Why did you go to the classic shell, Tolya?

The search function is weird as all hell, no matter how well it's displayed and readable. As Stark mentioned, you have to manually switch between Apps, Settings, and Files to get what you want. You can no longer hit the Windows key, type "Power Options" and hit enter to launch those settings. You have to manually click on "Settings." This is extremely unfortunate for those who rely on that method to get where they want to go. I hate going to my actual desktop here, as well as when I used Windows 7. When I needed to bring up a folder in Windows 7, I'd type in the name of the folder and the result would be there. That doesn't happen. Example:



As you can see, the name of the folder is nowhere to be found. All I see are the files in that folder in a manner that is inefficient to navigate. Compare to Windows 7:

Yeah, if I search for 'gundam', I get one app (a game) on the screen, and 684 files that I have to touch the mouse and click to see. Not very cool, but it wouldn't be a problem on touch. I just wish I could set it to default to show files.

What annoys me is just little things. Primarily metro being limited to one screen. On my laptop hooked up to an external screen: Want skype to run on my laptop monitor but have metro appear on the bit external monitor when hitting the Windows key? Can't use the skype from the Windows store.

It just seems... inconsistent that I can't run a program on a particular monitor.

Windows has always handled multiple monitors really badly. I doubt Win8 has decent power and suspend settings, either, but you can't blame 8 for a problem that's been around since 3.1. :V

I'd heard they'd improved some elements of multi-monitor, but it may have just been more start bar flexibility rather than proper configurability to what goes where.

I've never had any issues with multi-monitor on XP/Vista/7. Drag program to another monitor, done. For standard desktop apps that still works fine, just nothing from the app store.

I'm on the fence regarding 8. Overall, is it better than 7 or is it basically the same just but with a different UI look and some minor changes?

The reason I'm asking is that it seems that MS is pushing 8 big time as the price this week is $70. Not bad for an OS that was just released. But is it worth it to buy it?

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ASVS('97)/SDN('03)

"Peppercorn Tomatoes slathered in broken guacamole sauce. Put it in the microwave and press puree. 5 seconds in the dumpster and it is ready to be cooked in the freezer at -350 degrees for twenty minutes. Apply pressure in various hamster spots and scream like a psychotic banshee." My reply when asked what was on my mind.

By the sacred crotch of Arkvoodle!

How can you be 'on the fence' about something you clearly know nothing about? :V

And frankly its faster than Win7 in some ways and the only things people get upset about are largely ignorable, even if you're unable to learn new things. Those who will have their workflows really impacted are seriously in the minority.

I just wish the xbox integration was stronger... I can't even send messages from the xbox stuff. USELESS.

Can anyone explain to me why the interface doesn't let you click and drag anywhere to slide the metro stuff? That's what you'd do in touch, and I am all about touch and I'd like to use the same gestures rather than a stupid scroll bar.

I would say yes. I'm actually seeing $39.99 for Pro as an upgrade option on the website. That is a steal.

There are a lot of positives and frankly once you fool around with it a bit, you discover new things that are better than Windows 7. Take file transfer. That has improved drastically: you get graphical representation of the speed the data is transferring at. It's very cool and completely a step up from "x time remaining." I also noticed the change in speed like Stark noted.

The UI takes some time to get used to, but the complaints I mentioned above about searching have some solutions. There are hot keys to search within files and settings.

Eh. The security cat-and-mouse game has been updated (moused? catted?) so until hackers figure out ways around the new security features, Windows 8 is more secure. Windows 8 should also use less memory (nearly useless in a modern laptop or desktop with 2-4gb+ of ram) and less power.

However, if you really want to know how much is changed under the hood, you only have to look at the kernel version: 6.2, while 7 was 6.1 (and Vista was 6.0). So the way 8 actually works is nearly identical.

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Anonymous facebooker on the "Snowmageddon" February 2010 DC snowstorm:

Thanks for the info. I've seen the Pro upgrade going for $38.88 at Microcenter but I'd rather get the stand alone version.

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ASVS('97)/SDN('03)

"Peppercorn Tomatoes slathered in broken guacamole sauce. Put it in the microwave and press puree. 5 seconds in the dumpster and it is ready to be cooked in the freezer at -350 degrees for twenty minutes. Apply pressure in various hamster spots and scream like a psychotic banshee." My reply when asked what was on my mind.

By the sacred crotch of Arkvoodle!

Amusingly they don't even sell the regualr version in Australia. :V

Got Win8 and updated my computer. It is definitely a different experience from previous Win OSes. It took some time getting used to but I've quickly got the hang of it.

Also it was the first time I've installed an OS without needing to make a fresh install. Migrating of files, settings and so forth from 7 to 8 was pretty much went without a hitch. Too bad that Win8 got rid of transparency.

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ASVS('97)/SDN('03)

"Peppercorn Tomatoes slathered in broken guacamole sauce. Put it in the microwave and press puree. 5 seconds in the dumpster and it is ready to be cooked in the freezer at -350 degrees for twenty minutes. Apply pressure in various hamster spots and scream like a psychotic banshee." My reply when asked what was on my mind.

By the sacred crotch of Arkvoodle!

The install adviser is really good. It advised me to do sensible things like uninstall useless crap, told me where to get new versions of other crap, and suggested i de-authorise my itunes to not waste an activation.

There's an option for 'refresh Windows' which I'm considering using. It appears to kill all third party applications and installs, which might be a good idea for my current vista->win7->win8 install. I'll just have to make sure I actually know any of my passwords. :V

Well, I really dislike the start menu of the 7, since it is cluttered with things I don't need. I switched to the lighter 95-themed start menu and did some basic customization and it just feels lighter and more handy to me now.

Oh, and the cool feature of assigning 1-5 keys to recently used programs is a seller.

This, definitely. I'm sure there are people who like it but for me, pass. Still on XP, anyway.

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The golden years: When actions creak louder than words.

Are you really poor? Or just poor at change management?

Anyway, I'm already so used to the time savig and intuitive interface that I'm sad it doesn't work at work. Then again, I'm also sad that smart glass on my PC seems to have broken smart glass on my tablet, but hopefully it's fixable. I've noticed ridiculous improvements to performance in areas like boot speed, search speed, and a bunch of maintenance tasks. Worth $40 already.

8's RAM usage is also smaller than 7. Also, they finally decided to implement hibernation features into boot up, meaning that your system creates a hibernation file while shutting down and then loads stuff back on start. Thats why it's ridiculously fast for a win system. On SSD it can be crazy.

I am so dumb and so used to win7 huge boot times I actually thought the Seattle pic was a loading screen and waited for it to finish. :v Does it have mac style power saving suspend shit that works? I guess it would need better implementation for tablets anyway.

What do you mean by mac power saving suspend?

Sleep/hibernation has been present in 7 too, although it never worked as quickly as on a mac. Haven't had a chance to look at a laptop/tablet with win8pro yet.

So you the new feature "Windows To Go" where you can install 8 on a flash drive and run it anywhere? Metro apps don't work with it.

For some reason Microsoft decided that stuff bought through the Microsoft store is tied to the physical machine, so any apps you buy will not work when using Windows To Go.

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Anonymous facebooker on the "Snowmageddon" February 2010 DC snowstorm:

Doesn't that make Windows To Go completely pointless?

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Vader: "Ja Admiral?!"
Piett: "Unsere Schiffe haben den Rasenden Falken gesichtet mein Lord! Aber er ist in ein Asteroidenfeld geflogen, und wir können es nicht riskieren..."
Vader: "Asteroiden interessieren mich nicht, Admiral! Ich will dieses Schiff haben! Und keine weiteren Ausflüchte..."
Piett: "Ja Lord Vader!"

Is there a source for apps being limited to one device? Pretty sure MS says five. Obviously they can't count a USB stick as an authorized computer. :v

Well, there's this on technet:

http://arstechnica.com/information-tech ... nterprise/

3 paragraphs before the picture of the Dallas Cowboy.

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Anonymous facebooker on the "Snowmageddon" February 2010 DC snowstorm: