Windows 8 (Consumer Preview): Don't Be Afraid; My Results

[TAFKAT]

Originally Posted by Marcus909

Why circumnavigate it? Whats wrong with putting your DAWs as tiles?

Personally, I almost never use the start menu in Windows 7. All my most used apps and folders (jump lists under the 'Computer' icon) are pinned to the taskbar... if I need an app that isn't pinned on the taskbar I just hit the Windows key and type in the first 2 or 3 letters then hit enter.

Because I personally despise the whole idea of the tiles in the first place, to each their own !

I personally run a super clean desktop , My Computer / Recycle Bin, thats it, the last thing I want is a desktop full of icons let alone large tiles , I am on a desktop not a phone/tablet.

Re - Windows key, search, etc, more power to you, for systems with few applications I hit start ( I use a custom classic start menu ) and the shortcuts are in the main menu , extra programs are grouped into appropriate sub menu's, Audio Application/Media applications, etc

Super fast , easy , convenient, and aesthetically pleasing.

On operating systems prior to Win7 I used Quick launch, but even tho you can hack that back in, its glitchy on Win7+, so I don't use it.

For systems with larger number of applications like my Office / Internet / Media / Graphics, etc system, I use Object Dock.

So what does all of the above prove, nothing past we both have our own preferences.

We can go around in circles about the personal Pro's / Cons , but its simple for me, Metro is not how I prefer to navigate my desktop operating system - nor any of my clients / tech colleagues I have approached with the subject- and M.S is imposing a new and unnecessary GUI many of us despise. So if I am to move not only my personal systems to Win8( not likely) or my clients systems later this year if M.S is idiotic enough to pull the Win7 OEM licenses , I want to ensure that Metro is not only out of site, but totally disabled if possible.

Zephonic,

As I noted, getting to the desktop is only 1/2 of it.

BTW: If Apple pulled something like this I doubt the Apple fraternity would be welcoming it with open arms.., ohhh , on second thought...., hmmm, Nahhh, I won't go there... LOL !

FWIW: In a previous post I mentioned Ubuntu getting a similar reaction when they imposed Unity on their end users , difference being there continues to be development on alternatives for those that prefer a conventional desktop - Linux Deepin is one I am looking at hopping back onboard with.

[CoolColJ]

Just ran the newer Windows 8 preview on Oracle VirtualBox and it's a lot nicer now.... not bad.... but Metro still feels tacked on

[zephonic]

Originally Posted by TAFKAT

Zephonic,

As I noted, getting to the desktop is only 1/2 of it.

BTW: If Apple pulled something like this I doubt the Apple fraternity would be welcoming it with open arms.., ohhh , on second thought...., hmmm, Nahhh, I won't go there... LOL !

FWIW: In a previous post I mentioned Ubuntu getting a similar reaction when they imposed Unity on their end users , difference being there continues to be development on alternatives for those that prefer a conventional desktop - Linux Deepin is one I am looking at hopping back onboard with.

I dunno, I got into Ubuntu with 11.04 when Unity had already matured. It works and looks fine, pretty much like every other OS. What don't you like about it?

As for Apple, they continually ditch the tried and tested in favor of the new and supposedly improved. That's their MO, no legacy stuff, ever. It can be disconcerting for devs and longtime users, but given their success it would appear that their MO is the right one for them.

[norbury brook]

just loaded windows 8 onto my new laptop. Whatever they've done with the fonts/graphics etc is great. The whole GUI is so crisp and sharp compared to the win7 partition,very nice indeed I'd upgrade just for this.


MC

[TAFKAT]

Originally Posted by zephonic

I dunno, I got into Ubuntu with 11.04 when Unity had already matured. It works and looks fine, pretty much like every other OS. What don't you like about it?

But that is your personal opinion and preference, you also don't have any reference for comparison to the standard Gnome GUI that I and many others still prefer, so you can't compare.

As for Apple, they continually ditch the tried and tested in favor of the new and supposedly improved. That's their MO, no legacy stuff, ever.

?

The fundamental OSX GUI/navigation hasn't changed since its inception.

This is drifting off topic, back to Windows 8.

Originally Posted by norbury brook

Whatever they've done with the fonts/graphics etc is great. The whole GUI is so crisp and sharp compared to the win7 partition,very nice indeed I'd upgrade just for this.

They bailed the majority of the Aero crap... !!

On to the custom V.S's...

[norbury brook]

well its still transparent like Aero, but everything is sharp and defined,very nice indeed. For the first time I might not bother using my own theme


Just waiting for my crucial SSD and 16 gigs of ram to arrive fro my latop and I'll be rocking

Oh and I'm going to drop a quad in it when I sell my current 15 inch envy.....mmmmm quad Sandybridge


MC

[TAFKAT]

Originally Posted by norbury brook

well its still transparent like Aero, but everything is sharp and defined,very nice indeed. For the first time I might not bother using my own theme

Have a read up, its kind of Aero Lite from what I gathered , the transparency is there if you want it, but a lot of the blurring, shadows, etc are gone. Thats what gives it the sharpness.

Re the overall aesthetic appeal of the W8 VS, hmmm, are we looking at the same thing ?

I can't bare to look at it either way ..., it will be gone before it goes live for me.

Anyhooo,

I digress.

[mattiasnyc]

Just curious Vin, and I don't want to argue your preference but rather functionality:

Originally Posted by TAFKAT

Re - Windows key, search, etc, more power to you, for systems with few applications I hit start ( I use a custom classic start menu ) and the shortcuts are in the main menu , extra programs are grouped into appropriate sub menu's, Audio Application/Media applications, etc

Super fast , easy , convenient, and aesthetically pleasing.

On operating systems prior to Win7 I used Quick launch, but even tho you can hack that back in, its glitchy on Win7+, so I don't use it.

For systems with larger number of applications like my Office / Internet / Media / Graphics, etc system, I use Object Dock.

If you hit start first and then select your program from the start menu, possibly going through a sub-menu, how many steps are you really saving compared to going to the start-page in W8?

And as for "systems with larger number of applications", could/would you still not use "Object Dock" - and if you would, then what's the functional difference?

Again, not arguing your aesthetic preferences, they're personal so whatever floats our respective boats... just curious about the actual functional impact here...

[TAFKAT]

Originally Posted by mattiasnyc

...not arguing your aesthetic preferences, they're personal so whatever floats our respective boats... just curious about the actual functional impact here...

Hey Matt,

The functionality for the various quick launch of applications is all pretty much the same, whether its pinned to the root directory of the Start Menu / Taskbar , Object Dock, Tiles, etc

Look its simple, for those that are happy with the Metro GUI approach, and/or want to upgrade to Win8, more power to them , I'm just not feeling it , nor are the vast majority of my colleagues. I am starting to sound like a broken record , so I'll just bow out from here on in. I'll continue to do my R&D and get some clear indication of the under bonnet improvements ( if any ), and then make a call from there when the time comes.

Carry On..

[Leevi]

Windows 8 is ready.

Microsoft confirms Windows 8 has hit RTM - Neowin

[phas3d]

Where's the start button???

[triplizard]

Originally Posted by Bassmankr

Windows 8 is getting a big thumbs down from the computer techie community. Here is a link to their discusion about it and the reasons they feel it's better to skip it.

Windows 8 Release Preview Download - [H]ard|Forum

Hmmm...not sure that's a great summary. I think there are SOME "core PC" users who are having a tough time with the Metro interface and are griping loudly about it. From a tech POV (beyond the interface) everything I've seen about it has been quite positive - no big concerns and some decent performance improvements here and there.

I've used the Metro quite a bit - it takes a little getting used to but it's not a big deal IMHO, and there are some nice advantages to it. I think in the very near future the regular laptop that most people carry around will replaced with the Surface Pro or a convertable (flip the screen over to use as a tablet) and Windows is simply recognizing and dealing with that. Not surprisingly, a lot in the PC tech community are people who started building their own PC's back in the Win 3.1 or 95 days and like the desktop pretty much the way it is. Some of them are pissed that MS is sort of forcing the Metro interface on them.

[CoolColJ]

One behaviour that bugs me in Windows 7, which wasn't in XP, is when you try and double click on a file name that is half showing on the far right of a folder, the whole folder shifts to the left to display the filename of this half shown file, instead of launching it!!!!!

I checked Windows 8 CP, and it still has this behaviour - WHY MS, WHY!?!!

[B-San]

One thing I hate about Windows 7 is that you no longer can view the sample rate & bit depth of a wave file by right clicking on it.. It only tells you the Kbps of it as if it's some sort of hi-def MP3 wtf....