Windows 8

[monster]

Originally Posted by npal

LOL at the Start button showing for 3 seconds in the video with no mention whatsoever. Even MS must realize that adding just a button instead of a full menu, now, after all the negative publicity, is laughable. Either add the thing back or don't add anything at all. No one complained for the lack of a BUTTON. For me, it's wasted space on the taskbar, I hope it can be disabled, since it doesn't do anything worthwhile.

The button is there for familiarity and discoverability, the latter of which, as far as I'm concerned, is the most valid criticism of the new UI, much more than the whole touch vs. mouse + keyboard issue (which is a non-factor for me personally, having always used Windows 8 without any touch-capable device).

It's not going to be enough for everybody who has not been able to adjust to Windows 8, but I'm sure little things like this button can help some of them to adjust to the new UI.

And I think I did read somewhere that it can be disabled.

I'm more interested in how they will hint (if they do) at the existence of the Charms and the other hot corners as the short tutorial they have is probably not enough for some people.

[npal]

Originally Posted by monster

I'm more interested in how they will hint (if they do) at the existence of the Charms and the other hot corners as the short tutorial they have is probably not enough for some people.

Didn't they have a short tutorial when installing Windows 8? Not sure, since I didn't pay attention to it, I knew how they work since beta. They should have gone with gradual desktop/tablet integration, like Apple's doing. Going like that won't get them far, if you ask me. Kinda pity, cause the other aspects of the OS, other than MetroUI, were improved compared to 7.

[monster]

Originally Posted by npal

Didn't they have a short tutorial when installing Windows 8? Not sure, since I didn't pay attention to it, I knew how they work since beta.

Yeah, that's the tutorial I mentioned. I think it appears the first time you sign in to each new account in Windows. The problem is that some people, as you admitted, may not pay attention to it while others may not have seen it if someone else set up their account for them. Unless they found out about it some other way, there would still be users who would not know what to do.

[-KarumA-]

Okay I have run across a problem, since I can hardly find anything usefull to solve the problem I decided to post it.
Got a brand new laptop with windows 8, I tried installing Adobe master collection 5.5 on it. However it gives me error messages and is impossible to complete let alone even start installing.
First when I tried to install AEF (I only wanted AEF, photoshop and illustrator) it said; display requirements do not match, which they do and now without aef it says; WARNING: DW036: Payload cannot be installed due to dependent operation failure, then again another OS requirements do not match which seems to be a common problem also with CS6.
I can't find any clear solutions to this so I thought perhaps 5.5 is not compatible with windows 8 or something but I can't find anything on that online except for more problems of people without possible solutions.
Does anyone else have this problem with the Adobe products? Is it because of incompatibility? Should I just skip to CS6.. though I have no idea if it works..

[monster]

Have you tried installing it with compatibility mode?

[-KarumA-]

No the problem was the unpacker in which the software came. Thank goodness I have software backups at home in case of reinstalling an OS so I managed to get it to work.

[monster]

Windows 8.1 Preview is available: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/preview

A few things to note:

- In order to use Windows 8.1 Preview you must sign in to your PC with a Microsoft account. The option to create a local account will be made available at the final release of Windows 8.1.

- When you install subsequent editions of Windows 8.1 you'll be able to keep your personal files, but you'll need to reinstall your apps.

- If you're running Windows 8 and have installed a language pack or a language interface pack (LIP), they'll be removed when you install Windows 8.1 Preview.

- If you're currently using Windows RT, you won't be able to uninstall Windows RT 8.1 Preview. You'll be able to upgrade to the final edition of Windows RT 8.1 when it becomes available.

On that first point, you might still be able to use an existing Windows 8 local account, but not create a new one, with Windows 8.1 Preview, but I can't check it out right now.
On that second point, I've read that you won't have to reinstall your apps if you upgrade from Windows 8 straight to the final release of Windows 8.1.

Additional notes from the Windows blog: http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/b...w-is-here.aspx

- Please note: If you are on Windows RT and have installed a language pack, please don’t install the Windows RT 8.1 Preview at this time. A fix is coming so check back soon.

- Some tablets and PCs running newer 32-bit Atom processors require updates to their graphics drivers before they can run the Windows 8.1 Preview. Those tablets and PCs include the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, ASUS VivoTab TF810C, HP Envy X2, HP ElitePad 900, Samsung ATIV Smart PC, and Fujitsu ARROWS Tab. We are working closely with Intel and OEM partners to deliver updated drivers that will allow you to install the Windows 8.1 Preview as soon as possible.

[Vexx]

I had simply stopped trying to "use" win8 (just skipped straight to the classic desktop and beat it with a stick when the Lego UI would pop up). I may give it another try when my Lenovo laptop is certified for win8.1.

I've tried several ways of making it part of my usage framework and the UI simply gets in the way, even when I'm just wearing my "casual user" hat. I will acknowledge the underlying kernel seems pretty solid (though hibernation still occasionally just hangs requiring a reboot).

[monster]

Ok, three thing I do appreciate so far:

1. Having the option to always display tabs and address bar in the Modern IE.
2. The new snap sizes. Even my 1200x800 display can now use snap, but it does make the words on IE uncomfortably small with just 2 apps snapped.
3. The shutdown options in the Start button context menu, although I'm already used to using the Charms.

[Vexx]

The Penny Arcade assessment -

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2013/06/28

[SaintessHeart]

Alright recently I bought a new Toshiba laptop with Windows 8 preloaded and met my first trouble 5 days into buying it - Wi-Fi.

After the first 70+ updates, you will be unable to connect to the Wi-Fi. There are 2 workarounds :

1. ipconfig /release, then flushdns, then renew.
2. Reboot your router (if it is the school router then good luck arguing with the IT staff, was easy for me because I highlighted that the garbage came preloaded against my will).

And you have to download the first set of updates in order to install 8.1, which was just out 5 hours ago.

Now I am downloading it. Will test it, and see if Ballmer deserves his bloody quick exit.

Basically :



I am closer and closer to risking my warranty by rolling back into 7.

[monster]

That seems like a particular problem with your laptop. I have no Wi-Fi problem with either of the two laptops I have that runs Windows 8, after all of the updates over the past year.

[0utf0xZer0]

Eh, wifi is such a crapshoot technology I'd be hesitant to blame issue with it on Windows 8. It's just given me that much grief in the past.

I've been hearing that the Battlefield 4 Beta runs much smoother under Windows 8 than 7, possibly due to improvements in DIrect X 11.1 versus 11. Will be interesting to see if that holds true for the retail as well, might finally provide some incentive for desktop users (as opposed to tablet) users to move to Windows 8.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by monster

That seems like a particular problem with your laptop. I have no Wi-Fi problem with either of the two laptops I have that runs Windows 8, after all of the updates over the past year.

Initially I thought it is a problem with the card at first because I have people using W8 asking me about it - I gave them the stock solution to troubleshooting network issues.

Then I experienced it myself; I think it is one of the updates that creamed the detection of IP, probably a small fix for IPv6 users but affected the IPv4 configuration as well.

Those people on static IP providers never got the issue resolved and had to roll everything back using Windows Recovery and shut off updates; wonder how they are going to install 8.1 today.

EDIT : Going through 8.1 a little before I sleep; and I am already getting the vibes of it telling me to "USE MICROSOFT ONLY" and "LOGIN WITH OUTLOOK.COM ACCOUNT EVERYTIME YOU WANT TO USE YOUR COMPUTER". Btw, the last step can be skipped using "Create An Account" then "Continue with the account I am using".

ClassicShell gets rid of most stuff, but I need to sleep before I can explore further.

[Kimidori]

I heard from a friend that Windows 8.1 stops the PC from detecting mouse clicks if a key is held down on the keyboard, can you confirm that?

[SaintessHeart]

I am not sure about desktops, but yes, it is true for laptops.

[blaze0041]

Originally Posted by Kimidori

I heard that Windows 8.1 stops the PC from detecting mouse clicks if a key is held down on the keyboard, can you confirm that?

Which key? Because I have heard of no such thing...

I didn't run into any major issues during the upgrade from Windows 8 to 8.1, aside from reinstalling a few of the Modern apps, reinstalling the language pack and my laptop's Wi-Fi connection conking out (refusing to connect to my Wi-Fi network) during the initial setup, which thankfully resolved itself not too long after.

Also ran into the rather annoying "SecureBoot isn't configured correctly" watermark showing up in the lower right corner of the desktop after the update. Turns out that although I had switched on Secure Boot in the UEFI settings when I first installed Windows 8 on the computer a few months back, I had failed to actually install the required security keys for Secure Boot to kick in properly.
But... it seems as though the manufacturer-built computers (e.g. HP et al.) are having similar issues with this watermark showing up after performing the 8.1 upgrade. I hear that re-installing the keys should resolve that problem, though I'm kinda worried about having to deal with people who will have this problem and how you're going to guide them to fix it by mucking about in the UEFI settings... over the phone.

[SeijiSensei]

I feel for people managing small organizations of say 10-100 workstations who want to upgrade to 8.1. Apparently Microsoft only offers the upgrade through the Windows Store thus requiring each machine to be upgraded separately. Apparently Redmond thinks that the world is now divided into consumers and enterprises. The Reg has a bunch of comments from people whose small-business clients are on slow connections or ones with bandwidth limits. Downloading a 3.5 GB upgrade ten or twenty times will cost them a fortune.

Oh well, I just upgraded from Kubuntu 13.04 to 13.10 the other night. I started it when I went to sleep, and it was ready when I woke up. And yes, there are (free) tools available to manage upgrades from local centralized repository.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I feel for people managing small organizations of say 10-100 workstations who want to upgrade to 8.1. Apparently Microsoft only offers the upgrade through the Windows Store thus requiring each machine to be upgraded separately. Apparently Redmond thinks that the world is now divided into consumers and enterprises. The Reg has a bunch of comments from people whose small-business clients are on slow connections or ones with bandwidth limits. Downloading a 3.5 GB upgrade ten or twenty times will cost them a fortune.

I don't think it's so much enterprises and consumers as "large organizations who demand the ability to manage their own app deployments and everyone else whose throats we're going to shove our stupid app store/ecosystem down".

Seriously, this "let's be like iOS and earn tons of money through apps!" shit is ruining Windows. If I wanted an iPad, I'd buy a f***ing iPad. I stick with Windows because I favour a desktop.

I've been pretty quick to defend Microsoft in the past because the alt-OS pushers who can't seem to deal with the fact that I run some Windows only apps other than games (VMs would disrupt my workflow) and find recent Windows versions very stable are extremely annoying, but the idiocy seems to be intensifying even as the backlash increases. And this upgrade method stuff isn't even easy to work around like the UI changes were.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

I've been pretty quick to defend Microsoft in the past because the alt-OS pushers who can't seem to deal with the fact that I run some Windows only apps other than games (VMs would disrupt my workflow) and find recent Windows versions very stable are extremely annoying, but the idiocy seems to be intensifying even as the backlash increases. And this upgrade method stuff isn't even easy to work around like the UI changes were.

I have a copy of Windows 7 installed in a VirtualBox VM running on Kubuntu. I have it configured to use "seamless mode" where both operating systems share the same desktop. I put the Windows panel at the top of the screen and leave the Kubuntu panel on the bottom. Then when I want to run something like MS Access, I can just push my mouse up to the top and select Access. It appears in its own window on the shared desktop just like any other application.

If things get crowded I can move the VM display to a separate KDE desktop.