Windows 8 Beta (Consumer Preview) now available to download for x86 and x64

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#591419 6-Mar-2012 20:40

Regs: i had to manually install the hauppauge drivers before my tuners were recognized, but i got all the options you list above. did you do an upgrade or a fresh install? are you using default w8 video drivers, or manufacturer video drivers?

Ah - good point about the manufacturer drivers, not sure why I overlooked this >< Nvidia beta drivers now installed and WMC looks beautiful all over again :-)

I'm running Win8 as a VHD, so a fresh install. Don't get me wrong, WMC is picking up my American tv tuner, but being American it doesn't pick up NZ signal... This tuner is the only option I have for receiving a TV signal which is what's frustrating me a little.

freitasm: If you use WMC and want Freeview|HD then the Silicondust HDHomeRun is the thing to have (if you want it on a laptop or other PC which can't have a card added for any reason). However I've tried installing the HDHomeRun on Windows 8 and WMC fails to detect a valid TV tuner. Waiting for updated drivers to test again.

Perhaps you need to lend it to me for testing as well, just in case...

Dratsab

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#591427 6-Mar-2012 21:07

Going to have to take some of that back. Beta drivers on beta O/S (on my 25" touchscreen) now resulting in black screen of nothingness which I can't get out of without rebooting. Occurs when I transition from metro to desktop - which is pretty much all of the time as that's where nearly all apps actually run.

Over the last few days of use I've found I dive straight out of metro and onto the desktop. I find metro a pain on my laptop as I just don't want all those tiles there. Most of them are no use to me whatsoever. Same with my touchscreen, it's generally straight to the desktop. The tiles also look pretty naf taking up a small section of the touchscreen.

I'm going to delete the VHD'S off both machines and give up as I've got much better things to do with my time than frig around with an O/S when it's actually the apps I use that I should be concentrating on...

Lizard1977

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#592171 8-Mar-2012 09:58

The "solution" I thought had found for my problem turned out to be temporary. So what I have done is disable the TP-Link PCI wireless adaptor in Win8, and disable the DSE USB wireless adaptor in Win7, leave both plugged in, and use different adaptors depending on whether I'm in Win7 or Win8.

Now I've had a chance to actually use the damn thing for more than 5 mins, I can give my impressions.

I was intrigued by the Metro interface to start with. I was skeptical that it would be more than just a novelty, but was prepared to give it a fair go. I played around with the Start page, tried some of the different apps, and just tried to see what felt natural. I think Metro works if you are using it in a touch environment (which I don't have - so I'm guessing here), and you are locked down to the Start page. To that extent, I think Metro would be useful for rapid deployment by enterprises for single or limited-purpose devices. I'm thinking here of Councils looking for a a quick way to make a kiosk for a public service like in a museum or a library. Having worked for a small Council with a limited budget and IT expertise, I could imagine how easy it would be to get a Win8 licence, a simple All-in-One, and lock down Metro to a few specific apps, for a limited-purpose information booth. I imagine this could be done with "off-the-shelf" technology at a good price point, with relatively basic IT knowledge.

However, I think Metro makes less sense for the home environment. I installed Office 2010 on Win8, and immediately Metro became irrelevant. While Office created tiles on the Start page, it simply worked like a shortcut to the Office desktop version. In that moment, it showed Metro to be nothing more than a "pretty" interface bolted on. For all the MS rhetoric about a fully integrated UI, the transition was like a jackhammer, and simply reinforced that the classic Windows desktop is still necessary. If installing Office 2010 on Win8 had "converted" the different Office applications to a Metro style (while retaining functionality), then I would have been impressed. But sadly no...

I reckon what MS should do is continue with Metro, but target it to the touch devices, retaining the dual functionality of the dekstop and the start page for those devices. For other, non-touch devices, it should be closer to Win7. I think they are moving too fast towards a totally touch-driven interface, and they need to make the steps a bit more incremental.

2c.

rhysb

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#592195 8-Mar-2012 10:34

I've got an HP touch display here and it's unusable with the new metro start menu. It's using the 2 point touch tech that has infrared strips down the edge of the screen. The problem is that you can't activate any of the touch elements because they are in the very corner of the screen, so I'm constantly swapping between keyboard, mouse and touch. Grr.

Has anyone else tried it on a 2 point touch screen? Is there any way of increasing the touch area of the start menu, pull down, charms etc?

MS seriously need to rethink this whole metro thing.

bmt

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#592710 9-Mar-2012 11:19

Have discovered that when I visit Cricinfo and the computer gets locked or goes into screensaver mode, when I return it goes completely tits up and the entire site will not work on any browser until I restart.

Who to or how do I report this huge, huge bug?

Edit: At least it worked after I shut down overnight. Just restarted and no cigar :(

dclegg

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#592727 9-Mar-2012 12:05

Here's a fun little video I threw together today. It shows the CP being controlled on my iPad. Considering I'm effectively remote controlling a VM over my wifi connection, I'm pretty impressed with the responsiveness

alexx

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#594730 13-Mar-2012 19:28

I'm about 2 weeks behind everyone else, but just installed the 64 bit version on a spare Lenovo T61.

My take on the Metro interface - right now Microsoft wants everyone to try the Metro interface, to test it and develop for it. Microsoft aren't in danger of losing a lot of desktop market share right now - at worst a few people might not upgrade as soon as they had planned. However I'm sure they do want to grab as much of the tablet market share as they can, before it becomes a total iPad/Android duopoly, so the focus is on the metro interface for tablets (and some consumer pc users).

This is Windows 8 "Consumer Preview"... not Windows 8 Professional preview. I suspect the traditional desktop interface (perhaps even with a start button) might come back on Windows 8 Professional where the conservative IT departments want to avoid introducing anything new that might require end user retraining.

Oh yeah, and I'm another one that doesn't want all my info on a cloud either (or at least no more than is already out there).

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lchiu7

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#599420 24-Mar-2012 12:39

It might be a consumer preview but you can join as domain, load up management tools, RDP etc which are hardly consumer features.

I find it usable at work by relegating the metro interface to the touch laptop screen and keeping the Windows desktop on an external monitor. It's quite usable like that.. The main thing I miss is the Windows start button and being able to get to search easily from there. There might be a win8 way of doing that but so far I haven't found it.

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#599428 24-Mar-2012 13:01

lchiu7: It might be a consumer preview but you can join as domain, load up management tools, RDP etc which are hardly consumer features.

I find it usable at work by relegating the metro interface to the touch laptop screen and keeping the Windows desktop on an external monitor. It's quite usable like that.. The main thing I miss is the Windows start button and being able to get to search easily from there. There might be a win8 way of doing that but so far I haven't found it.

hit the Windows key on your keyboard and start typing

or move mouse down to bottom left, click, then start typing

or move mouse to top right or bottom right of screen, then click start, and start typing

or windows key + Q to search Apps in Search Charm
or windows key + F to search Files in Search Charm
or windows key + W to search Settings in Search Charm

old3eyes

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#599451 24-Mar-2012 14:21

lchiu7: It might be a consumer preview but you can join as domain, load up management tools, RDP etc which are hardly consumer features.

I find it usable at work by relegating the metro interface to the touch laptop screen and keeping the Windows desktop on an external monitor. It's quite usable like that.. The main thing I miss is the Windows start button and being able to get to search easily from there. There might be a win8 way of doing that but so far I haven't found it.

I was able to join a domain but when the PC rebooted it said the domain could not be found or words like that..

Regards,

Old3eyes

nathan

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#599452 24-Mar-2012 14:25

old3eyes:
lchiu7: It might be a consumer preview but you can join as domain, load up management tools, RDP etc which are hardly consumer features.

I find it usable at work by relegating the metro interface to the touch laptop screen and keeping the Windows desktop on an external monitor. It's quite usable like that.. The main thing I miss is the Windows start button and being able to get to search easily from there. There might be a win8 way of doing that but so far I haven't found it.

I was able to join a domain but when the PC rebooted it said the domain could not be found or words like that..

domain join works fine, have about 5 PCs at work here all OK on the domain

try using the FQDN of the domain

ie if your domain name is INTERNAL.LOCAL use that instead of just INTERNAL

Regs

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#600454 26-Mar-2012 20:14

lchiu7:
I find it usable at work by relegating the metro interface to the touch laptop screen and keeping the Windows desktop on an external monitor. It's quite usable like that.. The main thing I miss is the Windows start button and being able to get to search easily from there.

I've been working with it for a week or two now. I hardly ever encounter the 'metro' start screen in normal day-to-day use - sometimes I hit the windows key just to remind myself its still there :P

I have my common apps pinned to one of the two start bars (one per monitor, yay!) and I tend to use start|run for things like compmgmt.msc, dcomcnfg, eventvwr, services.msc anyway as they work over win2k, win7, win8.

as someone said recently, arm someone with the keyboard shortcuts and have them use it for a while and the 'metro intrusion' (to a desktop user) largely becomes a non-issue.

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alexx

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#603861 2-Apr-2012 14:40

Is there some problem with the Windows Store at the moment?
On Win 8 it is telling me there is an update waiting, so I try to start Windows Store...

Store

Your PC isn't connected to the Internet, or Windows Store isn't available
right now. To use the Store, connect to the internet and then try again.

...and yes, I'm connected to the internet.

#include <standard.disclaimer>

nathan

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#603866 2-Apr-2012 14:46

alexx: Is there some problem with the Windows Store at the moment?
On Win 8 it is telling me there is an update waiting, so I try to start Windows Store...

Store

Your PC isn't connected to the Internet, or Windows Store isn't available
right now. To use the Store, connect to the internet and then try again.

...and yes, I'm connected to the internet.

Store is working for me

If you're behind a proxy etc, set those settings in Desktop IE

networkn

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#603869 2-Apr-2012 14:50

My question, is anyone aware of any wavering on this whole MS Ramming Metro down our throats mess?

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