Upgrading Win 7 to Win 8

[steve_t]

Anyone tried a Win RT device yet?

I had a quick play with the MS Surface in Astraya recently. Seemed really nice. Win 8 Pro released in February according to the sales chick. She said she was gonna wait for that to be released as the RT version is quite limited. I was quite surprised at how nice it was to type on the surface keypad thingamee.

Any of you guys managing any Server 2012 machines?

[pzkpfw]

... My initial conclusion. Win 8 makes sense if you have a touchscreen and/or multiple screens. ...

My desktop has twin 24" FHD monitors, and I think Win 8 is arse on dual monitors. It's fine in "(don't call it) desktop mode", but the "Modern UI" stuff just isn't designed for more than single screen tablet or laptop. It's daft.

(They tout "Metro" as being great for multitasking, because you can have a little 2nd window down the side of your screen. That may be a leap forward for Tablets (or not) but it's a leap backwards on my PC.)

"Microsoft Windows" became "Microsoft Window".

... You also HAVE to learn the shortcuts ...

Shouldn't have to. It's got a freakin' GUI!

... (as the GUI breaks a lot of basic HCI rules) ...

Like getting rid of visual affordances. Bastards.

... but once you get your head round them I'd say it's faster.

I don't care so much about "faster". The things the shortcuts do are not done often enough by me. I'd rather things were just easier to find, when I want them. Sometimes I'm mostly doing mouse stuff, not keyboard, so want easy mouse things to do. Like ...

... Really really wish they'd kept the big red X to close a window.

Yes!

Move mouse, on average from middle of screen, to top right of screen (if window maximised, less if not), click on "X".
versus
Move mouse, on average from middle of screen, to top of screen, to just the right position (my 2nd monitor is above 1st, so mouse doesn't just stop at top of 1st screen), then drag all the way down.

I get they want to save pixels on a Tablet. But I'm using twin FHD monitors. I have pixels to spare.

Sure, I can press Alt+F4, but if I'm "on the mouse" that's not better. I have to switch modes from mouse to keyboard. The PC ought to support touch, mouse and keyboard; all equally usable as and when required. The mouse should not be reduced to simulating touch - that just doesn't work nicely.


Lots and lots on Win 8 is very nice, and I'm sure the Metro stuff is nice on a Tablet. I'm actually mulling over buying a Dell XPS 12 so I can learn to play Tablet style (gotta learn).


The other thing that's really pissing me off right now, is the barrier they've put up for Metro apps being side loaded. It's a big road block for hobbyists and small businesses. I think they've cut off a huge part of the base of users who'd make 8 a success. They provide less reason to go Win 8 over Android or iOS. That, and the very restrictive sandbox. Metro apps don't get a serial Bluetooth protocol, for example.


P.S. Disabled flash in IE10 as ads on TradeMe forum were crashing my video drivers.

[Akzle]

Shouldn't have to. It's got a freakin' GUI!

haiku.
. .

[imdying]

Shouldn't have to. It's got a freakin' GUI!

I know what you're saying, but keyboard short cuts are a staple of power users. No matter how flash the GUI is, the keyboard shortcut is always faster.

[pzkpfw]

I know what you're saying, but keyboard short cuts are a staple of power users. No matter how flash the GUI is, the keyboard shortcut is always faster.

Yeah, I don't buy the "power user" thing. If people want to use the keyboard shortcuts, that's fine., But to call themselves power users and dismiss mouse use as somehow "less cool" is just bollocks.

When I'm using the keyboard, fine, I'll use a keyboard shortcut. But when I'm mostly mousing, there ought to be an easy mouse thing for me to do.

Maybe this means I'm not a "power user" (whatever that really means) but if I don't do something very often, I don't remember it. That's why the visual affordances are so useful. Also, if I don't use it often, being a bit faster isn't the issue, it's convenience.

And overall, the target market for Windows is the non-power user; they are the vast majority of users of Windows. So again, stupid mouse control issues being explained away as "just use keyboard shortcuts" doesn't make sense.

[bogan]

...."just use keyboard shortcuts" doesn't make sense.

Unless there is a keyboard shortcut to 'downgrade' Win 8 back to Win 7, that would make a lot of sense

Apparently Win 8 has deliberately removed compatibility with a lot of server systems to force the user to upgrade them as well. Considering that the IT guy I was talking to was having IPX compatibilty issues while upgrading to Win 7, I think they've cocked up their market evaluation there

[Scuba_Steve]

I think they've cocked up their market evaluation there

MS have never evaluated the "market" you're talking bout there. MS don't care about consumers, they care about money & market evaluation is showing they're losing market as massive rates. The new "leaders" Apple & Google, what do both these corporations have in common??? an 'eco system'. This is what MS is now trying to force everyone on.
Win8 should look/feel like Xbox, which should look/feel like winph8, which should look/feel like winRT, which should look/feel like Win8

Problem is MS don't know what they're doing, how to do it, or what people want, & they're late to the party. But then none of this has held them back in the past, so they may well pull it off once their propaganda machine goes full force

[jim.cox]

once their propaganda machine goes full force

I see from today's media that M$ claim to have sold 40million win8 licences to date

Wonder how many are actually in use 10% ? 1% ? 0.1% ?

[pzkpfw]

I see from today's media that M$ claim to have sold 40million win8 licences to date

Wonder how many are actually in use 10% ? 1% ? 0.1% ?

We need some up-to-date user agent string browser stats.

[Gremlin]

I see from today's media that M$ claim to have sold 40million win8 licences to date

I think many of those would be OEM. I know a friend bought a laptop because it was cheap, now seen what W8 is, hates it and wants to know how he gets W7 on it...

[scracha]

I think many of those would be OEM. I know a friend bought a laptop because it was cheap, now seen what W8 is, hates it and wants to know how he gets W7 on it...

Officially he needs Win 7 PRO

"What do I need to downgrade?
To take advantage of your Windows 8 Pro downgrade rights, you need installation media* (such as DVD or USB key) for Windows 7 Professional or Windows Vista Business. You also need a valid product key for the older OS. It's fine to use a product key currently in use on another machine; you just need the old code to get past the product key request during installation."

*
http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-59186.iso (win 7 pro 64bit)
http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-59183.iso (win 7 pro 32 bit)

http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-58997.iso (win 7 HP x64)
http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-58996.iso (win 7 hp x32)


Unofficially. Just download it and try it first as drivers may be a bitch. It'll work for 30 days without the key, then it'll go into a nag on the startup (and not download certain MS updateS) but otherwise work fine.

[Akzle]

It'll work for 30 days without the key, then it'll go into a nag on the startup (and not download certain MS updateS) but otherwise work fine.

there's a fix ("crack") for that...

[imdying]

Yeah, I don't buy the "power user" thing. If people want to use the keyboard shortcuts, that's fine., But to call themselves power users and dismiss mouse use as somehow "less cool" is just bollocks.

No no, it doesn't make the mouse less cool, they're like a knife and fork, both have their place and should be used in conjunction with each other. A simple example is the Win-D combination... you would be crazy to use the mouse to clear the desktop, but that doesn't make the mouse redundant, you just start the pointer off towards the next click whilst you're using the shortcut.

When I'm using the keyboard, fine, I'll use a keyboard shortcut. But when I'm mostly mousing, there ought to be an easy mouse thing for me to do.

Maybe this means I'm not a "power user" (whatever that really means) but if I don't do something very often, I don't remember it. That's why the visual affordances are so useful. Also, if I don't use it often, being a bit faster isn't the issue, it's convenience.

A power user is generally just someone who uses a particular application as the core of their working day... for a MSSQL database administrator, that would be something like SQL Management Studio; if they're any chop they'll know all the keyboard shortcuts like the back of their hand.

And overall, the target market for Windows is the non-power user; they are the vast majority of users of Windows.

lol, the hell it is

[Akzle]

lol, the hell it is

yeah, nah. it is.

or otherwise sysadmins/l33t-folk who know better but are forced into it by corporate policy.

(or the desire to run full screen flash without writing drivers for their card ><)

damn shame, really.

[Akzle]

I've got an XP VM on my current PC; only ever used it once, and that wasn't for work (it was to play an old game).

DOSbox.
.