Recommended Posts

Windows 8.1 Preview: Flip-ahead in IE11 Desktop, and other findings

 

Seems there is no "findings" thread so far, if you find anything new but don't wish to start a new thread, feel free to post here. :)

 

- Flip-ahead can now be enabled in the desktop mode of IE11

 

screen_10_zpsdbd49511.jpg

 

- You can also add WMC with the WCP key MBFBV-W3DP2-2MVKN-PJCQD-KKTF7

  It would probably show a "fail to install" error, just close it and reboot, and have Win8.1 Pro Preview   with Media Centre.

 

 

- Users now have to start a MS account user a/c, and log in with password every time.

  To auto-logon win8.1, it's just the same like before:

  run(right-click left-bottom screen), enter : netplwiz

  untick "users have to enter blah blah", then enter the required password.

Open PC Settings aka Metro Control Panel, navigate to PC & Devices, click on Devices and on the bottom of the screen there is an option Default save locations which, judging by the description, allows to save files to a removable drive by default. Haven't tested this though.

Were you able to perform an Upgrade install? How was the install process? Was it like upgrading to a whole new Windows or was it simpler than that?

 

Also will you have to perform a clean install when the full 8.1 update ships?

Yes, I upgraded mine from the store and it was straightforward. It took a while to download but when I returned to "That PC" after a while, it was all set and waiting on me to agree for some std EULA bs.

Clicked Agree - it cycled through the color screens and done.

Were you able to perform an Upgrade install? How was the install process? Was it like upgrading to a whole new Windows or was it simpler than that?

 

Also will you have to perform a clean install when the full 8.1 update ships?

 

I upgraded. The install process went like this:

 

You download an update package from http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/download-preview, install it, reboot.

You then install the update via the Windows Store. This took about 45 mins all in all, with several reboots inbetween.

 

All in all a fairly straightforward process. 

@McKay: You will be able to upgrade from the preview to final but it will only save your data. Any RT or desktop apps will need to be reinstalled.

 

I noticed that the charms bar is off-center either up or down depending on which hot corner you swiped from. Kinda handy because it reduces the distance you need to move your mouse to click one of the buttons.

@McKay: You will be able to upgrade from the preview to final but it will only save your data. Any RT or desktop apps will need to be reinstalled.

 

I noticed that the charms bar is off-center either up or down depending on which hot corner you swiped from. Kinda handy because it reduces the distance you need to move your mouse to click one of the buttons.

 

 

That's interesting, no one else has noticed that yet it seems.

If you pull down a running metro apps, e.g. the metro IE in this case, you could find in task manager that it is actually still running in background:

 

screen_19_zps9f497750.jpg

 

 

To close it for real, after pull it down, hold the mouse for about 2 seconds until the thumbnail flips,

 

Open task manager, it is still running, but close by itself after about 3 seconds. :)

 

screen_20_zps0be7bf28.jpg

 

That is:

 

pull-down = sleep; simply double-click the item in task manager, and it immediately opens in the previous state.

 

pull-dow+flip = permenent close and dosen't take any PC resources.

That's interesting, no one else has noticed that yet it seems.

 

It's not really an upgrade given only your documents are carried over, all your apps have to be re installed.

 

Not like going from Windows 8 to the final Windows 8.1 build where everything will be kept.

- Users now have to start a MS account user a/c, and log in with password every time.

 

The Windows 8.1 Preview does not require a Microsoft account.  During setup when it asks you to sign in with a Microsoft account, fail to sign in, and then the option to create a local user appears.

 

You can also still create a local user account if you signed in with a Microsoft account through the MMC or "Control Panel\User Accounts".

Neowin News reported on MS lost a SkyDrive copyright, presently awaiting appeal:

 

https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-loses-in-court-in-skydrive-uk-trademark-dispute-but-will-appeal

 

Seems MS had made preparation for a name change:

 

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/45420-DISCUSSION-Windows-8-1-Preview/page111?p=770125&viewfull=1#post770125

 

UN55pG8.png

Over here it just says "Your storage space on SkyDrive"

Neowin News reported on MS lost a SkyDrive copyright, presently awaiting appeal:

 

https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-loses-in-court-in-skydrive-uk-trademark-dispute-but-will-appeal

 

Seems MS had made preparation for a name change:

 

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/45420-DISCUSSION-Windows-8-1-Preview/page111?p=770125&viewfull=1#post770125

 

UN55pG8.png

 

I don't always get pumped up for pie charts but when I do!!!

While im here, whats flip ahead do?

It is well-known that to install win8, NX must be present in CPU. A MDL thread requested if there was any chance to bypass this requirement.

 

Forget all the blah blahs, things start to become interesting from this post:

 

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/37517-Q-Win-8-bypass-PAE-NX-SSE2-check/page9?p=763651&viewfull=1#post763651

 

Since it involves patching of ntoskrnl.exe, I am not sure if it is warez, so better not to elaborate on procedures and downloads - any-one interested please search for it by himself. :)

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • I like Tidal, but it still does not control devices from the mobile/app and still no surround support. And yeah re: above comment I still get a lot of network errors and I am on a 4/4 Gbit Fiber connection.
    • Aren`t "security features" and "AI model that can see your screen" a tad diametric!
    • Samsung, Amazon extend 990 PRO 2TB NVMe SSD deal beyond Prime Day 2026 by Sayan Sen Recently, we had Amazon's Prime Day 2026 sales wherein there were several great deals including on SSDs. One of those discounted components was the Samsung 990 PRO SSD as the 2TB variant of it was selling for $370, a very good price after a long time. Although that deal was supposed to expire today, Amazon has now extended that sale further (purchase link under the specs table down below). The 990 PRO is a PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD and still one of the fastest drives available today for under $400. Speaking of fast, sequential reads and writes are rated at 7450 MB/s and 6900 MB/s, respectively. The random throughputs for reads and writes are 1400K IOPS and 1550K IOPS, respectively. The 990 PRO is based on Samsung's 7th Gen V-NAND flash, and it too is TLC. It packs 2 gigs of LPDDR4 DRAM cache, which helps the random performance. The endurance rating for this is 1200 TBW (terabytes written), which should be sufficient for most users. The Samsung 990 PRO is compatible with the PlayStation 5, but if you are going to use the 990 PRO on a PC, check out the Samsung Magician app that lets you track your drive's health, update its firmware, customize various settings, and more. The technical specs of the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB are given in the table below: Specification Value Form Factor M.2 2280 Interface PCIe Gen 4.0 x4, NVMe 2.0 NAND Flash Samsung V-NAND TLC Controller Samsung In-house Controller Cache Memory Samsung 2GB Low Power DDR4 SDRAM Sequential Read Speed Up to 7,450 MB/s Sequential Write Speed Up to 6,900 MB/s Random Read (4KB, QD32) Up to 1,400,000 IOPS Random Write (4KB, QD32) Up to 1,550,000 IOPS Random Read (4KB, QD1) Up to 22,000 IOPS Random Write (4KB, QD1) Up to 80,000 IOPS Operating Temperature 0°C to 70°C Reliability (MTBF) 1.5 Million Hours Endurance 1,200 TBW (Total Bytes Written) Get it at the link below: Samsung 990 PRO SSD 2TB NVMe SSD (MZ-V9P2T0B/AM): $369.99 (Sold and Shipped by Amazon US) Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases
    • Glad im on the right boat. Tidal has lots of issues in terms of app and music mix, its worst than spot but its honest. Spot algo is very tendentious and they pess less to artists, so im comfortable with the tidal errors, for now.
    • Tidal won't monetize AI slop music, company says by David Uzondu Image via Tidal Tidal has announced an AI policy aimed at protecting artists and their crafts, as AI music generation tools continue to improve both in speed and quality. According to the music streaming platform, AI-generated music will be accepted, but these tracks will be held to a "higher standard" of content integrity. Next month, the company plans to auto-identify and tag these uploads. Listeners will spot a special icon next to content that algorithms flag as 100% AI-generated starting mid-July, and the platform hopes to expand this tag to partially generated songs as detection tech improves. Any AI music that exploits an artist's voice or likeness will be taken down, and Tidal will immediately block tracks associated with fraudulent activity, which includes artificial streaming and deceptive content that interferes with real creators. And finally, music that's 100% AI-generated will not be monetized. Tidal said there is "ongoing debate" about whether certain licensed synthetic models deserve payouts, so it's possible that this part will change in the future. Streaming platforms are absolutely getting flooded with AI-generated music because of how easy it is to pump out endless tracks every minute. To give you an idea of how "bad" it is, Deezer alone reported that synthetic uploads now make up about 44% of its daily intake, which translates to roughly 75,000 automated tracks hitting its servers every single day. Interestingly, Deezer found most people cannot tell the difference between human and machine creations, with an Ipsos study revealing that 97% of listeners failed to spot the AI-generated tracks. Spotify's CEO recently pushed back against listeners who call AI music "slop," urging people to stop using the term and instead embrace the creative potential of AI music. The Swedish platform partnered with Universal Music Group to test "legal and controlled" generative AI tools that let subscribers remix songs with AI.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      BA the Curmudgeon earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Conversation Starter
      rosiecharles earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      KMilenkoski1202 earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      539
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      269
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      153
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      98
    5. 5
      macoman
      66
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!