X220 and the Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Hey guys,
Just wanted to know if anyone else is running it on their laptops and which drivers/software from Lenovo work? I definitely get worse battery life than the default lenovo windows 7 installation, and the graphics drivers currently have that power saving feature where the contrast increases or decreases depending on the colors of the screen-there's no way to turn it off though since the intel control panel doesn't exist

One thing I noticed already is that on the lenovo win 7 installation, whenever my computer came out of sleep or just turned on, it would take 20-30 seconds for the intel 6205 wireless to indicate there was a connection and for browsing to work. Now with the stock windows 8 drivers, my connection is back almost immediately!

Is there any chance we'll get working drivers and thinkvantage software before the official windows 8 release?

 

Windows 8-optimized drivers will be released, given Lenovo's history with comparatively prompt and comprehensive driver updates. They probably won't be well-optimized until W8's imminent release, though.

 

While not 20-30sec I had this problem too, and it seems to be a relatively common issue. The solution is to go to Properties for the wifi card in Device Manager. Under the the Power Management tab untick the box that allows the device to be turned off to save power.

 

I tried that but the problem still was present, enough that it bothered me. The behavior is gone with this install of windows 8, and it's possible that the same would've happened with a windows 7 clean install. Wonder what's the real reason behind it.

 

I don't think it's a hardware issue, as same card under Linux doesn't have this issue (at least when I've tried it.) My guess is it's an issue with the Intel drivers.

 

I have Windows 7 and Windows 8 Consumer Preview installed on my X220. I had the Windows 8 Preview (or whatever it was called); I booted into that and installed the Consumer Review into that partition (which was actually on a separate SSD to Win 7).

Now
1. I get the Windows 8 Boot Manager which allows me to select Win 8 or Win 7. My Win 7 boot no longer works from this boot manager I have to hit F12 at boot time to select my Win 7 partition to boot from. (That's obviously a bug with Win 8 install because that should not have happened).
2. Win 8 boots really fast. Much faster than my optimized Win 7 boot.
3. Win 8 couldn't recognize 4 devices but when I pointed each one to my Win 7 partition in Win 8 Device Manager, every device got recognized in Win 8. So there are no device issues.

I am not enjoying Win 8 Metro interface at all though! I think it stinks for a mouse and keyboard user. It seems to be targeted ONLY at touch screen users. I will keep Win 8 installed on my laptop but will probably not even bother to install it on my desktop. Microsoft have FAILED with Win 8 for non-touch screen users...

 

I don't feel that's the case at all. There are some issues like the search requiring you to do an extra click if you want to search files, but it is absolutely not only targeted at touch screen users. I challenge you to use it for a week without going back to windows 7 and see if you still feel the same way you do right now. Using a new interface for a few hours isn't a good way to get a feel when you don't know how to do a lot of the functions!

Honestly once you understand how to bring up the task switcher by moving the mouse on the left side of the screen and the charms by doing the same on the right, it's incredibly intuitive. In fact, I find the trackpoint is even more efficient with this interface than the touchpad, mainly because of how much easier scrolling becomes.

Windows 8 Consumer Preview: Windows Key Keyboard Shortcuts these are the important keyboard shortcuts. Win key+X is the most important one for us power users. This video is pretty helpful too: Windows 8 Consumer Preview Official Demo - YouTube

All I'm saying is don't listen to the legions of idiots crying that they removed the start button and actually try to learn the interface and form your own opinion.

 

@sciencefair

OK, I admit that you make some sense. I am going to keep trying to use Win8. I have been using (and used to program) on PC's since DOS 3.3 so am very, very familiar with all the O/S's that have come from Microsoft and IBM.

A couple of things:
1. I never thought I'd have to become so aware of shortcut keys again -- haven't used shortcuts much since WordPerfect was king...
2. The Preview video that you linked to does help. It is interesting that the entire first half is done a tablet though. I think that just backs up my point that MS appears to be focusing on tablets for Win8 (and the best tablets run iOS ).
3. I have always been on the leading edge of new technologies (hardware and software) in both the corporate and home environments. That's why I have been so happy with Win 7. I sure hope MS does more for mouse and keyboard users before they release the GA version of Win8 though. Having to go the corners all the time seems like a really weird way to operate.

 

Honestly, I'm finding myself doing everything I did in windows 7 the same speed or faster now. As far as the metro interface, I don't feel that the transition between the two is jarring (it literally just is a full screen start menu, nothing more nothing less). The biggest downside are the lack of metro apps and the ones in this aren't that fully featured and need polish, but it is the consumer preview after all. Search also needs some tweaks, you can start typing when in the start screen but if you want to search for files or settings, you have to manually click to search that in the top right part of the screen.

I would also highly recommend multi-monitor users stay away for now, for some reason you can only run the metro interface on the monitor you have set as default.

As far as the whole tablet thing, I think having a unified interface will help their sales and consumer familiarity...however they need tons of metro apps for the ARM tablets or they will flounder. At the very least, I would still recommend this over an android tablet to friends and family I wasn't sure whether having desktops and tablets run the same interface was the best idea when this was unveiled, but I already feel pretty much at home. The performance increases and new features in desktop mode are also appreciated.

 

FYI. I have it installed on multi-monitor and metro is not working right.
1. You can only run metro on the default monitor (as you said). It's weird because it's acting like one monitor is on Win 8 and the other is on Win 7...
2. The top left corner functionality is not working right; have to spend some more time on that..
3. I have Windows task bars (duplicates) on BOTH monitors. EDIT: There is a setting to turn this off (which I have done now).

 

Yeah it's bad. I know for a fact that there are a lot of multi-monitor users working at microsoft so I would hope they help to make it a less miserable experience. I'll give them a pass for the consumer preview as there's still months of work left to be done, but if the final version has the same functionality that will be completely unacceptable.

 

there are a few great multiple monitor managers out there, such as Ultramon
it gives you a lot more control over the taskbars, wallpapers, and a few nifty hotkeys too

 

@davv
Tried many multiple monitor managers over the years. Only one I'm using now is one that puts a different wallpaper on each display.

@sciencefair
I think I've found what I need for my desktop PC.

A Windows 8 app that puts the Start menu on the desktop! Stardock is scheduled to release the free Start8 this week.

 

Interesting. I find that I don't need the Start Orb though. I just press the Windows key+F on the keyboard and type away. Or go back to the start screen and click on the application I want to use....

 

I'm running Win 8 Consumer Preview as my only O/S on the X220 (and on my desktop too).

Everything (yes, everything) seems to be working on the X220 except for the fingerprint reader. Wondered if anyone had that working? I have the latest "ThinkVantage Fingerprint Software 5.9.5" that shows up in Control Panel. When I run it, I get "Fingerprint Software. Arithmetic operation resulted in an overflow. (Error Code: FFFFFFFF)".

FYI. Some Win 8 updates have downloaded automatically and Lenovo's "Update Retriever" still works to download Lenovo's Wireless drivers, Intel LAN, Intel HD graphics, etc. All those updates are working just fine...

EDIT: Fixed the problem with FPR.
1. Uninstalled ThinkVantage Fingerprint Software
2. Ran Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Biometric Devices. This allowed me to enroll my fingerprint and it is working successfully.