Windows 8 Consumer Preview Download

The Metro UI is a step in the future, as it is very suited for touch screens, be it on a tablet or a pc. It does need a bit more tinkering with and more settings menus, to be able to get it better customized but it does look nice and usable. In it's current stage it's not yet ready to replace the classic desktop, but with a proper setting panel added, or a more thorough control panel for the metro ui, it would work out fine. In it's current stage though it's perfect for a tablet. And the desktop is still usable btw, as it is an integral part of the os still. As for linux, I disagree. It's way too easy to correct an issue in Linux and there is no need to re-install the os. Just need to know some commands to use in a text-mode. Linux doesn't get bugged down in time with usage, and also the file system is much better conceived with journalizing and easy recovery. If it had more support from developers, in terms of drivers, and games it would be as good if not better than windows. As a hint, if you tinker with the settings in linux, and you get an error or something, delete the .config files in the home directory and reboot. The system will recreate the standard .config files and revert all settings to default.

Well I cannot do that. I have limited experience with computers. I can manage simple things on Linux but I cannot do the terminal or complicated stuff. And Linux Mint and Zoren OS both have the Windows start menu with the search bar. Which is why I chose them.

And on Windows 7,Windows XP and the other versions of windows,you have a start menu. And on Windows 7 and Windows Vista you have got a search bar which is even better.

But on Windows 8 Consumer Preview you have got nothing. And there was not even a search bar in Windows 8 CP like there is in Windows 7.It was just impossible to use.

And then there is the problem with Windows Explorer. That freezes your mouse so you cannot send shortcuts to your desktop.The ribbon toolbar seemed to be the cause of that. Andrea Borman.
 
If it freezes the mouse the way you've described it, it is probably just a bug. Will be worked out in the final version. Remember this is just a Preview. It's still in heavy development. You won't need complicated command line functions. cp -copy and rm -remove will do. Ex.: cp /home/"username"/file.smth /home/var/X11/
rm /home/"username"/folder_you_want_to_remove. You can slo use "ls" to list all the files and folder in the respective location. Oh, config files will be in the .folder-name type folders. (if you add a "." in front of a file name or a folder name in linux, it would mark it as hidden. Basically the same as selecting "hidden" in windows in the properties of a file or folder)
 
This is not a preview, it is a beta, and a bad one. The fact you even say "in heavy development" shows it is a beta.

Microsoft has built in so many "call home" utilities that it does not need user feedback, but that does not mean it is not a beta. Maybe they need to acknowledge the fact and get on with it....
 
Please let me emphasize that while we are under no obligation to agree with one another about any single issue, we should and must show common courtesy and respect, both despite and in spite of, our disagreements. A fundamental disagreement about a feature in an operating system must not allow us to launch into personal attacks against one another, and if someone does want to write a long piece on their general dislike for a feature, this website shall undertake no effort to prevent that person from doing so, for so long as a genuine complaint and not flame baiting. We look at this issue from the eye and perspective of the user. Microsoft Windows is used all around the world for many different reasons, by people of every different skill level, and in different roles. That includes the entire line of products such as Windows Server.

And, quite honestly, I don't like that the Start Menu is gone either. I believe that there will be universal feedback from customers who want the ability to turn off Metro UI and use a standard Start Menu without a performance drop. In many ways, Metro UI will be a very powerful tool in the future, when all of us have touch screen computers and limbs that don't get tired from moving up and down all day at work. Until then, Andrea does have a point that hundreds of millions of people, if not over a billion people, are still using workstations that have absolutely no touch screen support. These businesses, most likely, will never invest in the technology unless it serves their customers in some way or boosts productivity.

Maybe this is simple-minded, but here is an analogy. I love Star Trek. If you ever watched The Original Series of that show, you will remember the sliding doors. In the 1960's, those were not around. Now you find them in every shopping mall and grocery store. I liked the computers you could talk to. And in The Next Generation, with Patrick Stewart, we got to see how the computers are used (with touch screens and voice commands on giant console tables with 24th century gorilla glass!). Until that happens, and it may take quite awhile for it to be that way, Microsoft should receive honest feedback. That is the real reason that the Consumer Preview is public. A feature that is desperately needed by many mouse and keyboard users has been deprecated. While their research showed them that people liked to pin items to the taskbar and use desktop icons more than the Start Menu, they may have not realized that many power users and simply those of us who like things in alphabetical order, still liked to rely on going back to the Start Menu, if ever the location of a program or application was called into question.

It is for this very reason that we are having this discussion, and there will be honest differences based on how we use our computers, how long we have been using them, what we use them primarily for, etc. There are many variables at large here. So I suggest that we do take the Start Menu issue somewhat seriously. Those who would like to see a feature brought back, even as an option, need to provide feedback. To provide feedback about the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, you can do it in these forums, but to make sure that Microsoft really sees what you have to say, you should use their official Windows 8 Consumer Preview forums as outlined on their FAQ.

Let's take bugs and problems seriously, so that the professionals at Microsoft can satisfy the goals and desires of most of their customers.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is not a preview, it is a beta, and a bad one. The fact you even say "in heavy development" shows it is a beta.

Microsoft has built in so many "call home" utilities that it does not need user feedback, but that does not mean it is not a beta. Maybe they need to acknowledge the fact and get on with it....
It's a bit early to judge the quality of the OS, as it's still in development. It takes time & feedback (the purpose of the Consumer Preview) to work the bugs out of it.

As for me, I really like the OS. Have already disabled Windows Defender & installed Avast Internet Security 7 on it, and I'm running it as though it's my regular install. The reason that I chose Avast was it's "SecureZone" browser option, I can check my email & make purchases using it. The IS that I normally use, ESET Smart Security 5, doesn't have this option.

It still has a way to go, but I feel that MS has another winner here. I don't believe that they're trying to get Windows 7 users to upgrade, but working on satisfying the needs of the market. Tablets are very popular, a lot more so than netbooks were, and this is the OS for them. Plus, it sends another signal that XP's days are numbered. It's probably their hope that users will at least move forward to a modern OS, such as Windows 7. It's seasoned, proven & reliable.

Windows 8 will probably be the stepping stone for a much larger project down the road.

Cat
 
In regard to some earlier bits in this thread...

1. You can hit Ctrl to open the initial screen, instead of pushing it up w/ the mouse
2. Once @ Start (screen) 2 choices to get (traditional) Desktop... 1. clk on the Desktop tile & 2. WinKey + D
3. (Depends on attitude) Quickly gets very easy, fast, pleasant/pleasing & smooth, as is, even w/out the old Start Menu.
After learning my way around Win8, I, even, as an experiment out or curiosity, added a 3rd party one, very briefly & uninstalled after quickly discovering it was just an unnecessary nuisance.

This OS is likable & tends to grow on you a lot after 2 or 3 days.

The following will help you get to know & enjoy Windows 8
http://windows8forums.com/windows-8-tutorials-training/5293-w8-keyboard-shortcuts.html

Now, when y'all get the x86 on older, less robust gear, I am very anxious to hear your feelings & hear about the performance characteristics. Please & thank you.

Cheers,
Drew
 
Joe S wrote-
When I saw that idiotic fish as a logo I suspected a mess, it should have been a dead fish I hate the Metro crap too I want the Classic Desktop! The little app I used on Developer Preview to get it doesn't work now. I guess they are determined to ram it down the user's throat anyway. It should go over well with business users. I got it loaded on a virtual hard drive then a thunder storm came thru so I haven't had to much time with it.
Joe

Yes I installed Windows 8 Consumer Preview on Thursday. And to my shock and disgust I found out I could not disabled the Metro theme. I tried everything and I even installed UX Style Core.To get a Windows XP or Windows 7 start menu.

UX Style Core is supposed to patch Windows themes and create visual styles. People have used this on Windows XP to get the Aero theme on Windows XP. And create themes like the Mac OS theme on Windows. But UX Style Core would not even install on Windows 8. Classic Shell did not work either. And I could not pin many shortcuts to my desktop as the ribbon in Windows Explorer froze my mouse.

I installed all of the updates from Windows Update but I still had the same problems.

And Microsoft have made it so that there is no way to disable the Metro theme. And what they have done is absolutely wrong. And most people including me have a problem with this. And so will most Windows users.

DrWho wrote-
I finally got to a classic desktop, but then I found no start button, no programs menu, no, no, no!
The script to disable Metro UI did not work. Classic shell installed but does nothing.
Many things that DID work just fine on Win-8/DP, now do not work at all.

I found the native way to shutdown very cumbersome and leaving a lot to ones imagination. It takes several keystrokes to just get to the shutoff icon.
My own shutdown routine, as an icon on the desktop, from XP, does work and the whole computer is down and dark in less than 8 sec's.

I finally installed the "City Lights" theme for the desktop and that looks nice, but to quickly get to a program, without a Programs Menu, I wound up going into Windows Explorer, finding the .exe file for the program and sending it to the desktop as a shortcut. That's very cumbersome and way beyond the ability of the average user.

So, until some advanced programmer, (hacker) finds a way to turn off the Metro UI, like we did in Win-8/DP, the new Win-8 is kind of a wash.

In it's present form, I'll never run it as my main OS. XP lives on!
Cheers Mates!
:cool:
And nether will I. If the final release of Windows 8 is going to be like this I am staying with Windows 7.

Verdict-one uninstall coming up.

Well I already have uninstalled it and gone back to Windows 7. As you cannot use Windows 8 CP the way it is. It is nothing like Windows 8 DP which was like Windows 7. But this version of Windows 8 is not. Andrea Borman.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You know the irony is 2 of the Members cited as shunning & knocking Windows 8, 2 days later are discovering it, enjoying it and praising it!

2ndly, when the Start-up settings are changed such that boot goes directly to Desktop, the "damn the (Metro) Start screen" bit, really doesn't have much clout or strength, @ all.

3rd, will avow it is strictly & solely a matter of attitude... I have (not counting months w/ the DP) running Windows 8 BETA for ONLY 5 days:
There is no issue not having the old Start Menu... there just isn't! I even grabbed a 3rd party one, after about 2 days, just curious... after a few minutes it was uninstalled due to being a distracting, unnecessary nuisance. It is so slick, quick, easy & pleasing, almost fun to fly around finding, getting to & doing things. It's actually very intuitive & User Friendly. And very little moussing.

There is no need or craving for Touch & it, certainly, is not required.

Kids will love it & I hear reports older folks are taking to it well, also. I'm 59 & it took little time, no horrid effort or caused great stress. In fact, it's made me smile & laugh, more than a few times. As in, "Oh, that's so cool" grin, chuckle.

You Pin things, enable Quick Launch, learn & use Keyboard Shortcuts... using Win8 is a joy.

And the above is w/out even, yet, mentioning anything about performance. That came pretty much be summed up in a word... WOW!!

and, of course, the CP is a beta, so was the DP & this like will not be the only beta... even the RC is beta. Nothing is non-beta 'til RTM, OEM & GA... around Sept/Oct, maybe.

My private notion... w/out having a chip on one's shoulder, being mules about going forward, listen to ppl who are using it, try it yourself but, w/ an open mind, even a sense of adventure. Take the tips & 'tricks' & travels through this OS of others to expedite, facilitate & guide your enthusiastic journey.

& lastly to repeat this again... NO, it's not like the DP. We knew it would not be. But, the difference is that the Beta is far superior to the DP. Galaxies ahead of & beyond the DP; and on that note I, for one, can't wait to see what comes next...

Cheers,
Drew
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Drew wrote-
There is no issue not having the old Start Menu... there just isn't! I even grabbed a 3rd party one, after about 2 days, just curious... after a few minutes it was uninstalled due to being a distracting, unnecessary nuisance. It is so slick, quick, easy & pleasing, almost fun to fly around finding, getting to & doing things. It's actually very intuitive & User Friendly. And very little moussing.

There is no need or craving for Touch & it, certainly, is not required.

Kids will love it & I hear reports older folks are taking to it well, also. I'm 59 & it took little time, no horrid effort or caused great stress. In fact, it's made me smile & laugh, more than a few times. As in, "Oh, that's so cool" grin, chuckle.

Your are 59 years old? I thought you was younger than that, in your 30s maybe.

But most families including old people grandmas and grandpas won't be able to cope with this version of Windows. Unless they bring back the start menu.

Windows 8 DP was fine.I could run it as my main OS along with my Windows 7 and Windows XP.

And I could disable the Metro theme which I did do. And it ran even faster without the Metro theme.

But Windows 8 CP is a different story altogether.It was slow,it crashed. And you have difficulty using it. Because Microsoft have made the Metro theme less user friendly. And also you have to slide your mouse just to get rid of the start screen picture to get the log on screen to log in.

And you cannot disable the Metro theme. Or use any kind of software like Classic Shell to put in a Windows XP or Windows 7 start menu. I think by removing the start orb they somehow mess up the system.

That could be one of the reasons why Classic Shell does not work in CP.Andrea Borman.
 
Well, unfortunately things can't stay the same forever. I think you're missing the point with the whole metro interface. Even though older people are going to struggle with it, it's necessary since the desktop/laptop PC is close to extinction. Within the next few years, virtually all computing is going to be done by touch. The classic Windows interface is going to be dead.

My opinion is Windows may have just missed the boat. They are years behind Apple and Android as far as a touch based OS. Even Windows 8 is just built on top of the classic Windows OS. Even though on the desktop PC Windows 8 is less of a resource hog, it's still uses far too many resources to be a player in the phone and tablet market until the phone/tablet hardware catches up.

And that is why you see this (I don't know how else to describe it) mess of an operating system. If Microsoft was smart, they should have built a new OS from the ground up. Windows 8 could have easily just been a service pack.
 
Well they should have just made Windows 8 like Windows 7. With a normal start menu not the Metro theme.

But on Windows 8 Developers Preview it was not so bad. Because you could disable the Metro theme. But you can't on Windows 8 CP.

If they must have the Metro theme they should make it optional. Like they did on Windows 8 DP. And give you an option to disable it. But on Windows 8 CP,they have made the Metro theme mandatory or compulsory.

That's why a lot of people including me cannot use it. But it was not just the Metro theme on Consumer Preview,there were bugs in Windows Explorer.Because the ribbon froze my mouse up. Andrea Borman.
 
That's why a lot of people including me cannot use it. But it was not just the Metro theme on Consumer Preview,there were bugs in Windows Explorer.Because the ribbon froze my mouse up. Andrea Borman.

Really? I fail to see how you're incapable of using it just because it's different. If anything, it's just as easy if not easier and more efficient than the start menu we've all come to know and love.
 
If you want Win 8 to stay the same as Win 7 then just stay with Win 7. Do not change to Win 8. Those of us actively using Win 8 CP and finding it surprisingly easy to use, and getting easier each day, are glad it is different for the great advances we are seeing.
 
I won't be purchasing Windows 8. There just isn't anything there that isn't already in 7. I wish I had a touch device to really test metro. I don't hate it, it's just awkward with a keyboard and mouse. The reason they don't want you disabling metro is because they are hoping the app store will be a revenue stream.
 
Somewhere in this thread someone said you have to slide the opening screen up out of the way to get @ the Log-in screen. Much as that is true, hitting Ctrl will do the same thing & it's sure a lot faster & easier. Just hit Ctrl.

Windows8 is easy & sweet to use... the Start screen has nothing to do w/ it, not 1 way or the other. The whole argument against it, really doesn't hold water & is, in practice rather, groundless. Plus, technically, the performance is stunning.

Wow, the DP was rough! That's sure become overtly clear, now that we see the Beta. I have to keep reminding myself this is only a beta... hard to tell, sometimes. I recall when beta-testing Vista & Windows7, for MS, they were not this refined @ the beginning.

Cheers,
Drew
 
Drew
Those tricks are nice if you know about them but if you don't know anything about Windows 8 and are just starting out it's pretty overwhelming. Using the DP allowed most of us to bypass all the Metro stuff pretty quickly. Now We have to deal with it like it or not.
Joe
 
Joe, I certainly, agree there is a definite learning curve required w/ Win8...lots new, different & unfamiliar. My self, I decided which Apps worked, which were of interest & what could be done w/ them & how or if they, any of them, can be useful or appealing , or not. What is meant by "deal w/ them"? & why do they get discussed like they present a problem or hindrance? Even if they are available, does mean they have to be used or undermine anything.

Drew
 
The learning curve is why we read this and other forums and read tip sites. Between all these things we do learn how to use this dynamic new OS. If you are new to it, give it time. Many of us have been living in Win 8 CP recently. This is how we are beginning to learn it.
 
And, in keeping w/ Ted's words...

Means we can hold a guiding light & lend a hand for others

Learn it & Like it are both 'L' words... coincidence?



Oh, geeez, I crack me up, (lol)
 
Back
Top Bottom