Windows 8 Consumer Preview

[Mandrake]

I downloaded the Windows 8 preview. I installed it in a VM. What on earth have they done to Windows? This is a massive step backwards. In terms of productivity and getting things done, it feels like they've done everything they possibly could to make things harder and more difficult. The Metro UI may work on a tablet or a smartphone (though Microsoft's success in the market is ... debatable when compared with iOS and Android), but it has absolutely no place on a traditional PC or notebook.

I can say with absolute certainty that this will be one version of Windows that I'll pass on!

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:11.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/11.0

[Mandrake]

No Aero Glass in Windows 8 Desktop mode?

From the screenshot given, I'd say that the desktop looks much less attractive than the one in Windows 7.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0

[Antony]

No Aero Glass in Windows 8 Desktop mode?

From the screenshot given, I'd say that the desktop looks much less attractive than the one in Windows 7.

Well, back in the early days of OS X (last decade), Mac OS X was accused of too fruity.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.7; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0 AlexaToolbar/alxf-2.15

[Mandrake]

No Aero Glass in Windows 8 Desktop mode?

From the screenshot given, I'd say that the desktop looks much less attractive than the one in Windows 7.

Well, back in the early days of OS X (last decade), Mac OS X was accused of too fruity.

I sort of recall Apple going overboard with transparency effects and the like in the initial versions of OS X before toning them down in the subsequent releases.

This, IMO, looks substantially worse than Windows 7. It isn't a refinement as much as it is a large step backwards. Paul Thurrott speculates the issue could be to do with battery life in mobile devices. If this is the case, then why not simply allow users to turn Aero Glass on and off as you can do now in WIndows Vista/7?

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0

[Antony]

Personally, I found Windows 7's translucent interface a bit too much see-through. Just a bit less see-through, and a bit more opaque would be better.

Don't worry. Windows 8's interface won't receive as harsh criticism as those Apple-haters did to early OS X. At least not from Don.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.7; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0 AlexaToolbar/alxf-2.15

[DJGM]

The Windows 8 Release Preview (aka the Release Candidate) is apparently due to available for download today.
Neowin.net - Microsoft accidentally announces Windows 8 Release Preview availability to be May 31.

Meanwhile, for those wanting the choice of using classic desktop elements in W8 alongside Metro Start . . .
Neowin.net - Microsoft working to kill Windows 8 Start button hacks.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.2; rv:12.0) Gecko/20120429 Firefox/12.0 SeaMonkey/2.9.1 Lightning/1.4

[Mandrake]

I'm downloading this now. With this connection it won't take very long and I'll be be able to test it in a VM. TBH however, I'm not expecting my reaction to be any different than it was to the previous versions.

I simply think Windows 8 is horrible. It's harder to use and less intuitive than Windows 7. From my perspective it seems Microsoft is trying to shovel a UI intended for tablets and smartphones down everyone's throat, even though it has no place on a traditional notebook or desktop PC.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0

[Mandrake]

To me this seems very similar to the previous preview versions of Windows 8. Interestingly the desktop mode still has Aero enabled, though I assume it will be disabled in subsequent versions.

Over the long weekend I'll have a closer look at this and play around with it some more.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 10.0; Windows NT 6.2; Trident/6.0)

[DJGM]

The third party Start menu add-on Classic Shell which restores the standard Start menu to Windows 8
still works in the new Release Preview as it did in the Consumer Preview. There's no way of avoiding
the Metro Start screen appearing at startup, although clicking the Desktop tile still brings you back
to the normal, albeit somewhat crippled by default, standard Desktop.



I quite like the flatter look applied to the Aero UI with less emphasis on the translucent effects that
were debuted with Windows Vista. I never really liked those effects anyway, and always unticked
the Enable Transparency option within the Personalise section of the Control Panel.

The above screengrab was taken from within VMware Workstation. I'm not committing this version
of Windows 8 into a native installation yet, at least until I can get my custom settings transferred
over from the Consumer Preview. I'm in no hurry ... I still have Windows 7 and XP on here!

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.2; rv:12.0) Gecko/20120429 Firefox/12.0 SeaMonkey/2.9.1 Lightning/1.4

[DJGM]

Just for old times sake, I've booted back to Windows XP on here. Yes, it's getting very long in the tooth,
it's market share is gradually dwindling, and it's due to stop receiving security updates from Microsoft
in a little under 2 years from now, but it is still a very good operating system, for what it's worth.

Windows XP might be on it's way out, but there's no denying for the most part it has served us well.

If the Metro-fied Start screen, and lack of regular start button/menu by default, causes Windows 8 to
crash and burn in popularity, and users to turn away in droves (chances are, it might not of course)
hopefully Microsoft learns from its mistakes before Windows 9 appears on the horizon.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:13.0) Gecko/20120511 Firefox/13.0 SeaMonkey/2.10

[Mandrake]

I find it thoroughly amusing that Windows 8 has been compared to Windows ME on various websites and comments around the web. The references to Microsoft BOB are just too much though.

As much as I've tried to like this OS, I can't. It's just horrible. There's no other way for me to look at it.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0

[DJGM]

Somehow, I don't think you'd be in much agreement (if any) with "Dot Matrix" on the Neowin.net forums.
He is of the opinion that Windows 8 is great, Metro Start is awesome, and that the Start menu is dead.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.2; rv:12.0) Gecko/20120429 Firefox/12.0 SeaMonkey/2.9.1 Lightning/1.4

[Mandrake]

Just for a bit of fun:

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0

[James]

Sweet. The dog, by the way, reminds me of the dog that was an office helper along with Clippy. Remember him?

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:13.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/13.0

[Mandrake]

Sweet. The dog, by the way, reminds me of the dog that was an office helper along with Clippy. Remember him?

I sure do. There are a few of them to choose from, and that's what the Office Assistant was derived from. As well as, I believe, the little search assistant that was on by default in Windows XP.

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