Windows 8: The Thread

I like it. It's one less thing to download. OS X has had pdf support via Preview for years, it's about time Windows users have the same support out of the box. Some of those alternatives don't work well either. I have trouble with Foxit and UAC, and while Sumatra was ok, there was some other issues I've had.

I hear you. I feel like, for a lot of "us", we'll switch to the old (windows 7 look) interface as soon as we install 8, making it a lot less of a appealing upgrade.

Then again, they might change that classic ui as well...we just don't know yet.

 

Unfortunately, I think I'll go with OSX.

 

I'm sorry if I have missed this particular thing somewhere in the last 6 pages but, does anyone here run Windows 8 as their main system at the moment?

I'm very tempted and will probably do so as soon as the public beta is released.
(used to run windows7 from early beta all the way to final)

But Im very interested to hear peoples experience so far?

 

Well... Apple made a huuuge deal about that you can now MAXIMIZE windows!!! in OSX LION... so don't be hard on Microsoft, it's all the same.

 

I have read that microsoft will implement some kind of xbox 360 emulator on windows 8, is that any way close to reality or is just an odd fake?

I also read that our privacy will drop again with windows 8, but I could not grasp way, again, is this a rumor or the sad truth?

 

I could see the piracy rumor being true seeing as it be kind of hard to install windows on tablet that may only have 1 usb port. Just look at all the steps/trouble(well if you goofed up something) people take to root, or jailbreak their phones.

 

well honestly I won't mind piracy protection at all, I just fear that we get even more monitored than we already are...

 

I wonder what version Windows 8 will be. If it will be considered 7.0 or 6.2. To my understanding, Vista was Windows 6.0 and checking the winver.exe, it shows Windows 7 SP1 Pro as Windows 6.1. Which I kind of find funny.

 

why? the two are very similar and longhorn (vista) was not ready when it was out...

Seven actually is what Vista should have been!

 

Perhaps some kind of antitrust lawsuit like the Media Player Case was.

 

Well, yeah, that is unfortunate for you. So why are you doing that?

Nothing funny about it. Windows 7 is Vista with some slight interface modifications. It is Vista 1.1. That's not a slight, I might add. Contrary to popular opinion, there was never anything wrong with Vista, as you can see with Vista 1.1, uhmm, Windows 7.

 

Hear, hear Pirx. I never had any issues with my Vista laptop nor my Windows 7 laptop. I figured it was all just overblown issues from a certain group of people and the sheeple followed suite.

 

Are we pretending that there weren't changes to the kernel for 7? And that there aren't already changes to the kernel for 8?

Anyways, Vista got tons of hate... and there were issues... that's just a fact. The service packs for Vista have solved these issues.

 

I don't think people realise how many changes there were from Vista to Windows7 on a lot of levels... barely any visually but to the Kernel they worlds apart.

 

The last build that i've tested 7989 x64 works great but i'm very disappointed for the startup animation i can't find a connection between microsoft/pc and the fish

 

I suppose that might be a fair assessment. I didn't start using Vista until mid 2008.

 

Windows 7 betaversion also had Siamese fighting fish wallpaper. I only saw a glimpse of Win8 wallpaper on some photo but the fish looked similar

 

I'm really looking forward to Eight

 

It's nicknamed the betafish, which is why its there. It has changed in the latest internal build, so there will be a more classic windows logo for startup soon.

 

Another Vista supporter...somewhat. My perception was dimmed this fall when I had to install Windows Vista (from a clean Dell disk with no SP's) onto my laptop. Things went well but the moment I tried to update it....everything fell apart.

It wen't into a blue screen loop.

I installed Ubuntu after the 3rd time.

When it was on my laptop originally, I will say that my Vista experience was perfect. No problems whatsoever. One can feel the performance difference and code optimizations between Windows Vista and 7 though. It's measurable perception wise IMO.

 

Native USB 3.0 Support Coming to Windows 8

 

Is there any info on how ARM support is going to work? Will it be similar to how Windows currently works, or will it move to like the Windows Phone model(i.e. you can only have it on devices that came with it from the factory so to speak). I ask because I just recently purchased the 32gb Touchpad during the fire sale that is going on and would be very curious how Window 8 for ARM is going to work.

 

Improving our file management basics: copy, move, rename, and delete

 

Well that's nice at least.

 

Now, this are GOOD news!

 

That sounds great. It's nice they update us with new stuff.

 

I wonder what the up button haters will say if that button will stay in the finished version..

 

The improving file management doesn't improves much unfortunately. When Windows 8 developers start to think about interface consistency? In file move conflict resolution they put checkboxes instead of makings us be able to select by shift/ctrl ! So if i want to select 40 of 60 to delete i will have to put a check in 40 of them?

 

That's a lot of conflict.


But, I see the problem another would be to enlarge both images to compare which the user wants to keep.



Also the color should have been grey for pause not yellow.(it's not really a issue but...)

 

There's actually a dialog before that one that works like 7 and Vista's. The video explains it.

You're right though, the checkbox window is a mess...they need to rework that ASAP.

 

Come on, it's not even a beta version yet, what do you expect?

 

Completely agree.

They still have many months before the official release. They will change a lot of things for sure.

 

Preview support for PDFs has existed since XP. Foxit and UAC problems are just localized. Hardly objective there.


All this talk about adding in PDF viewer and other features that exist through third party software is kind of out of context.


People don't remember back when Microsoft included all sorts of free features in their OS. MP3 Player (Real Player) and IE(Netscape) anyone? Recently, they tried to include Microsoft Security Essential with the OS.

What always happens? People sue because it's "unfair."

I think people need to wrap their heads around the fact that we, us, people are in the way of innovation. Change is tough.

Just look at the Silverlight forums when they announced the Metro desktop UI was HTML and Javascript. While I agree Silverlight is far and away a better platform than HTML + Javascript, this is the right move for a consumer OS.

 

Designing the Windows 8 file name collision experience

 

Seems that everyone(Linus is complaining about GNOME 3 as well) is following Apple(which is not a compliment)

Metadata adjectives were emphasized. Rather than requiring users to compare values like file size, using words like “Larger” gave users the right summary.


and using '2 days older'. I would much prefer giving me that actual detail as whenever I see things like this, I need to go through a mental translation of '2 days older' means '2 days older than the one I am copying' then need to check both date !

 

You do know they ditched that part right? They'll instead put the file size that's larger in bold font, due to how the earlier idea and the current one cliniced in usability studies.

 

When is the first beta/developer release so I can hop on the partner page and download it.

 

There will most likely be a CTP or Beta given to those who attend the "Build" Conference (formally the Professional Developers Conference) in September. They are also recieving a Windows Slate to develop Windows 8 HTML 5/Javascript Applications on from what I've heard. We will likely see a Beta in January for the normal beta testers.

 

Yes, they did think it was a good idea and between the lines, he seems to be not too convinced but luckily they have some sane testers.

 

Any new impressions with Windows Eight running on Tablets?

 

KDE 4's FileCopy

 

I just vomited in my mouth.

 

My next laptop's display will be 9:16!

 

Finally the top menu bar does something useful.

There is a Windows 8 thread already.

 

linuxwanabe:

They bring even more features to Explorer with more options for customizing just like in XP and all you can do is whine? Did you even read the article?

You can keep the ribbon collapsed and you get something that looks like W7.

As an alternative to the ribbon, you can use the QAT, which is optional:

A lot of drama going on here, long before even beta is released.

 

Windows 8 File Manager thread has been combined with the main Windows 8 Thread to merge relevant discussion.

Yeah, I actually like the changes--Microsoft is getting smarter about managing screen real estate, with continual improvements to the Ribbon interface. Added to the various file management improvements, and Windows Explorer is becoming much more versatile, while maintaining usability for basic users. Most of the time, though, I'd probably keep the ribbon minimized.

I wonder if Microsoft has considered increased Ribbon flexibility to allow users to move it to either side of the screen. That'd be a better choice on 16:9 widescreens.

The up arrow and the new keyboard shortcuts would be very useful additions.

EDIT:
On a slightly off-topic note, their analysis of what screen resolutions are used in Windows 7 computers is very interesting (and a bit disappointing: >40% of W7 machines are 1366x768! Among laptops, that number would probably be even higher). At least it shows that Microsoft is well aware of the shift in the PC industry:

 

Almost every laptop size is 1366 * 768, sadly mine is one of them, but i usually hook it up to an external monitor.

 

It should also be mentioned that, even with the ribbon expanded and not set to auto hide, you actually see MORE items in a list than you would in "minimalist" windows 7 or prior versions.

I'm all for the ribbon, it also makes it easier on touch device users who may need to slip into "classic mode" once in a while for file management.

 

I like the options Microsoft have. They have a difficult job in a sense since they want people to easily go from W7/Vista/XP to W8 while also bring a lot of things to the table.



I wonder if they plan to have the tab option. I would really love that.

 

W8 uses less vertical space, it's in the article you posted. Read it.

It is explained in detail in the article you posted, MS will add features, no matter how negative you are.

Your post makes no sense.