The Official Windows 8 User Thread

[stevech]

Another "If Microsoft Made Automobiles..."

They would change to an oval steering wheel and contend it's better.

The real truth: Microsoft needs to replace declining revenue when the market saturates with windows x. They have hoards of employees and shareholders to feed.
So change is for change's sake. Screw the customer. - Without competition there is no excellence.

 

[jsedlak]

Another "If Microsoft Made Automobiles..."

They would change to an oval steering wheel and contend it's better.

The real truth: Microsoft needs to replace declining revenue when the market saturates with windows x. They have hoards of employees and shareholders to feed.
So change is for change's sake. Screw the customer. - Without competition there is no excellence.

I'll just leave this here.

"19 July 2012 - Microsoft Reports Record Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Revenue"
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2012/jul12/07-19fy12Q4earningsPR.aspx

 

[Gunslinger08]

I've been using it since RTM. I don't hate it, but I also have it completely setup like a Windows XP/2003 box, minus the start button.

These are Win7 changes, but I never understood the move to pinning vs. quick launch or the default setting to group windows. Pinning takes up much more taskbar space than quick launch and I don't love having "links" interspersed with the programs I have open already. Grouping just makes no sense to me as an information worker. If I have 5 FF/IE tabs open, several RDP windows, and a few notepads open, it's a huge waste of time to add more clicks.

Win8, as many others have said, is basically 2 completely separate UIs for 1 operating system. If it wasn't for being forced into it for the start menu, I wouldn't use Metro at all. I don't see any productivity gains with Metro vs. pinning things to the start menu. If anything, they made it harder to get to things like control panel, admin tools, shutdown, etc. As a tablet OS and maybe even as a general consumer OS, I think it could do well. As something for the enterprise/IT/developers, I think it's just more stuff we have to work around to be efficient.

 

[dlock13]

Can anyone tell me what the differences are between the versions of Windows 8 available to buy?

Windows 8 Pro Pack - $40
Windows 8 Pro - $70
Windows 8 - $99
Windows 8 Pro (Full) - $139

I want to use one of these to install on my machine numerous times as well as use it to start from COMPLETELY fresh. I want to be able to just pop the disc in/put it on USB and install via that way.

Is that at all possible or is the only way I can do that with the Pro (full) version?

I know I have time to buy it so please let me know whenever you get a chance! Thanks!

 

[cmdrdredd]

Can anyone tell me what the differences are between the versions of Windows 8 available to buy?

Windows 8 Pro Pack - $40
Windows 8 Pro - $70
Windows 8 - $99
Windows 8 Pro (Full) - $139

I want to use one of these to install on my machine numerous times as well as use it to start from COMPLETELY fresh. I want to be able to just pop the disc in/put it on USB and install via that way.

Is that at all possible or is the only way I can do that with the Pro (full) version?

I know I have time to buy it so please let me know whenever you get a chance! Thanks!

Pro pack is to upgrade to professional from a regular W8, you only get the product key not the disk. W8 pro is the professional edition with some things included like bitlocker, VM client and a couple things I don't remember. W8 is just the normal OS which is suitable for most users and does about everything. W8 Full is the disk that can install fresh on a formatted drive. The other ones require a previous qualifying OS to be installed to upgrade from. However the software is OEM and you are locked out of installing as many times as you want. You can probably phone in your registration and explain that your Motherboard failed and was replaced and you want to install the same copy you purchased. They are pretty lenient about this for consumer OSes. I've had to do this before and they just gave me a new key over the phone.

So honestly for what you want you'd either have to take your chances with the full version which is OEM and hope MS will help you register over the phone, or use the upgrade disk and install Windows 7, update it then upgrade to Windows 8.

Thus far there is no retail version that would allow you to install it on your PC, then if you get a new PC, install it on that one. The OEM is for one PC only and technically buying a new motherboard is considered a new PC. They will allow you to install on a different motherboard if it is the same make/model or the manufacturer equivalent obtained through warranty replacement. That is according to their FAQs regarding OEM OS installs. As I said before though I simply called and explained that my Motherboard was non-working and was replaced. They gave me a new number to put in. I do not know how strict they will be with Win8 though as it does seem they are trying to keep it a bit more locked down.

 

[olds]

Those of us running it now:
When it's officially released, will we have to re-install or might there be an update?

 

[ViRGE]

Those of us running it now:
When it's officially released, will we have to re-install or might there be an update?

Why would you have to reinstall if you're already running Win8 RTM?

 

[olds]

Why would you have to reinstall if you're already running Win8 RTM?

Is RTM the only version out there? Does it say RTM?

 

[ViRGE]

Is RTM the only version out there? Does it say RTM?

Well then you're not running Windows 8, you're running the Windows 8 Release Preview.

Upgrading from the Release Preview is not supported. Officially you have to do a reinstall (I'm not sure if there are any INI hacks to bypass that this time).

 

[Dominato3r]

Apparently Windows 8 is in the #1 product sales slot on Amazon right now

 

[postmortemIA]

Apparently Windows 8 is in the #1 product sales slot on Amazon right now

Microsoft buying it for its employees? Apple punishing theirs for Apple Maps debacle ?

 

[olds]

Well then you're not running Windows 8, you're running the Windows 8 Release Preview.

Upgrading from the Release Preview is not supported. Officially you have to do a reinstall (I'm not sure if there are any INI hacks to bypass that this time).

Leave it to me to get the wrong one.

 

[dlock13]

Leave it to me to get the wrong one.

Actually, I don't think you're wrong. A few places I looked said that you can 'upgrade' your RTM/Eval version of Windows 8 to the upgrade/retail version of it.

It's definitely worth googling to find out of I'm right or not.

 

[olds]

Actually, I don't think you're wrong. A few places I looked said that you can 'upgrade' your RTM/Eval version of Windows 8 to the upgrade/retail version of it.

It's definitely worth googling to find out of I'm right or not.

Hmmm...
"The workaround -- which relies on editing the "cversion.ini" file in a downloaded copy of Windows 8 RTM -- tricks the installer into accepting upgrades from February's Windows 8 Customer Preview and May's Release Preview."

http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...show_how_to_upgrade_Windows_8_previews_to_RTM

 

[JackMDS]

Apparently Windows 8 is in the #1 product sales slot on Amazon right now

Yeah, I guess that many Normal people are Not afraid of the future, others (even with a lot knowledge) do.

When Gottlieb Daimler started to sell cars in late 19th century (today it is Daimler-Benz Mercedes). The first customers expressed fear the petrol engine could explode, so Daimler hid the engine with a ceramic cover and told them it was "oil-electrical" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottlieb_Daimler ).

Metro will Not explode it is Electrical Tiles. -

 

[poohbear]

if you tried to sell windows 8 to a windows 7 desktop user, what would be your main points for trying to sell it? I just dont see a reason at all to upgrade as a desktop user. Win7 was already touted as being super efficient and user friendly, and i agree, so how does win8 top this given my system specs? It loads in less than 10 seconds with my SSD (after the BIOS post screen), so i dont see how win8 could possibly load any faster?

 

[Rangoric]

if you tried to sell windows 8 to a windows 7 desktop user, what would be your main points for trying to sell it? I just dont see a reason at all to upgrade as a desktop user. Win7 was already touted as being super efficient and user friendly, and i agree, so how does win8 top this given my system specs? It loads in less than 10 seconds with my SSD (after the BIOS post screen), so i dont see how win8 could possibly load any faster?

There's still 10 seconds to trim right there If you eliminate typing my password, my time to have something open on my desktop is lower than 10 seconds for a cold boot. "Hot Boot" is I move the mouse and am ready to log in.

Also in pursuit of better battery life, performance is improved and "bloat" is much reduced on the same hardware. Those are the main things I'd look at.

I happen to like the more squared off corners and flatter colors. Also the Metro/Modern design style of Content First.

For people wavering on Metro/Modern UI, I'd go over why I like the new start screen and why I use it more than I ever used the start menu.

But seriously I'd focus on performance. At the end of the day I want stuff to happen when I hit a button, I hate waiting.

 

[poohbear]

do you really wait with Win7? its already super efficient, and on my SSD everything happens the millisecond i click it. How much more efficient can Win8 possibly be?

 

[jhansman]

How much more efficient can Win8 possibly be?

Try it and find out

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/release-preview

 

[Makaveli]

do you really wait with Win7? its already super efficient, and on my SSD everything happens the millisecond i click it. How much more efficient can Win8 possibly be?

To add to this....

My machine goes to sleep and wakes up, I'm lucky if I reboot once a month for windows updates.

So faster boot up times is not a selling point for me!

 

[happysmiles]

Win 8 is definitely more efficient.

 

[dguy6789]

Boots faster, uses resources to do the same work, better battery life(these three alone make it worth the $40), no need to install an antivirus, built in calendar/notifications system, better file transfer dialog boxes, more informative task manager, it's easier to see what apps start up with the pc, how much they impact the boot time, and disable them. Just to name a couple things Win 8 does out of the box.

 

[Juror No. 8]

For those who've used Windows 8, am I correct in assuming that Windows 8 boots straight into Metro/tablet mode, and that you have to click a button or two to reach the desktop? If so, is there a reason that Microsoft didn't include an option to switch between automatically booting into desktop mode and automatically booting into tablet mode?

 

[ViRGE]

For those who've used Windows 8, am I correct in assuming that Windows 8 boots straight into Metro/tablet mode, and that you have to click a button or two to reach the desktop? If so, is there a reason that Microsoft didn't include an option to switch between automatically booting into desktop mode and automatically booting into tablet mode?

It's widely presumed that if desktop users could ignore Metro, they would. In which case there's no traction for Metro, which Microsoft needs to get developers onto Metro and thereby developing applications for their tablets. The large desktop user base is the trojan horse to entice developers to create tablet applications.

On that note, Start Menu replacements (e.g. Classic Shell) can load straight into the desktop (while still leaving Metro available), so it's clearly possible.

 

[Juror No. 8]

It's widely presumed that if desktop users could ignore Metro, they would. In which case there's no traction for Metro, which Microsoft needs to get developers onto Metro and thereby developing applications for their tablets. The large desktop user base is the trojan horse to entice developers to create tablet applications.

So familiarity and convenience was deliberately sacrificed by Microsoft to bolster their chances of success in the tablet hardware/software marketplace? Wow.

I realize that fixes/modifications will be forthcoming, but it really annoys me that Microsoft would want to funnel their millions of loyal Windows desktop users into a tablet-centric operating system. What a bunch of [jerks].

No profanity in the tech forums, please
-ViRGE