News - Now anyone can try Windows 8 RTM for free

[Agent]

http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/why-...ling-windows-8

I've not tried 8 since the beta, so I can't comment on the latest build, but can anyone offer thoughts on that article? exaggerated or real issues?

[blueball]

http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/why-...ling-windows-8

I've not tried 8 since the beta, so I can't comment on the latest build, but can anyone offer thoughts on that article? exaggerated or real issues?

" I think it may well be easier to alter my own birthday than to edit when it’s currently set for in the Windows 8 calendar."

pmsl


Some of what he says is off the mark (you can just alt-tab between Metro apps like any others)

Personally I think MS may have missed the boat with Win 8. I really cannot see corporate customers going for it because it will cost a fortune to retrain their staff in how to use the damn thing.

[Noxvayl]

Some of what he says is off the mark (you can just alt-tab between Metro apps like any others)

Personally I think MS may have missed the boat with Win 8. I really cannot see corporate customers going for it because it will cost a fortune to retrain their staff in how to use the damn thing.

I doubt he knows about keyboard shortcuts, just like the majority of Windows users. The experience he had with Windows 8 is probably the same experience most people will have; if you use a mouse to navigate your OS don't bother with Windows 8.

I honestly think Microsoft didn't think of corporate customers at all in development of Windows 8. I think it is purely a consumer product leaning heavily towards touch devices. I do wonder what, if anything, they'll do for corporate customers.

[Gojira]

The potential of a cheap upgrade is tempting, but I don't know if I'd want to lose the ability to revert to Win 7.

Hmm.

[Agent]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2405165,00.asp

Desktop is hit and miss by the looks of it.....server....?

[watercooled]

What? I mean, really?

[Noxvayl]

Now the only thing left to do is wait and see if all those eggs survive the trip in that lonely basket.

[Moby-Dick]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2405165,00.asp

Desktop is hit and miss by the looks of it.....server....?

Server 2012 is really quite good from what I've played with so far. Bear in mind its been made a lot easier to switch the GUI off and put the server into "core" mode. Many of the native management tools are designed for multi server management out of the box : combine this with the new feature list and you have quite a compelling product.

[Moby-Dick]

http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/why-...ling-windows-8

I've not tried 8 since the beta, so I can't comment on the latest build, but can anyone offer thoughts on that article? exaggerated or real issues?

Hugely Exaggerated - though there are a couple of good points ( eg. lack of clock in the full screen apps ) - however I have this metallic thing on my wrist called a watch so its not a huge issue.

The reviewer does seem to forget that the previous native mail clients in windows havn't been up to much either. Thats why I have outlook.

Going from windows 3.1 to 95 was quite a big shift too. Its not that really that much of a problem.

[aidanjt]

http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/why-...ling-windows-8

I've not tried 8 since the beta, so I can't comment on the latest build, but can anyone offer thoughts on that article? exaggerated or real issues?

It's really that bad. It got worse since the beta.

[aidanjt]

however I have this metallic thing on my wrist called a watch so its not a huge issue.

It doesn't have a compiler, but I can always open up a hex editor and punch in x86_64/winapi machine code so it's not a huge issue.

Just because you *can* work around a retarding operating system, it doesn't mean you should have to to begin with.

The reviewer does seem to forget that the previous native mail clients in windows havn't been up to much either. Thats why I have outlook.

Actually, I rather liked Vista's Windows Mail client. I prefer maildirs on *NIX, but it was pleasant enough to IMAP with. It really served the needs of most personal use, you could even connect it to address directories and shared calendars.

Going from windows 3.1 to 95 was quite a big shift too. Its not that really that much of a problem.

Except 3.1->95 was an advancement, not a regression.

[watercooled]

I have to agree, it's all very well saying you can disable/modify this or that, move that over there, download this...

But why the heck should we have to? Being essentially forced to create workarounds to what many consider to be a laughable attempt at a desktop GUI (let alone server) is awful.

XP > Vista was a fairly big jump, but aside from a few users who preferred to constantly have full admin access for themselves any any programs they run, AFAIK most were happy enough to put up with it while they adjusted to the modifications. And it was still fairly simple to make the UI resemble XP. The amount of people I know who actually like the 8 UI as-is resemble a tiny minority; the rest either think they can cope with some modifications/hope it will improve, while it seems the vast majority loathe it and wouldn't upgrade for free (myself included).

For some reason that link won't actually load for me, will try to get it working + have a read considering it's fine for others...

Edit: Just got it to load + had a read, and I mostly agree.

[dangel]

Christ only knows how I cope when playing games with no clock either Hilarious stuff! Yes it's exaggerated in lots of ways but there are genuine problems too it's just that it's far easier to go nuclear or make hyperbolic statements (" It got worse since the beta." seems like that aidjant - examples?). I actually agree with a lot of the more sensible statements (and i've made a fair few criticisms myself about how some stuff works) and it's a shame MS didn't put more effort into areas which are obviously pain points for the mouse-only user (closing MUI apps and switching are clunky) which seem obvious along with the minor things that aren't blockers for me but just seem odd (lack of start button and lack of automatic grouping for legacy apps on the start screen).

I don't use the windows mail client at all - it got sucked into live essentials anyway and the way I see it home users will use webmail and corporate users will use outlook/notes as per usual. I haven't really bothered with the metro email client but there's nothing preventing updates to it over the next two months or a third party client for those that really want it. I suspect the sensible option for people who do want a fully featured client is just that. I currently don't know a single home user not using webmail seeing as no software is required, it's portable and links well to their mobile devices.

XP > Vista was a fairly big jump, but aside from a few users who preferred to constantly have full admin access for themselves any any programs they run, AFAIK most were happy enough to put up with it while they adjusted to the modifications.

Vista was pretty much OK on desktops but killed laptops performance wise and the driver issues alone were far more fatal than anything in 8 - 1.5 years of BSODs from NVIDIA alone (by no means a small player) pretty much did Vista in in the eyes of end users. UI modifications are incredibly divisive whether they are for better or worse (the new start bar in 7 was hated by many even though it was obviously better) in all software. I'm quite willing to believe that 8's big UI changes (which are without doubt with fault in some areas) could cause a similar problem for the OS but i'm still on the fence as to where the masses will go with it versus enthusiasts. I think that's a shame personally as the desktop proper is really rather good and seeing how little intrusion I seem to feel from the MUI side of things in daily use for the past few months I guess i've decided to 'live with it'.

The good news is you don't have to buy it - it's really not that critical right now as 7 is perfectly serviceable for those who don't want 8 and the truth is that 9 will be out before that changes. So either stick, buy and modify to your liking or take it as is. What's the big problem?

[blueball]

One of the big killers for me is the way metro apps overflow to the right when there is more info than screen real estate.
You then have to use the scroll bar to see the extra info, the mouse wheel is now useless!!
Well done MS.

[dangel]

One of the big killers for me is the way metro apps overflow to the right when there is more info than screen real estate.
You then have to use the scroll bar to see the extra info, the mouse wheel is now useless!!
Well done MS.

For me the mouse wheel scrolls just fine! Which app?

[watercooled]

Vista/7 UI may look different but for the most part behave very similarly to XP. Driver problems were an issue, and fixing them took longer than it should have, but at least you could rely on them being fixed at some point, unlike the 8 UI which will likely remain as-is unless sales are terrible; MS probably anticipated this hence the very low expected pricing.

No, we don't have to buy it, but being MS they essentially force people to upgrade eventually because things like DX are never upgraded on a given OS, and then there's underlying improvements like the CPU scheduler (which is meant to improve BD performance but I admit I've not actually checked that yet). I just hope it's similar to Vista>7 where 8 is the expensive public beta and 9 will be the version actually worth the trouble of installing.