At this point, are you getting Windows 8?

[dave_the_nerd]

I didn't upgrade from 2k to XP until '07, nor from XP to Win7 until 2011. I skipped Vista completely.

I tend to stick with what I know, and/or have license keys for. (And I'd rather spend the upgrade money on hardware.)

 

[pcgeek11]

No. Just because of Metro. 7 Works just fine.

 

[corkyg]

i have technet account so technically i already bought it

Same here - however, I do not ever plan to install it. The desktop to me is butt ugly, and it introduces layers on top of programs I can now run directly in Win 7.

 

[hans007]

Windows 8 is pretty much terrible for a desktop . I'm going to stick with 7 or maybe even switch to xubuntu since I don't even play any games or use anything windows specific at this point.

 

[Carson Dyle]

For $40, it's a steal. It's worth buying a couple copies at that price.

Is this only for Wn7, or also Vista and/or XP? Will it be available as a $40 upgrade for OEM installations of the former OS or only for retail licenses?

 

[CSMR]

I will buy it, but probably will not install it until SP1. To me having to use metro is a problem, and a step back in important ways. But I think MS will fix this problem or allow workarounds - eventually. They did this with Windows Phone, which was a big consumer-oriented step back with WP7 but looks to have brought all the old features back and more in WP8.

 

[Kristijonas]

Terrible comparison, but after people didn't like the ending of Mass Effect 3, I'm not surprised they don't like Windows 8 either. Anything out of the box (not necessarily better, just different) is easily rejected. Terrible comparison again, but I'm not even surprised that people in the US approve of their own terrible politics. They are used to it, so it's "normal" therefore must be "good" or at least not "bad". I'm not saying windows 8 is a must get, a serious update, etc. But it's a faster OS, with some better little features and the UI is as good if not better than windows 7 when you are used to it. So if you can spend a few hours learning the new UI (there was nothing for me to learn, it was all very simple for me personally) then it's a worthy update. The fact that your CPU will work up to 10% faster in many programs alone is a good reason to update IMO. Of course windows 7 is still a very great OS and for most nothing else is needed. However I won't be back to it after being with windows 8 for a some time now.

 

[HeXen]

Terrible comparison, but after people didn't like the ending of Mass Effect 3, I'm not surprised they don't like Windows 8 either. Anything out of the box (not necessarily better, just different) is easily rejected. Terrible comparison again, but I'm not even surprised that people in the US approve of their own terrible politics. They are used to it, so it's "normal" therefore must be "good" or at least not "bad". I'm not saying windows 8 is a must get, a serious update, etc. But it's a faster OS, with some better little features and the UI is as good if not better than windows 7 when you are used to it. So if you can spend a few hours learning the new UI (there was nothing for me to learn, it was all very simple for me personally) then it's a worthy update. The fact that your CPU will work up to 10% faster in many programs alone is a good reason to update IMO. Of course windows 7 is still a very great OS and for most nothing else is needed. However I won't be back to it after being with windows 8 for a some time now.

a UI should be intuitive and make things easier and faster to get work done to be considered as "better".

Metro is intuitive for many of us, but as the Youtube videos show when testing on regular folks and old people that its a pain.

Metro definitely is not however really faster at getting work done, no matter how many times you 4 corner hover, click, click, click, click...instead of click click.

 

[gmaster456]

too many clicks to get things done, but its not just the clicks, its the hovering which makes it even slower. to power down
you have to hover over the right hand side, wait for charms to spring out, then move straight down, if you happen to swerve off, then you have to repeat. select settings, then select to power the stupid thing down. uggh, just one example
naturally you can use kb shortcuts, but i was never one for typing.

So you don't like clicking or typing.........:hmm:

 

[gmaster456]

Is this only for Wn7, or also Vista and/or XP? Will it be available as a $40 upgrade for OEM installations of the former OS or only for retail licenses?

The $40 upgrade is available to all Windows 7, Vista and XP users as long as you have a genuine copy and are running the current service pack. And if you buy a Windows 7 PC between now and Jan 31 you can upgrade to Windows 8 Professional for $15

 

[gmaster456]

a UI should be intuitive and make things easier and faster to get work done to be considered as "better".

Metro is intuitive for many of us, but as the Youtube videos show when testing on regular folks and old people that its a pain.

Metro definitely is not however really faster at getting work done, no matter how many times you 4 corner hover, click, click, click, click...instead of click click.

What's easier and faster is different for everyone. You can be just as efficient with Windows 8 if not more so than Windows 7. Especially if you spend your time learning the OS instead of b****ing and moaning to a bunch of strangers on an internet forum. As hard as this is to believe, after using Windows 8 for a while and getting used to it, going back to Windows 7 can be quite jarring and leave one thinking "Oh. This is how things used to be?"


All that being said, you are entitled to your own thoughts, feelings and opinion.

 

[dagamer34]

a UI should be intuitive and make things easier and faster to get work done to be considered as "better".

Metro is intuitive for many of us, but as the Youtube videos show when testing on regular folks and old people that its a pain.

Metro definitely is not however really faster at getting work done, no matter how many times you 4 corner hover, click, click, click, click...instead of click click.

I call BS on that video because what it implies isn't true. Take a look at this video for usability testing in Windows 95: http://media.ch9.ms/ch9/4a95/8e5a19e3-d5b7-40d8-ae5a-d8e2302d4a95/Win95UsabilityTesting1993_high.mp4

If a user acted like that today, they would be laughed at. We are not born knowing how to use a computer. Do NOT confuse intuitiveness with ease of use. If you went back to 1994, most people would be complaining about the start menu the same way they complain about Metro today "Where's my program manager? I'm never gonna use this! Blah Blah Blah!"

Just because you are used to something does not make it easier.

Source: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/18/creating-the-windows-8-user-experience.aspx

 

[gmaster456]

I call BS on that video because what it implies isn't true. Take a look at this video for usability testing in Windows 95: http://media.ch9.ms/ch9/4a95/8e5a19e3-d5b7-40d8-ae5a-d8e2302d4a95/Win95UsabilityTesting1993_high.mp4

If a user acted like that today, they would be laughed at. We are not born knowing how to use a computer. Do NOT confuse intuitiveness with ease of use. If you went back to 1994, most people would be complaining about the start menu the same way they complain about Metro today "Where's my program manager? I'm never gonna use this! Blah Blah Blah!"

Just because you are used to something does not make it easier.

Source: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/18/creating-the-windows-8-user-experience.aspx

:thumbsup:

 

[happysmiles]

win 8 needs a few minor changes ala vista to 7
too many clicks thats for sure

 

[piasabird]

I have been using the desktop mostly. I heard if you just move the desktop app to the top-left it will boot to the desktop when you sign on. These stupid people that said they removed the start button are just confused. Maybe the start menu is kind of different and the navigation is different but once you get use to that it seems very much like Win 7. It seems good and snappy compared to Vista. I am using it with an Intel E7200 processor and it is running great. It was a little confusing at first but you get use to it. I think if you have Vista or XP and want to upgrade but dont want to spend $100 for a license it is just great.

 

[sm625]

Until I can actually purchase a tablet with the following BOM, without getting skewered and ripped off, then hell no.

$100 for a 10.1" 1080p IPS panel
$30 for a battery
$20 for a case
$100 for a 1000 passmark scoring 10watt x86 cpu+motherboard
$40 for 4GB RAM
$50 for 64GB SSD
$40 for windows 8

That is less than $400, so $500 at a decent margin.

Obviously the cpu is a problem, but only because both intel and AMD are suicidally greedy. They refuse to integrate the southbridge and an SSD controller, and those mistakes have created an entire market for apple to come in and steal billions.


Note, a SU7300 (1st gen 45nm CULV) plus ivb gpu is all I want. Intel can easily deliver this in a 10W package, with their own SSD controller and 2 USB ports and a few other things. All in one sub 500 pin part. Very small die. Single channel memory. Very easy. $100 a pop. Atom 2.0. But they rather give billions to apple than cut into their own meat.

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

Well, I generally like to stay on the front edge of MS OS technology, for better(XP) or for worse (Vista). I will likely go to 8, assuming that I can get a free copy from a developer/release event, but right now I'm not looking forward to it.

This weekend, I loaded 8 on VMware and was shocked by Metro.

I think I was trying to set a new picture or something and got completely "locked" in the settings screen. I couldn't find a way to close the screen or move to another area. It was UI stupid. Maybe the kids that pick this up and learn it today will love it, but right now, it looks like I have to relearn how to start and exit out of basic areas of the OS. I'm not sure what was broken about the old way. One click in, one click out...but hey, I'm not trying to compete with Apple. Of course, IOS / OSX kills metro in my opinion...they took the worst of all alternatives to make metro.

 

[ViRGE]

I'll buy the upgrade because it's cheap. However I'm still unsure whether it'll become my main OS until I give it a fair crack.

Ditto. It's definitely worthwhile to grab a copy while they're at $40. But that doesn't necessarily mean I'll use it.

 

[WildW]

I played with the preview for a while and came to some conclusions.

The interface would probably work well if I had a touch enabled computer, but I don't. Touch wouldn't really make sense on a desktop, maybe a laptop, I'm not sure. Unless you buy a new touch-enabled PC I think you'd be missing out on anything new and worthwhile.

The metro apps are all for the kind of casual things that existing tablets do well - web browser, view photos, play music, news, weather. . . I didn't see anything new there that impressed me. I see that they're trying to make a unified experience, one OS for both desktop and tablet computing, but I don't think anything crosses over very well. The touch side works poorly on the desktop, and I can't imagine the desktop working well on a tablet.

I think there is something about Metro that offends the average PC enthusiast. Maybe it feels patronizing or something, as if my usual tools have been taken away but they've given me a box of crayons instead. Everything feels more limited rather than improved, and the first instinct is "how do I turn this off?"

I liked the graph when you copy files =)

 

[darkewaffle]

I think Metro's kind of a scapegoat; I mean even if Win8 was strictly a 'traditional desktop' experience, most people are simply still content with Win7 and it simply isn't old enough yet to be significantly outdated; a 'don't fix what isn't broke' kind of approach.

While I'm optimistic for W8 and Metro, I'm kind of feeling the same way. Despite it's technical improvements, I also don't want to have to possibly configure/troubleshoot games, deal with new drivers, and re-organizing things on my main PC.

If I was building an all new computer though, I'd like to put it on it. I may put it on my HTPC, as I think in that scenario I might really appreciate the better OS scaling and Metro would be superior given how far I sit from my TV.

Ironically, "desktop only" Win8 would then probably be criticized for not being different enough to warrant a purchase and accused of being nothing more than a cash grab 😀

 

[Snoop]

snipped

Ironically, "desktop only" Win8 would then probably be criticized for not being different enough to warrant a purchase and accused of being nothing more than a cash grab 😀

If MS would have put resources into actually improving the Desktop UI, windows 8 would likely be the best desktop OS ever released. Instead, they have spent the past few years of development time haphazardly hybridizing an immature tablet UI with a stellar desktop UI.

The results are: Tablet UI oriented control center in full screen (their is 0 reason for full screen on a desktop), gesture based functionality which is useless to nearly all of the Windows 8 user base, a desktop for running 'legacy' applications, hidden off screen icons which only make sense if you have limited monitor space, and separate versions of software that offer oddly different UI paradigms which will confuse the hell out of most users (not including people on forums discussing the changes). Oh, and they added ribbons....

We all know the reasons why MS did this. They feel the need to get into the app store, tablet, and phone market. The best way to facilitate a quick ramp up is to sledge hammer their tablet UI and apps into their market dominant desktop OS. It is an epic market share power grab.

Many here and elsewhere seem to like the Metro based interfaced. I have tried it for a few weeks and think it is a complete mish mash of craziness. It will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[Dahak]

I probably will have to run it at some point for support, but personally no, i will not get it.

I fell that they with all of win8/server8/office2013/ they are trying to force an interface that from a desktop side of things dont really fit.

The one thing that could make this all so simple was to leave the classic/areo in as an option to revert back to

 

[KeypoX]

Im getting it for the performance enhancements alone. For the most part, you can stay out of metro. But not totally... it may grow on me, and there will be startmenu replacements.

 

[tornadog]

I should be getting a copy from work, have not decided if I will use it or not. I have a Dell AIO PC with touchscreen but it has the issue with the edge pixels not being accessible .

 

[VirtualLarry]

I should be getting a copy from work, have not decided if I will use it or not. I have a Dell AIO PC with touchscreen but it has the issue with the edge pixels not being accessible .

Unless MS has a way or setting to deal with "touch-screen overscan", then you will likely never be able to reach the start menu, as it requires moving the mouse to the absolute lower-left corner pixel and clicking on it. Moving the mouse even a few pixels up and to the right - no dice.