Windows 8 "Blue"

[OneOfTheseDays]

The one thing about Microsoft that you can't really deny is that they almost always eventually get things right. 8.1 is a step in the right direction and I fully expect them to continue making gradual changes to restore what wasn't broken with Windows 7 and previous iterations whilst bringing changes to unify desktop/tablet environments.

They have enough resources and talented software engineers to throw at almost any problem. Just give it time folks.

 

[Chaotic42]

How many people here use XP, and when it first came out used the "Classic" theme to make it look like 95/98/2k?

None that I can think of...

How many people here when they got Vista/7 made it look like previous Windows?

None that I can think of...

I do. The very first thing I do on a new Windows 7 computer is make it look like Windows 95/98/2K. I turn off all of the crazy effects except for font smoothing. I guess I'm weird. My thought is that I shouldn't notice the operating system. It's there to handle applications. It should disappear.

 

[Mem]

The one thing about Microsoft that you can't really deny is that they almost always eventually get things right. 8.1 is a step in the right direction and I fully expect them to continue making gradual changes to restore what wasn't broken with Windows 7 and previous iterations whilst bringing changes to unify desktop/tablet environments.

They have enough resources and talented software engineers to throw at almost any problem. Just give it time folks.

Sure it takes time, Win7 evolved from Win3.1 and mainly Win95 so took decades of time to get there,Win8 is a new hybrid OS that merges all hardware,Microsoft OS will always continue to evolve regardless of what people like/dislike etc... however you look at it Microsoft has come a long way from the old days of DOS.

As you know you can never please everyone,I've yet to find and use an OS that everybody likes,I remember the old 95, ME,2K XP,Vista, debates etc..some things don't change with some people.

Win9 should be an interesting OS,which way will Microsoft go the next chapter .

 

[RPB]

It,s human nature to buck change and I try to never lose that thought.

After using Win 8 for a few months with different start button apps I realized I didn't need the old start menu and with 8.1 and the new ways to configure the start page its even better.

Two programs that didn't work properly for me with 8.0 were malwarebytes and the sentinel software for my Opti UPS they now work with 8.1

Windows will always have issues as will other OS and in the end it,s Microsoft's code not ours.

 

[Mem]

It,s human nature to buck change and I try to never lose that thought.

After using Win 8 for a few months with different start button apps I realized I didn't need the old start menu and with 8.1 and the new ways to configure the start page its even better.

Two programs that didn't work properly for me with 8.0 were malwarebytes and the sentinel software for my Opti UPS they now work with 8.1

Windows will always have issues as will other OS and in the end it,s Microsoft's code not ours.

Free version of Malwarebytes works fine for me on Win8 .

 

[NetGuySC]

I was one of the ones that hated Windows 8. I tried it for awhile and just couldn't understand it.

I loaded 8.1 this weekend and I must say it just seems to work / flow much better for me. I'm starting to like it.

 

[RPB]

Mem

It worked but didn't run in the task bar if it doesn't actively scan it's not running properly.

This was a known problem with Win 8 as you would know if you search Google.

Should add I use the paid version.

 

[Ichinisan]

The one thing about Microsoft that you can't really deny is that they almost always eventually get things right.

I emphatically disagree.

 

[Mem]

Mem

It worked but didn't run in the task bar if it doesn't actively scan it's not running properly.

This was a known problem with Win 8 as you would know if you search Google.

Should add I use the paid version.

I did say free version ,anyway its a case of lazy software companies as usual,same thing will happen with Win9,10 etc, ie have a few companies dragging their feet to release compatible software.
I can remember some software not working with XP when it was new,so some things don't change much with regards to software companies etc...

 

[ElFenix]

installed 8.1 preview last night. didn't have much time to play with it but first thoughts: i'm still clicking in the same corner to go to metro, but now there's a graphic there; and i thought the desktop background was supposed to apply to metro, but it's not there by default, it's not in the theme menu, and it doesn't appear from the customize menu in metro either.

 

[NetGuySC]

In desktop mode, right click the task bar at the bottom. In the 2nd tab is the open to share the desktop with the start screen.

 

[ElFenix]

In desktop mode, right click the task bar at the bottom. In the 2nd tab is the open to share the desktop with the start screen.

ah, thanks

 

[blankslate]

How many people here use XP, and when it first came out used the "Classic" theme to make it look like 95/98/2k?

None that I can think of...

I did but soon afterward enabled the xp style start menu and just turned off the base xp theme.


Vista and 7 I pretty much did very little customization to the startmenu. Aside from putting a run shortcut on the start menu for 7



Windows 8 was just jarring... there's no other term for the transition from the metro ui to the desktop. Everything I've read so far about 8.1 is that they've really tweaked the ui so that the transition is a lot more polished... booting directly into desktop is something that Windows 8 should have had on release.

 

[Shawn]

In desktop mode, right click the task bar at the bottom. In the 2nd tab is the open to share the desktop with the start screen.

Other options in there too such as boot to desktop and disable charms bar. Additionally if you right click on the start button power options are now there.

 

[Majic 7]

I installed the 8.1 update on my on my Toshiba laptop, Brazos E300 APU-1.3 Ghz. Really anemic system to begin with, decrapified just to get it reasonably useful, still didn't handle two things at once very well but at least it's maintenance schedule didn't almost freeze it up. I am seeing appreciable performance increases since the update, even with the system performance. MS updates used to be agonizing. Took forever while the graphic just sat there seemingly not moving. Now updates are relatively painless. They don't take anywhere near the time they used too. I don't use the laptop for anything more than browsing and IE11 is also faster. Scrolling is a lot smoother and with the beta graphic drivers even better, works just like my main system. On 8 scrolling was really jerky.
The screen image improved overall with the update. The screen had to be positioned just right or the image was just awful, now not so much. This was with 8 graphic drivers, I updated because I got a driver has recovered error while browsing.
I have no idea whether any of this applies to a more powerful system, most likely not, but it sure helps a low end system.

 

[SunnyD]

Ugh... okay, giving 8.1 a try since I sortof hated the schizophrenia that was Win8 to see what these "improvements" are all about.

Issue #1 - A clean install forces you to use online ("cloud"/MS Live) login credentials as your workstation login. Ugh... I *don't* want my computer tied to any particular online services not of my choosing FFS, and I most certainly do NOT want my OS login tied to my freaking junk email account that I don't give a crap about for any reason!

Workaround: Apparently you can install and force local-only account ONLY if you do the install while disconnected from any network.

Issue #2 - Too much wasted space. I'm sorry, "metro" wastes so much god damn space on the screen. So much fixed real estate that is wasted and unrecoverable, unrepurposable all for the sake of "mobile" devices. It simply doesn't belong on a desktop.

Issue #3 - Well, okay, they're giving us (back) slightly better multitasking ability than Win8 had with the 4 panels, but let's face it... I use Windows like a BUSINESS user uses an OS. I generally have a half dozen or more windows open at any given time, and to go with #2, I utilize as much of my onscreen real estate as I can because of it. Overlapped windows is a far better solution than any sort of tiled window system. Microsoft learned this back with the migration from Windows 3.11 /NT3.51 to Win9x/NT4.0. Why they're going back is a mystery to me.

Issue #4 - Again, a pet peeve of mine, because of the metro interface, coupled with #3, they make it painful at best (in metro mode) to see exactly what the hell is running at any given time on your machine at a glance. Yes, go to the left corner and you get a list with a little preview, but it's not "at a glance" like the taskbar provides. It requires action. It's difficult to see what's running in the background, and because of that it's simply not useful to me.

Now, onto the good side of things... (versus vanilla Win8)

Win8 frustrated me with several half-assed implementations of system management tools, especially where certain functions were duplicated between new UI and Old, but they made it relatively impossible to navigate to either in a clear manner. For example, figuring out where to get to all the relevant administrator settings always took a bit of doing in Metro, and trying to get there via the desktop wasn't easy as well. Worse was trying to do something via Metro only to find that those particular functions weren't exposed, so then you'd have to make your way there through the desktop control panel anyway. 8.1 seems a good bit more streamlined and fleshed out in their administration user interfaces.

The Windows Update mechanism seems a bit more solid. I had issues with vanilla Win8 sometimes stalling updates, to the point where I would ALWAYS run updates from the desktop control panel. Granted there haven't been too many updates yet, but still, it never took too long to find issues with Windows Update for Win8 for me.

Everything else about 8.1 seems solid so far. I'm still not fond at all of this "split personality" thing going on with having basically two different UI's. But if it's what has to be, I might as well get used to it.

 

[ViRGE]

Ugh... okay, giving 8.1 a try since I sortof hated the schizophrenia that was Win8 to see what these "improvements" are all about.

Issue #1 - A clean install forces you to use online ("cloud"/MS Live) login credentials as your workstation login. Ugh... I *don't* want my computer tied to any particular online services not of my choosing FFS, and I most certainly do NOT want my OS login tied to my freaking junk email account that I don't give a crap about for any reason!

Workaround: Apparently you can install and force local-only account ONLY if you do the install while disconnected from any network.

As another workaround, if you give it invalid credentials (since it wants an existing account), it will give you the option to create a local account.

 

[SunnyD]

As another workaround, if you give it invalid credentials (since it wants an existing account), it will give you the option to create a local account.

Interesting. I didn't try this. My brain saw the "Create Microsoft Account" link underneath it and instantly thought, "Well, if I don't have one it will force me to make one."

:thumbsup:

My biggest worry is that they'll close that hole somehow.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

Ugh... okay, giving 8.1 a try since I sortof hated the schizophrenia that was Win8 to see what these "improvements" are all about.

Issue #1 - A clean install forces you to use online ("cloud"/MS Live) login credentials as your workstation login. Ugh... I *don't* want my computer tied to any particular online services not of my choosing FFS, and I most certainly do NOT want my OS login tied to my freaking junk email account that I don't give a crap about for any reason!

Workaround: Apparently you can install and force local-only account ONLY if you do the install while disconnected from any network.

Issue #2 - Too much wasted space. I'm sorry, "metro" wastes so much god damn space on the screen. So much fixed real estate that is wasted and unrecoverable, unrepurposable all for the sake of "mobile" devices. It simply doesn't belong on a desktop.

Issue #3 - Well, okay, they're giving us (back) slightly better multitasking ability than Win8 had with the 4 panels, but let's face it... I use Windows like a BUSINESS user uses an OS. I generally have a half dozen or more windows open at any given time, and to go with #2, I utilize as much of my onscreen real estate as I can because of it. Overlapped windows is a far better solution than any sort of tiled window system. Microsoft learned this back with the migration from Windows 3.11 /NT3.51 to Win9x/NT4.0. Why they're going back is a mystery to me.

Issue #4 - Again, a pet peeve of mine, because of the metro interface, coupled with #3, they make it painful at best (in metro mode) to see exactly what the hell is running at any given time on your machine at a glance. Yes, go to the left corner and you get a list with a little preview, but it's not "at a glance" like the taskbar provides. It requires action. It's difficult to see what's running in the background, and because of that it's simply not useful to me.

Now, onto the good side of things... (versus vanilla Win8)

Win8 frustrated me with several half-assed implementations of system management tools, especially where certain functions were duplicated between new UI and Old, but they made it relatively impossible to navigate to either in a clear manner. For example, figuring out where to get to all the relevant administrator settings always took a bit of doing in Metro, and trying to get there via the desktop wasn't easy as well. Worse was trying to do something via Metro only to find that those particular functions weren't exposed, so then you'd have to make your way there through the desktop control panel anyway. 8.1 seems a good bit more streamlined and fleshed out in their administration user interfaces.

The Windows Update mechanism seems a bit more solid. I had issues with vanilla Win8 sometimes stalling updates, to the point where I would ALWAYS run updates from the desktop control panel. Granted there haven't been too many updates yet, but still, it never took too long to find issues with Windows Update for Win8 for me.

Everything else about 8.1 seems solid so far. I'm still not fond at all of this "split personality" thing going on with having basically two different UI's. But if it's what has to be, I might as well get used to it.

Agreed. I'm still not convinced they've figured out how to unify the experience properly. Metro just doesn't work well for desktop only users. Windows 9 will need to rethink things.

 

[boxleitnerb]

Quick question:
Do 3rd party gadgets like GPU Observer work with Windows 8/8.1?
I use the "GPU Observer" and "Core Series" gadgets from here:
http://blog.orbmu2k.de/

I would want to continue using them.

 

[Shawn]

Interesting. I didn't try this. My brain saw the "Create Microsoft Account" link underneath it and instantly thought, "Well, if I don't have one it will force me to make one."

:thumbsup:

My biggest worry is that they'll close that hole somehow.

They are only requiring the microsoft accounts for the beta anyway - probably to keep track of how many people are testing it. Local accounts will be reenabled in the RTM product.

 

[SunnyD]

They are only requiring the microsoft accounts for the beta anyway - probably to keep track of how many people are testing it. Local accounts will be reenabled in the RTM product.

Well that's good to hear. Thanks for the info!

 

[Tattoedsailor]

Local store got Win 8 on sale. Is it worth upgrade from 7?

 

[cbrunny]

Yes.

 

[SunnyD]

DirectX End-User Runtime will not install on Win81.