Windows 8 Consumer Preview to be released 02/29/2012

I dislike the silent features in OS X and iOS, too, although they can be extremely useful once you learn them. When the casual user can't shut off his/her PC, the problem is going to generate a massive outcry of complaints, FUD and trolling and propagate a negative view of Windows 8. People will eventually learn, but by that time the perception of Win 8 may be muddied beyond redemption. (I'm not going to touch problems associated with enterprise distribution.)

But it's so simple, especially on a single monitor. Everything is in three corners, hover, slide, left click, right click. In fact I have a feeling that they'll add Power to the right click on the bottom left corner like this:http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/
 
windows 8 is a breeze after about 1 hour with it. it's way better than windows 7. I am in Metro when I want to be in Metro and not any more. I don't feel disoriented at all. I use Metro as a start screen and for that purpose it's fine. win 8 desktop is a smoother faster more efficient win 7. And this is pre release software. Wait till they get to RTM.

Yeah, I think people are going all wacko on Metro and the Start Screen and not looking at the other advantages of Windows 8. It should perform better on equivalent hardware and a decent amount of battery life particularly with Metro apps.
 
I really like the boot time and the revamped task manager.

The background pic before logging in through me for a loop, but I can just mash spacebar and type my password and its good.

I see no purpose to using Metro for me. I don't use MS apps, I like my portable thunderbird installation. I use skype for my IM needs (rare nowadays) or webex for work.

I multitask heavily at work, and have ended up doing the same at home. In win 7 I can continue what I'm doing while pressing start and typing in the program I want, in win 8 i get a big fullscreen interface that I don't need, that covers up what I'm doing right now.

On multiple monitors the hot corners are a pain.

Maybe it will run better, and maybe its got some nice features. But until gaming forces me to switch to win 8, I won't be. With my SSD windows 7 boots plenty fast, POST takes longer and in the time my computer boots I can get a glass of water.

edit: If I had a touchscreen laptop/transformer style tablet I would think this was awesome. But I don't.
 
But it's so simple, especially on a single monitor. Everything is in three corners, hover, slide, left click, right click. In fact I have a feeling that they'll add Power to the right click on the bottom left corner like this:http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

I hope they add Power to the--what do we call it now, Metro menu? It's where people will be going to do just about anything else and it makes sense to leave it in the same general location. It's easy enough to learn the new hotspot but it will be an annoyance to users, just like the lack of Flash in IE Metro will be.

I'm seeing some very slow performance on websites (non-Metro IE--qualifying between the two is already annoying :D). Does anyone else see pages load and then freeze for awhile?
 
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I'm seeing some very slow performance on websites (non-Metro IE--qualifying between the two is already annoying :D). Does anyone else see pages load and then freeze for awhile?

No, mine load fine, but I'm not getting audio from web pages.

I haven't had time to deal with it yet, so I'm not sure why yet.
 
I really like the boot time and the revamped task manager.

The background pic before logging in through me for a loop, but I can just mash spacebar and type my password and its good.

I see no purpose to using Metro for me. I don't use MS apps, I like my portable thunderbird installation. I use skype for my IM needs (rare nowadays) or webex for work.

I multitask heavily at work, and have ended up doing the same at home. In win 7 I can continue what I'm doing while pressing start and typing in the program I want, in win 8 i get a big fullscreen interface that I don't need, that covers up what I'm doing right now.

On multiple monitors the hot corners are a pain.

Maybe it will run better, and maybe its got some nice features. But until gaming forces me to switch to win 8, I won't be. With my SSD windows 7 boots plenty fast, POST takes longer and in the time my computer boots I can get a glass of water.

edit: If I had a touchscreen laptop/transformer style tablet I would think this was awesome. But I don't.

I couldn't agree more with everything here.
 
I really like the boot time and the revamped task manager.

The background pic before logging in through me for a loop, but I can just mash spacebar and type my password and its good.

I see no purpose to using Metro for me. I don't use MS apps, I like my portable thunderbird installation. I use skype for my IM needs (rare nowadays) or webex for work.

I multitask heavily at work, and have ended up doing the same at home. In win 7 I can continue what I'm doing while pressing start and typing in the program I want, in win 8 i get a big fullscreen interface that I don't need, that covers up what I'm doing right now.

On multiple monitors the hot corners are a pain.

Maybe it will run better, and maybe its got some nice features. But until gaming forces me to switch to win 8, I won't be. With my SSD windows 7 boots plenty fast, POST takes longer and in the time my computer boots I can get a glass of water.

edit: If I had a touchscreen laptop/transformer style tablet I would think this was awesome. But I don't.

Metro isn't about just MS apps. But either way, if you don't like it, don't use it. Simple. The purpose is one OS for all devices. It will work great on a tablet as you said and I like that underneath that is a real OS on a tablet.

You can also still search and launch your apps.

On the desktop I don't see metro as anything other than a version of OSX's dashboard on steriods. Has some neat features. Good screen to get tons of info about things without having to launch a variety of apps and I can customize the crap out of it to suit me.

But I also primarily work from the desktop and can still do that.

This handy app will also give you back your start menu: ViStart
 
Metro isn't about just MS apps. But either way, if you don't like it, don't use it. Simple.
You really do have to go well out of your way to avoid Metro. It's possible, assuming you never need to launch an application you don't have pinned, have a shortcut for or use Explorer to launch it (how ridiculous would that be?) or use the command prompt (ridiculous again) or case-mounted buttons to shut down/reboot your machine.

You can't just not use it. It isn't practical. In order to use Windows 8 the way any normal, sane person would use it, you must invariably encounter Metro several times per day.
 
You really do have to go well out of your way to avoid Metro. It's possible, assuming you never need to launch an application you don't have pinned, have a shortcut for or use Explorer to launch it (how ridiculous would that be?) or use the command prompt (ridiculous again) or case-mounted buttons to shut down/reboot your machine.

You can't just not use it. It isn't practical. In order to use Windows 8 the way any normal, sane person would use it, you must invariably encounter Metro several times per day.

There are at least 3 ways to add a start menu back. So yes, it's possible to avoid the metro start page. And quite easily.

However I do think it will become more useful as we get better apps for it. And as people learn all the new shortcuts and intricacies of it.
 
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I'm aware of one that appears to modify the Metro start screen such that it's smaller and differently organized. What are the other two?
 
However I do think it will become more useful as we get better apps for it. And as people learn all the new shortcuts and intricacies of it.

Another alternative, and this may sound totally out from left field here, is to just PUT THE DAMN START BUTTON BACK.
 
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I'm aware of one that appears to modify the Metro start screen such that it's smaller and differently organized. What are the other two?

You can right click apps in metro and remove em or make em smaller.
Barely had anything on the metro ui and installed a program and it loaded tons of
items that wasn't the program.
At least u can tag multiple apps and remove em at the same time so that isn't so bad.
 
So how do you efficiently organize all these tiles on the Start page? I installed VS 2011 and it tacked 15 new tiles to the end of the Start page. In order to have them grouped together in their own section and not just thrown in among all the other tiles, I had to manually move each of the 15 tiles into a new section (there doesn't seem to be a way to move multiple tiles at once), then minimize the icons on the start page, then select the new section, then typed in a name for the new section. Am I seriously going to have to repeat this every time I install something?

After installing only three apps and placing the admin icons on the start page, I'm already staring at a wall of mostly grey tiles with unhelpful or truncated names like "Start Here", "Microsoft Web Platform...", Microsoft Expression Encoder 4", and "Microsoft Expression Encoder 4..."
 
So how do you efficiently organize all these tiles on the Start page? I installed VS 2011 and it tacked 15 news tiles to the end of the Start page. In order to have them grouped together in their own section and not just thrown in among all the other tiles, I had to manually move each of the 15 tiles into a new section, then minimize the icons on the start page, then select the new section, then typed in a name for the new section. Am I seriously going to have to repeat this every time I install something?

After installing only three apps and placing the admin icons on the start page, I'm already staring at a wall of mostly grey tiles with unhelpful or truncated names like "Start Here", "Microsoft Web Platform...", Microsoft Expression Encoder 4", and "Microsoft Expression Encoder 4..."

I don't have much on the start page. Don't use the page much at all. I find it better to not treat that page as a launcher but rather as access to quick info.

If on the desktop you right click in the lower left you get an admin menu with all your options there. So no need for those icons on the desktop.
If you right click on the metro page you can select all apps and that is one of your launch screens you can use. There is a shortcut for that and search but it escapes me at the moment.
Or you can install ViStart and have your start menu back. So lots of ways to go about things.
 
If on the desktop you right click in the lower left you get an admin menu with all your options there. So no need for those icons on the desktop.
Those are not all the options I need

If you right click on the metro page you can select all apps and that is one of your launch screens you can use.

Right clicking and showing "All" apps gives me this mess:


Seriously? This is after I installed only THREE apps, and that's not even a screenshot of the entire 1920 x 1080 monitor. How is this an improvement over the old start menu again?
 
Yeah, I think people are going all wacko on Metro and the Start Screen and not looking at the other advantages of Windows 8. It should perform better on equivalent hardware and a decent amount of battery life particularly with Metro apps.

First impressions.

Personally, I'm impressed with the speedy load time--lappy with a spinner boots faster than a gaming rig with a SSD (POST/BIOS load = 15 seconds. :rolleyes:)

Metro is--something I might use with a few apps. Shutdown, no problem--to me. Casual users are going to piss and moan. It's different and looks/feels somewhat unpolished.

The only major gripe I have is the categorization of things when I hit the Windows key and type. It's fine to categorize things (Win 7 does a little) but if it's not in Apps, bring up the next best match ffs. Easy keyboard access is a keystone of Windows and they fucked this up bigtime. I'll upgrade eventually but if anything is going to make me wait, it's this.
 
Those are not all the options I need



Right clicking and showing "All" apps gives me this mess:


Seriously? This is after I installed only THREE apps, and that's not even a screenshot of the entire 1920 x 1080 monitor. How is this an improvement over the old start menu again?

You can also use semantic zoom(I assume there's a keyboard/mouse option but I haven't looked for it yet). And search and launch. And maybe you can remove items in that list you don't need there? Or just plain don't use it.

I linked to apps above that restore your start menu. Take your pick. You can run windows 8 just like windows 7. Between the taskbar, desktop and Vistart you can have it just the way you want it.
 
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Now that I have a start menu, Win 8 is pretty nice. Seems to run pretty much like Win7, and most things are working.
Like with Vista to Win7, I am not really seeing much reason to upgrade to the new OS on existing builds, but I will not avoid it should I build another PC.

Win8previewscreen.jpg


I do have a feeling my next laptop is going to be a slate. I think WIn8 will do great on that.
 
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Woah, didn't know VirtualBox supported hardware acceleration in the guest OS.... been a while since I've used it... might have to take a second look...
 
It does allow for 3d, at least enough for Aero, but you have to install the guest additions driver in safe mode to enable 3d. Which is a pain in the ass since Win8 does not allow for F8 to get into safe mode with out playing a few tricks.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/juanand/...safe-mode-in-windows-8-developer-preview.aspx for directions. And then just install guest additions from within safe mode.

Works fine so far.

The more time I spend with it, the more I seem to be trying to hack the preview into being Win7. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. But it will serve me well if I ever have to "fix" a Win 8 PC because it does not look/work the way some relative or another wants.
 
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Stardock is writing a 'Start Menu' app for Windows 8. It's pretty sad when private companies have to go and start fixing mistakes for you Microsoft.

SOURCE

Brad Wardell, the founder and CEO of Stardock, says that he's working on a free Windows 8 app called Start8 that will enable the Start menu on the desktop.

When completed, the Start8 app will place the familiar Start button at the bottom left corner of the screen on the taskbar (where it belongs). It will also reportedly have a Run and Shutdown option when users right-click on the menu.

"The lack of a start button and start menu in Windows 8 has made using Microsoft’s new OS a non-starter for me and a lot of other people," he writes in a blog. "I like Metro, I really do – for tablets. But as a desktop user, I need a consistent work flow that lets me have my windows together on my desktop and don’t want to be jerked out of that environment every time I want to start some new program."

According to Wardell, the app will allow the user to choose a custom Start button image. It will also enable quick access and searching of the user's installed programs.

Unfortunately, those currently using Microsoft's just-released Windows 8 Consumer Preview can't download the app directly from Stardock, as it's not available as of this writing. But by providing an email address, Stardock will send a link to the download once it becomes available.

For more information about the Start8 app, head here. Currently there's no indication as to when the app will be completed, so keep checking back if you don't want to be placed on the mailing list.

heatlesssun said:
Yeah, I think people are going all wacko on Metro and the Start Screen and not looking at the other advantages of Windows 8. It should perform better on equivalent hardware and a decent amount of battery life particularly with Metro apps.
You know what would be even better. Windows 8 with all the performance increases and a regular Start Menu as an option.
Now that I have a start menu, Win 8 is pretty nice.
What GUI hack did you use?
 
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I've finally figured it out!!! I get it now, I know what Microsoft is doing!


Metro UI isn't about improving the OS or improving computers, nor about turning a PC into a tablet. It's all about piracy prevention.

I know, right. Did it just click (or swipe) for you too?

What is the best way to prevent people from pirating your software? Make it so incredibly shitty that no one will even want to bother pirating it. It's genius! It's diabolical on a Steve Jobs kinda level.











This is the result of not getting enough sleep
 
I want to be the first to call this Windows Hate.
 
That's one of my complaints about it. It doesn't have the folders that the Start menu had. So, installing Visual Studio puts a dozen or so icons in there, when I'll only use a couple. Even the icons that are dumb are put in there. I'd like to see a way to have a folder that you can touch or click and it expands into the contents. A lot of times, I want one program out of 10 installed, the other 9 just take up valuable space. Yea, I could manually remove them, and it works, but it shouldn't have to take a lot of user input to keep a clean Start screen to begin with.



Those are not all the options I need



Right clicking and showing "All" apps gives me this mess:


Seriously? This is after I installed only THREE apps, and that's not even a screenshot of the entire 1920 x 1080 monitor. How is this an improvement over the old start menu again?
 
So sad. I guess i just don't read to many blogs about bitching and moaning...

So, you don't visit ANY blogs?!

There is a lot of Windows 8 hate. But, it's new, there are haters of the change. There are also a lot of trolls, too. It'll subside. Yes, there are a lot of changes. And until we get used to them, they might not be bad. They could be way more efficient in the end.

I'm using it quite a bit, and the more I get used to the new Metro UI, the more I like the whole package. It took me a bit to get used to the WP7 Metro UI, but I can't use an iPhone after the Windows Phone. It's a VERY good UI for touch. I'm still not convinced on the desktop side of things.... yet.....
 
That's one of my complaints about it. It doesn't have the folders that the Start menu had. So, installing Visual Studio puts a dozen or so icons in there, when I'll only use a couple. Even the icons that are dumb are put in there. I'd like to see a way to have a folder that you can touch or click and it expands into the contents. A lot of times, I want one program out of 10 installed, the other 9 just take up valuable space. Yea, I could manually remove them, and it works, but it shouldn't have to take a lot of user input to keep a clean Start screen to begin with.

Given the fact that this is a preview, it wouldn't be too hard for Microsoft to figure out how to take the previous start menu (which is just a collection of shortcuts in a user or public folder) and translate it into the new start screen. So for example - Office normally creates a "Microsoft Office" folder in my Start menu and fills it with links. On the new menu Win8 would simply need to create a new Group named "Microsoft Office" and put all the programs in it.

The big question is: will they do it?

I'm liking win8 the more I use it (didn't like the DP). The Start screen works well, but you have to manually move/hide/name everything. Now that I have everything in groups (with names) it works well. Most of the annoyances with the Start screen would be non-existent if every app was one of the new win8 apps, but of course they aren't (yet). So MS needs to come up with a solution to tide us over for a few years.
 
Given the fact that this is a preview, it wouldn't be too hard for Microsoft to figure out how to take the previous start menu (which is just a collection of shortcuts in a user or public folder) and translate it into the new start screen. So for example - Office normally creates a "Microsoft Office" folder in my Start menu and fills it with links. On the new menu Win8 would simply need to create a new Group named "Microsoft Office" and put all the programs in it.

The big question is: will they do it?

It looks like they are already doing that with the new Start page, the tiles are grouped under text headings. Problem is, the tiles are a lot less compact than the collapsible folder structure of the old start menu, so once you load up a few dozen apps/games/utilities/etc. along with all the associated links they install, then clicking All Apps on the start page is going to bring back a huge wall of hundreds of tiles with very limited text descriptions on them. God help you if you can't quite remember the name of that one app you're searching for.

I'm still mystified as to how this is an improvement over the old Start menu.
 
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