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

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

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Ultimate Geek

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#590276 4-Mar-2012 20:54

rhysb:
nathan: honestly it gets better, I've been using Metro for a few months now and I hate going back to the old start menu now

The Metro start provides way more information than the old Start Menu ever did

Disclaimer: yes I am biased

Nathan, I think the problem is people feel that this change is being rammed down their throats. I don't want summary info on the start menu that takes up my entire 24" screen. I want to have my windows arranged how I like them across my screens so I can see the info I want. I don't want this dumbed down, full-screen user experience.

The new start menu seems to be very polarizing, people seem to either love it or really hate it.

Exactly, There have been Widget type things since Vista (Sidebar) and the truth is people don't really use them, One side of it is that you may see what you want a lot quicker but the other is that when you look for something you see a lot of things you don't want too.

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simplestuff

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Master Geek

#590560 5-Mar-2012 11:55

Now some of the dust has settled

Positive comments and experiences

Now some of the dust has settled

Positive comments and experiences

Clean InstallFast start up, power button to desktop, ( Includes Bios) less than 25 seconds (using SSD I3 4Gigs Mem)

Removed logon choice (From the metro UI type
run
and hit enter
in the run dialog box type
control userpasswords2
and hit enter
from the user accounts dialog box select your username and uncheck the top box that says
"Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer"

Select Explorer

Close Libraries window Hey presto

Win 7 Type Desktop

Add programs as usual to taskbar

Windows Key switch from one to the other

Now you have the choice of both

Have not had any issues

Mail… use Windows Live

Virus … Windows defender (looks like Essentials)

Try it

Chainsaw

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Ultimate Geek

#590660 5-Mar-2012 13:56

Windows 8 will include British English as display language - about bloody time!

GregV

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Ultimate Geek

#590670 5-Mar-2012 14:06

Tallyho! :)

Dratsab

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#590899 5-Mar-2012 21:38

Regs:
Dratsab: Especially important on my HTPC as WMC is somwhat broken in W8...

what is broken for you in MC under 8? so far my only problem has been not having it take full focus on system startup.

Slow reply and this is getting a bit off topic...

I use a 25" Touchscreen as a sort of HTPC. I've found WMC in Win8 splays it's setup wording all over the place and sentences get cut off about halfway through. The computer has an in-built TV tuner, but it's an American computer so the tuner is useless here. However this tuner is the only option I have for setting up a TV signal.

WMC in Win7 runs flawlessly for me and gives me a number of different options for setting up a TV signal: Cable, Satellite or Antenna. This allows me to select the attached freeview box...

Nathan - there's a rumour circulating that usage of WMC is regarded as exceptionally low and it's going to be phased out, possibly as early as the next major release of Windows. I hope this isn't true as I really like the current iteration of WMC and think it's a vastly underpromoted product. Are you able to offer any opinion on the rumour?

EDIT: Corrected a speeling error :-)

freitasm

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Geekzone

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#590904 5-Mar-2012 21:44

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.

Lizard1977

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#590914 5-Mar-2012 21:54

Lizard1977: Tried to run the event viewer but it crashed before I could open it. Will try again when I get home, but I don't want to waste too much time troubleshooting a beta product. Just disappointed it isn't running smoothly on fairly standard equipment. I might have felt better if I'd heard of others having the same trouble, but it sounds like its just me.

For anyone interested, I solved the problem. I dug up an older rig which managed to run Win 8 with no problems. This led me to suspect the wireless adapter. The old rig was using a cheap DSE USB adapter and had no problem. The new rig used a TP Link PCI wireless adapter. I was able to download new drivers for the TP Link and hey presto, it's stable!

Regs

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Snowflake

#590920 5-Mar-2012 22:01

Dratsab:Nathan - there's a rumour circulating that usage of WMC is regarded as exceptionally low and it's going to be phased out, possibly as early as the next major release of Windows. I hope this isn't true as I really like the current iteration of WMC and think it's a vastly underpromoted product. Are you able to offer any opinion on the rumour?

given that nathan works for Microsoft, i'm not sure there is much he can reveal outside of what you see in the consumer preview.

the fact that MC is included in the consumer preview (albeit without any apparent new features) is a good sign that its here to stay, at least, in win8. there are even updates for the CP that have been released:

PlayReady update for MC on Win8: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2658597

The problem is that we now have four different media interfaces on windows though: windows media player, windows media center, zune, and the new metro apps for music and video. There is also the XBOX. I'd be suprised to see them all go away for Win8, given the timeframe, but beyond that there must be an intention to roll a lot of these together. Given that Media Center is the only one of these to support EPG and tuners, they probably need to hang on to it until that support can be moved to one of the other apps.

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Regs

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Snowflake

#590922 5-Mar-2012 22:04

Dratsab:
Regs:
Dratsab: Especially important on my HTPC as WMC is somwhat broken in W8...

what is broken for you in MC under 8? so far my only problem has been not having it take full focus on system startup.

Slow reply and this is getting a bit off topic...

I use a 25" Touchscreen as a sort of HTPC. I've found WMC in Win8 splays it's setup wording all over the place and sentences get cut off about halfway through. The computer has an in-built TV tuner, but it's an American computer so the tuner is useless here. However this tuner is the only option I have for setting up a TV signal.

WMC in Win7 runs flawlessly for me and gives me a number of different options for setting up a TV signal: Cable, Satellite or Antenna. This allows me to select the attached freeview box...

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?

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jaymz

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#590932 5-Mar-2012 22:17

I have only managed to spin up my copy late this afternoon.

Initial impressions are: It looks different, but somewhat familiar.

One thing i found early on, and think is pretty cool, is the ability to right click on the "area where the start orb used to be" and it brings up a whole bunch of nice shortcuts to commonly used things.

I have yet to delve into the Local Policies you can set for this. I can see this being a nice start point for customising the systems, so users never have to worry about start menus or desktops. Lock a system down to run the apps that the user needs, and stop access to everything else!

I shall post screenshots of my setups once i get going.

And to all those who basically looked at the system for 10-20mins and went "yuk, i dont like it and it wont work" IT is one of those wonderful things, you should never have to work around it to get work done. Look into it, play, you will find that you can customise it to your tastes/needs. Don't light the torches and grab your pitchforks until you have truely investigated the system.

What do you have to lose from trying?

P.S. oh and remember, this is a beta product (remember the Beta fish on the desktop when you installed it??) so if you feel you have a valid point/reason why the new OS isn't any good, then why don't you send your comments and feelings to your Microsoft rep? Try change it before it is released?

surfisup1000

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#591006 6-Mar-2012 07:41

jaymz:

And to all those who basically looked at the system for 10-20mins and went "yuk, i dont like it and it wont work" IT is one of those wonderful things, you should never have to work around it to get work done. Look into it, play, you will find that you can customise it to your tastes/needs. Don't light the torches and grab your pitchforks until you have truely investigated the system.

Think of it like a webpage, first impressions are formed very quickly. If something doesn't work as expected or strangely you can get put off quite quickly.

Isn't it great that microsoft have the cahoonies to take such a risk? This is how great products happen. Whether they succeed or not will be fascinating.

surfisup1000

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#591007 6-Mar-2012 07:41

jaymz:

And to all those who basically looked at the system for 10-20mins and went "yuk, i dont like it and it wont work" IT is one of those wonderful things, you should never have to work around it to get work done. Look into it, play, you will find that you can customise it to your tastes/needs. Don't light the torches and grab your pitchforks until you have truely investigated the system.

tdgeek

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#591013 6-Mar-2012 07:54

Its a fascinating situation. Many on here HATE it, many LOVE it, some are going to give it a go albeit not overly impressed. I am one of the latter. Certainly if you are entrenched in Microsoft, Windows Live, Xbox and social networking, and WP7, or some of these, there is a lot to like. Others just want the Windows back, as in the traditonal UI of Win XP/Vista/7. Interesting points on other sites, is thats some just don't want to be bombarded with news, new emails, new Facebook alerts, etc etc when they turn on the PC. I am a bit like that, I want my PC to turn on ready for me to use they way I decide, not have this all at me on the default boot up screen.

For me, I am unsure of the benefits yet. Gaming seems to be the same as Win 7 although some say it will be better as there is less memory/resource usage. Other than that, I cannot see anything compelling so far, apart from "its the latest".

surfisup1000

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#591028 6-Mar-2012 08:32

surfisup1000:
Isn't it great that microsoft have the cahoonies to take such a risk? This is how great products happen. Whether they succeed or not will be fascinating.

I qualify --windows 8 for touchscreen devices is very good. Most people seem to agree.

The debate is whether it is suitable for the tradiational mouse/keyboard desktop.

old3eyes

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#591041 6-Mar-2012 09:00

Just don't try and use EasyBCD to change to boot order. It worked fine in the Dev preview but it completely removes Win 8 from the boot loader.. I'm now into my 3rd stall on the same PC..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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