Windows 8 developer preview version available

[Zachstar]

For power users getting used to it will indeed be a bit of a challenge. Yet again for those who are about Facebook and Recipes it will be an easy and welcome change.

But you have to really REALLY put effort into the design. The current batch are quick test articles. When big time of dev is given to writing its launch apps I suspect it will be amazing what they do.

---------- Post added at 01:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:05 AM ----------

I am all for flashy UIs, I love them too. I sincerely do. However, I find metro ugly; in a Windows Phone 7 and Zune sort of way. This big, chunky, ugly rainbow.

You mean you find the public alpha Metro ugly. What is there now is a working concept. I highly doubt launch will look much like it is now.

 

[Pyromaniac605]

I disagree with you, but everyone has there own opinions, and if you don't like it, well, you don't like it.

Anyway, I think Windows 8 might be the best excuse I've ever had for getting a touch monitor. :lol:

 

[Zachstar]

I disagree with you, but everyone has there own opinions, and if you don't like it, well, you don't like it.

Anyway, I think Windows 8 might be the best excuse I've ever had for getting a touch monitor. :lol:

That is the whole point of Metro. To give people the will to go out and buy this new hardware with their OS installed.

Now we will never go back to the days where every trash day old computers would line the streets because people where flocking to the stores. But Metro might just cause people who are holding onto their computers from 2001 or 2005 or so to finally make that purchase they had been holding off due to the recession. This will spark potential for a comeback in the prebuilt industry.

 

[Keatah]

I suppose I will upgrade to 7 across all my systems next year.
What is the difference between metro and win8 anyways?

 

[agentgonzo]

What is the difference between metro and win8 anyways?

Metro is a design philosophy (basically saying make all your apps look like big coloured squares with few graphics and big chunky text) - the start screen they keep on harping on about is a good example of that. Windows 8 is an [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system"]Operating System[/ame] (what sits on your computer and runs all your programs) like windows 7, vista or XP

 

[Fabri91]

Metro is the new interface, or part of it, of Windows 8.

Installing it now in a vm...

EDIT: agentgonzo was quite a bit faster there.

 

[Zachstar]

A philosophy that will generate sales me thinks. Tho I think it centers more on making maximum use of HTML5 in an OS environment. That removes design restrictions for generating small use everyday apps.

 

[Fabri91]

Hello, writing this from a VM with 8 running on my laptop.

Still have to make up my mind on the new interface. Too early to comment on it. Possibly going to do a "proper" dual-boot setup.

How do I shutdown the thing, though? Only managed to do it through the command prompt. I feel like I'm missing something very very obvious.

 

[TSPenguin]

move the mouse to the lower left corner, select the settings entry in the menu that pops up. On your right is a new menu containing a power button.
Hielor described it before in this thread.

 

[n122vu]

It's funny. There are a variety of opinions about Windows 7, but Vista is UNIVERSALLY hated. I don't know of a single person who likes Vista (or still uses it, for that matter).

Bloated, resource hogging, inefficient piece of monkey dung. Way worse than Microsoft ME.

I liked Vista. I never had a problem with it. The OS itself was fine in my opinion. It was largely (and this is my opinion, TIFWIW) hardware vendors' rush to slap Vista stickers on hardware that couldn't handle it, coupled with an apparent laziness in developing drivers, and add in software companies that were slow to upgrade their programs to be compatible, that led to a bad end user experience.

Back on topic - I agree that the inability to actually close a running program needs to be addressed. Not as much of an issue on a PC as it would be on a laptop or tablet. Still, for us gamers and developers, 'suspended' programs taking up valuable RAM or pagefile space just doesn't work. I don't want to have to go into Task Manager every time, or find an app like Advanced Task Killer that I have on my DROID just to improve battery life on my laptop or tablet.

And how do you add programs/shortcuts to the Metro UI? I want a big square with a picture of The Almighty Probe as my Orbiter launcher!

 

[Zachstar]

Well I notice when you install something that the things that normally go into the start menu appear on the right side as small icons.

 

[orb]

I don't want to have to shell out a ton more money to get a higher version just so I can have a wallpaper.

There are freeware 3rd party tools that allow you to change the wallpaper in Windows 7 Starter.

 

[Sherrif of Nottingham]

Or you could pay for the software that they spend millions of dollars to produce?

 

[mojoey]

^agreed but still i would stick with 7 until the microsoft robots force install windows 25

 

[Hielor]

I liked Vista. I never had a problem with it. The OS itself was fine in my opinion. It was largely (and this is my opinion, TIFWIW) hardware vendors' rush to slap Vista stickers on hardware that couldn't handle it, coupled with an apparent laziness in developing drivers, and add in software companies that were slow to upgrade their programs to be compatible, that led to a bad end user experience.

Back on topic - I agree that the inability to actually close a running program needs to be addressed. Not as much of an issue on a PC as it would be on a laptop or tablet. Still, for us gamers and developers, 'suspended' programs taking up valuable RAM or pagefile space just doesn't work. I don't want to have to go into Task Manager every time, or find an app like Advanced Task Killer that I have on my DROID just to improve battery life on my laptop or tablet.

The idea is that the process lifetime management engine will get rid of any apps that you aren't using any more if you actually need the space. No, I don't like it either.

And how do you add programs/shortcuts to the Metro UI? I want a big square with a picture of The Almighty Probe as my Orbiter launcher!

Pin to start

 

[Fabri91]

What I'm also wondering about is the workstation market: would such an interface be well-received by professionals, especially considering the inability to actually close running programs, however "suspended" they might be?

 

[dnt462]

From the little I have used it (My screen resolution is to small to run metro apps) I think that unless you can have more of a disconnect between metro and desktop, its not going to be popular if you don't need metro. Windows 7 will likely become the next XP.

In other things, the new hybrid boot is fast. My netbook when from down to the login screen in 15 seconds. My desktop can't do that with a fresh install of 7.

 

[Keatah]

What I'm also wondering about is the workstation market: would such an interface be well-received by professionals, especially considering the inability to actually close running programs, however "suspended" they might be?

The pro market will need a conventional interface like xp/7 .. The consumer market and tablet space will require something like IOS or Metro. Along with each interface style, different capabilities should exist, and either be present or absent so as not to bog-down the experience.

For example, I wouldn't want to run data recovery software under Metro. But Metro would be good for a juke box application. I wouldn't want Metro to be bogged down with all sorts of technical utilities. Like I wouldn't want the standard interface to be so simplified you can't get anything done.

Like I say, one product will not fit all unless you can swap between styles instantly with one touch or click. No more. Forget dual booting and rebooting to change styles, it is too slow and cumbersome.

Having said that, I hope that both interfaces are included and that there is only one version of the O/S. We don't really need a Starter, Home, Home Basic, Home Premium, Standard, Deluxe, or Ultimate Editions. Let us simplify, one O/S for everything, and two choices of interfaces. That's it!

 

[Pyromaniac605]

Having said that, I hope that both interfaces are included and that there is only one version of the O/S. We don't really need a Starter, Home, Home Basic, Home Premium, Standard, Deluxe, or Ultimate Editions. Let us simplify, one O/S for everything, and two choices of interfaces. That's it!

I'm hoping for that too (Then again I do have Windows 7 Ultimate ), but when was the last time they did that? Windows ME?

 

[Turbinator]

Luckily I did not have to pay for my Windows 7 Ultimate, I won a genuine Signature Edition back when they launched Windows 7 and had that release party contest:

I am hoping they do the exact same thing for Windows 8.