First Windows 8 Update Halfway Done

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I know, I know, these are rumors from "a couple sources" but, for the most part, ol' Mary Jo usually gets pretty reliable info.

The Windows team at Microsoft just completed the first milestone build (M1) of Windows Blue, the first full-fledged update to Windows 8, according to a couple of sources of mine. One of my contacts said that M1 marks the halfway point in the Windows Blue development schedule. The last and final milestone build of Windows Blue will be M2, said this contact, who requested anonymity.
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I was going to move my lower end laptop to Windows 8, but decided on Linux instead. The desktops environments and window managers have matured alot since the late 90's when I last used them. :p With steam and indie games coming to Linux hopefully it gains more traction.
 
Is this the new way to identify a service pack? Or another completely separate OS that we have to pay for?
 
I liked Red better than White or Blue in the three colors trilogy.
 
PornoSatan said:
I was going to move my lower end laptop to Windows 8, but decided on Linux instead. The desktops environments and window managers have matured alot since the late 90's when I last used them. :p With steam and indie games coming to Linux hopefully it gains more traction.
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Ubuntu crashed and drivers were burned when I tried loading the latest official AMD drivers. Steam installer crashed. Touchscreen drivers are bad as well.

Linux *is* the lower-end :rolleyes:

Just give me my Windows 8 :cool:
 
Terminus said:
Ubuntu crashed and drivers were burned when I tried loading the latest official AMD drivers. Steam installer crashed. Touchscreen drivers are bad as well.

Linux *is* the lower-end :rolleyes:

Just give me my Windows 8 :cool:
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Funny I had no problem with ubuntu or steam.

And Linux is free (although I feel the need to do donate a little bit here and there).
 
I'd like to know if they've created an efficiently usable interface for their new operating system. Mac OS has a 'dock' on the same screen that you work, this other operating system had a 'start menu', various flavours of *nix have GUI's with menus... Windows 8 though, it has this stupid page with 'tiles' that you have to slide around to find what you're looking for.
 
Terminus said:
Ubuntu crashed and drivers were burned when I tried loading the latest official AMD drivers. Steam installer crashed. Touchscreen drivers are bad as well.

Linux *is* the lower-end :rolleyes:
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Open source drivers work better on AMD machines. If the AMD drivers failed, then that's AMD's fault. Also touchscreen drivers? Who uses a touchscreen for anything but a tablet?

If the update to Windows 8 made Metro optional and gave me back my start button, I'd upgrade. Something besides 3rd party hacks. But at this rate, Ubuntu may become my new OS of choice.
 
Ashbringer said:
Open source drivers work better on AMD machines. If the AMD drivers failed, then that's AMD's fault. Also touchscreen drivers? Who uses a touchscreen for anything but a tablet?

If the update to Windows 8 made Metro optional and gave me back my start button, I'd upgrade. Something besides 3rd party hacks. But at this rate, Ubuntu may become my new OS of choice.
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The "3rd party hacks" work exceptionally well. You have obviously never used them so why is your opinion about them valid at all?
 
urbanriot said:
I'd like to know if they've created an efficiently usable interface for their new operating system. Mac OS has a 'dock' on the same screen that you work, this other operating system had a 'start menu', various flavours of *nix have GUI's with menus... Windows 8 though, it has this stupid page with 'tiles' that you have to slide around to find what you're looking for.
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So go to the desktop..... pin applications to the start bar.... gotta love all the people still crying about this... mountains out of mole hills....
 
I liked everything about Windows 8 except how it prefers to be in Metro and I prefer to be on the desktop most of the time. Stardock's Start8 fixed that issue and so I really like Windows 8 now. I like the consolidation of the Task Manager with msconfig and a number of other things. There are myriad other things that I like over Windows 7 but they are mostly nice shortcuts and other functionality.
 
Eisenblut said:
The "3rd party hacks" work exceptionally well. You have obviously never used them so why is your opinion about them valid at all?
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Cause it's a hack? I mean they work, but will likely conflict with something. An update through Windows could likely break them at some point.
 
ComputerBox34 said:
Is this the new way to identify a service pack? Or another completely separate OS that we have to pay for?
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Yes, this is the new service pack. WSE (Windows Sustained Engineering) is creating Blue - the same team that have delivered service packs in the past while the group that created the main OS moved on to the next major version. Example WSE created Windows 7 Service Pack 1.

Microsoft's strategy here is getting away from the Service Pack model which locked them into a "supported until" commitment. Its a clear sign that dont like the fact they extended the life of XP, Win7, etc and companies are able to avoid Windows 8 because of it.
 
^ Curse you, lack of edit button. As an example for previous post, it was recently announced that Windows 7 RTM support was ending. However Windows 7 with SP1 and its got a new "supported until" date.

This is precisely why Windows 7 SP2 was cancelled -- it had been in development according to MS insiders, then shitcanned.

Another in a long line of anti-consumer moves by Microsoft that really only benefits them, while at the same time trying to sell it as new and improved Tide like its somehow good for consumers, with the whole "accelerated yearly updates" nonsense.
 
Good i stocked up on 4 copies of windows 8 for 15 dollars a pop when i could even though only 2 computers, HTPC and labtop previously running vista were upgraded.
 
people use windows 8 by choice?

everybody I know is still buying what ever windows 7 they can find.
 
PornoSatan said:
I was going to move my lower end laptop to Windows 8, but decided on Linux instead. The desktops environments and window managers have matured alot since the late 90's when I last used them. :p With steam and indie games coming to Linux hopefully it gains more traction.
Click to expand...

Same here. My memories of linux were the old Slackware days, playing with the 2.0.33 kernel and stuff. I was 11 years old or something like that. It rocked back then, but one day I realized that I didn't want to spend a week getting a printer to work.

Last week I decided to get Ubuntu and put it on a old P4 631 I have. It's not as fast as I have expected, but it's a lot more useable. Even my wife - who knows how to use a computer no problem, but isn't a tech by any means - wanted to use it.
 
Eisenblut said:
The "3rd party hacks" work exceptionally well. You have obviously never used them so why is your opinion about them valid at all?
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They do. I use it on my Win8 machine. But seriously, wouldn't be nice if they just give us the option to choose? Without extra software and all, something I could set on my clients' computers and they wouldn't feel I'm hacking the software to make it work.
 
odditory said:
^ Curse you, lack of edit button. As an example for previous post, it was recently announced that Windows 7 RTM support was ending. However Windows 7 with SP1 and its got a new "supported until" date.

This is precisely why Windows 7 SP2 was cancelled -- it had been in development according to MS insiders, then shitcanned.

Another in a long line of anti-consumer moves by Microsoft that really only benefits them, while at the same time trying to sell it as new and improved Tide like its somehow good for consumers, with the whole "accelerated yearly updates" nonsense.
Click to expand...

Well, seeing that Apple does it all the time and have a cult following, not to mention a bunch of cocksuckers for its holy share price, I can see why they're doing this.

Why would you side with the consumers when they are flocking to the company that does everything to screw them?

That said, I understand why they are doing it, but I don't agree. Yay for Linux, seems that my teenage days weren't wasted after all :D
 
Biznatch said:
So go to the desktop..... pin applications to the start bar.... gotta love all the people still crying about this... mountains out of mole hills....
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It's OUR Mountain so leave us TF alone :)
 
Biznatch said:
So go to the desktop..... pin applications to the start bar.... gotta love all the people still crying about this... mountains out of mole hills....
Click to expand...

A full screen menu that manages to be less functional than the start menu is not a molehill. It was a retarded design decision to force it on desktop users, it looks bad and it disrupts the workflow.

I get the impression that they forced it because they need to populate their app store more than anything.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
A full screen menu that manages to be less functional than the start menu is not a molehill. It was a retarded design decision to force it on desktop users, it looks bad and it disrupts the workflow.

I get the impression that they forced it because they need to populate their app store more than anything.
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But, but, but...it's shiny!
 
Eisenblut said:
I liked everything about Windows 8 except how it prefers to be in Metro and I prefer to be on the desktop most of the time. Stardock's Start8 fixed that issue and so I really like Windows 8 now. I like the consolidation of the Task Manager with msconfig and a number of other things. There are myriad other things that I like over Windows 7 but they are mostly nice shortcuts and other functionality.
Click to expand...

you have the acquisition of SysInternals to thank for the Task Manager in win7 and win8. Prior to being acquired they made THE task manager to have for XP, Process Explorer.

they also make a ton of other useful tools, check them out: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals
 
Terminus said:
Ubuntu crashed and drivers were burned when I tried loading the latest official AMD drivers. Steam installer crashed. Touchscreen drivers are bad as well.

Linux *is* the lower-end :rolleyes:

Just give me my Windows 8 :cool:
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I'm not sure if that is a Linux problem, a proprietary vendor problem, or a pebkac.

What exactly did you do?

What you should'nt do:
1) Use a pre HD5xxx card with an Ubuntu newer than 12.04
2) Use a pre HD5xxx card with radeon binary drivers -- use the fglrx-legacy drivers
3) Use Steam with stock radeon OSS driver (it may work but VERY slowly)
4) Use touchscreen on a pc. Ugh.
 
bigted said:
you have the acquisition of SysInternals to thank for the Task Manager in win7 and win8. Prior to being acquired they made THE task manager to have for XP, Process Explorer.

they also make a ton of other useful tools, check them out: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals
Click to expand...
Yeah, I still use Process Explorer though, because you can split out all cores and hyperthreads and see them separately.
 
Ashbringer said:
Open source drivers work better on AMD machines. If the AMD drivers failed, then that's AMD's fault. Also touchscreen drivers? Who uses a touchscreen for anything but a tablet?

If the update to Windows 8 made Metro optional and gave me back my start button, I'd upgrade. Something besides 3rd party hacks. But at this rate, Ubuntu may become my new OS of choice.
Click to expand...

If your not able to work around the Metro interface in Win8, I would not recomend Ubuntu or any Linux distro as your next choice.
 
Blue = Windows 8 SP1
Windows 8 = Windows 7 SP2
Windows 7 = Windows Vista SP3

Microsoft forgot how to make a new OS somewhere around April 28, 2009...

Blue is a return to the Windows XP Service Pack style, that introduces new features to an OS, like WinXP SP2. The difference this time round, is that Microsoft are opting for the same system of extracting money from it's customers, as Apple does with OSX .1 updates.
 
You guys do know what windows blue is?

Its not really a service pack its a content delivery system. Its so you can sign up to their services and pay them monthly.
 
IMO, the only real update to Windows 8 should be called Windows 7 SP2. ...in regards to non-touchscreen systems. I've not used W8 on a touchscreen device yet, but I can see how the Metro tiled interface would be quite user-friendly. I've tried Windows XP tablet edition and Windows 7 on an touchscreen all in one PC, and I'll take the keyboard and mouse, tyvm.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
A full screen menu that manages to be less functional than the start menu is not a molehill. It was a retarded design decision to force it on desktop users, it looks bad and it disrupts the workflow.

I get the impression that they forced it because they need to populate their app store more than anything.
Click to expand...

http://xkcd.com/1172/

That's all I hear from people crying about the move from a start menu to a start screen.

You don't like live tiles? Disable them
Don't like the metro apps? Delete them, and only install desktop apps
Want an apple-like dock? Pin to the taskbar
Need something not pinned on start screen? Start typing to search, just like the 7 menu


Yes you really are making mountains here... A drill down menu is not more efficient than the start screen. Anyone that drills down to the application has a stupid workflow anyway. If you need access frequently it should be pinned to somethig. If you use something sporatically, it should be searched for. You can't get more efficient than that, and 8 is the same as 7 in that aspect.
 
Ashbringer said:
Open source drivers work better on AMD machines. If the AMD drivers failed, then that's AMD's fault. Also touchscreen drivers? Who uses a touchscreen for anything but a tablet?

If the update to Windows 8 made Metro optional and gave me back my start button, I'd upgrade. Something besides 3rd party hacks. But at this rate, Ubuntu may become my new OS of choice.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't you say Gnome or KDE or Unity is a third party hack for Linux as well?
 
Eisenblut said:
I liked everything about Windows 8 except how it prefers to be in Metro and I prefer to be on the desktop most of the time. Stardock's Start8 fixed that issue and so I really like Windows 8 now. I like the consolidation of the Task Manager with msconfig and a number of other things. There are myriad other things that I like over Windows 7 but they are mostly nice shortcuts and other functionality.
Click to expand...

I love the built in ISO support the most. I've made several copies of my CDs and DVDs on a hard drive, and now it's easy for me to access them with no external applications.
 
Biznatch said:
http://xkcd.com/1172/

That's all I hear from people crying about the move from a start menu to a start screen.

You don't like live tiles? Disable them
Don't like the metro apps? Delete them, and only install desktop apps
Want an apple-like dock? Pin to the taskbar
Need something not pinned on start screen? Start typing to search, just like the 7 menu


Yes you really are making mountains here... A drill down menu is not more efficient than the start screen. Anyone that drills down to the application has a stupid workflow anyway. If you need access frequently it should be pinned to somethig. If you use something sporatically, it should be searched for. You can't get more efficient than that, and 8 is the same as 7 in that aspect.
Click to expand...

I think the big outcry is because we shouldn't have to modify a damn thing to get Windows 8 to be a bit more user friendly without a touch screen. There should have been an option built in so that we can choose between the touchscreen tailored interface or a full blown desktop with start button to use as a default. You like W8 and that's fine, but I really feel you are in the minority camp since the outcry over W8 has been ongoing for quite some time. Hell, key individuals at Microsoft were fired after W8 released...that tells me that Metro was a gamble and it largely failed.
 
kmoed said:
If your not able to work around the Metro interface in Win8, I would not recomend Ubuntu or any Linux distro as your next choice.
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To work around Unity, I simply install a different UI, or a distro with a different UI.

Ubuntu --> Unity
Xubuntu --> XFCE
Kubuntu --> KDE

I have my choices, and I use Mint 14 with Cinnamon. Though you could just get Ubuntu and then install Cinnamon as well. Even Mint has it's selection of UI's as well.

Azhar said:
Wouldn't you say Gnome or KDE or Unity is a third party hack for Linux as well?
Click to expand...
You say the word hack, like you know what it means. Linux isn't Windows or Mac OSX. If people use a different UI, then that's simply a choice. Like on Android when you use a different Launcher.

By your logic, installing FireFox on a Windows PC would be considered a hack.
 
Ashbringer said:
To work around Unity, I simply install a different UI, or a distro with a different UI.

Ubuntu --> Unity
Xubuntu --> XFCE
Kubuntu --> KDE

I have my choices, and I use Mint 14 with Cinnamon. Though you could just get Ubuntu and then install Cinnamon as well. Even Mint has it's selection of UI's as well.


You say the word hack, like you know what it means. Linux isn't Windows or Mac OSX. If people use a different UI, then that's simply a choice. Like on Android when you use a different Launcher.

By your logic, installing FireFox on a Windows PC would be considered a hack.
Click to expand...

You're justifying your rant against the Start screen UI. I get that not everyone likes it. But Start8 or StarIsBack or Classic Shell are just programs and enhancements. That's all it is. A hack would be having to go into the registry and somehow disable Start screen and re-enable the classic Start menu because the option isn't readily there in Control Panel or anywhere.

You work around Unity, a default UI, by installing another UI. It's not different from installing Start8. Like Gnome and KDE, Start8 and the likes are just third party enhancement to a UI (or the lack of it).

Don't get me wrong, I DO wish the option to re-enable Start menu and turn off Start screen is available by Microsoft - not for my use (I'm ok with Start screen), but because new laptops I'm ordering for our company all comes with Windows 8 Professional now and there's a couple of people who wishes for the old menu.
 
DejaWiz said:
I think the big outcry is because we shouldn't have to modify a damn thing to get Windows 8 to be a bit more user friendly without a touch screen. There should have been an option built in so that we can choose between the touchscreen tailored interface or a full blown desktop with start button to use as a default. You like W8 and that's fine, but I really feel you are in the minority camp since the outcry over W8 has been ongoing for quite some time. Hell, key individuals at Microsoft were fired after W8 released...that tells me that Metro was a gamble and it largely failed.
Click to expand...


Really? So your complaint is it should be what you want out of the box or else it sucks? These are minor customizations to tailor the OS (start screen) to how you want. I have to do the same thing with a fresh install of windows 7... No OS is perfect out of the box, but at least you have the option to customize it yourself.

And obviously it has to suck if people complain right? Because 90% of the complaints I see are from forum parrots that have spent little to no time on the OS. Yet they continue to spam every windows 8 post with rants about how much it sucks and MS failed. Most of the bitching can be boiled down to change. It doesn't matter what change MS made, there would still be an 'outcry' of how shitty MS is for making the change.
 
DejaWiz said:
I think the big outcry is because we shouldn't have to modify a damn thing to get Windows 8 to be a bit more user friendly without a touch screen. There should have been an option built in so that we can choose between the touchscreen tailored interface or a full blown desktop with start button to use as a default. You like W8 and that's fine, but I really feel you are in the minority camp since the outcry over W8 has been ongoing for quite some time. Hell, key individuals at Microsoft were fired after W8 released...that tells me that Metro was a gamble and it largely failed.
Click to expand...



*Forgot to add this to my previous post, and I can't edit.

I made these changes on my surface pro as well. So this is not something you have to do to make the start screen more "non-touch friendly". It's extra customization you need to do on a new OS.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
A full screen menu that manages to be less functional than the start menu is not a molehill. It was a retarded design decision to force it on desktop users, it looks bad and it disrupts the workflow.
Click to expand...

This argument about disruption of workflow with the full screen Start Screen isn't one of strange arguments against the Start Screen I think because the purpose of either the Start Menu or Start Screen is to indeed move away from what one is doing, Both Start methods inherently disrupt workflow though I can understand being able to still see most of a screen as less disruptive.

DeathFromBelow said:
I get the impression that they forced it because they need to populate their app store more than anything.
Click to expand...

The primary purpose of the Start Screen is to allow easy launching of applications via touch. Yes the Start Screen needs improvement to make it more flexible, manageable and more desktop friendly but if the future of Windows is for it to be on more and more tablets while conventional device numbers remain flat I think it makes sense to have a single UI that works with whatever input method, I don't think that that's impossible particularly if there are devices like Surface that support both desktop and tablet usage simultaneously.
 
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