are you downloading Windows 8 beta?

[cammykool]

will you be downloading windows 8? if you are or have tell your story and post screenshots i will be installing it and will post screenshots from it! what is your opinion on it? will it be the vista to xp as it will be to 7 or what? let me know!

 

[saptech]

I would if I had the hardware. I'm always willing to check stuff out. Maybe I could try it on my '09 AAO netbook, since it have 1gb of memory.

My desktop system has 1.5gb of memory but only a 20gb hard drive and I already have 2 linux distros on it.

 

[A.Nonymous]

I installed it virtually on my computer. My initial reaction was that I was not impressed. Then I shut the machine down and now I can't find it. I have no clue what happened to it. I'm too lazy to set it up again.

 

[cammykool]

i reailly dislike the missing start buttion i do beleve 8 will be the new vista.... or ME

 

[linuxrich]

Me downloading W8? No. I'd rather download ReactOS to be honest.

 

[cammykool]

i ended up dual booting i like it

 

[Demache]

Using it right now on a convertible tablet PC. As a tablet OS it is amazing. Certainly resolves all of the tablet unfriendly issues Windows has had in the past. But I'm not quite sold on it being a desktop OS.

 

[johnlgalt]

With the ability to revert Metro to a normal desktop it works fine as a desktop OS.

 

[mikedt]

With the ability to revert Metro to a normal desktop it works fine as a desktop OS.

I think in the long term though, MS could be pushing everything towards the Metro UI. Windows 9, 10, etc, Metro only. No more "X", minimise and maximise. Likewise with Mac OS X perhaps going more like iOS, App Store, full screen only OS X apps.

 

[SUroot]

in 46 years, there will be only one OS left. It will be on our STB's, work computers, Game consoles, Refrigerators, home-management systems, cars...

It will be activated by a derivative of NFC, implanted in our bodies. Our information will be able to follow us wherever we go. There may be a few OS's and some major middleware going on..

Maybe 46 years is a bit soon, but maybe..

 

[javasirc]

I gave Windows 8 a try. The metro UI was a pain on my laptop. And accessing files was a hassle on Desktop.

I dont use the "desktop space". All my icons are either pinned to taskbar, small Quick Launch icons, or if i rarely use them i just go into start menu. My desktop is nothing more than a background image. I definetly am looking for something to fill in that empty space. I would prefer to set FireFox as my background (so if i push Show Desktop, everything minimizes and FireFox is shown). I tried using Gadgets but i didnt like them at all.

I have Windowspager installed which allows me to have a number of "virtual desktops", basically additional workspaces i can switch to on a single screen. I have WinSplit Revolution as well, which is an awesome program. It allows me to hold a key and drag the window, and it snaps it wherever i choose. Its much more flexible than the Aero Snap Windows 7 came with, and it makes productivity with multiple windows quick and easy. I havnt tried these programs on Windows 8 yet. I also use AutoHotKey and assigned a bunch of shortcuts on my keyboard such as volume, play song/next/previous, close window, minimize window, etc.

The only thing id like to change about Windows 7 is to do something different with the desktop background, and have additional features with the taskbar.

 

[SUroot]

Background image is enough for me. Of course I have conky too, which is like one big desktop gadget, but configurable (for linux).

Sometimes I use the desktop space as a workspace so files I'm working on at that moment are there

The only thing id like to change about Windows 7 is to do something different with the desktop background, and have additional features with the taskbar.

I'm intrigued as to what features youd like on the task bar, but what do you mean about the desktop background?

 

[javasirc]

I would like FireFox to be my desktop background. I use it more than anything on my laptop. Whether im on a forum, youtube, or researching something on Google, im constantly using the web browser. And by background i mean when i click Show Desktop on the taskbar, minimize every program except FireFox. I dont need to see the desktop's image background anyway. I use Super Start addon on FireFox. It allows me to give FireFox a background image when Super Start tab is open. Plus this would allow me to remove the FireFox pin from the taskbar since i wouldnt need it if FireFox was my background. One main reason for this is that i usually have many tabs open in FireFox, making it basically my background. Even when i leave my computer, i leave FireFox open while im gone. FireFox practically already is my "background", the only problem is it minimizes. And when i push Show Desktop, i actually want it to clear all the windows out of the way of FireFox, not show my desktop background image to me.


A better way to change music. And i dont mean the Next and Previous buttons. Right now to select a song, i click iTunes, scroll to a song i want to hear and select it. I dislike opening iTunes to change songs, mainly because its a 3 step process, and because i dont like the iTunes interface.

Right now, if i hover the mouse over iTunes on the taskbar, i can push Previous, Play/pause, or Next. I have keyboard hotkeys for that. (F1, F2, F3)

If i right click on the icon on taskbar, it shows "Play Recent" and "Tasks". Id like to switch the "Play Recent" menu with a full list of songs, scrollable with the mouse wheel.

Another feature id like is a Clipboard that i can open. Just click the quick launch icon and it will open a small window which contains signatures, usernames, email addresses, or any other phrases i place in it. As well as a button that copies the phrase into the current clipboard for pasting. Or just click the phrase and it copies it automatically. Sure i could use Notepad and select the phrase and copy it, but id like a simpler, dedicated way.

 

[linuxrich]

Another feature id like is a Clipboard that i can open. Just click the quick launch icon and it will open a small window which contains signatures, usernames, email addresses, or any other phrases i place in it. As well as a button that copies the phrase into the current clipboard for pasting. Or just click the phrase and it copies it automatically. Sure i could use Notepad and select the phrase and copy it, but id like a simpler, dedicated way.

Sounds a bit like KDE's Klipper.

 

[SUroot]

Number 2 is itunes. That's apple who have to put that in. Not windows.

Number 1, novel. I can see how that would help.

Number 3 there probably is a program that does that

 

[alostpacket]

Personally I love launchy for launching apps. So I don't make much use of the desktop. But for some reason metroui bothers me. I was excited to get win 7 but I do echo the "meh" feeling so many others have towards win 8. Are there other compelling reasons? So much gets lost in talk of metro.

 

[pastafarian]

I tried to like 8, but dumped it after a couple of days. Side scrolling on a laptop? Really? Everyone I know in real life that has tried 8 so far (~12) has removed it. Maybe it's who I associate with, but they all dislike Metro. It may very well work on a tablet though I still find the box interface ugly, but as a desktop OS unless there's a major change coming? It's looking a little ME like

 

[dstuttgen]

will you be downloading windows 8? if you are or have tell your story and post screenshots i will be installing it and will post screenshots from it! what is your opinion on it? will it be the vista to xp as it will be to 7 or what? let me know!

I dl'd the 64 bit version for my workmate, because I have a faster connection, as a favor to him. So I decided to dl the 32 bit and trial it in my HP Mini 210. It installed but the first thing I encountered was that the native rez on my Mini is 1024x600 and minimum req's are for 1024x768 so I cannot use any of the fancy schmancy Metro stuff. I am basically left with a Mini running Win8 minus metro. Needless to say, I have a usb jump drive all primed with a current version of ChromiumOS-LIME by Hexxeh and I will more than likely be installing that very soon.

Cheers, Dan

 

[HannibalX]

I've tried it. I don't have a touch screen so I find the Metro interface fairly worthless. Using the traditional desktop there isn't a huge difference from Windows 7. I will upgrade once it hits RTM to take advantage of the new features like the scheduler and memory manager.

 

[mikedt]

My Win7 Fujitsu UMPC* has a touch screen which would probably be suitable for Metro, but TBH I very rarely use the touch screen. Usually use the internal track-point, or a mouse when I'm using it at the desk.

* one of these..

 

[johnlgalt]

I feel you mike. I have the bamboo touch but rarely use it since I'm too acclimatized to using a mouse and KB. The touchpad offers a unique solution to using an actual touchscreen, b/c on a desktop, I like my monitors placed well away from me, and having to reach forward for a touchscreen would be annoying, to say the least. I can place the touchpad in a similar position as my mouse, though, and it makes it a lot easier to use without having to reach across my desk to touch a screen.

I think I'll start playing with W8 here seriously this weekend. Maybe.

 

[cammykool]

i think MS is trying to ditch desktios

 

[liamf1]

Im using windows 8 right now and I have to say its quite AMAZING with the apps and features. One thing I dislike about it is that the messenger app is very slow to get messages from facebook sometimes

 

[mikedt]

I've got a question about Metro and the Metro apps. How well does it deal with multiple screens?

I understand that Metro apps always run full screen, no windowing. Can one have one Metro app on one screen and another open at the same time on another monitor, for multitasking, e.g. a browser and an office app shown simultaneously.