Windows 8 Release Preview

Status
Not open for further replies.
The video in the article is also really good. They sound really frank and candid about what they're doing and how some current windows conventions really suck.
 
To those techies out there; what is the conceptualization of W8?
I love how fast it boots and I also love the starting page. I am thinking of upgrading- given the right price. Anything I should consider before I jump in?
 
To those techies out there; what is the conceptualization of W8?
I love how fast it boots and I also love the starting page. I am thinking of upgrading- given the right price. Anything I should consider before I jump in?

If you already like the look of Metro then I think you'll love the OS. The biggest complaints seem to be that people dislike Metro. The desktop improvements are worth the upgrade alone as far as I'm concerned.

EDIT - Pulled this from one of my other posts, some of the improvements in Win8 not including the Metro side of things:

- It's much faster than Win7
- Has a smaller footprint
- Uses less RAM
- Vastly improved task manager
- Much improved file copy system with ACCURATE times, ability to pause copying and better ways to manage duplicate files
- Refresh option allows you to reinstall the OS fresh without having to reinstall all your software or backup your files
- Native support for mounting ISOs
- Storage Spaces to allow you consolidate multiple drives into 1 partition and add and remove storage dynamically
- Cloud storage of your setup and features which means all your devices stay in sync automatically
- Quicker access to all your required OS tools for power users (Win+X)
- Much better support for multiple monitors
- Integrated Sky Drive support for cloud storage
- Boots much faster
- Installs in less than 10 mins
- Start screen is faster for accessing less used programs than the old Start menu
 
If you already like the look of Metro then I think you'll love the OS. The biggest complaints seem to be that people dislike Metro. The desktop improvements are worth the upgrade alone as far as I'm concerned.

EDIT - Pulled this from one of my other posts, some of the improvements in Win8 not including the Metro side of things:

- It's much faster than Win7
- Has a smaller footprint
- Uses less RAM
- Vastly improved task manager
- Much improved file copy system with ACCURATE times, ability to pause copying and better ways to manage duplicate files
- Refresh option allows you to reinstall the OS fresh without having to reinstall all your software or backup your files
- Native support for mounting ISOs
- Storage Spaces to allow you consolidate multiple drives into 1 partition and add and remove storage dynamically
- Cloud storage of your setup and features which means all your devices stay in sync automatically
- Quicker access to all your required OS tools for power users (Win+X)
- Much better support for multiple monitors
- Integrated Sky Drive support for cloud storage
- Boots much faster
- Installs in less than 10 mins
- Start screen is faster for accessing less used programs than the old Start menu

Sold!
 
I can't wait for dLMN8R to come in here and explain how terrible this would be.

You have this weird infatuation with me. Not sure if I should be flattered or creeped the fuck out.

At the very least, it might help your case if you ever once admitted that you don't think through anything enough to reach proper conclusions instead of always striking out with half-baked opinions.


I think this mock-up looks great, actually. It's the first one that actually looks feasible to do without breaking two decades of backwards compatibility.

The problem, of course, is that it still requires a dramatic overhaul of everything on the desktop. The final RTM skin isn't as pretty, but it's also not ugly, looks a hell of a lot better than the RP, and was also probably 1% of the work it would have required to implement the mocked-up theme.

Some things to think about that most people never do:
- How much code change is required to fundamentally overhaul a standardized piece of UI? (Ribbon layout)
- How would all of this scale to different DPIs?
- How possible would it be to localize all of this? Some languages take up 2-3x the physical space as English. How would those languages fit in this UI?
- How would this UI work with right-to-left languages like Hebrew or Arabic? Would they work at all?
- How would this UI work with screen readers and other accessibility factors? If the entire UI needs to be overhauled, so does the behind-the-scenes support for these tools.

I'm not saying that mockup is impossible or bad in any way. But what it is, is expensive and immensely risky to implement. At the end of the day, I don't personally think it's *THAT* much better, and I certainly don't think it's worth cutting some other piece of work to implement this instead.
 
Sorry to shit up the thread with a similar question, but how hard would it be to get a PS3 (wirelss but with USB cord) controller working on a laptop with Windows 8?
 
Really interesting article on what could become a big player in the pc space.... I really hope they dominate so it lights a fire under the others to start making the same design decisions.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/15/3076519/vizio-reboot-pc-american-hdtv-success-do-it-again


I love this
“People buy a tablet to replace their PC,” he says, “but within six weeks, they're carrying a laptop and a tablet in the same case. They end up carrying a second device.”

Because in my anecdotal evidence is true, even in the Verge itself they often say that a tablet is a good replacement but when you see their backpack content they all have a tablet and a laptop too, so those Win8 hybrids could really have a good purpose.

BTW I didn't know Vizio was american
 
So Microsoft is dong this to hurt nokia's price even more for when they buy them, right.

E: does vozios manufacturing take place in America or do they outsource like most companies?
 
Sorry to shit up the thread with a similar question, but how hard would it be to get a PS3 (wirelss but with USB cord) controller working on a laptop with Windows 8?

It works the same as with Windows 7, I'm sure you can find tutorials out there on how to do it. I use a wired 360 controller because some have reported more latency with the wireless versions and all you need to do it plug it in.

As far as using a PS3 controller I think you need to get something to properly map the controller functions. It's not as easy as using a 360 controller.
 
It works the same as with Windows 7, I'm sure you can find tutorials out there on how to do it. I use a wired 360 controller because some have reported more latency with the wireless versions and all you need to do it plug it in.

As far as using a PS3 controller I think you need to get something to properly map the controller functions. It's not as easy as using a 360 controller.

Actually, there are excellent, signed drivers for PS3, that enable you to use it as a regular gamepad, or a emulate a 360 controller, both wired and via bluetooth.
http://www.motioninjoy.com/download
 
I didn't know some of these were active features, that helps me appreciate the desktop side of the OS much more. I'm still not sold on the awkwardness inherent to launching non-Metro apps, though. It's just far too jarring to be taken seriously, it should at least detect if apps can launch full-screen and avoid flashing the desktop at you.

To be fair, one of those things, SkyDrive integration, is through the Metro app. It's not a desktop feature, but it is handy. I'm not sure what you mean by "flashing the desktop at you".
 
To be fair, one of those things, SkyDrive integration, is through the Metro app. It's not a desktop feature, but it is handy. I'm not sure what you mean by "flashing the desktop at you".


I believe that the flashing means that you are taken to the desktop and then the application launches rather than the application simply opening seamlessly. I find it annoying, too. I used to have my HTPC launch media center on start and it annoyed me that it did the same thing. It just looks a little sloppy and cumbersome.
 
Are there any good articles about the designer(s) behind Metro? I kind of want to know who's behind this huge UI change across all Msft's products. Is it a single man?!
 
Definitely going to keep my eyes peeled for that MS tablet. I know the usual Microsoft haters are shitting all over it even before it has a face, or even is confirmed as real, but I'm curious to see what a MS built tablet with Windows 8 behind it would be like. I'm intrigued to say the very, very least.
 
Definitely going to keep my eyes peeled for that MS tablet. I know the usual Microsoft haters are shitting all over it even before it has a face, or even is confirmed as real, but I'm curious to see what a MS built tablet with Windows 8 behind it would be like. I'm intrigued to say the very, very least.

I'm even more curious now that Nokia US has posted two images with 6/18/2012 on their Facebook page...
 
i'm curious about it but it will probably be a ARM tablet. meh. I will be getting a x86 device.
 
An i5 tablet with a detachable keyboard (or one flips out of the way but weight is an issue) is all that I want. A tablet when I want it to be and an ultrabook when I need it to be. I've already bought one in my head, I'm just waiting for the right one to come along.

I know there are seams in the Win8/Metro experience, but they pale into insignificance for me when it allows so much.
 
An i5 tablet with a detachable keyboard (or one flips out of the way but weight is an issue) is all that I want. A tablet when I want it to be and an ultrabook when I need it to be. I've already bought one in my head, I'm just waiting for the right one to come along.

I know there are seams in the Win8/Metro experience, but they pale into insignificance for me when it allows so much.

The Asus Transformer Book's, the Lenovo ideaPad Yoga, and the Samsung Series 5 Ultra Convertible give you just that.
 
The Asus Transformer Book's, the Lenovo ideaPad Yoga, and the Samsung Series 5 Ultra Convertible give you just that.

Yeah, I'm keeping my eyes on those - I'm not going to be an early adopter though, I've been bitten before. I'm wary of ASUS too - I've had trouble with my Android Transformer, although it's been better the last few months, although all the other products of theirs I've used have been great.
 
Kind of off topic but for anyone who was thinking about purchasing a thinkpad X230T for use with windows 8, you should look at this:
http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/len...st-impressions-fail-build-quality-issues.html
LPxlth.jpg

PVmxNl.png

uHisOm.jpg

The unfortunate side effect of trying to bring the costs of thinkpads down.
 
An i5 tablet with a detachable keyboard (or one flips out of the way but weight is an issue) is all that I want. A tablet when I want it to be and an ultrabook when I need it to be. I've already bought one in my head, I'm just waiting for the right one to come along.

I know there are seams in the Win8/Metro experience, but they pale into insignificance for me when it allows so much.

I'm looking at the trinity models. You should be able to get a quad core with a good intergrated gpu for less than an i5 tablet and it will be faster in all but the most intensive cpu apps. The thing is i have a desktop to do those on , the tablet/laptop hybrid would be for light work
 
i must know. i am guessing its just compiling.

Nothing so exciting, just attempting to install it.

edit: On a related note, it feels so archaic to have to still use an installer/uninstaller in this day and age. How do Macs get around it? Every program I've installed on my MacBook has just been a drag and drop into the Applications
folder.

edit2: On an unrelated note, I would be willing to use Metro IE10 if the new tab button wasn't in the freaking top right hand corner.

edit3: Actually, it wouldn't be so bad if my screen was smaller. In fact, Metro as a whole would be a lot better on a smaller screen. It's pretty good as it is but it takes too long to get to different parts the UI, something that wouldn't be a huge problem on say, an 11" display.
 
Nothing so exciting, just attempting to install it.

edit: On a related note, it feels so archaic to have to still use an installer/uninstaller in this day and age. How do Macs get around it? Every program I've installed on my MacBook has just been a drag and drop into the Applications
folder.

edit2: On an unrelated note, I would be willing to use Metro IE10 if the new tab button wasn't in the freaking top right hand corner.

edit3: Actually, it wouldn't be so bad if my screen was smaller. In fact, Metro as a whole would be a lot better on a smaller screen. It's pretty good as it is but it takes too long to get to different parts the UI, something that wouldn't be a huge problem on say, an 11" display.

Couldn't you use "ctrl t"?
 
It actually reminds me of a flat and colorful Mac OS 8.

macos81appear.gif


I like that Metro mock someone on the Internet made, but you have to keep things the way they are for the sake of backwards compatibility.
 
this. is there a way to get the new drivers? also i ve meaning to ask this, did amd release updated drivers for windows 8 yet?

Here's the newer Nvidia set. Found them on the website.

32-bit: http://www.nvidia.com/object/win8-32bit-302.80-preview-driver.html

64-bit: http://www.nvidia.com/object/win8-64bit-302.80-preview-driver.html

AMD: http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/Windows8ConsumerPreviewDrivers.aspx

I'm still using the default Nvidia set as I haven't experienced issues although my card is considered old.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom