Windows 8 - Your Thoughts and Opinion

[peti1212]

What do you guys think of Windows 8? Have you guys had the chance to try it out yet? I managed to get a Pro Retail version early for my desktop through my schools MSDNAA account, and for the first week or two, I must admit, I was quite annoyed with driver support (ASUS Xonar not supported), and the Metro UI. I was also very annoyed by having to log in through a Microsoft account every single time I restarted or turned on my PC.

The good news is that you can easily disable the windows login (well make it automatic) or also known as the lock screen, with just a few little steps:

Method 1
Go to the Metro UI, type gpedit.msc and hit Enter to open Local Group Policy Editor. In the Administrative Templates folder go to Control Panel –> Personalization and click on the Do not Display the Lock Screen . Enable this option, and then click OK. It might ask you to verify your login information, but it might not.

Method 2
Win + X, Admin Cmd Prompt
Type: control userpasswords2
Uncheck the Box: "User must enter a user name and password to use this computer"
Once again you might have to enter your username and password to disable this option.

Method 3
Win + X, Run, netplwiz
Uncheck the same box as in Method 2.



Ok, once this was disabled and things became automatic, I have noticed how much quicker the boot time on my system is. Make sure to update your BIOS to the latest Windows 8 compatible BIOS. This also helps with stability and any other issues you might have, like BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) or what seems to be now a Blue Screen of :( (Sad Face)

Now one thing that might be annoying is the fact that you don't have My Computer, or any of the main shortcuts to your drives. This can be easy, just search for it, and then make it a shortcut. The Start (Metro UI) is always in the far left bottom corner, just like the start button, and you never have to guess if you're clicking it, just slide over to the left bottom corner as fast as you can, and click it, and it will go into the Metro UI.

A neat little thing I've noticed was that Windows 8 also uses the Ribbon style toolbar in My Computer and other apps. You might not like it, but once you get used to it, just like you had to get use to it on Microsoft Office 2007 and up, you'll start liking it.



Performance

Performance improvements have been noticed not just at boot, but also once in Windows 8. System seems to be more responsive and quicker than in Windows 7. Less memory usage was also noticed and some benchmarks also show higher graphics scores, even though drivers for some hardware are still in BETA. Nvidia drivers are 100% solid with a few little glitches on a multi-monitor configuration, such as Nvidia Surround.



A few shortcuts that might come handy. I highlighted some that I find the most useful besides just the general shortcuts that most of us might already know.

Windows key: Switch between Modern Desktop Start screen and the last accessed application
Windows key + C: Access the charms bar
Windows key + Tab: Access the Modern Desktop Taskbar
Windows key + I: Access the Settings charm
Windows key + H: Access the Share charm
Windows key + K: Access the Devices charm
Windows key + Q: Access the Apps Search screen
Windows key + F: Access the Files Search screen
Windows key + W: Access the Settings Search screen
Windows key + P: Access the Second Screen bar
Windows key + Z: Brings up the App Bar when you have a Modern Desktop App running
Windows key + X: Access the Windows Tools Menu
Windows key + O: Lock screen orientation
Windows key + . : Move the screen split to the right
Windows key + Shift + . : Move the screen split to the left
Windows key + V: View all active Toasts/Notifications
Windows key + Shift + V: View all active Toasts/Notifications in reverse order
Windows key + PrtScn: Takes a screenshot of the screen and automatically saves it in the Pictures folder as Screenshot
Windows key + Enter: Launch Narrator
Windows key + E: Open Computer
Windows key + R: Open the Run dialog box
Windows key + U: Open Ease of Access Center
Windows key + Ctrl + F: Open Find Computers dialog box
Windows key + Pause/Break: Open the System page
Windows key + 1..10: Launch a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + Shift + 1..10: Launch a new instance of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + Ctrl + 1..10: Access the last active instance of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + Alt + 1..10: Access the Jump List of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + B: Select the first item in the Notification Area and then use the arrow keys to cycle through the items Press Enter to open the selected item
Windows key + Ctrl + B: Access the program that is displaying a message in the Notification Area
Windows key + T: Cycle through the items on the Taskbar
Windows key + M: Minimize all windows
Windows key + Shift + M: Restore all minimized windows
Windows key + D: Show/Hide Desktop (minimize/restore all windows)
Windows key + L: Lock computer
Windows key + Up Arrow: Maximize current window
Windows key + Down Arrow: Minimize/restore current window
Windows key + Home: Minimize all but the current window
Windows key + Left Arrow: Tile window on the left side of the screen
Windows key + Right Arrow: Tile window on the right side of the screen
Windows key + Shift + Up Arrow: Extend current window from the top to the bottom of the screen
Windows key + Shift + Left/Right Arrow: Move the current window from one monitor to the next
Windows key + F1: Launch Windows Help and Support

PageUp: Scroll forward on the Modern Desktop Start screen
PageDown: Scroll backward on the Modern Desktop Start screen
Esc: Close a charm
Ctrl + Esc: Switch between Modern Desktop Start screen and the last accessed application
Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel: Activate the Semantic Zoom on the Modern Desktop screen

Alt: Display a hidden Menu Bar
Alt + D: Select the Address Bar
Alt + P: Display the Preview Pane in Windows Explorer
Alt + Tab: Cycle forward through open windows
Alt + Shift + Tab: Cycle backward through open windows
Alt + F: Close the current window Open the Shut Down Windows dialog box from the Desktop
Alt + Spacebar: Access the Shortcut menu for current window
Alt + Esc: Cycle between open programs in the order that they were opened
Alt + Enter: Open the Properties dialog box of the selected item
Alt + PrtScn: Take a screen shot of the active Window and place it in the clipboard
Alt + Up Arrow: Move up one folder level in Windows Explorer (Like the Up Arrow in XP)
Alt + Left Arrow: Display the previous folder
Alt + Right Arrow: Display the next folder
Shift + Insert: CD/DVD Load CD/DVD without triggering Autoplay or Autorun
Shift + Delete: Permanently delete the item (rather than sending it to the Recycle Bin)
Shift + F6: Cycle backward through elements in a window or dialog box
Shift + F10: Access the context menu for the selected item
Shift + Tab: Cycle backward through elements in a window or dialog box
Shift + Click: Select a consecutive group of items
Shift + Click on a Taskbar button: Launch a new instance of a program
Shift + Right-click on a Taskbar button: Access the context menu for the selected item
Ctrl + A: Select all items
Ctrl + C: Copy the selected item
Ctrl + X: Cut the selected item
Ctrl + V: Paste the selected item
Ctrl + D: Delete selected item
Ctrl + Z: Undo an action
Ctrl + Y: Redo an action
Ctrl + N: Open a new window in Windows Explorer
Ctrl + W: Close current window in Windows Explorer
Ctrl + E: Select the Search box in the upper right corner of a window
Ctrl + Shift + N: Create new folder
Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Open the Windows Task Manager
Ctrl + Alt + Tab: Use arrow keys to cycle through open windows
Ctrl + Alt + Delete: Access the Windows Security screen
Ctrl + Click: Select multiple individual items
Ctrl + Click and drag an item: Copies that item in the same folder
Ctrl + Shift + Click and drag an item: Creates a shortcut for that item in the same folder
Ctrl + Tab: Move forward through tabs
Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Move backward through tabs
Ctrl + Shift + Click on a Taskbar button: Launch a new instance of a program as an Administrator
Ctrl + Click on a grouped Taskbar button: Cycle through the instances of a program in the group
F1: Display Help
F2: Rename a file
F3: Open Search
F4: Display the Address Bar list
F5: Refresh display
F6: Cycle forward through elements in a window or dialog box
F7: Display command history in a Command Prompt
F10: Display hidden Menu Bar
F11: Toggle full screen display
Tab: Cycle forward through elements in a window or dialog box
PrtScn: Take a screen shot of the entire screen and place it in the clipboard
Home: Move to the top of the active window
End: Move to the bottom of the active window
Delete: Delete the selected item
Backspace: Display the previous folder in Windows Explorer Move up one folder level in Open or Save dialog box
Esc: Close a dialog box
Num Lock Enabled + Plus (+): Display the contents of the selected folder
Num Lock Enabled + Minus (-): Collapse the selected folder
Num Lock Enabled + Asterisk (*): Expand all subfolders under the selected folder


So as far as application support goes, Windows 8 seems to support about 99% of the apps that work on Windows 7 (I'm not taking into account driver software), and if for any chance something doesn't seem to run, compatibility settings can usually get it to work.

A neat thing I like to do, which is very similar to Windows 7 and Mac OSX is the fact that you can do search straight from the Metro UI (Start). You just have to press the Windows Key, and start typing. This is the simplest way of doing it. Unfortunately, the search is not smart enough to do mathematical calculations as far as I can tell. This is one thing that I really enjoy on a Mac that I haven't seen on Windows yet. Therefore an extra step is needed to launch Calculator to start doing simple mathematical calculations.

This is all I can think of for now. Let me know what you think. Tell me your experience with Windows 8, and if you do not have Windows 8 yet, are you considering to upgrade?

Personally, after working with Windows 8 for a few months now, I feel just as happy with it as I was with Windows 7 when it first hit the stores. Give it a week or two before you make a decision to move back to Windows 7, and you'll see you'll start liking it. :) Hope this is helpful.

[PP Mguire]

Any tweaks or registry hacks to either remove login, Metro, or add a start menu will be fixed by the first batch of retail updates. It has been proven by other site reviews that there is no performance benefit besides a smaller RAM footprint by the OS. There have also been user complaints of game and program incompatibility in retail already.
Also, if you right click where the start menu is supposed to be after a while a little start "like" menu will come up.

My main problems with this OS are:
Metro UI. I don't have a touch screen tab or phone. I have a desktop computer with keyboard and mouse. I'm not 5, I don't need huge ugly tiles in my face.
No start menu. I've used a start menu since Windows 95 and don't want to change that as I don't use desktop icons. I barely use pinned icons on my taskbar.
No real performance benefit from the upgrade. That's my biggest issue. The only reason I went to 7 from XP was because it was required, DX11/10, and there was no huge performance decrease from the move unlike Vista. Actually, there is a performance increase with the drivers and hardware from the past year.

I toyed around with this iOS wannabe for a good 2 weeks. 1 week in VM, last week on my space PC. Left a sour taste in my mouth for sure. Public reaction isn't very good either.

[foxmobouser]

Well at first I was happy I was able to upgrade a bootleg windows to something legit cuz thats what I had running on one of the systems even thou i own various versions from win95 scattered about. After instal i wished i had not done such a dumb thing but at the end decided to stay with it. Over all I think it sucks however the interface seemed a bit snappier than Win7. Thanks for posting some helpfull shortcuts cuz now Ima gonna have studdy this Shi** a bit to even start using it. In general it seemed that Microsoft wanted to be Apple and at the same time fight Piracy.

[peti1212]

Thanks for the reply PP and foxmobouser. PP, I do see a small performance increase in windows application usage. Just like Fox said, it feels snappier. Also performance comparisons from the same system running 3DMark Vantage and 11 shows higher performance by one or two hundred on Windows 8.

Thanks for the tip about the right clicking the start wannabe area. I didn't know about that. PP, as far as I know, you can either resize the icons in the Metro UI, or also enable a option so it would say text and names next to a smaller image. This way you have a similar look to what you might have had in Windows 7.

[PP Mguire]

I don't want to sound rude, but feeling snappier can be in your head too with the "it's a new OS" syndrome. I have a friend who thinks his AMD rig is faster and snappier than my Intel rig. We all know the truth to that. I didn't see any different when using it myself. Well in performance anyways.
As for 3DMark, we also all know those don't show any real world value. Actual game benches show a 1-2FPS difference on both AMD and Nvidia setups which isn't enough to push me to deal with Metro.

Having Metro at all wont feel any way like 7. If 24" touch screens weren't still over 1000 I would probably consider getting one as a second monitor to utilize this touch feature, but it's simply pointless on a standard kb/mouse gaming computer.

[peti1212]

Well I'm using three monitors. I have them set up in Surround, which stretches the Metro UI across all three screens when you go into it, but if you have multiple monitors, you can technically only open up Metro UI on a single screen and have the other screen still available to other stuff on your desktop.

I do agree with you about the "it's a new OS" syndrome, but the reason why I say it feels snappier is because in Windows 7 after a while of using it, say 2-3 months, you start seeing its performance drop in boot times, you have longer waits for certain things. This never happened on Windows 8 for me. Still just as snappy as when I first installed it. One nice feature that will make boot times faster for the general public is the fact that Task Manager now offers the Start-up application disabling option. Those that did not know about MSConfig till now will most likely utilize this feature once they figure out what it actually is. So in my opinion, once people get used to the interface, they will not mind Windows 8.

Just watch, So many systems will come preinstalled with Windows 8 on them, especially new laptops and tablets, and once Windows 9 comes out, or whatever it will be called, people will claim it's a lot lot better. While Windows Vista was never a real problem for me, once Windows 7 came out, there were definitely some nice improvements but it felt just like Windows Vista to me. Once Windows 9 comes out, people will be like oooo Windows 8 sucked, and Windows 9 is so much better. In my opinion it will be just the fact that they got used to Windows 8 and since Windows 9 won't have as many differences, it will feel more like a better start for a new Operating System. I hope you understand what i mean.

[PP Mguire]

Well the reason people went ooo 7 is so much better is because Vista was a steaming pile of poo compared to both XP and 7. There is a considerate amount of performance difference between 7 and Vista.

Maybe your TRIM is collecting garbage during boot up, but I had my install until yesterday when I formatted for the 580 since Feb. My boot times were always exactly the same, even without doing a format converting from P67 to X79. (Yea I was being lazy).

I disagree with 9 unless they bring back the start menu and ditch Metro. Dell offers 7 still for their new systems because vendors believe 8 will be a failed concept. That is of course if Microsoft stays stubborn on the "we want to force Metro down your throat" thing.

[peti1212]

PP, you might want to take a look at this. I think this is something that might change your opinion about Windows 8. :) It brings back the good old Start menu. :)

http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

[Pablo 54]

Might be a dumb question but is WMC out of 8? I put W8 on our laptop several months ago (wife hated it and called me bad names). Never got a chance to see if MC was still part of the OS. Heard it was being taking out.

Just asking.

[foxmobouser]

Might be a dumb question but is WMC out of 8? I put W8 on our laptop several months ago (wife hated it and called me bad names). Never got a chance to see if MC was still part of the OS. Heard it was being taking out.

Just asking.

My kid just booted into it and got stuck there, the wife thought It was a 22inch photo frame. LOL

BTW how do you shut it down without ctrl+alt+del shutdown, is there a button somewhere?

[peti1212]

You can either press Windows + I, and then click Power and Shut Down, or you can press Alt + F4 and choose Shut Down, or you can hover down to the right bottom or top corner when the charm bar comes up click Settings, then click Power then click Shut Down. those are the main ways I know how to turn it off.

[PP Mguire]

PP, you might want to take a look at this. I think this is something that might change your opinion about Windows 8. :) It brings back the good old Start menu. :)

http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/Already knew about it. It's going to be shut down actually in a wave of updates Microsoft will be releasing. They are adamant on consumers using their Metro UI.

[ET3D]

peti1212, thanks for the detailed post. I'm sure it will be useful once I install Windows 8. If I remember about it (because it will probably be a couple of years before I do).

PP, don't be a hater. Benchmarks show significant speed increases on some systems for Windows 8, and users are also reporting it, including smoother frame rates in some games. Dismiss them all you want, I think you're just deluding yourself.

Windows 8 isn't perfect, and I don't think it's a necessary upgrade for Windows 7 users, but I'm sure that in the long run it will be better than 7, just like Vista became way better than XP over time for decently specced systems.

[peti1212]

Just installed this on my system. Completely free, and brings back the nice good old look of Windows 7: http://windows8startbutton.com/

Also you can still use your charm bar, or get to metro ui. But you can also disable all those features or also make your windows look like Windows XP, etc. Very neat little program. Only thing is it installs another browser thing on your system. But you can get rid of it easily.

[PP Mguire]

Actual trusted reviewer benchmarks including my own show almost no difference. Smoother frames from regular users could be 1 of 2 things or both. Fresh install so less RAM usage due to background tasks, or smaller 8 foot print for people who have lower amounts of RAM. People with good systems and 4+GB of RAM have almost no FPS difference.

Putting an actual link where my words are, just for you:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Microsoft/Windows_8_Graphics_Performance/23.html

I'm not a hater, I'm a realist. There is NO reason to push on to 8 unless you have a touch screen or just enjoy using Metro and having matte kid colors on your screen.

And no, Vista was never any better than XP performance wise. Not even after SP2, which is why 7 was released so quickly. 8 is simply a tweaked kernel with a new user interface and nothing to offer for people like me. I swear the 8 defenders remind me of Apple heads.

[Pablo 54]

I take it MC is a bit unstable in W8?

[PP Mguire]

Haven't heard anything about being unstable, but a friend of mine boasts about it being good. I believe it's free until January.

[peti1212]

Not sure about Media Center, but I know if you own Windows 8 Pro now, you can get a free copy of Media Center at Microsoft's website for a limited time.

[FreeJet]

Oh, I'm gonna leave Windows 8 alone for a awhile. Heck, "the paint is still drying" on my copy of Windows 7 Pro. Being a die-hard Windows XP Pro fan for a good long time, I'm just getting the hang of the Windows 7 interface. Now they have tiles in 8? Good grief, let me catch my breath already before you throw something else at me. Now I'm starting to sound like my father.

[peti1212]

Totally understandable FreeJet, and while you've been with us for a while, welcome back to the forums. My father is actually still using XP and he doesn't even want to go over to Windows 7.

[PP Mguire]

Oh, I'm gonna leave Windows 8 alone for a awhile. Heck, "the paint is still drying" on my copy of Windows 7 Pro. Being a die-hard Windows XP Pro fan for a good long time, I'm just getting the hang of the Windows 7 interface. Now they have tiles in 8? Good grief, let me catch my breath already before you throw something else at me. Now I'm starting to sound like my father.I'm not trying to sound harsh or anything of the sort, but XP and 7 are almost identical where navigating the OS is concerned. Only a few things are different and are actually made a bit more simple. You would probably want to toss the screen across the room if you tried 8 right now lol.

On that note, I will be installing 8 pro next week. *mumbles profanity while walking away*
I was going to install it today but I have a big LAN this weekend and don't want to run into any possible problems.

[peti1212]

Lol, I didn't think you would install Windows 8 PP. :P Just use that little app I linked above and it will solve your biggest fears of Windows 8 for at least a while. It's not too bad really. Shannon has it was well and he had a rough time with it at the beginning, seems to be fine with it now. Same with Aditya.

[PP Mguire]

I was going to run some tests to "shut a few people up" on a spare SATA drive. I decided that any mechanical drive not used for storage is shyte and so therefore will be left to collect dust long as I have an SSD to use.
Yes, I have too much time on my hands right now.

[Pablo 54]

Not sure about jumping to 8 either. I am going to put a second tuner card in my WMC machine and slowly move out from under Time Warner's fist and go straight to HD ant...

[werty316]

I gave the preview release a try and I hated it and it doesn't give me a reason to use it over Windows 7.

[PP Mguire]

Not sure about jumping to 8 either. I am going to put a second tuner card in my WMC machine and slowly move out from under Time Warner's fist and go straight to HD ant...
Another TW person huh? I was going to get their cable to pair with my net but figured there is no point.

[Joshua_Mahr]

I have been playing with widows 8 in a vm for a couple days now. Seems ok. Tiles are something to get used to. Not sure my thoughts on it yet. The task manager is much more fancy. Anyone gaming on it yet?

[tates11]

I haven't tried using win8 and looking at the new interface I don't think I would be switching to it 'till win7 would totally be old enough. For me the interface is designed for touchscreens but I'll give it a try soon :/

[sh4un]

Thank you peti1212 for the wonderful tips, and the keyboard short cuts.
I am still trying to acclimatize to this foreign interface(I don't have a touch screen).
I installed Win8 because I needed a new operating system, and it ended up being less expensive than Win7.
I downloaded and installed the consumer preview, then upgraded to Win8 pro for $40.

[peti1212]

I get my microsoft software/OSs through MSDNAA for free through my school, so I had Windows 7 and now Windows 8 OEM. As far as I know the $40 ones are the upgrades. Does that mean you have to have a legal version of Windows 7, or can you instal Windows 7 without a key and then install Windows 8 on top of that which you bought only for $40? Or would it still nag that you need a legal serial number for Windows 7? Just curious.

[keen]

There is always resistance to change .. only time will tell if windows 8 will be accepted or not (like vista)

[peti1212]

Eh, in all honestly, after using windows 8 for a while, and with the start menu that I provided a link to on the previous page, windows 8 feels like windows 7 to me. Don't see any problems now with drivers being up to date as well working on Windows 8.

[ryandigweed]

I like a couple of features of windows 8. Like the new bsod , task manager and couple of icons. But it really takes a while to get used to. :-( and its more optimized for a touch screen :-(


I'm not a fan of all the tiles and all. Looks a bit too bulky for my taste

[sh4un]

With windows 8 you can create a pool of hard drives that show up as a single drive letter. It is my understanding that you can over-provision and assign it a higher volume( say 25TB) than you actually plug in at the time (say 4 - 2.0TB).
When you first set this up, it will re-format the drives. Now say after adding data onto this group of drives, I have the need to increase its volume, will I lose my data if I add more hard drives if I stay below the 25TB threshold I originally set up?

[najiro]

I'll wait for at least 3-6 months before shifting from 7 to 8. Right now there are bugs and cases of unsupported hardware. A friend is having problems with his gaming mice since its software doesn't support win8 yet. The mice is functioning but he cannot setup macros for now. Those things are still present now from mice to printers and other devices. It would be wise to check compatibility of your existing hardware first before shifting to windows 8. I have an Asus ThunderFX external audio card and right now it doesn't have drivers for windows 8...

[peti1212]

Well I had problems with the ASUS Xonar drivers because those don't support Windows 8 either. Need to wait for that as well. But then again I haven't checked if they put those up yet, because last time I played around with it was 2 months ago. I got a separate driver I found that some guy modded to work with Windows 8. But all the rest of the hardware I hve works just fine.

[PP Mguire]

Best friends grandma bought a new Windows 8 laptop to replace her old HP desktop. He went over there to take off the bloatware and do a few other things for her. Needless to say, there was a ton of profanities being texting to me about Windows 8. I lold.

[peti1212]

Lol, sounds like the first few hours of my Windows 8 experience. :P Not joking, even though I like it now.

[PP Mguire]

I got those Raptor drives. I'll probably put the OEM copy of 8 on them tomorrow if I'm not busy doing benches, typing up the article, or playing with my 98 box.

[sh4un]

to answer peti1212 (#30)
I put Win8 consumer preview on a fresh build, then upgraded online from Microsoft for $40. My understanding is that Microsoft allows this because the vast majority of those upgrading from the preview editions had a previous version of windows running on them.
It has not asked me for a Win7 licence but if it does i'll use the one from my laptop, which recently had the motherboard die in it.

[ryandigweed]

BTW, those who would like the Start menu back, you'll have to install a 3rd Party Software like "Classic Shell" to get a start menu. That's sad :(

[PP Mguire]

Windows 8 Pro X64 fresh install with only Nvidia drivers installed, 1GB higher RAM usage than my Windows 7 installation. After disabling several services that I disable in Windows 7 I still have the same RAM usage both with swap disabled.

http://img.techpowerup.org/121109/fail.jpg

[omegadoom13]

I've been using Windows 8 since launch date, and I've definitely warmed up to it. The Start Screen is just a more visual extension of the typical Start button. I like Windows 8 quite a bit. I built a new system and upgraded from Windows XP to take advantage of cheap pricing. Totally worth it!

[foxmobouser]

Just wanted to add that my ol Core 2 Duo E8400 from my sig was pretty sluggish in Vista, less in Win7 and i was thinking of getting rid of it till windows 8. Amazingly the system is running pretty fast and smooth in Win8

[Pablo 54]

I have 4 machines running W7, a WHS11, F@H box on Vista and a laptop running XP. Not going to change until W9 comes out. Everything runs *knock on wood* pretty darn well, at this point.

[phenom2]

Yesterday I won a copy of Win 8 Pro! So I just reinstalled the consumer preview to try it...and see if I can get used to it. The first time I used it only for half hour and then throw it away lol

[PP Mguire]

Just wanted to add that my ol Core 2 Duo E8400 from my sig was pretty sluggish in Vista, less in Win7 and i was thinking of getting rid of it till windows 8. Amazingly the system is running pretty fast and smooth in Win8
My 939 X2 3800+ system with only 3GB of DDR runs perfectly in Windows 7. You shouldn't of had any problems with the E8400.

[ryandigweed]

My 939 X2 3800+ system with only 3GB of DDR runs perfectly in Windows 7. You shouldn't of had any problems with the E8400.

I was thinking exactly the same. I used to own a E7500 with 1GB of DDR2, and it used to fun okay. Just because the ram wasn't enough. Otherwise it was working fine on an old 512MB Ram laptop which i had to repair :P :P

[phenom2]

anyway I found two utilities that many people will like. Startmenu8 and Classic Shell. They are both free and they bring back the standard start menu. Classic Shell seems to be more stable...but Startmenu8 (still in beta) has the option to use both interfaces...the new "Modern" of Win8 or the "old" Start menu, just like holding the Win key! Classic Shell is more configurable...and maybe it allows the same thing too!

[TheYancey]

I'l stick with Win 7. If I get a Win tablet it might, MIGHT, challenge Android.

[peti1212]

Welcome to the B3D forum guys. Yeah, there are a few free nice Windows 7 or older type Start menus available for Windows 8 now, and Windows 8 is pretty customization to fit your needs.

On another note, I found a few performance comparisons for Windows 8 vs Windows 7 which might be interesting to look at for some of you on here:

http://www.techspot.com/review/561-windows8-vs-windows7/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406668,00.asp

Somewhat old articles, and there are a few new ones out there, but this just shows what I'm experiencing as snappier OS. Some people might not agree, that's fine, I respect your opinions, and yes gaming doesn't see much performance increase or decrease. So I'm fine with Windows 8 for now.

[AuraofVengeance]

Windows 8 doesn't really bother me that much. That's not to say that I'm not unhappy with the new interface changes, but some of the changes to the core of the operating system are rather nice. I've gotten used to it by now and all I can really say is at least it was a cheap copy.

[phenom2]

I think that Windows 8 is a good opearting system..I will install it soon...but I will install togheter Classic Shell utility ..or startmenu8 to bring back the old start menu like in Win7. Win8 is much more fast when booting or shutting down!

[PP Mguire]

There is a 1 second difference on my SSD according to my stop watch.

[najiro]

There is a 1 second difference on my SSD according to my stop watch.

In favor of what OS? windows 7 or 8?

By the way in relation to this thread, Windows chief Steven Sinofsky left MS last monday. He captained the development and release of the radically redesigned Windows 8.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/12/technology/microsoft-windows-sinofsky/index.html

Possibly related to the not-so-warm welcome of the public regarding windows 8's interface?

[PP Mguire]

In favor of 8, but 8 was a fresh install and 7 was my old install. All I know is, on my mid range SSD I boot from no power to desktop (with password) in 25.6 seconds. Plenty fast for me so I don't need anything faster boot wise.

[ryandigweed]

In favor of 8, but 8 was a fresh install and 7 was my old install. All I know is, on my mid range SSD I boot from no power to desktop (with password) in 25.6 seconds. Plenty fast for me so I don't need anything faster boot wise.

Damn that's fast. Which SSD is it?

[peti1212]

ryan, a high-performance SSD, like the one I'm using, the Kingston HyperX 240GB 5K with no additional hardware or anything that would slow the system down can get you into Windows 8 in about 15-17 seconds from the moment you press the power button. Really depends on hardware.

[ryandigweed]

ryan, a high-performance SSD, like the one I'm using, the Kingston HyperX 240GB 5K with no additional hardware or anything that would slow the system down can get you into Windows 8 in about 15-17 seconds from the moment you press the power button. Really depends on hardware.

Damn, That's quick !.. :| :| :| And what about in Windows 7? You've got the best hardware anyway.. ;) :D

[PP Mguire]

Damn that's fast. Which SSD is it?It's in my sig. An OCZ Vertex 2. Boot times don't vary between my Vertex 2 and my best friends Agility 3 so I'm going to guess a newer SSD wont help that much.


ryan, a high-performance SSD, like the one I'm using, the Kingston HyperX 240GB 5K with no additional hardware or anything that would slow the system down can get you into Windows 8 in about 15-17 seconds from the moment you press the power button. Really depends on hardware.


Damn, That's quick !.. :| :| :| And what about in Windows 7? You've got the best hardware anyway.. ;) :DI'm going to guess at best 1-2 second difference on his rig if he wasn't using RAID. Still though, his boot is only a few seconds quicker than my Windows 7 install and our SSD setups have about a 1GB/s read/write difference sequential.

[najiro]

ryan, a high-performance SSD, like the one I'm using, the Kingston HyperX 240GB 5K with no additional hardware or anything that would slow the system down can get you into Windows 8 in about 15-17 seconds from the moment you press the power button. Really depends on hardware.

baaaaaah! me want SSD @___@
well, I think my boot up time is relatively fast.. if it is that significantly faster, that would be awesome!
btw, what does RAID do? I heard it's like using 2 identical drives as one and it makes boot up even faster?

[PP Mguire]

RAID (0) splits data between 2 separate drives for a theoretical double in performance. There are different types of RAID but the most popular ones are 0 and 1.

[phenom2]

RAID (0) splits data between 2 separate drives for a theoretical double in performance. There are different types of RAID but the most popular ones are 0 and 1.

so Raid 0 is fast but insecure, instead Raid 1 should be secure but not faster? Never investigated further...and never had two identical hdd (in size) to do it.

[PP Mguire]

0 Splits the data between two drives so if you lose one drive or your array gets corrupted you lose data.
1 Mirrors the data at the same time to two different drives. Simply a redundancy program.
4 gives you the best of both worlds. Block split with a parity. 1 drive can fail and the array can be recovered.

[Aoshi]

Just wanted to pop in and say I have tried windows 8 and tried using it for about 3 days. The thing kept crashing and rebooting whenever I was trying to install some programs (I get they aren't for Windows 8 but there are a lot that I need to have) so I put it away for now and will use it when more programs are made for windows 8. Metro system I wasn't really a fan of however. Not much of a change from windows 7. But the multi-monitor tweaks are nice.

[phenom2]

I would ask a thing about license. I won in a contest a copy of Windows 8 Pro. They sent me an x32 iso of Win 8 togheter with a key, but I am more interested in a x64 version. May I use this key to activate it? Second question...where could I download a legal copy of Win 8 Pro, a regular version...not beta? I've searched online and there are plenty...how to find the correct one that will give me zero problems?

[najiro]

Where's you old window 7? Can I have it? :) LOL
give it away bro! I'm sure jasper, lloyd and sam will be interested hahahaha

[phenom2]

ahahah I could use it on another pc maybe ;)

[najiro]

ahahah I could use it on another pc maybe ;)
make it my PC! hahahaha! :)

[peti1212]

As far as I know you cannot use a x86 (32-Bit) key on a x64 install. Even if you would torrent or get x64 through some legal way, I don't think you could activate it. Only reason why I'm saying this is because I have both x86 and x64 through MSDNAA, it's a student alliance service from Microsoft, and they gave me both keys, and they don't work on the other copies vice versa. I tried because I wanted to have x64 builds on two of my systems. You could try selling it and getting a x64.

[ryandigweed]

Yeah it probably won't accept the key on a 64-bit OS

[werty316]

Keys are interchangeable between an x86 OS and a x64 OS.

[Aoshi]

As far as I know you cannot use a x86 (32-Bit) key on a x64 install. Even if you would torrent or get x64 through some legal way, I don't think you could activate it. Only reason why I'm saying this is because I have both x86 and x64 through MSDNAA, it's a student alliance service from Microsoft, and they gave me both keys, and they don't work on the other copies vice versa. I tried because I wanted to have x64 builds on two of my systems. You could try selling it and getting a x64.

That's how I got mine too. I still have the ISOs for windows 8 64 bit but I don't think it's legal to upload them for you to download =/.

[phenom2]

ouch...but someone in another forum (italian one) told me the contrary! I'm still unsure :( ?! Someone told me that on Windows 8 is different....I need some more investigation..anyway

@peti1212 maybe you tried to use both keys to activate two copies with one license? I mean..I just want to activate one license on one pc. Not simultaneously.

@Aoshi
I think it's legal...as long you don't give me the key. Is there a way to check it before installing at least? Maybe I should call Microsoft here and ask them all this..

[khangdan1992]

Where's you old window 7? Can I have it? :) LOL
give it away bro! I'm sure jasper, lloyd and sam will be interested hahahaha

i'm still using window7 because window 8 drivers still have some bugs, issues, so i will upgrade window8 when the drivers are better

[PP Mguire]

No X64 keys and X86 keys cannot be combined. Been that way since as far back as XP that I personally know of.

[Cody_Irwin]

I will NEVER goto windows 8 most likely, unless I start doing reviews on hardware and just using it for a HDD with a seperate windows for stuff and clean install it.

[khangdan1992]

I will NEVER goto windows 8 most likely, unless I start doing reviews on hardware and just using it for a HDD with a seperate windows for stuff and clean install it.

U don't have SSD, it said that window 8 will improve the hardware performance, of course i have no ideas about it

[Scott]

I hate it. I tried the preview on a laptop for 6 months before launch. Needless to say that laptop is back to Windows 7.

[werty316]

U don't have SDD, it said that window 8 will improve the hardware performance, of course i have no ideas about it
It probably just a bunch of marketing pr bs more than anything.

[khangdan1992]

anyone here like the "metro surfaces" in the window 8, i think it's good for tablet, not PC. i want my
"start menu" back :!:

[peti1212]

anyone here like the "metro surfaces" in the window 8, i think it's good for tablet, not PC. i want my
"start menu" back :!:

I do. I don't care whether its Metro or Start Menu. I know shortcuts to both and how to navigate quick, and organize. It actually helps me keep my most used software organized and it helps me keep my desktop clean from icons. I always liked to organized programs in groups, this way I can keep my Adobe Master Suite programs in one category, Office in another, Games in another, etc. Some apps are neat as well from the microsoft store that I downloaded for free.

[PP Mguire]

I only thought 2 apps were cool. Newegg, and Weatherbug. Both of which I can easily have a better looking interface in my browser.

[slugbug]

A good Touchscreen/Tablet OS, but I would't install it on my PC.

[najiro]

I'm positive people will like the UI soon.. we just hate changes because we are too lazy to learn. With thing with how most people welcome the facebook timeline. I lot hated it but I don't hear people hating it now. :) I'm sure the "awful" windows 8 UI will be accepted in the future.

[PP Mguire]

100% of the PC people I know can use the Metro UI well still hate it, myself included, and we all have used Start8 to bypass it completely. It's just a turd for PC and hasn't even got a positive feedback from the general public either.

[khangdan1992]

I'm positive people will like the UI soon.. we just hate changes because we are too lazy to learn. With thing with how most people welcome the facebook timeline. I lot hated it but I don't hear people hating it now. :) I'm sure the "awful" windows 8 UI will be accepted in the future.

No it's not i will like UI or not, the problems here is many people are acquainted with "start menu", and MS has remove it. So the normal activities will change, so i want MS bring the "start menu " back

[PP Mguire]

No it's not i will like UI or not, the problems here is many people are acquainted with "start menu", and MS has remove it. So the normal activities will change, so i want MS bring the "start menu " backPretty much goes with what he said. They don't want to accept change from the start menu.

[najiro]

Acceptance might be slow and MS might rethink of what they are doing. Still, do you plan to switch to mac or linux now? that's the next question to answer. You might still be sailing along with windows 7 but as MS pushes improvements to windows 8.. It's very likely it will be the next big thing in the future.. Depending on how upgrading options go, it would be wise to invest on a cheap OS today which would likely be successful and become expensive in the future.

Anyway, its not much of a screw up compared to vista. I'm still positive for this OS. :)

[ET3D]

The way I see it, since Windows 2000 Microsoft has been releasing a new OS to test the waters, then one to tweak it. So XP was an improved Windows 2000, and 7 was an improved Vista. I imagine that Windows 9 will not be a huge change but will be well liked. By that time Windows 8 will also be pretty decent, and just disliked on principle, like Vista was.

[altereDad]

For the family home it's not something easily integrated. At a young age it's fine, at a technical standpoint, as well. But the challenged is where it's a hard sell. And if one system is used by all Windows 7 is the winning recipient at the moment.

It will take time to push it to the forefront, and MS is trying to be like every other market and get people to upgrade. They'll make it harder to stay behind when they release DirectX 11.1. These are what aggravate developers. They aren't scared but some look at alternatives. See the Beta tests of Steam.

[PP Mguire]

Acceptance might be slow and MS might rethink of what they are doing. Still, do you plan to switch to mac or linux now? that's the next question to answer. You might still be sailing along with windows 7 but as MS pushes improvements to windows 8.. It's very likely it will be the next big thing in the future.. Depending on how upgrading options go, it would be wise to invest on a cheap OS today which would likely be successful and become expensive in the future.

Anyway, its not much of a screw up compared to vista. I'm still positive for this OS. :)Windows 8 shares the same kernel as 7, so anything they release on 8 can be put on 7. They are planning on releasing 11.1 only for 8 but it wont make a difference. Nothing uses it, and games hardly use 11/10 today. Few years down the road and it'll just be another ME.


The way I see it, since Windows 2000 Microsoft has been releasing a new OS to test the waters, then one to tweak it. So XP was an improved Windows 2000, and 7 was an improved Vista. I imagine that Windows 9 will not be a huge change but will be well liked. By that time Windows 8 will also be pretty decent, and just disliked on principle, like Vista was.Vista was disliked because it was a very bloated OS due to its RAM footprint and mass resource hoarding in a time of pretty slow computers. The average computer only had 1GB of RAM and when your OS uses most of it your computer then becomes really slow. It was only us enthusiasts who had 2 or more GB of RAM and even then my computer dropped 10-15FPS in games just from switching to Vista AND Vliting it. The difference here is, Vista actually brought some groundbreaking new technology to the table and was the stomping ground of things like DX10, Superfetch, and a few other well liked technologies. They just blew the candles out by making it very bloated.


For the family home it's not something easily integrated. At a young age it's fine, at a technical standpoint, as well. But the challenged is where it's a hard sell. And if one system is used by all Windows 7 is the winning recipient at the moment.

It will take time to push it to the forefront, and MS is trying to be like every other market and get people to upgrade. They'll make it harder to stay behind when they release DirectX 11.1. These are what aggravate developers. They aren't scared but some look at alternatives. See the Beta tests of Steam.11.1 wont have any effect sort of like how 10 or 10.1 wasn't a big issue. The new consoles are 11 and not 11.1, so any game released after the new consoles are released will still be playable on 7.

[sifter]

Been sitting this one out at most have already clearly discussed the disdain of switching from a start menu to the newer interface and items that brings along with it. Microsoft best improvement with windows 8 clearly is the price. When it came out, there were several places such as staples that were offering it close to $40 dollars.

[PP Mguire]

Windows 8 costs the same as 7 now. 140 bucks for a full version of 8 Pro x64.

[werty316]

One hilarious thing about Windows 8 is the users who want to make the GUI look like Windows 7. Kind of pointless.

[ET3D]

A large part of 11.1 is already available for 7 as a preview. I don't know why people still talk about it as if it's 8 only.

Regarding consoles, I'm sure they will be closer to 11.1 than 11. Consoles usually have functionality that's not available at the OS level simply because they don't need to be cross hardware, can share memory easily, etc. Besides, AMD's current cards (7000 series) already support 11.1 and NVIDIA Kepler supports part of it (see here (http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2012/11/21/nvidia-doesnt-fully-support-directx-111-with-kepler-gpus2c-bute280a6.aspx)).

[BSGApollo79]

My wife bought a new laptop for work and I get to try Windows 8. It takes some getting used to and most users will probably disable all the Bing integrated apps that are pre-installed. The Start screen will also take some getting used to as it doesn`t instantly pop up but has some fancy animation that takes up half a second but it adds up waiting for it all the time, plus you have to move your cursor to the corners and wait for it like it was a touch screen rather than a mouse. The OS is pretty darn fast though! Everything feels snappier and loads instantly.

[khangdan1992]

well i'm still using window 7, i may install window8 when the bugs are fixed

[PP Mguire]

One hilarious thing about Windows 8 is the users who want to make the GUI look like Windows 7. Kind of pointless.Have to agree. The only thing I can agree on arguments over is native USB3 and other such support.

[Hokerie]

I haven't gotten a chance to fully play with it more than about a dozen times and it looks pretty slick, but it's really annoying to use because of the lack of a start menu. I've heard there aren't any compatibility problems, it runs really fast and it takes a couple weeks to get fully used to it, but I personally don't want to use it until I feel the need to. It feels more meant for a tablet rather than a PC. I dono, we'll see.

[sushrukh]

Windows 8 Pro with Media Center rocks for me.No known bugs whatsoever & everything feels faster than Win 7.

The lack of Start menu can easily be resolved by installing a free & ad free software called " Classic Shell ". :)

[peti1212]

Yeah, there is no real reason why not to use Windows 8. Now with Start 8, or "classic shell" out along with many other free based start menu implementations, you can turn your Windows 8 into a Windows 7 looking OS.

[PP Mguire]

Yeah, there is no real reason why not to use Windows 8. Now with Start 8, or "classic shell" out along with many other free based start menu implementations, you can turn your Windows 8 into a Windows 7 looking OS.
Except for those of us who have found bugs with it, and prefer their RAM usage to be lower which they achieve in 7. I finally found another person who has higher RAM usage in 8 as well and he has 4GB which is a no no.

I don't see the point in people getting 8 just to make it look like 7 and all that work for nothing. Since I took 8 to a LAN party I seriously prefer networking in 7 over 8. Two of us had Windows 8 at that LAN and it was a nightmare with file sharing.

[Goliath182]

I haven't played much with W8 since it looked more suited for touch screen devices. I have a WP8 though, and I love the device. The OS is setup better than iOS imo, which I prefer over Android. It certainly gives a refreshing new look for smart phones, iOS and Android haven't really been focused on improving the look and feel of their OS as of late. They are mostly stacking on new features. As well as the Lumia 920 being a mere $99 after it launched certainly helped its cause since its massively cheaper than the iPhone 5 while having slightly better specifications.

[foxmobouser]

After several months of using Windows 8 I am calling it quits. This OS is absolutely horrific and even thou it offers some improvements and somewhat better speeds in some areas it is not worth it. The biggest beef I have with it is that it simply does not listen to the user. I want it to do one thing and it does something totally different. I'm constantly getting the feeling that the OS is fighting against me instead of working with me.

[PP Mguire]

after several months of using windows 8 i am calling it quits. This os is absolutely horrific and even thou it offers some improvements and somewhat better speeds in some areas it is not worth it. The biggest beef i have with it is that it simply does not listen to the user. I want it to do one thing and it does something totally different. I'm constantly getting the feeling that the os is fighting against me instead of working with me.

Thank you!