Windows 8 Release Preview

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tonitoni said:
I hope the rumoured update from that other thread provides the option to have the start screen looking something like this:



That and the ability to sort tiles into folders would all fix all the grips I have with Windows 8.
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sounds like the next windows update (8.5?) rather than a free service pack. they're doing yearly updates instead of 3 year updates now aren't they?
 
Hey guys, I have a question for anyone whose using the 8RC.
I've signed up for the promo upgrade thing for £15, because I bought my new laptop within the cutoff date. I was wondering if you can give me your impressions of 8? Pretty much everything I've heard seems to be that it's hella bad, but is that really the case?
- How's the functionality and ease of use?
- Is it intuitive, or will it take me ages to get used to? (7 from xp really didn't take too long for me)
- Whats the deal with the metro and apps thing? Will I have to purchase everything new from some sort of MS app store, or will I still be able to DL free programs and the like that will be compatible with the new windows from random places on the net?
- Also, can someone explain, (in detail if possible) the differences between the metro side, and the legacy side or whatever it is?
- Are there any major bugs I should be aware of that look like they might end up in the retail version?

Thanks for the info in advance :)
 
inversemateria said:
Hey guys, I have a question for anyone whose using the 8RC.
I've signed up for the promo upgrade thing for £15, because I bought my new laptop within the cutoff date. I was wondering if you can give me your impressions of 8? Pretty much everything I've heard seems to be that it's hella bad, but is that really the case?
- How's the functionality and ease of use?
- Is it intuitive, or will it take me ages to get used to? (7 from xp really didn't take too long for me)
- Whats the deal with the metro and apps thing? Will I have to purchase everything new from some sort of MS app store, or will I still be able to DL free programs and the like that will be compatible with the new windows from random places on the net?
- Also, can someone explain, (in detail if possible) the differences between the metro side, and the legacy side or whatever it is?
- Are there any major bugs I should be aware of that look like they might end up in the retail version?

Thanks for the info in advance :)
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its basically windows 7 plus a full screen start menu. It takes some getting used to but its easy to use. And you only need to use the Windows Store for the new applications, your normal desktop applications are available anywhere like before.
 
Windu said:
its basically windows 7 plus a full screen start menu. It takes some getting used to but its easy to use. And you only need to use the Windows Store for the new applications, your normal desktop applications are available anywhere like before.
Click to expand...
This is good to hear. I've been debating 7 or wait for 8. I'm still on XP with my old machine and have never seen an OS past that. So I've been worried from people telling me that 7 is great and 8 is crap. If your'e saying it's 7 with a (non-intrusive?) extra then that's a good thing, I went to pick up 7 yesterday and it's $200. The OEM model is $100 but when I found out what OEM meant, it doesn't sound like a good deal at all. You can't buy an upgrade package off of it. So I'll just install my copy of XP on my new machine and wait for 8.
 
Dark Octave said:
This is good to hear. I've been debating 7 or wait for 8. I'm still on XP with my old machine and have never seen an OS past that. So I've been worried from people telling me that 7 is great and 8 is crap. If your'e saying it's 7 with a (non-intrusive?) extra then that's a good thing, I went to pick up 7 yesterday and it's $200. The OEM model is $100 but when I found out what OEM meant, it doesn't sound like a good deal at all. You can't buy an upgrade package off of it. So I'll just install my copy of XP on my new machine and wait for 8.
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well depends on if you think a full screen start screen is intrusive, some people do. I don't.

You will probably want to start using Windows Search instead of going through all programs like in XP though. The all programs menu is just one screen laid out flat, it can get kind of messy if you have a lot of stuff installed. Search is basically the same as Vista and 7 though.

You can easily ignore the start screen though, just depends on how much you use the start menu. If you pin your favorite applications to the taskbar and just search for the ones you use rarely you won't see it often.
 
Windu said:
well depends on if you think a full screen start screen is intrusive, some people do. I don't.

You will probably want to start using Windows Search instead of going through all programs like in XP though. The all programs menu is just one screen laid out flat, it can get kind of messy if you have a lot of stuff installed. Search is basically the same as Vista and 7 though.
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W8 search feature sounds like what I already do on my desktop on XP. It's a mess, but that's how I like it. Thanks for the tips.
 
inversemateria said:
- How's the functionality and ease of use?
Click to expand...
Functionality and ease of use is the same as 7 except for the Start button which has changed to a Start Screen which is tablet like and a few important functions like Control Panel and Shut down options shuffled around to compensate.
- Is it intuitive, or will it take me ages to get used to? (7 from xp really didn't take too long for me)
Click to expand...
With an open mind won't take very long at all. Seems like there will be plenty of third party ways to get the Start Button back though which seems pointless to me but it's a personal choice.
- Whats the deal with the metro and apps thing? Will I have to purchase everything new from some sort of MS app store, or will I still be able to DL free programs and the like that will be compatible with the new windows from random places on the net?
Click to expand...
Everything 7 can do, 8 can do as well. The Metro side is basically the iPad like side of windows 8 with Metro apps only buyable through Windows Store. The desktop side of Windows 8 works just like 7. Not locked down to anything
- Also, can someone explain, (in detail if possible) the differences between the metro side, and the legacy side or whatever it is?
Click to expand...
The desktop is just like 7, the Metro side is very much like an iPad but also does some things that Start button used to do.
- Are there any major bugs I should be aware of that look like they might end up in the retail version?
Click to expand...
No, the driver situation and everything looks top notch.

Honestly DarkOctave, I went from Xp to W8 release preview and Windows Search is amazing (it was in 7 too). Just press Start and start typing your app name. I just press Start and type S T E *Enter* to launch Steam for example. Start Menu hierarchy starts feeling incredibly archaic at that point.
 
Thanks very much for the info guys :) I'll definitely be upgrading to it as soon as I get the email from microsoft. Tbh, my main concern was drivers, but I haven't really been gaming much recently, just watching stuff on the laptop, so it shouldn't be an issue.
 
Damon Bennet said:
can someone check if there is a side-dockable metro-irc app already? if not note for developers: produce that shit! ;)
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I don't see one in the store. IRC apps will have the same problem that they have on iOS and Windows Phone anyway. Better just to use a desktop client. (I use trillian, always have it opened on my second monitor).
 
Windu said:
I don't see one in the store. IRC apps will have the same problem that they have on iOS and Windows Phone anyway. Better just to use a desktop client. (I use trillian, always have it opened on my second monitor).
Click to expand...

would a snapped app be always on? I see myself watching a press conference on one side of the screen and have irc discussion snapped to one side all the time.
 
Hey guys. Quick question.

Has anybody had issues with their laptop not waking out of sleep mode with Windows 8? I've been having this issue a lot lately where if I leave my computer idle for a while it'll go into sleep mode, but when I hit a key to wake it up nothing happens. The screen stays blank, even though my fan is running and the keyboard is still active.

This used to happen occasionally with Windows 7, but I've been having it happen a LOT in 8 lately.
 
royalan said:
Hey guys. Quick question.

Has anybody had issues with their laptop not waking out of sleep mode with Windows 8? I've been having this issue a lot lately where if I leave my computer idle for a while it'll go into sleep mode, but when I hit a key to wake it up nothing happens. The screen stays blank, even though my fan is running and the keyboard is still active.

This used to happen occasionally with Windows 7, but I've been having it happen a LOT in 8 lately.
Click to expand...

There might have been a couple bugs in RTM around this....have you updated everything given through Windows Update?
 
royalan said:
Hey guys. Quick question.

Has anybody had issues with their laptop not waking out of sleep mode with Windows 8? I've been having this issue a lot lately where if I leave my computer idle for a while it'll go into sleep mode, but when I hit a key to wake it up nothing happens. The screen stays blank, even though my fan is running and the keyboard is still active.

This used to happen occasionally with Windows 7, but I've been having it happen a LOT in 8 lately.
Click to expand...

Hasn't happened to me.
 
royalan said:
Hey guys. Quick question.

Has anybody had issues with their laptop not waking out of sleep mode with Windows 8? I've been having this issue a lot lately where if I leave my computer idle for a while it'll go into sleep mode, but when I hit a key to wake it up nothing happens. The screen stays blank, even though my fan is running and the keyboard is still active.

This used to happen occasionally with Windows 7, but I've been having it happen a LOT in 8 lately.
Click to expand...

My girlfriend's computer was having issues like this. At one point coming out of sleep she could see the mouse pointer but everything else was black and you couldn't do anything except move the pointer around. Other times she would come out of sleep and get a high pitched squeel coming out of her speakers.

She just turned auto-sleep off.
 
Why can't you install Windows 8 directly from the boot CD?

I'm trying to repair a Windows 7 install by installing 8, and it's making things incredibly difficult.
 
It tells me to do an upgrade, you need to launch the installer from within Windows. If I do an install from the boot CD, it'll wipe everything.
 
Stet said:
It tells me to do an upgrade, you need to launch the installer from within Windows. If I do an install from the boot CD, it'll wipe everything.
Click to expand...
well yeah, to upgrade you need to do it from inside windows. If you are trying to repair W7 though and dont have the install disk just find a torrent of the iso. Its not like you need a key.
 
Stet said:
It tells me to do an upgrade, you need to launch the installer from within Windows. If I do an install from the boot CD, it'll wipe everything.
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It should still move your stuff to a Windows.old folder, but yeah it's probably not worth the risk if you have important stuff you don't have backed up.
 
Windu said:
nice simple to-do application in the store (to-dos). shows your to-do list on the live tile.

http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/en-us/app/to-dos/628923e3-6088-413d-b9dd-5666abd8f352
Click to expand...

Wait... I can't download that app straight through that link? I have to go to the Metro, find it manually through Store, since there's no search function in it yet, and then download it?

I know that takes only like one minute but still, it'll be only worse, when there`ll be more apps there... I guess it's not going to be like that after official premiere, right?

But it's nice and simple app, I really like it.
 
Duriii said:
Wait... I can't download that app straight through that link? I have to go to the Metro, find it manually through Store, since there's no search function in it yet, and then download it?

I know that takes only like one minute but still, it'll be only worse, when there`ll be more apps there... I guess it's not going to be like that after official premiere, right?

But it's nice and simple app, I really like it.
Click to expand...
in IE it has a link, i'm sure by launch other browsers will have links. (the site isn't really live yet anyway).
 
Duriii said:
Wait... I can't download that app straight through that link? I have to go to the Metro, find it manually through Store, since there's no search function in it yet, and then download it?

I know that takes only like one minute but still, it'll be only worse, when there`ll be more apps there... I guess it's not going to be like that after official premiere, right?

But it's nice and simple app, I really like it.
Click to expand...
Charms bar -> search icon
 
Duriii said:
Wait... I can't download that app straight through that link? I have to go to the Metro, find it manually through Store, since there's no search function in it yet, and then download it?

I know that takes only like one minute but still, it'll be only worse, when there`ll be more apps there... I guess it's not going to be like that after official premiere, right?

But it's nice and simple app, I really like it.
Click to expand...

When viewing on IE a button appears with a directly link to the store... Dunno if 3rd party browsers will be able to have this feature in the future too...
 
You can also use the Share charm from any app page to get a link to it.

I think the Open In Store button works with IE and Firefox, but not Chrome. Some app registration bug that exists with Chrome but not most other browsers. Hopefully that gets addressed.
 
So I have a bit of an issue and I'm unsure whether to post it here or in the mac thread, but I'll give it a shot in case anyone can shed some new light that I wasn't able to figure out while googling.

Running Windows 8 x64 on an old core 2 duo macbook with an intel gma 950 integrated graphics (yeah, i know) via bootcamp.

I installed the intel 945 family chipset x64 driver for windows 7 from the intel download center. It installed fine and was able to detect both my macbook and external monitor. Macbook's resolution is 1200x880 while the external is 1024x768.

I'm able to launch the default metro apps fine on my macbook and external. However the problem comes in when launching 3rd party apps like metrotwit, tweetro, etc. It launches to a blank/black screen (I assume this means that it has crashed).

The curious thing is if I uninstall the intel 945 driver and rely on the default driver, everything launches fine. The only problem with this is that it detects my monitors as generic pnp monitors, and i cant change the resolution from 800x600, not to mention it's all a bit blurry.

Any idea what's up? I've been tearing my hair out the past 2 days.

Resolved!

If anyone else has similar problems the solution is to install the x64 drivers (zip download > device manager > update > browse to folder) from VISTA and not the Windows 7 one.

I don't know why but so it goes.
 
Windu said:
good RSS reader in the store called Feed Reader.

http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/d03199c9-8e08-469a-bda1-7963099840cc

the trial version has ads in it.

edit: I think this may have been in the store for awhile but was recently updated and is much better.
Click to expand...

And so it begins, the reasons I'm forced to use Metro apps on my desktop.
LLShC.gif
KuGsj.gif


e: Or not. I can't use the mouse wheel to scroll through a list. Clearly made with touch in mind first. *sigh*
 
This cool media app appeared on the store: http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/0260a0fc-38bb-45a6-aa2a-f2453766c5fc

It plays only the metro default supported formats, but it has 3d and subtitles support.

It also can conect to DLNA/UPNP streamers to load media, but it didn't work with my plex server (though, i can't use my plex server with anything other than a plex client, so i'm puting the blame on plex for this one)

And it browses your library for content, but also support the file picker, so you can open files anywhere on your Pc, even in cloud pickers (like skydrive or box)... Unfortunatelly it will download first and then play if you choose a file from the cloud, but i guess that the support for streaming must be implemented in the picker itself, not the app...
 
brotkasten said:
And so it begins, the reasons I'm forced to use Metro apps on my desktop.
LLShC.gif
KuGsj.gif


e: Or not. I can't use the mouse wheel to scroll through a list. Clearly made with touch in mind first. *sigh*
Click to expand...

Scrolling here works fine on both the feed list, the news inside the feeds, and the news themselves...

You have to click at the column first to scroll, so maybe that's what you are missing...
 
LukasTaves said:
This cool media app appeared on the store: http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/0260a0fc-38bb-45a6-aa2a-f2453766c5fc

It plays only the metro default supported formats, but it has 3d and subtitles support.

It also can conect to DLNA/UPNP streamers to load media, but it didn't work with my plex server (though, i can't use my plex server with anything other than a plex client, so i'm puting the blame on plex for this one)

And it browses your library for content, but also support the file picker, so you can open files anywhere on your Pc, even in cloud pickers (like skydrive or box)... Unfortunatelly it will download first and then play if you choose a file from the cloud, but i guess that the support for streaming must be implemented in the picker itself, not the app...
Click to expand...

NEED MKV/FLAC SUPPORT PLEASE.
 
LukasTaves said:
Scrolling here works fine on both the feed list, the news inside the feeds, and the news themselves...

You have to click at the column first to scroll, so maybe that's what you are missing...
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, I'm new to PCs and didn't know that you had to click something first. I'll try it and then come back to report.
 
LukasTaves said:
Scrolling here works fine on both the feed list, the news inside the feeds, and the news themselves...

You have to click at the column first to scroll, so maybe that's what you are missing...
Click to expand...
Requiring focus for scrolling is pretty much the worst thing ever.
 
giga said:
Requiring focus for scrolling is pretty much the worst thing ever.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i specially don't like when there's a side docked app, and even when the mouse is on the dock side it still scrolls the desktop...

It should be common sense that if i am pointing the mouse at something when i'm scrolling that's the thing i want to scroll XD
 
LukasTaves said:
Yeah, i specially don't like when there's a side docked app, and even when the mouse is on the dock side it still scrolls the desktop...

It should be common sense that if i am pointing the mouse at something when i'm scrolling that's the thing i want to scroll XD
Click to expand...

MS doesn't want to take away everything Windows users are familiar with.
 
LukasTaves said:
I can get that, but even on desktop it never felt right to me XD

Wish that was a option, but i can imagine how hard it would be to implement that choice...
Click to expand...

i am glad that i always had the "if i dont click the mouse hovers above everything without connection unless you click" mindset.
 
Stumpokapow said:
Are there licensing issues associated with trying to dual-boot W7/W8 when you buy an upgrade license of W8?
Click to expand...
Yes.
After I upgrade, can I use my old Windows version on a separate partition or on another PC? Can I give it away or sell it?

No. The upgrade replaces the old license completely. The terms are written in very clear language:

The software covered by this agreement is an upgrade to your existing operating system software, so the upgrade replaces the original software that you are upgrading. You do not retain any rights to the original software after you have upgraded and you may not continue to use it or transfer it in any way.
Click to expand...

http://www.zdnet.com/how-the-new-windows-8-license-terms-affect-you-7000003028/
 
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