell 64 bit unless you buy a netbook which has 32 bit. But the shops that sell second hand or reconditioned laptops have got some big laptops in 32 bit Windows 7. I think they use to sell 32 bit Windows 7 laptops but that changed in 2010 or 2011. But you can still get 23 bit Windows on if you buy a netbook. That is why I have netbooks.

I have got one big laptop that has 32 bit Windows Vista Home basic pre-installed that is a second hand or reconditioned laptop. That I bought in a shop that sells second hand and reconditioned laptops.And that also has 1GB of ram. Andrea Borman.

[rfirth]

Ah right, well I was talking about installing 8 on a system that does not have the required rez to run Metro, (The netbook we were discussing) hence if this is true, there could be a way to kill Metro

Right, but that's pointless. If your screen resolution is too low, you still get the start screen and the live tiles still work. The only thing that is disabled is running metro apps - they come up with a nicely styled error messaging saying that your resolution is too low. It would be silly to trick the system into this state because all you have to do to avoid metro apps is not use them.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

But when I looked in the shops at the big laptops,they only have 64 bit Windows 7 not 32 bit. And I want 32bit Windows not 64 bit. But you can only get 32 bit Windows 7 on netbooks.

I have Windows 7 installation CD with 32 bit Windows 7. But if I installed 32 bit on a 64 bit laptop it would have to have 32 bit drivers or there would be problems. And so if I bought a 64 bit laptop it might not have the 32 bit drivers needed to run 32 bit Windows.

It seems that now in England all the shops that sell new Windows 7 laptops only sell 64 bit unless you buy a netbook which has 32 bit. But the shops that sell second hand or reconditioned laptops have got some big laptops in 32 bit Windows 7. I think they use to sell 32 bit Windows 7 laptops but that changed in 2010 or 2011. But you can still get 23 bit Windows on if you buy a netbook. That is why I have netbooks.

I have got one big laptop that has 32 bit Windows Vista Home basic pre-installed that is a second hand or reconditioned laptop. That I bought in a shop that sells second hand and reconditioned laptops.And that also has 1GB of ram. Andrea Borman.

/head-desk

[rfirth]

But when I looked in the shops at the big laptops,they only have 64 bit Windows 7 not 32 bit. And I want 32bit Windows not 64 bit. But you can only get 32 bit Windows 7 on netbooks.

I have Windows 7 installation CD with 32 bit Windows 7. But if I installed 32 bit on a 64 bit laptop it would have to have 32 bit drivers or there would be problems. And so if I bought a 64 bit laptop it might not have the 32 bit drivers needed to run 32 bit Windows.

It seems that now in England all the shops that sell new Windows 7 laptops only sell 64 bit unless you buy a netbook which has 32 bit. But the shops that sell second hand or reconditioned laptops have got some big laptops in 32 bit Windows 7. I think they use to sell 32 bit Windows 7 laptops but that changed in 2010 or 2011. But you can still get 23 bit Windows on if you buy a netbook. That is why I have netbooks.

I have got one big laptop that has 32 bit Windows Vista Home basic pre-installed that is a second hand or reconditioned laptop. That I bought in a shop that sells second hand and reconditioned laptops.And that also has 1GB of ram. Andrea Borman.

Ummmm.....

Why do you need a 32 bit OS? Anyway, any computer you get with a 64 bit version of Windows, you can install the 32 bit and you shouldn't have any trouble finding drivers. It should find them all itself automatically on Windows Update. Everything should still have 32 bit drivers.... is there any hardware that doesn't come with 32 bit drivers?

[Detection]

Right, but that's pointless. If your screen resolution is too low, you still get the start screen and the live tiles still work. The only thing that is disabled is running metro apps - they come up with a nicely styled error messaging saying that your resolution is too low. It would be silly to trick the system into this state because all you have to do to avoid metro apps is not use them.

Ah I thought they were saying Metro in its entirety would be disabled

[Detection]

But when I looked in the shops at the big laptops,they only have 64 bit Windows 7 not 32 bit. And I want 32bit Windows not 64 bit. But you can only get 32 bit Windows 7 on netbooks.

I have Windows 7 installation CD with 32 bit Windows 7. But if I installed 32 bit on a 64 bit laptop it would have to have 32 bit drivers or there would be problems. And so if I bought a 64 bit laptop it might not have the 32 bit drivers needed to run 32 bit Windows.

It seems that now in England all the shops that sell new Windows 7 laptops only sell 64 bit unless you buy a netbook which has 32 bit. But the shops that sell second hand or reconditioned laptops have got some big laptops in 32 bit Windows 7. I think they use to sell 32 bit Windows 7 laptops but that changed in 2010 or 2011. But you can still get 23 bit Windows on if you buy a netbook. That is why I have netbooks.

I have got one big laptop that has 32 bit Windows Vista Home basic pre-installed that is a second hand or reconditioned laptop. That I bought in a shop that sells second hand and reconditioned laptops.And that also has 1GB of ram. Andrea Borman.

You know 32bit apps etc all run fine on a 64bit OS right ?

[Andrea Borman]

Well if you want to run your Windows XP software like Windows Movie Maker 2.1,Windows XP Games like XP Solitaire,Hearts,FreeCell. And also Microsoft Entertainment Pack Games for Windows 95 and Windows NT,which are 16 bit apps on Windows 7 and Windows 8. You need to be running 32 bit Windows as they won't work on 64 bit.

And also most of the Windows XP and some Windows Vista software is 32 bit,so won't work on 64 bit. Andrea Borman.

[Detection]

Well if you want to run your Windows XP software like Windows Movie Maker 2.1,Windows XP Games like XP Solitaire,Hearts,FreeCell. And also Microsoft Entertainment Pack Games for Windows 95 and Windows NT,which are 16 bit apps on Windows 7 and Windows 8. You need to be running 32 bit Windows as they won't work on 64 bit.

And also most of the Windows XP and some Windows Vista software is 32 bit,so won't work on 64 bit. Andrea Borman.

What do you need to run from those old OS's that you can't find a better updated equivalent of on Win 7 / 8 x64 ?

[Andrea Borman]

What do you need to run from those old OS's that you can't find a better updated equivalent of on Win 7 / 8 x64 ?

Well what about Windows Live Messenger and Essentials 2011? That's just not the same as Windows Live Essentials 2009,the Windows XP version. Which works on Windows 8 and is better than 2011 Messenger and the confusing ribbon in Windows Live Essentials 2011.

So I use Windows Live Essentials 2009,the Windows XP version on Windows 8,and on Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Andrea Borman.

[ccoltmanm]

Well if you want to run your Windows XP software like Windows Movie Maker 2.1,Windows XP Games like XP Solitaire,Hearts,FreeCell. And also Microsoft Entertainment Pack Games for Windows 95 and Windows NT,which are 16 bit apps on Windows 7 and Windows 8. You need to be running 32 bit Windows as they won't work on 64 bit.

And also most of the Windows XP and some Windows Vista software is 32 bit,so won't work on 64 bit. Andrea Borman.

She is trolling you guys...... gobble gobble nam nam

[Detection]

Well what about Windows Live Messenger and Essentials 2011? That's just not the same as Windows Live Essentials 2009,the Windows XP version. Which works on Windows 8 and is better than 2011 Messenger and the confusing ribbon in Windows Live Essentials 2011.

So I use Windows Live Essentials 2009,the Windows XP version on Windows 8,and on Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Andrea Borman.

Well that is personal preference, not necessarily software you can not find to run the same as or better on a 64bit OS which was the question I was asking.

There are patches like a-patch that kill most of the ugly from Messenger, and I can't really remember pre-ribbon with WL Essentials but I don't have a problem with it, there is nothing about it that makes me think "Oh I wish it was back like it used to be"

[Brandon H Supervisor]

And also most of the Windows XP and some Windows Vista software is 32 bit,so won't work on 64 bit. Andrea Borman.

32bit software runs JUST FINE of 64bit windows and that is a FACT

you obviously don't even know what the difference between 32bit and 64bit is

[HawkMan]

And also most of the Windows XP and some Windows Vista software is 32 bit,so won't work on 64 bit. Andrea Borman.

64 bit windows, as has been said, run 32 bit apps just as good as the 32 bit windows, in fact some 32 bit apps run better on 64 bit windows.