Windows 8 on my desktop, or not?
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I am wondering about installing Windows 8 on my desktop... I'm so undecided that I'm asking other people's opinions!!!! (And yes I got a licence of it, thanks to an MSDN subscription coming with my job! ;P ) On one hand, everytime the OS jumps on the metro UI I get cranky.. :/ + I will have to reinstall all my steam games... (a couple of days of download!!!) and other apps.. :/ On the other hand I can setup my system to skip it (the start screen) most time!! (using the taskbar + taskbar's toolbar, as I do on my Win7!!) (Using it on my old laptop now) And, this way, I could develop / play with Metro app on my desktop instead of having 2 keyboards to juggle with (old laptop + desktop) mmm.. wondering if I can cope with the annoying metro effect... I guess once I will get used to it on the laptop, I'll upgrade the desktop... [Edit] One strong pro, I'd rather use my powerful desktop instead of my old laptop to... Play, mix and match DirectX11 (in C++) and XAML (in C#), which WinRT and Windows 8 is the best at!
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
As someone who stuck with the classic start menu until it was finally lost in windows 7 I thought the windows 8 was going to be a tough one to get used to. I had it a few weeks now and after the first shock I think it is great. Once I set the start screen up into groups for dev, games, office etc it has became very quick and easy to start up programs. I found my desktop almost empty of icons now. I like my keyboard shortcuts and windows 8 has a few great additions. Win X is one to remember. Everything feels a lot faster but whether it really is or not I am not sure. May just be an illusion of the new look. I have done my usual development and gaming and have seen nothing bad. My desktop usage feels just the same as windows 7. File explorer ribbon works great as well. I would recommend it but give it time. Learn the key shortcuts and what you can do. There is a lot of cool stuff in there.
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I am wondering about installing Windows 8 on my desktop... I'm so undecided that I'm asking other people's opinions!!!! (And yes I got a licence of it, thanks to an MSDN subscription coming with my job! ;P ) On one hand, everytime the OS jumps on the metro UI I get cranky.. :/ + I will have to reinstall all my steam games... (a couple of days of download!!!) and other apps.. :/ On the other hand I can setup my system to skip it (the start screen) most time!! (using the taskbar + taskbar's toolbar, as I do on my Win7!!) (Using it on my old laptop now) And, this way, I could develop / play with Metro app on my desktop instead of having 2 keyboards to juggle with (old laptop + desktop) mmm.. wondering if I can cope with the annoying metro effect... I guess once I will get used to it on the laptop, I'll upgrade the desktop... [Edit] One strong pro, I'd rather use my powerful desktop instead of my old laptop to... Play, mix and match DirectX11 (in C++) and XAML (in C#), which WinRT and Windows 8 is the best at!
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
This touches on something that I think is very frustrating on Microsoft's part. What you are describing is actually a violation of the Microsoft MSDN licensing agreement; unless I am misreading their licensing document. Here is what is says about MSDN OS usage: Many MSDN subscribers use a computer for mixed use—both design, development, testing, and demonstration of your programs (the use allowed under the MSDN subscription license) and some other use. Using the software in any other way, such as for doing email, playing games, or editing a document is another use and is not covered by the MSDN subscription license. When this happens, the underlying operating system must also be licensed normally by purchasing a regular copy of Windows such as the one that came with a new OEM PC. That is just insane! We pay thousands of dollars a year for this stuff and yet still have to pay for our main OS!
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I am wondering about installing Windows 8 on my desktop... I'm so undecided that I'm asking other people's opinions!!!! (And yes I got a licence of it, thanks to an MSDN subscription coming with my job! ;P ) On one hand, everytime the OS jumps on the metro UI I get cranky.. :/ + I will have to reinstall all my steam games... (a couple of days of download!!!) and other apps.. :/ On the other hand I can setup my system to skip it (the start screen) most time!! (using the taskbar + taskbar's toolbar, as I do on my Win7!!) (Using it on my old laptop now) And, this way, I could develop / play with Metro app on my desktop instead of having 2 keyboards to juggle with (old laptop + desktop) mmm.. wondering if I can cope with the annoying metro effect... I guess once I will get used to it on the laptop, I'll upgrade the desktop... [Edit] One strong pro, I'd rather use my powerful desktop instead of my old laptop to... Play, mix and match DirectX11 (in C++) and XAML (in C#), which WinRT and Windows 8 is the best at!
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
I've just installed win 8 trial and O don't think that it is that much different than 7. There's no menu start, but I didn't use it much so that's not big thing for me. You can find little tweaks like better task manager and file copy progress window. It runs dramatically faster, but probably because I've also upgraded my 8 years old hdd to raid0 ssds. My only hardware that is troublesome is logitech F710 gamepad, I'll try install microsoft drivers for xbox 360 gamepad. I've also just copied Guild Wars 2 from old system and it just works so probably installing steam and copying all gamefiles will work as it used to in win 7. I think that if you are ok with no start menu you should give it a try.
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I've just installed win 8 trial and O don't think that it is that much different than 7. There's no menu start, but I didn't use it much so that's not big thing for me. You can find little tweaks like better task manager and file copy progress window. It runs dramatically faster, but probably because I've also upgraded my 8 years old hdd to raid0 ssds. My only hardware that is troublesome is logitech F710 gamepad, I'll try install microsoft drivers for xbox 360 gamepad. I've also just copied Guild Wars 2 from old system and it just works so probably installing steam and copying all gamefiles will work as it used to in win 7. I think that if you are ok with no start menu you should give it a try.
The start screen is just annoying! Granted it's not that big a loss in productivity.. + I make my own shortcut toolbar (problem solved)... mm.. I have some holiday now, will probably install it! ^^ And start8 by stardock!
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
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This touches on something that I think is very frustrating on Microsoft's part. What you are describing is actually a violation of the Microsoft MSDN licensing agreement; unless I am misreading their licensing document. Here is what is says about MSDN OS usage: Many MSDN subscribers use a computer for mixed use—both design, development, testing, and demonstration of your programs (the use allowed under the MSDN subscription license) and some other use. Using the software in any other way, such as for doing email, playing games, or editing a document is another use and is not covered by the MSDN subscription license. When this happens, the underlying operating system must also be licensed normally by purchasing a regular copy of Windows such as the one that came with a new OEM PC. That is just insane! We pay thousands of dollars a year for this stuff and yet still have to pay for our main OS!
Ho well, I haven't read this part, are you making that up!?! :rolleyes: Seriously for the price of Windows 8 I'll be willing to pay anyway, but you just can't buy it now!!! :-\
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
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I am wondering about installing Windows 8 on my desktop... I'm so undecided that I'm asking other people's opinions!!!! (And yes I got a licence of it, thanks to an MSDN subscription coming with my job! ;P ) On one hand, everytime the OS jumps on the metro UI I get cranky.. :/ + I will have to reinstall all my steam games... (a couple of days of download!!!) and other apps.. :/ On the other hand I can setup my system to skip it (the start screen) most time!! (using the taskbar + taskbar's toolbar, as I do on my Win7!!) (Using it on my old laptop now) And, this way, I could develop / play with Metro app on my desktop instead of having 2 keyboards to juggle with (old laptop + desktop) mmm.. wondering if I can cope with the annoying metro effect... I guess once I will get used to it on the laptop, I'll upgrade the desktop... [Edit] One strong pro, I'd rather use my powerful desktop instead of my old laptop to... Play, mix and match DirectX11 (in C++) and XAML (in C#), which WinRT and Windows 8 is the best at!
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
If you are a developer I'd go ahead and make the jump so that you aren't so far behind when the next version of Windows comes around. Saw this alot when people stuck with XP and Vista came out (I know it wasn't great). Some developers ignored Vista, then when Win7 came out they were way behind in getting their programs up to speed (especially concerning security), where the jump form Vista to 7 was small. Even if you don't like Win8, there will be people using your software that will use Win8, will your software be ready?
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I am wondering about installing Windows 8 on my desktop... I'm so undecided that I'm asking other people's opinions!!!! (And yes I got a licence of it, thanks to an MSDN subscription coming with my job! ;P ) On one hand, everytime the OS jumps on the metro UI I get cranky.. :/ + I will have to reinstall all my steam games... (a couple of days of download!!!) and other apps.. :/ On the other hand I can setup my system to skip it (the start screen) most time!! (using the taskbar + taskbar's toolbar, as I do on my Win7!!) (Using it on my old laptop now) And, this way, I could develop / play with Metro app on my desktop instead of having 2 keyboards to juggle with (old laptop + desktop) mmm.. wondering if I can cope with the annoying metro effect... I guess once I will get used to it on the laptop, I'll upgrade the desktop... [Edit] One strong pro, I'd rather use my powerful desktop instead of my old laptop to... Play, mix and match DirectX11 (in C++) and XAML (in C#), which WinRT and Windows 8 is the best at!
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
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I am wondering about installing Windows 8 on my desktop... I'm so undecided that I'm asking other people's opinions!!!! (And yes I got a licence of it, thanks to an MSDN subscription coming with my job! ;P ) On one hand, everytime the OS jumps on the metro UI I get cranky.. :/ + I will have to reinstall all my steam games... (a couple of days of download!!!) and other apps.. :/ On the other hand I can setup my system to skip it (the start screen) most time!! (using the taskbar + taskbar's toolbar, as I do on my Win7!!) (Using it on my old laptop now) And, this way, I could develop / play with Metro app on my desktop instead of having 2 keyboards to juggle with (old laptop + desktop) mmm.. wondering if I can cope with the annoying metro effect... I guess once I will get used to it on the laptop, I'll upgrade the desktop... [Edit] One strong pro, I'd rather use my powerful desktop instead of my old laptop to... Play, mix and match DirectX11 (in C++) and XAML (in C#), which WinRT and Windows 8 is the best at!
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
Super Lloyd wrote:
I will have to reinstall all my steam games... (a couple of days of download!!!)
You don't need to re-download all your steam games. Backup your Steam directory to another disk, copy it back again once you've installed 'Weight' Run the Steam exe and install to the same directory that you copied your backup back to.
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I'm using it on my home computer instead of gentoo to give it a fair shake. Works pretty good so far. Only thing I don't like is that I don't know the short cuts to navigate around, but I'm learning those quickly. I have it on my work computer as well.
If it moves, compile it
Shortcuts? Why you need them?, it's a touch OS. :laugh:
CEO at: - Rafaga Systems - Para Facturas - Modern Components for the moment...
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I am wondering about installing Windows 8 on my desktop... I'm so undecided that I'm asking other people's opinions!!!! (And yes I got a licence of it, thanks to an MSDN subscription coming with my job! ;P ) On one hand, everytime the OS jumps on the metro UI I get cranky.. :/ + I will have to reinstall all my steam games... (a couple of days of download!!!) and other apps.. :/ On the other hand I can setup my system to skip it (the start screen) most time!! (using the taskbar + taskbar's toolbar, as I do on my Win7!!) (Using it on my old laptop now) And, this way, I could develop / play with Metro app on my desktop instead of having 2 keyboards to juggle with (old laptop + desktop) mmm.. wondering if I can cope with the annoying metro effect... I guess once I will get used to it on the laptop, I'll upgrade the desktop... [Edit] One strong pro, I'd rather use my powerful desktop instead of my old laptop to... Play, mix and match DirectX11 (in C++) and XAML (in C#), which WinRT and Windows 8 is the best at!
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
I'm just going to sit this one out. I'm fine with W7 the way it is. I'm tired of retooling my boxes everytime MS decides on a new "standard". This one (W8) is a loser as far as I'm concerned - at least as a desktop O/S. I'll keep the one I got.
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Why not install it on a virtual box and kick it around a bit until you finally decide that it is the stinking corpse of a skunk and toss it in the garbage?
Panic, Chaos, Destruction. My work here is done. Drink. Get drunk. Fall over - P O'H OK, I will win to day or my name isn't Ethel Crudacre! - DD Ethel Crudacre I cannot live by bread alone. Bacon and ketchup are needed as well. - Trollslayer Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb - they're often *students*, for heaven's sake - Terry Pratchett
Nagy Vilmos wrote:
Why not install it on a virtual box and kick it around a bit until you finally decide that it is the stinking corpse of a skunk and toss it in the garbage?
Precisely what I did. I aimed for the center of that particular garbage can and got a 2-pointer! -CB
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After two months of use I now prefer the Win 8 start screen nav . . . . no more fighting with mousing over stacks of sub menus and searching lists of folders.
Since Windows 7 was released i seldom use the Start Menu, usually either my programs are pinned to the taskbar or i just click the Windows key and start typing the name of the program i wanted to use, althought using a Microsoft mouse i've been able to assign an additional button to act as the Windows key so i can use only the mouse to navigate the Start Screen and Metro apps in Windows 8.
CEO at: - Rafaga Systems - Para Facturas - Modern Components for the moment...
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I am wondering about installing Windows 8 on my desktop... I'm so undecided that I'm asking other people's opinions!!!! (And yes I got a licence of it, thanks to an MSDN subscription coming with my job! ;P ) On one hand, everytime the OS jumps on the metro UI I get cranky.. :/ + I will have to reinstall all my steam games... (a couple of days of download!!!) and other apps.. :/ On the other hand I can setup my system to skip it (the start screen) most time!! (using the taskbar + taskbar's toolbar, as I do on my Win7!!) (Using it on my old laptop now) And, this way, I could develop / play with Metro app on my desktop instead of having 2 keyboards to juggle with (old laptop + desktop) mmm.. wondering if I can cope with the annoying metro effect... I guess once I will get used to it on the laptop, I'll upgrade the desktop... [Edit] One strong pro, I'd rather use my powerful desktop instead of my old laptop to... Play, mix and match DirectX11 (in C++) and XAML (in C#), which WinRT and Windows 8 is the best at!
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
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Have a look at Start8[^] Start8 brings the "Start" menu back to Windows 8
Espen Harlinn Principal Architect, Software - Goodtech Projects & Services AS Projects promoting programming in "natural language" are intrinsically doomed to fail. Edsger W.Dijkstra
I get a kick out of this. Upgrade to Win8, then retrofit it to look like 7. Why not just keep 7? There's really nothing about 8 that's much of an improvement: nothing that will really matter. If you don't want Metro just don't upgrade. 7 will be supported for another 8 years anyway and even then it won't just break because MS decides to stop updating it! This constant upgrade train gets really silly sometimes. Let's upgrade! There's nothing wrong with what we got but we're getting BORED so let's upgrade! Sheesh! -CB :rolleyes:
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I am wondering about installing Windows 8 on my desktop... I'm so undecided that I'm asking other people's opinions!!!! (And yes I got a licence of it, thanks to an MSDN subscription coming with my job! ;P ) On one hand, everytime the OS jumps on the metro UI I get cranky.. :/ + I will have to reinstall all my steam games... (a couple of days of download!!!) and other apps.. :/ On the other hand I can setup my system to skip it (the start screen) most time!! (using the taskbar + taskbar's toolbar, as I do on my Win7!!) (Using it on my old laptop now) And, this way, I could develop / play with Metro app on my desktop instead of having 2 keyboards to juggle with (old laptop + desktop) mmm.. wondering if I can cope with the annoying metro effect... I guess once I will get used to it on the laptop, I'll upgrade the desktop... [Edit] One strong pro, I'd rather use my powerful desktop instead of my old laptop to... Play, mix and match DirectX11 (in C++) and XAML (in C#), which WinRT and Windows 8 is the best at!
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
I have mixed emotions on this too. On the one hand I need to stay up to date on developing applications to run on Microsoft's newer platforms. On the other I really don't like Metro. I though oh how wonderful someone found a way to disable it and go back to the Windows 7 look, then they locked it out of the RC and I'm sure the release. I'm thinking this is the year Linux gains more ground. I've recently played with a debian release that strongly resembles Windows 7 in looks and feel. This will make it so much more appealing to those that are currently using windows 7 and don't want to switch to 8 because of metro. The same thing can be said of businesses. They can upgrade workstations with SolusOS and employees won't have much of a problem relearning the system. Granted there are some that will say otherwise that switching to Windows 8 and heading straight to the desktop will be just as easy but I still feel it was a bad move on Microsoft's part to not allow the option to have either look available. You don't jump straight into a new OS without having some backward compatibility. This is apparently what they want to do on the UI.
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Shortcuts? Why you need them?, it's a touch OS. :laugh:
CEO at: - Rafaga Systems - Para Facturas - Modern Components for the moment...
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If you are a developer I'd go ahead and make the jump so that you aren't so far behind when the next version of Windows comes around. Saw this alot when people stuck with XP and Vista came out (I know it wasn't great). Some developers ignored Vista, then when Win7 came out they were way behind in getting their programs up to speed (especially concerning security), where the jump form Vista to 7 was small. Even if you don't like Win8, there will be people using your software that will use Win8, will your software be ready?
good points! ;)
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
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Super Lloyd wrote:
I will have to reinstall all my steam games... (a couple of days of download!!!)
You don't need to re-download all your steam games. Backup your Steam directory to another disk, copy it back again once you've installed 'Weight' Run the Steam exe and install to the same directory that you copied your backup back to.
Thanks for the tip! :)
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
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Is a mess when using it with two screens. You don't really know where metro is going to pop up.
Haha! ^^
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
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Keith Rule wrote:
3) You can only close apps with the mouse. Yes, really. This one just boggles my mind.
What abt alt+F4 ?
Oops, your quite right. I meant to say mouse or keyboard. But that's still a bit of an issue on a tablet.
Keith Rule