Who uses Windows 8 as primary OS?

By AussieAnon
in The Fast Ring (Insider Previews)

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PatrynXX

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I've had something like this happen on my desktop system a few times, I'll be browsing the web, and once while playing the Diablo 3 beta the screen shut off as if the system went to sleep.

Impossible to recover from, had to restart by holding the power button.

I'd suggest a cooler. and the Ergo Cooler Master thing is a tank. might be a $30 cooler (On sale) with like 4 usb ports underneath. But it's the best one I ever found and only one with plastic bumpers so your laptop doesn't fall off the pad :) it's possible they might get in the way. but I ignore them.

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georgevella

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Have been using the Consumer Preview since release, so far so good. There were a few usability nicks I had to adopt to and some gfx driver issues with optimus (damn you Intel/NVIDIA) but overall it's been running fine. For me it's just Windows 7 with a full screen start menu. I use the start screen for launching and searching stuff; barely use any metro apps.

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PGHammer

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Alright, now how many of you running the beta, are going to continue using Windows 8 after the RC is released?

Any holdouts that skipped the beta going to download the RC and use it?

How many are going to go back to windows 7 after the RC is out?

I'll be shifting to the Release Preview when it comes out, for the simple reason that, unless they completely screw the pooch, it won't be any worse than the Consumer Preview, which has been, for me, flawless. (Surprisingly, that wasn't the case with Windows 7 + SP1 on the same hardware.)

Odds of my going back to Windows 7 - none. No chance at all. (No reason to, either; the Consumer Preview supports all my hardware I have now, and the next upgrades to my hardware actually bring MORE to even the Consumer Preview than my existing hardware does; every single one of my traditional applications and games works just fine, and so do the remaining utilities that I still use; some were mooted by features included with Windows 8's Consumer Preview, such as disc-image creation/mounting/burning software, though.)

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George P Global Moderator

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A bit off topic but has anyone done or tried a Win7 32bit to Win8 CP 64bit upgrade at this point? I've heard that Win8 upgrade process is better compared to Win7s and I'm going to make the jump to 64bit with Win8 when it hits RTM (using it in a VM for now). So I'm just wondering how smooth the process is.

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mad_onion

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A bit off topic but has anyone done or tried a Win7 32bit to Win8 CP 64bit upgrade at this point? I've heard that Win8 upgrade process is better compared to Win7s and I'm going to make the jump to 64bit with Win8 when it hits RTM (using it in a VM for now). So I'm just wondering how smooth the process is.

You still aren't going to be able to upgrade from a 32 bit version to a 64 bit version right?

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George P Global Moderator

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You still aren't going to be able to upgrade from a 32 bit version to a 64 bit version right?

Well I dunno, if worse comes to worse I'll just have to offload my files to another HDD and do a clean install. I'm sure some apps and stuff i've installed probably won't run and need to be uninstalled but other apps should run fine etc.

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articuno1au

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You still aren't going to be able to upgrade from a 32 bit version to a 64 bit version right?

No. It's not going to happen either :\

You can't do it on Linux either, and given that's the current benchmark of modular deployment..

Well I dunno, if worse comes to worse I'll just have to offload my files to another HDD and do a clean install. I'm sure some apps and stuff i've installed probably won't run and need to be uninstalled but other apps should run fine etc.

Always a clean install for beta OS's. Also, it's just a good idea in general.

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x.iso

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You still aren't going to be able to upgrade from a 32 bit version to a 64 bit version right?

well, it might be same as upgrading from Windows 8 DP, it basically reinstalls Windows (moving old installation to Windows.old) but moves all accounts to new Windows. You still will need to reinstall all software though.

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HawkMan

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well, it might be same as upgrading from Windows 8 DP, it basically reinstalls Windows (moving old installation to Windows.old) but moves all accounts to new Windows. You still will need to reinstall all software though.

that's not an upgrade, that's a reinstall to the same disk/partition.

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c3ntury

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I think we should write a letter to our President or Prime minister on the following lines-

So Windows 8 Consumer Preview is-THE OPERATING SYSTEM THAT NOBODY CAN USE. Andrea Borman.

... please tell you're not serious?

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Andrea Borman

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That was a long time ago when I wrote that post.Well two months ago. And since then I have installed Windows 8 CP on 2 netbooks. But I have also installed Classic Shell which gives you both the start orb and Windows XP and Windows 7 start menu.

Classic Shell takes over your Windows key. So now I only see the Metro start screen at start up. Then I just click on the desktop tile and am taken to my desktop where the Windows XP start menu and start orb is.

Also most of the Windows XP and Windows Vista software works on Windows 8 the same way it does on Windows 7. And also a lot of software has now been updated to work on Windows 8 CP.

It is true you can no longer disable the Metro theme but you can use third party software like Classic Shell or Start Menu 7 to get the start orb and start menu.And now there is a ribbon disabler from Win Aero that disables the ribbon in Windows Explorer. And they have just released a 32 bit version.

Windows 8 Release Candidate RC will be released next month in June. And if they don't change the source code too much we should be able to install start menu software like Classic Shell to have the Windows XP start menu. There is a possibility that some software we are using now in CP may not work in RC. But that will probably be updated by the makers.

Classic Shell did not work on Windows 8 CP at first by they made an updated version that now does work on Windows 8 CP. You can use Windows 8 CP until January 2013 when it expires. And they say the RC is also until January 2013. So you could have Windows 8 CP on one laptop and have Windows 8 RC on the other.

But when RC comes out it may be better to wait a few weeks before rushing to install it. That way you can read on the web and find out what software works on Windows 8 RC and what does not. And that way you will be better prepared for using it when you do install it.

But it is likely that even if software that works with Windows 8 CP does not work in Windows 8 RC. That the software makers will update their software to work in RC.

They did not say there will be an option to disable the Metro theme or not. But then you can just install third party start menu software like you do now. Andrea Borman.

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x.iso

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that's not an upgrade, that's a reinstall to the same disk/partition.

when I installed CP on existing DP installation, I selected upgrade option and as I explained the only thing was different from regular clean install is that user profiles are kept in new installation, except AppData if I remember correctly.

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PGHammer

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Windowz 8 is terrible atm but it ain't final yet.

And why is it terrible?

The biggest change (compared to previous versions - and 7 in particular) is that the bias in favor of keyboard and mouse users (desktop form-factor) is gone at the OS level.

All the *neither fish nor fowl* comments about the UI merely demonstrate exactly how jarring that LACK of bias is.

However, let's be honest about the sales of Windows PCs (and more importantly, licenses of Windows) since Windows XP went RTM.

Laptops capable of running Windows had already begun increasing in number - simply due to Windows XP alone.

As the notebook has overtaken the laptop (and now the netbook and Ultrabook threaten the notebook) the entire portable PC space is becoming the majority space.

However, Windows itself had NOT changed to match the sales skewing - touchpads (standard with laptops, and still largely standard with portable PCs) are using mouse emulation - not a truly native driver.

Windows 7 did correct the emulation issue - however, the OS itself retained the bias in favor of the desktop formfactor.

Now, along comes Windows 8 (first in Developer Preview, then Consumer Preview form). The desktop bias is gone.

And the screams have begun!

Never mind that - despite the lack of a desktop-favoring bias - the compatibility with desktop-biased applications is the best that any beta version of Windows, if not any version of Windows, has displayed. Because the bias is gone, it's ridiculed and dismissed - even Vista was not heaped with such scorn, and the Consumer Preview deserves it far less.

The issue isn't backward-compatibility with applications - even those doing the screaming (rather grudgingly) admit that. However, the longtime bias in favor of desktop PC users is no longer there.

Windows 8 Consumer Preview can be said to be the first form-factor-neutral general-purpose operating system.

That is why I was, in fact, very skeptical when I installed the Developer Preview, and why I installed it on a desktop.

I'm coming at Windows - for the first time - from a position of non-favor.

I found that - even with the Developer Preview - that the issues I personally had were so overblown as to be laughable.

Applications worked as well as ever. So has the existing desktop hardware.

So I moved on to the Consumer Preview. Armed with a much larger (1 TB, as opposed to 500GB) boot drive, I grabbed more applications. More games. More data files.

I had already replaced the E3400 I had started using with the Developer Preview with a Q6600, and upgraded the system RAM from 3 GB to 4 GB.

Sorry - so far, nothing has broken. The new applications work as well as they would under 7, if not better. The beta applications and games have (and are) also working swimmingly. (I'm referring to non-WinRT applications and games - there are still issues with WinRT.)

The screaming still continues from the detractors - if anything, it's gotten more vociferous.

"Neither fish nor fowl!" the screaming comes down to.

Of course it's not - the bias isn't there any more.

A bias by Windows in favor of desktop PCs is about as sensible as a racial bias; if anything, it's far LESS sensible - as desktops aren't the majority of PCs sold year over year.

Are desktop PCs irrelevant? No - I've never said it OR implied it - I haven't heard one user in favor of the Windows 8 UI say that, either. The only folks that HAVE said OR implied any such thing are those seeking to return to the desktop bias of previous versions of Windows. A lack of bias is NOT the same thing as saying that one or the other is irrelevant. (Has Rev. Al Sharpton - or even Rev. Jeremiah Wright - said that whites are irrelevant?)

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downhillrider

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so ive been running windows 8 for a little bit now as my primary OS. the only issue I'm having is using Firefox. Random icons get messed up and if I move my cursor over them they go back to normal. Is anyone else having this issue?

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Anthonyd

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so ive been running windows 8 for a little bit now as my primary OS. the only issue I'm having is using Firefox. Random icons get messed up and if I move my cursor over them they go back to normal. Is anyone else having this issue?

Nope.

Please don't tell me that your are using nightly build :p

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PGHammer

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Nope.

Please don't tell me that your are using nightly build :p

I'm running Waterfox (x64-optimized Firefox - same code as Firefox otherwise), I have no such issues.

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downhillrider

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Im using FF 12, no nightly or anything like that. you can see the + and - as well as the bookmark folder. sometimes it will happen with the back/forward buttons or the whole toolbar sometimes.

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