windows 8

[Storme]

anyone on here using Windows 8 at the moment (i am)



i am using a development version, approx. 2 versions before the rc version

seems smooth, nice, bit different

you can download it free from microsoft, but don't use it instead of your current os.

I've dual booted my pc, so i use win7 and win8.

anyone else using it ?

[Icheb]

Post some screen shots to give us (me) an idea of what it looks like

What's your PC spec and how does it cope with the resource requirements?

I'm assuming its a reasonably stable beta, otherwise you wouldn't be posting about it - so is it?

Cheers

[Storme]

http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/u...666/win8_3.png

http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/u...666/win8_2.jpg


http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/u...666/win8_1.jpg

http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/u...me666/win8.jpg

my pc has a 2500k intel quad core processor (overclocked to 4400ghz)
8gb ram
geforce gtx 560 ti graphics card
2 120gb ssd hard drives

so i don't really notice anything slowing it down.every game is maxed out.
and my windows rating (in win 7) is 7.9 on everything



win 8 seems stable, but i have not tried any games yet..that'll be the test.
also tomorrow i am going to load solidworks and cadcam

i'll keep you posted

[Icheb]

Interesting.

I assume it works best with a touch screen?

Can you post some stats of CPU load etc when you have solid works running?

I'm getting some new machines in work, in the next two weeks, with i5 CPUs (only 4 Gig RAM though) but it will give me idea of how smooth solid-works will be.

[GhostyDog]

Meh, nice toy but i'd like to see how it benefits a business.

[Icheb]

Originally Posted by GhostyDog

Meh, nice toy but i'd like to see how it benefits a business.

It won't but I doubt that its being aimed at businesses anyway. Most companies won't deploy a huge roll out of a new OS, until at least the first SP has been released. Particularly as Microsoft are also developing a new filing system as well, so IT departments will probably wait until the new Server candidate is released before investing in Windows 8.

Remember when Vista came out? Most companies continued using XP because it had finally become a stable platform.

We're only just starting to upgrade to Win 7 at work and that's only because of the hardware we'll be using.

[Storme]

hi,

your right,

it seems to me , that microsoft make every other release for home and every other for business.

win 95 was good.
win me was glossy but ****e
win xp was excellent(in the end)
vista was ****e
win 7 is great (at work and home)
win8 ? so far, imo, it is glossy and touch screen and defo a home gizmo.

[AmicusPro]

Having had a Win 7 phone since last March, I'm interested in Win 8. I'm still XP on my 2 machines here (Pro 32 bit and Pro 64 bit) though I had 7 RC on this laptop for a year. I'm currently downloading the 3 flavours to my NAS box for a rollout at some point. It will be of particular interest as my fiancee will be wanting a new laptop at some point and I'm the one who will likely choose it so need to check it's worth looking in that direction (or making the free/cheap upgrade if buying just before the changeover).

I'm also curious to look at the developer tools and see if it's something I can get into.

[NineOneSix]

Running win8 on my sisters old desktop it seems to run quite well, although not a big fan of the tile style start menu otherwise it's quite good.

[NineOneSix]

OK, autodesk inventor doesn't run on it

[harryf]

Originally Posted by NineOneSix

OK, autodesk inventor doesn't run on it

No option to run it as Win XP or 7 in the options box?

[NineOneSix]

Won't let me install it, states system OS name isn't listed and closes down.

[156Chris]

Windows 8 "jumped out" at me when I was downloading something else from my MSDN account so I thought I'd give it a go … and so far … I'm loving it, it is very snappy, it works fine without a touchscreen, can't fault it really, it really does switch quickly between apps (although I've had to get used to using the windows key excessively!!!!) ...


I haven't done anything "proper" on it yet (just email and some surfing), I'll probably install VS 2011 and create a metro app just for the hell of it.

[GhostyDog]

I have a touchscreen laptop at work and never use the touch functionality.

[156Chris]

Originally Posted by GhostyDog

I have a touchscreen laptop at work and never use the touch functionality.

Agreed, fingers aren't precise enough for work!!!! I think what I like about it, is that it has the "numpty" interface for surfing etc … but it has also got "real windows" underneath for proper work …


I agree with what you said earlier in that it isn't much use for business, but for me it really does make my laptop into a dual function device (home and work!!!) ...


We'll see though, it's still very rough round the edges and there are bits that just aren't smooth enough for a realised product but I think it is going in the write direction

[8CRED]

Just installed Windows 8 on my desktop. It's certainly a change from 7. Just had a short play with it so far but it seems to be good. Going to have to spend the weekend getting used to it.

[Dave Brand]

I've installed it on my netbook this afternoon & spent a couple of hours playing around with it. So far I'm liking it! Easy (if time-consuming!) installation, the only slight problems were a conflict with Lenovo's Bluetooth software, which had to be uninstalled - no problem as I've never used it - & having to reinstall some Kaspersky components, a five-minute job.

The desk-top's going to be a different matter though - as I'll be upgrading from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit 8 it'll have to be a full install . . . I'll wait until I've got a few days to spare!

[andye159]

I did have a bash with one of the Beta releases a little while ago. To be honest I couldn't really see the change from Win 7 on the 'desktop' style mode. And I'd probably never use the whooshy mode thing - as said before, fingers just not accurate enough and I hate using the mouse as it is.

I suspect Win 7 will be the de facto for some time to come. Certainly hope so, took me long enough to become Win 7 certified! LOL

[8CRED]

Well after a day of playing with Win8 for a day here are some thoughts.

I like the new interface - I think.

The Mail client is rubbish. You can only put an MSN or Google account on it.

The legacy apps work fine but switching back to the old desktop is strange. It will be better when Office etc remain within the new interface.

It's really annoying that the new apps all go full screen. The only option to have things Windowed has a 90/10 split. Windows without Windows is a bit weird.

I suspect the next version will be the real change. Win8 is going to be the tranistion from the old style windows to the new. Although they might want to think of a name change if you can't window things.

[GhostyDog]

Considering XP isn't out of support til April 2014 I can see a lot of businesses holding off unless they are upgrading as part of a hardware refresh at the end of lifecycle.

I have a couple of laptops both running Win 7 so will probably upgrade to 8 on one of them and see how it works with common business productivity apps.

I wonder if you can install it to a VHD and boot that from the windows boot loader like you can with 7 or if we'll have to wait for the pro version?

[Dave Brand]

Now running Windows 8 on the desktop as well. I like it!

A word of warning for anyone upgrading from an earlier 32-bit version to 64-bit 8: if you try to upgrade via your older version you'll probably get an error message saying the installation disc is not compatible with your existing software, in which case you'll need to boot from the installation disc.

[GhostyDog]

hmmm, could be tricky, I have a 64bit laptop with touchscreen (Latitude XT2) I was hoping to upgrade this to Win8 so I could make use of the full 5GB of RAM in the machine but the machine is running a 32bit Version of Windows 7 Ultimate and it has no optical drive...

Can you install from USB?

Off to do some research.

[156Chris]

Originally Posted by GhostyDog

hmmm, could be tricky, I have a 64bit laptop with touchscreen (Latitude XT2) I was hoping to upgrade this to Win8 so I could make use of the full 5GB of RAM in the machine but the machine is running a 32bit Version of Windows 7 Ultimate and it has no optical drive...

Can you install from USB?

Off to do some research.

Yes, google "windows 7 USB download tool"

[Dave Brand]

Originally Posted by GhostyDog

hmmm, could be tricky, I have a 64bit laptop with touchscreen (Latitude XT2) I was hoping to upgrade this to Win8 so I could make use of the full 5GB of RAM in the machine but the machine is running a 32bit Version of Windows 7 Ultimate and it has no optical drive...

Can you install from USB?

Off to do some research.

If you download Windows 8 from the Microsoft website you will be given the option to "create media" or some such terminology. I took that option for my netbook, saving to a USB memory stick & then installed from that - that was an upgrade from Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit to Windows 8 Pro 64-bit.

The official MS line on 32-bit to 64-bit upgrades is that you must purchase the DVD; however, I can't see why you shouldn't be able to boot from & install from a memory stick. Be aware that Windows 8 Upgrade Advisor doesn't allow you to download the 64-bit version on a machine running 32-bit & vice-versa, so you'd have to do the download on a 64-bit machine, which is no doubt the reason why they say that you must buy the DVD.

I do get the feeling that the upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit is something MS hasn't really thought through - I was on the phone to MS for 20 minutes or so yesterday before they came up with a solution to my problem, a solution which, in hindsight, is, to quote Basil Fawlty, "bleedin' obvious".

[GhostyDog]

good that they are supporting it now, with win7 crossgrading between architectures was not possible.