Windows 8

[Mental Trousers]

In XP I still used classic themes, but I'll admit to really enjoying 7. It scared me when I first realised it... and the hardware detection is pretty good as well.

I don't do bells and whistles so no reason to use Win7. Hell, I spend the majority of my time at work and a fair chunk of it at home in ssh sessions and the only frill is ticking the fake transparent background box so every 2 minutes I can see which hot chick is now my desktop wallpaper.

[avgas]

Simple things like finding out the ipconfigs via GUI in XP were 2 clicks... with 7 you have to go into a centre, then the adapters, then properties, then details... WHY?!

I have a present for you
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/52526565/ipconfig.lnk

[Gremlin]

I have a present for you
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/52526565/ipconfig.lnk

I'm too lazy to click start, type cmd, type ipconfig... 2 clicks (ok, one is a double click) is much faster

[sil3nt]

Just upgraded to windows 7 last month. And they are already onto windows 8

Quite like windows 7. Not finding it too much different to XP which is a good thing. Bring on windows 9!

[ckai]

Let's reincarnate this sucker.

Those in the know (actually "in the know" not "KB I think I know so I know" ), I've heard W8 is running faster and is generally better than most previous OS - it's still open for debate that it's better than W7.

Our only PC laptop is running Vista and it's god awful. It only has a small hard drive but we very rarely use it. In fact it in probably gets used once a month. The upgrade to W8 isn't gonna be that much and I'm thinking the laptop will run much better with it as opposed to vista.

Thoughts?

No there is no option to run Linux as it's the software we use on it. We already have moved the majority of our windows software to a virtual environment on our macs but some of it can't be moved.

It's not really a big deal but I thought it may be an option to consider.

[Buyasta]

Let's reincarnate this sucker.

Those in the know (actually "in the know" not "KB I think I know so I know" ), I've heard W8 is running faster and is generally better than most previous OS - it's still open for debate that it's better than W7.

Our only PC laptop is running Vista and it's god awful. It only has a small hard drive but we very rarely use it. In fact it in probably gets used once a month. The upgrade to W8 isn't gonna be that much and I'm thinking the laptop will run much better with it as opposed to vista.

Thoughts?

No there is no option to run Linux as it's the software we use on it. We already have moved the majority of our windows software to a virtual environment on our macs but some of it can't be moved.

It's not really a big deal but I thought it may be an option to consider.

You should definitely try before you buy, Windows 8 has changed a lot. I installed one of the developer previews in a VM to have a play with it, but I was only able to stomach it for about 5 minutes before I'd decided I hate it enough to skip it and hope like hell Windows 9 is more usable.
The problem is that they're trying to make an OS that will work equally well on a PC and a tablet or touchscreen PC, and apparently their idea of an OS that works on both is "make it work on a touchscreen and fuck everyone else" - to remove pretty much anything that doesn't work quite right on a touchscreen and then design the entire damn UI around use of a touchscreen despite the fact that many (and I'm guessing a majority) of traditional PC users will absolutely hate it.
It is kind of possible to make it a little more usable - you can run a third party app to restore the start menu and I'm sure people will be able to modify the UI in other ways to make it more usable, but that really shouldn't be necessary - since XP I'd begun to think I'd never need to replace the windows shell again if I wanted it to be stable and functional.

[Bald Eagle]

You want stable and functional in a M$ O/S rofl

Sent from my MB525 using Tapatalk 2

[Scuba_Steve]

Let's reincarnate this sucker.

Those in the know (actually "in the know" not "KB I think I know so I know" ), I've heard W8 is running faster and is generally better than most previous OS - it's still open for debate that it's better than W7.

Our only PC laptop is running Vista and it's god awful. It only has a small hard drive but we very rarely use it. In fact it in probably gets used once a month. The upgrade to W8 isn't gonna be that much and I'm thinking the laptop will run much better with it as opposed to vista.

Thoughts?

No there is no option to run Linux as it's the software we use on it. We already have moved the majority of our windows software to a virtual environment on our macs but some of it can't be moved.

It's not really a big deal but I thought it may be an option to consider.

Upgrade to Vista? unfortunately jury's still out on that one. But given MS's history it'll probably be a downgrade to Win7. At this stage tho Win8 is appearing to be faster, so might be worth the upgrade on that basis alone & after all you don't have much to lose coming from Vista.

I'm sure you're aware but just incase. Upgrading from XP will only bring over your "My Documents" all apps & settings will be abolished in the upgrade & from Vista will only bring "My Documents" & windows settings, again all apps will be abolished in the upgrade.

[Buyasta]

You want stable and functional in a M$ O/S rofl

I dunno if you've noticed, but they actually have fixed most of the issues with the shell since XP - it used to be that if you didn't just go ahead and completely replace it with a third party shell, the damn thing would crash 4-5 times a day and you'd constantly be restarting it.
Also note I'm just talking about the shell here, not the OS itself.

[Akzle]

you can make windows 7 look and behave like XP quite easily. (except the start menu... ) that asides... there's not too much, underneath all the shiney shit, that's really really changed since 95. (excepting new hardware, bluetooth, ie)
it's PITA though.

i dualled 7 and debian... realised i never used 7 and ended up forgetting the password.... hacked it from debian, then deleted it. then installed 'buntu.

laptop still has XP on it.... looking at a new one *lotto*, which i will probably dual 7 ultimate (x64) and buntu 10... only because i don't have to pay for either

[Akzle]

...But given MS's history it'll probably be a downgrade to Win7. At this stage tho Win8 is appearing to be faster, so might be worth the upgrade on that basis alone & after all you don't have much to lose coming from Vista.

I'm sure you're aware but just incase. Upgrading from XP will only bring over your "My Documents" all apps & settings will be abolished in the upgrade & from Vista will only bring "My Documents" & windows settings, again all apps will be abolished in the upgrade.

downgrade. M$. you must be out of your mind. why would they allow you the functionality of a rollback??

i'm sure i've explained backups in another thread.
NEVER let windows install itself (especially over a previous version of winblows). that's silly.

.old kind of silly.

[ckai]

You should definitely try before you buy, Windows 8 has changed a lot.

Yeah I've actually installed the preview on one of the mac's. I'm one of the 0.001% that don't mind it. I generally like a clean look at hide everything on the screen anyway (generally a mac user thing since we like eye candy ). I'm more than used to hot corners and have used them for years so it's second nature to me. The metro launch screen is interesting but just reminds me of a phone.

It did take me a little while to find my way around (had to search for one thing) but that was only 5 mins (which is a while for me).

To be completely honest, I'm not a fan for windows but at the moment W8 seems to be not too bad. Then again, never used W7 so could be missing something.

You want stable and functional in a M$ O/S rofl

Sent from my MB525 using Tapatalk 2

Yeah I know, gotta work with what we've got.

Upgrade to Vista? unfortunately jury's still out on that one. But given MS's history it'll probably be a downgrade to Win7. At this stage tho Win8 is appearing to be faster, so might be worth the upgrade on that basis alone & after all you don't have much to lose coming from Vista.

I'm sure you're aware but just incase. Upgrading from XP will only bring over your "My Documents" all apps & settings will be abolished in the upgrade & from Vista will only bring "My Documents" & windows settings, again all apps will be abolished in the upgrade.

Yeah I was thinking about checking app compatibility (or the ability to get newer versions). This may well be the deciding factor.

[SMOKEU]

I'll be getting my free legit copy of Windows 8 and Server 2012 soon enough.

[flyingcrocodile46]

I have had 7 for over a year on my desk top and just bought a dual touch screen laptop with 7 on it. The touch functionality with 7 is great. Particularly with the twin screen for browsing using either the Acer browser, Explorer or Firefox. Works very similarly to a tablet for ease of navigation but also works great on office docs and pdf's when multitasking. Touch screen copy and paste between documents (once you get used to it) is easier and faster to do. I use a wireless keyboard to dispense with the handicap of the virtual keyboard (not that it is any worse than any other virtual keyboard, it just limits the screen real estate for multitasking.

I have installed a preview version of 8 but am unimpressed. Aside from multiple compatibility failures such as the failure to correctly identify the compliant 1366 x 768 touch screens,1 upside down screen with no apparent fix, and the non functioning of the very cool Acer touch tools that enhance the touch functionality and multitasking (incl the far superior virtual keyboard, social jogger, windows manager etc) it really doesn't seem to offer any benefit in functionality over and above the touch version of 7.

I'll have another look at the fully tooled up final release sometime but my money is on 7 to deliver the better experience. Though that may change as the new platform is improved through the support of metro apps once more people start developing them.

[Brian d marge]

widows will have to do something....Pc prices coming down..lunux coming of age
my computers all run linux, rock solid ,stable....except commercial software such as catia and solidworks etc...and that is ,can be a big deal breaker,,,im ok but it is a pain
I hope these large companys lose the protectionist stance ...and let the power of the people improvethe product, can see signs in window they are trying.....apple,,yes well
stephen