MS Releases Windows 8 Consumer Preview

[16k_zx81]

suprised no one has talked about this: windows 8 push button reset

Argh... "the end is nigh"

 

[ljtechservices]

suprised no one has talked about this: windows 8 push button reset

Argh... "the end is nigh"

Yup.
Folks might think something is wrong click refresh and think it's all fixed.
mean while their data keeps getting corrupted because the slowdown isn't from a virus or corrupted install but a Harddrive or something else that keeps failing.

On the other hand if it does what i purports to do, I won't be sad to see "its slow" calls go away.

 

[parker.casey]

Guys... you're all sounding exactly the way everyone sounded at the release of XP, Vista, and to a lesser extent 7. New ideas and changes to the way things fundamentally work is the whole point of an upgrade. If somebody doesn't like those changes, they need to stick with the previous OS.

Now, as for specific issues. Most of you seem to be running it in a VM, and not giving it much time on a machine at all. I'm using it right now and I'm enjoying it. Why? I'm giving it a solid chance without just comparing it to my OS of choice. There is certainly a learning curve, yes. Is that a bad thing? No.

@glricht: Windows Defender has been built-in since Vista.
@twincountycomputers: Windows releases have always been like Star Trek movies. Each time Microsoft brings actual new technology and not just bug fixes, people hate it. ie: Windows 3.11, Windows 95, Windows ME, Vista, Windows 8 are all hated by the masses, because you have to learn something and people don't like that.
@Tekguy: I think you're just not understanding the shutdown procedure... simply hit Windows Key + L to lock the screen, and click the shutdown icon in the lower right corner of the lock screen. It's just more secure, that's all.

To you all, I say give Windows 8 an honest chance. If you don't like it and its learning curve, install some form of Linux and learn that. If you find that too hard, stay with Windows 7. In the end, you're all technicians, and that means your clients will eventually come to you with Windows 8; whether you like it or not, you have to learn it. Try to find things about it that you do like, and that might not be so bad.

 

[Tekguy]

@glricht: Windows Defender has been built-in since Vista.
@twincountycomputers: Windows releases have always been like Star Trek movies. Each time Microsoft brings actual new technology and not just bug fixes, people hate it. ie: Windows 3.11, Windows 95, Windows ME, Vista, Windows 8 are all hated by the masses, because you have to learn something and people don't like that.
@Tekguy: I think you're just not understanding the shutdown procedure... simply hit Windows Key + L to lock the screen, and click the shutdown icon in the lower right corner of the lock screen. It's just more secure, that's all.

This isn't the same Windows Defender that was built into Vista. That was an underachieving anti-spyware program. Windows Defender in Windows 8 is actually Security Essentials renamed. Just for grins & giggles I installed Avast to see what would happen & after the install the Windows Defender service was disabled. I'm not sure if Avast was responsible for that or Windows.

I don't think it's fair to compare Windows 8 to previous versions of Windows. You have a mobile GUI as the default & a normal desktop GUI slapped together. This isn't just adding aero or search to the start button. When I hit the Windows key & search for something it takes me out of the desktop back to the start page with the apps. Say I searched for Firefox, when I click on that it takes me back to the desktop. That's ridiculous. The desktop should be the default GUI with the start menu & who knows, maybe it will be in the final release.

I get that Microsoft is trying to catch up to Apple, but forcing this Metro/Apps stuff down your throat is the wrong way IMHO. If this is confusing to techs what's it going to be like for the average user?

Yes I've found out through trial & error that keyboard shortcuts still work for many things including shutting down Windows. Alt+F4 with the desktop in focus works well for shutting down Windows.

On the positive side I do like how lean Windows 8 is. I'm running it on an old spare PC (Athlon 64 1.8ghz, 2gb ram) & it runs fine. I don't know if they tweaked the Windows Updater or if the updates were just minor, but I had 5 Windows Updates install in maybe 10 seconds. I also like that a PDF reader is included.

 

[ljtechservices]

When I hit the Windows key & search for something it takes me out of the desktop back to the start page with the apps.

I already know the conversations I'm going to have with users about that.
First time it happens I know a few of them that will freak out thinking everything they worked on is gone. And without doing any further investigation they will probably try to reboot the PC, if they can find the shutdown button.

I don't know if it's a beta only feature or not, but not having a way to window a metro app is dumb. Also if you open too many of them you have to Alt tab through a big list of things you only wanted to look at for a moment.

still trying to figure out the purpose of grabbing the window at the top and sliding it off to a sidebar.

didn't get a chance to see how the metro interface would work with multiple monitors. A lot of my business customers have them. I might have to throw that drive back in after i'm done working to test it out.

 

[parker.casey]

Why won't anyone let Microsoft try new things that they think are good? It's not a monopoly, and there are alternatives if you don't like what they are doing. It's called progress, and they're trying to change how you think of computers altogether. It's not a bad thing.

 

[ljtechservices]

Why won't anyone let Microsoft try new things that they think are good? It's not a monopoly, and there are alternatives if you don't like what they are doing. It's called progress, and they're trying to change how you think of computers altogether. It's not a bad thing.

I think this thread is more about potential issues that the changes will bring rather than stifling innovation.
Lots of the commentators have been supporting PC's and users for decades. They know what works and what doesn't with users, they also know how abrupt design changes can disrupt a business.
I don't think it's a learning curve issue as much as a "How much trouble is this going to cause the people that depend on me to support them?"

You run a business don't you?
As you run your business you look for ways to reduce costs and improve performance.
When something comes along that will enhance your business you would jump all over it wouldn't you?
Now say you aren't looking to make any changes that particular year but someone forces you to do something that requires a large training curve or an investment in time and money to sort it out?

that's what happens almost every time MS makes drastic changes to the UI.
It happened with Win 95 & Vista, both major departures from the previous. Whether for good or bad doesn't matter. The people doing work with them had issues with integrating with existing systems and training users.

Vista failed because of adoption issues by large corporations. That and I don't think it was ready in the first place. The fortune 50 I worked with at the time it was released spent millions of dollars and many man hours over several years in consulting, planning and testing before finally dropping it and moving forward with Win7 due to problems with legacy systems & programs, existing security models and timing issues.
50,000 seats stayed on XP for another few years while infrastructure was brought up to the point were they could use the new OS. Again, not necessarily bad, but Expensive in time & dollars.

A simple change like the Menu Ribbon made for Office 2007 and 2010 cause headaches not only for users who hated it, especially the older ones, but for support staff that had to learn the new and sometimes seemingly arbitrary places where user settings were kept.

Not saying change is bad but experienced IT people realize the problems that come with it.
My biggest beef is forcing a tablet style interface on a workstation with, currently, no native method of turning it off.
Chances of me ever using a touchscreen while sitting at my desk is probably 0 unless my desktop in embedded as the surface of my desk. Which would be really cool when we have those.
If I had a tablet PC with a dock I would like tablet mode while working away on client site or sitting on my couch. but when it's docked I wouldn't want the constraints of a tablet system. Would you?

For home users this probably wont be much of an issues but for a business it could be expensive.

 

[Paul Rodgers]

I have fielded a few support calls already about this, but it seems a lot of folks aren't reading the fine print about the OS being overwritten by Win 8, and that to return to the previous version the OEM disc would be needed....

I have already posted to my page the warning to have their install / recovery disc on hand before attempting the Win 8 install, as it is not a dual boot release!

I am in the middle of trying to get back into my Win 7 install. I used the iso to install from bootable dvd. I can see Win 7 on the boot list but it goes to repair when selected.

DO NOT USE THIS ON MACHINES THAT YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE!

 

[altrenda]

I can't imagine that someone would install a "Preview" or beta OS on a production machine or their work computer. At the very least they would have a recoverable image, especially if they didn't have all their install disks at hand.

How many support calls have there been from clients installing this?

 

[Paul Rodgers]

I have a fix those that need to fix issues with a dual boot Win 7 / Win 8 configuration.

It appears that the install changes the winload.exe file. You will have 2 or more winload.exe files. You need to take ownership of the winload.exe and change it to winloadold.exe or something else. Then you should have a winload~1.exe which needs to be changed to winload.exe. No need to take ownership.

Should be no need for a reinstall if a new partition is created for Win 8 and it is installed to that partition when booting from the DVD.

 

[parker.casey]

If you're using keyboard+mouse, you really need to use two monitors. If you're not, you need to be using a touchscreen.

 

[Screwloose]

Why won't anyone let Microsoft try new things that they think are good? It's not a monopoly, and there are alternatives if you don't like what they are doing. It's called progress, and they're trying to change how you think of computers altogether. It's not a bad thing.

keep drinking the koolaid lol

I am going to approach this as I approached Vista ... read up on it and get some hands on at work possibly but I will approach it cautiously. I didnt bother with Vista but I love Win 7 ... if they keep pushing that god awful UI I will most likely just wait on the next version or just wear out win 7 till they come out with something truly innovative.

 

[phaZed]

Why won't anyone let Microsoft try new things that they think are good? It's not a monopoly, and there are alternatives if you don't like what they are doing. It's called progress, and they're trying to change how you think of computers altogether. It's not a bad thing.

New things aren't the problem. The problem is that MS seems to be going in a direction without asking it's customers for input (unlike Win7). I applaud MS for trying something new, but a bunch of blocks haphazardly placed all over the screen is hardly a step forward, nor is it very creative. The Windows phone has been getting crappy consumer reviews for it's interface... so let's go ahead and make the next Windows just like the MS phone? Stupid.

My problem is this, why change how people think of computers, when the computer is THE way it is? I don't want a Live account. I don't have a touch screen desktop, and I will not be buying two 24" 1900x1200 IPS touch screen monitors to replace the two I have. I do WORK on my computer, not just Angry Birds, and a keyboard and mouse is necessary, no matter how much MS tells me it's not. I feel that many people are in the same boat. This will make adoption of Win8 slow or non-existent unless purchasing a new computer. I can't fathom an actual business using Win8 in it's current form because it is simply not productive or at the very least is AS productive as Win 7.

I can only hope that Win8 is able to be stock-modified to a traditional setup once the OS hits release time, otherwise, good riddance.

Social media, advertising, and signing up for cloud services are not the only thing computers are good for.. those things are good for never-ending recurring business.. FROM YOU. No thanks.

 

[Rob_NNCC]

I totaly agree, not user friendly, not intuitive, not keeping with traditions. However, I am glad to announce that it uses the same password encryption schemes as Windows Vista and 7, so OPH and others still work. (for live and local)

 

[ljtechservices]

If you're using keyboard+mouse, you really need to use two monitors. If you're not, you need to be using a touchscreen.

You think someone with a single monitor can work all day on spread sheets, documents, accounting software, etc using a touchscreen?

weird.

 

[RichmondTech]

I haven't been impressed with the consumer preview either. Unless they do some big changes to get it back like a traditional desktop, I'm definitely advising a very slow rollout to my customers.