
Windows 8 Consumer Preview released. - klausa
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/iso
======
nextparadigms
Engadget's conclusion:

 _"We really liked Windows 7 when it launched. It felt like a big step forward
in the short time that had passed since Vista. Now, as we creep closer to a
likely release near the end of this year, we can't shake a sense of doubt.
Windows 8 still feels like two very different operating systems trying to be
one. The potential is hugely alluring -- a single OS to rule both the tablet
and the desktop -- and with each subsequent version we keep hoping this will
be the one that ties it all together. Sadly, as of the Consumer Preview, we're
still seeing a lot of loose threads.

As it stands, Windows 8 is a considerably better tablet operating system than
any previous version has managed to be. However, it's still a clumsier desktop
OS than Windows 7. That's a problem Microsoft must fix before release."_

I feel the same way. By trying to please everyone, Microsoft will please no
one, and will frustrate 95% of the Windows users out there who will be very
confused not just by the tile interface, who is much different than what they
are used to, but also by the disconnect between these _two_ interfaces.

Microsoft is trying to win the _few_ who want a tablet interface at the
expense of the vast majority who want a PC, mouse-oriented interface for
their...PC's and laptops.

~~~
recoiledsnake
>Microsoft is trying to win the few who want a tablet interface at the expense
of the vast majority who want a PC, mouse-oriented interface for their...PC's
and laptops.

Interesting, I thought the wisdom here was that the post-PC era is upon us and
PC are going to die? In that case MS is definitely going the right way.

~~~
roadnottaken
Perhaps for consumers, but enterprise/office-workers will never switch to
tablets. Keyboard/mouse is just too damned efficient for data entry and
manipulation. And, I always thought that office-work/enterprise was MSFT's
bread-and-butter.

~~~
Symmetry
I think the idea is that you carry your tablet with you, then plug it into a
dock with a keyboard/mouse when you are at a desk.

~~~
huggyface
This notion gets a lot of play but I'm not buying it -- at least until several
years down the road. Of course there are people for whom tablets are perfect
-- inventory, front-line customer service, sales, etc -- however there are
many where it is of questionable value.

A major issue at many corporations is asset management, with laptop theft or
loss being a massive problem. Now take all of those desktops and replace them
with roaming, fragile tablets?

~~~
jiggy2011
I think possibly the corporation doesn't supply them. Employees simply provide
their own hardware in the same way they buy their own cars.

The difficulty here is of course with security etc, but most of the corporate
apps are probably web based and hidden behind a firewall anyway and none of
the data is cached on the users device.

------
ChrisNorstrom
Competition from Apple and Linux (but mostly Apple) is the best thing to
happen to Microsoft in a long time. No, the UI isn't perfect yet, the design
decisions (for this beta) not always logical, but Windows is finally going
somewhere amazing after many years of going no where. Because some of
Microsoft's best products were great but went no where.

Take the Zune and Windows Phone 7. People who own them love them, especially
the Zune. My neighbor had an iPod and Zune and always stood up for his Zune
despite loathing Microsoft. But everyone else refuses to touch them. Why?
Because they're Microsoft products and the stigma around them is that MS
products have no future and become abandoned quickly or go nowhere fast. A
reputation that's going to take consumers at least a decade to forget about
and move on. So hopefully MS keeps these "revolutionary redesigns" going at a
constant rate and not just kill them once profit comes in and market share
returns.

~~~
ebbv
Your theory is ridiculous. The Xbox 360 was a major success.

The Zune failed because people didn't like it. Not because it's a Microsoft
product. Same goes for Windows Phone 7, it is failing because people don't
like it.

Now whether it's a better product or not is a subjective debate that isn't
worth having, IMHO (better for whom?) But to say that they failed because of
the Microsoft stigma is absurd.

~~~
recoiledsnake
> Same goes for Windows Phone 7, it is failing because people don't like it.

Really? How do you know this? Have you gone door to door asking people?

You couldn't be wronger. In fact, it is ahead of Android.

[http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/wp7-ahead-of-android-
and-...](http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/wp7-ahead-of-android-and-right-
behind-ios-in-customer-satisfaction-survey/13728)

[http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-Phone-Leads-in-
Custom...](http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-Phone-Leads-in-Customer-
Satisfaction-Survey-243018.shtml)

Windows phones have some of the best ratings on carrier websites and Amazon.

There is indeed a Microsoft stigma, and MS is failing at shaking it. When have
you seen a commercial for the HTC Titan on TV? It's all iPhones and Android
out there except for an inkling of ads for the Nokia 710 (which IS selling
well btw, and is the third best selling device on their network).

It is also failing because of carrier stores and salesmen, who seem to be
steering people away from Windows Phones to Android LTE devices.

<http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2386538,00.asp>

~~~
pilgrim689
"It is also failing because of carrier stores and salesmen, who seem to be
steering people away from Windows Phones to Android LTE devices."

There's truth to that. When I asked what Windows Phones the store had, the
sales clerk gave me a surprised look and asked "Are you sure you want that?".

~~~
freehunter
When I bought a Windows Phone, the salesman tried very hard to steer me away.
I asked about the Samsung Focus, and he showed me the Samsung Galaxy S
instead. In the end I had to just say "is there someone else I can talk to who
won't let me walk out the door right now?"

------
lini
Visual Studio 2012 beta is out as well -
<http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/11/en-us/downloads>

------
jstepien
I'm intrigued by the 0.8 GB difference between the x64 and the x86 build. It's
even more interesting given that this difference must be caused solely by
different machine code, which, by its nature, shouldn't pose a big challenge
for compression algorithms. Assuming that 32 extra bits per pointer and a
different instruction set aren't enough to generate such such an increase in
size, I'm wondering what might be the reason. Extra binaries and portability-
related code for for 32-bit compatibility? Any ideas?

~~~
UnFleshedOne
Extra binaries for 32bit compatibility probably take most of the space. On my
64bit win 7 install, C:\windows\SYSWOW64 takes up 1.4 gigs.

~~~
lloeki
> On my 64bit win 7 install, C:\windows\SYSWOW64 takes up 1.4 gigs.

For the uninformed: on a 64bit Windows, SysWOW64 (i.e Windows On Windows 64)
holds 32bit binaries while System32 holds 64 bit binaries (whoever pulled that
April's fool prank must have laughed out himself to death by now)

------
zaatar
I hope you like IE10; It's been a lot of work for a lot of people to make it
happen. If you don't, please do not fail to voice your concerns. Thanks, and
enjoy!

~~~
pbz
Does IE10 respect the system's ClearType settings or still forcing its own
way?

~~~
zaatar
I'm not sure what you're referring to, and am not aware of system settings
being trumped vis-a-vis Cleartype ... do you have more info so I can
investigate deeper? Please reply here, or email me that is more convenient;
I'm at ravi.rao@microsoft.com

------
jakeonthemove
Just tried it - it's pretty much as I expected... awesome! It's like Windows
7, only more polished.

Metro UI is quite cool, but you can spend most your time in the desktop mode
if you wish (you'll have to use Metro to search for stuff and open apps).

One big drawback is that my favorite tool, Dexpot (virtual desktops manager)
does not work - I hope it's not because they removed VD support, that would
seriously suck...

~~~
marcocampos
You have to switch to Metro mode to open regular apps? That's... well, I'm
speechless.

~~~
jakeonthemove
Well, you can avoid Metro if you use desktop icons or pin your favorite apps
to the taskbar. I always used the start menu for opening apps, so now I have
to go through Metro. It's pretty good, actually...

Even if you put all your icons on the desktop, you'll have to use Metro for
search, settings, shutting down the PC, etc.

------
jakeonthemove
OK, the latest beta version of Dexpot works - I'm good!

Metro is also surprisingly intuitive - I've picked up everything on the first
try (the corner actions are cool, too).

Now, what I don't like:

\- All of the advanced settings (Control Panel and everything) are hard to
access;

\- WIN-TAB shows only Metro apps, but ALT-TAB shows Metro and the normal apps,
cluttering the interface.

\- While I like the Metro apps and will probably use them, the desktop should
be loading by default on a laptop/desktop - there's no reason not to do it,
and it looks like it's easily doable with some tweaked settings;

\- The dumbed down everything feeling of Metro is cool at first, but gets
annoying on a laptop after a while;

\- I had to register a LIVE account to login to the OS - what if I don't have
an Internet connection?

But that's about it - Windows 8 looks like a great OS, I like it. I still
don't get why Microsoft had to make it an all-in-one OS for tablets and
desktops when they could've packed Metro only for a tablet edition, but
whatever...

~~~
recoiledsnake
>I had to register a LIVE account to login to the OS - what if I don't have an
Internet connection?

I believe there's way to create a normal user account as well. Also your live
credentials are cached for use when the PC is offline.

>I still don't get why Microsoft had to make it an all-in-one OS for tablets
and desktops when they could've packed Metro only for a tablet edition, but
whatever..

Because you'd be able to dock the tablet or connect a monitor mouse/keyboard
and have the full Windows desktop experience on a x86 tablet. Metro only will
limit its power.

~~~
jakeonthemove
That makes sense... I'm not really complaining, but I can already see myself
using desktop most of the time and rarely going into Metro on my laptop...
that's exactly why I won't be upgrading anytime soon :-)

------
Achshar
why don't they give an official torrent..? the file size is very big and
direct download for slower connections is not feasible.

~~~
jstepien
There's a couple of unofficial ones available already. Don't forget to check
the SHA-1 sum after completing the download.
<https://thepiratebay.se/search/windows%208/0/99/0>

------
melling
How is IE10? It sounds like it's going to be competitive with Chrome in both
HTML5 compatibility and performance.

<http://html5test.com>

Is Microsoft still doing the silent update for IE?

~~~
nextparadigms
Will Chrome or Firefox even work in the "tile interface"? My guess is it
won't.

~~~
ConstantineXVI
Native code is still allowed, so it's technically possible provided they write
new UI code for Metro. The main issue is "will Microsoft let other browsers in
the store?"

~~~
alimbada
That's a non-issue. They've already been through plenty of anti-trust
lawsuits.

------
kijin
Anyone tried this on VirtualBox? How well does it work?

~~~
rplnt
The Developer Preview worked with VirtualBox (and with VMware for that matter)
so I guess this one will as well.

------
malkia
Stands as an example of how to shoot a bird with two guns.

------
Someone
I hope they will improve the installation experience for the real thing. The
product key we are used to, but the rest is more horrible. Do they really
_have_ to have my email address? Mobile phone number? Country info? Zip code?
Birth date? Am I getting old, or is that CAPTCHA system incredibly hard? Why
have on, in the first place? Or does that stuff only turn up when one makes
semi-random selections elsewhere?

------
RexRollman
Personally, two things I would like to see added are a Metro-based file
manager and a Metro-based command prompt, but I fully expect that will not
happen.

~~~
wvenable
Easy added by third parties

------
Permit
I'm currently running the Dev Preview, and I was curious if anyone knows if
there are any differences worth switching for?

~~~
Maxious
For one, the dev preview expires in 10 days.

~~~
joebo
Microsoft extended it to Jan 15 2013:
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2671501>

------
paulovsk
How much time I'll be able to use this version? Does it expire?

~~~
dylanpyle
I'm wondering the same thing - I assume it does expire, but there's no
indication of when. For what it's worth, the FAQ does instruct you to use the
product key "NF32V-Q9P3W-7DR7Y-JGWRW-JFCK8".

~~~
paulovsk
Thanks!

The setup gave me one, too. I'll save both, just in case.

------
mustafak
I do not understand whether I am using tablet or a laptop, it's too
complicated. And, I install K-Lite Codec Pack -> bom that lovely metro ui is
screwed.

------
molecularbutter
Has anyone tried using this with Boot Camp on a Mac yet?

~~~
klausa
It works, but I couldn't find a way to install Boot Camp stuff, so it's pretty
miserable experience (no right click, no two-finger scrolling, have to
manually find Wireless drivers, I don't have audio working, etc.).

~~~
molecularbutter
Bummer, hopefully it will be easy to set up. To get a good feel for this we
really need multitouch support.

~~~
Lewisham
At least with the dev preview, the way to do it was to fire up Boot Camp in
Lion, have it make the Windows 7 drivers USB stick, then quit Lion. Pop over
to Win 8 and then install the drivers. But they don't all work (at least, I
never got multitouch working).

------
ThinkEzy
My take on Windows 8: <http://www.thinkezy.com/blog/?p=131>

~~~
freehunter
So you don't like tablet-oriented user interfaces, so your solution is to
switch to Unity or Gnome3?

------
kumarm
Seems like a decent release. I am unable to find search in Store. Anyone else
know a way to search in store?

~~~
ds2600
If you begin a search like you would for an app on the Start screen, or use
the system wide search from the charms bar, you can select 'Store' from
directly below the search box. The store needs a LOT of work.

------
emehrkay
This thing doesnt seem to like mouseclicks via Parallels on OS X Lion

------
jeromeparadis
Has anyone tried running it under Parallels Desktop 7? Thanks.

~~~
dasein_phil
I'm getting a black screen after successful install - I assume its a similar
issue to the problem with Parallels Tools in the developer preview.

~~~
jeromeparadis
Damn! Thanks. I guess I'll try it with VMWare on my PC.

~~~
dasein_phil
For what its worth, I ended up getting it working with the same fix Parallels
recommended for the original problem with parallel tools -
<http://kb.parallels.com/112317>

------
cooldeal
Thanks, pulling at my max speed right now (~2MB/s).

Live coverage of the preview event here.

[http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/29/live-from-microsofts-
wind...](http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/29/live-from-microsofts-
windows-8-press-event-at-mobile-world-cong/)

------
leeoniya
20GB needed for install, ouch.

