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Windows 8 Arrives

microsoft.com

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Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#181

Post by Smirnoff »

nonane wrote: post #90
luma wrote: post #22

I've been running Windows 8 since they release the RTM version to TechNet subscribers on my primary laptop (about a month now). Short version - outside of Metro it's basically Win7SP3 and it works great. Metro is every bit the usability disaster that people have claimed when not running on a touch screen. The good news is that you really don't have to interface much with Metro at all. It replaces the start menu, but…

Plug: If you're running Windows 8 Pro and have an iPad you can try out the Win 8 Metro's multitouch features using my app ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWUEAx4dqP4&hd=1 ). Send me an email: support at jumpdesktop.com and I'll send you a free coupon.

I bought jump when it was only $7.99. It worked like magic and I never opened SplashTop since. For anyone reading this, this app is amazing and works both on iPad and iPhone. Since you can get it for free from the developer, then you can't lose. Definitely gonna try it when I upgrade my windows machine. So far it works great to access my mbp

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#182

Post by contextfree »

MBCook wrote: post #164
mtgx wrote: post #38

I don't think regular users will like this much, and forcing them to go into Metro will only make more people hate it, rather than like it. Fan bases grow when the growth is natural, not when it's forced. http://www.foolproof.co.uk/is-planet-earth-ready-for-windows...

It really wouldn't surprise me at all if it turned out that tons of regular users loved Metro. The problem I keep reading about is the fact you can't stay in Metro all the time. There are some settings that you have to go into desktop mode to mess with, and if you're only used to Metro that's going to be really confusing.

The design is that there really isn't a "desktop mode". the desktop is a feature/surface of the system, it's not something you switch your whole computer into.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#183

Post by cookingrobot »

dmix wrote: post #45
el_cuadrado wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have. The interface is freaking unusable. It is like Microsoft decided to exit the desktop market with a bang. "We are failing, and we are taking Windows with us".

Windows XP - success Windows Vista - failure Windows 7 - success Windows 8 - potential failure Just following a pattern.

The simple pattern is a popular myth. For ex, you didn't list Longhorn (after XP) that was such a fiasco that after 3 years of development it was completely scrapped. This was an overly ambitious release with a new relational db filesystem (winfs), new graphics stack (avalon), and new networking stack (indigo). It didn't converge. The team forked Windows Server 2003 and rushed out Vista with as much of the intention (but not code) as it could from previous development. I was on the windows team from 98-11.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#185

Post by zanny »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #16

Well looks like this is judgement day for MS then. The price is much lower than for previous versions of Windows, this makes me suspect that we should start expecting new releases of Windows much more frequently, similar to how Apple does it. With the radical changes going on in Windows 8 it wouldn't surprise me to see a tweaked and improved Windows 9 in less than 2 years.

> The price is much lower than for previous versions of Windows, this makes me suspect that we should start expecting new releases of Windows much more frequently, similar to how Apple does it.

I absolutely don't think so at all. I think the lower price is because they want people using the metro app store, because they want an app ecosystem to make them money the way Google / Amazon / Apple do right now. They dind't backport Metro so Metro apps are Windows 8 only, so it is in their best interests to get as many people on the platform as fast as possible to maximize app development and maximize profits from app sales.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#186

Post by zanny »

hristov wrote: post #88
luma wrote: post #22

I've been running Windows 8 since they release the RTM version to TechNet subscribers on my primary laptop (about a month now). Short version - outside of Metro it's basically Win7SP3 and it works great. Metro is every bit the usability disaster that people have claimed when not running on a touch screen. The good news is that you really don't have to interface much with Metro at all. It replaces the start menu, but…

"Metro is every bit the usability disaster that people have claimed when not running on a touch screen." It is good to see a total usability disaster in which Linux took the lead and Windows followed. It is usually the other way around. This really bodes well for Linux on the desktop.

And just like how many people are running Mate and XFCE now (gtk2 based) many people will be running Windows 7 (me) for the forseeable future!

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#187

Post by julianz »

mikeknoop wrote: post #135
Semaphor wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I might consider buying a copy of Windows 8 Pro at that price and then waiting until it hits SP1 to install it. They don't want to release service packs anymore and instead release constant updates including feature/performance upgrades. http://www.instantfundas.com/2012/10/windows-service-packs-n...

I always assumed Service Packs were a way of "resetting" the version of Windows. Instead of installing Windows 7 then needing to immediately endure 2 hours of updates/restarts, you could simply install Windows 7 SP1 with all the relevant updates and patches already applied.

2 hours? I recently had to install a Server 2008 R2 machine. It required a solid working day of applying updates and rebooting to get it up to date. I was astonished.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#188

Post by ygra »

RexRollman wrote: post #126
jaybill wrote: post #79

And it STILL doesn't play DVDs without additional software! sigh

Windows 7 does play DVDs out of the box. IIRC, so did Vista. I am surprised they went backward on this.

Licensing fees. Most copies of Windows never play a single DVD, so why let everyone pay?

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#189

Post by Zr40 »

zwischenzug wrote: post #111

...and screws up my evening by apparently breaking flash. We only warned our clients 4 months ago.

How does it apparently break Flash? It's working fine for me in Chrome and Internet Explorer.

Re: Windows 8 Arrives

#190

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

Semaphor wrote: post #124
engtech wrote: post #6

Windows 8 Pro upgrade for $39 dollars ($15 for newer PCs). [1] That's... reasonable. I might consider buying a copy of Windows 8 Pro at that price and then waiting until it hits SP1 to install it. I might even spin up a VM to try it out. I like that the $39 upgrade applies to anyone with Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. I think they're realizing that a lot of people don't upgrade OS because they don't want to…

> I might consider buying a copy of Windows 8 Pro at that price and then waiting until it hits SP1 to install it. They don't want to release service packs anymore and instead release constant updates including feature/performance upgrades. http://www.instantfundas.com/2012/10/windows-service-packs-n...

E.g., Surface ships with Office 2013 preview, they'll son ship out the gold version as an update.
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