Windows 8 Windows 8: Good or Bad?

Shane, what card do you have?

Drew

Is it true that FISHER PRICE designed the METRO UI ? It sure as hell looks like it. The good news is that MS will be supporting Win 7 for many years to come. I am sure by then that LINUX will have progressed enough for many to make the switch without having to turn their PCs into smartphones!
If you like win8 then fine but I have this feeling that Win8 on PCs will make windows ME look like the Best OS ever.

Drew, the intel website has it listed Mobile Intel® 965 Express Chipset Family. People also call it x3100. Right now Microsoft has a beta driver wdm 1.1 for this driver. I switched to windows 7, I hover over where the start screen is located but its just the start button now lol, have to get used to not having a start screen anymore. I cant wait for some new progress with drivers and windows 8 I'll be waiting.

So, Shane, it's using Win7 HP x86, correct?

Drew

I do not know if Windows 8 is so-called good or bad
It depends on your equipment and use

I do know that after trying both release's for a good period of time, I will not be downgrading to it

Reason's:
I do not "search" for programs, I use the dreaded "start button" and "custom" desktop folders with sub-folders
I have no intentions of learning pages of k/b shortcuts or "searching" for programs when a start button works just fine for me

I do not "facebook, tweat or twitter, I am not a member of any so-called social networking site, I do not own a tablet or any touch screen device, I do not own a so-called "smart phone", I have a stupid phone and like it
I therefore have nothing to sink in the "Metro" UI and am not interested in foolish "apps" from the Metro store

I do not like the "Metro" UI, it is gaudy and gouch on a 24 inch HD monitor and appears childish to me

In spite of the M/S spin, Windows 8 and "Metro" seem intended for play and those that feel a need to be in second by second 24/7 contact

I work and game on my home built and frequently updated machine
I will never, that's never have a "touch screen" on my pc unless forced to and then it will not be used as a touch screen
I cannot work or game, reaching accross my work area to a vertical touch surface, never mind the finger prints, in my opinion, rediculous

In the last month I have purchased Windows 7, 64 bit s/p 1 for my wife and I, have also downloaded and stored the so-called "legacy" programs that I use

We will be using Windows 7 as long a possable

I will not purchase Windows 8 or any future rendition there of willingly unless M/S puts the focus back on desk top p/c's for my desk top machine and lap top

Ken 8545

Drew said:

So, Shane, it's using Win7 HP x86, correct?

Drew

Click to expand...

I tried a number of video drivers from vista to win7, my laptop is lenovo thinkpad r61. I tried drivers from Lenovo and Intel websites, these drivers function to a certain point on windows 8, but fall short when video power is demanded thus causing glitching, freezing or stuttering in video and audio for a brief second, sometimes slowdowns will occur in videos and not play at full speed. I tried fixing these problems a number of ways but still failed to. Intel needs to release the x3100 windows 8 driver because the video card is capable of supporting windows 8 very good, they just need to make sure they look and correct certain problems like this so the driver works correctly.

I went back to windows 7 and haven't had any problems like that, the same videos I tested play correctly with no issues. This is also true if I were to run vista, it seems the windows 8 system needs minor tweaks and correct video driver to function at its fullest on my system. Something I might be waiting untill August to see.

Yes, presently I can find no specific Win8 driver; oft what works on 7 will work on 8 but, not always w/ vid cards. May likely change for most hardware by RTM

Drew

Ken,

One can, certainly, run whatever OS they chose or prefer, of course. I take nothing away from that.

That said, I'd like to address a couple of things... not directed @ you, solely, but, just generally.

Regardless of usage & gear, Windows8 remains inherently good. Gear & usage are separate from evaluations of an OS... 2 separate issues. The OS is, still, what it is. Not to mention, Windows8 does not need fancy gear.

Windows8 is, absolutely, NOT primarily for games & fun stuff... may handle that well BUT, where it shines is its under-the-covers technologies & there is tons of it & design goals in building it that had an acute, intense eye on Power Users & enterprise concerns, as well.

Because Windows8, by intent, works well on both mobile & stationary computing devices & because it is created w/ an eye to the future does not lessen how well it performs on regular desktop PCs & laptops.

I, honestly, tire of a lot being said about the Win8 Start screen or time & thought being poured @ it. Windows8 works beautifully on a non-touch, conventional desktop PC or laptop. AND 100% w/out the Start Screen. I, & many others, live, work, play, navigate, do things, find things ALL on, from & @ (good ole) Desktop AND w/out leaving it to, unnecessarily, go to Start.

Seeing Start as an 'issue', impedance or obstacle to Windows8 is not valid. "APPs" can be used or not... actually, we do use many & have been for a long time just, not in this 'style' or way of presenting.

There is NO need for Touch w/ Windows8.

Focus has not left Desktops or Laptops nor the desktop... there is 100% choice whether, to use Start or the traditional desktop.

There is far more of value to Windows8 than any "Social Networking" aspects. And definitely much more of value to it than the Start screen. Its Start screen ought not mask an impressive OS that lies beyond & beneath it.

The only thing I use Start for is to hit the Desktop tile @ Boot-up. That is not to say I don't occasionally use some apps but, I do not go to Start to do so.

Whilst on Desktop, it is, indeed, quicker & easier to get @ many things than in any pre-Windows8 OS. AND that is w/out K/B shortcuts being used, @ all.

Regards,
Drew

That is an accurate post Drew, Many think Windows 8 has to be about social networking and Apps but in fact it does not have to be. You have a choice to uninstall whatever you don't like and replace things with things you do like. I've seen videos of people who only put their desktop programs on the start screen and use it like the old start button.

To my knowledge there is alot of features to windows 8 which are very similar to windows 7 just redesigned. Windows 7 is also very similar to Vista but improved, the differences between these OS's is at best a learning curve. Anyone who knows Windows will easily learn where to go and how to work things. I find learning older Windows more of a challenge then these newer ones. Take for instance win2000 and 98, you had to go through hell installing drivers and dealing with configuring networking. Most people turned to professionals because they didn't understand how to do things.

Nowadays people complain just because it doesn't look how they would like which I understand that but in comparing newer windows to older windows, we are in an age where simplicity is a given. And everything is handed to us ready to use whereas before we spent hours setting a system up to do what we needed.

It seems that some people here keep trying to convince us that win 8 has much more features than win7. Perhaps they can tell us which and what they are? Win 8 is obviously a social media touch screen OS. There is nothing about it that is superior to Win 7 to justify people spending money on it. The best way I can describe Win 8 is that it is a "HIDE AND SEEK" OS designed by Fisher Price for people who care only for Facebook and Tweeter.

The most noticeable thing Win 8 lacks is "INTUITION BASE". There is nothing intuitive about it and it is obvious that it will 100% fail. All the young people (Students) I speak with who have tried win8 basically say: "I already own a smartphone, why should I turn my PC into one?" or something to that tune.

Let's face it; Many will love this new OS, especially the social media crowd who do nothing else with their PCs. Was it not bad enough that MS got rid of the option for classic menus in Win 7 (thank God for Classic Shell) that now they decided to get rid of a PC based OS?

Win 7 will be the main OS for years to come while win 8 will sit n the shelves collecting dust! I honestly pray for win 8 to fail so that MS will finally stop feeding us new useless innovations just for the sake of unneeded change!

tanzanos said:

It seems that some people here keep trying to convince us that win 8 has much more features than win7.

There is nothing about it that is superior to Win 7 to justify people spending money on it.

The most noticeable thing Win 8 lacks is "INTUITION BASE".

Was it not bad enough that MS got rid of the option for classic menus in Win 7 (thank God for Classic Shell) that now they decided to get rid of a PC based OS?

Win 7 will be the main OS for years to come

Click to expand...

I agree with you on these points, if it where up to me I would not have designed windows 8 the way it is.

I would have built onto and improved windows 7 hardware and features, something that windows 8 does do but also gives people unwanted features. Windows 7 is a good system, Windows 8 is also a good system that will have many improvements to come, I'm talking about the desktop and hardware.

Things I do not like about Windows 8 includes, Metro using resources, Aero plans to be gone by RTM, no start button on/off option.

Metro and no start button I can live with, but to take away aero is just too much for me. I always liked aero and transparency, without that and everything Windows 8 has changed I feel they have taken away some things I love about Windows. Don't get me wrong, I love using Windows 8. But change it too much and I will feel like its not my OS but someone else's. OS's I love include, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows 7. I will await the final release of 8 and hope it makes my list of Fav OS's.

One should read as much as they write.

Windows8 IS NOT "obviously" Touch & 'Social Networking'-centric. Any 'Social Networking' aspects can be used or not. AND Windows8 does not require Touch and works just fine w/out it. Trying to call a PC OS a "big smart phone" is saying nothing. IT's largely apples & oranges. Phones have their own features, needs, purpose, uses & their own OS. There will always be a place in our computing activities for PCs & Windows8, ALSO, caters nicely to them. Nobody has gotten rid of PC focused OSs. As for this "hide n seek" label & the Fisher-Price label, neither, in actual fact or reality, apply. The degree of sophistication, magnitude & level of technology in Windows8 & what it can do... it sure ain't no 'toy'. Finding things, doing things, navigating in Win8 is easy, nothing mysterious about it, @ all... in many cases things are more readily accessible than they ever were before. One can, actually, bound about in Windows8 quicker, more efficiently & more simply than ever. And, btw, the (so-called) loss of the old start button/menu is, in truth, no loss, @ all. Nothing is left less doable than ever... slightly different, maybe, but, no loss of dynamic.

All the better performance that results from the underlying technology in Windows8 is inarguable.
1 thing that can safely be said is that, between IE10 & Windows8, things are blazing fast; & that is w/ less system resources being used than w/ previous Windows, too!

One may need to research Windows8 further to be(come) better, further & more accurately enlightened & informed. Makes one better positioned to comment & judge.

As has been said, repeatedly, one should not let the Win8 Start screen mask the rest of this OS... there is much worthwhile besides & in addition to that 1 screen (that doesn't even need to be used if, one so choses).

As for Windows8 Features & feature differences, this may shed some light on things, for interested people...
Features new to Windows 8 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cheers,
Drew

Shane,

I do, also, like transparency especially, having the Taskbar be transparent. Have to admit, I will miss this, too. FWIW, I have asked the Win8 Build Team to keep it in RTM.

Oh & as for no On/Off button (other than > Charms > Settings), look @ this...
Link RemovedLink Removed

Cheers,
Drew

Could someone please point out why companies and professionals should even bother moving to win8? Call me stupid but win 8 is not for the professional. It is basically an : "either you do it my way or sod off" OS. Win 7 lacks the option of classic menus and its search filters are a joke compared to XP. Also anyone who claims that Win 8 IS NOT a tablet based touch screen OS is only fooling himself. I am sure that many of you supporters of win 8 are very adept at and have above average knowledge of OS's but consider the vast amount of users worldwide who just want to use their PCs for work!

Win 8 does not offer any advantages that would entice companies to switch over to it. FIX win 7 to be as stable as windows 2000, give us the OPTION of classic menus back, Give us the user friendliness of XP search filters, and the INTUITION of all windows OS's bar win 8.

I personally do not care if my OS is a nanosecond faster or consumes a few percentages less resources. Contemporary PC's can handle pretty much anything you can throw at them resource wise.

Marketing is behind win 8 and not user requirements. Heck even win 7 is giving me headaches and there is a lot of room for improvement. When the hide and seek philosophy of RIBBON was also incorporated into Win 8 then users end up using less of the so called hidden features and this invariably leads to dumbing down the potential of any OS. Win 8 will make social networks very happy indeed.

But all is not lost; Win 7 will be around for many years to cater to the PC users.

I don't believe it is possible to full judge the benefit of Windows 8, over Windows 7, as yet. But in its present form, I must agree. It is OK for the enthusiastic stationery user, who has an open wallet and merely has an impulse to move up. For companies/multi desktop users, the performance improvements are not significant enough to warrant the financial outlay.
But, moving back through this thread. Drew and I have had several exchanges on this matter. I am, for various reasons, exploring the possibilities of using Windows 8 as it is designed, rather than attempt to turn it into a simulation of Windows 7. To this end, I tend to stay in Metro as much as possible. Microsoft claim it as a new desktop. This is, unfortunately, a false claim. If it were so, then after using an App, surely I should return to the "desktop". I do not, I am returned to the Windows 7 copy of the desktop. But I understand this will be one of the minor improvements in the RTM. However, on a previous post, bearing in mind I am trying to work with Metro, I would get no satisfaction on using a desktop shutdown/restart switch. (I do have "Classic" on the desktop, which can take care of that) What I do have, is a Metro icon to do the same thing. If anyone is interested, download the .zip and run the script.

Well..... I like it.

I know it's not 'fashionable' to like win 8 but then again I've never been one to follow the herd.

Best advice I can give.. Keep using windows 7. After all, as Microsoft have said in announcements if using windows 7 then one might not want to use or need to use windows 8.

It's hard not to tire of the arguments being put forth against Win8. Some of the major design goals of it cater to Enterprise; this addresses a few of those, Windows 8 Enterprise: 6 Key Features For IT - Windows - Microsoft news - Informationweek

Major attention was devoted to Business & multi-monitor scenarios.

Research should be done before ranting, arbitrarily, against something. Agreed, some bashing does go on just cus it's "fashionable". Nor is anyone saying, for reasons XY&Z, ppl must run out & buy Win8 & replace whatever they currently have immediately.

Because comments are made on attributes of an OS, negative or positive & hopefully objectively, that does not make the commenter an evangelist or bias.

Certainly, one can use tiles... For myself & many others, it's more appealing to be on Desktop, use whatever apps, w/out leaving desktop & keeping open/active apps on the App bar. BUT, to condemn the OS because of the Start screen is, excuse me, nothing but, silly. It can be used or not. Either way it does not make the OS bad or stupid. There is a whole lot of worthwhile OS besides, beyond & beneath that one screen.

No offence mean but, sometimes it seems some ppl in forums write but, don't read or (maybe, just) stubbornly refuse to be open to considering information being availed to them.

Many of us are using 8 w/out adding 3rd party things or retro-fits but, basically, as is. We try to offer advice & show how Win8 can work nicely & happily but, it's hard to give tips or help enhance people's understanding unless they are going to be open to listening. W/ a wee bit of insight (& very little tweaking) one might enjoy Windows8 & come to see it is easy to use; regardless & completely apart of any screen of tiles.

There are efforts made to correct things we see said; pointless w/out being willing to accept the corrections. On a global scale Enterprise is of extreme importance, really, even more than home use. Windows8 caters greatly to that sphere.

It is true, if one doesn't 'get' Windows8, one does not have to use it but, that choice can be made w/out trying to tell others how horrid or dumb Windows8 is. Some of us have been using Win8 non-stop for almost 4 months & have come to see it is not horrid, trite, a 'joke' or not appealing for both regular (non-touch) home PCs and glob-trotting Execs.

And, here, this will save > Charms > Settings to find the Power button:
No installation required for this one.
Easy to configure, can be Pinned to Start Screen, Start Menu & Taskbar
You can rename & change the Icon to your liking.

Download the zip file from the link provided and follow the easy instructions;

Download Link
Link Removed

Just right click to expand (it) & get its menu..

Hope you like this one. (as much as I do)

Link Removed

Cheers,
Drew

Nice summary.
It's about opinions. Yours is favorable, mine is something less.
Also nice head fake, re: Enterprise. I dare say that 99.9% of the members and visitors of this forum will never see nor get their hands on a copy of the Enterprise version of Windows 8.
And the link you referenced does not work but the one Don discussed here http://windows8forums.com/windows-8...-another-power-button-option-jumpcontrol.html to I believe the same program does.
Most interesting you and others continue to seek and find solutions to problems that were not problems prior to Windows 8, as in the case of this third party power button utility. Nothing wrong with that...... just saying.

Thanks, the link to the Power button has been corrected & does work, now.

Nor are we telling people about it to address a "problem" but, to merely have the (already existing) Power button available w/out > Charms > Settings; nice to know of various ways (or locations) available for things. It's said, variety is the spice of life

The word, 'Enterprise', was used to mean business & corporate needs & concerns not, the Enterprise edition of an OS. Enterprise 'world' or environment not, Enterprise version.

Drew

In my dealings with windows, I had 98se for awhile but it would BSOD on me alot when trying to do things. I loved 98se, if it were not for the crashes I'd still use it. But now I have a newer laptop that does not support 98se.

I wish I could find the right Sata driver and get Windows 2000 working because it was a very good Windows too. and I believe it would do very well with games.

Xp was ok, but in the 10 or so years of dealing with it you get to know all of its bugs. When first installed it has good speed to it. But over time it seems things tend to ware out and become slower resulting in reinstalling the thing time and time again.

Vista was pretty good, but it was resource intensive. Its something you have to keep up on and optimize for good results. Plus bloatware and unwanted features can sometimes get in the way.

Windows 7 was even better then Xp or Vista, It was made from people complaining to Microsoft to make something they could use easily. Optimized for performance with less Ram requirements windows 7 stuck as the version of windows that they got right. There should be no revision or new version of this ladder of windows, this ladder is complete with windows 7 and only will need service packs for bugs or problems.

Windows 8 is the next generation of Windows, after Windows 8 I believe Microsoft will be making versions of Windows for both Tablets and desktops or laptops. Like Windows 9 desktop version, Windows 9 Tablet verion. Its much better to make separate versions instead of one version for all and I think people will speak up and they will make those changes. Windows 8 is their first OS to set out and crush Apple, and other companies in the tablet world. I do believe they will continue to re invent the desktop system and do many new changes and features in future versions of Windows. That being said, If you want to stick with windows 7 and wait for windows 9, 10. Then go ahead because 7 is a really good system, Microsoft will always bring changes to the electronic world. They changed things in every version of Windows they have made so don't be upset or worry over the future because they will continue to bring new and exciting systems up as time goes by. Microsoft is doing better by listening to people, they just are focused on being number 1 right now and thats good because we need something better then the IPAD, it sucks and charges you for everything you do. They are trying to help everyone, and thats a damn good company in my opinion.