Windows 8 Release Preview

[Mats]

Available for download.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/iso

[zanzabar]

from what i understand they ripped out all of the old start menu and task bar. this will be the greatest fail since ME or when they certified and pushed NV cards in new boxes at the vista launch when the drivers caused blue screens all day in the low end hardware/certified intel IGP to do AERO and that lagged them out and no one told people how to disable it. even server and enterprise are CMD and metro only.

[andressergio]

Available for download.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/iso

thanks for this in spanish !!! great will try

[itznfb]

I was using the "consumer preview" on my work machine for a while. It just doesn't work on a PC. The Metro UI seems great for tablets and phones but it doesn't translate to usage on a PC at all.

[Starscream]

So they are not removing Metro?
Then im gonna skip Win8. Its nice and all and some people wil love it but i just dont want crap like that on my desktop. Even if my LCD was touch i would hate it.
Like said above its prolly grt on tablets but why make such a thing for desktop.

[squawker]

I've tried to use the Consumer Preview, it's not for desktop or notebook. The UI looks like a kindergarten OS UI.

It seems the RP is the same.

[Mats]

The new theme looks great, the glass effect is gone. Some advanced settings are gone from Personalization (like BORDER PADDING), but you can still change them in the Registry.

I dunno, I was against Metro at first, but now I realized how rarely I'm using the old start menu in the first place, so it may be ok for me.
I don't need more than the 35 or so icons that fits in the taskbar on my monitor.

Anyway, I can't see the point of having metro on Window Server..

[andressergio]

The new theme looks great, the glass effect is gone. Some advanced settings are gone from Personalization (like BORDER PADDING), but you can still change them in the Registry.

I dunno, I was against Metro at first, but now I realized how rarely I'm using the old start menu in the first place, so it may be ok for me.
I don't need more than the 35 or so icons that fits in the taskbar on my monitor.

Anyway, I can't see the point of having metro on Window Server..

lol me neither

[kuroikenshi]

The new theme looks great, the glass effect is gone. Some advanced settings are gone from Personalization (like BORDER PADDING), but you can still change them in the Registry.

I dunno, I was against Metro at first, but now I realized how rarely I'm using the old start menu in the first place, so it may be ok for me.
I don't need more than the 35 or so icons that fits in the taskbar on my monitor.

Anyway, I can't see the point of having metro on Window Server..

Well, ubuntu got rid of their start menu and changed it for a fancy HUD, it freezed up so much visual clutter, it was a bold and nice move... I think I will download this bad boy and give it a go

[3lfk1ng]

Viva la Windows 7!

but seriously, I can easily see Windows 7 becoming the new "XP", we have no reason to move on to the "next and inferior" operating system.

[itznfb]

Well, ubuntu got rid of their start menu and changed it for a fancy HUD, it freezed up so much visual clutter, it was a bold and nice move... I think I will download this bad boy and give it a go

Biiiiiiiiiiiiiig difference between Unity and Metro. Unity, while being ugly as hell is still very functional and really isn't anything more than a glorified Aero Start menu. Metro on PC is not functional and if it is really implemented on Server then the Windows franchise is in big trouble.

[kuroikenshi]

^^ That I concur with.

[OldChap]

I hear this has disabled all the start button hacks that people had working in the preview.

Just....... Why would you use this????

[iddqd]

I was using the "consumer preview" on my work machine for a while. It just doesn't work on a PC. The Metro UI seems great for tablets and phones but it doesn't translate to usage on a PC at all.

Could've sworn you could have the 'classic' UI. Maybe they just didn't include it with that build?

[Mats]

Could've sworn you could have the 'classic' UI. Maybe they just didn't include it with that build?

You could enable the start menu in the Developer Preview. IIRC, Explorer.exe is smaller in CP than in DP, MS removed some vital parts.

[paulbagz]

Might stick this on my XT2 Tab lol

Bout all its good for?

-PB

[kuroikenshi]

actually I'd like to see some feedback from x86 tablet users. can you do it Paul?

[blindbox]

Biiiiiiiiiiiiiig difference between Unity and Metro. Unity, while being ugly as hell is still very functional and really isn't anything more than a glorified Aero Start menu. Metro on PC is not functional and if it is really implemented on Server then the Windows franchise is in big trouble.

I left Ubuntu cuz they went Unity. They tried to do Apple-like window (window menu such as File, View, etc stuck to taskbar) but all it does is bug the crap out of the software. You gotta see how many people complained about Unity.

I'm on Kubuntu instead now. In fact, I gotta thank Ubuntu for making me leave it and discover Kubuntu. Way more intuitive with Kubuntu.

All this in a VM, anyway. Linux isn't my main OS.

[paulbagz]

actually I'd like to see some feedback from x86 tablet users. can you do it Paul?

Can do, getting a new HP Folio 13 Ultrabook for work next week so I can use my current work Tab (XT2) for W8 fun.

I haven't read much into the drivers aspect, but I can assume its a Vista>W7 type scenario?

-PB

[SabreWulf69]

There's a reason Linux Mint is one of my fav distro's, specifically because it is almost backwards from this apparent 'future OS' design from MS tch tch tch

[BeepBeep2]

I left Ubuntu cuz they went Unity. They tried to do Apple-like window (window menu such as File, View, etc stuck to taskbar) but all it does is bug the crap out of the software. You gotta see how many people complained about Unity.

I'm on Kubuntu instead now. In fact, I gotta thank Ubuntu for making me leave it and discover Kubuntu. Way more intuitive with Kubuntu.

All this in a VM, anyway. Linux isn't my main OS.

You know, you can disable unity...I quite like unity though, it's similar to the Windows start menu but it fits better.

Ubuntu is now my preferred OS, and the few Windows programs I need run okay with Wine.

[Olivon]

As a gamer, I use Windows.
Linux/Unix is for work only.

[HotGore]

I have a atom tablet with the RP on it. Metro is amazing on touch, but I can't believe how inefficient it is with a mouse and keyboard. Even the desktop is a step backwards with the start button missing. I never noticed how much I used the stupid thing.

Maybe in 2 years when the computing usage model is mainly touch Win 8 will make sense, but in the mean time it will be a rough road for Windows 8.

I really do like it on my tablet though, great touch UI, great UI for basic users, terrible for power users.

[FlanK3r]

Viva la Windows 7!

but seriously, I can easily see Windows 7 becoming the new "XP", we have no reason to move on to the "next and inferior" operating system.

I agree , win8 is not for me, win7 like me more (win8 beta I had at second PC one week).

[NEOAethyr]

Has anyone here installed this yet?
I'm curious, is dpc latency still 5-6x higher?
Mem bandwith still 33% low?

It's not really all about the ui to me, as I don't use the start menu in win7 either.
It's about speed.
I've gotten the cp ver down to a lower amount of running processes then win7, but the speed is atrocious in win8.

I have half a mind to suspect they are doing it on purpose...
The move from xp/2k3 to win7(vista?) was the same, just not as near as bad lol.